Partnerships

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Green Roofs Save Energy While Serving Up Sustainability on Many Fronts

Ten years after it was installed, the largest living roof in the US – about the size of eight football fields – is thriving on top of Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant. Various plants, insects and animals are living in the ecosystem that is roughly a 10.4-acre garden. It’s planted throughout with low-growing, drought resistant sedum, which requires little maintenance; it is fertilized and weeded once a year and it never needs mowing.
The living roof also serves as a cost-effective alternative, saving five percent on heating and cooling costs at the building, which is significant since it is such a large building. Also, it is expected to last twice as long as a conventional roof, which provides more savings. To watch a short video about the roof go to:

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/features/ford-s-living-roof–ten-years-in–rouge-center-experiment-helps-.html

To learn about the benefits green roofs provide go to: http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/mitigation/greenroofs.htm:

Okay, We’ll do the Math… (Follow up to Oct 10 post)

U.S. proven reserves (26.5 billion barrels of oil) divided by 365 days times U.S. daily consumption of oil (18.55 million barrels of oil) equals 3.9 years. The United States has less than four years of oil at present consumption rates.

Okay, we do continue to import more than a third of what we use, so that extends the 3.9 years out. Even better, we are currently consuming fewer barrels per day than we did in years past.

But our message continues: We need to make an Energy Shift! Away from fossil fuels, using conservation and renewables – via better products and practices!

 

 

You Do the Math…

Top oil producers in the world*:

1 Saudi Arabia 11,726,000 barrels per day
2 United States 11,115,000 barrels per day
3 Russia 10,397,000 barrels per day
4 China 4,416,000 barrels per day
5 Canada 3,856,000

Ranking of Proved Oil Reserves*

1 Saudi Arabia 267,000,000,000 barrels
2 Venezuela 211,000,000,000 barrels
3 Canada 173,600,000,000 barrels
4 Iran 151,2000,000,000 barrels
5 Iraq 143,100,000,000 barrels
6 Kuwait 104,000,000,000 barrels
7 United Arab Emirates 97,800,000,000 barrels
8 Russia 60,000,000,000 barrels
9 Libya 47,100,000,000 barrels
10 Nigeria 37,200,000,000 barrels
11Kazakhstan 30,000,000,000 barrels
12 United States 26,500,000,000 barrels

U.S. Daily Consumption of Oil*

18,554,570 barrels per day

*U.S. Energy Information Administration

Frustrated and Feeling Like You Want to Shake Some of the Decision-Makers Out There?

Feel powerful by doing good things that absolutely make a positive difference. Save energy everyday by remembering the following:

Recycling Fast Facts

It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials. Making recycled steel saves 60%, recycled newspaper 40%, recycled plastics 70%, and recycled glass 40%. These savings far outweigh the energy created as by-products of incineration and landfilling. Read more at:
http://www.starkstate.edu/green/recycling-fast-facts