Through the years, I have  often mentioned some of the opportunities available to inventors and entrepreneurs in trying to reshape out energy usage and infrastructure. After my trip to Florida for the last few days, I am reminded of another industry that needs to be disrupted and changed, and that is the airline industry. Unfortunately, this is one that is tougher to crack because of a mountain of regulations and the massive - sunk - legacy costs in the current infrastructure. Congratulations to Southwest for doing what they can to make the flying experience a little cheaper and slightly more convenient, but for the average jane or joe, flying is a nightmare. It is an exercise in patience standing through the myriad of lines for hours (for security, for ticketing, for food, to board and un-board, to claim your bag, to get a rental car, etc…) It is an exercise in hidden costs that make every trip more expensive than you thought. It is an exercise in discomfort as you are crammed into seats, aisles, and bathrooms that don’t fit a lot of people. All this being said, flying is quite nice for anyone who can afford a private jet or to pay for first class – which is sadly just a tiny sliver of society. The rest of us wait for someone to shake up the industry. (side note: most of the people working in the industry are not really to blame, they generally do their best in a flawed system.)

NASA’s (Boeing built) blended wing airplane design

While musing about how horrible flying is, particularly in the U.S., my wife mentioned that we should have airplanes shaped more like “flying saucers”, then there would potentially be more room for people to sit. I have often thought about different aircraft designs, but it is hard to beat the “tube with wings” design for ease of manufacture and ease of flying. Thankfully, some people are working on new designs. Check out this new blended wing design from NASA. It could potentially shave 50% off of fuel costs if it had a state of the art engine. If such airplanes are ever developed, I hope there is some consideration for passenger comfort – a balance to be struck between efficiency and price. If airlines stuff new airplanes with as many seats as possible, we will just be back to square one.

Other than the unpleasantness of flying, my recent trip was enjoyable, and as usual I took note of how things look in a different part of the country – in a different city – from an environmental perspective. At first glance, Orlando does not seem as bad as LA, Phoenix, Miami, or Chicago because it is more spread out. There is plenty of sprawl but it is not as continuous as some other American cities. You will pass many small forests, swamps, and lakes moving from one side of the city to the other. Because the terrain has plenty of trees you cannot see how big the city is from ground level. You cannot see the downtown area from very many locations, so it seems like you might be in a smaller city. However, the problem with Orlando is that mass transit is almost non-existent. If you live in Orlando, you need a car. It is so spread out that it takes 30 minutes or more to complete almost any daily task. Forget about walking. Orlando was built for cars. Sidewalks are hard to find outside of a few select areas. Besides that, it would take you all day to walk to most destinations. Orlando had the distinction (at least as recent as a couple years ago) of having the highest vehicle-pedestrian accident rate in the nation. When there are hardly any sidewalks, that is bound to be a problem. Big cities in the south, like Orlando, also have a big energy budget for air conditioning. I was talking with friends about utility bills and they mentioned how electricity can run in the hundreds of dollars per month range. They asked me what my utility bill was like and I said I paid between $100 and $200 per month for gas and electricity combined. The gas being for heat of course. Heating a domicile, as it turns out, was a rather foreign concept to them. If the climate continues to warm, air conditioning will have to evolve and become more efficient, otherwise the big cities will continue to scorch in the Summer. Air conditioning, while cooling to interior of buildings, adds to the heat outdoors. When you have millions of air conditioning units operating is close quarters (in the city) it only adds to the urban heat island effect.

I didn’t happen to notice much alternative energy. I can’t say that I saw one solar panel or wind turbine. So Phoenix and Denver have Orlando beat in that regard.

Other than having to spend a lot of time driving from destination to destination, Orlando does offer some of the world’s best entertainment in the theme parks. It is also, of course, a nice destination to escape the cold of Winter if you are so inclined.

Have a nice Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Environment, Travel

First I have to add a little to Tony’s recap of the rain totals from yesterday. Last night a small area of heavy rain developed over Marathon county and produced a new record rainfall for today (the 19th of July). The rain total after midnight was 1.62 inches. The old record was 1.57 inches, set just last year. That brings the 2 day rain total for Wausau up to 2.07 inches. It was a great amount of rain to soak into the soil and it came without any severe weather. The is the best part about the rainfall. Almost everyone saw at least a little rain and hardly anyone had to deal with high wind, hail, or tornadoes.

The rain will not show up in this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor because it is tabulated using reports up through Tuesday of each week. Because of this, the southern part of the state is still indicated as being in a severe to extreme drought, even though some heavy rain fell in the bad droughts areas yesterday. It would take some more heavy rain off-n-on over the weekend in order to put a short-term dent in the drought classification, which is unlikely, so the drought in the southern half of the state will likely continue for at least a couple more weeks.

Around the rest of the country it is still bad as the hot weather continues. There are some pockets of improvement in the corn belt in the Midwest but it will not get dramatically better in the next few days because the heat will continue in these areas. It looks like the high heat with temps around 100 will continue in the corn belt through Thursday of next week, then we will likely see a more significant cool down late next week that might last through the end of the month. It would be welcome relief if it develops.

Of course many people seek relief from the heat by heading into air conditioned buildings. That is the most guaranteed way to stay cool but isn’t the most environmentally friendly. Using a fan means using less electricity but it isn’t as good, but it is better than nothing. Which is why I was perplexed by a story I read recently stating that fans DO NOT work to keep you cool from the heat. Now, the article headline might have misrepresented the content a bit, but I was still flummoxed as to why someone would steer people away from using fans, especially if they don’t have air conditioning. The science behind the article was a review of the literature which found no proper studies showing that fans keep people cool during heat waves. Just because there have been no studies about the issue, doesn’t mean it fans are useless. This is where common sense and basic physics triumphs over “studies”.

You would be a fool to not use a fan on a hot day. Fans can not only bring cooler air in from the outdoors, they also help evaporate perspiration off of your body which is nature’s method of cooling you down. If you want to enhance the effect of evaporative cooling you can splash water on yourself. The cooling from evaporation is so powerful that it will even cool you down when the air the fan is blowing around is warmer than your body temperature.

Now of course, you don’t want to put a fan in the window on a day when the temperature is over 100 and much warmer than the temperature of your house. Then you would be bringing hotter air into the house and it will take longer to cool down at night.  On a hot afternoon you just need to have the fan blowing on you while you are watching TV, cooking, or sitting by the computer.

What we do to save electricity at our house is turn the fan on (in the window) at night, around sunset, when the temperature outside becomes lower the the temperature of the house inside. It really works well if you have one fan blowing the cool air in and on the other side of the room or house you have another fan blowing hot air out. We let the fans go all night into the morning. Once the sun is up and the temperature rises a bit, then we turn the fans off and pull shades down over the windows. This usually keeps some of the cool night air in the house for a few hours and reduces the need to run our window unit air conditioner.

Another trick I learned when I lived out in California and drove a car without air conditioning is to eat ice cubes. I tried just driving with my windows open all the time but then when I would get stuck in traffic (which is pretty much everytime and everywhere you drive in California) that didn’t help so much. So what I would do is stop at a convenience store and get a large fountain cup. Most of the time I wouldn’t even fill it up with soda (the sugared soda is awful/terrible for your health anyway). I would just fill the large cup up with ice and pay for that (usually $1 or so). A large cup of ice might last me an hour or more. I would hold the ice in my mouth for a little and then crunch it up with my teeth. It seemed too work quite well. Just like drinking a cold glass of water I suppose.

Have a nice Thursday!

Posted under Drought, Heat, Records

Tony asked about air conditioning use in yesterday’s blog entry. I think I might be the least attached to air conditioning out of all the people I know – at least at home – just ask my wife. We don’t have central air. We only use one window unit for one room in our house. I usually do not turn it on unless the temperature in the house rises up to 80 or above (and it is especially humid). We don’t use air conditioning much in order to save energy and money. Air c0nditioners are huge energy hogs. In fact, as I blogged about a couple weeks ago, newer air conditioners, because they have to use different refrigerants - have a bigger carbon footprint than older models. They are bigger and require more resources to manufacture.

I was thrilled 2 years ago when we only had a few days in the 80s and a couple in the 90s. July of 2009 was particularly cool. It was a rare Summer when I didn’t even put in the window unit air conditioner. I was happy to save a lot of money by not using it. I could probably survive just fine without any air conditioning at home. It helps that I am relatively young. As we age, our bodies have a harder time regulating internal temperature and thus the environmental temperature matters a lot more. Keeping the ambient temperature in a comfortable range (with air conditioning and heating) is crucial.

Work is another matter. As Tony mentioned, our electronic equipment would not work all that well in hotter conditions. It would also be more difficult performing many tasks. Even office work would be uncomfortable if the indoor temperature routinely rose above 80. It is hard to imagine how people got by back in the early 20th century (especially in the southern half of the country) - but they did. Offices and factories used fans and worked at cooler times of the day. I remember a story my Grandpa Schmidt told me about growing up in the 1930s. There were a few years during the 1930s when they had to deal with major heat waves. At times, the high temps would rise above 100 for several days in a row. During these 100 degree days, my Grandpa and his family would do chores in the morning and in the evening and then spend the middle of the day underground in their root cellar/tornado shelter. Along with the hot weather they would also have some significant drought. They had to cut brush to feed the cows because all the grass had burned up. So I guess the moral of the story is we should be thankful for air conditioning, and during times of drought for irrigation and free trade (to maintain crop growth and food supplies). Now if we could only develop some better alternative energy supplies to power our air conditioning. That would be grand!

Speaking of dry weather, the latest US Drought Monitor countiues to show extreme to exceptional drought across the deep south, Texas, and New Mexico. Here in Wisconsin we have been fortunate. There have been a couple periods of dry weather but not enough to change our drought status. The Monitor continues to show Wisconsin 100% drought-free which does not happen very often. If we have some scattered thunderstorms around the state over the next few days (which seems likely) then perhaps the drought-free status will last a while longer.

The main problem over the next few days will be the building heat. High temps will be close to 90 on Saturday and then rise into the low to mid 90s for Sunday and remain in that range for much of next week. With high humidity, the heat index will likely be above 100 degrees for several days in a row.

Have a pleasant Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Heat, Summer

I’m really curious how much you currently use air conditioning and is that different than when you were growing up?  I know all too well my childhood home had no air conditioning.  We got by, but I do remember a lot of summer nights that were grueling.  My bedroom was in the upstairs of our house and it seemed the heat always got trapped up there.  On a plus note I had a nice big window that usual let a good breeze in.  But still, after being out in the hot barn milking hot cows, it would have felt really nice to come in to an air-conditioned house. 

Now my own home has central air, as do my vehicles, my office, and of course most public facilities.   I’ll be honest…I’ve grown to expect it.   It sure makes life in the summer more comfortable and tolerable.   It sure keeps the computers, printers, and electronics running better to be cooler and in lower humidity conditions.

I keep my house A/C set at about 75 degrees.  How about you?  Do you prefer 72 or do you keep it up there at 80?  I find myself feeling chilly if I go below 75, especially if I’ve just stepped in from 90 muggy degrees outside.  It really gets to be a shock on your body to be jumping back and forth if the differential is too big between the outdoor and indoor temperatures. 

Just imagine if for some reason we had to eliminate air conditioning.  Do you think dress codes would change in your workplace?  I imagine it would only take a few weeks of sweating it out and some employers would allow shorts and tank tops.  Maybe instead of suit and ties, it would be shorts, ties, and sandals for the office.  I have a hunch summer would be  a grumpy time at the factory or workplace if there was not A/C.

Then there is the whole electricity use issue with air conditioners.  They are monsters in that regard.  It often uses more electricity than any other item in your home during the summer.  A 2.5 ton central A/C system uses approximately 3500 watts of energy per hour.  A medium size window unit uses about 900 watts per hour.  Just for comparis0n, a refrigerator with the door left open uses around 360 per hour, a desktop computer around 160, and a ceiling fan about 75 watts per hour.

For those of you with tight budgets, which seems like most of us nowadays, fans are your friend when it comes to summer cooling.  As you just saw they use only a fraction of the electricity of air conditioners.  If they are positioned right, the breeze they provide can make it feel about 6 to 9 degrees cooler.

Well I guess the bottom line is we need to not take air conditioning for granted.  Be thankful for it and use it wisely.  Perhaps you could get one with a timer so it is just working when it really needs to.   Just remember the electricity needed to run them is probably generated from the burning of fossil fuels.  This in turn releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and could lead to even warmer weather down the road. 

Good luck dealing with the intense heat wave getting ready to settle in starting this weekend.  I hope you find some cool spots to chill out in and be refreshed as it wears on.

Posted under Heat, Seasonal Items, Summer, Technology

Before delving a little more into recent alternative energy news, I have to bring everyone up to date on the snowmelt contest. It is getting very close to the end. I have included a picture of the snow that I saw yesterday, June 16th. The snow pile was small enough that I estimate it will melt today (the 17th). There is a slight chance it could last until tomorrow. In any case, you can check either the blog or the snowmelt update article to find out what the winning date will be.

Snow as of June 16th

I am quite sure we will be drawing for the top five winners (R-Store gift cards) early next week on Wake-Up Wisconsin.

________________________________

Now for an update on yesterday’s biofuel blog post: The U.S. Senate just voted yesterday to end the ethanol subsidies and the ethanol import tarriff. For those who oppose using food for making liquid fuel, this is a step in the right direction. However, this is just a vote in the Senate. The House and the President must also approve the bill in order for the subsidies to end. Given that the U.S. already seems to be in an election cycle, this vote might not stand. Many people in Iowa support the subsidies and Iowa is an early voting state in the primaries.

The grain ethanol situation is one that did not develop as expected. The government jumped in with billions and billions of dollars before examining many of the unintended side effects – such as food price inflation, transporting the flammable liquid, or the effect on car engines. This is often the case with big government programs and regulations. It reminds me of the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Something that many people might not think about too much is air conditioning. In what seems like another incestuous industry/government collaboration, air conditioners have gotten bigger. The intentions were good – to replace an old refrigerant that might be affecting the ozone layer. Unfortunately, the new refrigerant does not work as well and requires larger air conditioners for the same amount of cooling. This of course means that more energy has to go into manufacturing, transporting, and operating the units. It is likely that the lifetime carbon footprint of the new air conditioners is much higher than the old ones. Here is an article examining the recent development. The author also brings up the housing boom of the 1990s and 200s, how government policies helped to fuel excessive building. Ironically, those houses are much bigger than in the past, built in hotter areas of the country, and are now using less efficient (from a carbon footprint perspective) air conditioners.

It is interesting to note that if oil is running out (and quite dirty anyway), and better green alternatives are not quite ready yet, a “bridge fuel” that could help us out, is one that has very little government support. It is natural gas. It is cleaner and has lower carbon emissions that coal or oil. The U.S has plenty of it as well. It would seem to be the perfect transition fuel. The main problem with using natural gas is getting it out of the ground. The hydraulic fracturing process does have the potential to contaminate ground water in some instances. Read here and here.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Snowmelt 2011

The first thing I wanted to mention is that we have had some technical/software difficulties with posting video on our website over the last couple of days. That is why there has not been a morning weather update or a “Weather Show” for the first two days this week. Hopefully, things will be up and working for tomorrow. If you haven’t watched the weather show as of yet, you can find it at www.waow.com/weatherin the video player. I usually upload it at about 7:30 am Monday through Friday. It is a longer weather broadcast (around 5 minutes) that includes a lot of extra discussion and extra graphics that don’t fit into the time frame of our normal broadcast that you see on TV. If you are a weather aficionado then the “Weather Show” might be your ticket.

Secondly, I see Michael left a comment yesterday wondering how much rain has fallen so far this month and what is normal for June. The answers are: Throughout the 21st of June we have received 5.48 inches of rain in June. The normal for the month in Wausau is 4.18 inches. For the year we now have 10.44 inches of precipitation, while the normal through the 21st of June is 13.21 inches. So we are still 2.77 inches below normal for the year. The record wettest June occurred in 1930, when we had 9.61 inches of rain. If we pick up another couple inches before the end of the month, this June could end up as one of the top ten wettest Junes in Wausau weather history. Where did I find all of this great climate information for Wausau? Most of it comes from the NWS Green Bay Climate page. They do a great job managing and providing climate data not only for Wausau but for all of Northeastern Wisconsin. You can check out their climate page here. Poke around a little and you will find it is a great resource. For Wausau specifically, you can go to this pageand in the section that says “Weather Books” click on the link that says “Wausau” and you will find all the historical daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly records for the last 100 or so years.

Back to the current rainy pattern, even though I would like to see more rainfall to get us caught up to normal for the year, I hope we do have a few sunny days to help dry things out. It has been so damp this month that I have mushrooms growing in my garden. I have to pick them just like I pick the weeds. We should have dry weather for most of today, Thursday, and Friday. Right now I am calling for a chance of Thunderstorms tonight, Wednesday, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, so the pattern still looks a bit wet. If you are hoping for a little longer spell of dry weather, right now it looks like next week we could have 3 or 4 days in a row with some sunshine.

With such active weather recently, I haven’t had time to delve into some of my other favorite blog topics, but today I found a couple articles about energy conservation that tripped my trigger. Air conditioning is becoming so ubiquitous that some people probably consider it a natural right (it isn’t). Unfortunately, modern air conditioning takes a lot of energy. Even though air is being cooled through the process of “air conditioning” the energy used results in a net gain in heat to the air. That is to say, if you could encapsulate your house in a test chamber, you would find that the outside air is heated up more (by you air conditioner’s exhaust) than the inside is cooled down.  Here is an article about the growing use of air conditioning in Hong Kong and southeast Asia. No doubt as this area of the world becomes more affluent, one of the first things they will adopt is air conditioning because they live at a latitude further south than Florida and it is quite tropical. The government mandates that air conditioners be set at 77.9 degrees, which seems pretty reasonable to me (I don’t have central air at my house), but apparently most of them keep their properties around 70. The authors of the article are warning everyone to get ready for more heat because of the use of more air conditioners (and global warming).

Well then, it is a good thing that NREL has developed a new air conditioning process that uses 50 to 90% less energy than current models on the market. It uses a combination of dessication and evaporation to cool air down to the wet bulb temperature, which is typically cool enough to provide comfort. The article does not go into great detail as to how it works, but apparently the desiccant is used to take water out of the air and then the air is evaporatively cooled down to the wet bulb temperature (if not that far then at least a fraction of the way down to the wet bulb temp). The main question I have is if the desiccant (salt solutions) need to be replaced or recharged somehow. The desiccant solution absorbs water. Once it has absorbed the maximum amount it can, then what? Does the water slowly evaporate out of the desiccant? Or does the process require more energy to dry out the desiccant again? If that is the case, then I think it wouldn’t be such a big breakthrough. Otherwise, it is another sign that we CAN live more efficiently and cleanly if we put our brains to work.

Have a nice Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Records