Fossil Fuels // Current TV

Colorado creating US’s first fossil fuel-free community

The United States’ first net-zero community is coming soon to Arvada Colorado! Dubbed Geos, the development will employ a sterling roster of alternative energy strategies to cut its consumption fossil fuels and become completely self-sustainable. Lately we’ve seen a slew of similar communities springing up around the world, from Canada to India to Estonia and we couldn’t be happier, since it’s future-forward communities such as these that are paving the pathway to a brighter future.

Geos is an innovative net-zero community that will harness energy from the Earth and the Sun to completely eliminate its consumption of fossil fuels. The community will be situated on an area of 25 acres, bordered on the West by the Croke Canal, and on the South by Ralston Creek. It will comprise 250 planned homes ranging from 850 to 3500+ square feet, and four distinct neighborhoods: Entry mixed-Use, Beachfront mixed-use, Garden Community and Checkerboard Blocks. The community will be interlaced with a network of plazas, parks, and trails, and will connect a diverse community of people and lifestyles.

The community plans to employ both active and passive solar energy collection measures to meet daytime heating and electrical energy needs. Homes will be constructed to maximize solar gain and will feature checkerboard placements for complete access to sunlight, east-to-west floorplans to maximize exposure to the Sun, strategic placement of doors and windows, and scientifically engineered awnings. Rooftops will be outfitted with photovoltaic solar panels that will send their excess power to the grid for storage.

For days when the sun doesn’t shine, geothermal energy will be used to meet the energy needs of the community. An underground geothermal exchange system will utilize the Earth’s energy to provide hot water and heating during Winters, while helping to cool buildings during the Summer.

An energy monitoring system will inform Geos homeowners of their energy usage. With this excellent array of features Geos is set to create a remarkable precedent for living an entirely self-sustainable lifestyle.

Designed by Michael Tavel Architects and David Kahn Studio, the community has been conferred the 2006 Colorado AIA Citation Award, the 2006 Denver AIA Honor Award, and the 2006 Denver AIA Sustainability Award. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the fall of 2008, and first homes will be ready by the 2nd quarter of 2009. The United States’ first net-zero community is coming soon to Arvada Colorado!... more

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NASA: the ocean's carbon balance

"For eons, the world’s oceans have been sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and releasing it again in a steady inhale and exhale. The ocean takes up carbon dioxide through photosynthesis by plant-like organisms (phytoplankton), as well as by simple chemistry: carbon dioxide dissolves in water. It reacts with seawater, creating carbonic acid. Carbonic acid releases hydrogen ions, which combine with carbonate in seawater to form bicarbonate, a form of carbon that doesn’t escape the ocean easily.

Crew members aboard the R/V Roger Revelle retrieve a CTD rosette from the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean. As the device is lowered into the ocean, electronic instruments measure salinity, temperature, and depth. Each of the white bottles collects seawater at different depths for detailed analysis. (Photograph ©2008 Brett longworth.)

As we burn fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels go up, the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide to stay in balance. But this absorption has a price: these reactions lower the water’s pH, meaning it’s more acidic. And the ocean has its limits. As temperatures rise, carbon dioxide leaks out of the ocean like a glass of root beer going flat on a warm day. Carbonate gets used up and has to be re-stocked by upwelling of deeper waters, which are rich in carbonate dissolved from limestone and other rocks.

In the center of the ocean, wind-driven currents bring cool waters and fresh carbonate to the surface. The new water takes up yet more carbon to match the atmosphere, while the old water carries the carbon it has captured into the ocean.

The warmer the surface water becomes, the harder it is for winds to mix the surface layers with the deeper layers. The ocean settles into layers, or stratifies. Without an infusion of fresh carbonate-rich water from below, the surface water saturates with carbon dioxide. The stagnant water also supports fewer phytoplankton, and carbon dioxide uptake from photosynthesis slows. In short, stratification cuts down the amount of carbon the ocean can take up."
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Good article about the scientific research that goes into determining the natural and human factors behind Co2 absorption and balance in our oceans. And as this article illustrates, humans will have to mitigate their emissions of Co2 in order for our oceans to continue to be able to balance Co2 in a way that sustains them, our planet, and all species that depend on them for life."For eons, the world’s oceans have been sucking carbon dioxide out of the... more

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