Costa Rica Current Events

     OK, I’m a little late this week, but not too badly. I don’t know about you guys, but my week has been hammered with to-dos. Not enough time in the days. Anyhow, I read through some current events in Costa-Rica and thought it was quite remarkable that they don’t have a military. So cool.         

    

     “Costa Rica marks 65 years without an army.” Wow. I found this article to be intriguing. The president is proud of creative conflict resolution using the UN and The Hague. Others would like to see a paramilitary in place to help enforce the “motherland” from problems with Nicaragua, fearing Nicaragua may invade. Haaa ha ha ha ha! I’m no international political expert, but common sense tells me that would be a preposterous thing to do on Nicaragua’s part. So silly, that the fear of them doing it is just as ridiculous. It seems to me, of all the nation states on the planet, Costa Rica is the nice kid on the block everyone would want to protect. The UN wouldn’t stand for it, The Hague wouldn’t stand for it, and the United States wouldn’t stand for it either. I think the US would see it as an opportunity to truly dig in to drug cartel institutions and put in place whatever puppet they wanted (and I’m not saying that would or would not be a “pro-drug cartel” leader.) I remember the US supporting the “Contras” in the 80s, for which the international courts later ruled in favor of Nicaragua for reparations. We all knew it was an underhanded thing the US was involved in. Meanwhile, Costa Rica has reinvented what it means to be a nation state. I’m looking forward to going there in-person.

                  Additionally, having personally seen what happens in Africa when military (either sanctioned or unsanctioned) groups decide they don’t like what’s going on in government and are armed to the teeth, it would be a certain misstep politically, in my opinion. Meanwhile, while other countries are going broke, they are becoming (or already are) politically “sustainable.”  

FOR365 Questions

    This class has been a good "end of degree (in Natural Resources)" review for me because it has sort of taken all of the things I have learned in many classes and put them together in a way of "Yup, this is all the stuff you should know pretty well by now," and I feel like I do. Do I have questions? Yes, but they are the kind that can't be answered, even with science. I wish I could predict the future (on second thought, maybe I don't...) In any case, it's people I wonder about. I have taken my share of psychology and sociology classes and, while it is interesting to pontificate on human behavior, we're just too complicated to be figured out. Period. I'm not an old guy by any means, but I've been around long enough to have had many ideologues of youth crushed by realities of life. It doesn't stop me from believing in a better future or being chronically cynical (although I admit I have my moments.) I was raised in a time when it was perfectly OK to over-consume in fantastic ways that, in hindsight are absolutely absurd. I wasn't the only one - almost everyone was like that. Society has changed and for the better in many ways. But some things remain the same. Africa is simply a mess. Political corruption is growing, and it is especially growing in our our country. 

    I believe our biggest problem with environmental issues is rooted in campaign contributions and its effects on environmental policy. Corporations wishing to do business that can affect environmental health have very, very deep pockets and with the current framework of policy-making in place, money has too large of an impact. I am not saying that it is impossible to overcome the lobby of big-oil, mining, and automobile manufacturers, but the game is tilted in their favor the way it is now. I truly think campaign finance reform could have the greatest positive impact on environmental causes than any other social change. Politicians are supposed to represent all of the people in their constituency (and companies too,) but when a few people who have the most to gain control decisions over the masses that don’t, something is very wrong. And it is the single greatest flaw in our political system today, in my opinion. Somehow, and I think we have the ways to do it now. Politicians need to truly hear their constituency and weigh the will of the little people with their conscience as much as they do their career.  

    I have always been a Star Trek fan. Deep within all the sci-fi silliness lies a wonderful premise; society has no use for money anymore, it values all people and tries to help people become their best selves, there is no more war for the reasons above. Yes, it is fiction. But it is worthy of shooting for.

    So, do I have questions. Sure. In fact, I question just about everything...and I think that's a good thing. I question whether Quantum mechanics is the best description of our reality and the nature of nature (I don't doubt it is A description - we have done great things with this framework. But is it the only one? I don't think so). I am not willing to go up against the establishment of academia on that, but I will remain questioning. And I will remain questioning many things. Even things I have been taught. Sometimes things only get proven to me through hands-on experimenting.

    I am very much looking forward to spending in-person time with all of you on our travel and I wish to help any way i can. I happen to have a wealth of knowledge about cell phone technology, so if you have any questions about that, I'd be happy to help. I've also traveled to foreign places and those experiences have helped refine this kind of travel. Again, feel free to contact me for anything.

 

Energy thoughts: Me, my cars, and voltage!

      I am VERY energized at finding solutions to energy problems. In fact, it may be that “thing” I was put on Earth to do! Here is my biggest thought regarding energy. About 8 years ago, I started taking an interest in energy efficiency, especially as it relates to transportation. It seemed ridiculous to me that our internal combustion engines create so much wasted heat. So I studied the physics behind internal combustion. I looked at the history and probably all of the gas saving devices, contraptions, and snake oil available. I built some of my own and combed over patents.  My 73 Beetle at the time was a rolling laboratory and, frankly, I did have some success, regardless of what naysayers believed (and still do on my motorhome.) I’ll be happy to discuss that with anyone who wants to listen. However, no matter how you cut it, internal combustion engines have one big fault: combustion time. You put in something that explodes, not too fast and not too slow, and you have between 4 and 10 milliseconds to have it expand, push on the piston, complete burning, cool off enough, and get out. I converted a generator to use hydrogen instead of gasoline. It was amazingly efficient and ran so cool you could touch the engine while it was running. It was also quiet. But Hydrogen is difficult to store and I knew that it really is only a carrier of energy anyway.  Electricity is the way to go when it comes to transportation. Why? Because converting electric energy into motive energy is very efficient compared to heat engines and we’re trying to move after all. Heat engines are mostly heaters. That’s why they get so hot. In fact, most people don't know that part of the 14.7:1 "stochiometric" fuel to air ratio includes enough EXTRA fuel for evaporation at the end of the stroke to extinguish the flame and cool off enough to prevent meltdown. It is not actually stochiometric in the chemistry sense. Very little of the actual energy gets converted to motive force – perhaps between 1 and 15%. Not so with electric motors. They are 76-80% efficient, including gear losses and such.

      I was doing all of this because I could not see a way to transition the existing 250 million registered cars off of gasoline/diesel and on to alternative energy sources. I was enthralled with the Tesla electric vehicles, but wow they are complex and expensive. I would love to see us move to renewably sourced electricity, with a beefed up grid, and electricity based transportation. But that left me thinking. What about all the cars on the road today?  Then I got an electric bike motor with a LiFEPo4 battery of my own. It’s simple and it’s strong (not to mention a blast!) I can charge it to go a distance of about 30 miles at 28mph for around 4.5 cents from the grid (and my electricity is renewably sourced, so it's completely emission-free) I wanted to be able to charge it from my 12V system with solar panels (I have 800W of solar,) but it requires a 60V source. Fortunately, I am pretty good with electronics and can program microcontrollers, so I designed and built a device to charge the 48V battery from the 12V panels with a modifiable pulse width. It watches the voltages, pulses, and turns off at the appropriate time.  In this process I learned about the intricacies of charging lithium-based batteries and about how motor controllers work. Not that difficult really. So I looked at my bike and then looked at my ’69 Beetle. I envisioned axial-flux motors on each front wheel and a trunk full of batteries. Then I thought, “It wouldn’t take too much to design retrofit electric conversions to fit just about ANY car. I also am using a little-known open-source circuit for battery charging that is simple and efficient (capacitive transformer power supply.) That also means it would be inexpensive to produce.

      This way, everyone doesn’t need to buy a brand new electric car to get the benefits of using electricity for local trips AND they still get to use the gas engine whenever they want. There are many hurdles. Lithium batteries are very expensive – that’s the main problem. But I am convinced battery technology will just keep getting better and better with costs dropping.  Running accessories could present a problem, but just idling a gas engine doesn’t use much fuel, so until a good solution is presented, that may be it.

      I have thought of making this a focus in an individual masters degree study plan at Goddard College. When done, I would hope to have a complete design. If it didn’t go mainstream, I’d be able to do it as custom installations and have a fun little niche business.  

There you have it. One of many ideas running around in my head.

Climate Change: An Unpopular Perspective

    One thing about studying environmental science topics such as global warming is an overwhelming feeling of inevitable doom facing our future. I’ve been at this for a number of years now and have looked at it from just about every angle and, it’s bad. My friends and I are way, way past “is it real?” and on to “We suck.” So, I always ask myself, “Why do I keep studying and learning?” The debate is over. O.V.E.R. I guess there must be some small glimmer of hope, or maybe since I only have one class left for this degree, there is little reason to stop now. I don’t know for sure. I know that I despise conversations that attempt to change someone’s mind about anything – that’s just not who I am. I prefer to live a life of attraction rather than promotion. I’m not even going to get in to the “What is climate change?” thing. I’ve been reading it, writing about it, and preaching it ad nauseum for a long time now. As David Roberts said in the Ted talk, it’s pretty simple to understand. The cause is fossil fuels (cheap energy.) That cause is unending consumerism. That cause is capitalism. And that cause is greed. (Those last two are my viewpoints.) The question is now not whether climate change exists, but what can we do about it? I guess the essence of change starts at home, so I want to live in more of a way that supports what I believe in, and I have a long way to figuring out just what that looks like in modern America. Alas, that’s my goal and to have a degree or three to stand behind the rhetoric during my life.

   

   I have been to Fiji. Reefs are already seeing changes from water temperature increases. They will be devastated in the future. An entire culture was built on this inter-tidal area. As I write, the Philippines have been hammered by more intense tropical storms and these storms are predicted to rise in frequency and intensity. Rise in seawater will devastate rice production and food supply. I find it interesting that scientists talk about the rise in “temperature” because it is something people can grasp. But, with water having such a high specific heat index, the amount of added ENERGY in our Earth’s system is enormous and will certainly be the cause of much future storm devastation. Here at home, the Southwest will probably be too hot to live in.

   So, as for the future, I am not very optimistic. I know that isn’t popular, but I am not all doomsday either. I think we should try.  Can we be more efficient? Surely. Will that help? Surely. Is it enough to keep civilization from facing severe consequences from over-consumption? Only time will tell, but if history is at all accurate (which I believe it is,) it shows us that many civilizations have completely collapsed due to over-consumption. The Assyrian and Mongol empires both collapsed because they were based on a society of constant, unending growth (like our capitalist society is today.) I don’t actually think this takes any science to understand – it is common sense. We can look at our past and, hopefully learn, but I have not seen much evidence to make me believe modern humans are capable of learning from their mistakes. Does this make me a cynic? I like to think of it more like a viewer of facts. Just because I happen to be a member of the species, which I believe will become extinct due to its own tendencies, should not skew the observations I see. Humans are a nice experiment in natural selection, but in the end, I think we will be a short-lived one. Generally, species never survive the test of time. Why should we think we are any different? It actually offers me great comfort. There is definitely something much larger than I, or any other human, governing the ways of life and death, species creation, and species destruction. If we could come back in a million years and see what’s going on, in hindsight, it would probably be no surprise at all. The planet will very likely have new and wonderful species.

   Again, I know this is not popular, but I don’t believe we are capable of enacting change in climate through social pathways. Where do I think that leaves those of us who think this way? With a way to get ready. A start in changing our minds about what things will look like in 25 years and perhaps a vision, to help those who will listen (or observe,) toward living happily in spite of the environmental damages that have been done. How do I get up in the morning to face such spectacular doom? Life is a gift. I enjoy it and part of enjoying it is attempting to live IN nature and not in spite of it. I like to see myself, and all humans as a PART of nature and not separate from it in any way at all. And even though I don’t feel very positive that enacting change will be possible, it doesn’t mean I don’t think we shouldn’t try. That’s the one thing we seem to have that is different from other species – an imagination of the future.

   What I am sure of is that our political system in the U.S., which we use to enact change, is severely broken. I watched it unfold. That also may not be a popular viewpoint, but something has shifted in my lifetime (born in the 60s,) and it looks like the basic ideological differences between “I got mine” and “help everyone.” Oddly, the “I got mine” group thinks they are helping everyone by “getting theirs” and creating an “ever-growing” economy. The problem with that idea is that our planet and resources are finite and the economy cannot sustain growth forever. If it doesn’t balance and become in-tune with natural systems, it will collapse. And I DEFINITELY don't think market economics will "balance" anything out. That's what got us in trouble in the first place.

EcoPrint

Ecological Footprint Quiz results and thoughts     

        Well, I took the ecological footprint quiz online at myfootprint.org. I didn’t have a link on my class page, so I hope that was the right one! There was bad news and good news. The bad news is that I am a bit of an ecological pig and if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.14 planets to supply the necessary resources to support my lifestyle. So, clearly, there is a lot of room for improvement (First screenshot below.) The good news is that I’m not nearly as much of a piggy as most Americans. Geez (Second screenshot below.) Using the same answers, I did the quiz again, posing as living in Costa Rica. My footprint went down to .34 Earths. The interesting part is the second screenshot showing that I would still be using less than the country average. That was a little surprising. I figured I would use more than the average Costa Rican. It tells me they live well with less impact.

            So, what can I do to reduce my ecological footprint? I have two modes of thought on that. The first are the little things I should do where I am now, in the situation I am in now. The second is a dream of good living with little ecological impact and that’s going to take some time and some money.

            First, I drive too much without someone else in the car. I live in a rural area though, so I don’t have much of a choice. We do limit our trips into town by trying to consolidate our errands into one trip. It’s about 15 miles. I suppose I could ride my e-bike more often. I wish I could handle being Vegan, but I simply can’t. I’ve tried being vegetarian and found it not good for me. However, I don’t eat meat daily. If I could afford carbon offsets, I would, but that’s simply not reasonable when your next meal is the last tamale in the fridge and no money.

            My dream is to live the life I imagined myself having in the quiz a third time. That time, I put in all the answers I wish I could make happen. The result was a .54 planet score – not bad, but still not as good as Costa Rica. Basically, just being an American hits the score (which makes sense because we transport everything all over the place here.)  In this dream, I live in a house that I built with local materials with ultimate efficiency (solar gain, solar hot water panels, solar PV, etc.) and with transportation that is also highly efficient, like a car that is charged by solar or renewable solar offset electricity.

      I scored much lower (better) than the average American, but still require 2.14 planets to support my lifestyle. Clearly, there is much room for improvement. The second set of snapshots under the Costa Rica heading are the results using the same answers, but if living in Costa Rica. Surprisingly, my score was lower than most people in the country. All in all, this tells me Costa Ricans live well, but still with far less impact than those in the U.S.

     I live in a tourist town. As such, I get to see the onsumptive side of….well, rich people, and it is ugly. No offense to Texans, but we sure to get a lot of Texans here who drove up in their HUGE, perfectly shiny pickup trucks, to spend their extra scratch. Don’t get me wrong, we need that money here in Taos, but it can be pretty disgusting to see the wanton waste happen right in front of your eyes. I have nothing against trucks, if they are used for what trucks are used for, but these aren’t used for that purpose. Everything’s big ‘n Texas, you know. It has become just another consumerism fad with no thought to the surrounding environment. When they park across TWO parking spaces, I feel pretty pissed. Why do people feel the entitlement to take up more than their fair space in this world? Are they just not educated or do they feel they deserve it? “I got mine, now you go get yours!.” I’m pretty tired of that attitude…….

My Awesome Water in Taos

So, I took the fresh water quiz online at  http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-101-quiz/.  I missed two questions: The “constitutional rights of rivers” and “jeans.” So, I think I got the really important ones.

I am very fortunate to live in an isolated valley containing an aquifer that is AWESOME! Our water here is clean, delicious, and PLENTIFUL. Yes, I said plentiful. In short, the west side of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range is our watershed and the aquifer is bounded by the Rio Grande gorge. So, we have gobs of water here and if you cross the “Gorge bridge” it’s dry as a bone. Land is super cheap over there, so people do occupy it, and those guys have to manage their catchment water very efficiently and also haul it in. Ugh. We, on the other hand, aren’t going to run out, even if our population were to rise greatly here in Taos valley. I know that’s not a popular opinion for those who believe conservation is godliness, but I follow the belief that it is most important to preserve the quality of the water as it filters right back in to the aquifer. Avoiding evaporation however, is an issue I take to heart. So, all my landscaping is on a timed drip system and are native plants to the area (actually, this is not my doing – I rent and the landscaping company is super-environmentally-aware.) I know that our septic system is functioning properly and THAT seems to be the main thing between the water I use at home and the return to nature. Now, if I lived in Albuquerque, this would be a whole different story. They are over pumping their aquifer at a dangerous rate and water conservation is necessary in every possible front.

So, what do I do to retain water quality where I live? I recycle all my batteries, oil, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. I use phosphate free products (septic safe,) and I DO NOT DRINK BOTTLED WATER (or soda.) I think that is the craziest thing we people do here in the US. I know some of you don’t have sweet water like I have, but it seems ridiculous on so many levels to transport water across the country in little petroleum based containers. A radical idea would be to make it illegal. Maybe even rich people, who can afford to buy bottled water, would be forced to get something done locally about protecting their own water supply if they had to drink the same thing everyone else in their area drinks and give it to their children. I know. It’s radical, but America is getting really stupid when it comes to bottling things we should get locally. Comments?

Group 2 Topic - Renewable Energy

It was an interesting process, this picking a topic thing. There was some confusion about whether we should pick a topic individually, do some research on it and then choose between the individual choices as a group, or to work to together, pick a topic, research some and then post the same group topic information. I ended up doing both. I figured at least my group could look at what I thought in an organized way. But the process got us there because we all did some investigating and then hashed out a common topic between us. That topic came to be the importance of renewable energy. As we did some research, we found that Costa Rica supplies 99% of its electricity from renewable energy and is shooting to be 100% carbon free by 2021. That's pretty impressive.

Of course, there are some pitfalls and many energy issues are hotly debated. (Hydroelectric projects, for example.) It is important to understand the issues so one can speak effectively about new infrastructure decisions.

But since the energy sector is responsible for an enormous amount of carbon emissions, this seemed like an important topic to review. Comparing and contrasting renewable energy in both developing countries in Latin America and modern countries such as our own should provide some insight on how things are progressing (or not, as the case may be.)

I like my group members. We pulled together to get his done in short order and I believe we will find out some very interesting facts.