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Anonymous Poster

How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

08/24/2009 2:19 AM

Dear All,

I have a very straight question.

How to Calculate Carbon Credits that one can accrue, by installing, say for example a solar water heater of 100 lit/day capacity and having solar collector area of 2 sq. meter. The range of temperature attained is 70-80 degree cels.

Similarly these days Solar assisted air conditioning systems are being marketed. For which manufacturers are claiming that these A/c units consume only 60% electricity compared to normal a/c systems as some new refrigerant is being used in thses systems. These systems heat the refrigerant in solar collectors. Two solar collectors ( total area of 2 collectors is 4 sq.meters) is installed with each solar assisted a/c unit. How to calculate the carbon credits for these type of systems.

Regards,

Dr N P Singh

ered the How to calculate

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#1

Re: How to calculate Carbon Crdits

08/24/2009 3:17 AM

Domestic or industrial?

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#2

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

08/25/2009 9:37 AM

Oh my. "a very straight question"???

Not to poke fun here, as there is a nearly inevitable fraudulent market coming to trade these made-up "Carbon Credits," which exist mainly in the minds of greedy international financiers looking for some way to control the economy of the planet just a bit tighter - not to mention the rest of us looking for a quick buck out of the whole crazy notion while it lasts.

A real, "straight" question would be "How much energy could I save" compared to an electric or gas tank heater, which translates into money saved. Alternatively, to get there you need to ask "How many btu's of energy can I expect to collect in this climate region?" followed by details of your system construction, angle of incidence, and world location/latitude.

In the end, the important question for you to decide whether or not it is 'worth it' to say Yes or No: "How long must my system operate for the savings in operational costs to overcome the marginal increase in investment I must make to install this solar system, compared to the cheaper energy-using system?" And that, Guest, involves your energy costs from the utility as well as the design of your system. There isn't a straight forward way to tell you how much money you'll save each month without that data.

Since there "is" no such thing as a "Carbon Credit," the calculation of those units, on the tiny scale of one solar heat collector, will always be a bit difficult, though it could be extrapolated from other assumptions the market is being 'defined' to use. This includes how many "tons of Carbon" get "saved" by avoiding the use of a certain number of kiloWatt-hours from the utility, though every power plant is different in fuel, efficiency during different days and throughout the day depending on cycling, load, and other factors, etc. The politically defined trading being set up as a large Ponzi scheme worldwide at the moment - like some kind of new fiat currency - has little to do with saving energy or saving the owner of any system money, which is what you should be after. They're just shifting production to third world countries to get them industrialized, since the investment doesn't make sense most of the time unless there is some external incentive. Carbon Cap-and-Trade is the vehicle they're using to force manufacturing to move away from already-developed nations down to so-called "3rd-world" nations, and to allow those "in" on the system to scam money off of it along the way.

Funniest thing is, it would be better for the plants on earth growing greener and faster and more lush and producing more fruit & foliage, if we could INCREASE our production of CO2 on a global scale, without increasing the emission of actual toxins, toxic compounds, and metals. Oh well.

Carbon-Credits = Biology 101 FAIL

Solar Collectors = Good Life Cycle Investment

Solar assisted evaporation of refrigerant = longer payback, but still valuable depending on cost of system versus electricity cost.

OK, for some assumptions:
- Average American family uses ~20 US Gallons of hot water, per person, per day.
- Solar collectors here use electric element as a "backup" in the top of the tank to boost temperature to the desired setpoint whenever needed, but our US Dept of Energy still estimates about a 50% reduction in average energy used.
- Energy collected depends on 1) Size of collector 2) Efficiency of your collector 3) Sunlight at your latitude 4) Capacity and Insulation/Efficiency of your holding system.
- Energy saved depends on 1) Average hot water volume used daily 2) Average incoming water temperature
- Money saved depends on 1) Electricity/Gas utility rate at your location 2) Efficiency of your otherwise-alternate system
- Life Cycle Payback/ROI depends on 1) Cost to install alternate system 2) Cost to install solar collector system

A very simplified calculator using some assumptions for most of the above, can be found here: www.solar-estimator.org

If you are not in the US, look up the postal "zip code" for a location in the US that is about the same climate as your location, and you'll get some usable data.

I'm about in the middle, so our solar energy available is about 4.8 kWh/m^2 per day, we pay about $0.09 per kWh, and I just got a quote a few months ago for about $4,000 for the system hardware for a 60 square foot collector, which I would install myself. We calculated an energy savings of approximately $40 per month, which would then pay for itself in simple terms in 8 years, with an average "service life" of 15 years.

Using the ridiculous "Carbon Saved" calculations available online, this is an estimated savings of about 3.5 "tons" per year savings. If you believe or place any meaning in that line. The assumption is that every $130 or so saved at our energy cost rate "equals" a "ton of Carbon" that has been "saved."

So, your solar collector will "accrue" Carbon Credits (1 Credit = 1 Ton Carbon) based on a comprehensive estimate of how much hot water you use and the factors above. My typical example for our location above would be 3.5 Carbon Credits per year.

Of course, I'm much more interested in saving the $480 per year, as it allows me to spend that money producing environment-helping CO2 by running our 4-wheelers through the forest, enjoying the view of our environment from 1,200 feet up in a small plane, and paying the gas bill for water skiing on the lake.
More savings to use elsewhere + Energy = better life.

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#3
In reply to #2

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

08/25/2009 11:12 AM

Thank you for a reasoned and well thought-out response to the madness that has infected politicians and "scientists" the world over.

I am in the early planning stages of heating my domestic hot water and providing supplemental space heating during cold weather using solar collectors. The best time for me to do this will be during the renovations of the baths and kitchen so my time line is a bit uncertain at this point.

The main reason I would go through this is because it makes cents, not that it makes me "feel good".

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#4

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

08/25/2009 12:40 PM

How can Alternative Energies be good when they require materials that originated from places that all environmentalists say are "evil and destructive"? Alternative Energies require "bad" materials for assembly, such as ceramics, carbons, and metals from Mines, and sometimes plastics and other carbon-based materials, which originate from Oil Wells and Coal mines that environmental groups say are all "evil and destructive". Even "natural" plant fiber materials require machinery and processing and transportation, which also require metals, ceramics, and carbon.

From where do we get the SOURCE materials for wind mills, fuel cells, hydrogen and other alternative energies? Most solar electric panels require ceramics and special elements, such as gallium, arsenic, germanium, etc., that came from mines and smelters. Windmills require metals (originally from mines and smelters). Passive and active solar ventilation and tubing for houses usually require metals and sometimes ceramics, which came from mines and smelters.

Environmental groups say that ALL Mining and Oil / Gas Wells are "bad" and "evil", even with full-scale reclamations and restorations. So how can we go to Alternative Energies when these requires materials that are not accepted by the Environmentalists?

Even fuel cells require materials originally from mines and smelters. Fuel cells have to have metals and / or ceramics for the containment, tubing, chemical reactions, etc. The cells, containments and associated materials use materials from mines and oil wells. Think about the engineered things used to even make hydrogen fuel get started for producing energy.

Look at the Periodic Table of all the elements of the earth. Hydrogen
(H2) is a usually a gas. When hydrogen is used in a chemical bonding or mixture, it is usually released as a single free ion (H- or H+). Sometimes getters are used to store and transport hydrogen.

It is the cells and containments and associated materials that use materials from mines and oil wells. Go and look at the engineered things used to even make hydrogen get started!

To make Hydrogen "burn" and gain energy from it, there must be the chambers, vessels, tubing, connections and fittings. A characteristic of Hydrogen is that is can embrittle materials over time, especially certain types of metals and steels. Normally stainless steels or other specialty metals are used for most Hydrogen activities. These steels and steels are composed of iron and sometimes chromium and / or nickel to control any corrosion from Hydrogen and also prevent embrittlement as much as possible. The materials for steels ALL come from mines and smelters.

But how is hydrogen (H2 and the H ions) produced from water or other source materials? Either in the reaction apparatus and chambers of the cars or else in processing plants, both of which use metals and ceramics and plastics. If we get H2 from the air, we get it from gas separators which are composed of metals and other "bad" materials.

Environmentalist point to bicycles as environmentally-friendly transportation. To make bicycles, manufacturers must get materials that originated from mining operations (iron, molybdenum, aluminum, ceramics, etc.), oil wells and coal mines for Carbon and plastic materials, and sometime timber for wood. These materials are then processed in plants that also use products from mining and oil wells, and use electricity. How can this be "good" by any environmentalist's definitions?

Look at how many existing Wilderness Areas have abandoned oil / gas wells and also mining sites within their boundaries. Why is that permissible? How is it that reclamations of well drilling sites are either ignored or denied by the environmental groups now? There have been many private groups in the Pacific Northwest (like my grade school in the 1960's) that went out and planted trees, grass, and shrubs in the forests. We even saw some of the lumber companies replanting trees and shrubs. But apparently, none of those good efforts count in the mind of the environmental groups, as seen in recent publications and notifications.

Take a deeper look at what really is going on. Natural resources are needed for everything in our lives, even medical items and alternative energies. But when our natural resources are being closed up and as reclamations are either ignored or badmouthed, we are loosing the materials needed for our daily lives, even for the "nice" Alternative Energies. As a final note, my 1990 car gets the same gas mileage GPM as a modern hybrid car. Go figure.

In a publication from early 1992, the Sierra Club in Santa Fe openly announced that oil / gas well drillers were still using lead-based (Pb) lubricants. Never mind that the EPA banned their use several years before in the mid-1980s and that the drilling industry had already switched to biodegradable lubricants even before that. Never mind that law enforcement and the EPA later on checked for compliance in the industry. Also, there is new drilling technology, called Coiled Tubing, that allows certain types of well drilling operations from the back of a pickup, thus less impacts than the vehicles you drive. Why don't we don't hear that from the Environmentalists.

Are you familiar with the wilderness near Ruidoso, NM, USA? The wilderness boundaries "captured" some gold and silver / lead mines. The government threatened to sue the mine and claim owners with EPA Superfund status if they did not surrender the land for wilderness designation. Now how is it that places that are supposedly EPA Superfund sites can now be "wilderness" and untouched areas? The 1964 Wilderness Act specified that undeveloped, untouched, and natural areas were to be part of the wilderness areas.

former Univ. of California technical staff member, Los Alamos, NM USA

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Anonymous Poster
#5

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

08/25/2009 1:27 PM

Carbon Credits are for suckers that dont realize this world belongs to all of us and not just some group of fat liars that want to rule the world with trickery,!! Mmmm yesss my precious..........It tooks it from us!

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Anonymous Poster
#6

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

09/04/2009 4:19 PM

the new AC system id aammonia absorption refrigeration, a very old system that typically uses a propane feed fire to run it.

Your system will save 1/2 of a tonne per year of CO2, it's trade value is 5 euros.

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#7

Re: How to Calculate Carbon Crdits

12/17/2009 9:08 PM

A recent article by the BBC pointed out that 90% of the carbon credits in Europe had basically been scammed by criminals (either "legal" corporate or illegal ones)

In terms of calculating carbon credits, they depend on the assumptions made.

If you have enough money to handle legal costs, you can probably make them be whatever you want. If your like us, you just get screwed.

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