Energy conservation project

Made by Paul Norwood – Sitka, Alaska

For ED630, Fall 2009

Striving for sustainability. I started by estimating my carbon footprint. At

7.7 tons of CO2 per year, it is about 21% of the US average. However, that is still a consumption rate that would require 190% of the Earth’s resources to be sustainable at the global level.

I anticipate to reach a sustainable level if I stop flying so much.

However, this is about more than averages.

What can I do?

Heating is already a very small part of my energy consumption.

Inefficient lighting is in fact not so bad because it turns to heating.

A few basics on batteries

40 billion disposable batteries were sold worldwide in 2006. This trend shows no sign of slowing down.

Both alkaline and NiMH (rechargeable) batteries are recyclable.

Once the differences in economies of scale are factored in, NiMH batteries are 27 times more energy efficient than alkaline batteries.

Mining

Energy-intensive. All the metals that make up a battery come from

strip mines. The coal that provides most of our batteries’

manufacturing energy also comes from strip mines.

Isolating the minerals

It takes many more units of energy to isolate the metals that make up a battery, than it takes to charge (or recharge) that same battery.

Some processes are smelting, roasting, acid leaching, etc.

Isolating one mineral may involve many chemicals.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing requires a lot of power, most of which comes from coal.

Shipping

These are some typical provenances for the minerals used in batteries:

Zinc: China Cobalt: D.R. Congo Manganese: Australia Nickel: Russia Potassium

(carbonates): Chile

Estimated battery use (per year) Bicycle headlamp: 3 AAAs × 10 = 30 AAAs

Camping headlamp: 3 AAAs × 3 = 9 AAAs Emergency strobe: 2 AAs × 0.5 = 1 AA Camera: 4 AAs × 10 = 40 AAs Bicycle rear light: 2 AAs × 4 = 8 AAs Handheld GPS: 2 AAs × 3 = 6 AAs Total: 39 AAAs and 55 AAs

Total weight: 468 gr. + 1375 gr. = 1843 gr.

NiMH equivalent weight : 1843 gr. ÷ 27 = 68 gr.

We love math! Data source: P = “%” column in GEHS Material

Safety Data Sheets. Excluded data: Graphite, natural or synthetic. Merged data: Manganese, Manganese hydroxide,

and Sodium hydroxide. Equation for alkaline batteries:

X = P ÷ 100 × 1843 grams Equation for NiMH batteries:

X = P ÷ 100× 68 grams

What’s in those batteries? Those minerals make up my

alkaline batteries (blue), and their yearly equivalent in rechargeable batteries (red):

1: Manganese 2: Potassium, bases 3: Zinc 4: Nickel 5: Cobalt 6: Aluminum

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Series1 875 138 322 0 0 0

Series2 1.7 3.4 0 42.5 5 1.7

1 2 3 4 5 6

What if everyone did the same thing? It is unreasonable to expect everyone to buy

a charger, but very reasonable to conceive of “community charger” microbusinesses in much of the world. That, however, entails a wider access to grids and power plants.

Those 40 billion batteries per year would probably be cut by a third simply because of grid access, and the remainder by more than twenty seven when economies of scale, R&D, and cultural change work their magic.

Looking back Going beyond Presentation

Data

Focus

Publicity

Gifts

Recycling

Sources Carbon Footprint quiz. http://www.myfootprint.org/en/ Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency Homepage.

http://www.energy.gov/energyefficiency/index.htm Duracell Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries. Batteries Plus: MSDS.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/msds/Duracell%20NiMH%205-03.pdf Duracell Alkaline Batteries. Batteries Plus: MSDS.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/msds/Duracell%20Alk%206-04.pdf Product Data Sheet: Energizer E91.

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf Product Data Sheet: Energizer E92.

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E92.pdf Standard cylindrical battery sizes. PowerStream, inc.

http://www.powerstream.com/Size.htm UNIROSS Study on the Environmental impact of batteries.

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/docs/UNIROSS-Environmental-impact-of-batteries.pdf

Pictures from Wikimedia commons Foundry – US Navy Photo, Photographer’s

mate 1st class Dean Dunwody. Igloo Upgrades – Thomas Madsen Modern Times: Chaplin – Museo Del Cine Pavel Korchagin Cargo Ship – Philippe

Lauga Strip Coal Mining – Stephen Codrington The Magic Bulb – Mattia Luigi Nappi Traffic Jam India - Yann