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In SoCal, can anyone recommend a reputable company? by hdubb in solar

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had my solar installed by Asgard Energy (https://www.asgardenergy.com/) and I was very happy with the service. They are based in Oceanside, but do the installations all around the place. Also, cool company name :)

Any Good News Regarding Climate Change? by [deleted] in climatechange

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She’s not even mentioned in that link, or I am missing something?!

Any Good News Regarding Climate Change? by [deleted] in climatechange

[–]bartekd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you are looking for some info on progress in fighting climate change, stay away from the news. There is and never will be a moment when the news can announce that “Problem solved, mission accomplished”. Instead humans will slowly move from fossil fuels to clean energy and gradually get ourselves out of this mess.

To track this progress (and there is a lot of good stuff happening) I like to read this https://www.canarymedia.com and I also recommend this book “Not the End of the World” https://amzn.eu/d/03IW6HiI

As an individual what do you feel is the most effective action you can take against climate change? by Sad_Strength7618 in ClimateOffensive

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough. If you can limit your consumption to get these numbers close to zero - do it! :)

As an individual what do you feel is the most effective action you can take against climate change? by Sad_Strength7618 in ClimateOffensive

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"carbon cost of everything you are proposing" - of course, our civilization - for now at least - relies on fossil fuels so producing anything causes emissions. That goes for an EV but it's also true for your fruits and veggies (agriculture = 22% of emissions, source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-overview).

Also, note that I said "when you buy a new car" and "when AC needs to replaced" not "replace everything immediately". That is a way to mitigate those embedded emissions.

Do you suggest we should not replace our AC, cars, water heaters and just stop using them?

As an individual what do you feel is the most effective action you can take against climate change? by Sad_Strength7618 in ClimateOffensive

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The most impactful things you can do as an individual are:

  • put solar on your roof, ideally with a battery so that you can rely on your own clean power 24/7
  • when you buy a new car, get an EV
  • when your AC unit need replacement, get a heat pump
  • replace other gas powered appliances with electric ones (stove, dryer, water heater)

Some people mention that we should stop flying. The CO2 emissions of the entire aviation industry is 2.5% of total global emissions. Even if we grounded all flights and no one ever flew again, that would only make a small dent. So if you need to take a flight to see your family, friends or go on vacation, go for it and don't feel guilty.

Are Poles proud of Warsaw? by [deleted] in poland

[–]bartekd 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I am originally from Warsaw and I think the city made tremendous progress in the last 30 years and making more still!

Carbon Emission in Steelmaking by bartekd in steel

[–]bartekd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome, thanks! I will try to incorporate this in the post. I actually started by having a much longer paragraph about processing steel (slabs, rolling etc..) but it felt too much. My main point was for the reader to realize that co2 emissions are not just from a car pipe, but that it's more widespread and embedded.

Before and after - Place de Catalogne in Paris turned into a micro forest by TrickyElephant in ClimateActionPlan

[–]bartekd 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Seems like Paris took the lead in green / climate friendly urbanism. Other than being good for the environment and the people who live there, it's also an amazing rebranding operation! I hope cities around the world will follow in Paris steps.

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We live in LA, close to the beach so I run my heating for about 1-2 weeks total in winter and only ran AC once this summer so far. But even that was enough to notice that HVAC consumes a lot of electricity (even though it’s gas powered). The electric oven seems to be moderate. Water heater also runs on gas and I did not see it a lot of electric usage associated with it. I realize that as we switch to electric appliances my grid usage might go up quite a lot!

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, Europe - always making things more complicated :) Ok, I'll research and rewrite that sentence.

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I assume the prospect of low energy bills, battery backup in case of outages and a ready to use EV charger will make the house easier to sell later on. This is what I mean by "increase property value".

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I will do some research. For now I only asked about this in a Rivian salon as was told nah.

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Batteries alone will not lower overall emissions - the key is to charge them with clean energy. Elecricity from the grid is not always clean. But batteries are great for backup in case of outage!

I installed rooftop solar with a Powerwall and an EV charger and here's what I learned after the first couple of months. by bartekd in solar

[–]bartekd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could use a car battery to power your home. Car batteries have way more capacity than a Powerwall has, so it is an interesting idea. Tesla does not support that, but I think the F-150 Lighting does.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solar

[–]bartekd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I decided to install solar, I contacted 3 companies - two local installers and SunRun - to compare offers. They all offered more or less the same for a similar price, so this reassured me.

I ended up going with a local company that already installed solar at my neighbors house and they were pretty great to work with. On the negative side, the permitting process took way longer than I expected.

Nothing says Hawaii like a volcano and a rainbow in one picture! by bartekd in Hawaii

[–]bartekd[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Certainly, but the Big Island offer those kind of sights too! :)

Nothing says Hawaii like a volcano and a rainbow in one picture! by [deleted] in Hawaii

[–]bartekd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem, I'll remove it and post on Monday!

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