Roads as solar energy collector

Dutch Company Siphoning Heat from Asphalt for Energy Uses from TreeHugger reports how a Dutch civil engineering company can collect heat from asphalt covered road, store in deep underground aquifers and later retrieve.

Originally a system erected to reduce road maintenance costs, Ooms' technology consists of a network of flexible pipes held in place by a grid and covered over by asphalt - which helps magnify solar heat. Heated water coursing through the pipes is pumped deep underground into aquifers; it can then be retrieved, even months later, to keep the road ice-free during the winter. Alternatively, the system can pump cold water from a separate reservoir to cool homes or office buildings in the summer.

Using underground aquifers as a heat buffer, cooled during winter months and used for cooling in summer (hereby warming aquifers and storing the heat for winter warming need)! How clever!

Question: If household use, how large is the heat buffer needed to maintain a Melbourne home comfortable year round?

Aquaponics

In the post Every household should breed these flies, I suggested every household should breed these soldier flies. So we have buckets of soldier flies larvae. What should we do about these creatures?

The previous post From waste to food is a hint to my suggested answer: backyard aquaponics - grow your own vegetables and farm your own fish in your own backyard. See a brief history here.

The idea is quite simple. Farm your own fish. The waste from the fish is converted into plant's nutrient by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The plants grow by absorbing these nutrient and hereby clean the water for the fish to use again.

Do it in your own backyard? Yes, there are lots of small system built by enthusiastic hobbyists which have demonstrated success. See examples. Here is a step by step guide to build one using recycled plastic barrels.

So, I think you would have guessed the answer by now. The soldier fly larvae is the food for the fish!

From waste to food

The video linked to this title is a prefect example of good "by-product management". The unused by-product of one system is being integrated into another as input. John Todd's system produces five *valuable* by-products!

Bubble-glazing

Instead of double or triple glazing to help insulate heat loss through the window, the inventive Tom Chalko comes up with the idea of using the bubble wrap in packaging as a substitute. The result is now visually pleasing and cost effective.

Read his write-up here

Why Fridge has vertical door?

A very good question. As usual, good question leads to good result. Tome Chalko at Mt. Best Australia has converted a

Vestfrost freezer turned into a fridge) consumes about 0.1 kWh a day. It works only about 2 minutes per hour. At all other times it is perfectly quiet and consumes no power whatsoever.

Read his discription here.