Cob: RE: Insulation

[bluemoon]

sojournr at missouri.org wrote:
> Oh?  Trees naturally give off creosote when they decompose?

What is your definition of creosote? It comes from the distillation of
wood/coal tar. Not burning. And only certain types of wood do this.


>No.  We would quickly burn up everything in sight.  Do you have ANY IDEA
> of just how many people there are living in the US, and how many BTU's
> need to be generated to keep the vast majority of them warm in the
> winter?  (We can largely ignore populations of Florida and parts of CA,
> they do some heating there but nothing compared to what happens further
> north).

How many people actually have a wood burning stove in the city? We were not
discussing demographics, we were discussing burning wood and it being
sustainable.  Most people have natural gas to heat their homes and would
think nothing of switching to wood unless as a back up.

> Aside from the creosote issue, imagine the concentrations of smoke in
> urban population centers.  LA car smog would pale by comparison.

Again, many people live in buildings, how applicable is this for  wood as a
sustainable heat source? As for LA, they can take advantage of passive solar
HEAT.


> Granted it would only be in the heating season.  What's that, about 6 to
> 9 months in the northern portions of the US?  Probably worse in Canada.

What is probably worse in Canada? The winter season? We don't live in the
North pole. The southern most tip of Canada is at the same latitude as
Northern California

> Not to mention the air pollution caused by trucking all those cords and
> cords and cords of firewood into urban centers and the suburbs.  These
> guys living in town are NOT going to be burning the blue spruce in their
> yards.

You missed entirely what I wrote. I mentioned SUSTAINABLE practices.  And
realistically that doesn't even make sense, most people who burn wood, live
in the country and usually cut their own or buy from local sources.


> It's not practical for large scale applications, and if you think
> deforestation in the name of paper and furniture is bad now (and I do,
> apparently you either don't agree or are not informed on the matter)
> just wait until people suddenly want that old-growth forest to keep warm
> in the winter.

Large scale was never mentioned. Wood burning sustainably mixed with solar
heat(not energy here) is a very environmentally sound practice.
And please do not assume my opinions or otherwise UNLESS I write it. And you
are not one to judge my knowledge as I yours.


> Now, if you're going to force everyone out of the city and into the
> countryside, say 40 viable acres for each family group, well, after
> scads of them die off due to disease, hunger, and general pestilence
> (plus scads of us country folk when we're attacked by the starving
> masses you've driven out of the city) what's left MAY be able to
> sustainably heat their homes - what's left of them - with wood.

What the???? where did this come from?


> One guy peeing in a stream isn't polluting - an entire city dumping raw
> sewage in there IS.

Again, this is off topic, were not discussing sewage.

> Pollution is caused when an excess or concentration of a substance is
> created faster than natural processes can break it down or handle it.
> Everybody in New York City burning wood to heat their homes would most
> DEFINITELY constitute a major pollution problem.

This is an extreme and unrealistic example. It would be neat to see condos
built with wood as an energy resource.

> How long can you stand in the smoke of a campfire?  Everybody I know
> moves out of the way when the wind shifts, coughing, choking, and eyes
> watering.  Imagine being in an urban center, where the smoke is
> everywhere during the heating season.

Enough with the urban centres already. Geesh!

> Everybody who lives in the North is not so lucky, however.  I know at
> least one other respondent in this thread who specifically said that she
> lives in an area in the NE US that IS cloudy and dreary all winter.

Okay, did you not read what I had wrote? Damp and wet usually are not as
sunny as other places-this includes both the west and east coast. I live in
central Canada. but you lost the point.
> SO a solar heating effect isn't something that she can rely on.

I NEVER mentioned solar HEAT!!! I mentioned passive solar energy, both
heating, cooling. And everyone can incorporate it into the homes-yes,
passive solar energy is not meant to be relied upon, you are thinking of
active solar energy systems that incorporate solar panels, wind mills etc.
And yes this is a problem in cloudy areas. But there are new solar panels
from Britain that work in cloudy climates. Here's to technology.

~Diana