[mike3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', 'I') got one: people talking about others wasting energy when they themselves are wasting energy by using a computer to talk about others wasting energy which does not good to conservation because they are preaching to those that already conserve.

[mike3]

More dumb wastes of energy:

1. Producing TV shows that are nothing but gossip about some celebrity. Woo... what's Britney wearing tonight?! Good God it is irritating!

2. The military. 'Nuff said. Bush, get your a** out of Iraq!!! The people don't want you there anyway...

[Dezakin]

Okay this is fun...

Obvious wastes: Natural gas in the tar sands for process heat. Build reactors and use the natural gas for hydrogen upgrading of the heavy oil.

Flaring of natural gas on stranded oil wells. Hook up a GTL plant or even better a mini refinery to upgrade the oil at the wellhead. Not sure how small you can make this to be worthwhile.

Rankine cycles everywhere: Use kalina cycles and get instant efficency boosts.

Low ridership bus routes: Get vans for these things maybe, or cancel them all together.

Better consumer transformers: This one is easy.

Exhaust heat is unused on most cars except some turbodiesels, add a turbo-alternator for running ac or other gunk.

[oilfreeandhappy]

Automatic paper towel dispensers. What, we can't even pull down a lever anymore?

[Aimrehtopyh]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oilfreeandhappy', 'A')utomatic paper towel dispensers. What, we can't even pull down a lever anymore?

[mike3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sm5', 'I')f you want to say the war machine is a big energy waster, try the entertainment (sports, movies, radio, etc) industry. Not only do they waste resources, but they also waste our time as well.

[strider3700]

THose patio heaters that burn propane or natural gas to heat the great outdoors. And those mosquito traps that directly turn propane into CO2. Of course last night I went to costco and walked around in their new walk in fridge for keeping produce. 20'x20', 30 feet tall, with an opening 10 feet tall by 12 feet wide with nothing to stop the air from pouring out into the rest of the store. That entire area of the store was cold and those refer units never stop running.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aimrehtopyh', 'P')ull a lever!?! That means touching the filthy moist thing that probably hasn't been cleaned in weeks! Keeping your hands off the dispenser lowers your chances of contracting something. How much energy does it take to make a person well again?

[emailking]

What I do is I dispense a towel first and let it hang there, wash my hands, then go get the towel I dispensed. If I feel my hands may be dirty, I'll pull the lever with my arm instead out of courteosy for future users who do not use this ingenious method.

[SolarDave]

It's not a waste of energiy, but a denial of the right to use it.

We have lots of south-facing windows. We designed the eaves to shade them in the summer but not in the winter.

No matter how hard we tried, we could not get a permit to put in windows WITHOUT the solar barrier film in them. So while we could probably provide a substantial amount of heat for our house in the winter from sunshine, for free, and save natural gas by doing so, we are instead reflecting it back outside.

It's criminal stupidity on the part of our building department.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', 'T')he amount of energy that is invested in each newspaper to provide a bundle of news, propaganda and advertising is staggering when you think about it (not to mention the natural ressources invested). The newspaper is then read once, about 5% of it AT MOST, and thrown away.
What a dumb waste of energy.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', 'A')nd, who owns the post office? Well, the same government that encourages us to conserve.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'T')he bit that just pisses me off is that they pay what? $0.10 to mail me a piece of junkmail. I then have to pay $0.39 to mail a letter. So basically I'm being forced to subsidize them to mail me all this crap.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', 'W')ow, there sure must be a lot of junk mail in the States at that cheap price.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', 'J')ust point what activities, products, behaviours, etc are wasteful.
(not in importance order)
1. public night light
2. dresses dryier... why not dry dresses with sun?
3. leaving electricity-powered devices on while not on use (TV, PC, etc)
4. military

[roberrific]

Snowmobiles and two cycle engines are wasteful. Read Fuel Ghoul's latest post entitled Green Snowmobiles?.

Fuel Ghoul

[oilfreeandhappy]

Overpackaged materials. Shrink wrap, then box, then package in a corrugated cardboard box. Madness...
Also, why does trash have to be in plastic bags? Once it goes in the truck, the bag breaks anyway. What's wrong with a sealed trash can. I think Hefty Corporation is behind these laws.
Remember returnable bottles. Many don't know that milk used to come in returnable bottles.

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', 'J')ust point what activities, products, behaviours, etc are wasteful. (not in importance order):
1. public night light
2. dresses dryier... why not dry dresses with sun?
3. leaving electricity-powered devices on while not on use (TV, PC, etc)
4. military

[Vegas]

Alright, I am more of aN EV'er, but there is one thing about ICE I have never groked. Why the hell do we throw away the heat?
With all the electronics controlling combustion, not a penny spent tring to recover the 80%+ energy lost to heat.
Nuke gennies do it, is it unscalable?

The stigma of steam?
It seems like we go to alot of trouble STOPPING water from boiling in ICE, why the hell not LET it boil and turn another crank?
Yur only going to recover 20-30% with a steam genny, but even ten points of eighty sounds pretty good.
Am I missing something?

[FrankRichards]

It is done. Typically using the waste heat from diesel gennys to make steam. It's hostage to the relative price of oil and coal. These days oil is way expensive relative to either coal or natural gas.