Richard Kaloust Preservation

Fuel Conservation Tips

Richard Kaloust Fuel Conservation Tips by Anne Clarke.

Even if you do not consider yourself an environmentalist, a little fuel conservation can really help not just the environment, but also your wallet! The price of petrol seems to always be on the rise. The best defense against rising gas prices is fuel conservation.

Map out a good plan of fuel conservation by following these helpful ways to conserve fuel:

Great fuel conservation starts before you even hit the road:

· Keep your vehicle properly tuned, and it can get from 6 to 20 percent better gas mileage.

· Keep your tires aligned and inflated properly. You should check your tire pressure once a month. Having tire pressures that are too low can increase your use of fuel by 3%

· Replace your air filter.

· If you are not using your roof-racks, take them off! They add to drag. Unnecessary weight in your car can also take away from good gas mileage (this does not mean that you can throw your sister out of the car to conserve fuel… although, it would help!)

· Another way to start good fuel conservation is to plan ahead. Combine your errands into one trip. Think about riding your bike, walking, riding the bus, or carpooling when possible and reasonable.

Fuel conservation can greatly be improved while you are driving or at the pump:

· Slow down! There is a reason why you coast to a gas station when your vehicle is on empty – you are not going to get to a gas station faster by driving faster when the faster you drive the more gas you use! In simpler terms, your fuel usage will greatly decrease when you are driving at speeds above 55 mph. Besides, you will have a safer drive when you slow down, too.

· Avoid rapid accelerating. In fact, you ought to let up on the accelerator (by driving slower), and when you use the accelerator, use it gently. There is a reason why it is called “stepping on the gas.” The harder you step on the gas, the faster you use up your gas. Relax your driving style. Do not drive aggressively. Accelerate slowly. Driving aggressively can lessen your fuel conservation by 30-40 percent.

· Do not tailgate because it will lead to unnecessary braking and then acceleration.

· Do not idle. Modern cars no longer need to warm up to run.

· Turn off your car when you are waiting for someone.

· Your cruise control will add to your fuel conservation (of course, it is unreasonable to use it while just driving around town.)

· Your use of the air conditioner lessens your fuel economy, as well, especially if you use it at 40 mph or more. Why not just open the window to cool off? Park your vehicle in the shade.

· Using overdrive will lessen your fuel consumption while on the highway.

· Drive at the highest appropriate gear.

· While at the gas pump, use the lowest octane petrol suitable for your car – check your owner’s manual.

· Fill up your car with gas early in the morning and on cooler days. The colder the gasoline is, the more compact it is… you will therefore end up getting more bang for your buck.

This may seem like a long road to fuel conservation, but even just doing a few of these things can really help improve your gas mileage. You could possible improve your fuel conservation by 40% or so by following some of these tips.

If all of these suggestions seem overwhelming, just take a few at a time. The road to great fuel conservation can be a long one. Most all of the tips that we have given as of yet can be found in greater detail at the U.S. Department of Energy.

All of the tips on fuel conservation that we have given you so far have to do with the vehicle that you already have. If you are planning on going out and buying a new vehicle, consider a vehicle that conserves fuel by design.

Check out the hybrids or smaller cars. A hybrid vehicle may cost more at the onset, but you will surely save money in the end, especially if gas prices continue to rise. If you do not need a ton of horsepower, abandon it – you will get better gas mileage.

Environmental Pollution Still a Huge Concern – Drugs in Our Drinking Water

Richard Kaloust – Drugs in our Drinking Water By William Lin.

Concern about our environment is a relatively new concept. It really came to the forefront during 1970’s. In fact before the year 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t even exist. And while there may have been laws in place designed to protect us from hazardous toxic waste, and other forms of industrial pollution they were difficult to enforce. Headlines during that decade were really frightening. Headlines like: High Smog Levels in Industrialized Cities May be the Cause of Increased Lung Disease. Hazardous Waste Buried under Love Canal, NY Leads to Entire City Being Evacuated. Despite the best efforts of our local governments and the EPA we are still seeing scary headlines like: drugs in our drinking water.

One of the reasons that we are seeing drugs found in US drinking water in the headlines is because, as of yet, there are no specific laws regarding the dumping of drugs in our drinking water or no regulations regarding the acceptable levels of each particular drug in the water that we drink. There is not even a way to enforce such laws if they were enacted because it is not the large drug manufacturing companies that are responsible for this type of pollution, it is us. We are the culprits. It is us and all the hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, farmers and veterinarians that contribute to this problem. All of us dispose of the drugs in much the same way. We flush them down the toilet or rinse them down the drain and then they enter our water system.

The water that flows through the sewer lines travels to a water treatment plant where first it is filtered and then it is treated with chemicals and dumped back into our lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Then, at least 10% of it is recycled back into the water we drink. No wonder we have drugs in our drinking water.

As a parent, reading headlines that cry out drugs found in US drinking water really frightens me. I want more than anything else to protect my family. But, how can I when my local water company can’t? Drugs are still flowing through the tap water that my kids drink everyday?

After doing some research I found that the best answer, at least for now, is to install a water filtration system into my home. And while there are many types of such water filtration systems available the best type to combat drugs in our drinking water is a carbon-ion filtration system.

The carbon-ion system works in two ways. First, the thick carbon block traps most of the pollutants found in tap water and then the ion exchange makes the chemicals and drugs in our drinking water inert.

Now, even when I read headlines saying drugs found in US drinking water, I feel a little safer. I know that I am doing all I can to protect my family. May be one day we will find a better way to dispose of our pharmaceuticals.

The Role of Biology in Environment

Richard Kaloust Biology in Environment Author: Steve Evans

Biology is the study of life and comprises all levels from the molecular to the global. Biology is the study living organisms, their organization and their functions and biology is a large part of the way our environment evolved from simple organisms and is thus intimately part of our environment. Biology is a very broad field, covering the minute workings of chemical machines inside our cells, to broad scale concepts of ecosystems and global climate change. Biologists study subjects which range from intimate details of the human brain, the composition of our genes, and even the functioning of our reproductive system to the building blocks of the simplest organisms on earth which created our oxygen rich atmosphere capable of supporting higher life forms. Without biological processes you and I would not exist, nor the planet as we know it.

Biological systems in contrast to physical are vastly more complex, their function based on small numbers of units (atoms, molecules, cells) that are not at equilibrium. There are no biological laws of nature the way we find them in physics; the first and second law of thermodynamics, Heisenberg\’s uncertainty principle, Newton\’s law of gravity etc.

The supreme importance of the role of biology in environment can be seen if we consider biotechnology. Biotechnology, as Aldous Huxley foresaw in Brave New World (1932), can usher in as profound a revolution as industrialization did in the early 19th century. It will parallel vast other themes the expansion of artificial intelligence, the opening of the inner solar system to economic use, and much, much more.

Biologists tolerate a level of mystery in their work that would drive your average engineer or computer programmer crazy. Biologists can see that role of biology in environment has shaped our very nature and being. Just look at the human genome studies that have been done. The biologists have put together a complete rough draft of the human genome but they have little understanding of how those 40,000 or so genes work together and interact with our environment to make a human.

Biologists, geneticists, and doctors have had limited success in curing complex diseases such as cancer, HIV, and diabetes because traditional biology generally looks at only a few aspects of an organism at a time. Again, we would suggest that this is due to the role of biology in environment which is so complex that the unraveling of these interactions is only now beginning to be discovered.

Biological processes of course are consequences of physics and chemistry, which is why we require biology students to study the physical sciences. But organisms are also historical entities molded by their environment both physical and social, and that’s where the complexities arise.

Synthetic Biologists build artificial biological systems in an analogous way, using individual components such as single genes and enzymes for which the reactivity and the products formed are accurately known. Synthetic biology will catch up even faster when it appreciates role of biology in environment. Assembly of simple synthetic circuits using DNA fibers has been demonstrated.

Systems Biology is the application of mathematical/physical modeling to understanding the functions of biological processes. It describes a multi-component approach, combining theoretical modeling with real data about the interaction between genes and their products within the environment. Arising from this is the need to interpret large datasets of complex biological information. It seeks to integrate the knowledge derived from the study of individual components of cells to their performance as integral elements of cells, tissues and populations.

So, in summary we are suggesting that the role of biology in environment cannot be ignored at any level, nor could the reverse be true. Throughout evolution environment has influenced the development of biological systems which in their turn have fed back into the environment and changed the environment to the one in which we live today. The role of biology in environment is simply to have made the environment in which we all live our lives.