John Beath Environmental, LLC

01/18/2022

The move to replace aging gasoline engine vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) has well-documented Greenhouse Gas (GHG) benefits. So much has been written it is hard to know which studies are the best. Do you wonder how to assemble the details to be certain about the math here?

JBE has been looking at the factors that influence the magnitude of that benefit, and in a recently published study has found that while the national average electric grid in the US produces GHG reduction for the use of EVs, for some states where the grid is dominated by coal or even natural gas, there may not be a clear benefit today.

We’ve focused on making an evaluation methodology transparent and want to share the process we used for your consideration.

So, if you drive an EV, consider that the geographical location of the outlet you use to charge your car (and the power plant supplying its electricity) may be paramount to the effect your driving has on climate change. Also consider that this is a fast-moving situation.

Check out our map to see if EVs or hybrids may be beneficial today in your state. (The study focused on the southern and eastern US states.) There are other reasons why EVs may not consistently be the best option in a specific situation at this time, can you think of some (hint: there are some in the study)?

The study is published as a Kindle Book on Amazon, but you can also download it via the JBE website:
https://www.beath.us/examples-of-our-work

Hopefully this will get us all thinking and talking about a very important issue in a more informed way.

06/05/2016

I was shown this article by a friend on Facebook. Finally Beaumont is good at something! JBE is proud that it has created 5 new jobs within the past year (but only one in Beaumont).

http://cnnmon.ie/1SWne5G

Here are the 10 U.S. metro areas that have the highest percentage of new jobs in occupations that pay a living wage:

01/26/2016

Recycle Paper Without Leaving your building? Love this idea.

The article is at:

http://global.epson.com/newsroom/2015/news_20151201.html

01/24/2016

JBE is hosting the Sustainability Track at the upcoming 4-C Environmental Conference in Austin, on February 24th. Please join us:

http://www.4cconference.com/events/4c-hse-conference-2016/custom-129-318c4536985d44c9a1858f18c07f195f.aspx

4C HSE Conference 2016. Online registration by Cvent

01/24/2016

JBE has a research version of the TZOA PM real-time monitor now and is using it to perform measurements. Call us if you have a need to measure PM.

06/03/2015

Interesting idea - bladeless windmill. Lower carbon footprint and no bird impact.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/vortex-bladeless/x/10846057 #/story

Wind energy without blades | Crowdfunding is a democratic way to support the fundraising needs of your community. Make a contribution today!

04/26/2015

I heard about this on TV this past week based on a listing as a Popular Science leading invention. This is a kick-start company with a very innovative idea. The ability to check out places where you live and run for PM is interesting to say the least. Not sure what industry will have to say about it.

Here is the link for more info:

http://www.mytzoa.com/about-tzoa/

Hope to learn more about their calibration process and if I do I'll share that. Wish it would do VOC also, but I'm afraid that capability in this price range is not yet achievable.

Having been in China recently, I can see an immediate need there. The device will begin to be distributed to Ambassadors in a few weeks with sales to the public (perhaps for ~100$) in the 4th quarter. Stay tuned.

03/30/2015

What Is In That Smoke?

A recent industrial fire raised the issue of what is really in smoke from various types of fires. Though data from chemical plant and refinery fires is limited, the Chicago Fire Department collaborated with UL a while ago and published one of the most comprehensive reports about exposure to firefighters I've seen so far:

http://www.ul.com/global/documents/offerings/industries/buildingmaterials/fireservice/WEBDOCUMENTS/EMW-2007-FP-02093.pdf

Towards the middle of the report are large scale test fire results with predicted hydrocarbon concentrations and emissions rates. Worth a look if you are curious. I found the way they conducted their tests to be fascinating.

03/29/2015

Just saw this new invention on the news. George Mason University is just a few miles from where I grew up in Northern Virginia - this is amazing.

https://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2015/02/pump-bass-douse-blaze-new-mason-invention-fights-fires/

The fire extinguisher uses low-frequency sound waves to douse a blaze. Engineering seniors Viet Tran and Seth Robertson now hold a preliminary patent application for their potentially revolutionizing device.

03/24/2015

Need to Catalog A Listing of Files? - This Will Save You Time

Have you been searching for a good way to make a file list in Excel so you can describe contents? You can use DOS Directory to print to a text file but for lots of directories this takes forever. Here is a far better way using your Web Browser's "file" capability:

http://spreadsheetpage.com/index.php/tip/getting_a_list_of_files_names_another_method/

This is amazing!! Thanks to J-Walk and Associates for sharing this.

In a previous tip, I described method of putting a list of file names from a directory into an Excel range. Today I discovered another method that's much simpler. It uses the File protocol in a Web browser.