It’s no mystery that the Earth’s climate is changing. While climate deniers claim it’s natural for the Earth’s temperatures to warm over time, the rapid acceleration of forest fires, hurricanes, and polar ice caps melting beg to differ. Climate change is real and happening fast, which is why you may be wondering what you can do in your personal life to make our world a cleaner, greener space.

While a bulk of pollution comes from big corporations and governments failing to pass legislation to hold them accountable, everyday practices of humans contribute to the climate crisis as well. To ensure you’re doing your part to build a sustainable future, take a look at these four practical ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

1. Use public transportation

Driving to and from work, to a friend’s house, or any other destination, emits tons of pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, into the air, which depletes the ozone layer and leads to warmer temperatures. When you multiply this by billions of drivers across the globe, it makes a serious impact.

By using public transportation, you’re splitting emissions between more than one person. This means fewer greenhouse gases will be emitted into the air. While it’s unrealistic to not drive at all, carpooling or taking public transportation a few times a week can add up over time and reduce your carbon footprint.

Other ways to reduce your carbon footprint while driving include:

• Investing in an electric car that doesn’t run on fossil fuels
• Keep your tires pumped to improve your fuel economy
• Drive efficiently by going easy on the gas and breaks
• Use cruise control on long drives

When you’re behind the wheel, think consciously of your actions to ensure you’re driving efficiently and cutting down on emissions.

2. Reduce plastic consumption

We’ve all heard of the massive plastic islands floating in the middle of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. These islands formed from decades of dumping plastic into our public water streams, including rivers, lakes, and oceans. Over time, they collected out to sea forming expansive islands that are hurting marine ecosystems.

Reducing your plastic consumption is another great way to reduce your carbon footprint. You probably use more plastic than you think of, such as water bottles, disposable coffee cups, and tea bags. To reduce your plastic consumption, consider these tips:

• Use metal straws instead of plastic straws—or don’t use a straw at all
• Bring reusable grocery bags to the store
• Stop chewing gum (it’s made from plastic!) 
• Buy products made from boxes rather than plastic, such as laundry detergent or milk
• Carry around a reusable water bottle
• Bring containers for take-out food and leftovers

3. Install solar panels

Your home might be one of the biggest pollutants in your life. After all, it takes a lot of resources and energy to keep your home heated in the winter and cool in the summer. Most homes still run on electricity generated from fossil fuels like coal. If you have the funds, consider transitioning your home to a renewable energy source like solar. To mitigate some of the costs, you may want to consider property assessed clean energy (PACE) funding. With PACE funding, you can pay for home upgrades that increase energy efficiency, such as installing solar panels, energy-efficient windows, and wind-resistant roofing.

4. Shop secondhand

One of the biggest trends of 2020 is ditching fast fashion. Fast fashion consists of large retail stores that produce cheap, trendy garments that often go out of style with the seasons. Notable fast fashion retailers include Forever 21, Zara, and H&M. While clothes and accessories from these stores are affordable and trendy, they’re extremely harmful to the environment. 

As much as you might love these stores, it’s best to part ways and shop secondhand at thrift stores. The beauty of thrifting is that you can find one-of-a-kind pieces not found anywhere else, and reduce demand in the fast fashion industry. And if you really want to buy something new, look for sustainable clothing brands that only roll out new items a few times a year and in a limited quantity.

The bottom line

Reducing your carbon footprint might seem like a lot of effort. However, there are plenty of small lifestyle changes you can make to reduce the amount of emissions your actions emit into the air. From using public transportation to shopping secondhand, these are just some of the ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.

There are several concerns regarding the use of hydrogen cylinders, especially safety concerns; this has raised the demands for safer alternatives in laboratories where hydrogen is needed for gas chromatography and a gas carrier. A hydrogen generator is a more superior alternative as it is more cost-efficient, safer, and convenient to use and store. 

Hydrogen generators are compact; they can be placed anywhere in a lab, unlike gas cylinders with their pipeline. Moreover, by using a hydrogen generator, you eliminate the risk of running out of hydrogen gas at an inconvenient time as it consistently provides pure hydrogen by using water as a raw material. To know more about hydrogen gas generators, visit thsenergy.com.

6 Advantages of Using Hydrogen Generators

The demand for hydrogen generators has increased exponentially over the last few years. Hydrogen gas is an essential raw material in a lot of sectors, such as the industrial sector, the agricultural sector, and the chemical sector. There are several advantages of using a hydrogen generator, some of which are;

Increased safety

Unlike high-pressure hydrogen cylinders, hydrogen gas generators provide greater safety. The outflow of hydrogen from the generator is slow; hence, it is less than likely you would encounter an explosion, and by comparing pressures, we notice hydrogen generators have lower pressure. 

Consistent supply of hydrogen

Gas cylinders run out after a while. In contrast, hydrogen gas generators provided a consistent supply of hydrogen, as long as there is water (present in abundance), which is the raw material in hydrogen production. Moreover, the time taken between removing, changing, and storing the cylinders is also eliminated when using a hydrogen generator.

Reduced Manpower

The use of gas cylinders for gas chromatography (GC) requires a lot of human resources to consistently check for leaks, change the cylinder, and maintenance. On the other hand, hydrogen generators either reduce or eliminate the need for manpower as multiple system alerts can be set to notify of any anomalies. 

Cost efficiencies

Since manpower is reduced or eliminated, the cost added towards wages is also reduced. Additionally, a hydrogen generator is a one-time investment, unlike gas cylinders that run out and need to be changed. Moreover, there are additional costs associated with using a gas cylinder even before they enter the site of use, which is majorly contributed by transportation cost. Most importantly, purchasing a hydrogen generator will bring a return on investment a few years down the line.

Eco-friendly

As mentioned previously, the gas cylinders need to be changed as soon as they run out, and new ones brought in ones the store stocks run low. When this situation occurs, transportation is needed to bring in a fresh batch of cylinders; this leaves behind a carbon footprint through the combustion of fuel used in the transport vehicles. 

100% pure outputs

Gas cylinders have fluctuations in the purity level from one cylinder to another; this can reduce the reliability in the gas chromatography systems whereas, hydrogen generators consistently provide hydrogen that is of a fixed level of purity (99.99%) throughout the supply cycle.

The Altistart 48 Soft Starter is designed by Schneider Electric to offer smooth torque-controlled acceleration and deceleration of a 3-phase asynchronous motor with sophisticated electronic soft start-soft stop and six thyristor power configuration. They are used for heavy-duty or standard applications. The Altistart 48 is equipped with a patented state-of-the-art motor control algorithm called Torque Control System (TCS). 

Without the need for speed feedback, the Altistart 48 soft starter offers continuous starting and stopping independent motor loading rates, similar to a costly AC drive. This technology has set a benchmark for soft starters that manoeuvres the applied motor torque for numerous applications compared to the traditional voltage ramp soft starter with the current limit. 

When it comes to pumping applications, the Altistart 48 soft starters use Torque Control Systems to remove the long start and stop times. It is also helpful in eliminating hydraulic transients, and the crashing of check valves related to pump version voltage ramp soft starts. Thanks to the high-performance algorithm of this technology, Altistart 48 soft starter can make a significant contribution to easy setup and its robustness. 

The Altistart 48 is ready for use in a standard duty application when it is supplied. All the devices are equipped with an in-built keypad display that can modify the configuration or adapt to respective customer’s requirements. 

Applications

Altistart 48 soft starters offer deceleration and soft starting functionalities, functions for communicating with control systems, and functions to protect machine and motor. These functions are designed for use in heavy-duty applications such as chemical industries, food and beverage, and buildings.

Some of its applications and related functions are listed below: 

• Pumps: They help control hydraulic transients by reducing pressure surges and valve surges. They also perform slow pressurization of fluid in lines. Additionally, they put less pressure on pipes and eliminate damage to irrigation spouts and filters, thereby reducing premature wearing of lines. This normal duty functionality also prevents overheating when the pump’s flow rate drops to a low level. 
• Conveyors: This is also a normal duty function that helps in reducing shocks and slipping of belts. It also offers underload control to identify breaks as well as overload control to isolate faults. 
• Fans & high inertia machines: Equipped with smoke extraction function, Altistart 48 soft starters can also detect overload caused due to clogging. It also helps in breaking torque on stopping. 

Functions

Here are some of the functions of Altistart 48 soft starters: 

• Consists of display terminal 2 are useful in modifying or programming the monitoring functions to customize the application as per the customer’s individual needs. 
• Offers consistent control of the torque supplied to the motor during acceleration as well as deceleration periods
• Option to bypass the starter using a contractor 3 at the end of the starting period while preserving the electronic protection. 
• Provides wide frequency tolerance for generator set power supplies
• Comes with built-in motor thermal protection
• Gives protection against underloads and overloads in a steady-state
• Monitoring of the start time

Altistart 48 soft starters are designed to present you with the advantages of patented Torque Control Systems (TCS). These systems are ready for immediate setup and come equipped with simple wiring as well as additional communication functions. It is effortless to integrate into your application with ease. Remember to first consult with an electrical professional and understand your unique requirements before making any electrical decision!