Past, Future – ... 2019/2020 ...
PAST. It’s December 31, 2019, and as I look backwards at 2019 and beyond, I see great personal progress of transition into a fossil carbon free personal lifestyle. The key events are 1) October 2013: 6.9kW solar PV; 2) April 2015: added 5.4kW solar PV; 3) February 2018: Chevy Bolt BEV; 4) March 2019: Tesla Model 3 BEV; 5) from and afer 1990: wood fueled space heating for our home with electric backup, and otherwise all electric home,
The wood fueled space heating satisfies 80% of the heating needed for our home, with electric providing 20% for backup and to keep our basement at 50F in the winter. However, since April 2015, 100% of the electric use has been furnished by kWh from the solar PV system. All of the stove wood is provided by trees harvested from our property. The forest property is subject to a Sustainable Forestry Management Plan and beginning in 2018 is covered by a 50-year covenant prohibiting development and requiring sustainable forest management.
We continue to use a 2007 Toyota Camry gasoline engine car. It is has a trailer hitch to pull our small teardrop camping trailer and a utility trailer as needed, as well as infrequent road travel to places and routes lacking BEV charging facilities. Annual Camry mileage is 5.000 -6,000 miles.
The Chevy Bolt is primarily my car. Annual mileage is 11,000 - 12,000. About 90% of electric usage by the Bolt is furnished by our solar PV system, with about 10% furnished by public charging stations.
The Tesla Model 3 is primarily my wife’s car. Since we purchased the Tesla in late March 2019 we have not yet determined annual mileage, but as of December 31, 2019, the mileage is 13,436, with three months to go for the first anniversary. The Tesla is our primary car for travel beyond our local area and also is the nearly exclusive car for my wife’s local driving. Electric usage for local driving plus the first leg of non-local driving is furnished by the solar PV system, and the balance is from public charging stations, almost all Tesla Superchargers. I estimate about 5,000 miles annually for local driving and about 10,000 - 13,000 miles annually for travel away from home.
FUTURE. What next to continue our path to a non-fossil fuel lifestyle? This is difficult ... yet we are making progress. Some of the progress: 1) increased focus on being satisfied by what we have and a lessened desire for more of anything; 2) composting of raw non-animal food waste and use of the compost in our small garden; 3) almost all clothing and miscellaneous small items purchased at a second hand store; 4) increased awareness of the climate cost of the food we eat, and consequently reduction of meat and dairy products in our diet and increased plant-based foods; 5) increased discussion with our adult children on our values, and why we strive to live our lives with a strong focus on conservation; 6) possibly add a solar PV system to provide electricity for my shop to allow the shop to go off-grid.
We realize that we can’t change anyone, but that we can model a generous and aware lifestyle that may encourage others to move towards a non-fossil fuel lifestyle. In this regard, since we installed our solar PV system and acquired BEVs, two of our neighbors have installed solar PV systems, one friend has purchased a BEV and another is looking seriously at a BEV, one of our sons has installed solar PV on his home and also acquired two BEVs, our daughter’s husband has acquired a PHEV
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
PAST. It’s December 31, 2019, and as I look backwards at 2019 and beyond, I see great personal progress of transition into a fossil carbon free personal lifestyle. The key events are 1) October 2013: 6.9kW solar PV; 2) April 2015: added 5.4kW solar PV; 3) February 2018: Chevy Bolt BEV; 4) March 2019: Tesla Model 3 BEV; 5) from and afer 1990: wood fueled space heating for our home with electric backup, and otherwise all electric home,
The wood fueled space heating satisfies 80% of the heating needed for our home, with electric providing 20% for backup and to keep our basement at 50F in the winter. However, since April 2015, 100% of the electric use has been furnished by kWh from the solar PV system. All of the stove wood is provided by trees harvested from our property. The forest property is subject to a Sustainable Forestry Management Plan and beginning in 2018 is covered by a 50-year covenant prohibiting development and requiring sustainable forest management.
We continue to use a 2007 Toyota Camry gasoline engine car. It is has a trailer hitch to pull our small teardrop camping trailer and a utility trailer as needed, as well as infrequent road travel to places and routes lacking BEV charging facilities. Annual Camry mileage is 5.000 -6,000 miles.
The Chevy Bolt is primarily my car. Annual mileage is 11,000 - 12,000. About 90% of electric usage by the Bolt is furnished by our solar PV system, with about 10% furnished by public charging stations.
The Tesla Model 3 is primarily my wife’s car. Since we purchased the Tesla in late March 2019 we have not yet determined annual mileage, but as of December 31, 2019, the mileage is 13,436, with three months to go for the first anniversary. The Tesla is our primary car for travel beyond our local area and also is the nearly exclusive car for my wife’s local driving. Electric usage for local driving plus the first leg of non-local driving is furnished by the solar PV system, and the balance is from public charging stations, almost all Tesla Superchargers. I estimate about 5,000 miles annually for local driving and about 10,000 - 13,000 miles annually for travel away from home.
FUTURE. What next to continue our path to a non-fossil fuel lifestyle? This is difficult ... yet we are making progress. Some of the progress: 1) increased focus on being satisfied by what we have and a lessened desire for more of anything; 2) composting of raw non-animal food waste and use of the compost in our small garden; 3) almost all clothing and miscellaneous small items purchased at a second hand store; 4) increased awareness of the climate cost of the food we eat, and consequently reduction of meat and dairy products in our diet and increased plant-based foods; 5) increased discussion with our adult children on our values, and why we strive to live our lives with a strong focus on conservation; 6) possibly add a solar PV system to provide electricity for my shop to allow the shop to go off-grid.
We realize that we can’t change anyone, but that we can model a generous and aware lifestyle that may encourage others to move towards a non-fossil fuel lifestyle. In this regard, since we installed our solar PV system and acquired BEVs, two of our neighbors have installed solar PV systems, one friend has purchased a BEV and another is looking seriously at a BEV, one of our sons has installed solar PV on his home and also acquired two BEVs, our daughter’s husband has acquired a PHEV
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
