My time out for the past two weeks in southern France was the occasion for me to think a bit about energy and environmental issues as I was experiencing stuff I have been writing about on this blog.
Exemplifying with day-to-day and real-life examples is a fantastic opportunity to see how stuff just works. From LED lights to trees and from solar to building insulation, these are topics that are very general.
I will share these thoughts with you in today’s article and I hope you will find them enlightening. I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Building insulation is fantastic
Southern France can be HOT, incredibly HOT in summer. If Northern France can be pretty cold in winters, and if a good insulation can help save you a lot of money, it still can save you a lot of money in the South when it is hot.
With 37 cm – 15 inches – thick walls with a good material, air conditioning is no more needed to reach a breathable indoor temperature despite outdoors temps being above 30°C / 85°F.
The power of LED light bulbs
My parents’ garden is now being lit by LED lights bulbs. And I gotta admit that these new kinds of light are just fantastic. A handful of watts (four to six) is enough to lit whatever you want.
Writing about these new bulbs and how fantastic they are is one thing, Witnessing how great they are is way different and much more « speaking »
Now I just know that I got to equip myself with these…
Trees are fantastic at bringing shade and coolness
Provence is know for its little villages plaza and their trees. And this makes a lot of sense as even in searing hot temperatures, trees bring to the city centers shade and coolness.
Given how temperatures are due to increase in the next decades, I think it is high time to plant more trees in our cities. I wrote an article last year on more reasons to do so.
There are too little solar panels compared to other countries
Lately I have been able to see first hand how countries like Belgium and the United Kingdom have been installing solar PV panels. This has been done thanks to governmental support.
In Southern France, where sun energy is much (much) more important, there is way LESS of these. I guess this is such a shame and I hope that governments – either national or local – will change that.
Conclusion
A simple vacation can show the potential savings in carbon dioxide emissions reductions if best technologies and practices were to be spread.