Clunkshift
08-09-2008, 01:07 PM
Engineer’s Rant - Are Air Fresheners ethical?
Historically, artificial “Air Freshening” has been the release of a chemical fragrance into the air, either from an impregnated crystalline block or a wick to draw the liquid up from a reservoir to evaporate.
In the 1960’s ‘70s & ‘80s the chemicals were directly sprayed into the air by compressed hydrocarbon gas from an aerosol can.
Aerosols came to be seen as environmentally damaging because of the release of ozone destroying gases – strangely the material and energy cost of producing a “disposable” metal canister containing plastics, fragrance and pressurised propellant container was never an issue.
Now we have disposable fragrance dispensers which have a huge carbon footprint. They are made of complex plastic mouldings and contain chemicals batteries and electronics.
Plastics are made from ethylene, which is extracted from oil in a refinery, but unlike diesel or gasoline it has to be refined, polymerised, granulated, pigmented and injection moulded before it becomes a usable component. Then we add the chemical fragrance, which has been produced in a chemical plant from hydrocarbon aromatics and all sorts of extracted essences. To power it we have a small battery made of substances like lithium which cost a fortune in energy to produce and package, and then we have small mechanical and electronic parts containing precious and base metals along with silicon and more special plastics. And the final insult is when it is shipped by the container load from China to the gadget hungry UK consumer.
Am I alone in thinking that these items are a terrible condemnation of a consumer society?
I drive a 4x4 because I need a vehicle that tows 3.5 tonnes; the dust to dust lifetime cost of a V8 Jeep is lower than any hybrid car and mine is a more economical diesel, but society likes to point to 4x4 ownership as a carbon crime, while quietly using even more energy producing useless disposable gizmos and short life “consumer durables”.
Last week a trans-Pennine train operator told its drivers to turn the engine off while going downhill to save fuel. Those of you that travel to railway termini may notice that diesel trains are mostly left idling for quite long periods of time. The reason is that once a large engine is running, it costs less to keep it running at working temperature on a weak mixture than to re-start from cold with attendant engine wear in turbochargers and cylinders. (this is why you should never blip the throttle of a car before switching off, or switch off without allowing the engine to slow down to idle speed first – especially an engine with a turbocharger)
It honestly grieves me to see “disposable” plastic items and consumer "durables" like kettles that can’t have new elements fitted, toasters that can’t be fitted with new elements and non-rebuildable irons and other similar goods. The old truism “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves” is true of energy too. Plastic is made from oil, it is rarely recycled into useful products and costs a lot of energy to produce, If we are careful about all the little things, it will take care of bigger things too.
Oh, and I loathe the TV presenters who stand in front of cooling towers and talk about pollution – steam from cooling does not pollute, it may look spectacular but pollution comes from chimneys, not cooling towers.
Clunk (steaming from ears) x.
Historically, artificial “Air Freshening” has been the release of a chemical fragrance into the air, either from an impregnated crystalline block or a wick to draw the liquid up from a reservoir to evaporate.
In the 1960’s ‘70s & ‘80s the chemicals were directly sprayed into the air by compressed hydrocarbon gas from an aerosol can.
Aerosols came to be seen as environmentally damaging because of the release of ozone destroying gases – strangely the material and energy cost of producing a “disposable” metal canister containing plastics, fragrance and pressurised propellant container was never an issue.
Now we have disposable fragrance dispensers which have a huge carbon footprint. They are made of complex plastic mouldings and contain chemicals batteries and electronics.
Plastics are made from ethylene, which is extracted from oil in a refinery, but unlike diesel or gasoline it has to be refined, polymerised, granulated, pigmented and injection moulded before it becomes a usable component. Then we add the chemical fragrance, which has been produced in a chemical plant from hydrocarbon aromatics and all sorts of extracted essences. To power it we have a small battery made of substances like lithium which cost a fortune in energy to produce and package, and then we have small mechanical and electronic parts containing precious and base metals along with silicon and more special plastics. And the final insult is when it is shipped by the container load from China to the gadget hungry UK consumer.
Am I alone in thinking that these items are a terrible condemnation of a consumer society?
I drive a 4x4 because I need a vehicle that tows 3.5 tonnes; the dust to dust lifetime cost of a V8 Jeep is lower than any hybrid car and mine is a more economical diesel, but society likes to point to 4x4 ownership as a carbon crime, while quietly using even more energy producing useless disposable gizmos and short life “consumer durables”.
Last week a trans-Pennine train operator told its drivers to turn the engine off while going downhill to save fuel. Those of you that travel to railway termini may notice that diesel trains are mostly left idling for quite long periods of time. The reason is that once a large engine is running, it costs less to keep it running at working temperature on a weak mixture than to re-start from cold with attendant engine wear in turbochargers and cylinders. (this is why you should never blip the throttle of a car before switching off, or switch off without allowing the engine to slow down to idle speed first – especially an engine with a turbocharger)
It honestly grieves me to see “disposable” plastic items and consumer "durables" like kettles that can’t have new elements fitted, toasters that can’t be fitted with new elements and non-rebuildable irons and other similar goods. The old truism “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves” is true of energy too. Plastic is made from oil, it is rarely recycled into useful products and costs a lot of energy to produce, If we are careful about all the little things, it will take care of bigger things too.
Oh, and I loathe the TV presenters who stand in front of cooling towers and talk about pollution – steam from cooling does not pollute, it may look spectacular but pollution comes from chimneys, not cooling towers.
Clunk (steaming from ears) x.