Backyard burger and wiener roasts targeted by EPA

[Dave]

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by this.. it was only a matter of time. Of course at this point its only a study but given how the EPA likes to kind of make its own rules at times, we can't really just not keep this in the back of our minds and wonder if they try and do a power grab and make some dumb new rules pertaining to BBQ's/grills.

The Environmental Protection Agency has its eyes on pollution from backyard barbecues.

The agency announced that it is funding a University of California project to limit emissions resulting in grease drippings with a special tray to catch them and a "catalytic" filtration system.

The $15,000 project has the "potential for global application," said the school.

The school said that the technology they will study with the EPA grant is intended to reduce air pollution and cut the health hazards to BBQ "pit masters" from propane-fueled cookers.

Charged with keeping America's air, water and soil clean, the EPA has been increasingly looking at homeowners, especially their use of pollution emitting tools like lawn mowers.

The school is proposing two fixes to reduce emissions from barbecues. First, they want to cut back on grease flare-ups. The idea: "A slotted and corrugated tray is inserted immediately prior to meat flipping, and removed immediately after. This short contact time prevents the tray from over-heating and volatilizing the collected grease. This collected grease will then drip off into a collection tray and can be used at the pit master's discretion."

But, total capture isn't "practical," so a filter and fan are proposed for installation. "The secondary air filtration system is composed of a single pipe duct system which contains a specialized metal filter, a metal fan blade, a drive shaft, and an accompanying power system with either a motorized or manual method. This system can be powered by either an exterior electric motor with a chain-driven drive shaft, directly spinning the fan blade, or a hand-powered crank," said the project write-up.

The grant is part of the EPA's "National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2014)."

The EPA also said that it does not regulate backyard barbecues. Research conducted by the University of California Riverside is part of the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) program, which is a student design competition for sustainability.

The expected results, according to the proposal:

 

"We expect to limit the overall air pollution PM [particulate matter] emissions from barbecuing and to alleviate some of the acute health hazards that a barbecue pit master can experience from inhalation. The particulate matter present during cooking with and without the grease diverter and PM2.5 filters will be tested and compared to that of current data using a conventional propane barbecue using a fumehood chamber with detectors at CE-CERT. Personal exposure of PM2.5 will also be monitored throughout the experimentation period to determine the degree of acute exposure of particulates to the cook."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/backyard-burger-and-wiener-roasts...

[Dave]

And if the BBQ story wasn't dumb enough for you, there is always this one for ya........

EPA Wants to Monitor How Long Hotel Guests Spend in the Shower

BY: Elizabeth Harrington
March 17, 2015 5:00 am

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants hotels to monitor how much time its guests spend in the shower.

The agency is spending $15,000 to create a wireless system that will track how much water a hotel guest uses to get them to “modify their behavior.”

“Hotels consume a significant amount of water in the U.S. and around the world,” an EPA grant to the University of Tulsa reads. “Most hotels do not monitor individual guest water usage and as a result, millions of gallons of potable water are wasted every year by hotel guests.”

“The proposed work aims to develop a novel low cost wireless device for monitoring water use from hotel guest room showers,” it said. “This device will be designed to fit most new and existing hotel shower fixtures and will wirelessly transmit hotel guest water usage data to a central hotel accounting system.”

The funding is going toward creating a prototype and market analysis for the device. The goal of the project is to change the behavior of Americans when they stay at hotels.

“This technology will provide hotel guests with the ability to monitor their daily water online or using a smartphone app and will assist hotel guest in modifying their behavior to help conserve water,” the grant said.

The project was filed under “Water conservation,” “Urban water planning,” and “Sustainable water management.”

The EPA also has a WaterSense program that challenges hotels to track their water use and upgrade their restrooms with low-flow toilets and showerheads.

The program also encourages “linen and towel reuse programs” in guest rooms.

The EPA is concerned that the average shower, which lasts just eight minutes, uses 18 gallons of water, and has asked Americans to reduce their shower length by at least one minute.

Tyler W. Johannes, Ph.D., an associate professor in the University of Tulsa’s School of Chemical Engineering who is working on the project, told the Washington Free Beacon that the researchers hope to see the technology “adopted by all major hotels and used across the country.”

He said the device seeks to get hotel guests to limit their showers to seven minutes as a start.

Johannes and his team assumed the average hotel shower lasts 8.2 minutes, using 17.2 gallons of water per guest per shower.

“Initially our device/app seeks to get hotel guests to reduce their water use by 10 percent or to reduce their showers by about one minute,” he said.

Johannes provided a link to Home Water Works, which recommends taking a five minute shower to reduce water use.

The website, which is a project of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, also suggests watering plants with discarded cold water from showers that take a long time to heat up, and taking “navy showers.”

“The method requires three steps: 1) turn on water to rinse body and hair; 2) turn off water while shampooing hair and washing body with soap and washcloth; 3) resume water flow and rinse off all shampoo and soap,” the group said. “Using this technique, the total duration of water flow can easily be reduced to 5 minutes or less.”

_

Following publication of this story, EPA deputy press secretary Laura Allen, said the “EPA is not monitoring how much time hotel guests spend in the shower.”

“Let us be very clear, EPA is not monitoring how much time hotel guests spend in the shower,” Allen said. “As part of the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3), a student design competition for sustainability, students at the University of Tulsa are conducting research to develop a novel low-cost wireless device for monitoring water use from hotel guest room showers. The marketplace, not EPA, will decide if there is a demand for this type of technology. It’s ultimately up to hotels to use technology like the monitors being developed at the University of Tulsa. EPA is encouraging creativity with water conservation efforts.”

http://freebeacon.com/issues/epa-wants-to-monitor-how-long-hotel-gu...

[XLFD]

Let it be noted that both of our EPA articles feature the word "sustainability" in their research, and that the aim of each study is to assert control over people doing 'normal' activity.  Sustainability and resiliency dictate that all citizen units conform to the rules whether the rules make sense or not.  If you don't, enjoy our new and improved police and detention units

Being that I (and many others) typically take baths or use the hot tub when I stay at hotels, this last study is just puerile, but even if one takes showers at hotels, I think the only thing that would get people to take shorter baths is to offer a discount on their bill.  But as the length of your shower seems a more personal/private issue they would probably be offended when the bellhop knows they were in and out in two minutes. 

[Willy]

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Between the give away social programs and wasteful studies and regulations, taxpayers are paying through the nose for all sorts of idiotic progressive ideas and agendas. Campfires will be next. The EPA is out of control and should be abolished along with the Department of Education, The Department of Energy and a number of other oppressive and wasteful agencies. But of course this type of wasteful spending on dumb ideas is not limited to Washington. Ludington has it's own "Washington" ideas such as the Ludington Ave. west end project.

[AQUAMAN]

Told a few others about this too since posted, and they all are laughing and shaking their heads. I suppose the end-result would be that BBQ mfrs. would be required to install these stupidities, and the public would pay for it added to the new unit's costs. Maybe some government's relative has a model/prototype to start building these contraptions too. Thanks for posting Dave.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

You know the most retarded thing about the mentality required to come up with the idea in the first example?? "inserting a slotted and corrugated tray" to keep grease from flaming on an outdoor grill?? the costs and extra pollution involved with the "green products" company that would contract to build this "green device???  The extra paperwork and bureaucracy also causing pollution to enforce the usage of said device???  This is another example of a solution waiting for a viable problem to worry about!!!