Anna promotes and educates on the uses of clean energy and solar power. To learn more about wind power and geothermal energy, as well as other forms of clean and renewable energy, please visit her Alternative Energy Blog.
Archive for October, 2009
Wind and Fire Energy for the Home
The three D’s that can describe fossil fuel are Dangerous, Dirty, and Dwindling. They are bad for the environment, but yet are still the number one source of energy. The good news is that there are cleaner, sustainable energies knocking on our doors. It is high time we welcome them into the picture with open arms. Here’s a quick look at geothermal and wind energy, and how people can harness them for their homes.
Geothermal Energy
The earth’s core is where geothermal power comes from. The deeper you go, the hotter it gets. Scientists believe that humans have utilized this type of energy ever since the caveman era. In the United States, only one percent of the nation’s energy comes from geothermal sources.
For residences, people can use ground-source heat pumps to generate energy. These work by drilling and installing water-filled pipes into the ground. The pipes must travel below the frost line, and will be used to transfer the Earth’s heat to a pump. The pump will then divert the heat to the home via air-ducts. There are ground-source heat pumps that can run in reverse, to lower temperatures during summer time. They can also be used to heat the water supply of your home.
The efficiency of your geothermal system depends on the water usage. It gains and loses heat far more efficiently than air does. Another factor you must take into consideration is the nature of ground water temperatures.
Wind Energy
Wind has also been a source of energy for men. Windmills were used in ancient Persia, for irrigation and milling. Today we have wind turbines to harness energy and convert it into electricity. Wind’s major disadvantage is that it depends on the weather. Power will not be generated when the wind ceases to blow.
Constructing a wind turbine in your home will depend on many factors. First you need to look at your local zoning regulations to see if they allow the construction of a wind turbine one your property. You will also need to check whether the structure will fit on your property. A ten-kilowatt model features a 23-foot turbine, and requires an 80-100 foot tower. You might also have to confer with your neighborhood association regarding your plan.
These two clean energy sources can be harnessed to provide power for your home. A cleaner environment will be beneficial for everyone. Wind and Geothermal energy can bring in more jobs, and decrease our dependence on foreign oil.
Benefits Of PicoTurbine’s Alternative Energy Education
Young people need to be educated about the production of alternative energy and the most successful way as witnessed by the writer is by using the PicoTurbine Company’s books, projects and kits. PicoTurbine has produced these things to purposely educate young people about the environment which they will inherit by looking at the advances in alternative or renewable energy, the seeds of their future. “Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before”, said the late, great Mr. Gerry Ford. “If we are to change the future world for the better, then it starts right here and now with the advent of the “green” energy systems.
There is a an old adage which states: “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember some of it. Involve me, and I will master it”, which has been tried and tested. It has become a core concept of PicoTurbine in producing kits which encourage young people to learn hands-on by the activities that are suggested so they can see for themselves. One such suggestion by the company is the demonstration of how wind energy can produce heat (a specialty of the company), which uses a “picture wire” as the heating element. People naturally would think that wind energy would produce some king of “cold” energy as discovered by PicoTurbine, so it comes as a pleasant surprise to learn how in fact the use of wind in our homes can generate heat. The company also offers another suggestion that in a classroom, different groups are made up, so that can build their own wind turbines and then the results compared respectively. This is exciting for young children especially, as they are then able to see which one can produce the most electricity in comparison to the one with the least; the ones that require the least quantity of wind power; and most aesthetically appealing wind turbine of all of them.
PicoTurbine have a core curriculum for teachers to follow to instil in their pupils minds. Included in these renewable and alternative energy sources are biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric and solar energy as well as wind-produced energy. By using these alternative energy sources, we decrease the nation’s dependence for using foreign oil supplies, that have to bought from nations which are not known “allies”, also making it more expensive for our country. It is seen to be cost effective and is becoming more so to use alternative energy, in comparison to the use of fossil fuels which we currently are reliant upon.
As pointed out by PicoTurbine it is already a commercial sucess for those in the production of wind farms and also solar energy plants. During the last twenty years, photovaltaic cells have gone from costing almost $1000 down to only $4 per watt. Predictions show that by the year 2015, analysts have the cost per watt down to only $1 (by today’s prices). The hidden costs of fossil fuels should be taught to students, and what can lead to environmental pollution and degradation. There are lots of health risks as the burning of fossil fuels causes a lot of air pollution increasing the cases of asthma, the increase and heightened allergies, and how they cause cancer. The importance of switching to cleaner, green energy is paramount and it should be stressed that by more use we would prevent more air pollution that would improve the environment for all.
Abhishek is an avid Environmentalist and he has got some great Alternative Fuel Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 70 Pages Ebook, “Energy Conservation And Alternative Fuel” from his website http://www.Wonder-Homes.com/643/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.
Renewable Energy: The Good, the Bad, and the So-So
The green movement has created a plethora of buzzwords. One of the more popular phrases is renewable energy. And for good reason. Businesses, traditional and emerging, will soon be affected by how they will respond to the reality of renewable energy depending on where they fall in the supply chain.
Renewable energy is a term that refers to those potential sources of energy that are naturally replenished, which means that using them does not decrease the amount available in the future. This contrasts with nonrenewable sources (fossil-based fuels) that have a limited supply and will eventually be used up. Renewable energy sources include sunlight, hydrosphere/water cycle, geothermal and some types of biomass and biofuels. Think of energy as a source and electricity as an application.
The mechanisms used to generate electricity from these sources vary considerably. For sunlight, there are photovoltaic technologies that generate electricity directly from sunlight. But there are also systems that use the sunlight to heat an intermediate fluid, which is used to turn turbines to generate electricity. There are multiple ways that water can be used to provide electricity, of which the most commonly used is the hydroelectric dam.
Other systems that produce electricity from water include wave power systems that convert the kinetic energy of waves into electricity, tidal power systems that use the kinetic energy of tidal flows in a similar fashion, and systems that take advantage of the temperature differences between surface waters and deeper waters in the ocean to generate electricity. Geothermal systems rely on the heat of the earth’s interior to generate electricity in various ways, depending on the specific nature of the site. Biomass and biofuels consist of fuels derived from plant and other organic matter, which are renewable depending on the sustainability of the agricultural practices that provide the biomass. Examples include ethanol and biodiesel liquid fuels for transportation, and solid biomass from unused portions of other crops for electricity generation.
Presently, renewable energy sources provide only a small fraction of global energy production, and the majority of this is from biomass burning such a wood (which while renewable in the strictest sense is not environmentally friendly) in undeveloped regions of the world. Renewable energy provides less than 1% of the world’s energy production even though its use is expected to grow rapidly amid rising concerns about global warming and the rising price of oil.
The biggest impediment to the widespread use of renewable energy sources in the past has been its price compared to the price of coal, natural gas, and petroleum. At present, wind energy costs $0.04-$0.08 per kWh, while coal costs $0.04 per kWh. Other renewable energy sources are even more expensive, such as solar thermal at $0.12-$0.34 per kWh and solar photovoltaic at $0.25-$1.60 per kWh. Water sources vary in cost from being cheaper than coal to costing three times as much. This cost differential, however, is narrowing as the price of oil rises and new technological innovations are bringing down the prices of renewables.
Looking forward, the increasing likelihood of carbon taxes or emissions trading schemes being implemented in much of the developed world means that the cost of generating electricity from coal, natural gas, and petroleum will rise even more precipitously, which will make renewable energy even more attractive for future development.
The future of renewable energy depends on how government energy policy will develop over the course of the next presidential administration and congress. Will carbon taxes or emissions trading schemes be enacted to limit greenhouse gas emissions? Will green grid technologies become widespread? Will the development of new oil supplies be allowed? All of these possible scenarios will affect the future deployment of renewable energy technologies.
As an example, consider the application of rooftop solar photovoltaic systems. Not only will these systems provide electricity to homes and businesses, but they can even be used to sell energy back to the power utility. Farmers and ranchers can plant wind turbines on land unsuitable for growing crops. The widespread use of smart grid technologies can become a major method of decentralizing power generation.
Similarly, if emissions trading schemes are enacted, then the rising cost of carbon-producing energy sources will force a shift to renewable energy technologies for large portions of our energy needs. This is deemed so likely that many believe that renewable energy technologies will be the next major industrial boom, similar to the computer technology revolution of the 1980s and the internet revolution of the late 1990s. Increasingly, large quantities of venture capital are pouring into renewable energy companies in expectation of just such an outcome.
How you position your firm to take advantage of the probable boom in renewable energy depends on your business’s energy needs and usage. If green grid technology becomes widespread, the opportunity presents itself to businesses to become both an electricity consumer and a supplier. If carbon taxes or emissions trading systems drive the move away from petroleum transport fuels to biomass transport fuels, it is important to be prepared for that as well.
As the renewable energy debate gains momentum, NOW is the time to prepare for its eventual inevitability to help protect your business from rising energy and transportation costs.
Bottom line? – Apply this information to improve your profitability, reengineer business models, and strengthen or gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. And apply the free Fiscal Test at http://fiscaldoctor.com/fiscaltest.html.
From Gary W Patterson, www.FiscalDoctor.com Copyright 2008
Alternative Energy Sources – Availability And Advantages Revealed
There is an increasing demand for energy across the globe, of which there are natural resources waiting for us to harness if for our use. We need to spend more time and money into research and seeking ways to make good use of this alternative energy, rather than using the old fossil fuels and creating more damage to the environment.
Wind power is an alternative energy resource that we harness with wind turbines. They are continually being developed with demand and are progressively becoming cheaper and more efficient in energy. There are many “wind farms” which can be seen, that are strategically placed so as not to jeopardise the bird population in their natural environment. The first wind turbines were not so well placed.
The most famous of all alternative energy resources is solar energy, which the majority of people are familiar with. There are lots of products on the market which use solar power, that people buy for home use: solar lighting, solar lanterns and fountains for the garden are a new innovation, etc. Solar cells are manufactured which collects the sun’s energy and focuses, so that it can be converted into electricity to light buildings and for heating, like hot water. Solar energy is like wind power in that there is zero pollution created, which is a positive for the environment.
Governments and investors see Ocean Wave Energy as having great potential for generating energy. In France, a generator of this kind has been operation for several years, deemed to be a great success. In Ireland and Scotland there are now facilities up and running in their experimental phase.
Hydroelectric power plants have been around for years and the powerful generators that have been set up, have proven to be much cleaner and better than power grids at producing electricity. There are, however, limitations as to where you can place one as you have to build a huge dam in a suitable location for the water. For this reason, there are new much smaller localised hydroelectric generators that have been set up recently in rivers, so that they can be localised to accommodate them.
Geothermal energy lies just under our feet directly and there is an abundance of it available. A few miles just below the surface of the earth, we can tap into this energy. The hot molten core of the earth heats the water on the surface, to produce energy, which is harnessed once it turns into steam. This steam is used to drive turbine engines so as to generate electricity. More research should be done on geothermal energy so we can tap into its resources and develop it more for use.
The waste that we produced is often disposed in landfill sites, which decomposes over time and so gives off methane. By using it before it gives off too methane which is damaging, we can create energy from it. It is mainly used as gas for fuel cells for use in standard gasoline generators.
Ethanol is a biofuel used as a substitute for gasoline. This alternative fuel is easy to make and process using such products as corn, grapes, sugar cane, wheat, wood cellulose and wood chips. It is still debatable as to whether it is economical as lots of arable land is required to grow the crops, and also concerns of the pollutants from use of this product. It is localised in some areas and technologies are still being refined for extraction and admixturing.
There is a lot of investment by entrepreneurs into Biodiesel energy which is created by many different plant oils such as palms, rapeseed, soybeans and sunflower oils. It is now competing with fossil fuels and many companies have shown a commercial interest as it is cleaner burning than oil based diesel and is environmentally friendly.
Atomic energy is being created by regenerating nuclear plants for a carbon free energy source with nuclear fission. A great amount of power can be generated which makes this type of energy very efficient. The concern from people is of the radioactive waste product of atomic energy, although there is very little it still takes hundreds of years to decay before it becomes harmless.
Abhishek is an avid Environmentalist and he has got some great Alternative Fuel Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 70 Pages Ebook, “Energy Conservation And Alternative Fuel” from his website http://www.Wonder-Homes.com/643/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.