Environmental Aspects

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are headed for a double whammy - oil and natural gas are running out. When looking at alternatives, wind power is one of the better choices.

Wind power is considered a renewable energy source because it will be with us as long as the sun beats down on the planet. Wind is a creation of heat produced by objects warming up under the relentless rays of the sun. Certain objects warm up faster than others. When this occurs, wind is created. As hot air rises off the hotter objects, cooler air rushes in to fill the gap. This rushing process is, of course, wind.

Wind power has long been of interest to scientists and energy companies. It is relatively cheap and can easily be tied into the current utility grids that feed power to nations. The question with wind power has always been how to generate enough energy from wind power to make it feasible. The entire discussion comes down to wind turbines.

Wind turbines are the devices that catch the wind and convert the inherent energy into electricity. The process works exactly like a hydropower dam. As the wind hits the turbines, the blades catch it and spin. The spinning motion then cranks a turbine, which kicks out electricity. The only difference between the two processes is we are talking about wind instead of water.

A single hydropower dam can produce a lot of electricity, but a single wind turbine cannot. Why? Well, the water rushing through a dam is condensed under the weight of itself. When it is released into the generator shutes, it also runs at a near vertical angle to maximize the speed of the water and generator cranking output. With wind, both of these factors are non-existent. One cannot really harness the wind to really power up a wind turbine. Instead, one has to install dozens and even hundreds of turbines to generate significant amounts of electricity. As you might imagine, this can cause problems.

The biggest problem with wind power is the number of turbines needed to produce enough electricity. While the turbines have grown more efficient and larger, one still needs significant numbers to produce enough tangible energy. The two primary solutions are old and new. The old solution is to find great swaths of vacant land for the turbines. With growing populations, this is still relatively difficult and expensive. The new solution is to build wind farms at sea. This makes much more sense since the wind on the ocean is nearly constantly there and the “land” isn’t costly.

At the end of the day, experts estimate wind power will account for upwards of 20 percent of all our energy needs in the next two decades. With further refinements and the use of offshore platforms, the number could be much higher.

About the Author:
Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com - information on wind power.

Biodiesel Fuel

If you have an interest in being environmentally friendly, then no doubt you’re aware of the damage fossil fuels are doing to our environment. Not only that, but at some point they will run out. Add in the recent jump in gas prices, and it’s hardly surprising that more people are talking about making their own biodiesel fuel. Although it sounds like a great idea, you need to consider a few points before going ahead and making your own biodiesel fuel.

What Is Biodiesel?

To start with, let’s take a look at what biodiesel fuel actually is. At its most simple, biodiesel fuel is made from either vegetable oil, animal fat, or mixture of the two. It’s a clean burning fuel that is made from renewable resources hence the name biodiesel.

Generally, biodiesel fuel is made from straight vegetable oil, sometimes referred to as SVO. So if you want to make your own biodiesel fuel, you’ll need to have an adequate supply of the basic ingredients. Unfortunately, most households don’t produce enough waste animal fat or vegetable fat to come anywhere close to making enough biodiesel fuel to keep the family car running.

Using Recycled oil

This has led to a whole new industry, with the basic aim of sourcing much larger quantities of raw product. They get together with restaurants, bakeries, and any other business that uses a deep fryer, so that they can collect the used oil for recycling. The oils are then blended and used as the basis for biodiesel fuel. The processes are the same as you’d use to make biodiesel fuel at home, but by having access to a much larger supply of raw products, these companies can produce biodiesel in quantities that are more viable.

Can I make it at Home?

One thing to remember is that it’s not quite this simple! Used vegetable oil needs to be mixed and stored, which can be quite a problem if you have large amounts of it. You also need to dewater, filter and deacidify the waste oil before it can be used for making biodiesel. This makes the production of biodiesel fuel at home a lot more complicated.

Having said that, it’s certainly still quite possible to make biodiesel fuel at home, simply by buying straight vegetable oil, rather than using waste products. Even though it will cost you a lot more, when you compare it to the cost of buying the necessary amount of gas to run your car for a year, you can still save an enormous amount - somewhere around 75 percent. Even better, you’re saving the environment too.

Can I mix it with Petroleum?

The short answer is yes! It can be blended with petroleum in any percentages and used as fuel. There is a fuel called B20 which is 20 percent biodiesel that has shown significant environmental benefits. It can be used in an existing diesel engine with either little or no modifications. The only thing to be aware of is that biodiesel acts as a solvent and can remove old deposits on on your fuel tank walls and your fuel lines. This may lead to a clogging of your filters so care should be taken. But hey - then you have a clean system!!

So if you’re interested in saving money and helping out the environment, look at the option of making biodiesel fuel at home. It takes a little bit of effort, but the rewards are definitely worthwhile.

About the Author:

Steve Dolan is an environmentalist concerned about global warming and non-renewable resources. Biodiesel may form part of the answer. Find out more by clicking BioDiesel and Alternative Fuels

There is all this talk about Climate Change. I guess we all want to know how much of it is true and how relevant is it to my business? This article discusses what has happened, is happening and some of the predictions so you can assess the importance for yourself. It also discusses the causes of this and includes some discussion of available options.

Global warming is a fact. It is likely to speed up, with near record growth in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.

The recent UK Stern Report warned that if we ignore this we are likely to have an economic impact equivalent to the combined first and second world wars plus the great depression, and that is without considering millions of people displaced around the world.

To put climate change into perspective, during the last ice age global temperatures were only 5�C lower than today and much of Canada, Europe and northern Russia was covered in massive ice sheets several kilometres thick.

Half of the 65 species unique to the Australian Wet Tropics will become extinct with a 3.5�C increase in temperature. A 2-3�C change is expected to cause 80% of Kakadu wetlands to be lost.

Weather extremes and greater fluctuations in rainfall and temperatures caused by climate change are liable to change productive landscapes and exacerbate food, water and energy scarcities in a relatively short time span. Particularly worrying is sea-level rise because of the density of coastal populations and the potential for the large-scale displacement of people in Asia.

Climate change will cause health security consequences, since some infectious diseases will become more widespread as the planet heats up.

Rising global temperatures will see more fires, droughts and flooding over the next 200 years, according to climate scientists from the UK’s University of Bristol.

It is predicted that climate change will contribute to destabilising, unregulated population movements in Asia and the Pacific. While most of population movement is likely to be internal, there will be flow on effects requiring cooperative regional solutions.

Increasingly extreme weather patterns will result in greater death and destruction from natural disasters, and add to the burden on poorer countries and even stretch the coping ability of more developed nations.

For a handful of small, low-lying Pacific nations, climate change is the ultimate security threat, since rising sea-levels will eventually make their countries uninhabitable.

Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases now, researchers predict Eurasia, eastern China, Canada, Central America and Amazonia are at risk of forest loss. Global warming of less than 2�C would create a 30% probability of deforestation, while more than 3�C would double the likelihood of loss. (UK research)

Now about the Causes
There are three main gases that are responsible for causing the Greenhouse Effect. The data for this has been taken from ice cores giving thousands of years of information.

- Carbon Dioxide CO2
- Nitrous oxides - often called NOX
- Methane

All three are increasing exponentially at present. We are now sitting a long way outside the concentrations that have ever occurred in the past and we don’t know what will happen.

Who is to blame for this? My little bit can’t make all that difference. Twenty-seven per cent of carbon emissions come from homes which means the rest comes from business in some form or other and a large percentage of business involves small to medium enterprises and farms, just like most of us.

Air traffic is currently blamed for about 3.5% of the human activities that cause climate change and is the fastest growing source of emissions. Its share of total CO2 impact is expected to grow to 5% by 2050.

A recent report stated that agriculture is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gasses,

- 70% of total methane,
- 80% of NOX - this comes from biochemical processes in soils. There are large losses of N from fertilizers - between 15and 50% of N fertilizer goes missing. If you use N fertilizer, you need to improve the efficiency of use.

There are 1.4 billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14% of all emission of the gas

There is now 5 times the historic concentration of fertilizers in the sea off the coast of Queensland. This causes and increased growth of algae and algae feed Crown of Thorns starfish larvae. The combination of higher temperatures and Crown of Thorns Starfish is seriously threatening the Great Barrier Reef.

Impacts on water
Global warming is expected to intensify the water cycle, with increased risk of floods and droughts. One of the effects of global warming is likely to be changes in the seasonality of river flows in regions where winter precipitation falls as snow. Additionally, rising sea levels will damage the quality of fresh water available from coastal aquifers and wetlands.

Less freshwater is likely to be available in West Africa, Central America, southern Europe, the eastern US and southern Australia. Other regions, particularly tropical Africa and northwest South America, will be at significant risk of excessive runoff as trees are lost, increasing the chances of severe flooding.

We need to preserve our water quality. There are more of us and fresh water is deceasing. Anything discharged into drains ends up in lakes, dams, rivers or the sea. Do any rivers or lakes near your business have algal problems? A wetland can remove up to 90% of sediments, nutrients and bacteria from stormwater.

When we go boating we really enjoy being in the environment but have we thought about the impact we may be having on water quality. Two-stroke engines produced up to 10 times more water pollution than four-stroke. They acidify waterways and release heavy metals from sediments resulting in underwater pollution up to 1000 per cent worse with two-stroke engines.

What can we do about this?
We can think about our buildings and try to reduce energy use there. Eighty-four per cent of property owners, architects and consultants are involved in green development to some degree, but there are still limited choices of green building products, according to the first major survey of attitudes to sustainability.

While governments are seen as having the greatest influence on society’s reaction to climate change, 65% of surveyed people expected the private sector to take the lead in coming years.

Wind power could supply one third of the world’s electricity by 2050 and save 113 billion tons of CO2 emissions, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace.

We can think about our waste
When our waste breaks down in land fills, it generates large amounts of methane gas. Some of the newer landfill sites have been carefully designed to prevent leaching into the water table and to capture the methane gas generated. In Victoria in 2004-5, 5.4 million tonnes of waste was recycled. This is a 7% increase from the previous year it showed recycling saved over 78 million gigajoules of energy, 52 GL of water and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses. 55% of the total solid waste stream was recovered.

Germany has become the 18th country to join the international “Methane To Markets Partnership”, an initiative to turn the toxic greenhouse gas in the coalmining, landfill, agricultural, and oil and gas sectors into a clean energy source.

India wants industry to use waste-to-energy technologies to both generate electricity and help address waste disposal challenges in various core industries including pulp and paper industry, breweries, textile mills, rice mills and solvent extraction units.

The paper industry is eminently suited for power co-generation as 75-85% of energy is to heat the process and 15-25% as electrical power. “The large quantity of wastewater generated in pulp and paper industry can be used for generating biogas which can be used to produce thermal energy electricity.”

And we can consider using other fuels as well as how far we transport things and whether the transport is efficient.

The biggest initiatives here are alternative fuels such as harnessing solar and wind energy and also using fuels made from plants and other biological sources instead of fossil fuels. This is logical because fossil; fuels are just fossilised forests from the past.

Victoria’s wind farms are saving more than 250,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, according to an independent study. A typical 2 MW wind turbine reduces greenhouse emissions by about 6,000 tonnes per year, with 1,000 MW of installed wind able to displace around 600 GWh of brown coal generation per annum.

A meat works in Victoria, is investigating the use of animal fat from its abattoir operations for making biodiesel. The potential 10 ML of biodiesel a year would fuel the company’s own transport fleet, with the excess sold on the open market. In Australian biodiesel is being made from canola but sugar would be another good source. In New Zealand biofuel is being made from algae grown in sewage ponds. This is important because a major obstacle to biodiesel is the fact that the same land used to grow biodiesel crops is also needed to grow food.

Trading carbon is a sensible strategy so that people who do use large amounts of carbon based energy can pay other people who are growing trees. One of my clients has a forestry project to enable their business to be carbon neutral. At Enviro Action we donate a portion of all our income to Trees for Life to support them growing seedling native trees for farmers and other land owners to plan each year.

Governor Schwarzenegger says California, the world’s 12th largest carbon emitter, will become a global leader in greenhouse emissions reduction following agreement on a cap and trade system.

So how does this affect me?
Personally I feel deep concern about the future my grandchildren and their friends face. I think we all need to take the many small steps that may seem to “not make much difference” to try to reduce the overall load on the system. I use low energy fluorescent bulbs in table lamps instead of the ceiling full of halogen lights in both my home and my office. I chose to live in a well insulated north facing place so that I get winter sun coming under my verandah but no summer sun and I seldom use the air conditioner. I used heating for only for 4 hours last winter and that was when the ground outside was white with frost. In summer 40oC outside translated to 29 oC inside and I decided I was comfortable as it was under 30 oC. I drive a duel fuelled car and walk or ride my bike when this is possible.

These are little steps to reduce our foot print and if we all do this in both our businesses and our homes we do have a cumulative effect. We can choose “green power” in most places. In our business we can think carefully about all the impacts we have just discussed and work out how to save green house gas use and remember this also saves us money.

Obviously we also need to take big steps as well and new technologies must also be developed as existing technologies are not adequate to “solve” the problem, but we can reduce the load and the rate of global warming by all taking our small steps and we need to start now.

Helping the environment can be a real win-win.

About the Author:

Hi I am Jean Cannon and my passion is helping small and medium businesses to fully realise the amazing help and protection a management system can bring. Please visit my website at http://www.enviroaction.com.au.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and powers our greatest energy production source, familiar to all of us - the SUN. Hydrogen itself makes up 75% of the universes elemental mass, obviously not all of it is on earth.

But how can we use hydrogen as a fuel. Hydrogen, like fossil fuels is an explosive gas. When it combines in an explosive reaction with oxygen it produces only one element - WATER. In other words there are no toxic outputs.

It is not all rosy though for our friend Mr Hydrogen, since there are cost and efficiency factors involved in making hydrogen fuel a reality. There are a number of possibilities, such as producing hydrogen from bio-products like manure and waste material, producing hydrogen from water and others.

Some researchers in Australia are looking at a radical new way of using a catalyst (a substance that encourages a chemical reaction by its own properties) - titanium dioxide - to assist hydrogen and oxygen from separating within water to produce pure hydrogen gas. This hydrogen is then used to power fuel cells and make electricity.

The initial power source is our old friend Mr Sun. Simply it works like this. The sun power and the catalyst split the water H20, into hydrogen and oxygen, so we now have H2 plus 02. This hydrogen is then used to power a fuel cell, which produces electricity.

The advantage of the catalyst is that it requires much less solar energy to bring this about, making the whole reaction more cost effective.

This is only one method that is being explored at the moment, but it is a step towards exploring the factors involved in producing hydrogen efficiently for our global well being.

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About The Author:

Green building design process grows out of a connection with natural landscape. A set of informed decisions that consider the site and materials to reduce cost, maintenance and energy usage Green homes are healthier, safer, and more comfortable and cost less to operate. They connect people to the land and community around them. The following are seven green building ideas:

Passive Solar Design

Passive solar design for natural heating and cooling is in practice the world over. As energy costs rise, it is critical to use building orientation, window placement, stone floors, reflective barriers and other technologies to control natural solar energy. Some tips to passive solar design.

In warm climates, face the broad side of the home to the north or south to avoid excessive heat gain as the sun rises and drops in the horizon. Use deep overhangs and solar sunscreens to shield glass areas from direct sun. Avoid sky heights or greenhouse rooms as they allow too much heat gain.

In colder climates, solar heat can be captured or stored in materials such as concrete or stone to be slowly released during the evening.

An open floor plan optimizes the effect of passive solar heating / cooling.

Doors and windows should be placed to catch the prevailing breeze and allow cross ventilation.

Lower inflow and higher outflow windows keep air moving as hot air rises.

Double glass panes provide an insulating air space between the panes reducing heat transfer.

Ventilate Attic Space

In hot climate, attic spaces can accumulate heat, transferring it to living room below. AC ducts located in the attic will absorb the heat.

In cold climates, moisture can accumulate in unventilated attic spaces

Lighter color of roof materials absorb less heat

High insulation in attic and exterior walls is crucial for comfortable indoor temperature.

Optimize Heating / AC Systems

An oversized system will cool too quickly and leave the room clammy. Smaller systems run long enough, reach the desired temperature and clear the air of humidity

A smaller system lasts longer, doesn’t cycle on and a off frequently and costs less to purchase.

Check for leakage in duct, around windows, doors and electric outlets

Use programmable thermostats to regulate energy usage

Reduce Water Needs

Native landscaping suited to the rainfall in your area is fundamental to building green spaces

Water previous materials like crushed granite, open paving blocks as they allow water to percolate in the ground

Rainwater catchments use RWP and gutters to catch and store water that falls on roof and terrace.

Front loading washing machines use less energy and water

Low flow toilets and shower heads reduce water usage

Use Renewable and Recyclable Materials

Use locally produced and easily renewed materials wherever possible

Consider alternative building materials such as rammed earth, straw bales or structural insulated panels

Concrete floors utilize the foundation materials as finish floors, saving material and labor costs

Recycled wood floors are very attractive flooring materials

Bamboo floors are made from a rapidly renewable resource, as bamboo can grow several feet per day

Hard surface floors do not hold dust, moulds or allergens and are very durable

Site Safeguarding

Trees, vegetation and bird habitats on site should be protected during building construction

Reduce impact to the building site as much as possible

Dispose construction waste properly. Do not bury them on site

Native trees, grasses and rocks can be incorporated into landscaping design or as natural drainage

Use of Safe Materials

Look out for green labels on carpets and other home décor products

Use products that are biodegradable, non-toxic, water based and cold water compatible.

Avoid products containing dyes, ozone depleting chemicals (CFC), heavy metal etc.

Avoid solvent based finishes and particle boards, adhesives, fuzzy carpets and other products that release volatile chemicals into the air.

Green building is a common sense approach available to all home owners and implementation of green practice shall make the home more cost effective, enjoyable and sustainable to live in.

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About The Author:

Solar energy comes in many forms. The majority of us are most familiar with solar cells, but there are actually many different ways to create and store solar energy. Here are a few of those ways:

· Solar Cells – Most of us have seen solar cells used on calculators with LCDs. But they have also been used in many other ways. Solar cells use semiconductors (oftentimes, silicon) to generate electricity, directly from the sunlight.

· Solar Fibers – This is also a photovoltaic device (like the solar cells), only it does not use silicon. Rather, it has a solar tape that is made with titanium dioxide. This tape could actually be combined with building materials or even clothing.

· Solar Ponds – A solar pond is made of three layers: the top layer as low salt content. The middle layer is an insulating layer with salt, and it prevents natural convection in the water (which would normally cause heat exchange). The bottom layer as a very high salt content, and this layer can approach high temperatures. Because of all the densities in salt of the different layers, there are no convection currents (which normally transfer heat to the surface and then the air). The heat that gets trapped in the bottom layer can be used to heat buildings, generate electricity, or in industrial processes.

· Solar Chemicals – There are a number of different solar energy processes that absorb sunlight in a chemical reaction to create that solar energy. More research is needed on solar chemical energy before we can apply it practically. Much of this research is on photoelectrolysis of water.

· Solar Updraft Towers – This is a type of solar energy plant in which air passes under an agricultural glass house, gets heated by the sun, and is then channel up toward a convection tower. It is used to drive turbines which generate electricity.

· Energy Towers – This tower uses water, unfortunately, but it is also a good design and works in a similar way to the solar updraft tower. Water is sprayed at the top of the water. The water evaporates which causes a downdraft by cooling the air. This coolness increases the density of the air and then drives turbines that are at the bottom of the tower.

These are just a few ways in which solar energy has been and is being created. Perhaps the most common household type of solar energy is that created by solar cells. Nonetheless, these other types are very promising and certainly have their place.

You can harness the power of the sun too, and you dont have spend $40,000 to buy an entire solar panel system outright for your home. Please consider renting your solar panels. We offer the entire system with zero up-front cost and you can lock in your current electricity rates for up to 25 years, making inflation a thing of the past.

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About The Author:

I agree with the opinion that we, as a nation and even worldwide, must begin to control environmental conditions. It is becoming more and more obvious that our current and continual downslides are just as important to attempt to control. The environmental conditions of our world are just as the continued production of any other industry essential to the survival of human beings, if not more.

More and more one hears of the environmental issues that have risen as well as the ways in which to help improve the environment. Many people are coming to appreciate the fact that we are destroying our world, and that we must take steps to improve the environment and environmental threats that surround us.

Wind turbines collect energy from natural air flow. When this happens, due to the function of wind turbines, the air slows down and then spreads, diverting it around the wind turbine device or devices.

Here is a condensed idea of how the wind turbine works:

1. The Betz Limit

o Betz Law or, the Betz Limit determined that the use of a wind turbine can generate almost fifty-nine percent of the energy that would flow straight through the cross section in the construction of a turbine.

o No matter what kind of wind turbine or wind turbines one has, regardless of design, the Betz Limit applies.

o Albert Betz, a physicist from Germany, discovered this fact: that a wind turbine works (almost universally) as an incredibly effective kind of energy net for wind power.

o Albert Betz made this discovery in the year 1919.

2. The Unpredictability of Windy Weather

o Because windiness varies no matter where you live, it is impossible to predict exactly how much wind can be generated over a significant period of time such as the yield per year.

o In addition, different places have different probabilities of amounts of wind distribution.

o The most frequently used piece of equipment used to determine the wind speed distribution is a two – parameter Weibull distribution monitor.

o This piece of equipment is used to determine what have been termed “distribution shapes” from Gaussian to exponential.

For example: The Rayleigh model

This is a specific form of the Weilbull distribution function. In such a case, the distribution shape should be a parameter that equals two. Imitating or mirroring the distribution shapes, the Rayleigh model of the exact hourly wind speeds and patterns of a particular area.

3. Higher Wind Speed

o Because in certain places there is so much wind power to draw from, a lot of the wind in such places comes in gusts or short bursts.

o Here’s a good example:

When comparing the size of fueled power plants to the potential power of wind turbine farms, one will find that 10000 kW of wind turbine power is theoretically enough to produce as much power and energy as approximately one half of that, in power generation that is coal — fired.

o Despite unpredictability, the annual reports of wind turbine energy output usually vary by only a few points from year to year.

4. Turbine Sitting – when location is key:

o The general rule is that when a location has an average wind speed of ten miles per hour it is a perfect location for wind generators.

o Meteorology plays a very important part in the determination of exactly where to set up a wind farm or any other kind of wind turbine generator.

o Ideally, one wants a location with a constant stream of wind as opposed to turbulent, gusty high mph winds.

o The wind will virtually always blow faster at higher altitudes because of reduced drag from the sea or land, as well as the subsequently lower amounts of viscosity in the wind current.

o Very flat lands with smooth average speed winds are great locations for wind turbines as well.

5. Wind Parks and / or wind Farms of have many wind power turbines installed.

o Utility-scale wind turbine generators have to have limits for the operating minimum.

o This can prevent the application of a wind power generation system in especially cold areas

o There are, however, many experiments in the making. There are internal heaters, heating lubricants, and minimum temperature monitors to consider in the installation and use of wind turbines.

More and more one hears of the environmental issues that have risen as well as the ways in which to help improve the environment. Many people are coming to appreciate the fact that we are destroying our world, and that we must take steps to improve the environment and environmental threats that surround us.

Professionals have estimated that 1% to 3% of the Sun’s energy, the energy that hits the earth, transforms into wind energy. To give you an idea of how much energy this is, in simple terms: it is about fifty to one-hundred times the amount of energy that is produced by plant life and biomass over the entire earth.

If you would like to harness the power of the sun, but you just dont have enough money to buy an entire solar panel system outright for your home. Please consider renting your solar panels. We offer the entire system with zero up-front cost and you can lock in your current electricity rates for up to 25 years, making inflation a thing of the past.

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About The Author:

It is not difficult to become a believer in global warming. According to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center 2001 was the second warmest year on record and it was the 23rd consecutive year of above normal temperatures. Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the rate of temperature increase is accelerating. Add to this the data just released from insurer Munich Re stating that deaths from natural disasters were more than double in 2001 versus 2000 and insured losses were up more than 50%.UNEP estimates that the extra economic costs of disasters attributable to global warming are running at more than $300 billion annually.

Some 180 countries are proceeding toward an expected ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of this year. Of the six gases it will control CO2 is by far the largest contributing nearly 90% of the global warming impact. The primary source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore the focus on energy will continue to increase.

Throughout the world different methods are being used to encourage reduced energy use. Japan has enacted the Energy Conservation Law in 1999 mandating huge efficiency improvements by 2004 for nearly all air conditioning products. The U.S. has revised ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for buildings to raise the minimum COP level for centrifugal chillers from the current value of 5.2 to 6.1 effective in October 2001. DOE and Green Seal have revised their recommended efficiency levels to an even higher level of 6.27.

Some countries use laws. Others use codes and standards. An increasing number of countries are using environmental costing which increases the price of energy thereby increasing the financial attractiveness of high efficiency products. European countries have been using such “carbon taxes” for more than a decade. However a rapidly growing trend in developing countries is the reduction of subsidies to energy industries “so prices more accurately reflect environmental impacts” according to OECD’s Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century.

China has shown leadership by reducing subsidies to the coal industry from $24.5 billion in 1990 to $10 billion in 1996 resulting in 7% emissions reduction while seeing a solid economic growth of 36%! China is now moving aggressively into environmental costing with the just announced (1/13/2002) 5-year environmental plan that commits 700 billion yuan ($84 billion) to help protect the environment. The government will provide the fist 65 billion yuan to initiate the project but will apply the “polluter pays” principle for the rest. The “environmental protection authorities will collect funds from the pollution-producing companies”. The impact on the price of energy is not known at this time. However it is clear that the addition of environmental costing will increase energy prices. According to a European Research Commission Report of July 2001 “The cost of producing electricity from coal or oil would double if costs such as damage to the environment and health were taken into account”.

The global movement to high efficiency is accelerating just like the rate of temperature increase. But this is not all that is changing. This second environmental threat of global warming is making it clear that we need to give combined consideration to ozone depletion and global warming. But more important is the need to focus on the real issue which is the total environmental impact not address each individual environmental threat in isolation. This includes the concept of environmental risk exposure, which recognizes that there are other environmental threats that are less well understood today. However, there are “no regrets” decisions we can make today (such as minimum refrigerant charge, minimum atmospheric life refrigerants, etc.) to minimize these risks.

Combined consideration would place more emphasis on reducing the use of CFCs, which are still being produced in developing countries until 2010 in accordance with the Montreal Protocol. Little attention is being given the large contribution to global warming from CFCs. Actions which cause confusion and delay the phaseout of CFCs cause increased environmental damage rather than lessening the environmental impact.

The other rapidly changing factor in the HVAC industry is the shift to becoming a hermetic industry, where refrigerant is contained throughout the life of a chiller and recycled for further use when the chiller is replaced. This simple understanding that “if it doesn’t get into the environment it does no harm” is a powerful argument, which will lead to the continued use of the most efficient refrigerants in such closed hermetic applications as chillers. In just 15 years annual refrigerants emissions from chillers have been reduced from 25% to well below 1% today. This defines a whole different world than that which existed when the Montreal Protocol was crafted some 15 years ago.

But perhaps the most important change coming to our industry is the realization that there are no new or “perfect” refrigerants waiting to be discovered. There are eight elements that can be combined for use in a vapor compression cycle. All feasible combinations of these eight have been evaluated. The reality is “what we have now is all there is”.

This recognition is why we are now seeing a shift from the search for a perfect refrigerant to a search for the right refrigerant(s) for the right application. Said another way, the highest efficiency refrigerants for the lowest emissions applications. Many in our industry call this “Responsible Use”.

About the Author:

Larry Butz
LButz@gea-consulting.com

Larry Butz is a business globalization and energy efficiency expert for GEA Consulting. GEA Consulting is a global resource dedicated to developing practical solutions that drive client revenue, efficiency, and operational productivity. GEA Consulting can be found online at http://www.gea-consulting.com

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Solar power is a renewable energy source that is extremely popular, but has a cost problem. Net metering is a concept the government is currently using to offset this problem.

Solar power works by converting sunlight into electricity. With the abundant amount of sunlight hitting the planet each and every day, the potential of converting to solar power is massive. Ah, but there is one problem. Solar energy platforms are not very efficient. Solar cells currently only convert sunlight to energy at roughly 8 to 13 percent depending on the system. This lack of efficiency means you must buy large, bulky, expensive solar panel systems to meet your energy needs. Much research is being done in the field of nanotechnology solar cells to improve this problem, but the answer is a few years off. So, what can you do to deal with the cost issue today?

The government tries to promote certain conduct in two ways. First it makes things illegal such as drug use. Second, it creates financial incentives and penalties to try to guide our conduct. Taxes on cigarettes, for instance, are high and try to motivate us not to smoke. Tax credits offered for the purchase of hybrid cars is an example of using incentives to promote an activity.

When it comes to solar energy, the government realizes that there is a cost problem. It tries to resolve this in a number of ways. The first is to offer tax credits for buying solar panel systems. Tax credits are a tremendous financial benefit. They work by reducing the tax you owe dollar for dollar. For instance, you might figure out your taxes for this year and find out you owe the IRS $5,000. If you can claim a tax credit for $2,000, you would end up owing the government $3,000. In short, the credit is much more powerful than a mere tax deduction.

Another area where financial incentives are offered on solar is net metering. Net metering is simply the concept of selling energy back to a utility company at the same rate it sells it to you. This concept goes a long way to making solar energy competitive. Here’s how it works.

Assume you buy a solar panel system for your home. Your high energy needs tend to happen early in the morning and later in the afternoon. During the week, you have nominal energy needs during the day when you are at work. So, what happens to the energy being produced by the solar panels during the day? Well, you can sell it back to the utility company. This is called being “on grid”, with the grid being the platform the utility uses to deliver energy to communities. With net metering, the energy produced by your panels is fed back into the grid. Your utility meter literally spins backwards. You are selling electricity to the utility during the day. At night, you draw energy off the grid. The end result is you owe little or nothing to the utility company at the end of the month. This will save you a thousand dollars or so each year.

Net metering is currently a state concept. While over 40 states have laws on the books requiring utilities to allow net metering, there is no federal standard. That may be about to change. Federal law now requires all states to consider whether they wish to enact net metering legislation by 2008. Most are expected to pass such laws. When this occurs, net metering will be a cost cutting solution to the solar power energy problem, making it a more viable energy source for you and me.

Another option fpr people living in a states wich allows net metering is to rent a solar panel system. A company recently brought this idea to fruition and now solar power is within reach of any home owner. Some of the benifits of renting instead of buying include:

If this sounds like something you are interested in, and you are ready to do your part, then find out more Here!

About The Author:

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com - a directory of solar energy companies.

Green homes are eco-friendly homes that are energy efficient and use ecological design and sustainable resources. There has been a tremendous increase in awareness of the benefits of green building in America among builders and home owners alike. With home builders finding it easier to construct green homes, the number of green homes constructed throughout the country has gone up remarkably.

Ecological concerns and the increasing awareness of the advantages of green homes have led to an upsurge in green homes in the country. Concerns about the impact their homes have on the environment have prompted some homebuyers to opt for green homes.

Building green homes is no longer a remote concept these days. Over disturbing facts about global warming and indoor air pollution, today, the top priority of the National Home Builders Association and the American Institute of Architects is constructing green buildings.

There is sufficient data around that indicate that the building of green homes is on the rise. According to the figures provided by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) (who developed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system), the number of buildings with LEED status in America has increased from 38 in 2002 to 669 now. Green buildings are progressively entering the mainstream with more and more buildings getting LEED certification.

Given that green buildings do not cost very much more than traditional buildings, and that they actually reduce energy bills, the building of green homes is on the rise. A green building is not only less expensive to live in but also spikes in value by 7.5 percent on average and improves return on investment by 6.6 percent on average.

Green building concepts begin to rise everywhere as the number of individuals who want to remodel, build or buy green homes are rapidly increasing. Architects and developers are responding to satisfy this growing demand. Green buildings have been found to appreciate faster than traditional buildings.

What was once a patchwork of green buildings in several cities has now increased to encompass whole communities and neighborhoods. According to a McGraw-Hill Construction survey in 2006, about two-thirds of builders would be building green homes in America this year. Green buildings are firmly mainstream now with federal government and 15 states requiring new public buildings to meet the LEED standards. In fact, four U.S. states and 17 cities offer incentives for private buildings built to LEED standards.

With rising government initiatives, consumer interest and the number of green developers and builders, the green building revolution is all set to go to a new level. And now, with a solar revolution on the horizon, home owners will be able to have solar power without any equipment cost. Find Out How!

About The Author:

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