2: Kill Phantom Electrical Loads - phantom electrical loads are those unforeseen “standby” electrical loads that rob about 11% of annual energy consumption. Most electrical products have standby electrical loads which use electricity even when the product is turned off. DVD players, TV’s, Computers, phone chargers, and many other products all use electricity on a constant basis. The solution is to plug these things into surge protector strips and turn the strip off when they are not in use.

3: Change Lights - Incandescent lighting is responsible for wasted electricity and added heat gain. These light bulbs of yesterday are slowly being phased out for more energy efficient Compact Florescent bulbs and LED lightbulbs. A new energy efficient CFL bulb can save about 150 kWh of electricity annually and save you approximately $37 over the life of the bulb. LED lightbulbs, although more expensive up front, will last much longer than CFLs and use less energy as well.

4: Window Renovation - Windows are generally the most significant energy sink in almost every home due to lack of insulation. In cooler climates gas filled double pane windows with high R-values are excellent and well worth the cost of replacing old single pane windows. In hotter climates, these same windows are not as effective as they only reduce convective and conductive heat gain but fall short in stopping radiant heat gain. Stoping radiant heat gain in hotter climates requires exterior shading elements or the use of an energy film which helps to block the suns UV rays. Window energy films are applied directly to the glass with soap and water and will essentially make an existing window perform like that of an energy star rated double pane gas filled window.

5: Control Radiant Heat - Radiant heat is the most efficient form of heat transfer and in order to increase a homes heating and cooling efficiency, radiant heat transfer must be stopped. Radiant heat is responsible for excess heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. The most cost efficient way to stop radiant heat transfer is by using a radiant barrier, which is a sheet of low emisivity, high reflectivity foil. Although radiant barriers come in many shapes and sizes, but be sure to find a well made, durable, two sided (for winter and summer protection), perforated radiant barrier. I highly recommend Ra-flect radiant barrier as a cost effective, high strength, high quality product.

Firms make use of Renewable Portfolio Standards, farm-to-fuel investments and availability in lower-cost feedstocks to achieve better results.

THE FARM-TO-FUEL Investment Act was recently introduced by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Iowa’s Tom Harkin of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chair of the Senate Budget Committee. The act would encourage farmers to produce cellulosic energy crops and provide transition assistance for farmers to grow dedicated energy crops. Participating farmers would agree to adopt conservation practices for soil and water quality and would be given incentives to produce native perennial energy crops such as prairie grass mixtures because of their tremendous conservation benefits.

Meanwhile, voters in Washington State have passed the Clean Energy Initiative - a set of policies that move to energy independence while combating global warming. The law includes a renewable electricity standard that requires the state’s largest utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources such as bioenergy, wind and solar by 2020. By 2025, these policies could reduce annual warming emissions by 4.6 million metric tons. Washington is the 21st state to adopt a renewable electricity standard and the second to do so via ballot initiative. Colorado was first in 2004.

A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires utilities to generate an increasing percentage of their electricity from renewable resources. U.S. Representative Tom Udall of New Mexico and others have introduced legislation to establish a national RPS of 20 percent by 2020. This legislation would generate such benefits as a 15 percent reduction in power plant emissions of carbon dioxide; $49 billion in consumer savings on natural gas and electricity bills; more than 350,000 new jobs; more than $16 billion in new farm income; and more than $72 billion in capital investments for renewable energy facilities in rural communities.

PLASMA TORCH GASIFICATION IN KOOCHICHING COUNTY, MINNESOTA

A $400,000 grant has been awarded to the Koochiching Economic Development Authority (KEDA) in International Falls, Minnesota through a bill signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty, to determine the feasibility of a plasma torch gasification facility that would process 35,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste. Paul Nevanen, Director of KEDA, says that his agency will provide fiscal management of the grant, with Coronal LLC , KEDA’s partner in the project, providing overall management. �We have identified at least six engineering firms that will be given an opportunity to respond to our RFP to be issued in June, to evaluate sites, feedstocks, emissions, financing, business models, and plasma torch technologies,� explains Nevanan. �Although Coronal has been working with Westinghouse’s plasma technology, as well as Siemens for process controls, there are a couple of other plasma technologies that will be reviewed. Our governor recently signed a bill to require energy utilities to get a certain percentage of their energy from renewable sources, and the state is being very supportive of this project.

Minneapolis-based Coronal proposed the $30 million plasma gasification project more than two years ago, and has since gained significant state and county support. A full-scale operating plant in Utashinai, Japan - being cited as an example for Minnesota - was commissioned in 2004, and employs the Westinghouse plasma technology, processing 200 tpd of MSW. It generates 7.9 MW of electricity, which is enough to power 7,000 households. Nevanen says that he and other county officials hope to tour a recently opened plasma gasification plant near Ottawa, Ontario during the feasibility study. A plasma torch consists of two copper electrodes with very high direct current passing between them, and an inert gas like nitrogen injected through the electrodes, ionizing the gas and generating a flame with temperatures of 20,000�F. The high temperature breaks down organic waste into its basic molecular components of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. In addition to tipping fees, potential revenue streams from the project include syngas that will be sold as fuel, steam for use by companies such as Boise Cascade’s paper mill in International Falls, electricity, and vitrified slag that can be used as road aggregate, or rock wool, an ingredient of acoustic paneling. The feasibility study should come up with several different designs for the project.

COFFEE ROASTERS IN VERMONT

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Waterbury, Vermont makes big profits by selling individual servings of ground coffee in white cups that are filled by a hissing, clanking production line. Now it’s found a way to spend $150 to $200 to install an efficient blower to cool the laser and cut Green Mountain’s electric bill by $200 per laser, of which there are 40. The improvement was made with the coaxing of the Vermont Energy Investment Corp. which is under contract with the state to find energy savings. �Opportunities like this abound in the commercial and industrial sectors, requiring no new research or technology,� notes The New York Times. The easiest way to cut carbon emissions and air pollution is to focus more on efficiency, claim experts in renewable power.

In many states, utilities promote efficiency because they have relationships with their users, but in Vermont many utilities are too small to have efficiency programs. Vermont took the approach of hiring Vermont Energy Investment, doing business as Efficiency Vermont. In most places, the traditional ways of making energy still turn out to be easier to do than to save it, but the incentives for energy efficiency are growing.

�When we started talking in the 1990s about energy efficiencies vs. coal energy, we were talking four cents a kilowatt-hour for coal and four cents for energy efficiency,� says Neal Elliott of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. �Today we’re talking optimistically, without carbon taxes, 10 cents for coal. With carbon taxes, we may be talking 20 cents for coal. And energy efficiency is still four cents or less.�

GREEN BUILDINGS COME OF AGE

New office and commercial towers are being touted as saving money and helping to save the planet. The U.S. Green Building Council has certified 741 buildings since the program was launched in 2000. The largest single category is commercial/office with 197; 400 more are classified as office. Two projects included in the Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings set the nation’s standards for sustainable design.

When completed this year, the Durst Organization and Bank of America’s 54-story Tower in Manhattan will be the world’s greenest high-rise office building. In Philadelphia, Liberty Property Trust’s Comcast Center will be the nation’s tallest LEED-certified building. The economics work out well also. Energy costs will be reduced by 15 percent per year.

The Bank of America Tower’s greenest energy-efficient features include a 5.4-megawatt cogeneration plant and a recycling system that captures rainwater and reuses it to supply traditional functions, like flushing toilets. Sustainable solutions also include waterless urinals and a pioneering filtered underfloor displacement ventilation system that improves air quality and provides floor-by-floor control of air, making heating and cooling more efficient.

Comments Douglas Durst, co-president of The Durst Organization: �It’s always easier to build exactly the way you did before. The greatest challenge is getting developers to work in different ways with different materials. It still takes a lot more thinking and time to build green, but that will change and, eventually, all buildings will be green.�

POULTRY LITTER FEEDSTOCK FOR MINNESOTA BIOMASS PLANT

At a plant in Benson, Minnesota to begin full-scale production next month, some 750 tons of turkey litter will be turned into electricity at a $200 million power plant. According to Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski, the 55-megawatt Fibrominn LLC plant will be the first poultry litter-fired power plant in the U.S. using a combination of droppings, wood chips, seed hulls, shed feathers and spilled feed. The plant will consume about 40 percent of the turkey litter that Minnesota generates, turning about 500,000 tons per year into electricity. Fibrowatt LLC is planning projects in several other major poultry states like North Carolina, Arkansas, Maryland and Mississippi.

Turkey farmer Greg Langmo said that selling litter for fuel gives poultry growers a new way to add value. Most producers who contract with Fibrominn will get $3 to $5 per ton, and the litter will be removed all at once.

According to Terry Walmsley, environmental vice president for Fibrominn, the company is working with the poultry industry to meet their needs. �Our goal is to design a flexible process that can meet demands and provide a valuable service.�

BIOMASS CONVERSION AT PURDUE OFFERS THREE TIMES FUEL YIELD

Managed by Purdue University’s engineering professor Rakesh Agrawal, a research group has developed a proposal that would generate three times the fuel from the same amount of biomass - focusing on improving results with biomass utilization. The researchers will use hydrogenation, where supplemental hydrogen is added to the gasification process. Hydrogen extracted from electrolyzed water would bond with carbons released during gasification - with power for electrolysis coming from carbon-free sources.

This technique converts all carbon discharged from the synthesized feedstock to liquid hydrocarbon fuel either through suppression of carbon dioxide formation or recycling of the carbon dioxide back into the gasifier. As explained in the proposal, a pathway is suggested where neither coal nor biomass is treated as a sole source of energy to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Suppression or recycling of carbon dioxide from coal processing is significant since its carbon emissions would heavily contribute to the greenhouse effect.

The research team will be invited to speak at the BioCycle Seventh Annual Conference on �Renewable Energy from Organics Recycling.� The Conference will be held at the Radisson Hotel City Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 1, 2, 3, 2007. See the program in this issue for details.

BIODIESEL PRODUCTION SITE IS LAUNCHED IN WISCONSIN

In mid-May, Sanimax Energy shipped its first large-scale load of biodiesel to Progressive Farmers Cooperative in Northeast Wisconsin. �This is an exciting time for the Bio Industry in Wisconsin, and we’re excited to contribute to the fuel needs of our state’s consumers,� says Sanimax plant manager Russ Read in DeForest. Adds John Schmidt of the Progressive Farmers Coop: �We primarily sell biodiesel blended with 95 percent regular diesel, but for those people who want 100 percent biodiesel, we do have supplies available.�

Another founding member of the Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance (WBIA) - BEST Energies - is constructing an eight million gallon biodiesel plant in Cashton, and Utica Energy is adding biodiesel capabilities to its ethanol plant in Johnson Creek. Meanwhile, North Prairie Productions is constructing a 45 million gallon plant in Evansville, and Midwest Biofuel is building a 10 million gallon plant in Clinton.

The Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance is the state’s first alliance of top leaders in the development of biobased renewable energy, power and products. Businesses, environmental groups and statewide and local organizations have joined to build public and legislative awareness.

Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors Corp., and Jim Press, the president of Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American division, have agreed to testify 14 March before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The said committee is chaired by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

The Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group have also expressed their assent to participate in the hearing. Ford will be sending its executive chairman, Bill Ford Jr., to participate in the happenings. Tom LaSorda, the Chrysler Group CEO, will also represent the automaker in the said hearing. Ron Gettelfinger, the president of UAW, will also appear at a separate session of the same hearing.

Dingell is calling the largest automakers to Washington to make a compromise to President George Bush’s proposal to increase fuel economy by four percent every year. This measure is aimed at reducing vehicle emissions that have been connected to global warming. The legislator�s aim is to limit greenhouse gas emissions that the automakers could sustain.

This is the very first time in recent years that top executives of the largest automakers have been called to the US Congress as a group regarding the global warming issues. The hearing will also tackle the opposition of the automakers to fuel economy standards. Critics in the industry said that the hearing could be likened to the appearance of tobacco company CEOs in 1994 to declare that nicotine was not addictive.

Automakers expressed their dissent to the idea of comparing them to tobacco executives. They noted that the auto industry has spent billions to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles and does not oppose achievable increases. They added that the current corporate average fuel economy requirements, more commonly known and referred as CAFE, distort the market by forcing them to heavily discount smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to meet fleet-wide mandates.

“There is change in the air,” said Dave McCurdy, the current head of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, which represents GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota among other companies. “We are going to be at the table. I often use the Oklahoma saying, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’”

In a short span, automakers have faced mounting pressure from Congress and Bush administration. The said pressure is anchored on the goal of increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles and limit greenhouse gas emissions. This goal is estimated to cost the industry billions of dollars. Aside from this, the new rules could eventually force them to cease producing heavier vehicles in favor of hybrid models.

Dingell, one of four lawmakers who met with President Bush on energy policy, has told the top automakers about the need to be part of a broad-based reduction in carbon dioxide output from many industries. He added that his committee attempts to meet a July 4 target for a draft bill.

Excerpts of Dingell�s statement obtained by The News state: “I am proud of what this committee accomplished thirty years ago, however, we are now confronted with new and pressing questions,” pertaining to the original fuel economy law in 1975. “Faced with evidence that the globe is warming, is the current method of regulating the fuel economy of vehicles the most effective way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from cars and trucks?” he further shares.

The global warming goad is a serious matter because every one is affected. With the greater burden imposed on the government and other sectors, the solution is not as easy as producing sophisticated auto engines and blending them to effective brakes, EBC pads and a number of systems. It takes intensive studies and a considerable sum for the goal to be realized.

About The Author:

Anthony Fontanelle
anthony_fontanelle@yahoo.com
More Details about auto parts, EBC Pads here.

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.

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

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.

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.

Get your own rentable solar panel system today. There are not installation cost, no equipment cost, no maintenence fees and you can lock in your current electricity rate for up to 25 years.

Go Solar Today!

About The Author:

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.

One step you can take today to make your home green, is to rent a solar panel system. The benifits of renting is that there are no equipment cost, no installation cost and you can lock in your current electricity rates for up to 25 years.

Get Your Solar Panels Today!

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· 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.

Go Solar Today and Do Your Part To Stop Global Warming!

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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.

Do your Part and Go Solar Today!

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