Biofuels as ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY

Sugar cane residue can be used as a biofuel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Biofuels are produced by converting organic matter into fuel for powering our society. These biofuels are an alternative energy source to the fossil fuels that we currently depend upon. The biofuels umbrella includes under its aegis ethanol and derivatives of plants such as sugar cane, as well aS vegetable and corn oils. However, not all ethanol products are designed to be used as a kind of gasoline. The International Energy Agency (IEA) tells us that ethanol could comprise up to 10 percent of the world's usable gasoline by 2025, and up to 30 percent by 2050. Today, the percentage figure is two percent.

However, we have a long way to go to refine and make economic and practical these biofuels that we are researching. A study by Oregon State University proves this. We have yet to develop biofuels that are as energy-efficient as gasoline made from petroleum. Energy efficiency is the measure of how much usable energy for our needed purposes is derived from a certain amount of input energy. (Nothing that mankind has ever used has derived more energy from output than from what the needed input was. What has always been important is the conversion—the end-product energy is what is useful for our needs, while the input energy is just the effort it takes to produce the end-product.) The OSU study found corn-derived ethanol to be only 20% energy efficient (gasoline made from petroleum is 75% energy efficient). Biodiesel fuel was recorded at 69% energy efficiency. However, the study did turn up one positive: cellulose-derived ethanol was charted at 85% efficiency, which is even higher than that of the fantastically efficient nuclear energy.

Recently, oil futures have been down on the New York Stock Exchange, as analysts from several different countries are predicting a surge in biofuel availability which would offset the value of oil, dropping crude oil prices on the international market to $40 per barrel or thereabouts.  The Chicago Stock Exchange has a grain futures market that is starting to “steal” investment activity away from the oil futures in NY, as investors are definitely expecting better profitability to start coming from biofuels. Indeed, it is predicted by a consensus of analysts that biofuels shall be supplying seven percent of the entire world's transportation fuels by the year 2030. One certain energy markets analyst has said, growth in demand for diesel and gasoline may slow down dramatically if the government subsidizes firms distributing biofuels and further pushes to promote the use of eco-friendly fuel.

There are several nations that are seriously involved in the development of biofuels.

There is Brazil, which happens to be the world's biggest producer of ethanols derived from sugars. It produces approximately three and a half billion gallons of ethanol per year.

The United States, while being the world's greatest oil-guzzler, is already the second-largest producer of biofuels behind Brazil.

The European Union's biodiesel production capacity is now in excess of four million (British) tonnes. 80 percent of the EU's biodiesel fuels are derived from rapeseed oil; soybean oil and a marginal quantity of palm oil comprise the other 20 percent.

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Home ENERGY Audit

A unique energy-efficient home built in place of a historic house in 2009 by BuildSense at 930 West Markham Avenue in Trinity Park, Durham, North Carolina.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Home Energy Audit: Checking Out the Parts of the Home

Going about a home energy audit is one smart way of cutting the utility bills that you pay for at the end of every month. Many people tend to forget about the parts of their homes that might be causing the rise in home energy consumption. One fact that you must learn to take note of is that the home appliances that you possess, although they are switched off and not in use, still consume energy because of the phantom loads that they create. Examples of these are the VCRs, stereo components, microwave oven, toasters, and stoves. 

Although they are turned off, they still consume energy. How much more when you total their consumptions in a day and then for the entire month? Likewise, the remote-controlled devices are always put on a ready mode. Such a state of readiness also consumes home energy. Apart from these concerns, the parts of the home contribute to the escalating home energy consumptions. Among these are the attics, fireplaces, and the rest of the less obvious parts of the house.

The General Purpose of the Home Energy Audit

Why is a home energy audit recommended by the experts? What is this process devoted to? For everyone’s clear understanding, the ultimate purpose of the home energy audit is the making possible of the efficiency in the energy utilized in the home. When the home energy used is maximized and securely utilized, there will be the most possible reduction of the utility bills today and the succeeding years to come. 

A home energy audit will work best for homeowners who are confronted with very large electric bills. In fact, conducting the needed home energy audit will let you save thousands of dollars in the upcoming years. Stop dwelling on the windows and doors you have at home for they are obvious spots that let you lose much home energy. Why not look into the less obvious spots like the attic, the ceilings, and the fireplace?

Most homeowners put away their unused things and keep them in the attic. Sure, the attic is a great place to store your junked stuff. But then didn’t you ever glance at your attic and consider the renovation of it so that there will be proper insulation in there? You may indeed throw out big bucks for its improvement but it will do your attic good, so to speak. The attic must be installed with open-air vents so as to keep up good air circulation. When there is no proper air circulation in the attic, the utmost tendency is for the roofing and the stored stuff in the attic to get destroyed. 

Now take into consideration the ceiling you’ve got at home. It must have enough insulation so that the home energy will be kept from escaping from it and to go upwards to the attic. The easiest way for heat to transfer into the attic is through a hole in the ceiling. 

Also, take a good look at the fireplace. When the concern of regulating and controlling the temperature inside the home comes in, the fireplace is the most difficult spot to cover. As the design of the fireplace is concerned, it is particularly aimed at moving the smoke out of the interior environment of the home. 

The process is known as the propulsion of the heat. But then the main problem is that whenever the fireplace is not in use, it still goes on with the propulsion of the heat towards the exterior borders of your home. 

When dealing with a fireplace, you should bear in your mind that the flue must always be kept closed when it is not being used. But if you intend to have it open, simply turn off the heater inside your home since it will come out of the vents then cross the room, and then right into the fireplace the heat will be blown out. For some logical reasons, such situation will just cause you a nightmare in terms of the electrical bills that will confront you.

If you are serious with your intention of cutting back your home energy costs, a home energy audit will be best.

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Is BIOMASS GREEN ENERGY Source

Green power. Footpath near Great Bridgeford. The path follows a green tunnel between the mature hedge and the crop of Miscanthus. Also called Elephant Grass it is grown as a fuel for a mini power station in the area. Eccleshall Biomass Farming for Energy is a 2-megawatt power plant that will generate electricity using energy crops and provides 2,000 homes with electricity.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is biomass a green energy source? According to experts, yes it is. In fact, it is one of the three main areas of bioenergy.

But what is bioenergy? Well, it is a process by which organic material such as animal waste, plants and wood are used to generate electricity, produce heat and also aid in the production of biofuels.

In the case of biomass, hot air or water is generated to produce electricity. This is done through direct combustion and is considered the simplest and most common method of generating energy from biomass.

Aside from generating electricity, biomass can be used for hot air production so you can keep a place warm. For this to work, biomass has to be combusted in a furnace where it heats either water or air. Speaking of water, this enables you to have warm water so you can take a shower. In short, biomass in itself can also be used on a small scale as a heating system.

Since you can generate electricity and heat, some people have been able to combine the two which is known as combined heat and power or CHP. Something that many consider being good as you use one energy source for two purposes.

If you are able to compare the amount of electricity generated between biomass and let’s say solar energy, you will notice that biomass produces more because the energy in plants is already captured and stored.

You don’t have to collect it first which is what happens with solar or even wind energy since this is manufactured technology. It is readily available unlike the other two which is totally dependent on the weather.

Another is the fact that you can even use organic waste to produce electricity. No other green energy source can do that and by using this extensively, any government can save money because you don’t have to spend money to dispose of the waste and you will no longer depend on foreign oil that much to power your plants.

The downside to biomass is that because you have to burn waste and other organic materials to produce power, you add to the pollution which is already in the atmosphere. But this can be offset of course by planting more crops which we know helps reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

You will also have to shell out a lot of money initially for the costs of labor, the transport of these fuels and how these should be stored.

Biomass uses renewable natural resources which is why it is considered a green energy source. This means that we have an endless supply of it around just like the power of the sun or the wind which flows from the ocean. The challenge is to find suitable land that has a sufficient water supply so these will be able to grow.

This means that in areas where water is not that abundant, you cannot rely on biomass technology to generate power. When that happens, you use other means and one good example given the right geographical location is wave energy which is the process of generating power from the water.

There is a way to generate power without causing harm to the environment. We have the technology and green energy sources. We just need to muster the will to make it happen.

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Pursuing ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENERGY

Greg Ball at "Greenstock" in Yorktown NY in May of 2007, an event about renewable energy sources. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Record high prices at American gas pumps and continued trouble-brewing in the Middle East, Nigeria, and other areas of importance to the oil-driven economy have made it clear to Americans that we are in need of developing many new avenues of energy supply and production. In short, we need to reduce our dependency on oil, for it is ultimately finite and, frankly, the cheap sources of oil (not all oil—just the stuff that is cheap to remove from the earth) are running out. Energy consultants and analysts are insistent that cheap oil has “peaked” or is very soon going to peak.  What this means for us is an expensive future—unless we can find new sources of powering our mechanized and electronic civilization, new sources which are alternatives to oil. 

We must also switch to alternative forms of energy because our present forms are too damaging to the atmosphere. While this writer does not believe that the global warming trend is much, if at all, sustained by the activities of mankind (in short, it's a natural cycle and there's nothing we can do about it except prepare for the effects of it), we certainly do contribute at present to the destruction of the environment and to things like air pollution with our energy sources as they are. Coal is another source of energy that we need to wean ourselves off of—again, it is finite, and it is filthy, and the mining of it is dangerous and environmentally disruptive. We can also explore new, streamlined methods for producing electricity that we presently generate so much of via hydro-power so that we are less disruptive of the environment when we have need of constructing things such as large dams.

Developing nations which have turned industrialized in recent decades especially will need the benefits of alternative energy research and development, for they are presently doing much more environmental damage than the United States. The United States, Japan, and some European nations have been implementing studies into and programs for the development of alternative energy sources, and are therefore already leading the way in doing less environmental damage. The developing nations such as China and India need to look to Japan and the West as examples of what research and development to give government backing and private investment currency to. We could also add great robustness to our own economy by being at the forefront of such alternative energy sources development and then marketing the technologies and services to nations like India, China, Brazil, and so on and so forth.

Biofuels from things like “supertrees” and soybeans, refined hydroelectric technology, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, the further building of atomic energy plants, the continued development of solar energy photovoltaic cells, more research into wind-harnessed power—all of these are viable energy sources that can act as alternatives to the mammoth amounts of oil and coal that we presently are so dependent on for our very lifestyles. The energy of the future is green. 

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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY And The Need For A Proper Storage Technology

Simplified grid energy flow for one day. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A number of energy storage technologies have been developed or are under development for electric power applications, including:

* Pumped hydropower

* Compressed air energy storage (CAES)

* Batteries

* Flywheels

* Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES)

* Super-capacitors

This is the future that we can safely anticipate, especially when there is a rapid depletion of other energy resources. Of course, the most important energy resource still remains the sun from where we can derive solar power and fulfil various energy and power requirements. Off late, many companies have started to build mono-crystalline and polycrystalline solar cells, which can be used in several sectors like aerospace, the aviation industry, residential power generation, traffic lights, automobiles etc. Solar energy apart from other renewable energies is being looked at as one of the key areas because it is a clean energy source.

Pumped Hydro

Pumped hydro has been in use since 1929, making it the oldest of the central station energy storage technologies. In fact, until 1970 it was the only commercially available storage option for generation applications.

Conventional pumped hydro facilities consist of two large reservoirs, one is located at the base level, and the other is situated at a different elevation. Water is pumped to the upper reservoir where it can be stored as potential energy. Upon demand, water is released back into the lower reservoir, passing through hydraulic turbines, which generate electrical power as high as 1,000 MW.

The barriers to increased use of this storage technology in the U.S. include high construction costs and long lead times as well as the geographic, geologic, and environmental constraints associated with reservoir design. Currently, efforts aimed at increasing the use of pumped hydro storage are focused on the development of underground facilities.

Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)

CAES plants use off-peak energy to compress and store air in an airtight underground storage cavern. Upon demand, stored air is released from the cavern, heated, and expanded through a combustion turbine to create electrical energy.

In 1991, the first U.S. CAES facility was built in McIntosh, Alabama, by the Alabama Electric Cooperative and EPRI, and has a capacity rating of 110 MW. Currently, manufacturers can create CAES machinery for facilities ranging from 5 to 350 MW. EPRI has estimated that more than 85% of the U.S. has geological characteristics that will accommodate an underground CAES reservoir.

Studies have concluded that CAES is competitive with combustion turbines and combined-cycle units, even without attributing some of the unique benefits of energy storage.

Batteries

In recent years, much of the focus in the development of electric energy storage technology has been centred on battery storage devices. There is currently a wide variety of batteries available commercially and many more in the design phase.

In a chemical battery, charging causes reactions in electrochemical compounds to store energy from a generator in a chemical form. Upon demand, reverse chemical reactions cause electricity to flow out of the battery and back to the grid.

The first commercially available battery was the flooded lead-acid battery, which was used for fixed, centralized applications. The valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) battery is the latest commercially available option. The VRLA battery is low-maintenance, spill- and leak-proof, and relatively compact.

Flywheels

Flywheels are currently being used for a number of non-utility related applications. Recently, however, researchers have begun to explore utility energy storage applications. A flywheel storage device consists of a flywheel that spins at a very high velocity and an integrated electrical apparatus that can operate either as a motor to turn the flywheel and store energy or as a generator to produce electrical power on demand using the energy stored in the flywheel.

Advanced Electrochemical Capacitors/Super-Capacitors

Super-capacitors are also known as ultra-capacitors are in the earliest stages of development as an energy storage technology for electric utility applications. An electrochemical capacitor has components related to both a battery and a capacitor.

Consequently, the cell voltage is limited to a few volts. Specifically, the charge is stored by ions as in a battery. But, as in a conventional capacitor, no chemical reaction takes place in energy delivery. An electrochemical capacitor consists of two oppositely charged electrodes, a separator, electrolyte, and current collectors.

Presently, very small super-capacitors in the range of seven to ten watts are widely available commercially for consumer power quality applications and are commonly found in household electrical devices. Development of larger-scale capacitors has been focused on electric vehicles.

The future is something that we can’t predict but yes, as time passes, most of the current energy sources will reach a point from where we will not be able to use them. This is where alternative energy sources come into play and will be one of the major driving forces of the world energy requirements.

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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY from the Ocean

Closed Cycle OTEC diagram (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) was conceived of by the French engineer Jacques D'Arsonval in 1881. However, at the time of this writing, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii is home to the only operating experimental OTEC plant on the face of the earth. OTEC is a potential alternative energy source that needs to be funded and explored much more than it presently is.

The great hurdle to get over with OTEC implementation on a wide and practically useful level is cost. It is difficult to get the costs down to a reasonable level because of the processes presently utilized to drive OTEC. Ocean thermal energy would be very clean burning and not add pollutants into the air. However, as it presently would need to be set up with our current technologies, OTEC plants would have the capacity for disrupting and perhaps damaging the local environment.

There are three kinds of OTEC.

“Closed Cycle OTEC” uses a low-boiling point liquid such as, for example, propane to act as an intermediate fluid. The OTEC plant pumps the warm sea water into the reaction chamber and boils the intermediate fluid. This results in the intermediate fluid's vapor pushing the turbine of the engine, which thus generates electricity.  The vapor is then cooled down by putting in cold sea water.

“Open Cycle OTEC” is not that different from closed cycling, except in the Open Cycle there is no intermediate fluid. The sea water itself is the driver of the turbine engine in this OTEC format. Warm sea water found on the surface of the ocean is turned into a low-pressure vapor under the constraint of a vacuum. The low-pressure vapor is released in a focused area and it has the power to drive the turbine. To cool down the vapor and create desalinated water for human consumption, the deeper ocean's cold waters are added to the vapor after it has generated sufficient electricity.

“Hybrid Cycle OTEC” is really just a theory for the time being. It seeks to describe the way that we could make maximum usage of the thermal energy of the ocean's waters. There are actually two sub-theories to the theory of Hybrid Cycling. The first involves using a closed cycling to generate electricity. This electricity is in turn used to create the vacuum environment needed for open cycling. The second component is the integration of two open cyclings such that twice the amount of desalinated, potable water is created that with just one open cycle.

In addition to being used for producing electricity, a closed cycle OTEC plant can be utilized for treating chemicals. OTEC plants, both open cycling and close cycling kinds, are also able to be utilized for pumping up cold deep sea water which can then be used for refrigeration and air conditioning. Furthermore, during the moderation period when the sea water is surrounding the plant, the enclosed area can be used for mariculture and aquaculture projects such as fish farming. There is clearly quite an array of products and services that we could derive from this alternative energy source.

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ENERGY-SAVING DAYLIGHT For Dark Spaces

Shows benefits of collimating tubular skylight. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's light at the end of the utility bill tunnel, thanks to an easy-to-install skylight that not only brings light to dark spaces but also helps cut energy costs. That saving is not insignificant, as Americans spend 20 percent of their electricity bills on lighting their home.

Called tubular skylights, they are ideal for situations where there just is not enough light and the homeowner doesn't want to install a more traditional lighting system, explains a spokesman for ODL, the Michigan company that makes the skylights. They're perfect for bathrooms, hallways, closets, laundry rooms and just about any room in the house.

Easy To Install

In addition to being Energy-Star qualified, the skylight is also easy for homeowners and contractors to install. A new two-piece installation kit makes installing the skylight simple because the bottom adjustable tube overlaps the top adjustable tube. Just cut a hole in the ceiling and a corresponding one on the roof. Slide in the dome flashing under the roof shingles and attach the reflective tubes. Cap them with the ceiling covering. You may download detailed instructions and watch video clips at www.odl.com/sky lights.

The skylight features a patented Solar Lens Dome, which increases light through the tube. During the full midday sun, a 10-inch tubular skylight lights up 150 square feet of space with a solar throughput equal to about three 100-watt bulbs. The 14-inch tubular skylight is designed to light up 300 square feet-an output equal to about five 100-watt bulbs.

ODL also offers a 10-inch and 14-inch Severe Weather Tubular Skylight, for areas where hail or hurricanes are common.

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Investments in ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mechanical energy is converted into an electrical energy using water (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is possible to have a portfolio which profitably (that's the key word, is it not?) invests in alternative energy funds. “Green” energy production is expected to be a multi-billion (in today's dollars) industry by 2013. 

The most recently developed wind-turbine technologies have brought us wind-produced energy which is more cost efficient as well as more widespread. More state-of-the-art wind energy technologies are typically more market competitive with conventional energy technologies. The newer wind-power technologies don't even kill birds like in days of old! Wind energy production is a growing technology, and companies engaged in it would make up an excellent part of a growth or aggressive growth portfolio.

Next to consider is a solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, technologies. These are to be found implemented in pocket calculators, private property lights, US Coast Guard buoys, and other areas. More and more they find their way onto the roofs of housing and commercial buildings and building complexes. Cost is falling. Their energy efficiency (the ratio of the amount of work needed to cause their energy production versus the actual energy production) is steadily on the rise. As an example, the conversion efficiency of silicon cells has increased from a mere four percent in 1982 to over 20% for the latest technologies. Photovoltaic cells create absolute zero pollution as they are generating electrical power. However, photovoltaic cells are not presently as cost-effective as “utility produced” electricity. “PV” cells are not [capable at present for producing industrial-production amounts of electricity due to their present constraints on space. However, areas, where photovoltaic cell arrays could be implemented, are increasingly available. In sum, costs are going down while efficiency is rising for this alternative fuel technology.

Many alternative energy investment portfolio advisors are confident that alternative energies derived from currents, tidal movement, and temperature differentials are poised to become a new and predominant form of clean energy. The French are actually fairly advanced at hydropower generation, and numerous studies are being made in Scotland and the US along these same lines. Some concerns center around the problems with the deterioration of metals in salt water, marine growth such as barnacles, and violent storms which have all been disruptions to energy production in the past. However, these problems, for the most part, seem to be cured through the use of different, better materials. Ocean-produced energy has a huge advantage because the timing of ocean currents and waves are well understood and reliable.

Investments in hydro-electric technology have grown in the last two decades. Hydro-electric power is clean; however, it's also limited by geography. While already prominent as power generation, the large, older dams have had problems with disturbing marine life. Improvements have been made on those dams in order to protect marine life, but these improvements have been expensive. Consequently, more attention is now being paid to low-impact "run-of-the-river" hydro-power plants, which do not have these ecological problems. 

The reality is, the energy future is green, and investors would do well to put their money out wisely, with that advice in their minds.

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Renewable Fuels for ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Worldwide Renewable energy, existing capacities, at end of 2008, from REN21.http://www.ren21.net/globalstatusreport/g2009.asp Total energy, is from BP Statistical Review.http://www.bp.com/statisticalreview (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Germans have really taken off when it comes to renewable fuel sources, and have become one of the major players in the alternative energy game. Under the aegis of the nation's electricity feed laws, the German people set a world record in 2006 by investing over $10 billion (US) in research, development, and implementation of wind turbines, biogas power plants, and solar collection cells. Germany's “feed laws” permit the German homeowners to connect to an electrical grid through some source of renewable energy and then sell back to the power company any excess energy produced at retail prices. This economic incentive has catapulted Germany into the number-one position among all nations with regards to the number of operational solar arrays, biogas plants, and wind turbines. The 50-terawatt-hours of electricity produced by these renewable energy sources account for 10% of all of Germany's energy production per year. In 2006 alone, Germany installed 100,000 solar energy collection systems.

Over in the US, the BP corporation has established an Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) to spearhead extensive new research and development efforts into clean-burning renewable energy sources, most prominently biofuels for ground vehicles. BP's investment comes to $50 million (US) per year over the course of the next decade. This EBI will be physically located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The University is in partnership with BP, and it will be responsible for research and development of new biofuel crops, biofuel-delivering agricultural systems, and machines to produce renewable fuels in liquid form for automobile consumption. The University will especially spearhead efforts in the field of genetic engineering with regard to creating the more advanced biofuel crops. The EBI will additionally have as a major focal point technological innovations for converting heavy hydrocarbons into pollution-free and highly efficient fuels.

Also in the US, the battle rages on between Congress and the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). The GEA's Executive Director Karl Gawell has recently written to the Congress and the Department of Energy, the only way to ensure that DOE and OMB do not simply revert to their irrational insistence on terminating the geothermal research program is to schedule a congressional hearing specifically on geothermal energy, its potential, and the role of federal research. Furthermore, Gawell goes on to say that recent studies by the National Research Council, the Western Governors' Association Clean Energy Task Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all support expanding geothermal research funding to develop the technology necessary to utilize this vast, untapped domestic renewable energy resource. Supporters of geothermal energy, such as this writer, are amazed at the minuscule amount of awareness that the public has about the huge benefits that research and development of the renewable alternative energy source would provide the US, both practically and economically. Geothermal energy is already less expensive to produce in terms of kilowatt-hours than the coal that the US keeps mining. Geothermal energy is readily available, sitting just a few miles below our feet and easily accessible through drilling. One company, Ormat, which is the third largest geothermal energy producer in the US and has plants in several different nations, is already a billion-dollar-per-year business—geothermal energy is certainly economically viable.

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Sustaining Life: SUSTAINABLE POWER

BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we speak of energy, power, and development, we all think development, industrialization, advancement; all these leads to pollution and degradation of the environment. You hear advocates say that our environment was a lot purer in long gone ages because people do not use energy.

Who’s Liable?

That is not necessarily true; you see an ancient man used fire to cook things, and then the sun to warm them up. Even humanity itself uses energy to be able to move and go about life each day. We cannot survive without energy and yet we blame it for the destruction of our planet. It is us who use energy to no ends, it is us who abuse its use, therefore, we are liable to find the solution to pollution. It is our responsibility to our selves and the future generation to seek ways of supporting our way of life without harming the environment.

The Scope and Definition of Sustainable Power

Generally, sustainable power is thought to be any renewable kind of energy. Meaning it is any puissance whose source cannot be depleted and does not contaminate the environment on a long-term basis.

Although sustainable power maybe confused with alternate or green energy the two are distinctly different. Sustainable power is conducive to nature but it is set apart from green or alternate energy because its source is unending, it cannot be exhausted.

Power Source

Sources of sustainable energy vary. It can be as simple as hydrogen to as complex as nuclear energy. When we speak of sustainable development we must consider the basics before heading off to the complex, after all, we haven’t used the newly scientifically discovered energy long enough to know its possible effects. The first things to consider are those that nature itself supplies; like the air, wind, solar, tidal, and water resources.

Techno Speak

With all the media hype surrounding this idealism, you’d think that we aren’t already using sustainable energy! Yes, we already are using alternative energy resources. We have water dams, the waterfall power plants, windmills, geothermal plants, and the nuclear power plants.

There are three technological classifications for the technologies that help us attain sustainable power; these include biomass combustion, hydropower, and geothermal plants. First generation power automatons arose during the industrial revolution. This is the time where people discovered that manufacturing will become faster thru the use of machines, and faster output means larger sales. In a way, sustainable power was researched and invented not for the future but for the moment; to improve lives, industry and the economy.

Second Generation energy resources comprise wind power, various forms of modern bioenergy, solar photovoltaics, and solar energy. These technologies emerged from the need to depend on oil so much. Research and Development were massively funded during the 1980’s and we are now reaping the benefits.

Third Generation sustainable energy resources are those that relatively new; biorefinery technologies, ocean energy, hot dry rock energy, biomass gasification, concentrating solar thermal power and even nanotechnology may make future appearances that will hopefully end our quest for continuous energy sources. On the stage of research and experimentation, these resources are still under development but raise the hopes of those who continually seek sustainable power.

All that have been mentioned are technological advances and discoveries of everlasting energy source, but in the end like everything in our lives, the future is in our hands. Even when we are provided with more nature-friendly energy resources if we don’t conserve and use it wisely we will still end up damaging the very planet on whose existence and well being we very much depend on.

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Pursuing ALTERNATIVE Forms of ENERGY

Working platform for scientific investigations with alternative energy sources  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Record high prices at American gas pumps and continued trouble-brewing in the Middle East, Nigeria, and other areas of importance to the oil-driven economy have made it clear to Americans that we are in need of developing many new avenues of energy supply and production. In short, we need to reduce our dependency on oil, for it is ultimately finite and, frankly, the cheap sources of oil (not all oil—just the stuff that is cheap to remove from the earth) are running out. Energy consultants and analysts are insistent that cheap oil has “peaked” or is very soon going to peak.  What this means for us is an expensive future—unless we can find new sources of powering our mechanized and electronic civilization, new sources which are alternatives to oil.

We must also switch to alternative forms of energy because our present forms are too damaging to the atmosphere. While this writer does not believe that the global warming trend is much, if at all, sustained by the activities of mankind (in short, it's a natural cycle and there's nothing we can do about it except prepare for the effects of it), we certainly do contribute at present to the destruction of the environment and to things like air pollution with our energy sources as they are. Coal is another source of energy that we need to wean ourselves off of—again, it is finite, and it is filthy, and the mining of it is dangerous and environmentally disruptive. We can also explore new, streamlined methods for producing electricity that we presently generate so much of via hydro-power so that we are less disruptive of the environment when we have need of constructing things such as large dams.

Developing nations which have turned industrialized in recent decades especially will need the benefits of alternative energy research and development, for they are presently doing much more environmental damage than the United States. The United States, Japan, and some European nations have been implementing studies into and programs for the development of alternative energy sources, and are therefore already leading the way in doing less environmental damage. The developing nations such as China and India need to look to Japan and the West as examples of what research and development to give government backing and private investment currency to. We could also add great robustness to our own economy by being at the forefront of such alternative energy sources development and then be marketing the technologies and services to nations like India, China, Brazil, and so on and so forth.

Biofuels from things like “supertrees” and soybeans, refined hydroelectric technology, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, the further building of atomic energy plants, the continued development of solar energy photovoltaic cells, more research into wind-harnessed power—all of these are viable energy sources that can act as alternatives to the mammoth amounts of oil and coal that we presently are so dependent on for our very lifestyles. The energy of the future is green.

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Some Suppliers of ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Sugar cane residue can be used as a biofuel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Amelot Holdings is a company which presently specializes in the development of biodiesel and ethanol plants throughout the US. Amelot's objective is to establish relationships between various suppliers of alternative energy who are biodiesel and ethanol researchers or producers to further their ends with long-term profitability and growth in mind. Amelot furthers the cause of these alternative energy suppliers through the formulation of joint ventures, mergers, and construction contracts.

Environmental Power is an alternative energy supplier that has two subsidiary companies. One of these is Microgy, which is Environmental Power's research and development arm. Microgy is a developer of biogas facilities for the cost-effective and environmentally clean production of renewable energy derived from food and agricultural waste products. These biogas fuels can be used in a number of different applications. They can be used in combustion chamber engines, used directly to make fossil fuel reliance less of a need, or cleaned up to meet natural gas standards and then piped to offices or homes for heating. Environmental Power's other subsidiary is Buzzard Power. Buzzard has an 83-megawatt power facility which generates green energy from mined coal waste. 

Environmental Power says of itself, we have a long and successful history of developing clean energy facilities. Since 1982 we have developed, owned and operated hydroelectric plants, municipal waste projects, coal-fired generating facilities and clean gas generation and energy recovery facilities. We are proud to have a management team and board of directors comprised of leaders from both the public and private sectors, including the energy, agriculture and finance industries.

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc, is a company that processes waste into natural gas as an alternative source of energy. The company's vision centers on the fact that the US produces two billion tons of animal waste every year, while at once the US' supply of natural gas is dwindling. ITR builds “organic waste digesters” local to sites of organic waste. These facilities produce, clean, and distribute the methane gas from the organic waste; methane gas is a viable alternative to natural gas. ITR is presently operating in Idaho with plans for national expansion.

Nathaniel Energy is a company with the objective of protecting the environment and minimizing total cost of business ownership. The Nathaniel Energy Total Value Preservation System (TVPS) gives companies unique benefits through Nathaniel's recognition of the alternative energy potential of materials that are usually seen as nothing more than waste or pollutants. Nathaniel Energy's technology allows it to extract and transform into alternative energy virtually all of the potential energy locked in waste materials. All of this is produced at almost no additional cost beyond what a company would have had to spend in order to install pollution control and prevention systems. 

Nathaniel Energy's innovative TVPS recovers valuable resources which other processes fail to. Throughout the entire process, the maximum amount of valuable material is recovered for reuse, which results in lowered costs and environmental protection. Usual pollution cleanup and control processes treat these materials as mere contaminants that are either destroyed or discarded. The TVPS, therefore, decreases the total cost of business ownership through the provision of an additional stream of income.

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An Untapped Source Of Eternal Energy: What Is SOLAR ENERGY?

Flipped version of MIT Solar One House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The most exact definition of Solar Energy is plain – “the energy from the sun”. It is a term used to classify the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun and intercepted by the Earth. It is the world’s most permanent and reliable source of energy and the most copious.

The uses of solar energy on earth include solar heating for buildings, solar heat for manufacturing or industry and electricity production. So what is solar energy? How does it affect us?

Solar energy is responsible for weather systems and ocean currents. It provides light, heat, and energy to all living things on Earth. It has many uses. It supplies electricity; it can be used to power cars.

Solar energy is also used as a power for satellites in space and in space shuttles. It could also power boats, generators during emergencies, toys, and even security systems.

The amount of solar energy that the earth receives is about 770 trillion kilowatts (kW), an amount 5,000 times bigger than the sum of all other energy, may it be terrestrial nuclear energy, geothermal energy or gravitational energy.

There are two types of solar energy. These are:

1. Thermal Energy

2. Electric Energy

What is the difference between the two types energy?

Thermal energy is kinetic energy. It is everywhere. It makes the earth hot and even heats up our homes. It helps us to dry our clothes. It is used as well to heat up water for household use or even pools. That is why thermal energy is called the heat energy because it is stored in the centre of the earth as well.

Electric energy is widely known to us as the electricity. It is an essential part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. This uses sunlight to power ordinary electrical equipment, such as household appliances, computers, and lighting.

Most applications of solar energy depend on systems including collectors, storage and controls. Storage is needed for a reason that solar energy is only available at daylight hours, but the demand for energy is needed both day and night. Controls are used to guarantee that the storage system works safely and efficiently.

The accessibility of solar energy is determined by three factors:

• The location is usually measured by latitude, longitude and altitude.

• The time.

• The weather.

Aside from knowing that solar energy is a free energy still, you have to realize that it also has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

• Solar energy is almost limitless; it will be available for as long as there are still humans in the earth.

• It is abundant. You will not worry about running out of it.

• It could provide more power than all known fossil fuel reserves.

• Solar energy is available during the day when electricity usage is really important.

• It is the most inexhaustible, renewable source of energy known to man.

• Solar energy can be absorbed, reflected, transmitted, and insulated.

• It can be collected and stored in batteries.

The disadvantages are:

• It is not suitable for cloudy areas.

• It is not available at night time.

• And it may require large land areas.

As a reminder, solar energy levels are lesser the farther north of the site. Considering geography, the season is an important determinant of solar energy levels because the Sun’s position and the weather vary greatly from summer to winter.

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What is ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Charles Brush's windmill of 1888, used for generating electricity. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is a lot of energy that we can harness if we only seek to research and develop the technologies needed to do so. We can get away from the fossil fuels and the old electrical grids by turning to alternatives to these energy sources.

One of these alternative energy resources is wind power. Wind turbines continue to be developed that are progressively more energy efficient and less costly. “Wind farms” have been springing up in many nations, and they have even become more strategically placed over time so that they are not jeopardizing birds as former wind turbines did.

Another alternative energy resource is the one that is most well known: solar energy. This involves the manufacturing of solar cells which gather and focus the energy given off directly by the sun and translate it into electricity or, in some cases, hot water. As with wind energy, solar energy creates absolutely zero pollution.

Ocean wave energy is seen by governments and investors as having enormous energy generating potential. A generator in France has been in operation for many years now and is considered to be a great success, and the Irish and Scots are running experimental facilities.

Hydroelectric power has been with us for a while and where it is set up, it is a powerful generator of electricity and cleaner than a grid. However, there are certain limitations to the availability of the right places to set up a large dam. Many run-of-the-river, or small and localized, hydroelectric generators have been set up in recent times due to this limitation.

Geothermal energy is extremely abundant since it lies directly beneath our feet, just a few miles below the earth's surface. This energy is produced by the heating of water through the actions of earth's fantastically hot molten core. The water turns to steam, which can be harnessed and used to drive turbine engines which in turn generate electricity. Great amounts of research and development should be put into geothermal energy tapping.

Waste gas energies, which are essentially methane, reverse the usual energy-pollution relationship by creating energy from waste that lies in the dumps and from some air pollutants. This gas is used in fuel cells and can be used in standard gasoline generators.

Ethanol is a gasoline substitute and is created from such things as wheat, sugarcane, grapes, strawberries, corn, and even wood chips and wood cellulose. There is controversy over this fuel with regards to its ever becoming truly economical or practical except in very localized areas, but technologies for its extraction and admixturing are continuously being refined.

Biodiesel energy is created out of the oils contained in plants. So far, the commercial stores of biodiesel have been created using soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. At the time of this writing, biodiesel is typically produced by entrepreneurial-minded individuals or those who want to experiment with alternative energy, but commercial interest from companies is on the rise. It burns much cleaner than oil-based diesel.

Atomic energy is created in atomic energy plants using the process of nuclear fission. This energy is extremely efficient and can generate huge amounts of power. There is concern from some people about what to do with the relatively small amount of waste product atomic energy gives off since it is radioactive and takes hundreds of years to decay into harmlessness.

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An ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Education Method

Wind power plants in Xinjiang, China
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The best method of educating young people about alternative energy production that this writer has ever witnessed is the use of the PicoTurbine Company's kits, books, and projects. The PicoTurbine Company produces these things for the purpose of advancing the cause of renewable (alternative) energy and getting young people to look into the future and see that the environment that's being seeded now is the one they will inherit them. As the late, great Gerry Ford said, “Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before.” If we are to change the future world for the better, then it starts right here and now with the advent of “green” energy systems.

One of the core concepts of PicoTurbine can be stated: Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember some of it. Involve me, and I will master it. Based on this old tried and true adage, the kits that the company produces come with activity suggestions to get the young people into hands-on learning situations. One suggestion of the company is to demonstrate how heat can be produced by wind energy (the company's speciality) through using a “picture wire” for the heating element. PicoTurbine has found that people typically think of wind energy as being “cold” energy, and are pleasantly surprised to see how wind can be used for generating heat in the home. Another project suggests that the company offers is to have different groups split off in the classroom and then compare the respective wind turbines that they have built. They can see which ones produce the most or least electricity; which ones start up with the need of the least amount of wind power; and for very young children, which ones have the most aesthetic appeal.

There is a core curriculum that PicoTurbine has in mind for teachers to instil in their pupils. Renewable, alternative sources of energy include solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass in addition to wind-produced energy. When we use more alternative sources of energy, we decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil supplies, which often come from nations who cannot really be called our “allies”. Alternative energy is already becoming cost effective when set against the fossil fuels that we are so reliant on currently.

PicoTurbine points out that wind farms and solar arrays are already letting their makers enjoy commercial success. In the last two decades, the cost of photovoltaic cells expressed in terms of per-watt has gone from nearly $1000 to just $4! It has been predicted by analysts that by the year 2015, the cost per watt should only be about $1 (in today's dollars). Students also need to be taught about the hidden cost of fossil fuels: pollution and environmental degradation. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels has been shown through studies to increase incidences of asthma attacks, heighten the effects of allergies, and even cause cancer. Switching over to clean, green energy found in the alternative forms would prevent air pollution and help bolster the environment.

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