green living


Archive for August, 2009

Solar Energy: What Is Your Domestic Requirement

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

If you are thinking about installing a residential solar energy system in your home, you will need to know how much energy you are currently using.  This information can usually be obtained from the local electric company.  Using this data as a baseline, you can plan your solar energy system in accordance with the needs of your home.  Your region’s weather will have an effect on energy use, as well as the direction your windows face, the number and location of your trees, and the kinds of appliances used.   Even the type of light bulbs you use can make a difference.

To Discover How You Can Cut or even Rid Your Energy Bills Completely Visit: A Recommended DIY Solar Project

The annual temperature extremes in the geographical region you live in will be a large factor.  If you’re residing in an area with temperature extremes in summer or winter, you will use more energy to cool or heat your home than if you were in a fair climate.
In a cold climate, south-facing windows help lower your heating costs.  North facing windows in a hot climate can reduce cooling bills.

Mature trees can supply shade and help decrease cooling costs during the summer, while the denuded tree limbs let in sunlight in during the winter months.   These factors can all contibute to the amount of energy you use.  And installing energy efficient insulation in walls, roofs and floors help lower power costs in all climates.

For an Up-To-Date Report on Cutting Electricity Costs Click Here: Solar Power Projects

If feasible, use only energy efficient appliances.   Newer appliance models can use as much as 50% less energy than older ones, particularly if they need to be repaired and are not working at maximum efficiency.  An additional way to signifantly lower electricity consumption is to use compact flourescent light bulbs.

After you have evaluated your home for the above factors, you can plan to build a solar photovoltaic system by multiplying your average daily kilowatt hour consumption by about .25.  This will help you estimate the daily kilowatts the solar panels need to generate to maintain your current energy needs.

 

To Learn About Innovations that you can also Help to lessen the Danger on the Earth whist reducing your Energy costs visit: The Home Energy Report

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Eco friendly automobiles

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Hybrid powered green cars us two tyoes of high powered power sources. The most common hybrids currently on sale in the market today use both an electric motor and the petrol combustion engine. Batteries are are primary to charge and act as the storage device to power the electric motor device this works when the vehicle is moving at low speed or in heavey traffic, this is ideal when driving in cities. The combustion engine is used to recharge the battery cells along with regenerative braking; therefore hybrid cars do not need to be plugged into an external power supply.

Electric cars are powered by an electric motor which gets its power from on board battery packs which act as the main energy storage. Batteries, which usually contain Nickel metal-hydride or Lithium ion are charged by connecting the car to a mains power supply, and it takes overnight to charge fully.

Also on the market today are ethanol powered cars. Grain alcohol is produced from plant extracts in most instances sugar caine. The fuel has a large high octane rating which in turn means high engine efficiency. Ethanol is widely used around the world as a fuel and is increasing has an increased popularity in Europe.

There are so many green options in todays world check out what you could do to become more eco friendly. Home energy review will open your eyes.

A fantastic form of renewable energy is bio diesel and has become the norm in some places around the world. Bio diesel environmentally green because it has potential to be carbon-neutral.

There are a number of companies who offer a great deals on environmentally friendly cars, they are seen as making there mark on the auto business are out the word. Auto leasing environmentally friendly cars are becoming more of an attractive option for some people. Auto leasing companies offer the latest hybrid cars and many more of the well know think green options.

When it comes to raising finance for an eco friendly car it is worth considering No credit check car loans UK who can often help provide a tailored solution to financing environmentally friendly cars.

Diesel run vehicle sales are on the rise in the United Kingdom as consumers are becoming more cost conscious and the demand for more efficient vehicles is on the rise. The sale of diesel has grown to a stagering 50% of all new cars built and sold on the auto market today. At 30% more efficient diesel operated autos asre more fuel efficient than petrol driven cars.

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How long before Cruise Ships get banned?

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Cruise ships are truly massive. They have a huge amount of staff and hold many tourists. Because of all this, they can then generate a huge amount of waste products, and they then don’t know what to do with it?

 

Well many of them do dispose of their waste when they get back to port, sensibly and cleanly. Many however have been dumping their waste in the sea. All of the waste being produced by these monsters are too much for them to hold, they now have to dump it in the ocean. This “dumping” is unacceptable if we want to keep the oceans in clean areas like the Caribbean clean. About five years ago they generated around 30,000 gallons of sewage per day. However today there isn’t a study out that shows us what the output of these ships is.

 

However this isn’t the main problem. It is difficult to say what the worst problem is that these cruise liners produce, bu they create a massive amount or air pollution. They all have high burning Diesel Engines; all of them create massive amounts of deadly toxins that float up into the atmosphere. Over a 10 year period from 1991 to 2001 the amount of cruises bought just in the UK rose from 193,000 to 776,000. These numbers will continue to rise, there will be no telling how many people go on a cruise in twenty years time. St Lucia holidays have become very popular, the St Lucian government has even banned some cruise liners from entering its waters.

 

One thing is for sure though, either we find a new way to power these Cruise ships or we are going to have to forget about them altogether. If you’re thinking of going on Barbados holidays or having weddings abroad, then think quickly before the Caribbean is just another victim of pollution. It then becomes apparent how quickly we are damaging all of these surrounding areas.

 

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The History Of Biodiesel Dates Back To The 19th Century

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Amid all the panic regarding the diminishing supplies of fossil fuel as well as its expense. What would you say, if I told you that the history of biodiesel tells us that the knowledge of this renewable energy source has been available for hundreds of years? They are just as effective as petroleum and they are manufactured from renewable sources such as peanut, canola, hemp and soybean oil.

The designer of the diesel motor, Rudolph Diesel saw the potential that renewable biofuels had as early as the late 1800’s. In fact he was adamant about using them in his engines and understood how vital it was that we not become completely reliant on petroleum, fossil based fuels. He was very particular about proving renewable biodiesel was better. His biodiesel was used in his engines till the 1920’s!

In actual fact biodiesel was used in diesel engines until the 1920’s it was only then that manufacturers decided to make use of petroleum fuel. Both methanol and ethanol are able to be produced from these fatty acids. Even Henry Ford believed in the concept propounded by Rudolph Diesel and he build a factory which was equipped to mass produce biofuels. He believed that this was the oil of the future and wanted to manufacture all his automobiles to run on this fuel.

When he commenced with this, he was in the top of his market and embarked on partnerships with natural oil companies. However in the 1940’s petroleum based companies started advertising and as petroleum fuel was cheaper at the time, this fossil based fuel soon became the number one best seller.

Initially biofuels were produced using soybean or other oils, in the meantime hemp had been grown in the US for a long time for many purposes (not to smoke) These other oils could not produce great quantities of biofuel, however it was discovered that oil could be manufactured from hemp which could make large quantities of fuel. Henry Ford wanted to use this discovery and recommence making biofuel from hemp oil.

At this stage in the proceedings many entrepreneurs located fossil oil wells and became rich from them, they discredited the manufacturing process for hemp oil products. They referred to it as Marijuana! The newspaper mogul William Randolph Herst launched a tirade against the production of this oil, and helped to get a Marijuana Tax Act out in place.

This caused panic in people who used this fuel, as possession of it required Government certification and the Government was not handing out these certificates to anyone. Petroleum oil won this war and cornered the market, and that in a nutshell is the history of biodiesel.

For more useful information about the History Of Biodieseland how it can effect our future be sure to visit: www.EnergySolutionsHub.com

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Green Power is Local

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

When we hear about how thinking globally and acting locally, power is often not at the forefront of our minds. But perhaps it should be. The environmental impact of transporting electricity is easily as taxing on the world climate as transporting hard consumer goods can be. Transporting power creates a direct waste of that power, creating a larger carbon footprint.

An immediate question springs to mind, however. Isn’t all power produced at least somewhat locally? In short, yes. However, it is important to narrow down what we consider local. If your power is produced 100 miles away, that’s not terribly far in today’s world, but some of the electricity will be lost over that 100 miles. If the power is produced on your roof or in your backyard, none of it will be lost (or at least very little of it).

There are a set of factors at play here, primarily technological. While our technologies for producing power have advanced, our technologies for moving that power have not advanced- or least they haven’t advanced much. There are some promising technological advances on the horizon, but they have not yet come to fruition. Thus, in short, every mile that electricity has to travel is a mile in which the amount of electricity will degrade. By the time all is said and done, you may be left with 80% of the power you created, leaving 20% as waste.

It seems clear, then, that truly green power is created close to where it is used. This prevents the degradation of the signal that occurs in power lines, in transformers, etc. However, that is not the only benefit. Producing local power takes advantage of whatever natural form of energy is avaialable- be that solar, wind or hydro.

As it becomes easier and easier to build solar cells and wind turbines (not to mention micro-hydro systems) at home, it is worth considering ones environmental impact. The benefits are numerous- it save the environment, saves your power bills, and could even make you money (think tax breaks or even selling power back to the power company). Numerous resources are available to the home builder of green power, allowing it to be used in many different environments (rural, urban, suburban). Between the guides available today, the necessity of saving the climate, the potential financial savings, and the long-term satisfaction of building green power, building your own home power system is more attractive than ever.

Damon Westchester is the editor of www.build-green-power.com.

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