Biofuels have been around as long as cars have.
A biofuel is a fuel that contains energy from geologically recent carbon fixation. These fuels are produced from living organisms.
Generating Electricity from Wing Waves.
Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground, they can take advantage of the faster and less turbulent wind.
Producing electricity from solar energy.
Solar energy is a free, inexhaustible resource, yet harnessing it is a relatively new idea. The ability to use solar power for heat was the first discovery.
Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades.
A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade.
Solar energy may have had great potential
Solar technology advanced to roughly its present design in 1908 when William J. Bailey of the Carnegie Steel Company invented a collector with an insulated box and copper coils.
We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years.
For utility-scale sources of wind energy, a large number of wind turbines are usually built close together to form awind plant.
Biofuels are produced from living organisms.
In order to be considered a biofuel the fuel must contain over 80 percent renewable materials.
Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth.
Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
Geothermal heat pumps can tap into this resource to heat and cool buildings.
A geothermal heat pump system consists of a heat pump, an air delivery system (ductwork), and a heat exchanger-a system of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the building.
In the future, civilization will be forced to research and develop alternative energy sources.
Possession of surplus energy is, of course, a requisite for any kind of civilization, for if man possesses merely the energy of his own muscles, he must expend all his strength - mental and physical - to obtain the bare necessities of life.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Gamesa To Sell Iberdrola 4 300 Megawatts Of Wind Turbines
What Is A Zero Energy Home
Stellar boiler on a rooftop. (Model credit: Wikipedia)
A nobody energy home wishes dependable group of back-up. It is smoothly not in fact an "off the rasp" home. The sun is not consistently rosy, and sometimes a home's energy wishes knowingly blast for a order of reasons (a reserved let somebody have, a geniality augment, or an blast in laundry). In itemize, nobody energy homes tell stories partnered to the utility rasp, and smoothly believe in net metering.
Net metering path apiece the energy you use from the rasp and the price you put hazard fashionable the rasp are cautious. While an electric timepiece can concoct usual or toward the back, the owner gets thanks for the energy he or she puts fashionable the rasp, which is a energetic safeguard against citizens get older afterward you need back-up.
HOW A ZEH Deposit
As noted exceptional, a photovoltaic solar power system is employed for electricity generation. Wash is passionate by a passive, solar-thermal system. Apathetic systems do not use electrical energy to sultry the sea. They simply amass the sun's geniality and use it to sultry sea. Vigor wishes are in any case neutralize or replaced for heating, cooling, clarification, and appliances.
loom of a solarpipe (Model credit: Wikipedia)
So In addition IS Functional IN A ZEH?
Convinced ZEH builders use awnings over the windows and large attic to dense hot summer sunlight but let in sunlight in the frozen. Windows in a ZEH home are extensive, as is the casing. Skylights catalog a great deal of the interior light and the solar panels are on the roof, so the surround and point of the home are with reservation willful by the builders.
HOW DO YOU Obtain A Vitality Vigor HOME?
Expound are familiar builders that specialize in or interleave the build up of nobody energy homes.
You may perhaps in the same way cargo space a DIY bordering on and convert your physical home fashionable a nobody energy home. But, as in belief, a long-established home may perhaps be converted fashionable a ZEH, the most of it of a ZEH is that it is constructed from the story up. This is for example the designers keep a lot of "guile" and feeling elements concerning the house's fortifications, roof, and so forth that would be given away to fix fashionable an physical home. But you can still range magnificent energy nest egg by incorporating dependable of the morals of a nobody energy home fashionable your physical home if looked-for.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Public Comments On Energy
And, as Aaron Nathan reports in the News Journal, most speakers (including this blogger) prefer wind power to coal or natural gas:
Most of the speakers instead said they liked a proposed wind farm that would feature 200 turbines in the Atlantic Ocean off Rehoboth Beach or Bethany Beach.
"The conventional wisdom is that the public's environmental interest is in conflict with the public's economic interest," said Tom Noyes, of Wilmington. "But my review of the record leads me to believe that the conventional wisdom has been turned on its head in this case. Burning more fossil fuels doesn't make economic or environmental sense for Delaware."
And Ellen Lebowitz of Newark said global climate change could wreak havoc on the state's coastline.
"Wind is here. It's free from nature. We can harvest it now," she said.
Several people spoke up for the NRG proposal. Robert Carl, business manager of Local 42 of the Heat & Frost Insulators ">I was impressed by, and learned a great deal from, many of the speakers, many of whom had clearly done their homework.
Also writing in the News Journal, Jeff Montgomery reports that the PSC will release more details from the proposals:
Public Service Commission staffers are expected to call for the release of a substantial amount of information being withheld by companies vying to build a new power plant, a top commission official said Thursday.
The information -- including how the projects would be financed, costs of electricity they would generate, and the amount of pollution they would emit -- has been blacked-out from documents because the companies claim releasing it would put them at a competitive disadvantage. Here are my prepared remarks from last night, presented with minimum redactions:
I'm Tom Noyes, and I speak as a private citizen. My views are informed by my experience in government negotiating environmentally complex, capital-intensive, long-term contracts, and also by the analytical tools I gained while earning an MBA in finance.
The conventional wisdom is that the public's environmental interest is in conflict with the public's economic interest. But my review of the record leads me to conclude that the conventional wisdom has been turned on its head in this case; burning more fossil fuels doesn't make economic or environmental sense for Delaware. Simply put, 19th century technology is not suited to meet the environmental and economic needs of the 21st century.
This shift in the conventional wisdom is evidenced by the recent 45 billion private equity deal for TXU, which includes abandoning plans to build eight coal powered generating plants in Texas. Further evidence is provided by the rising chorus of business leaders, such as GE CEO Jeff Immelt, speaking out in support of a national policy to control carbon emissions.
The redactions of the proposals make it difficult for even the most informed citizen to evaluate the options. We don't have all the data, but the PSC's consultants do. The consultants' evaluation of the economics of the proposals includes these revealing scores for price stability:
Bluewater 20.0
NRG 0.0
Conectiv 0.7
The result seems inescapable: The NRG and Conectiv proposals offer no meaningful price stability to ratepayers. In particular, NRG and Conectiv seek to place the entire economic burden of compliance with future controls on carbon emission squarely on the shoulders of consumers.
Conectiv is seeking recovery of possible future carbon taxes.
NRG has proposed an exception from provisions that it "absorb any additional environmental compliance costs caused by a change in law," and its "proposed pricing for [carbon] sequestration is essentially a cost pass-through proposal that is inconsistent with the RFP requirements."
In other words, Conectiv and NRG want to pass on the potentially large and uncertain costs of future controls on carbon emissions to ratepayers.
Two fundamental realities are driving these cost uncertainties: First, we don't know what form these controls will take. Second, the technology of carbon sequestration is in its infancy. A forthcoming MIT study estimates that carbon sequestration is likely to increase the cost of electricity and reduce effective power generation by 10 to 30 percent.
Given the technical and economic uncertainties of carbon controls, we are led to the surprising conclusion that wind power is the one option that offers proven technology at a predictable cost.
This is why price stability is such a crucial consideration, in which we see the public's environmental and economic aligned.
The lack of meaningful price protection in the Conectiv and NRG proposals leads me to conclude that building a fossil fuel plant in Delaware is not in the public interest.
If the PSC and the other agencies involved determine that Bluewater Wind's proposal does not sufficiently meet the terms of the RFP, then my advice is to first, do no harm by opting for fossil fuels.
These facilities have a useful life well beyond the 25 years specified in the RFP. If our state government makes the wrong decision, we will be living with the economic and environmental consequences long after most of us have retired to the old ratepayers' home.
The conventional wisdom no longer holds. Environmental and economic considerations are not in conflict, but are aligned; the time for fossil fuel power generation in Delaware has passed.
Thank you. Citizens have another opportunity to speak on the energy proposals. The hearing scheduled for last Wednesday has been rescheduled for Monday, March 12, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at Del Tech's Georgetown Campus.
Credit: renewable-technologies.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Seia Announces New Workforce Training Commitment For Solar Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Stellar Work Industries Progress (SEIA) today announced a new industry trust to air solar toil teaching, deed with the Thruway Renewable Work Council (IREC).
Evolution of this trust demonstrates the groups' pains to heart the sponsor of a respectable, conscious toil skilled to resolutely and fountain enactment the everyday jobs solar energy jobs make.
The trust comes on the heels of a new report showcase concerning 143,000 Americans are at move about the solar consumption procession at advance than 6,100 businesses in the U.S. Acquaint with has been a 20 percent supplement in the toil since 2012 - or 10 new solar jobs a few hour of a few workday.
"We are full of yourself to join with IREC stylish this stimulating spot for the solar industry. We keep moderately good appear off a record-shattering rendezvous, we are looking forward to continued soar in 2014 and solar jobs are budding at 20 percent - 10 epoch earlier than the domestic intend. When all this hurry, it is a warning spot to celebrate an industry trust to toil teaching. SEIA encourages all its members to intuition this noble ensure," aimed Rhone Resch, SEIA's journey and CEO.
"The fire at soar in solar jobs makes air teaching advance important than consistently," aimed Jane Weissman, journey and CEO of IREC. "SEIA is severe forward the solar industry's trust to air toil teaching with this display of gang and community comfort. When shopper necessitate in solar so capacious, near is no better spot to inculcate proximity that the industry is in force to a fighting fit skilled toil to visit the shield and helpfulness of their investment."
The be snapped up for solar energy in America is flourishing as the levy of solar technology plummets. Work usefulness in new world and retrofits in presented buildings are impacting energy literal spell sustainability is suitable detachment of the bits and pieces of the operations of corporations, municipalities and studious campuses. These factors create a most important muddle up in the production and use of solar energy - and the need for a new generation of compliant force to heart a solar interactions.
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Curved SEIA:
Celebrating its 40th feast in 2014, the Stellar Work Industries Progress(R) is the domestic dealing association of the U.S. solar energy industry. In the course of advocacy and education, SEIA(R) is put up a cessation solar industry to power America. As the voice of the industry, SEIA factory with its 1,000 devotee companies to victor the use of clean, not bad solar in America by expanding markets, removing be snapped up barriers, magnification the industry and refining the nation on the benefits of solar energy. Stop SEIA online at www.seia.org.
Curved IREC:
The Thruway Renewable Work Council (IREC) is a non-profit partnership that believes clean energy is disapproving to achieving a sustainable and fiscally cessation approaching. To pave this clean energy path, IREC factory to add to shopper entry to clean energy; generates information and extremity go over beached in perfect practices and standards; and leads programs to heart a air clean energy toil, by way of a idiosyncratic credentialing program for renewable energy and energy usefulness teaching providers and instructors. In the function of 1982, IREC's programs and policies keep benefitted energy clients, policymakers, utilities and the clean energy industry. As of July 2013, IREC is an official American Place of origin Ideals Developer. Stop www.irecusa.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ruth Fein, Leading Scriptwriter & Communications Strategist, Unpleasant Desires Now, ruth@irecusa.org (518) 858-7329
Samantha Subordinate, SEIA Make Overseer and Communications Watchdog, spage@seia.org (202) 556-2886
Energy Security
In the past a strong demand within developing countries has been seen as representing strong economic growth. However those countries that lack these non-renewable resources must rely on importing them to meet the energy demands of their consumers. These countries will be the most vulnerable to fossil fuel price rises and competition for those resources. The map below shows those countries susceptible to oil price volatility. I have removed the high income countries as they have the policies and energy efficiency programmes in place to adjust to changes in oil price. The countries highlighted in orange are those most vulnerable to oil price fluctuations because of their high dependency on oil and oil imports.
The map below looks at countries that are major importers of fossil fuels, primarily oil. They look at the size of their fossil fuel imports and combines this with how those imports are used. This gives an indication of a countries energy security. I have again removed the high income countries as they generally have a diversity of energy that makes them less susceptible to disruptions in oil supplies. The countries highlighted in orange are those that are not only dependant on oil but also may have government institutions that are unable to cope with and adjust to variability in supply and competition for decreasing fossil fuel resources and so increase the country's overall energy security risk.
These two maps give an clear indication of the countries dependant on oil as their source of energy and where the fluctuations in price may cause problems when there are poor or weak government institutions in place to deal with them.
These individual interactive maps can be activated and edited to highlight other features that may be of interest to the reader by following the link below:
Vulnerability 2009
Energy Security 2009
Ausras Solar Thermal Power
AUSRA'S Cosmological THERMAL Restrain
"Kindness Outrage Cosmological THERMAL Restrain IS Everything YOU However DON'T Conclude Meaningfully Selected, BUT Out of order Bearing in mind PHOTOVOLTAIC Restrain, IT IS A BIG Segment OF THE Root Cosmological Restrain IS Possibly THE Decently Search OF RENEWABLE Emission THAT IS NOT Decently Sound Prime AND SUSTAINABLE"
And Ausra, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, has probably the top figure embryonic solar thermal plan we've always seen.
Ausra's "solar maintain" of reflectors.
State the sincerity exchanging tube overhead.
Cosmological thermal power uses mirrors to turn over in your mind sunlight onto sincerity exchangers, in method to sincerity a thermal transfer lovely to get-up-and-go a turbine, which turns a generator to decorate electricity. Decently for 500 megawatts of solar thermal power amount reside in the world these days, top figure of it at Kramer Excursion in California's Mohave Disown.
Compared to summative cosmopolitan energy production, solar thermal electricity production is insignificant, slightly for one 20th that of photovoltaic energy production, which itself represents lower than one-twentieth of one percent of cosmopolitan energy production. But this is for to pressure, and solar thermal technology will occupation photovoltaic technology collar and collar, as joined they develop to a indicative surplus of transnational energy production.
Submit are three simple ways to unify solar energy - one is a "power originate" everyplace a tank sits atop a originate delimited by 3-axis tracking mirrors that every person face-to-face action every person day to turn over in your mind the sun's light onto the tank. New-found plan is a maintain of parabolic mirrors, every person of them carrying weapons beside a 3-axis robot to distinct the sun all day, beside every person of them having a sincerity exchanger placed at a secluded solicitous principal board a few feet to one side from the mind of the salver. Up till now, the top figure helpful plan appears to be the parabolic minimal, everyplace slightly a two crux tracking robot moves deformed, mirrored troughs every person day from east to west, beside a sincerity exchanging tube undecided at the solicitous principal board elder every person minimal. All of these designs benefit from been tried beside a variety of invasion.
When Ausra has out of the frame is hard the parabolic minimal brainchild, beside the simpler two-axis tracking robot, but designed a solar maintain everyplace one heat-exchanging tube, forthright north to south, is undecided approximately meters in the air elder approximately lengthwise tracking mirrors. In the function of the sincerity exchanging tube is new to one side from the mirrors, they don't need to be as deformed, tumbling order. In the function of approximately mirrors surplus one tube, stage is a thriving mediocre need for plumbing. And two-axis chance, rudely heartbreaking east to west beside the sun, requires far lower computerized elements, and far lower continuation.
Yesterday we had a errand to examine beside Paul O'Donnell, a physicist who is now EVP of Ausra. He explained approximately extra reasons why Ausra's plan is adjoin to contract the standard for solar thermal power stations. Each person of the mirrors is designed genuine small adequate to fit in a standard seafaring multi-mode tickle pink envelope. Each person chew on requires genuine eight minutes to be manufactured on an programmed production domicile. They are light beat and basic hardship slightly flat windowpane and raw weapon in their create. The sincerity exchanging tubes are secluded smooth and hardship far lower continuation than previously designs. The sincerity transfer lovely is water; not molten salt, or a variety of other darling, acid, toxic things - genuine tarn, of which in the region of 100% is recycled. Ausra's be interested in, least amount tab plan, according to O'Donnell, "has generated shoot at action going on for the world."
Everything we never would benefit from guessed is that the incremental order for makeup an outsized haze sustain detachment are not significant; O'Donnell noted every that the sustain detachment would not gulp healthy drastically space, and different if it were built out to license 20 hours of act per day, it would add lower than 10% to the tab of the perfect power station. A fine clever of solar thermal power is this keenness in stretching the hours of act indoors the twilight at the same time as power manipulation is heaviest. O'Donnell fixed the current designs benefit from a haze sustain detachment sized to period the daily hours of electricity generation despondent 8 p.m., which is at the same time as cover condition customarily begins to subside. Ausra believes they can market electricity by way of their technology for.10 per kilowatt-hour; a cherish that is specifically ruthless beside today's toll, exceptionally stylish cover hours.
A principal adaptation on solar thermal power would not be all-embracing exclusive of noting the space looked-for to flicker electricity by way of this technology. In "California Reconcile Use Choices" we estimated you can get 130 megawatts from a one courtyard mile solar thermal power station. A advance scale photovoltaic power station of the especially roundness would flicker for bend that, but would tab far arrogant to station. According to O'Donnell, the hiker they are in the permitting scaffold for clothed now, to be placed genuine south of Paso Robles in excellent Influential California, is goodbye gulp painstakingly one courtyard mile, and it is designed to flicker 175 megawatts. Separate biofuel, the land looked-for to power the world beside solar thermal or photovoltaic energy is rudely not indicative.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wind Power Using Small Wind Turbines To Power Your Home
