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.

Showing posts with label subsidies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label subsidies. Show all posts

Friday, April 12, 2013

Obama To Propose Cutting Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Obama To Propose Cutting Fossil Fuel Subsidies
The New York Times reports that President Obama plans to take another whack at federal subsidies for fossil fuels:

WASHINGTON - When he releases his new budget in two weeks, President Obama will propose doing away with roughly 4 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies, in his third effort to eliminate federal support for an industry that remains hugely profitable.I have previously taken note of the unfortunate fact that our government has historically offered far more subsidies for fossil fuels than for renewable energy.

Any student of corporate strategy will tell you that these subsidies make no sense. The fossil fuel industry is more than a hundred years old, and enormously profitable. Just yesterday, Exxon announced that its profits soared 53 percent over a year ago.

There is a case for supporting the renewable energy business, with its large potential for growth and creating value for customers. But pouring more money into a commodity business with a limited supply will not increase the supply. There is simply no public purpose to be served by subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.

Origin: energy-saving-technologies.blogspot.com