How green is my home

The ability to control consumption of electric power, though, may have the biggest impact. One approach is to let utility companies (with the homeowner’s consent, of course) cut back heating or air conditioning, or turn off other equipment, during power emergencies, either over the public Internet or through a direct connection to the utility company’s data network. In compensation, homeowners might receive discounts on their monthly electricity bills.

Or, in a more imaginative scenario, the appliances could regulate themselves as the utility company varies the cost of electricity from day to day or even hour to hour. Either way, the potential for energy saving is substantial.

It’s already starting to happen overseas. Italy’s Enel, the largest publicly traded utility company in the world, expects this year to begin wiring the 27 million homes it serves to allow such remote demand management and other services, using equipment supplied by Echelon, a Sunnyvale, Calif., supplier of building automation equipment and software.

Renewable Energy? What is it?

Renewable energy comes from sources that may be continuously renewed by nature. Consequently, we will never be running out of these energy sources, that is, for as long the Sun’s nuclear fusion processes continue to provide the Earth with energy.

Here are a few examples:

Solar Power: Solar power is seen as renewable energy as expectations are that nuclear fusion processes that are powering the Sun will continue to generate sunlight for billions of years.

We are capturing the light of the Sun to:

• Drive steam turbines to produce electricity (the concentration of Solar Power),
• Heat  homes (via so-called Passive Solar Design or via a Active Solar Heating System),
• Make hot water (via an Active or Passive Solar Hot Water System),
• Cook (on a Solar Oven),
• Distill water
• Generate electricity by using solar electric (or photovoltaic) cells

Understanding Global Warming

The most debated topic on earth is the issue of climate change. This a universally accepted statement. The system of the seasons is changing, and climatic conditions have become unpredictable.

Nonseasonal rains are being experienced, the earth is getting warmer, glaciers are melting down, and the sea levels are rising. Fertile lands are becoming infertile and diseases are spreading, some fear that life as we know it will be ending soon, just  imagine what actions must be taken now to save our planet for next generations.

Who do you think is the culprit of these current situations? Well, in fact it is us, as we are all humans, aren’t we? It is our own activities that have resulted in the current situation.

So the following questions might come to everybody’s mind:

1. What is it that we have done?
2. What are the effects on our environment?
3. How do environmental changes relate to Climate Change?
4. Can we do anything about it?

To answer the above questions, we need to identify and understand the causes, says Ales Rades from MyCareerTools.com. This will help people appreciate the real problem and allows us to work on solutions.

Cheap and Easy Ways to Use Solar Energy

Harnessing the sun’s energy makes sense because it is clean, green, and saves money in the long run. But the reality is that the cost involved with installing panels and collectors is still out of reach for the vast majority of homeowners. Fortunately there are some cheap and easy ways to make the sun work for you.

Passive Solar
Passive solar means simply using or blocking the sun’s rays to heat or cool your home. This means that using your window coverings wisely can save you a ton on your power bills. Simply closing or angling your blinds to keep direct sunlight out can drop the interior temperature by 10 degrees. Try closing the window coverings on the south side of your house when you leave for the day during the summer months.

Without the sun’s hot light shining in the windows, your air conditioner won’t have to work as hard. And in the winter of course doing the opposite can help heat your house. There tons of great looking blinds, awnings, and window films to help you harness or block the sun’s powerful rays.

How Will Solar PV Businesses Benefit From The New Incentives?

The Claymore MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF, TAN, had fallen 78% over the past years, but they’re back. Most listed solar companies had fallen from 50% to 87% over that period, but a bright spark however, was the passed economic stimulus bill which started boosting demand once again. With the extension of the Federal 30% tax credit and the removal of the $2000 cap, home owners will see the price of solar PV get much more affordable.

And, for commercial developers of solar facilities the new bill has provisions that would allow them to take the 30% tax credit as a grant instead. Some of the companies best positioned to ride out the challenges of this year are the big market leading companies with adequate cash in hand. US manufacturer First Solar is one of these companies.

Ocean Energy

Ocean Energy, or Wave Energy

Wave energy is produced when electricity generators are placed on the surface of the ocean. The energy provided is most often used in desalination plants, power plants, and water pumps. Energy output is determined by wave height, wave speed, wavelength, and water density.

To date, there are only a handful of experimental wave generator plants in operation around the world. The articles on this page explore the world of wave energy and its possible applications.