Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Advertising the good products and exposing the bad!
Yes, there is some advertising on this blog,
I will promote from time to time only green products and sites.
And I will only feature products that I like the look of
and have researched.
In a later post I will be discussing some of
the green scam products and sites for you to avoid like the plague.
All the claims on them are bogus and have no proven
scientific merit in any way One that comes to mind
is the hydrogen gas generator for your car otherwise
known as water fuel cell. DONT FALL FOR THIS ONE!!
I will give you the low down on this in another post.
I will promote from time to time only green products and sites.
And I will only feature products that I like the look of
and have researched.
In a later post I will be discussing some of
the green scam products and sites for you to avoid like the plague.
All the claims on them are bogus and have no proven
scientific merit in any way One that comes to mind
is the hydrogen gas generator for your car otherwise
known as water fuel cell. DONT FALL FOR THIS ONE!!
I will give you the low down on this in another post.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Introduction to wind power and wind energy.
Lets have a quick talk about wind power...
There are many different types of wind turbine out there on the market today that you can buy, the most common type would be your traditional three rotor blade type these are the most common and can be bought on the internet or large chain stores.
Other types of wind powered generators names include ...
1: Darrieus.
2: Savonius.
But the one that stands out as the most popular at the moment is the traditional bladed types.
Nearly all small wind turbines today fall into a few categories such as ..
1: Upwind.
2: Horizontal axis
A thing to remember is three blades run more smoothly than two blades although some smaller wind turbines have multi blades.
Blades can be made from wood, fiberglass and carbon fiber.
The placement of the wind turbine on your property is very important, get it wrong and the wind turbine will be almost useless, like putting a photovoltaic panel in the shade.
The turbine should be at a minimum height of ten meters to get maximum electrical energy generation and more than ten meters from your neighbours property the rule is if it falls it wont fall on someone else's property so you are going to need to have a Farly large plot of land, what I am saying is if you live in the country then you should have enough room but in a built up urban area like if you live in a suburban semi detached property then wind turbines are not such a great idea.
Now of course all the above can be bought over the counter, but there is a alternative to buying a wind turbine you can make your own and would be a great project to start and complete.
I will cover making a basic wind turbine in a later post.
There are many different types of wind turbine out there on the market today that you can buy, the most common type would be your traditional three rotor blade type these are the most common and can be bought on the internet or large chain stores.
Other types of wind powered generators names include ...
1: Darrieus.
2: Savonius.
But the one that stands out as the most popular at the moment is the traditional bladed types.
Nearly all small wind turbines today fall into a few categories such as ..
1: Upwind.
2: Horizontal axis
A thing to remember is three blades run more smoothly than two blades although some smaller wind turbines have multi blades.
Blades can be made from wood, fiberglass and carbon fiber.
The placement of the wind turbine on your property is very important, get it wrong and the wind turbine will be almost useless, like putting a photovoltaic panel in the shade.
The turbine should be at a minimum height of ten meters to get maximum electrical energy generation and more than ten meters from your neighbours property the rule is if it falls it wont fall on someone else's property so you are going to need to have a Farly large plot of land, what I am saying is if you live in the country then you should have enough room but in a built up urban area like if you live in a suburban semi detached property then wind turbines are not such a great idea.
Now of course all the above can be bought over the counter, but there is a alternative to buying a wind turbine you can make your own and would be a great project to start and complete.
I will cover making a basic wind turbine in a later post.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Save Money Now,do a miny energy audit.
One of the first things you should do and one of the easiest is to go around your house or place of business and do a mini energy audit and see can you change your old incandescent bulbs with new energy saving CFL bulbs (CFL=compact fluorescent light) they will last at least for up to 5 times longer than normal bulbs and use much less power.
In some instances you could use led bulbs which are bulb shaped fittings covered with leds (LED=light emitting diode) which last even longer than CFLs and use a tiny amount of power to run.
The initial cost of buying all new bulbs for your house may seem a little steep and if you cant manage it at once try buying one or two at a time and replacing the old bulbs when they blow, this way the cost would be spread out over time but you will eventually end up with all your bulbs replaced.
In some instances you could use led bulbs which are bulb shaped fittings covered with leds (LED=light emitting diode) which last even longer than CFLs and use a tiny amount of power to run.
The initial cost of buying all new bulbs for your house may seem a little steep and if you cant manage it at once try buying one or two at a time and replacing the old bulbs when they blow, this way the cost would be spread out over time but you will eventually end up with all your bulbs replaced.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Solar Power is free energy for you.
There are two main types of Solar power collectors, the first is Photovoltaic and the second is Solar Thermal.
Solar Photovoltaic refers to the conversion of sunlight into an electrical current.
This method is probably the most widely known way of producing electricity and has three dominant types that equal 99% of the market today..
(A) Monocrystalline.. (crystalline technology) 11to 15% efficiency, uniform blue in colour and is the oldest and most efficient PV cell, slow and expensive to produce.
(B) Polycrystalline.. (crystalline technology) 11 to 13 % efficiency, irregular blue colour, less expensive to produce with simpler manufacturing process.
(C) Amorphous.. (thin film Technology) 4 to 8% efficiency, considerably less expensive to produce, light and flexible so can meet a range of applications.
Solar Thermal mostly refers to heating water with the heat of the sun.
There are three main types..
Active Solar
Flat Plate.
Evacuated Tubes.
If you are reasonable at DIY then you can build your own solar collectors to provide you with hot water and electrical power to enable you to live off grid, as they say.
Solar Photovoltaic refers to the conversion of sunlight into an electrical current.
This method is probably the most widely known way of producing electricity and has three dominant types that equal 99% of the market today..
(A) Monocrystalline.. (crystalline technology) 11to 15% efficiency, uniform blue in colour and is the oldest and most efficient PV cell, slow and expensive to produce.
(B) Polycrystalline.. (crystalline technology) 11 to 13 % efficiency, irregular blue colour, less expensive to produce with simpler manufacturing process.
(C) Amorphous.. (thin film Technology) 4 to 8% efficiency, considerably less expensive to produce, light and flexible so can meet a range of applications.
Solar Thermal mostly refers to heating water with the heat of the sun.
There are three main types..
Active Solar
Flat Plate.
Evacuated Tubes.
If you are reasonable at DIY then you can build your own solar collectors to provide you with hot water and electrical power to enable you to live off grid, as they say.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Insulate and save precious power.
Depending on the location you live in if it gets cold in winter you can save power and gain added comfort for you and your family in your home by insulating your house in a big way.
There may be government grants available in your country or state to cover the majority of the cost of the insulation, and if you can, always try to choose a insulation that has been produced in a pollution free friendly way, like sheeps wool or recycled paper insulation.
There may be government grants available in your country or state to cover the majority of the cost of the insulation, and if you can, always try to choose a insulation that has been produced in a pollution free friendly way, like sheeps wool or recycled paper insulation.
Power and Energy (techie bit.)
This is just for reference.
What is power?
Power = Voltage x Current (watt)
1 Kilowatt = 1000 watts
1 Megawatt = 1000 kilowatt = 1,000,000 watts.
Energy = Power x Time (watt-hour)
This is why we usually talk of Kilowatt Hours
The kilowatt hour, also written kilowatt-hour,[1] (symbol kW·h, kW h or kWh) is a unit of energy.[2]
Energy delivered by electric companys is usually expressed and charged for in kilowatt hours.
Energy in kilowatt hours is the product of power in kilowatts multiplied by time in hours; it is not kilowatts per hour.
AC and DC...
AC... is Alternating Current (mains supply)the power in your plug sockets.
DC... is Direct Current (batteries) Mostly used in small scale RE systems.
Enough of the tech stuff.
What is power?
Power = Voltage x Current (watt)
1 Kilowatt = 1000 watts
1 Megawatt = 1000 kilowatt = 1,000,000 watts.
Energy = Power x Time (watt-hour)
This is why we usually talk of Kilowatt Hours
The kilowatt hour, also written kilowatt-hour,[1] (symbol kW·h, kW h or kWh) is a unit of energy.[2]
Energy delivered by electric companys is usually expressed and charged for in kilowatt hours.
Energy in kilowatt hours is the product of power in kilowatts multiplied by time in hours; it is not kilowatts per hour.
AC and DC...
AC... is Alternating Current (mains supply)the power in your plug sockets.
DC... is Direct Current (batteries) Mostly used in small scale RE systems.
Enough of the tech stuff.
Reinventing the power grid.
A very tenuous and fragile status quo exists in most countries with their national owned power stations.
With their almost total reliance on fossil fuels they are some day going to run out of matter to burn to produce electricity for you!
And what then?
Well, nuclear power is still too dangerous and will only be acceptable when the scientists achieve safe cold fusion as opposed to the nuclear fission of today, hopefully this will someday become a safe reality and research is going on all the time but it is not perfected yet ..
So what do we do in the meantime?
Make our own power.
Even today these fossil fuel burning, pollution belching power stations work with a tremendous loss of power.
For example, Your average power station has to produce up to 765,000 volts to send electricity down the power lines but a portion of this power is lost through Resistance in the grid meaning they are not as efficient as you may have thought thats why the voltage has to be so high..
So what is the answer?
Produce your own electricity either on your own or as a community project you don't have to produce as much power as the big power stations because the electricity only has to travel locally.
With their almost total reliance on fossil fuels they are some day going to run out of matter to burn to produce electricity for you!
And what then?
Well, nuclear power is still too dangerous and will only be acceptable when the scientists achieve safe cold fusion as opposed to the nuclear fission of today, hopefully this will someday become a safe reality and research is going on all the time but it is not perfected yet ..
So what do we do in the meantime?
Make our own power.
Even today these fossil fuel burning, pollution belching power stations work with a tremendous loss of power.
For example, Your average power station has to produce up to 765,000 volts to send electricity down the power lines but a portion of this power is lost through Resistance in the grid meaning they are not as efficient as you may have thought thats why the voltage has to be so high..
So what is the answer?
Produce your own electricity either on your own or as a community project you don't have to produce as much power as the big power stations because the electricity only has to travel locally.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Why Small scale renewable energy?
When I talk about small scale RE I am talking about ordinary people like you and me having a small wind turbine or some type of solar energy collection system be it photovoltaic or water heating, power stations that burn fossil fuel, nuclear reactors all will go the way of the dinosaur and the future is small scale or community cooperative micro power stations that only serve its local community or neighbourhood.
And why should we move away from the corporate power companey's?
Here are my reasons....
Energy Independence and self Sufficiency.
Strikes and Black-outs.
Terrorism and globalisation.. producing our own local energy decreases the threat from terrorists or wrong do-ers damaging our power distribution networks like power stations or power lines..
Having a green Philosophy being independent from corporate control encouraging local ownership of RE systems even cooperatives and keeping it all at a community level.
Not to mention the financial benefits.
And why should we move away from the corporate power companey's?
Here are my reasons....
Energy Independence and self Sufficiency.
Strikes and Black-outs.
Terrorism and globalisation.. producing our own local energy decreases the threat from terrorists or wrong do-ers damaging our power distribution networks like power stations or power lines..
Having a green Philosophy being independent from corporate control encouraging local ownership of RE systems even cooperatives and keeping it all at a community level.
Not to mention the financial benefits.
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