Festival charger Pods
Posted by Laird on Jun 21, 2008
Charger Pod
Got Wind has some fun tricks up its sleeve. Last year at the Glastonbury Festival - a massive music and performing arts festival in the Vale of Avalon, England - phone service provider Orange and renewable tech creators Got Wind provided a tent-mounted wind-powered phone charger - a pretty awesome set up considering that the event is off in the boonies and cell phone charging stations would be in demand. But this year, the team plans to dwarf last year’s charging pod.
The new pod will stand nearly 23 feet tall and host a wind generator and solar panels that will generate enough electricity to charge up to 100 mobile phones and hour, and store any leftover energy in its battery tank. With thousands of people attending the festival, they think they’ll be pretty busy. And the newer recharge pod is still only a test for bigger, more powerful stations to come. I can definitely see stations like this being useful at any large event where outlets are scarce.
Green Tip of the Week
Posted by Laird on Jun 20, 2008
Turn the tables on the on the junk mailer’s, use the pre paided free-post envolopes they supply with thier junk mail, just put a sticker over the printed return address and write out any address you want to send too. Not only does it stick it to the junk mailers it is totally legal. Do it today!
Solar Lighting Brightens Our Nights
Posted by tich on Jun 13, 2008
There has been a boom in environmental awareness across the nation. It is a wonderful thing to hear but why has it taken us so long? In the 1980’s we had solar cell calculators and were becoming aware of the importance of recycling.
Did we listen? Only a few people took the information to heart. Now with this massive want for going green you can take these words to heart and put it to good use. solar lighting
is here and now. It is available in indoor and outdoor lights.
You can power your garden fountain with solar energy. You can charge your cell phone or ipod with solar energy. Instead of using non-renewable fossil fuels why not use the FREE power of the sun. Online sites offer catalogues and shopping services for solar powered products. There are over 300 different solar lighting products available through a single site online.
You can find decorative lighting for your walkway, a street lamp, a street sign, address/house numbers and much more. These lighting methods do not give off any harmful fumes or use coal or oil to light. Your item charges during the day as the sun shines brightly and at night your lights are luminous and brilliant.
Why would we continue to use electricity that harms our environment and ourselves when we have a safer version available? See for yourself by trying a solar powered product today. Take some time to search solar lighting or solar power and you will be amazed that in the year 2030 we may all be using solar power in our homes.
Source: power of the sun
Increased Energy Costs Worldwide
Posted by Laird on Jun 9, 2008
Geoffrey Lean, The Independent
http://www.truthout.com
The Iraq War means oil costs three times more than it should. How are our lives going to change with oil heading toward $200 a barrel?
The invasion of Iraq by Britain and the US has trebled the price of oil, according to a leading expert, costing the world a staggering $6 trillion in higher energy prices alone.
The oil economist Dr Mamdouh Salameh, who advises both the World Bank and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), Says that the price of oil would now be no more than $40 a barrel, less than a third of the record $135 a barrel reached last week, if it had not been for the Iraq war.
He spoke after oil prices set a new record on 13 consecutive days over the past two weeks. They have now multiplied six fold since 2002, compared with the fourfold increase of the 1973 and 1974 “oil shock” that ended the world’s long post-war boom.
Goldman Sachs predicted last week that the price could rise to an unprecedented $200 a barrel over the next year, and the world is coming to terms with the idea that the age of cheap oil has ended, with far-reaching repercussions on their activities.
Dr Salameh, director of the UK-based Oil Market Consultancy Service, and an authority on Iraq’s oil, said it is the only one of the world’s biggest producing countries with enough reserves substantially to increase its flow.
Production in eight of the others — the US, Canada, Iran, Indonesia, Russia, Britain, Norway and Mexico — has peaked, he says, while China and Saudi Arabia, the remaining two, are nearing the point at of decline. Before the war, Saddam Hussein’s regime pumped some 3.5 million barrels of oil a day, but this had now fallen to just two million barrels.
Dr Salameh told the all-party parliamentary group on peak oil last month that Iraq had offered the United States a deal, three years before the war that would have opened up 10 new giant oil fields on “generous” terms in return for the lifting of sanctions. “This would certainly have prevented the steep rise of the oil price,” he said. “But the US had a different idea. It planned to occupy Iraq and annex its oil.”
Chris Skrebowski, the editor of Petroleum Review, said: “There are many ifs in the world oil market. This is a very big one, but there are others. If there had been a civil war in Iraq, even less oil would have been produced.”
David Strahan: What happens next? The expert’s view
at just under 86 million barrels per day, global oil production has, essentially, stagnated since 2005, despite soaring demand, suggesting that production has already reached its geological limits, or “peak oil”.
Recession in the West may not provide relief on prices. There is increasing demand from countries such as China, Russia and the Opec countries, whose consumers are cushioned against rising prices by heavy subsidies. The future could unfold in a number of ways:
Oil price collapses
Fuel subsidies could suddenly be scrapped, dousing demand. Cost pressures have forced Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan to cut them, but China is hardly strapped for cash. Opec producers are under no pressure to abolish subsidies; as the oil price rises they get richer. Prospect: very unlikely.
Peace could break out in Iraq, the long-disputed oil law agreed, and international oil companies start work on the world’s largest collection of untapped oil fields. Prospect: vanishingly unlikely.
Oil price stabilises or moderates
Deep recession in the West might cut oil consumption enough to offset growth in the developing world and Opec, or even engulf them too, softening prices. Prospect: unlikely in the short term.
Oil price soars
Russian oil output has gone into decline; Saudi Arabia has shelved plans to expand production capacity, and advisers to the Nigerian government predict its output will fall by 30 per cent by 2015. More news like this, expect oil at $200 a barrel.
Prospect: likely.
Big oil producers will increasingly divert exports for home consumption. Opec, Russian and Mexican exports expected to fall, pushing oil to $200 by 2012. Prospect: highly likely.
The writer is author of ‘The Last Oil Shock’, John Murray, lastoilshock.com
Peak oil
After 150 years of growth, the oil age is beginning to come to an end. “Peak oil” is the common term for when production stops increasing and starts to decline. At that point what have been ever-expanding and cheap supplies of the resource on which all modern economies depend become scarcer and more expensive, with potentially devastating consequences.
Pessimists believe that production has passed its peak. Optimists say it may be 20 years or so away — which would give us some time to prepare — but are now muted. Last week the hitherto optimistic International Energy Agency admitted that it may have overestimated future capacity. Chris Skrebowski, editor of ‘Petroleum Review’ and once an optimist himself, believes that the world is now in “the foothills of peak oil”. Prices may ease a bit over the next few years, but then the real crunch will come. The price then? “Pick a number!”
Travel
Oil provides 95 per cent of the energy used in transport, so this will be hit hard and soon. People are likely to go on using their cars, but airlines are expected to be the first to suffer. On Thursday, British Airways’ chief executive Willie Walsh declared that the era of cheap flights was over, suggesting that those environmentalists who have made them their main target for combating climate change may have been wasting their breath.
At least three carriers have already gone bust this year. Last week, American Airlines said it was cutting routes, laying off staff, and charging US passengers $15 to check in a bag because of a $3bn rise in its fuel bills. Even Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, says the oil price is “really hurting”. On Thursday, Credit Suisse analysts said his company would slip into the red if oil prices rose just a little more, to $140 a barrel.
Cars
The world’s biggest oil well, it is said, lies beneath Detroit. US vehicles get an average of only 25 miles per gallon. Dramatically improving this would do more to ease the oil crunch than any likely new discovery. But new measures recently approved by Congress would increase the average only to the 35mpg already being achieved by China. Europe does better, if not well enough, at 44mpg.
Rising fuel prices are already beginning to drive change. Sales of 4×4s are plummeting in both the US and Britain, and those of hybrids — which do 60mpg are soaring. As the price climbs further, manufacturers will unlock long-prepared plans for much more efficient vehicles. “Plug-in” hybrids, charged up with electricity overnight, save another 45 per cent in petrol consumption. Further down the line is the “hyper car” — made of tough, light plastic — which could cross the US on a single tankful.
Houses
All new houses in Britain will have to be zero carbon — burning no fossil fuels such as oil — by 2016, the Government announced, and house builders are struggling to meet the target. At present the standard can be reached only at great expense, but the industry is confident of bringing the cost down as mass production kicks in. It is even more important to adapt existing homes.
The key step is to super-insulate the house to make it as energy-efficient as possible — and only then to provide renewable energy sources. Solar water heaters, ground source heat pumps and boilers powered by wood pellets are favourites. Rooftop windmills do not work well enough yet. Photovoltaic panels, which get electricity from the sun, are expensive but their price should come down. Britain has lagged behind other countries. Soaring energy prices should shake things up.
Shopping
effectively, almost everything is partially made of oil, and so is going to get more expensive. About 10 calories of oil are burned to produce each calorie of food in the US, and farming a single cow and getting it to market uses as much as driving from New York to Los Angeles. Some 630g of fuel is used to produce every gram of microchips.
The cult of local, seasonal produce will enter the mainstream, as everyone learns about food miles and a modern-day Dig for Victory grips gardeners — bad news for the farm workers overseas who provide 95 per cent of our fruit and half our vegetables. Trips to out-of-town supermarkets will seem extravagant, heralding a high street renaissance and a new surge in online grocery shopping, and soon we’ll all be eating our own potatoes.
Third World
Poor countries and their peoples will be hit by a devastating double whammy as both their fuel and food prices increase. Last year, when oil cost only about half as much, countries from Nepal to Nicaragua were hit by fuel shortages. At least 25 of the 44 sub-Saharan nations are facing crippling electricity shortages.
As oil is used in agriculture, its increased cost will also drive up the price of food, making more and more people go hungry. Worse, expensive petrol is bound to increase the drive towards biofuels made from maize and other crops, which then brings the world’s poorest people into competition with affluent motorists for grain — a contest they cannot win. Just one fill-up of a 4×4’s tank with ethanol uses enough grain to feed one person for a year.
Emerging economies
China and India and other developing countries will help to drive up demand for oil and compete for scarce supplies. This has already helped to raise prices: demand for oil from Western countries has actually fallen over the past two years, but the emerging economies have more than made up the slack. And they have the money to do so.
Methane Mammals
Posted by Laird on Jun 7, 2008
Are we being slowly poisoned by Burping farting farm animals??
One of the biggest causes of climate change is flatulence in farm animals. Cattle, sheep and pigs pump out 35% of the worlds emissions of Methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide. But hope came from New Zealand this week after it said it wants to vaccinate these animals against producing so much methane. I bet there are a few wives who would like to get their hands on that vaccine, too :-}
Green tip of the Week!
Posted by Laird on Jun 6, 2008
Hang out your weekly Laundry to dry and air naturally!
As each tumble dryer load you do
Releases 5lb (2.268g)
Of CO2. Into our atmosphere
And that is a truly scary figure.
UK TO ADD 7,000 MORE WIND TURBINES
Posted by Laird on Jun 6, 2008
UK Government plans will see up to 7,000 new wind farms built offshore before 2020
Up to 7,000 wind turbines are to be built off the coast, according to Government plans unveiled yesterday.
The $160billion proposal would see the equivalent of two turbines going up every day until 2020, making it one of the biggest engineering projects in recent history.
Government Ministers said the plans - which include a massive wind farm a few miles off the World Heritage ‘Jurassic Coast’ in Dorset - were essential to meet EU green energy targets.
Britain already has seven sea farms producing up to half a gigawatt of electricity. In total, the UK has 2,032 turbines on and offshore, producing up to 2.5gigawatts. Another five offshore farms are under construction, while a further 159 onshore and 14 offshore farms have been approved. The extra 7,000 wind turbines would treble the capacity of Britain’s wind farms to 33gigawatts - enough for 20million homes.
By comparison, Britain’s existing coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric power stations can produce up to 75gigawatts.
Eleven potential sites were named by the Crown Estate, which owns the sea bed around the UK, after a study of geology, wind strengths and shipping lanes. They include one ten miles off the Dorset and South Devon coast, between Dartmouth and Weymouth, and others off East Sussex, Cardigan Bay in Wales, the Irish Sea off Cumbria and the North Sea off Norfolk.
Energy firms will bid to build the turbines, which rise 300ft above sea level and usually stand in water less than 100ft deep. A Crown Estate spokesman said: ‘They are not likely to be visible from the shore. ‘These sites are purely indicative. An environmental assessment still has to be done.’ Over a year, a typical wind turbine works at around 35 per cent of its capacity, averaging out the times when it is at full power against calm periods when it is idle. Half the pre-construction costs of the farms would be met by the Crown Estate.
WIND POWER IN THE UK: FACTS AND FIGURES
- The UK has 2,032 wind turbines on land and at sea, producing up to 2.5 gigawatts of electricity.
- If every turbine worked at full capacity, that’s enough electricity for 1.4 million homes.
- Another 159 onshore and 14 offshore wind farms have been approved which will add another 6.5 gigawatts.
- The new round of offshore turbines will bring the total capacity to 33 gigawatts - enough, in theory, for more than 20 million homes.
- Britain’s existing coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric power stations can produce up to 75 gigawatts of electricity.
- To meet EU targets, around 40 per cent of electricity - or 30 gigawatts - will need to come from renewables by 2020.
- A typical offshore wind turbine rises 300 feet above the water. It is usually built in water less than 100 feet deep.
- The Crown Estate estimates that the new round of offshore turbines will cost $160 billion.
- Some could be six miles from the shore. However, the Crown Estate says they will not be intrusive.
- Critics of wind turbines complain that they are unsightly, unreliable and cannot meet peak surges in electricity demand.
What is Alternative Energy?
Posted by tich on Jun 4, 2008
There is a lot of energy that we can harness if we only seek to research and develop the technologies needed to do so. We can get away from the fossil fuels and the old electrical grids by turning to alternatives to these energy sources.
One of these alternative energy resources is wind power. Wind turbines continue to be developed that are progressively more energy efficient and less costly. “Wind farms” have been springing up in many nations, and they have even become more strategically placed over time so that they are not jeopardizing birds as former wind turbines did.
Another alternative energy resource is the one that is most well known: solar energy. This involves the manufacturing of solar cells which gather and focus the energy given off directly by the sun, and translate it into electricity or, in some cases, hot water. As with wind energy, solar energy creates absolutely zero pollution.
Ocean wave energy is seen by governments and investors as having enormous energy generating potential. A generator in France has been in operation for many years now and is considered to be a great success, and the Irish and Scots are running experimental facilities.
Hydroelectric power has been with us for a while and where it is set up, it is a powerful generator of electricity and cleaner than a grid. However, there are certain limitations to the availability of the right places to set up a large dam. Many run-of-the-river, or small and localized, hydroelectric generators have been set up in recent times due to this limitation.
Geothermal energy is extremely abundant, since it lies directly beneath our feet, just a few miles below the earth’s surface. This energy is produced by the heating of water through the actions of earth’s fantastically hot molten core. The water turns to steam, which can be harnessed and used to drive turbine engines which in turn generate electricity. Great amounts of research and development should be put into geothermal energy tapping.
Waste gas energies, which are essentially methane, reverse the usual energy-pollution relationship by creating energy from waste that lies in the dumps and from some air pollutants. This gas is used in fuel cells and can be used in standard gasoline generators.
Ethanol is a gasoline substitute and is created from such things as wheat, sugarcane, grapes, strawberries, corn, and even wood chips and wood cellulose. There is controversy over this fuel with regards to its ever becoming truly economical or practical except in very localized areas, but technologies for its extraction and admixturing are continuously being refined.
Biodiesel energy is created out of the oils contained in plants. So far, the commercial stores of biodiesel have been created using soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. At the time of this writing, biodiesel is typically produced by entrepreneurial minded individuals or those who want to experiment with alternative energy, but commercial interest from companies is on the rise. It burns much cleaner than oil-based diesel.
Atomic energy is created in atomic energy plants using the process of nuclear fission. This energy is extremely efficient and can generate huge amounts of power. There is concern from some people about what to do with the relatively small amount of waste product atomic energy gives off, since it is radioactive and takes hundreds of years to decay into harmlessness.
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Source: Nuclear Energy
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American fast food,Eco-Waste
Posted by Laird on Jun 4, 2008
American fast food outlets New Re-cycling policies
After coming under years of pressure from the “Green Lobby” to gets their act together regarding their excessive overuse of non-biodegradable packaging.
(I.e. Polystyrene Burger/pizza boxers, waxed paper French fry bags and the
“finger licking buckets” with plastic handles that take 250 years to bio-degrade)
The top American fast food outlets have got together their top Brains to come up with a more Eco-sustainable Food delivery system that leaves them with a smaller
“Carbon foot print” and gives us the impression that they are now very ECO friendly.
Too see what they have come up with, check out this NEWS VIDEO.
News bulletin.
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Can Water Really Power Your Car?
Posted by Laird on Jun 2, 2008
Water powered cars are something that the public has been hoping to see on the road for a few decades now. The possibility of water powered cars being invented has been talked up practically since the invention of the automobile itself.
Hydrogen cars are cool. What can be cooler than a future filled with zero emission vehicles that outperform today’s vehicles? Hydrogen cars are the future, baby! Not only are hydrogen cars the future of automotive travel as we know it, they are here right now, among us. Hydrogen cars are being hyped today as few technologies have ever been. Bush announced a $1.2 billion research initiative, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. Fuel efficiency is related to the mileage per unit of fuel used. A hybrid car, run on a mix of water and gasoline, shows very noticeable increase in mileage from the time it was run only on gas. Fuel efficiency is on everyone’s mind these days thanks to skyrocketing oil prices and a struggling economy. The best vehicles on the road, from a fuel efficiency standpoint, save their owners hundreds, even thousands of dollars per year on gas. Hydrogen fuel cells are considered a leading alternative energy for running cars and other devices in the future. The membrane material could also replace an expensive step in current petrochemical processing, or reduce how much energy the step requires. Hydrogen fuel cells are the most ambitious of the options, and offer some amazing benefits. Among them, a car running on a hydrogen fuel cell would only create water and heat as by-products. Hydrogen fuel cells are very efficient and produce only water as a by-product, but they are expensive to build.
TILL KNOW! THAT IS
The answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY! We have made the technology to build a water-burning hybrid easy and affordable.
Water can be used to fuel a car when used as a supplement to gasoline. In fact, very little water is needed! only one quart of water provides over 1800 gallons of HHO gas which can literally last for months and significantly increase your vehicle’s fuel efficiently, improve emissions quality, and save you money.
Thousands of successful water-conversions around the world are proof that this technology works and will soon catch on! Some industry insiders say its just a matter of time before this water-burning technology will be standard in new automobiles. One expert estimates most cars will be using this technology by 2012, but until the auto manufacturers catch up,
You can use this technology for yourself today at a very reasonable set-up cost.
Experts Agree: Water is Viable Fuel Technology.
Latest News from CES 2008
At the 2008 CES (Consumer Electronics show) in Las Vegas, there was a new water-powered device for charging laptops and other electronic devices! We are excited to see the power of water finally being used to its potential! The big oil companies have tried to stop the power of water from being used in the automotive industry, but they can’t keep everyone’s lips sealed!
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