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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The pressure is on for better strategies to combat climate change. President Obama’s second term is decidedly greener than the first, and it reflects in the people he chose to focus on the energy and environmental policy. Ernest Moniz, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of technology and Gina McCarthy, a staunch environmentalist, have been selected as U.S. Energy Secretary and Head of the Environmental Protection Agency respectively.

On March 4, 2013, at a White House ceremony, Obama said,

They’re going to be making sure that we’re investing in American energy, that we’re doing everything that we can to combat the threat of climate change.

The emphasis on preserving the environment could turn the spotlight on natural gas, which is just one of the options that people have when it comes to dealing with climate change. Natural gas is less expensive and a cleaner alternative than gasoline. It has helped America become less reliant on power plants fired by coal, thereby reducing emissions that contribute to global warming. It is expected that once McCarthy takes the helm, new rules will be implemented that will further put the pressure on coal-powered plants. Stricter Clean Air Act rules are sure to follow.

One of the problems that natural gas is facing is that there is low demand for it. The recent cold weather and cheap energy rates in New York, however, has helped boost the demand for natural gas, as people burned gas to chase the chills away. In fact, foxbusiness.com has reported that the future of natural gas is set high, saying,

The chilly conditions have pushed natural-gas futures up 7% since the start of the year. Natural-gas demand has also been climbing from other sources, such as power generation.

Natural gas has also been hitting other headlines with New York Times recently publishing an article on natural gas, which quotes,

“Natural gas is primarily a source for electrical generation that has become increasingly popular because it burns cleaner than oil and coal and produces less greenhouse gases. Many environmentalists and energy analysts view natural gas as a natural bridge fuel between the dominant fossil fuels of today and the renewable fuels of tomorrow.”

If you take a look around the world, natural gas is gaining recognition around the world. During Spain’s recent droughts, it turned to natural gas as backup for the people’s source of electricity. Do you remember the killer earthquake that hit Japan in March of 2011? The Asian nation suffered a nuclear crisis when the quake triggered a tsunami that hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant hard. The damages it sustained caused its nuclear reactors to shut down and initiate a melt down. Since the plant generated electricity for Tokyo, but was unable to operate, Japan had to turn to other sources–natural gas.

Although cars that run on natural gas have yet to become a trend, expect its popularity to rise as demand for natural gas also rises. And at the rate it is rising, this international commodity could very well usher in a new era of natural gas.

About the Author

Based in San Diego California, Tiffany Matthews is a professional writer who supports green strategies that help preserve the environment. She also blogs about travel, fashion, and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com. In her free time, she likes to travel and watch movies with friends. You can find her on Twitter as @TiffyCat87.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

More and more people across the UK are becoming eco-conscious and deciding to turn their house into a bastion of renewable energy – and they are reaping the rewards for it. With energy prices only seeming to get more expensive, read on to find out how you can escape the rise and fall of oil and gas prices and start making money from green energy.

Getting your house in order

Before you can start making money, you’ll need to fit you house out with green energy generating technology. Currently in the UK there are three main ways to produce your own renewable energy:

Solar

If you live in an applicable area then you can harness the power of the sun to start making your own energy. Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels cost anything between £5,000 and £10,000 and, contrary to popular belief, do still produce energy on cloudy days. The panels work by electric fields being created when light shines through the PV cell’s semi-conducting silicon material.

Wind

Currently 40% of Europe’s wind energy blows across Britain, making it an ideal force to harness from your home. Turbines vary in price depending on how much energy you are looking to generate, but can range from £2,000 to over £20,000. The stronger the wind in the area, the more energy you will produce and be able to sell, with most turbines only costing around a hundred pounds a year in maintenance.

Hydro

It goes without saying that this type of energy generation is only applicable to those who live next to a suitable water source. But if your river or stream has the right combination of flow and head you could start producing and selling your own green energy. Every site is different but a typical 5kw producing site might cost £25,000 with negligible annual upkeep costs.

Selling excess energy

Once your green energy technology is up and running in your home you’ll be able to start making money.

Introduced in April 2010, the government’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme rewards producers for not only selling excess energy to the grid but also the renewable resources they use in their own home. Major energy suppliers, like npower, are required by law to buy your excess green electricity at 3.2p per unit.

To start making money you will need to be registered to the government’s central database by your green energy installer and then fill out an application form – it really is that simple.

Have you ever considered going green?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

How much water are you really using? Many of us have low flow shower heads and our toilets are using less water, but how does that compare to the water that goes into the things we use and consume every day?

We created this infographic to help better understand what our daily impact really is.  Some of the information might surprise you…

Water Usage Infographic

Courtesy of: Loch Ness Water Gardens

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

In certain parts of the U.S., and I presume the rest of the world as well, electric utility customers are beginning to express their concerns about the modes by which their providers generate the power they will sell.  Apparently, most of the angst here centers around climate change, as more people every day are starting to see the truth: our devotion to fossil fuels as our primary source of energy is causing the Earth’s temperature to warm, in turn resulting in numerous environmental maladies. 

In the “Green Grid” conference I attended last week in the California Bay Area, the presenter from Google described the way his company pressures its providers for more renewable energy.  He told the audience, and I’m sure it’s true, that when a company with the stature of Google asks for something, the answer is usually yes. 

But what happens when a community, made of up millions of private citizens and small businesses (i.e., “nobodys”) rises up and makes a similar demand on the utility?  The answer is more complicated – and it’s addressed in this SmartGridNews article: More Utilities Are Seeing Municipalization Nipping at Their Heels.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

The UK government is moving, some would say stumbling, towards its legal obligation to have 15% of the UK’s energy produced by renewables by 2020.  Every year more sources of renewable energy come on stream, but there are setbacks on the way.  This turbulence is not just in the wind that affects wind turbines, but political turbulence that has made the investment, skills acquisition, and long-term planning for this young industry more problematical. 

As the government works on a five-year cycle, and energy planning needs a framework of decades, there is a disjunction.  For example, planning and implementing large conventional power stations takes around five years from decision through planning to when it comes on line.  Nuclear power stations can take much longer when cost overruns and construction delays are taken in to account. Wind farms and solar arrays can be constructed significantly quicker, but of course there is also opposition at the planning stage which can result in delay. 

The good news is that, according to government statistics, the UK is at an all time low for fossil fuel dependency, at 84.5% and that has been declining continuously as we add more renewables to the energy production matrix. There has been a steady upward growth in all forms of renewable power, between 2006 and 2011 the percentage of UK electricity generated from renewables nearly doubled, from 4.5% to 8.7%. 

The UK has legal obligations, in both the 2008 Climate Change Act and the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive to have 15% of its end-use energy provided by renewables by 2020.  Currently the UK is at 3.8% – good progress has been made but we are some way short of the target.  In 2011 Solar Photovoltaics increased by about seven-fold but the sudden change in the Feed-in-Tariff late last year has meant that many planned projects were cancelled, thus giving the  UK renewables industry a serious setback. 

It should be obvious to anyone with an interest in their energy bills that prices have been rising steeply, and will continue to rise as long as the country is dependent on coal, oil and natural gas for the major part of its energy requirements.  There needs to be a continuous move to phasing these out and replacing them with renewable power, as well as full electrification of the railways and moving to electric vehicles (EVs) where possible. It might be better to prioritise EVs for the fleet sector rather than family vehicles – short range delivery vans, forklift trucks, council utility vehicles, which would mean that the cost per unit would be reduced, as EVs are currently too expensive compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. 

Although energy efficiency has been increasing in most sectors of the economy,  there are still large areas which are not energy-efficient.  For example, of the 25 million homes in the UK today, 62% (with lofts) have insulation, which means that 38% don’t have this simple and cost effective measure.  Similarly only 60% of homes with cavity walls are insulated.  

There is good news on the horizon.  Early this year Spain generated more electricity from wind than any other power source.  This should be a wake-up call for the UK, which has a considerably better wind resource than Spain.  With the start of an EU single market in energy planned for next year, and the beginning construction of a European electricity super-grid – to ensure that energy can be efficiently shifted around Europe – from generation source to where it is needed, there is a bright future for renewable energy generation of all types, as long as there is sufficient investment which will necessarily include both public and private sector finance and the political will to push forward on the transition to a low-carbon future, which the government seems conflicted about: both promoting renewables, in areas such as the Green Deal but backing away, for example in the Green Investment Bank.   A more cohesive approach would benefit the country better.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As I’ve written a few times in the recent past, I believe that we have the proverbial cart before the horse when it comes to smart grid.  We tend to think of this concept as “futuristic,” like flying cars, when, in fact, it’s what underpins the transition the world is making right now in the direction of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewables.

Here’s Pike Research’s article on virtual power plants, which they define as:  “a system that relies upon software systems to remotely and automatically dispatch and optimize generation, demand-side, or storage resources (including plug-in electric vehicles and bi-directional inverters) in a single, secure web-connected system.” 

With all the work going into this subject from the world’s most respected IT companies, e.g., Google and Cisco, does it really seem likely that the world of energy generation and distribution will continue to trudge along, essentially unchanged from the days of Edison?  Not to me. 

The world began to see the value of information a few decades ago.  Very quickly, we had an Internet that delivers the information we want, instantaneously, to billions of users with their devices around the globe.  Now the world is realizing that the dispatching of energy in real-time is also a big deal.  Will the IT world rise to the occasion and make this happen?  You can bet the ranch on it.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Being a vegetarian is a huge commitment, but a lot of people want to do it. What are some of the reasons that keeping a vegetarian diet is good for the environment?Saving Animals’ Lives
The most obvious reason why being a vegetarian really helps the environment out is that you are saving the lives of animals. Instead of animals being slaughtered so that you are able to eat meat, they are being allowed to live. Therefore, you are truly having a direct effect on the environment. Furthermore, when you decide to live a vegetarian lifestyle, you might wind up inspiring other people around you to do the same, and you are, therefore, making a huge impact on the environment.

Grow Your Own
A huge difference exists between having the ability to raise your own pigs and cows and keeping your own farm of vegetables and herbs in your backyard. Even if you are living in a city apartment, you might have a little balcony where you can make some foods. When you are able to grow you own vegetables, you are also helping out the environment. Instead of having foods shipped from across the country or maybe even other parts of the world, locally grown food is just a few feet away from your kitchen, and you can truly have it all.

Organic Foods
Indeed, you can find organic foods that are both meat and non-meat products. Still, and this is especially true if you are having your own garden, it can often be easier to find organic fruits and vegetables than organic meats. Even when you do find the organic meats, the price can be so high that you simply are unable to afford them. When you choose organic, you are making the decision to be friendlier to the environment. Of course, you absolutely need to make sure that these labels say 100 percent organic on them. If they do not, you are not necessarily protecting the environment.

Walking Around
Something else you need to think about is your overall state of health. Yes, going vegetarian is, in some ways, like a diet. Many people realize that they lose weight when they stop eating meat because of all the fat that some meats contain. As a result of your new figure and lower number on the scale, you might actually wind up having more energy. Instead of driving to the store that’s just a few blocks away, you will feel motivated to walk on over there. Therefore, you will not be wasting gas in the car, and, obviously, this action is also excellent for the environment as a whole!

Clearly, becoming a vegetarian can really help the environment in so many different ways. You are allowing animals to live full lives instead of being raised only to be slaughtered later on, and you can even reduce the amount of gas that you use in your car. Truly, this lifestyle change is one that can be useful in so many ways.


Author Jason Harter is a healthcare administrator in the sustainability department of his hospital. Not only does Jason’s hospital make it a priority to run the hospital sustainably, but also promote green lifestyles to patients as a way to increase their health. Jason obtained his degree from one of the Top 10 Best Online Healthcare MBA Degree Programs
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Everyone these days is worried about global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer, but what are any of us doing to stop it? Pollution levels to our environment are at an all time high, but awareness is rising almost as fast as that pollution level. We know about the problem, but do we know about the solution? Take a look at this article that maps out a few ways that anyone can help to reduce the pollution that is destroying the environment that we live in.1. What car do you drive?
If you say you are concerned about the environment but then drive off into the sunset in your Hummer H3, you might need to reevaluate your priorities. Sell that gas guzzling vehicle and trade it in for a smaller car that has lower gas mileage, but also works for the functional purposes in your life.2. Do you really need to drive there?
Even if you do have a car with low gas mileage, it is still a detriment to the environment if you drive it hundreds of miles a week. Try to think of the times where you can walk or bike to where you are going. It will give you a little extra exercise while helping to save the environment.

3. Recycle, both conventionally and non-conventionally.
The first step to this suggestion is making sure that you are putting plastics, glassware, and paper products in your recycling bin. Whether you live somewhere that picks up recycling curbside or somewhere that you have to take your recycling somewhere yourself, take the time for your environment. Aside from conventional recycling, try to incorporate up-cycling into your life. Take things that you would normally throw away and find new uses for them.

4. Don’t litter!
This one seems life a no-brainer, but the amount of litter that sits on our streets has come to an appalling level. Make sure that, when you have trash, that it goes in the trash can. Also, you can start trying to pick up after others who do not care about the environment quite as much as you do. If you see trash laying on sidewalks or streets, try to be a good Samaritan to the environment and pick up the trash that you see. The environment will thank you!

Keep in mind that these are only a few of the hundreds of thousands of ways that you can keep our environment healthier.


Author Jason Harter is a healthcare administrator in the sustainability department of his hospital. Not only does Jason’s hospital make it a priority to run the hospital sustainably, but also promote green lifestyles to patients as a way to increase their health. Jason obtained his degree from one of the Top 10 Best Online Healthcare MBA Degree Programs
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Whether you are headed to the office or the grocery store, walking doesn’t always cut it. Some modes of transportation are better than others, especially when it comes to keeping your carbon footprint low.

Scooters – Not as Environmentally Friendly as You Thought

Image via Flickr by Andi Licious

Many people today are getting scooters because they think they are ‘greener’ than almost any other option. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

If you travel 12,000 miles in a year, and get 80 miles per gallon, it emits about 2943 lbs of CO2 per year. It would use 150 gallons of gas.
If you use 1 quart of oil per oil change, and change the oil every 3,000 miles, you will use 1 gallon of oil per year.
VOCs (PM10, NOx, and SOx) are about 2,500 milligrams/mile.

Motorcycles – Smog is in the Air
Motorcycles – Smog is in the Air

Image via Flickr by ronsaunders47

It has been shown that motorcycles are more fuel-efficient than cars. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are better for the environment.

  • If you travel 12,000 miles in a year, and get 40 miles per gallon, this emits about 5887 lbs of CO2. It uses about 300 gallons of gas.
  • If you use 1 quart of oil per oil change, and change the oil every 3,000 miles, you will use 1 gallon of oil per year.
  • VOCs created by this motorcycle would be about 6,800 milligrams/mile.

Cars – Lower Fuel Efficiency but Fewer Pollutants

Cars – Lower Fuel Efficiency but Fewer Pollutants

Image via Flickr by epSos.de

Car manufacturers are taking emissions and fuel efficiency into account more. The older the car is, the worse emissions it will have.

  • An average car that travels 12,000 miles in a year, and gets 25 miles per gallon emits about 9,420 lbs of CO2 per year. This car would use 480 gallons of gas.
  • If you use 2 quarts of oil per oil change, and change the oil every 3,000 miles, you will use 2 gallons of oil per year.
  • Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) created by this car would be about 1,200 milligrams/mile.

Bicycles – Zero Smog, Zero Gas

Bicycles – Zero Smog, Zero Gas

Image via Flickr by Debarshi Ray

This mode of transportation is the best on the environment, and the best for your body.

  • If you ride your bike 12,000 miles in a year, that’s great. There will be 0 CO2 emissions from the bike. It will use no gas.
  • There are no required oils, but it’s possible that tires will have to be replaced after a prolonged period of time.
  • VOCs created by this bike would be about 0 milligrams/mile

Cut Down Your Carbon Footprint With a Carpool

Cut Down Your Carbon Footprint With a Carpool

Image via Flickr by Richard Drdul

Do you work a long distance from your home? Get a carpool going; this will help create less carbon emissions, due to fewer cars on the road. Insurance is important when you have a carpool, check AutoInsurance.us rates by state for the best deals.

Cutting down your carbon footprint is important. Making sure that your mode of transportation is ‘green’ is one of the many ways you can do your part to help improve our environment.

Resources:

http://depletedcranium.com/mythbusters-tackles-the-motorcycle-vs-car-enviornmental-issue/

http://20somethingfinance.com/the-economics-of-owning-a-motor-scooter-vs-a-car/

http://www.motoringonabudget.co.uk/using-motorbike-scooter-instead-car.html

http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/eco-friendly-scooter

http://www.greenstudentu.com/encyclopedia/green_vehicle_guide

http://carbonpig.com/article/motorcycles-create-more-greenhouse-gas-emissions-suvs

http://www.afteroilev.com/emissions.php

http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Index.do;jsessionid=JmG1RbvdtxC2mxMp7B7B9mC0YQ24y1L9kpG1LtLtMT2X8QFLJkfy!-409230471

About the Author

Shaun Chatman is a well published author on many authority sites. He lives in Dunedin, FL, and spends his free time playing with his kids or advising friends on tech, gadgets, finance and travel.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

If man-made carbon dioxide emissions were not as big of a problem as it is now, then the Earth would be a lot cooler than what we’re experiencing today. The recent rise in temperature has lead two US-based researchers to conduct a study about reconstructing the climate history of the Earth.

Their study, which was published in the journal Science, stated that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70% – 80% of the time throughout the Holocene year period which is 11,300 years. The study also projected that by 2100, global temperatures would have broken the record of the warmest temperatures ever recorded during the Holocene – this includes all plausible greenhouse gas emission circumstances.

Data Gathering

Shaun Marcott, a post-doctoral researcher in Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and the lead author of the article said that the previous studies conducted about global temperature change mainly focused on the last 2,000 years and that going further into the past can put today’s climate into a larger context.

“We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years,” Marcott said. “Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years. This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilization.”

The researchers gathered data from 73 locations around the world for a much broader prospective. The team tried to reconstruct the past climates by examining isotopes from marine sediment cores, terrestrial sediments, and fossil data. From that, they assessed the trends of climate change from the beginning of the Holecene.

OSU paleoclimatologist and co-author of the Science article, Peter Clark said, “When you just look at one part of the world, the temperature history can be affected by regional climate processes like El Niño or monsoon variations,” noted Clark. “But when you combine the data from sites all around the world, you can average out those regional anomalies and get a clear sense of the Earth’s global temperature history.”

Results

As it turns out, the climate of the world is relative to its position relative to the sun.

“During the warmest period of the Holocene, the Earth was positioned such that Northern Hemisphere summers warmed more,” Marcott explained. “As the Earth’s orientation changed, Northern Hemisphere summers became cooler, and we should now be near the bottom of this long-term cooling trend – but obviously, we are not.”

Although the Earth has generally been warmer due to many man-made reasons, the study and almost every climate model predicts that by 2100, the average global temperature will be higher than at any point in time since the end of the Ice Age.

Brooke Haughton is the Green Energy consultant of Solar Panels Info. She provides information about the latest trends in the Solar Energy industry.

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