Archive for March, 2009

How to Make Your Own Renewable Energy Source in 3 Easy Steps

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
green energy
Max Loodlin asked:


Have you noticed your energy bill getting more and more expensive every month? I sure have. Sometimes I almost feel hopeless when it comes to paying my bills on time. My energy bill just keeps on getting more and more expensive each month! But you know what, I found a great way to cope with the rising costs of energy. I’ve created my own source of energy, and I’m willing to tell you how I did it in just 3 easy steps!

1) Researching Renewable Energy



The first thing that I did was research ways to create my own source of renewable energy. Just like you I was eager to learn about the possibilities of making my own energy and saving some money on my electric bill. What I found was that I had two options when it came to making my own renewable energy. I would either have to build a wind turbine or solar energy generator. Both of these energy sources have something in common. They are forms of green energy. This means that they are cheap, renewable, and clean.

I’m going to be honest with you. After discovering that I was going to have to make my own wind turbine or solar panel I was extremely intimidated. I thought to myself, “How in the world am I going to be able to make my own green energy source?”. And this led me to the second step…

2) Do You Have Directions?



Ok, so at this point I had come to realize that I was going to have to build my own natural energy source. So what did I do? Well, I did a little more tedious research. I did what everybody does these days, I asked Google. After hours of searching for phrases like “how to make your own energy” and “how to build a wind turbine” I was left very irritable and discouraged. I found that manually researching something like this was not only tedious but also unreliable.

That is until I came across a little hidden gem…

3) The All Powerful Guide



Truth be told I did waste many hours researching only to be left with garbage. But I did gain a very valuable tool that helped me successfully build my own green energy source. I came a across a DIY homemade natural power guide. In it I found every single piece of information that I needed to build my own natural power system. It was filled to the brim with detailed diagrams, pictures, schematics, secret tips, you name it. It was all there.

And guess what? I was able to build my own natural power system in just two days. Want to know how much it cost me? The total cost of everything was less than $200! This isn’t cheap but it sure beats paying $20,000 for a professionally installed green energy source. The best part is that I payed off the initial costs within a month, and am now saving hundreds of dollars every month.

You CAN make your own green energy source. All you need is the right resources. If you believe in yourself and you believe in saving money on your energy bill every month, then I highly recommend you click the link below. You will learn about the specific DIY green energy guide that I used. Why spend dozens of hours on tedious research when all you need is right in front of you?

Make Your Own Renewable Energy. Click The Link Below.

http://www.squidoo.com/howtomakenaturalpower



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How to Make Biodiesel: the Three Choices of Using Biofuel

Monday, March 23rd, 2009
biodiesel
Markella M. asked:


Biodiesel becomes more and more popular every year. It’s popularity probably derives from the fact that biodiesel is so cheap and relatively easy to be made. You can make it in your own backyard or kitchen. It is far better than the original petro-diesel, it’s cleaner and better for the environment and your health. Let’s talk about the three options you have when running a diesel engine on biofuel.

All three options can be used with vegetable oils, animal fat or both (it doesn’t matter if you use fresh or used oils):

- You can use the oil as it is

- You can mix the oil with another chemical supplement like kerosene, or gasoline or petroleum etc.

- You can convert the oil to biodiesel

Using the oil as it is can be clean and effective. Not to mention cheap also. But you have to make modifications to the diesel engine so that it is optimized for vegetable oil. You can find pre-modified diesel engines where you can use petro diesel, biodiesel and pure vegetable oil in any combination. There are engines with separate fuel tanks and a switch, you fill one tank with vegetable oil and the other tank with original petroleum diesel. Then you just turn on the engine using the tank with the original petroleum diesel and after a while you switch to the tank with the vegetable oil.

Mixing the oil with other supplements is your second option. Because vegetable oil is thick you mix it with a different type of fuel to make it thinner so that it flows easily into the combustion chamber of your diesel engine. Remember that using petroleum or kerosene to mix the vegetable oil, is not a clean option though. You can make various mixes (for example 20% vegetable oil and 80% of another diesel fuel). Some claim that if you use such a mix you have to preheat the engine, others just start the engine and go without preheating.

Your final option (and by far the best, in my opinion) is to convert the vegetable oil into biodiesel. Because biodiesel works in any diesel engine without the need to make any conversion or modifications to the fuel system or the engine itself. Just fill and go. Biodiesel is a much safer, clean, ready to use fuel that’s well tested. This option unlike the other two is backed by thousands of short-term and long-term research and tests by scientists around the world.



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What You Should Know Green Energy

Monday, March 23rd, 2009
green energy
James Copper asked:


Green energy refers to the use of power that is not only more efficient than fossil fuel but that is friendly to the environment as well. Green energy is generally defined as energy sources that dont pollute and are renewable.

There are several categories of green energy. They are anaerobic digestion, wind power, geothermal power, hydropower on a small scale, biomass power, solar power and wave power. Waste incineration can even be a source of green energy.

Nuclear power plants claim that they produce green energy as well, though this source is fraught with controversy, as we all know. While nuclear energy may be sustainable, may be considered renewable and does not pollute the atmosphere while it is producing energy, its waste does pollute the biosphere as it is released.

The transport, mining and phases before and after production of nuclear energy does produce and release carbon dioxide and similar destructive greenhouse gases. When we read of green energy, therefore, we rarely see nuclear power included.

Those who support nuclear energy say that nuclear waste is not, in fact, released into our earths biosphere during its normal production cycle. They stress as well that the carbon dioxide that nuclear energy production releases is comparable, in terms of each kilowatt hour of electricity, to such sources of green energy as wind power.

As an example of the green energy production the average wind turbine, such as the one in Reading England, can produce enough energy daily to be the only energy source for 1000 households.

Many countries now offer household and commercial consumers to opt for total use of green energy. They do this one of two ways. Consumers can buy their electricity from a company that only uses renewable green energy technology, or they can buy from their general supplies such as the local utility company who then buys from green energy resources only as much of a supply as consumers pay for.

The latter is generally a more cost - efficient way of supplying a home or office with green energy, as the supplier can reap the economic benefits of a mass purchase. Green energy generally costs more per kilowatt hour than standard fossil fuel energy.

Consumers can also purchase green energy certificates, which are alternately referred to as green tags or green certificates. These are available in both Europe and the United States, and are the most convenient method for the average consumer to support green energy. More than 35 million European households and one million American households now buy these green energy certificates.

While green energy is a great step in the direction of keeping our environment healthy and our air as pollutant free as possible, it must be noted that no matter what the energy, it will negatively impact the environment to some extent.

Every energy source, green or otherwise, requires energy. The production of this energy will create pollution during its manufacture. Green energys impact is minimal, however.



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Solar Power And Wind Power

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
hydro fuel
Dick Jonson asked:


Nowadays global warming and the scarcity of fossil fuels are rarely out of the media. Some people carry on hoping that government will come up with some sort of solution, others don’t really care and then a few people are wondering, “how can I help reduce global warming?”

One of the most obvious answers to this question is to use less power by moving your power source from fossil fuels to a renewable energy source. The two most hotly discussed forms of renewable energy are solar and wind power and this article will pit the two against it each to discover which one is best.

Solar Power.

There are many ways to harness the suns power the most common of these is to use a photovoltaic module to convert the suns ultra violet rays into energy. This is the technology used in solar panels. Other forms of solar power include using materials with different layers of salt density to capture the suns power and using a super green house style device to heat air to power turbines. In this article we will just examine solar panels.

Wind Power.

Put simply by using the wind to spin a turbine with a magnet on it electricity can be created. This works in a similar fashion to the turbines powered by steam in a traditional power plant.

The Costs

Although these two power technologies may sound like a perfect solution to the world’s energy crisis both have their limitations. Firstly there is the cost, at the time of writing Solar power is cheaper than wind power when implemented on a small scale such as in an family home but wind power is generally cheaper when implemented on larger scale.

Efficiency

Efficiency is of course a big part of deciding upon a renewable energy source. For this particular round of wind power vs solar power home advantage will make a huge difference. If you live near the equator and experience a large amount of sunlight solar power is the clear choice, you should have no problem powering your home from solar panels. Like wise for wind power if you live on a blustery coast. The fairest question to sort this one out would be; what about if the contest took place in a neutral area with limited wind and sunlight. In general in an area with roughly the same wind and sunlight I would say you would be better off with solar power for the simple reason that all sunlight will be absorbed by your solar panels but not all wind will be converted to energy by a wind farm this is because the blades on the wind far need to spin at a certain speed if the wind is to fast or to slow electricity wont be generated.

Appearance

In my opinion for this round there can only be one winner and that is solar power I suppose it’s a matter of taste but I find wind farms to be very ugly.

The Conclusion

Well it been a tight contest with each energy source a good bet in right environment but overall Solar Power is the winner due to its lower cost on small installations superior adaptability to different environments and more pleasing aesthetics. That’s not to say wind power is a bad option as in the right circumstance it can be a much better solution than solar power.



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Fuel Cells

Friday, March 20th, 2009
hydro fuel
David Tanguay asked:


Fuel cells are simple devices, containing no moving parts and only four functional component elements: cathode, electrolyte, anode and interconnect. Fuel cells are actually being used more widely than many people think.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices similar to batteries that directly convert chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy and heat. They are {readmore}different from batteries in that they consume reactant, which must be replenished, while batteries store electrical energy chemically in a closed system.

Fuel cells are very useful as power sources in remote locations, such as spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, rural locations, and in certain military applications where conventional power may be difficult to obtain.

Although fuel cells are usually classified by their operating temperature and the type of electrolyte they use, they are not constrained by the maximum Carnot cycle efficiency as combustion engines are, because they do not operate with a thermal cycle.

There are many benefits to fuel cells, first, they are not dependent on dwindling oil supplies, running instead on hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, and second, fuel cells are much less polluting and about twice as efficient as typical steam-turbine electricity production. They are an extremely clean source of power because they combine hydrogen and oxygen the two elements that make up water, the main byproduct.

Fuel cells are no longer tomorrow’s technology, the stuff of science fiction and space travel. They are used in many different applications that may not seem like a significant achievement, however the ways in which they can be used are growing every day.

Fuel cells are proof that there are smart, safe, and clean alternative power sources. It is proof that we can be self sustaining and that dependence on fossil fuels will one day soon be obsolete. Fuel cells have been referred to as continuous batteries when they are supplied with fuel as the can be sustained for a long periods of time.

Fuel cells are ideal for power generation, either connected to the electric grid to provide primary power, supplemental power or backup assurance for critical demand, or installed as a grid-independent generator for on-site power in areas that are inaccessible by power lines. They are being used in many different ways in the world today.

· Buses

· Boats

· Trains

· Planes

· Scooters

· Laptop computers

· Cell Phones

These are just a few of the things that can fuel cells can power. There are many more and still more are in development.

Fuel cells are used in many different commercial and industrial applications, and are being seriously scrutinized to become the key component of the nations plan to secure energy for the future.



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How to Process Biodiesel

Sunday, March 15th, 2009
biodiesel
Matt Oconnor asked:


A biodiesel processor is a device used to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil. It’s usually a combination of a reaction vessel and collection area. Biodiesel processors are available as industrial grade systems as well as for homebrew processes.

A biodiesel processor follows a certain procedure in converting vegetable oil into biodiesel. The first step is the preparation of the components such as vegetable oil to be used in processing biodiesel.

Utmost care must be taken in trying to check the amount of water and free fatty acids contained in the vegetable oil. If the free fatty acid level or water level is too high in the vegetable oil, it may cause problems such as soap formation and the separation of the glycerin by-product downstream.

After the right levels of fatty acids and water are reached, a catalyst is then dissolved in the alcohol using a standard agitator or mixer which is then introduced into a closed reaction vessel of the biodiesel processor. The vegetable or animal oil can then be added.

The loss of alcohol is prevented by making the system totally enclosed at this point as the reaction mix is being heated to convert the fat in the vegetable oil into esters. The heated reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol (around 70 degrees) in order to speed up the reaction. The length of reaction time can vary from 1 to 8 hours. Excess alcohol is sometimes added in order to ensure total conversion of the vegetable fat or oil to its esters. The mixture then comes to its glycerin phase.

With the glycerin phase in the works, glycerin from the oil separates from the unwashed biodiesel. The two can be separated by means of gravity with the glycerin simply drawn off from the bottom of the collecting vessel. An industrial centrifuge may also be used to separate the two materials faster and more efficiently.

Once the glycerin and the unwashed biodiesel have been successfully separated, the excess alcohol still remaining in each part is removed by flash evaporation or by distillation. The alcohol can be effectively recovered using good distillation equipment and can be re-used for processing other vegetable oil batches into biodiesel. It is important to ensure no water accumulates in the recovered alcohol stream during the whole process so as not to lose quality.

The unwashed biodiesel goes through the process of either mist or bubble wash in order to remove left over alcohol, glycerin and other impurities in the biodiesel. Then it’s allowed to dry to remove the water from the biodiesel. The fuel is then filtered before it can finally be used as fuel.

There, that may seem a little complicated when just read all in one go, but that’s the basics of how to process biodiesel.

There are a number of biodiesel processors to allow production of the alternative fuel in varying degrees. There are industrial grade processors available that allow commercial production of biodiesel. There are also several biodiesel processors available for homebrewers to produce the fuel for personal use.

Most processors can be set up in any available space in your home. There are also some models that are portable enough to fit into the back of vans and are so easily transportable. If you are interested in having your own biodiesel processor at home, you can always try checking out online forums as well as online shops that sell such devices.



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Wind Power–The Best Green Energy Source

Sunday, March 15th, 2009
green energy
John Mowatt asked:


Electricity produced by wind turbines is green power in that it causes no environmental pollution. No greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change are produced either. Wind power generation can be on a large scale,which is the case with most commercial projects,or on a small scale as with home owner turbines.

Wind is the cheapest form of renewable energy without a doubt. Solar energy is also clean,green,power but is more expensive and limited in output. Solar panels are presently expensive in relation to the power they can produce. Nuclear energy supplies a lot of the power requirements in some countries,notably in Europe.

There is however much public opposition to building new nuclear power plants.

In the USA natural gas is the biggest form of new energy production. Wind power is the next in line. In 2008 wind turbines will produce about 1% of the United States power needs. Around 30% of new energy production installed in 2007 was wind power.

Many consumers now realise that green energy must be our highest priority in future,if we are to minimise climate change and it effects. The trend to building fossil fuel powered generating stations must be reversed.

Home owners and farmers can help with the transition to clean power by installing small wind turbines to supply all or part of their electricity needs. These turbines can be purchased from a number of manufacturers and can be installed as a rooftop wind turbine or on a small free standing tower.

Commercial wind turbines are quite expensive in relation to power output. A better solution for many is to build their own low cost wind turbine. A good turbine can be built from auto parts and a few odds and ends at very low cost. Plans and instructions are available for this project.

Any excess power production can be sold to the power utility in many areas thus reducing the cost even further. Power can also be stored in batteries for use when the wind is too light. Even a light breeze will however produce power.

The average home owner can easily build a small wind turbine or several of them to supply part or all of the power required. All that is needed is simple tools and some auto parts and wood. Several can be built for the cost of one commercial wind turbine.

Not a bad business also for anyone who wants to make them for resale. The demand for a low cost turbine is there and can only grow in years ahead.

Why not build your own wind power turbine now and produce your own free green electricity. You will be doing mother earth a favor by reducing atmospheric pollution. This is an idea whose time has come.



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Making Biodiesel at Home Tips

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
biodiesel
Muna wa Wanjiru asked:

Biodiesel is a fuel or a type of diesel that is prepared from the degradation or processing of biodegradable material as substances. Biodiesel is a fuel that burns more efficiently than any other fuel and also burns more cleanly. The clean burning of the fuel also results in the low emission of harmful gasses, i.e. we get a better environment to live in. The biodiesel is the only unconventional fuel that is recommended by the American and the European Governments.

Biodiesel is quite easy to prepare and hence can be easily made at home. Making biodiesel at home is a lot more cost effective. For making biodiesel at home you will need the following materials.

1. First you will need a fresh cooking vegetable oil. For the biodiesel to be more cost effective you can use the cheapest oil that you can find

2. Then you will need the ‘Lye’ or the caustic soda. You will need approximately 5 grams of caustic soda. The caustic soda can be found anywhere. Most of the drains cleaning powders have it.

3. The third thing you will need is Methanol. You can find it in supply stores for the auto industry. It is usually found in the anti-freeze section.

4. Some of the other materials that you will require are one plastic bottle of 2 liter capacity which should be clean and dried.

5. A funnel that can fit in the neck of the bottle.

6. A washed and dried container for the blending of caustic soda and methanol. The container should be sealed so that not a drop of liquid comes out.

7. A measuring cup for measuring methanol.

8. Weight scales.

For the safe production of biodiesel, you must also have aprons, goggles or face shielding equipments and hand gloves.

The following is the method to prepare biodiesel at you home:

* Firstly you must choose a place that has proper ventilation, and warm the material at room temperature.

* Now put 250 ml of methanol into a jar and add about 5 grams of caustic soda or lye to methanol and seal the lid so that not a drop of liquid comes out.

* Blend the mixture at a low speed for upto 10 minutes. Do not panic if the temperature starts increasing.

* Now heat the vegetable oil at 1300F. Now put the oil in the plastic container with the help of the funnel. Do not overheat the oil.

* Now pour the mixture of lye and methanol which has now become sodium methoxide. Avoid breathing vapours. When the mixture is put into the oil, blend it for 15 to 20 minutes and then let the mixture settle.

After the mixture is settled for 20 minutes, you will see that two separate layers have formed in the bottle. The upper layer of liquid, which is visibly light coloured, is the biodiesel and the lower layer is the by-product glycerin. You can then pump out the biodiesel with the help of a handpump.

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Sustainable Energy

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
hydro fuel
Abir Roychowdhury asked:


Sustainable energy is the renewable energy which is not expected to be exhausted in a timeframe and its sources are not supposed to be consumed ever. The sources of the sustainable energy are natural like solar power hydro power wind power bio fuel biomass geothermal power and so on. Sustainable energy is also the alternative of the fossil energy. The sources of the renewable energy are inexhaustible.

Increasing the use of sustainable or renewable energy decrease the use of fossil fuel resources and increase the contribution of world energy security. When the fossil energy resources are consumed the emission from these are causing the pollution. In this current scenario one of the biggest social problems is pollution. To prevent the alarming growth of the environment pollution it becomes very necessary to use the sustainable energies instead of the fossil energy. And how is that you are using the energy as much as you require and that doesn’t create any pollution. Keeping the earth a healthy clean and clear!

Solar panels are now vastly used for the domestic pas well as commercial purpose. If we use the wood pellet stoves or boilers instead of other means of stoves or boilers, we can save the environment, storage of bio fuels as well as our money also. Wood pellets are exhausted completely. The percentage of waste in the wood pellet stoves is around 1–2% only. That means it saves your money. These are not only bio friendly but very economical also. Sustainable energy is consisting of renewable energy and energy efficiency. These energies can be used in household, automotive and every commercial field.

Most of the progressive countries are now taking positive steps to promote the renewable energy. The Governments provide the grants to their respective countries. Various NGOs and environmentalists are working to make popular the sustainable energy. Now this is not only used for bio friendly reasons but this is also used for profit maximizing for the commercial houses also. You can have a look on the hyperlinks mentioned below where you can get the SEI Grant scheme available in Ireland. This list is very much useful to avail the full benefit of installing the solar panels. Now a day it has been noticed that the use of the sustainable energy sources are increasing in the suburban areas rather than the towns and villages. And where the blessings of electricity have not reached yet, the growth of renewable energy is greatly noticeable. As per the surveys it has been noticed that the cost of energy generation is much lesser to the other means of energy generation.

Renewable energies are crucial contributors to the energy supply as they contribute to the world energy supply security, reducing dependency on fossil fuel resources and provide opportunities for extenuating greenhouse gases. Renewable energy is the third largest contributor to the global electricity production. They accounted for almost 18% of the production in 2004, just after coal (40%) and natural gas (close to 20%), but ahead of nuclear (16%), oil (7%) and other nonrenewable waste.

According to Helmut Kaiser Consultancy of Zurich the yield and storage of renewable energy will be the fastest growing sector in the energy market over the next 20 years. The market of renewable energy is vast as well as open and growing very fast.



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