Posts Tagged ‘alternative energy’
March 6th, 2011 | 
Author: Subsidies are financial incentives, usually paid by governments to encourage the production of something. There are many reasons that a particular product might be beneficial to the community, but not economically feasible to individuals and businesses. Many products are subsidized to support local businesses, reduce the amount of imported goods, provide employment and encourage environmentally friendly practices. Governments have subsidized the energy industries, including oil, coal, nuclear and other technologies, for years. The most recent trend, however, is to subsidize green renewable sources of energy, like wind and solar, so that they’ll be competitive with traditional but environmentally damaging fuels. If the incentives are high enough, the sale of solar panels for homes and businesses will increase. Alternative energy subsidies include Feed-in Tariffs and financial incentives to photovoltaics.
Subsidies are an instrument of government policy, and different nations may use them for different reasons. Often governments may wish to encourage the use of a fuel source which is available locally, and reduce the national dependence on imported fuels. They may use subsidies on production rather than consumption of a locally produced fuel in order to increase the export of that product.
Subsidies are often used to bring about economic benefit for the people the government is trying to look out for. Examples of this might be reducing prices of a product to help the poor or increasing employment in a specific area. International agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol on reducing carbon emissions, can also lead to tariffs which discourage certain forms of energy, and encourage others.
Those who oppose subsidies will often use arguments that they distort the free operation of the marketplace, they do not necessarily benefit the people (e. G. The poor in underdeveloped countries) they were supposed to help, and, in the case of energy subsidies, they encourage increased consumption and waste.
Many countries now have policies for encouraging renewable or alternative forms of energy. A major driver is the need to meet international obligations such as those agreed by the Kyoto Protocol on reducing carbon emissions.
Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they are burnt. This adds to the green-house effect (a natural effect in the earth’s atmosphere), making the earth warm up (global warming). A main aim of policy in many countries, is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and to encourage sustainable and renewable energy, using alternative, carbon-neutral sources, such as biomass fuels, solar power, wind power, tidal power, hydro-electricity and (more controversially) nuclear power.
Alternative energy subsidies support those policies. Financial incentives to photovoltaics and feed-in tariffs make it beneficial to consumers to install and use renewable power sources. The goal of these subsidies and incentives is to help reach grid parity, which is the point at which the cost of renewable power is equal to the cost of traditional forms of energy.
When a government pays the producer of renewable energy for each unit of power the produce, that’s called a feed-in tariff. Traditionally utility companies and their partners are considered suppliers, while homes and business that buy and use electricity are considered consumers. Now that the owners of homes and businesses can produce their own electricity, and sometimes even feed power back into the grid, homeowners and businesses can be suppliers too.
When solar panels are purchased and used by a private individual or business, they may generate more electricity than the home or business need, especially at certain times of the day or year. If the government institutes a feed-in tariff, the owner of the power source can feed excess electricity back into the grid. The utility company must purchase that power at a specified rate. This encourages owners of homes and businesses to invest in solar panels and produce renewable energy, thus reducing their negative impact on the environment.
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Posted in Solar Energy | 
Tags: alternative energy, Dependence, Different Reasons, Economic Benefit, Energy Industries, Energy Subsidies, Financial Incentives, Forms Of Energy, Fuel Source, Government Policy, government subsidies, International Agreements, Kyoto Protocol, Local Businesses, Parity, Reducing Carbon Emissions, Renewable Sources Of Energy, Solar Panels For Homes, Sources Of Energy, Tariffs, Underdeveloped Countries | 
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With regards to alternative energy, wind and solar would be the media darlings. Every time I hear alternative energy mentioned on TV or radio, it certainly is wind and solar. If geothermal is mentioned, it’s an afterthought, and said almost under the announcer’s breath. Why? Given the immense need for the United States’ (and the world’s) energy future, this is not time to complacent. The stakes are too high as global warming looms large over our collective heads and the era of easily-accessible fossil fuels winds down. Our transition from hydrocarbons to alternative energy is far too crucial for anybody to not be informed about all available viable options.
The reason why you ask? Because informed and motivated citizens means political action which starts the flow of cash for development. We all have been influenced through the media and public opinion. This is also true of politicians. Why do you believe they spend a lot money doing polling. It is their way of determining what we, the general public, want from them. We ought to be also wanting geothermal energy.
Solar and wind are viable alternatives however they have their detractions. So does geothermal. But given the facts, geothermal, at the very least, deserves equal billing. Actually, the united states has already been the world’s largest producer of electricity from geothermal. A fact that few, outside of the geothermal industry, know. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, “geothermal power makes up a total of three.15 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in the usa, its largest producer, and more than 10 GW worldwide.” So, while geothermal gets fewer headlines and media attention it actually supplies more mega-watt hours of electricity than either wind or solar.
Geothermal power plants provide what is known as base load power i.e., they produce power in a constant rate, just like coal-fired, natural gas, hydroelectricity or nuclear power plants. Wind and solar energy are usually considered intermittent power sources. I am not saying that wind and solar are unimportant, we want all three – four should you add hydropower. Geothermal resources are not available everywhere, a minimum of not for power plants. Home geothermal heat exchangers are utilized almost anywhere.
Fortunately, in the US, geothermal development is, albeit quietly, on the rise. Based on the Geothermal Energy Association, “geothermal power projects grew 46 percent this past year. That’s up from about 30 percent growth in 2008.” Furthermore, “If all of the planned projects were to go forwards as planned, an unlikely scenario, the total U.S. geothermal capacity would reach today’s worldwide capacity of 10 GW – enough to satisfy the power needs of the average 10 million people or supply 25 % of California’s 2008 power consumption. But advocates believe the ultimate possibility to considerably larger still.”
As stated, not every one of these planned geothermal projects will go forward. Nonetheless, there is a a significant ground-swell of geothermal exploration and development happening in America and it is happening right beneath our feet, literally and metaphorically.
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Posted in Alternative Energy Sources |
Tags: Afterthought, alternative energy, Collective Heads, Constant Rate, Darlings, Energy Future, Energy Guide, Energy Solar, Fossil Fuels, Geothermal Energy Association, Geothermal Industry, Geothermal Power Plants, Hydroelectricity, Immense Need, Media Attention, Mega Watt, Nuclear Power Plants, The Geothermal Energy, Viable Alternatives, Viable Options, Watt Hours |
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For newcomers to the alternative energy industry, and especially those who build their own household solar panels, one area where some struggle is with deciding how many panels they need in the first place. The simple fact is that sizing a solar power solution can seem complicated. The thing is – it really isn’t.
Before we move on to calculating your energy requirements it’s important to note here: This is actually one of the biggest reasons we suggest Green Power Easy as the #1 Guide to Alternative Energy; they are the only DIY guide that includes a supplement specifically intended to help you make the calculations. Even without the guide though, the topic itself isn’t that complicated.
Calculating Energy Requirements
The first step in calculating how many solar panels you need for your home is to calculate how much energy you use on a daily basis. There are two ways you can go about this:
- Look at 12 months worth of energy bills and add up the watt hours you use each month and then divide by 365 days.
- Calculate it based off of the electrical devices you use in your home.
If you choose the 2nd method you should mark down the wattage that each device uses and multiply it by hour many hours a day you use that appliance/device. Remember that watts = volts x amps, so if you were calculating the energy requirements for a device that didn’t list wattage, the labels on the appliance will list amps and volts so you can get the figure that way.
Your list should look something like this:
100Watt bulb x 4 hours per day = 400 Watt Hours
400 Watt fridge x 8 hours per day (runs about 1/3 of the time) = 3200 Watt Hours
Once you have a list of everything in your home simply add up the numbers to determine how many watt hours of power you use each day. At this point it’s important to note that energy efficiency matters, and you should consider working to reduce your power needs before converting to solar power.
How Many Solar Panels for Your Home
Once you know how many watt hours you use, calculating how many household solar panels you need is quite simple. If you calculated that you needed 15,000 Watt Hours of energy each day and you were planning to build 100 Watt solar panels then your calculations would look something like this:
100 Watt Panels x 10 hours of sunshine each day = 1000 Watt Hours of energy produced each day.
15,000 Watt Hours / 1000 Watt Hours = 15 Household Solar Panels needed.
Of course this is where things get slightly more complicated. If you are going off grid completely and you don’t have a backup power solution (such as the power grid), then you should double that number. In that case you’ll also use a battery backup and you need to calculate your amp-hour requirements. The amp hours needed won’t determine how many panels you need, but it may determine how you have to wire them. For more complicated systems like this it is suggested that you get a guide (Green Power Easy is excellent at explaining the steps needed) to help you with the calculations.
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Posted in Alternative Energy Sources, Solar Energy |
Tags: 12 Months, 365 Days, alternative energy, Amps And Volts, Daily Basis, Diy Guide, Electrical Devices, Energy Bills, Energy Efficiency, Energy Industry, Energy Requirements, Newcomers, Simple Fact, Solar Panel, solar panels, Solar Power Solution, Two Ways, Watt Hours, Wattage, Watts Volts |
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What a wind turbine is and how it makes electric in which it can generate enough electric to power homes. A wind turbine generator is a simply machine that catches wind around its blades. The wind causes the blades to rotate. From the blades being rotated it turns the kinetic energy from the revolutions created from wind. Since this kinetic energy is then turned into mechanical energy a simple wind turbine is then able to produce enough electric to power a home. This one of the easiest and cleanest ways for us to produce energy around and for our homes or small businesses.
There are two basic types of wind turbines being created today. First type is a horizontal axis turbine this turbine is the most commonly used type of wind turbine. This design uses blades and a rotor stationed at the top of the of a tower. These turbines are usually pointed in the proper direction by a wind sensor coupled with a servo machine.
While the second type the vertical axis turbine has its main rotor shaft arranged vertically. This makes it effective even if the turbine is not pointed towards the wind, unlike the horizontal axis turbine. The vertical axis turbine is the better design for those living in areas with drastic wind changes. With the gearbox and generator stationed on the ground for the vertical turbine maintenance is a whole lot easier than having to climb up to the top of a tower which some times can be as high as 160 ft high. However with the vertical axis design the blade speed is very limited because of the drag produced from this design. Which means you will be getting less power production from the design.
Wind turbine generator power is one of the safest and cleanest sources of energy we can produce. Designing a proper wind turbine generator is not only practical, but it can save you a ton of money on your next energy bill. Using wind turbines for power is also as we all know environmentally friendly. This is a major solution for our power needs.
Wind power is one of the safest and cleanest energy sources we have, and designing a proper wind turbine generator for your own use is not only practical, but is also an environment friendly solution to your power needs. I would recommend picking up a complete step by step guide to help designing your own wind turbine generator. Building your own wind turbine to power your home could cost you as little as 250$.
People all over the world are using wind energy to power their homes with electric from a wind turbine generator. One of the best kits I have found for wind power is green power easy. For a complete list of all of the diy guides reviewed on homemade energy and wind turbines visit our home page homemadeenergyreview.com
Posted in Alternative Energy Sources, Wind Power, Wind Turbine Generators |
Tags: alternative energy, Alternative Solution, Axis Design, Blade Speed, Generator Power, Horizontal Axis, kinetic energy, Main Rotor, Mechanical Energy, Proper Direction, Rotor Shaft, Sources Of Energy, Turbine Maintenance, Type Of Wind Turbine, Types Of Wind Turbines, Vertical Axis, Vertical Turbine, Wind Changes, Wind Sensor, Wind Turbine Generator, Wind Turbine Generators |
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