The Energy Saving Trust have published the results of their domestic-scale wind turbine field trials. Named 'Location Location Location', the over-riding theme throughout the report is the location of the wind turbine is critical to how well it performs, with free-standing turbines in remote locations producing the best performance, and those attached to dwellings in urban and suburban areas the least effective.

The EST also noted that the Government’s Numerical Objective Analysis Boundary Layer (NOABL) predicted windspeed map significantly over-estimated wind speeds, particularly in urban locations, partly due to the fact that buildings and other obstructions were not taken into consideration. The Carbon Trust's windspeed map was found to be the most accurate.

In addition, power curve graphs calculated by manufacturers to indicate performance used different parameters, and it was therefore difficult to compare the performance of different turbines. In an effort to address this issue, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme has developed standards which manufacturers will be required to adhere to when publishing power curves. This should be in place by the end of 2009.

The EST believe there is a good market potential for 455,650 small-scale domestic wind turbines in the UK, mostly for free-standing turbines in rural locations.

The entire report can be downloaded from the Energy Saving Trust's website.

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.


About the Author:
Abir Roychowdhury is a professional Internet Marketer. For fireplaces Galway Ireland, Gas Fires Solid Fuel Stoves & Gas Stoves Galway Ireland or Wood Pellet Stoves Ireland Wood Pellet Boilers Galway Solar Panels Galway Sustainable energy Ireland please visit the above links.

A Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) is a device that extracts heat from beneath the ground. It functions based on the fact that heat will flow from higher temperature materials to lower temperature materials by conduction or by convection (air currents). Geothermal pumps absorb energy from the ground or bodies of water to provide space and water heating. This works because the earth absorbs about 50% of the sun's energy that reaches the surface of the planet.
Ground source heating and cooling provides high-comfort and cost-effectiveness with an environmentally friendly technology that makes use of the Earth's capacity to store energy in the form of heat. Geothermal Heating Systems move heat from the earth or water into a building, or from a building back into the earth. A small amount of electricity is used to operate pumps, fans, controls, and small compressor.

Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies currently available for homes and other buildings. These ground-source heat pumps use the natural heat storage capacity of the earth or ground water to provide energy efficient heating and cooling. Most GHPs are installed with "Desuperheaters" which collect waste heat from the compressor and use it to pre-heat domestic hot water for free. This is a new money-saving technology for homes.

Although the initial cost of a new geothermal system is generally more expensive than a traditional heating and cooling system, the extra investment is returned within five to ten years. The ground loop piping is estimated to last over fifty years, and even the internal parts have about a 25 year life span. Every year about 50,000 new geothermal heating systems are added in the United States. They're very reasonable for most areas and can use the Earth for heating when temperatures drop and as a heat sink when it's hot outside.

Many new residential systems are equipped with desuperheaters which transfer excess heat from the geothermal heat pump's compressor to the home's hot water storage tank providing very efficient water heating. However, the desuperheater will not provide hot water during the spring and fall when the geothermal heat pump system is not operating. But because the geothermal heating system is so much more efficient than other means of water heating, some manufacturers are offering 'full demand' systems that utilize a separate heat exchanger to cost-effectively provide for hot water needs.

Geothermal Heat Pumps are among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies currently available for homes and other buildings. These Geothermal Heating Systems use the natural heat storage capacity of the earth or ground water to provide energy efficient heating and cooling.

Click here to find suppliers and installers of geothermal energy systems.

Geothermal energy is one of the renewable forms of energy being utilized today in various applications. As a natural resource that is in abundant supply, its usage in the future is expected to grow more.

The term geothermal is actually a combination of two Greek words – geo which means earth and therme meaning heat. As one of earth’s resources, geothermal energy is clean and can be sustained for long years.

This alternative energy comes from the earth’s heat found underneath its surface. The earth’s crust is mainly a result of the past existence of millions of volcanoes and great volumes of magma that did not erupt but rather cooled below the surface. In addition, the earth’s core has high temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit that remain constant throughout the year.
This makes it an ideal source of heat for various purposes. Among its resources include the shallow ground, hot water and hot rock below the earth’s surface and molten rock or magma deep down. These resources have two main categories – the high temperature (220 degrees Celsius and above) geothermal resources found in volcanic regions and island chains and the moderate/low temperature found on all continents. The high temperature resources are mostly used in power production.

Technologies

In extracting hot water for geothermal reservoirs, wells are normally drilled into underground reservoirs for use in generating electricity. The steam from a reservoir is used by some geothermal power plants to power turbine/generator. Other plants use the hot water to boil a working fluid that vaporizes and then turns a turbine.

Hot dry rock, on the other hand, can be found about three to five miles deep down the earth’s surface. In certain areas, they can be found at lesser depths. To extract heat from these rocks, cold water is injected down a well which filters through the cracks in the rocks situated in the hot region. Heated water is eventually drawn off from the recovery well. This then flashes into steam upon reaching the surface.

Steam can be used to drive a turbo generator. However, in order to do this, steam must first be purified. In heating homes, it can pass through a heat exchanger to provide heated water.
A hot dry rock system (EGS) reaches at least 10 kilometers down into hard rock. It is estimated that the United States alone has a huge resource of hard rocks that can supply the world’s energy needs for some 30,000 years.

Major uses

Hot water sourced underground can be used in a number of ways such as in generating electricity, heating buildings, growing plants in greenhouses, drying crops, heating water at fish farms. In industrial application, it is used in pasteurizing milk.

Geothermal heat pumps are used in heating and cooling homes and buildings. This type of heating system is made up of a heat pump, ductwork or air delivery system and a loop or a series of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the home or building.

Currently, geothermal power is produced in more than 20 countries. These include the U.S., Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Mexico, Russia, New Zealand, Turkey, China, Japan, the Philippines and Iceland. The first geothermal power plant was constructed at Landrello, Italy while the second was built at Wairekei in New Zealand.

It is important to learn more about different types of alternative energy sources like geothermal energy.

Wood pellets have become the standard source of fuel for many homes across the world. Countries like Sweden pioneered the usage of this carbon-neutral fuel while now it is a rage in homes in the UK as well as US. There are several criteria and norms of quality that get followed while assessing the relative quality of the pellets.

DIN 51731

This is essentially a European standard of establishing the overall quality of wood pellets. While on the whole this is a holistic method of identifying the condition of the pellets it fails to take into account an essential factor like abrasion. In addition to this it also does not include any assessment of the process of manufacture to be done. Thus in essence the standard is lacking because of the absence of certain parameters.

Norm M 7135

This is traditionally originated from Austria. There are far more criteria included in this method of assessing the wood pellets. Factors like abrasion which are absent in the DIN 51731 are included in the Norm M 7135. The overall stability as well as hardness quotient of the pellets is ascertained before it is given this quality check. Using a Lignotester the wood pellets are stressed in order to ascertain their abrasiveness. The dust that is an outcome of this exercise is then evaluated for abrasion standards. If there is a lesser fraction of dust obtained it indicates a much more solid set of wood pellets which in turn yields a lower abrasion count.

How inspection is carried out

The institute of DINPlus is responsible for certifying and assessing the norms of quality in the wood pellets. The certification process is carried out by the certification members who strictly follow all the standards as laid down by the DIN Certco. There are several controls which get placed to secure high quality of the wood pellets. One additional guarantee seal is provided by the PVD or the Pellet Association Germany and the seal is called the GGuaranty seal. This seal has the same stringent set of criteria as recommended by DINPlus.

What criteria are ascertained?

There are many criteria associated with the wood pellets which are assessed before a seal of approval is provided. Aspects like the diameter of the pellets, the length, density, heating value, humidity, sulphur, chlorine, ash, nitrogen content as well as the levels of abrasion and press aid all are taken into account before assessment begins. It is to be noted that all quality checks are considered only till the point when the wood pellets are loaded. After that these aspects are not taken into account.

ONorm 7136

This is another norm which takes into account the quality of wood pellets during and after transportation. For example the pellets can actually go through plenty of wear and tear during the process of transportation. Therefore this standard emphasizes the quality of the bunker, supplier, as well as transportation vehicle too. Aspects like scales on board, quality of suction mechanisms as well as insulation from humidity levels are all calibrated. Thus this norm aims to establish a superior quality level during the transportation of wood pellets.

About the Author:
For more details please contact Michael Beikircher at michael.beikircher@gruenland.it. The offical website address is http://www.pelletdilegno.com.

The first thing I should mention is insulation - it makes sense both environmentally and economically to make sure your house is well insulated before adding heat sources. Look to your cavity walls and roof insulation first as this is where adding insulation can be most effective.

Coal is a fossil fuel, a major source of CO2, and therefore contributes to climate change. Sustainably sourced wood is a renewable resource and in itself is carbon neutral. Once you add in the processing and transport of firewood it is not quite carbon neutral but still pretty close.

There are more commercial boilers available that will burn wood chip or wood pellets – I am not writing about these here but they can be a very good, low maintenance option.

When budgeting for a stove bear in mind that you may end up paying as much or more for your flue/chimney system.

Types of woodburning stove

When choosing your stove try to choose a dedicated woodburner instead of a multi fuel stove. A dedicated woodburner will be unlikely to have a grate in it which means even if you felt the temptation one cold night you would not be able to burn coal in your stove.

A dedicated woodburner is also likely to be the best type of stove to burn just wood in efficiently. This is because wood burns best on a bed of ash with a supply of air from above, whilst coal needs a supply of air from below (hence the need for a grate in multi fuel stoves).

Styles of stove

Traditional style stoves are box shaped with one or two doors at the front. They are either made of cast iron or steel. Steel used to be shunned as it often used to bend and burn out in when exposed to the high temperatures found inside a stove's firebox. Steel quality has now greatly improved so which stove you want is now more a case of quality and aesthetics. Cast iron stoves are sometimes built better than steel stoves (which is of course reflected in their price), but this is not necessarily to do with the fact that they are made from cast iron.

Common makes of steel stove available in the UK include Aarrow, Clearview, Hunter, Stovax, and Villager.

Cast iron stoves include Dovre, Franco Belge, Jotul, Morso, and Saey.

Prices range from around £300-£2000 depending on the make and model. As with anything else in life you generally get what you pay for although there are obviously some extra good value stoves to be found.

Modern contemporary designer stoves

Contemporary stoves tend to be tall and often with relatively small fireboxes. Contemporary stoves are usually very efficient and are cleanburning. Often the outer skin of the stove will be separate from the firebox making the outside of the stove cooler to the touch. With kW outputs in the range of 4 – 9kW these stoves are most often used as impressive secondary heating, or as heating in very well insulated houses.

Makes of contemporary stove available in the UK include Morso, Saey and Westfire. One of my favourite stoves is the Saey Scope which is kind of half way between a traditional and a contemporary stove. It weighs in at around 200kg of cast iron and is very good quality.

These stoves are often relatively expensive (compared with traditional stoves) with prices in the range of £800-£4000 depending on the make and model.

Second hand stoves

Stoves are of course available second hand on place like Ebay, gumtree, and free papers like Loot or Tradeit. You might also try Freecycle- it's worth a go.

Check the perishable parts like the grate, the firebricks, the baffle plate. These may need replacing and so bear in mind that you might also have to buy replacement parts. If many parts are perished then the stove may have been mistreated and perhaps you should go for another one. Look out for cracks on the body of a cast iron stove and look out for deformation of the body on a steel stove. Make sure that the doors close well and make a good seal to the body of the stove - door rope is easy and cheap to replace but if the door closes at a funny angle then that is not good.

Central heating stoves

Many traditional style stoves can come with a clip in or a wraparound backboiler. The backboiler is a metal envelope of water which replaces one or more firebricks inside the stove. Often backboilers are made of stainless steel or lined with some other material to slow down corrosion. The heat from the fire heats up the water which is then passed on to your hot water or central heating.

A stove usually needs to be connected to a vented system – this means that the heating system is not pressurised and you would also have a small header tank to keep the system topped up with water and to cope with changes in pressure. If you have an existing system with a boiler then if there is a pressure gauge on the boiler then you are likely to have an unvented, pressurised system and it will be hard to incorporate a stove with a backboiler into it.

The water from the stove backboiler can either be pumped around your system or the system may use thermosyphoning (the fact that hot water rises) to circulate the water. If thermosyphoning is to be used then the pipes for the heating loop should be larger than normal, ideally 28mm or larger. Either way you need to make sure that above the stove there is a radiator or water tank into which the hot water from the backboiler can go if your pump or electricity fails. If the pump is not working then you need to get rid of the heat from the backboiler somehow.

Stoves and other heat sources (e.g. Solar and a boiler) can be combined using multiple coil water tanks, accumulator tanks or similar. Always consult a competent heating engineer.

Makes of central heating stove available in the UK include Stratford, Dunsley, Hunter, and Villager.

My house is wood heated by two stoves one of which is made by Hunter – it is a Hunter Herald 14 stove with a wraparound 45,000 BTU boiler, the other is an antique range with custom made backboiler – both are hooked up to the central heating system.

Range cooker stoves

You will no doubt be familiar with the name Aga and Rayburn which are the traditional heavyweight range cookers made in the UK. These provide heating, hot water, a hotplate and ovens for cooking and are good stoves. European style range cookers are more lightweight, can be a bit more more controllable and are definitely cheaper.

Smoke control areas

Before you rush off and buy a stove remember that most towns in the UK are smoke control areas. This means that burning wood in them is illegal unless burnt on an "exempt appliance". There are many makes of stove which are smoke control exempt including stoves from Clearview, Dovre, Dunsley, Morso, Westfire and others too.

To check if you are in a smoke control area, or to see the list of exempt appliances simply visit: www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk.

Getting the most out of your stove

A woodburning stove is best run with a good supply of air so that there are lots of flames visible in the firebox without smoke. However you should not run the stove at full blast all the time as this can be bad for it and is a sign that you probably need a bigger stove.
Slumber burning is very inefficient as you are not getting full combustion of the wood (because you have limited the air supply), so try to avoid slow overnight burning. Slow burning will also tend to tar up your window (even if your stove does have an airwash system) as well as your chimney (leading to an increased risk of chimney fire).
When burning wood use the top air inlet and burn the wood on a nice bed of ash.

Independent stove reviews

www.whatstove.co.uk is the UK's only stove review website. Manufacturer's blurb and salesman's wording are no match for actually using the stove. On Whatstove you can read a growing number of reviews left by people who actually use and own stoves.
If you own a stove please leave a review to help others make an informed choice.

Buzz words

Cleanburning
A second supply of usually preheated air is introduced into the firebox. Unburnt flue gases are combusted. In efficient stoves (like the Morso badger) you can see flames hanging in the air as the gases burn. This increases the stove's efficiency and heat output.

Airwash
Air is passed over the window of the stove to reduce tar deposits. This works fairly well as long as you do not turn the stove down too much (for slumber/overnight burning).

Grate
A series of metal bars on which coal is burn. The bars allow a flow of air to the bottom of the firebox which is needed for burning coal. Wood does not need to be burnt on a grate.

Baffle plate
A plate of metal or vermiculite placed at an angle at the top of the stove. This increases the distance travelled by the gases in the firebox before they can escape and therefore extracts more heat from the fuel into the room.

Clip-in
A boiler that can be retrofitted - fitted into an existing stove.

Wraparound
A boiler that goes around several sides inside the firebox (typically 3 sides) and is factory fitted.

BTU
British Thermal Units are a measure of heat. 10,000 BTU are roughly equivalent to 3kW (being pedantic it is more like 2.93kW).

Wood fuel comes in many guises most commonly logs, pellets and wood chips. This article discusses logs. Heating your home with a wood burning stove is becoming increasingly popular. According to the forestry commission around 7% of UK homes currently use wood fuel in their homes to provide some or all of the heating. Not only is a stove cosy to sit around, wood is also a very low carbon fuel so you can do something to shift away from fossil fuel reliance.

In many cases trees are not felled primarily for firewood and it is the leftovers that are used for burning, for example the bark and sapwood that does not make for good building timber.

Wood fuel as it relates to C02 and global warming

Trees use the power of the sun to trap C02 from the air and convert it into more complex carbohydrates, combining the carbon from C02 with hydrogen from water (H20) and releasing the leftover oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. Trees use these carbohydrates to grow. Most of a tree is in fact trapped C02. When the tree is then burnt the C02 is released once again. In a sustainably managed forest each tree that is cut down is replaced so this results in no overall change in atmospheric C02 levels (not counting the C02 produced as a result of processing and transport).

Heating with wood is not carbon neutral (as many people do try to claim) because there is the processing and transport of the wood to consider, but compared to the C02/kWh of many other fuels wood does very very well indeed.

Global warming caused by human C02 emissions is already happening - if you doubt this then read through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report available from www.ipcc.ch. Switching your heating away from fossil fuels is one way in which you can help reduce C02 emissions and thereby slow global warming. You might be interested in our list of 20 tips on being environmentally friendly.

Insulate your house

In conjunction with changing your heating fuel you should also take steps to better insulate your home and thereby reduce your fuel needs. This includes improving your roof insulation, wall insulation, floor insulation as well as installing double glazed windows and draft proofing windows and doors. Not only will this reduce your C02 emissions but your fuel bills will also drop. Read this article about insulation.

Firewood

There is still a lot of sustainable firewood available in the UK with further unexploited capacity remaining. When sourcing your wood try to source from local suppliers as opposed to national suppliers that delivery by pallet. It is all very well burning wood to reduce C02 emissions but if the wood is being driven 500 miles to your door then it kind of defeats the point.

Seasoned firewood

It is very important that your firewood is well seasoned. Seasoned firewood is dry and ready for burning: it has been split to size and stored to dry for at least the summer season. This reduces the wood's moisture content down to reasonable levels for burning – typically 20% or lower. Very dry wood (such as wooden furniture in your house will have a moisture content of 10% or lower).

A sign that wood is seasoned is that the end grain of the logs may have small cracks in it (these cracks form as the wood shrinks due to water loss).

Another way to check is to split open a log and then use a moisture meter to measure the wood's moisture content. 20% or below is OK, above 20% not great, above 30% do not buy it (or be aware that it is unseasoned and will need storing before it can be burnt. You should not pay as much for it as for seasoned firewood).

Un-seasoned wood with a moisture content above 20% is not really suitable for burning and can be dangerous. A lot of the heat of the fire will be used to evaporate the water in the wood which means that your stove will run colder and you will not get as much heat for your money. The flue gases will also be colder as a result and you will get a LOT more tar condensation in your chimney which you want to avoid as this tar is the cause of chimney fires.

I will expand on chimneys and flues in another article.

Storing your firewood

I have a log shed where I keep my firewood. Ideally your shed should be fairly big – enough for a couple of tonnes of wood (don't worry that isn't as big as it sounds) so about 2 to 4 cubic meters.If you do not have the space then make it as big as possible – this will reduce the amount of firewood deliveries that you need every year. Your log shed should be sheltered from the rain but have sides that allow the wind to blow through as you want the wood to keep drying while you store it: the lower the moisture content the better it will burn. Recyclers amongst you might consider making the walls of your wood shed out of old pallets as these work very well and let air through at the same time. At the front of my shed I have some removable boards. I add these when the shed is very full to stop the firewood falling out of the front of the shed and then take them off as it empties as this makes it easier to reach in and get at the wood.

If space is limited the perhaps consider storing your wood against a wall with a small, simple roof above.

If you fell your own wood then the best thing to do is to split it immediately and then store it. If this is not possible then store it under cover and make sure you split it as soon as you can, storing it split for as long as possible. Some people store larger timbers in situ, putting down a couple of timbers on the ground to raise the pile off the earth and then covering the top with corrugated sheeting or similar to form a waterproof roof.

Splitting and chopping your wood

I use two types of axe to split my firewood. Outside I use a heavy maul which is a wide headed large axe to split oversize logs. A raised flat platform like a very large log is an ideal surface to chop wood on. The surface should be hard so that the energy from the axe transfers into the wood you are chopping and not into your chopping block. Inside I use a hatchet to make kindling to start the fire with. You might do this outside as it can cause mess and damage your floor.

Types of wood

Softwoods like pine burn fast and fairly hot and make good kindling to start your fire with. But pine will not last that long so once your fire is going you are better off switching to a hardwood. Hardwoods (like beech, ash, oak, chestnut) burn for longer and are ideal once the fire is going. Ash is great for burning and when freshly cut has a moisture content that can be as low as 30% which means that it takes less time to season than other, wetter woods. I personally like oak as it lasts for a long time because it is a very dense wood.Treated woods should not be burnt as noxious chemicals are released into the atmosphere. This is the problem with wood from building sites, skips and so on as you cannot be sure that it is untreated.

Finding a UK firewood supplier

There are a couple of searchable firewood supplier listings available online. The most up to date one, which is also free for firewood suppliers to join, can be found by following this link: UK Firewood supplier search.

You enter the first part of your postcode and then click 'search'. Firewood suppliers that deliver in your area are listed with the ones with fewest delivery areas displayed first (so the most local suppliers are listed first).This is a free service so if you are a firewood supplier and would like to be listed simply visit the page and fill in the simple application form.

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 effective and less pricey. "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.

Some other 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.

Hydroelectric energy is available as a source of "green" energy, and it can generate a substantial amount of power. Simply put, hydroelectric energy uses the motion of water - its flow in response to gravity, which means downhill - to turn turbines which then generate electrical energy. Needless to say, water is ubiquitous; finding sources for driving hydroelectric turbines is, therefore, not much of a problem. However, hydroelectricity as a source of "green" energy can be complicated and expensive to produce. Dams are often built in order to be able to control the flow of the water sufficiently to generate the needed power. Building a dam to store and control water's potential and kinetic energy takes quite a lot of work, and operating one is complex as well, and conservationists grow concerned about that. Of course, a dam is not always needed if one is not trying to supply the electrical needs of a city or other very densely populated area. There are small run-of-river hydroelectric converters which are good for supplying neighborhoods or an individual office or home.

Probably the most underrated and under-appreciated form of alternative energy is geothermal energy, which is simply the naturally-occurring energy produced by the heating of artesian waters that are just beneath the earth's crust. This heat is transferred into the water from the earth's inner molten core. The water is drawn up by various different methods - there are "dry steam" power plants, "flash" power plants, and "binary" power plants for harnessing geothermal energy. The purpose of drawing up the hot water is for the gathering of the steam. The Geysers, approximately 100 miles north of San Francisco, is probably the best-known of all geothermal power fields; it's an example of a dry stream plant.

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 always 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 "green" energy, but commercial interest from companies is on the rise. It burns much cleaner than oil-based diesel.

Many researchers believe that harnessing the power of the atom in fission reactions is the most significant alternative energy resource that we have, for the fact of the immense power that it can generate.

Nuclear power plants are very "clean-burning" and their efficiency is rather staggering. Nuclear power is generated at 80% efficiency, meaning that the energy produced by the fission reactions is almost equal to the energy put into producing the fission reactions in the first place. There is not a lot of waste material generated by nuclear fission, although, due to the fact that there is no such thing as creating energy without also creating some measure of waste, there is some. The concerns of people such as environmentalists with regards to using nuclear power as an alternative energy source center around this waste, which is radioactive gases which have to be contained.

The radiation from these gases lasts for an extraordinarily long time, so it can never be released once contained and stored. However, the volume of this waste gas produced by the nuclear power plants is small in comparison to how much NOx (nitrous oxide - that is, air pollution) is caused by one day's worth of rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles. While the radiation is certainly the more deadly by far of the two waste materials, the radiation is also by far the easier of the two to contain and store. In spite of the concerns of the environmentalists, nuclear power is really environmentally friendly alternative energy, and the danger of the contained radiation getting out is really rather low. With a relatively low volume of waste material produced, it should not be a difficult thing at all for storage and disposal solutions for the long term to be developed as technology advances.

About the Author

Information supplied and written by Arron Avery, who runs an information site about Alternative Energy for the Home alternative-energy.usinfo.info

The more energy you use, the more energy needs to be produced by power stations, and the more pollution is created. Therefore reducing your energy use indirectly helps the environment. Conserving energy is a good way of reducing your fuel bills while helping the environment. There are many ways to increase the energy efficiency and comfort of your home, varying from the very cheap to the more expensive methods which take longer to pay for themselves. Below is a general list of changes you can make to your home to increase energy efficiency - the cheapest and easiest to fit are listed first:

- When cooking, cover the pan with a lid - it takes less energy to boil the water.

- Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need - don't walk away and leave it so long that you have to re-boil it to make a cup of tea!

- In winter, set your central heating to 16 - 18 degrees C (60 - 80 degrees F) - older or infirm people pay require a higher temperature of 21 degrees C (70 degrees F). Adjust the timer on your central heating and hot water tank to reflect your daily routines.

- Place reflective foil behind radiators situated against outside walls. Fit wide window sills over radiators situated under windows to deflect the heat.

- Fit heavy lined curtains, insulating blinds or shutters to windows. Use pelmets at the top of the frame, and fix the curtain sides to the wall to reduce heat loss

- Use electric lighting only where needed. Fit energy efficient lamps (see our article on this) instead of standard incandescent lamps.

- Fit individual hot water tank and radiator thermostats. Set the hot water thermostat to produce hot, not scalding, water. Radiator thermostats can also be used to make some rooms warmer than others, for instance to make the home more stimulating, or in our case, to keep the bedroom cooler than other rooms to enable us to sleep more easily.

- Work with the environment - increase the amount of sunlight entering your home (this is also known as 'solar gain'). Cut back trees and vegetation shading your home from the winter sun. Clear clutter from sun facing windows, and draw the curtains well back.

- Draughtproof doors and windows, and seal airleaks in the building, such as skirtings, floorboards and unused fireplaces.

- Insulate the loft, hot and cold water tanks, and lag pipes - don't forget to insulate the loft hatch.

- Insulate the walls. Newer homes can be cavity-wall insulated, older homes with solid walls can be fitted with external or internal wall insulation.

- Double or triple glaze windows. Add internal lobbies or enclosed porches to outside doors.

- Add solar windows, solar walls and sunspaces. Fit solar panels to heat water.

You can also save energy by:

• Using energy efficient cookers, fridges, freezers and washing machines,
• Not using unnecessary electrical or electronic gadgets,
• Drying your washing outside instead of in the dryer,
• Hand washing dishes (although modern dishwashers are becoming more efficient with their use of water),
• Using hand-operated DIY tools (as opposed to power tools) as much as possible, and
  
• Closing your curtains at dusk to retain heat.
  

Light (particularly sunlight) can be used to create heat or generate electrical power. This is referred to as solar energy.

It is a clean form of energy production, which doesn't pollute the environment as some other forms of energy production do.

There are two forms of solar energy. The first is solar thermal conversion, which uses sunlight to create heat and then electrical power. The second is photovoltaic conversion, which uses sheets of special materials to create electricity from the sun. "Photo-" means "light," and "voltaic" means "producing electricity."

Solar Thermal Conversion

Solar thermal conversion systems use reflectors or mirrors to concentrate sunlight to extremely intense levels of heat. (Solar means "of the sun," thermal means "of heat" and conversion means "changing something from one form to another.")

You can understand this better if you consider the example of using a magnifying glass to start a fire. You may have heard of this or even tried it before. You can hold a magnifying glass under the sun, and concentrate the light on a small pile of flammable materials. The magnifying glass will make the sun's heat much stronger, and will light the materials on fire. It has been said that a magnifying glass one meter in diameter, held under the sun, will create a ray hot enough to melt stone.

If you want to experiment, hold a magnifying glass flat under the sun and put your hand under it. Very soon you will need to move your hand away - don't burn yourself.

Solar thermal conversion systems use mirrors or reflectors to concentrate sunlight onto containers full of liquid. Sometimes water is used. Sometimes other liquids are used, which retain heat better than water.

The liquids are heated up to high temperatures, and this produces steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine. The turning motion of the turbine is used to create electricity.

How does a rotating motion create electricity? When you set up a coiled wire or similar device to rotate between two magnets, it generates an electric current. This is how electric generators work, as well as windmills, nuclear power plants, and other energy plants which use such things as coal, gas, or petroleum.

Windmills use the wind to create the turning motion. Nuclear power or fossil fuels are used to heat water up, thus creating steam to turn the turbines.

Solar heating is another form of solar thermal conversion. In solar heating, an absorber is used to take in sunlight and convert it to heat. The absorber could be something simple, like black paint, or it could be a special ceramic material. A heat absorber is considered to a be good one when it collects at least 95 percent of the sun's radiation.

The absorbers are then used to heat a fluid, which is then circulated to warm up buildings or to create hot-water supplies.

Photovoltaic Conversion

As covered above, photo means "light." It comes from the Greek word “phos,” which means "light."

“Voltaic” means, "producing electric current." The word comes from the name of Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist who was a pioneer in the field of electricity during the 1700's. (His name is also where the word "volt" comes from.)

Photovoltaic means, "creating electrical energy when exposed to light."

A “cell” is a device that produces electricity. An example of an electrical cell is a flashlight battery.

Photovoltaic cells produce electricity when they are exposed to light. They usually consist of panels. The panels contain two layers of different materials.

When light hits these two layers, one of the layers becomes positively charged, and the other becomes negatively charged.

This works similarly to a regular flashlight battery, which has a positive end and a negative end. When a wire connects the two ends, they produce an electric current.

When the two layers of material in a solar cell are exposed to light, they create an electric current.

The AMOUNT of electricity generated by a solar power cell depends on several factors. Mainly:

• How big is the solar power device, and how much surface is exposed to the sun?
• How strong is the sun? (This depends on time of day, weather, latitude, etc.)
• How long is the solar power device exposed?
• How much impediment is there to the light? (Clouds, mist, dust, dirt, etc.)

In other words, a solar power cell generates electricity faster when the sun (or light) is brighter. A device with larger solar panels will produce more electricity than one with smaller panels. Exposing the cell for a longer period of time will create more electricity than exposing it for a shorter period of time. A panel near the equator will be more effective than one in an arctic region. A solar panel in misty or dusty conditions does not create as much electricity as it would in full, unobstructed sun.

Some solar cells produce only enough current to power small electronic devices, but can be "daisy-chained" (connected together) in order to create more electricity for other items.

Solar cells which produce enough electricity to run larger equipment (such as laptops) may be larger, more expensive, or heavier than the others.

But there are many varieties available. Individuals and companies are consistently striving to create lighter and more efficient portable solar cells.

Solar Energy and the Future

An advantage to solar power is that it can reduce expenses. It can also be portable. When one is backpacking in the wilderness or traveling far from power grids, solar power can provide a means of powering electronic equipment.

Another advantage is, of course, the lack of pollution created by solar energy production. In fact, if all of our electrical energy were produced by such means, we might not be worrying about global warming and the other destructive effects of pollution on our environment.

These threats to our environment also pose a threat to mankind. Solar power could be developed to a point where it, along with other forms of renewable energy, would replace harmful means of electricity production.

It isn't necessarily impossible to have a clean and safe Earth. We just have to work on it.

About the Author

Anna Stone is an educator and a student in photography. She has traveled through North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, using various means of transport including horseback, hitchhiking, bicycle, mulecart, train, bus, and foot. She currently runs a website, http://www.findportablesolarpower.com, to help photographers and travelers find devices to run their equipment when they are away from ordinary power supplies.