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Solar energy can be utilized in various ways - to provide electricity, mechanical power, heat and lighting. Passive solar heating and cooling can save substantial electricity bills. Design of a building is very important for tapping passive solar energy. The building and windows are designed in such a way that they carefully balance their energy requirements without additional mechanical equipment. Solar benefits are utilized through windows and pumps, and fans are used minimally. Passive solar energy utilizes building constituents such as walls, floors, roofs, windows, exterior building elements and landscaping to control heat generated by sun. Solar heating designs try to trap and store thermal energy from sunlight directly. Passive cooling minimizes the effects of solar radiation through shading or generating air flows with convection ventilation.

From Holland, the country famous for its windmills, comes a new design for home wind power. Looking like an eggbeater, it spins quieter and at lower wind speeds than a lot of traditional propeller-type turbines. It's now standard for big wind turbines to have propeller blades. Much of the turning force is generated at the tips, which slice perpendicularly through the air, causing a swooshing noise that some residents nearby have said they find unnerving.

A new breed of solar tower may soon be sprouting up in Namibia, providing the nation with a carbon-free source of electricity and food during the day and night. At one and a half kilometers tall and 280 meters wide, these massive solar updraft towers could potentially produce 400MW of energy each - enough to power Windhoek, the nation's capital. Proposed by intellectual property company Hahn & Hahn, the towers generate energy by forcing heated air through a shaft lined with wind turbines. Additionally, the base of each tower will function as a 37 square km greenhouse where crops can be grown.

The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. And "clean coal," which involves capturing carbon emissions and sequestering them in the earth, is not clean at all, he asserts.

# Responsible people see the very urgent need to do something to help our Global environment recover from our excesses. # Do we want our children to be able to breathe clean air and be able to enjoy Nature at its finest? # How can we immediately affect the Environment in a good way and in the shortest possible time? # Most experts agree that the destruction of fossil fuels [ coal, oil, gas etc ] creates massive amounts of harmful materials and that Alternative Energy sources must be found. They suggest alternatives to destroying the Planets Fossil Fuels would be one of the biggest steps we could take on the path back to a cleaner and healthier Planet. # Recent research has forced huge strides forward in Alternative Energy sources such as Wind and Solar Power technology, and in particular making that technology available to the average person for home use. After the initial costs of installation, annual bills could fall to less than 10% of a normal fuel bill!

If you don't already know it by now carbon dioxide is the leading cause of global warming. Since it is the largest factor in global warming it would be prudent for us to eliminate this emission first. Although we can never fully eliminate carbon dioxide, because we and every other air breating creature exhale it, it is possible to reduce it enough to the point it doesn't cause global warming.

Doing a few chores around the house this month can save homeowners major expense in the spring, according to Rick Felton, President of Homeservice Club of Canada. "By doing a little preventative maintenance now, you can prevent minor problems from escalating into a major headache in the spring," Felton said. "Minor repairs done now can prevent air and moisture penetration from attacking the structural integrity of your home down the road," he added.

Renewable Energy World has an article on the state of play in the ocean energy market - Harnessing the Tides: Marine Power Update 2009 One hundred and forty-one years ago, the relentless sea off Scotland's coast inspired the following observation from native son and author George MacDonald. "I climbed the heights above the village, and looked abroad over the Atlantic. What a waste of aimless tossing to and fro! Gray mist above, full of falling rain; gray, wrathful waters underneath, foaming and bursting as billow broke upon billow…they burst on the rocks at the end of it, and rushed in shattered spouts and clouds of spray far into the air over their heads. "Will the time ever come," I thought, when man shall be able to store up even this force for his own ends? Who can tell?"

A career in sustainable home design involves the design and construction of residential structures with three primary objectives in mind: enhanced energy conservation, improved indoor air quality, and better resource conservation.

DOVER, Mass. - On a recent sunny afternoon Bob Loebelenz pauses to gaze 72 feet into the air at the spinning blades of his wind turbine, a small "clean, free electricity" smile creasing the corners of his mouth. While giant wind turbines that supply power to utilities sprout along ridgelines across the United States, far smaller residential wind generators, like the one Mr. Loebelenz erected in 2003 to power his suburban Boston home, are still unusual in densely populated places.

An Indoor or Outdoor landscape architect can contribute greatly to the energy efficiency of a building's heating and air conditioning system.