Group items tagged

Biomass fuel refers to anything that can either burn or decompose. Other terms are biomass energy or biofuel. The prefix "bio" refers to life.

Also utilizing the source of bioenergy reduces pollution, helps control carbon dioxide emissions ( Remember, plants take in CO2 which will offset emissions)

Solar Cells or photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. When energy from the sun comes in contact with the cell, electrons in the two different semiconductors absorb the energy and use it to move around, creating an electrical current.

In scientific terms, wind energy is the "force" of winds blowing across the earth’s surface ("Wind Energy"). Wind is caused by uneven heating on the earth’s surface. The equator region receives more heat than say, Antarctica.

That heat tries to move from hotter to colder regions. Wind energy was first harvested centuries ago, when early windmills were used to power millstones, pumps, and forges

The amount of kinetic energy within Earth's atmosphere is equal to about 10,000 trillion kilowatt-hours.

Challenges Wind power must compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis. Depending on how energetic a wind site is, the wind farm may or may not be cost competitive. Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil-fueled generators. Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city. Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to other conventional power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) impacts, and sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

Wind is simply air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface by the sun. Because the Earth's surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun's heat at different rates. One example of this uneven heating can be found in the daily wind cycle.

The Daily Wind Cycle During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises, and the heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating wind. At night, the winds are reversed because the air cools more rapidly over land than over water. In the same way, the atmospheric winds that circle the earth are created because the land near the Earth's equator is heated more by the sun than the land near the North and South Poles. Wind Energy for Electricity Generation Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Wind is a renewable energy source because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines

Like old fashioned windmills, today’s wind machines (also called wind turbines) use blades to collect the wind’s kinetic energy. The wind flows over the blades creating lift, like the effect on airplane wings, which causes them to turn. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. With the new wind machines, there is still the problem of what to do when the wind isn't blowing. At those times, other types of power plants must be used to make electricity.

Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls.

In situations where connection to the electricity grid is difficult, costly, or impossible (such as island communities, areas not served by a power grid, illuminated roadside signs, and ocean-going vessels) harvesting solar power is often an economically competitive alternative to energy from traditional source

Intermittency: It is not available at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover, decreasing the reliability of peak output performance or requiring a means of energy storage.

"But if we could harness 0.1 percent of the energy in the ocean, we could support the energy needs of 15 billion people.

When water flows toward the shore with the incoming tide, it flows through a tidal energy system, turning a turbine that generates electricity. When the tide shifts and flows in the opposite direction, away from shore, the tidal energy system again captures the energy with a turbine and converts it into electricity.

An important source of alternative energy is hydropower: converting the flow of rivers and ocean waves and tides into electricity through dams and turbines. The best part about both of these water sources is that they’re 100 percent renewable.

Organic matter is one such source. Materials like corn and soybeans have oil extracts that can be converted to ethanol or biodiesel

more sustainable than petroleum, meaning they can be regrown and remain productive with less negative impact on our ecosystem.

Some biofuels that provide more long-term benefits may prove too expensive to pursue

1) Individual silicon based (most commonly) cells called photovoltaics (PV) make up the modern day solar panel. These PV cell clusters perform the task of converting incoming sunlight directly into electricity. 2) Wires attached to the panels transport the converted electricity to a piece of equipment called an inverter. The job of the inverter is to convert the solar generated Direct Current (DC) electricity into the type of power your home can use, which is called Alternating Current (AC). 3) After the electricity travels through the inverter, the AC electricity is then transported via wire to your breaker panel to meet your home’s electric demands. 4) The process doesn’t end there, though. There are times when your panels will generate more power than you consume and times when you aren’t generating enough electricity (night times and periods of low light). When your panels are not generating enough solar electricity, you will continue to get power from your local utility. However, when you’re generating a surplus of solar electricity, that excess clean energy will be “net metered” to your local utility grid and you may earn a credit on your power bill for that net metered electricity.

If hydrogen extraction is performed using electricity from a coal-driven power plant, it doesn't matter that the fuel cell doesn't pollute because the pollution occurred when the hydrogen was extracted. If hydrogen is to be a true nonpolluting power source, the electricity used to extract the hydrogen will need to be produced by a nonpolluting method such as solar power.

I recognize this may seem like fantasy, but if the proponents of solar energy and other clean energy alternatives really want it to succeed they must get off life support, be free from the addiction to unsustainable subsidies, and given a chance to grow and thrive on their own in a healthy, competitive market environment where innovation and hard work create sustainable market equilibrium.

8: One Megawatt of Wind Energy = 2,600 Fewer Tons of Carbon Dioxide So, with all the noise about clean energy, what kind of improvement are we really talking about with wind? Consider that every year 1MW of wind energy can offset approximately 2,600 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) [source: NREL], and the interest comes into focus. The simple math is less fossil fuel consumption equals less CO2. And measuring carbon reduction has become a key benchmark for monitoring the progress of alternative energy adoption.

The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to the generator and produces electricity. Turbine blades are designed in such a way that wind causes them to rotate, which rotates the shaft at low speed, with a gear at the end that itself is connected to small gear on high speed shaft that runs through alternator housing.

he generator produces electricity using the same principle as a generator of your car (depending on the turbine). Magnetic Rotor inside the generator on high speed shaft spins inside loops of copper wire that are wound around an iron core. The rotor creates “electromagnetic induction” as it spins around the inside of the core through the coils, which generates electrical power. The current is regulated and transmission network (or home network system connection), after some changes, so it can use in our homes or sent to a battery bank for storage.

Biodiesel is a type of bio-fuel which is used to fuel cars and other vehicles. Biodiesel is used as alternative petroleum oil. Biodiesel is special because it is a clean resource and is safe to use in our environment, compared to other fuels that pollute the planet. Biodiesel is made from renewable resources which make it easier to produce. Biodiesel also lubricates car engines, which decreases engine wear, making the engine last longer. Speaking of engines, biodiesel is compatible with most car engines that run on diesel. According to researchers, biodiesel can reduce the risk of cancer, which the emitting of petroleum oil have been known to cause.

The sun transmits energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. When this radiation is absorbed by the solar cells, a chemical reaction occurs, causing rapid electron movement. Because of the way the cells are manufactured with layers of material with differing atomic structures, the electrons are forced to move in one direction, creating direct current, or DC. It then flows into an inverter which converts the DC into alternating current, or AC, to be usable in your home or business.

Wind Energy The answer is blowin’ in the wind How is man going to keep up with increasing energy demand while the amount of available fossil fuel diminishes? The answer could be wind power, the capturing of the energy contained in gusts of wind. What is wind Energy?

Man has been using wind energy for thousands of years. Windmills, sails and even kites are all devices designed to harness the awesome power produced when the wind blows. Even modern aircraft benefit from wind power. Pilots flying westward usually expend much effort trying to make sure they place themselves in the jet stream, the hundred mile per hour wind caused by the earth spinning. Now engineers are able to convert such power into electricity, pump it into grids and provide energy for homes.

Lost in the mix are the biofuels, fuels made from biological ingredients instead of fossil fuels. These starting ingredients can range from corn to soybeans to animal fat, depending on the type of fuel being made and the production method.