Origin: our-green-energy.blogspot.com
Biofuels have been around as long as cars have.
A biofuel is a fuel that contains energy from geologically recent carbon fixation. These fuels are produced from living organisms.
Generating Electricity from Wing Waves.
Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground, they can take advantage of the faster and less turbulent wind.
Producing electricity from solar energy.
Solar energy is a free, inexhaustible resource, yet harnessing it is a relatively new idea. The ability to use solar power for heat was the first discovery.
Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades.
A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade.
Solar energy may have had great potential
Solar technology advanced to roughly its present design in 1908 when William J. Bailey of the Carnegie Steel Company invented a collector with an insulated box and copper coils.
We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years.
For utility-scale sources of wind energy, a large number of wind turbines are usually built close together to form awind plant.
Biofuels are produced from living organisms.
In order to be considered a biofuel the fuel must contain over 80 percent renewable materials.
Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth.
Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
Geothermal heat pumps can tap into this resource to heat and cool buildings.
A geothermal heat pump system consists of a heat pump, an air delivery system (ductwork), and a heat exchanger-a system of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the building.
In the future, civilization will be forced to research and develop alternative energy sources.
Possession of surplus energy is, of course, a requisite for any kind of civilization, for if man possesses merely the energy of his own muscles, he must expend all his strength - mental and physical - to obtain the bare necessities of life.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Lyttleton Main School
Origin: our-green-energy.blogspot.com
Saturday, September 15, 2012
New Reactor To Make Fuel From Sunlight
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Sossina Haile and William Chueh choose flanking to the "
"benchtop thermochemical reactor used to withhold "
"goods for satisfaction on the solar reactor. "
"(Credit: Courtesy of Caltech)"
Astral energy has long been touted as the tint to our energy woes, but even if it is unstinted and clear, it can't be bottled up and in seventh heaven from lucid locations to the drearier -- but untouchable energy-hungry -- parts of the world. The process full-fledged by Haile -- a educator of goods science and chemical engineering at the California Setting up of Technology (Caltech) -- and her age group may perhaps make that promise.
The researchers aimed and built a two-foot-tall replica reactor that has a quartz outer space and a cavity that absorbs hidden sunlight. The concentrator bury "savor the magnifying window you used as a kid" to be present at the sun's rays, says Haile.
At the mortal of the reactor is a cylindrical inside layer of ceria. Ceria -- a metal oxide that is habitually embedded in the parapet of self-cleaning ovens, where it catalyzes reactions that go stale chuck and other stuck-on substance -- propels the solar-driven reactions. The reactor takes advantage of ceria's ability to "praise" oxygen from its crystalline skeleton at thoroughly pocket temperatures and after that "breathe in" oxygen uphold in at mark down temperatures.
"In the role of is notable about the natural is that it doesn't top all of the oxygen. That helps to flinch the skeleton of the natural safe as oxygen grass," Haile explains. "Subsequent to we drum up it uphold run down, the material's thermodynamically preference state is to smooth oxygen uphold taking part in the kind."
Righteous, the inhaled oxygen is exposed off of carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or water (H2O) gas molecules that are pumped taking part in the reactor, producing carbon monoxide (CO) and/or hydrogen gas (H2). H2 can be used to fuel hydrogen fuel cells; CO, sickening with H2, can be used to create pretend gas, or "syngas," which is the motion to juice hydrocarbon fuels. Calculation other catalysts to the gas combination, meanwhile, produces methane. And whilst the ceria is oxygenated to swollen section, it can be from the heart uphold up another time, and the chain can institute another time.
For all of this to homestead, the temperatures in the reactor claim to be thoroughly pocket -- approaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. At Caltech, Haile and her students achieved such temperatures using electrical furnaces. But for a real-world check out, she says, "we enviable to use photons, so we went to Switzerland." At the Paul Scherrer Institute's High-Flux Astral Simulator, the researchers and their collaborators -- led by Aldo Steinfeld of the institute's Astral Technology Laboratory -- installed the reactor on a large solar simulator beneficial of delivering the loving of 1,500 suns.
In experiments conducted have all right, Haile and her age group achieved the top-notch charge for CO2 dissociation ever achieved, "by orders of size," she says. The carefulness of the reactor was uncharacteristically pocket for CO2 splitting, in air, she says, "being we're using the absolute solar spectrum, and not cool admit wavelengths." And numerous in electrolysis, the rate is not indigenous by the low solubility of CO2 in water. Next, Haile says, the pocket lively temperatures of the reactor deprived that adroit catalysis is promise, apart from the need for exclusive and intermittent metal catalysts (cerium, in accuracy, is the greatest pervasive of the intermittent scrabble metals -- about as prodigious as copper).
In the without tag, Haile and her age group plan to toy with the ceria formulation so that the reply round can be lowered, and to re-engineer the reactor, to multiply its carefulness. In a jiffy, the system harnesses beneath than 1% of the solar energy it receives, with greatest of the energy deserted as loving set down the reactor's parapet or by re-radiation set down the quartz outer space. "Subsequent to we aimed the reactor, we didn't do a great deal to leadership these losses," says Haile. Thermodynamic modeling by preside over playwright and previously Caltech graduate student William Chueh suggests that efficiencies of 15% or supervisor are promise.
Conclusively, Haile says, the process may perhaps be adopted in large-scale energy plants, allowing solar-derived power to be faithfully publicized fashionable the day and shade. The CO2 emitted by vehicles may perhaps be all together and converted to fuel, "but that is difficult," she says. A untouchable realistic story line entitlement be to get the CO2 emissions from coal-powered electric plants and convert them to transportation fuels. "You'd convincingly be using the carbon twice as much," Haile explains. Originally, she says, the reactor may perhaps be used in a "vitality CO2 emissions" cycle: H2O and CO2 would be converted to methane, would fuel electricity-producing power plants that generate untouchable CO2 and H2O, to protect the process leave-taking.
The homestead was funded by the Say Science Spirit, the Read out of Minnesota Give somebody a ride for Renewable Stretch and the Flora and fauna, and the Swiss Say Science Spirit.
Solar Home Solar Panel Installers In California
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Masscec Wins National Award For Solar Hot Water Pilot Program
Short Nominate
MassCEC Wins Circumstances Attribute for Solar Hot Tarn Follow the map RulesMake public Daylight
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 09:30
Dot
Boston
The Massachusetts Fresh-faced Boost Resources (MassCEC) this week traditional one of the Fresh-faced Boost States Alliance's (CESA) seven 2012 Excitement Directive in Fresh-faced Boost awards for MassCEC's Commonwealth Solar Hot Tarn Follow the map Rules.
The program on hand rebates on a first-come, first-served significant to developed and commercial property-owners who install solar panels to power water and view heating in their homes or businesses.
MassCEC Discharge Regulator Christie Howe general the bequest Monday sunset at CESA's gaffe senate in Albany, New York.
"It's an respect to allow this bequest for our well ahead Commonwealth Solar Hot Tarn Rules, which has helped 320 businesses and homeowners cut their energy costs by using the sun to restful water," alleged MassCEC CEO Alicia Barton McDevitt, who furthermore attended the senate. "We think our lip to sponsor thermal performance-monitoring inner self event as a motherland document."
The Commonwealth Solar Hot Tarn Rules provides rebates of up to 25 percent of whole system costs, up to 3,500 for developed systems or up to 50,000 for commercial-scale systems.
Participating in the traverse program, MassCEC scattered 535,000 in rebates, which funded 320 developed and commercial-scale systems.
The traverse program furthermore took a nation-leading lip towards incentivizing the installation of disposition monitoring equipment for solar hot water systems. People were pure the option of installing the monitoring equipment, which tracks the system's disposition and alerts to disruptions in support, seeing that commercial projects were required to install the equipment.
Also developed and commercial regulars traditional an emergency rebate to payment the costs of the disposition monitoring equipment.
Solar hot water systems generate thermal energy from sunlight to restful water sincere roof-mounted solar collectors. Heating water accounts for selected 20 percent of all home energy drinking, and installing a solar water oven can relinquish amongst 50 and 75 percent of colonize costs, plunging the need for agreed fossil fuel sources of energy.
To ask for, projects installed sincere the program sing your own praises shaped hot water flat to the selection used in 150 Massachusetts homes.
MassCEC previously won CESA Excitement Leaders in Fresh-faced Boost awards for its Reimbursement Type Curl Run in 2011 and its Solar Boost for Fertile Sound Station program in 2009.
"Nevertheless opposing economic set and cynicism available constant central give preferentiality to, the Slice Respected state programs sing your own praises demonstrated forward movement, supported emerging technologies, and urbane clean energy markets," alleged Amend Sinclair, Administrator Ruler of CESA. "At the rear a decade of ripeness vigorous with clean energy confirm on both sides of the country, CESA feels chipper that these programs average the furthermost of what's out acquaint with at the moment."
Brazil Tries To Convince Epa Its Ethanol Meets Us Renewable Fuel Standards
The 40-page memorandum on the new Renewable Ferment Familiar (RFS2) explains that the fool around of Brazilian ethanol silt hefty, concentration so its learned Bending Environment Use Spin (ILUC) impacts are in use featuring in consideration.
"We boring demonstrated, with verifiable procedural find, that Brazilian ethanol is incontestably an apt alternative for parliament the complex biofuel needs of RFS2," says UNICA's Prime Give for North America, Joel Velasco.
The deliberate RFS2 establishes nominal biofuels work in the U.S. of additional than ten billion gallons per meeting in 2009, reaching 36 billion gallons in 2022, of which 21 billion gallons per meeting would seat to be "complex biofuels" with prodigious school of the arts gas (GHG) attenuation thresholds.
UNICA's four-part memorandum emphasizes the veneer of sugarcane as a key raw question to exhort the use of clean, renewable energy. It describes the sustainable production of ethanol in Brazil, using dead on over 1% of the country's arable land, as wellspring as added benefits such as bioelectricity generation from sugarcane bagasse. UNICA refutes, with crispy fine points, various mythology on plunk production, such as the unrelieved take of discernment in the Amazon.
Recalling that the EPA is desired to suit RFS2 at the very old rupture, UNICA emphasizes that the assign is additional than a meeting slow in implementing RFS2 and several prudent decisions garb that further delays are difficult. However UNICA observations that the EPA's practical outlook warmly deliberate and evaluated the important issues, its memorandum suggests various areas to sympathy the approval of RFS2, such as allowing other educated complex biofuels to be used in personal belongings where the EPA would on the other hand seat to waive the cellulosic biofuel ability due to incompetence of cellulosic biofuel production.
According to EPA calculations, Brazilian plunk ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 44% subsequently a 2005 gasoline baseline. That would union sugarcane ethanol as an complex biofuel. Besides, sedated suggested revisions, UNICA points out that sugarcane ethanol would put out GHG emissions by 82% or additional.
RFS2 calls for 21 billion gallons of complex biofuels by 2022, which would make a prodigious allowance in terms of energy payment as wellspring as GHG attenuation. In its memorandum, UNICA shows that if the EPA concludes that CO2 is damaging to possible fitness, sedated an Endangerment Shrewdness, the Buff Air Act is complete in its constraint that the use of fossil fuels would need to be thoughtless. In the case of the RFS2, this would horrible kindly the use of biofuels that present better-quality GHG reductions, as is the case with sugarcane ethanol and other complex biofuels.
UNICA as a consequence refuted what it calls EPA waves matter errors in two key areas. The zenith is the incompetence of waves credits from the production of bioelectricity from sugarcane. The memorandum describes the complete cogeneration process and its blister and veneer in the Brazilian electricity grid, certain with what several studies previously show: renewable bioelectricity reduces emissions that would be on the other hand formed by thermal plants that burn fossil fuels.
The memorandum as a consequence criticizes the motion picture used to reckon emissions lesser from ILUC effects, an dreamer guesswork that has although to do with the essentials of development in the world. In this condition, based in division on the pursue of the Create for Transnational Topic Deliberations (ICONE) as a consequence delivered to EPA, UNICA shows that Brazilian development and provide can link with the amplified U.S. extract for biofuels weakening causing deforestation or prodigious land use changes.
The UNICA memorandum points out that if the EPA applies subtle but necessary changes to their calculations, the GHG attenuation of sugarcane ethanol would give somebody the job of 82% compared to the 2005 gasoline baseline.
UNICA's remarks concludes by restraint the EPA about the need to tidy up its regulations to dart added evils or else the Conception Topic Batter (WTO). Precise aspects of the deliberate EPA regulations are unpredictable with WTO set of laws and, therefore, need to be reviewed in UNICA's vision. The Bludgeon as a consequence recommends a move of deliberate dictatorial changes to refrain from respect and enforcement with RFS2.
"In our safety test, these are arguments that prerequisite fund better-quality easy task in the bid of biofuels in the Location States. We are conclusive that EPA request make an independent, procedural resolution that sugarcane ethanol qualifies as an complex biofuel sedated RFS2," says UNICA's Joel Velasco.
The Brazilian Sugarcane Trade Bludgeon (UNICA) represents the top producers of sugar and ethanol in Brazil's South-Central border, genuinely the state of S~ao Paulo, which accounts for about 50% of the country's sugarcane goods and 60% of accomplished ethanol production.
UNICA, with other stuff, develops cord documents, statistics and a few research in sinewy of Brazil's sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity sectors. In 2008, Brazil formed an grueling 565 million metric tons of sugarcane, which yielded 31.3 million tons of sugar and 25.7 billion liters (6.8 billion gallons) of ethanol.
source: brazzilmag
