• ISBN13: 9780954452933
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
Addressing the sustainable energy crisis in an objective manner, this enlightening book analyzes the relevant numbers and organizes a plan for change on both a personal level and an international scale—for Europe, the United States, and the world. In case study format, this informative reference answers questions surrounding nuclear energy, the potential of sustainable fossil fuels, and the possibilities of sharing renewable power with foreign countries. While un… More >>

Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air

We are all well-aware of the staggering effects that our use of fossil fuels has had, and will continue to have, on the environment. Global warming, acid rain and a host of devastating results will continue to threaten the majority of species currently inhabiting the planet for many ages to come. Luckily there are also millions of people currently working hard to reduce and limit these problems, and their efforts tend to be focused on several key “green” initiatives.

These initiatives encompass a wide range of efforts and plans, but the bulk of them tend to be centered on alternative energy production. Rather than relying upon coal, oil and gas for energy production, these groups work to create reliable and affordable methods for creating energy from solar rays, wind, water and even steam.

What is the future of green initiatives? That question involves multiple answers. For instance, there is a huge trend for consumers and businesses to purchase things called “carbon offsets”. These are tax deductible contributions to groups working to create alternative energy sources or who are currently at work in reforestation projects, among other programs. The majority of them offer a consumer tools that will help them determine their carbon usage during a standard year and then allow them to purchase “offsets” against their consumption. This tends to “balance the scales” which is something that has not been happening over the past few centuries.

Of course a majority of people look to solar technologies as the simplest and most well-developed of the green initiatives. Solar energy has been studied for more than a century, but only since the 1950s has its real potential been recognized and implemented. Today, there are active solar energy power plants and many home and business owners have taken strong measures to implement as many solar energy options as possible in their homes and offices. Using outdoor LED lights is one such strategy. 

There are also some great answers in the power of the wind, but this is a bit more restrictive in implementation because a measurable and steady supply of wind must always be present in order for the system to work. Currently there are hundreds of “wind farms” working to supply communities or homes with their energy needs.

Though there are many problems facing the planet, there are also millions who want to work to solve them. This is the basis for all of the green movements and green initiatives at work in the modern world. The technologies that will lead to their success have been improving and becoming more and more accessible every year, and will continue to do so for decades to come.

All good questions, there are many ads in all kinds of media today that shout the virtues of “Green Power” and promise that if you do you will save money, help decrease global warming, save the planet, and just be an all around better person. Are they right?

Renewable energy, in many of its forms has been around and used in some cases for hundreds if not thousands of years, in fact as long as our planet and the sun have existed, they will be here as long as our planet and the sun continue. So if this is true, why are they not used more often? The simple answer is that finding and using fossil fuels is easier and cheaper, however fossil fuels do pollute our environment, and they will be depleted at some point in the future.

The first uses of the sun by early man were probably for passive light and solar heat, he may have lived in a cave whose opening was oriented to take advantage of the heat of the sun and the light it provided, he may even have placed a large rock at the opening that would heat all day, and then give off radiant heat at night. Much the same way that free radiant heat from the sun is used today. Someone, unknown to history, found a clear crystal of some sort and found that by letting the sun shine through it heat was created, and now man was able to create fire at will.

For about the last 100 years man has studied and been trying to perfect the conversion of the suns energy into cheap, usable electricity. 100 hundred years is a very short time, and this experimentation has, and is, making fantastic gains, however it is still far more expensive to produce solar panels and other parts needed for solar power generation than it is to just purchase the cheap power from our local electric utility.

Power from the wind has also been around forever early sailing ships were powered by the wind, which of course allowed early man to discover many other parts of our world. In days past we did not have clothes dryers everyone hung their laundry outside and let the wind and sun do the job. For centuries windmills have been used to grind grains, pump water and many others uses. Of course the sun is also partly responsible for the creation of wind.

Water power, commonly referred to as hydro power has also been around a long time doing such things as moving logs downstream to the mill which used water power to cut them up, powering the mills that ground grains for food, and still do today. Hydro electric power plants are true marvels of technology, and have been used for many years. As long as the sun evaporates water, then deposits it at higher elevations in the form of rain or snow and gravity moves it downstream, there will be hydro power.

Geothermal power has been available as long as the earth has been here. The earth is a huge furnace, producing temperatures in excess of 9000 degrees Fahrenheit at its core. There are places in the world where this heat comes very close to the surface, making it very easy to harness. Geothermal power is not restricted to just hot mineral baths, parts of the western US, in most of the country of Iceland make extensive use of geothermal power for heating, and to power turbines to produce electricity. Home heating and cooling, and the provision of hot water are easily and very cost effectively accomplished by the use of geo heat pump technology.

Bio energy, the use of energy from recently living things, such as wood, grasses, corn etc. is quickly becoming a more important part of the energy puzzle. Think ethanol to supplement gasoline and reduce harmful emissions. The home fireplace is another example of using bio fuels.

Research and development of these and other yet to be discovered sources of renewable fuels continues nonstop and will help mankind answer its energy need now and in the future.

In most modern homes, lighting accounts for 10-15% of the electricity bill; an expense we might not often consider when shopping for light bulbs. All too frequently, the temptation is to opt for a cheaper light bulb rather than investing in an energy saving recommended light bulb – and investing really is an apt term in this situation. The cheap, traditional light bulbs are nothing but a quick fix; they will need replacing up to 12 times in the time an energy saving recommended light bulb will continue lighting your home. Once you are aware of this surprising piece of information, the price of the old fashioned light bulb in comparison to energy savers suddenly shoots up, and if you take into consideration the fact that for each traditional light bulb you replace with an energy saving recommended bulb you can reduce your bill by approximately £7 per year, the sensible option becomes clear.

Not only are the energy saving bulbs more efficient, they’re also hardier; although, like the traditional bulbs, energy efficient bulbs can break if handled carelessly, they are actually harder to break than their old-fashioned counterparts. This is due to the fact that they are often coated with plastic as a protective measure, and added to that their smaller diameter results in higher stress limits; consequently breakage rates are said to be less than 1%.

It’s not just your pockets that will benefit if you swap to energy saving recommended light bulb – the planet will also gain. Most of the UK’s energy comes from fossil fuels; this produces carbon dioxide emissions and contributes to climate change. By taking simple steps to reduce the energy we use, we will cut our carbon dioxide emissions and do our bit to help protect the environment.

So next time you’re shopping for new lighting, why not check for the energy saving recommended logo? You’ll be saving the environment whilst saving your pennies. The energy saving recommended logo was developed in order to help you spot the most energy efficient products; products that cost less to run simply because they use less energy to do the same job than more inefficient products. The light bulbs, for example, save energy (and money) because they are much more efficient at changing electricity into light.

You’ll be able to spot the energy saving recommended logo on a range of lighting products and fittings. You can also find the logo on household appliances, as well as heating, glazing and insulation products. It means the goods are amongst the most energy efficient you can buy as they have met strict criteria.

With all the stress on the environment today, carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction has become a major issue. With more than 20 million tons of carbon dioxide being produced globally each year; reducing carbon emissions, curtailing waste, and producing more clean energy are the call of the day. Eco-conscious individuals, businesses, and corporations are all striving towards reducing their carbon footprint. When emissions are reduced as much as possible or until it’s feasible to eliminate the carbon footprint, carbon offsets come into play. A carbon offset is a form of trading, specifically a credit for the reduction in harmful emissions not by the firm’s actions but through the work of another establishment. This credit is generated when the said establishment’s work results in a drop in the level of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions below a certain mandatory or voluntary cap. The mandatory/compliance cap is usually set by governments or an international body. Therefore, a carbon offset essentially lets an entity pay to reduce the level of these harmful pollutants rather than making any improbable or unachievable reductions on its own.

These carbon offsets are traded on a local, national and global scale. An international network of retailers, brokers and trading arenas exist to facilitate the buying and selling of these offsets. The offsets are normally measured in terms of a ton of carbon dioxide equivalents i.e. CO2e. Various activities can help create carbon offsets; for example, the use of renewable sources of energy such as wind power and biomass energy as well as participating in activities like reforestation and agriculture. The use of renewable energy systems can generate a tremendous carbon offset, due to the important fact that they eliminate the dependency on fossil fuels and virtually generate zero emissions.

As far as offset projects go, wind projects tend to be more sustainable and viable, especially since the process does not produce any ozone harming by-products and does not depend on fossil fuels. To quantify how many carbon offsets are generated by a wind farm, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in 2008, the U.S. wind energy industry brought online approximately 8,500 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity. This production will help avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions – the equivalent of taking 7 million cars off the road. Therefore, for every megawatt of installed capacity, a wind farm can potentially earn approximately 5,175 of CO2e – the equivalent of taxing approximately 820 cars off the road. Wind energy generation organizations sell carbon offsets, benefitting both the buyer and the company. Buyers purchase these offsets because supporting wind power not only leads to the creation of a ‘green’ source of energy, but also helps ‘negate’ their own greenhouse emissions, big and small. Buying carbon offsets from wind farms are not only a way to ease the buyers’ conscience and reduce their carbon footprint, but can also be much less expensive than making changes to eliminate emissions. The wind energy generation facility itself profits because selling these offsets makes the project more financially viable and profitable, which helps increase the scale of productivity as well.

With environmental markets growing, it is necessary to understand the scope of emissions today.

There are three different scopes for carbon emissions that occur in the carbon footprint of an organization or business concern:

Emissions that are created directly at the location, through direct sources like on-site machinery and apparatus like a generator located at a factory. Energy related emissions and indirect power based emissions like the electricity purchased by a company to keep the premises well lit up. Emissions that occur via indirect sources of emissions like those related to the use of paper in an office, corporate travel etc.

As the United States has neither ratified the Kyoto Protocol nor mandated any laws to cap its emissions as of July 2009, all carbon offsets are voluntary. Therefore, only two environmental markets coexist in the U.S. i.e. carbon offsets also known as voluntary emission reductions (VERs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs). Although these markets are interrelated, there are marked differences between the two commodities.

VERs or carbon offsets, also called carbon reduction ton, denotes activities that result in a cutting of, reduction and/or getting rid of one ton of greenhouses gases at a given site, to counteract an emission taking place in another. Typically these offsets are used to negate direct emissions or a scope one emission. For example a company can purchase carbon offsets created through a wind power project to ‘clear’ emissions created by a boiler in their office.

Offsets are subject to a rigorous set of guidelines, standards and rules. These guidelines primarily ensure that vital environmental and financial criteria are met so that customers can be assured that the offsets purchased are indeed authentic and verifiable. There is also an additionality requirement that represents the fact that a given greenhouse gas reduction project would not have been made possible without the expectation of additional funds procured from the sale of offsets. This is to ensure that the emissions reduction activity is in addition to regular business practice, hence facilitating a reduction that would not have happened otherwise in previous circumstances. In other words, countries and/ or businesses must make an active contribution to emission reduction in order to earn or sell credits instead of relying on pre-existing projects planned for other reasons with funds already committed. Thereby, ensuring buyers that their purchase will further the betterment of the global climate and environment.

RECs or renewable energy certificates denote one megawatt hour (MWh) of energy produced by a ‘clean’ renewable source. Energy produced by sources like wind, hydro, and biomass represents an offset because an environmentally friendly procedure replaces one using environmentally degrading fuel; emitting little to no carbon in the process. Emission reductions take place during energy creation, by replacing fossil fuel, at the utility itself. RECs are typically used to counteract indirect scope two emissions, wherein ‘clean’ megawatts of electricity by the REC can neutralize the unclean ones used by a company. RECs, however, are generally not held to the same standards and more importantly the additionality requirements like VERs. As a result, they can be supplied from resources that are running as is, or in part from additional business activities.

It is interesting to note that only renewable energy projects such as wind farms and solar power plants meet the highest standards required of carbon offsets, as the risks they pose to the environment are negligible and they encourage a much needed departure from fossil fuel usage.

Approximately ten percent of energy produced in the United States is from hydropower. In this process, water spins in turbines in generators.

Hydropower is one of the renewable energy sources being researched and implemented to replace fossil fuels, which are in the process of depletion. It does not produce carbon dioxide, as coal power stations do, making it a cleaner, as well as, cheaper alternate way to produce electricity. It is also renewable, with the help of rainwater for replenishment.

The impoundment facility is the most common type of hydropower facilities. A dam is built on a large river or lake to store its water in a reservoir. When water is released from the reservoir through tunnels it flows through a turbine. Since the height of the water behind the walls is so great, the released water goes through the turbine with a great force of energy. As the turbine spins, it sets in motion a generator, which in turn produces electricity. The water then travels back into the stream or river below. Networks of transmission lines and facilities carry the electricity from the generator to users in a form they can use. The Hoover Dam is an illustration of the process just described. When it was initially built, it produced enough electricity for the entire city of Las Vegas. As Las Vegas grew, they turned to other energy sources

The pumped storage hydro plant facility is able to store power. It does so by pumping water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir during low energy demand periods. When needs increase, the water is released from the upper reservoir back to the lower reservoir for electricity generation.

Hydroelectric plants require a lot of land in order to build a dam and reservoir. This requires a great deal of money, time and construction. There are not many ideal places to put them and most of these have already been taken. The good thing is once constructed; the electricity is free to produce. Due to costs, the tendency will be to put up smaller hydro plants that are more economical.

Hydroelectric plants using dams have a negative effect on the environment. Through the construction of a dam, there is a blockage of the flow from upstream to downstream. This disrupts the migration pattern of fish. Fish can also be killed passing through the turbines. An advantage to hydropower is the ability to control energy release to meet changing demands.

The population is growing and so will its power needs. Fossil fuels are being used up and there will come a time when they will be depleted. We need to turn to renewable energy sources to meet our needs. Natural resources seem to be a natural solution. Hydroelectric plants can meet our power needs without worries of depletion or pollution. It is also the most reliable source available today. Research and development is ongoing to provide a solution to the damage a dam can do. The potential for hydroelectricity is within our grasp and we must find a way to make this work.