Green energy refers to the use of power that is not only more efficient than fossil fuel but that is friendly to the environment as well. Green energy is generally defined as energy sources that dont pollute and are renewable.

There are several categories of green energy. They are anaerobic digestion, wind power, geothermal power, hydropower on a small scale, biomass power, solar power and wave power. Waste incineration can even be a source of green energy.

Nuclear power plants claim that they produce green energy as well, though this source is fraught with controversy, as we all know. While nuclear energy may be sustainable, may be considered renewable and does not pollute the atmosphere while it is producing energy, its waste does pollute the biosphere as it is released.

The transport, mining and phases before and after production of nuclear energy does produce and release carbon dioxide and similar destructive greenhouse gases. When we read of green energy, therefore, we rarely see nuclear power included.

Those who support nuclear energy say that nuclear waste is not, in fact, released into our earths biosphere during its normal production cycle. They stress as well that the carbon dioxide that nuclear energy production releases is comparable, in terms of each kilowatt hour of electricity, to such sources of green energy as wind power.

As an example of the green energy production the average wind turbine, such as the one in Reading England, can produce enough energy daily to be the only energy source for 1000 households.

Many countries now offer household and commercial consumers to opt for total use of green energy. They do this one of two ways. Consumers can buy their electricity from a company that only uses renewable green energy technology, or they can buy from their general supplies such as the local utility company who then buys from green energy resources only as much of a supply as consumers pay for.

The latter is generally a more cost – efficient way of supplying a home or office with green energy, as the supplier can reap the economic benefits of a mass purchase. Green energy generally costs more per kilowatt hour than standard fossil fuel energy.

Consumers can also purchase green energy certificates, which are alternately referred to as green tags or green certificates. These are available in both Europe and the United States, and are the most convenient method for the average consumer to support green energy. More than 35 million European households and one million American households now buy these green energy certificates.

While green energy is a great step in the direction of keeping our environment healthy and our air as pollutant free as possible, it must be noted that no matter what the energy, it will negatively impact the environment to some extent.

Every energy source, green or otherwise, requires energy. The production of this energy will create pollution during its manufacture. Green energys impact is minimal, however.

On 7th December 2007 the government gave Zero-Carbon rated eco houses below £500,000 exemption from Stamp Duty Land Tax.  This relief is available on new houses and will continue until 30th September 2012.  With households in this country on the increase by 223,000 per year (according to government statistics) and an increasing awareness of ‘green living’ amongst the public many property developers have put this firmly on their business plans.  We spoke to leading builders of new homes in Cornwall, Percy Williams & Sons who specialize in green building design in the UK and have a unique development: Fairglen in Hayle.

Simon Williams from Percy Williams & Sons explained that the ‘Government declaration that Zero Carbon-rated houses were to be exempt from Stamp Duty Land Tax was at first a psychological shot in the arm to us over this project of eco houses, but a close study of the strict definition of Zero Carbon and how we might clear this hurdle ended in disappointment’

A Zero-Carbon Home needs to have energy efficiency in three areas, including heat loss, dwelling CO2 emission rate and net CO2 emissions.  If they meet the requirements an accredited assessor will inspect the dwelling and issue a certificate.

To receive the actual ‘Holy Grail’ of Zero Carbon is difficult at the best of times, as it requires a building to have a net production of carbon into the atmosphere of zero. At Fairglen in Hayle the houses are almost uniquely efficient for this sort of development, but in addition would need a wind-turbine to achieve the last bit of balancing electrical generation.  Because of the sheltered valley location that the site is in the turbine could not have been efficiently done.

With the help of John Peapell Sustainable Solutions, a specialist consultant in this area, Percy Williams & Sons were prepared to pay for a turbine on an existing site elsewhere and then pass the ownership of this to the residents’ management company. It would be just as economically feasible in that the savings in Stamp Duty Land Tax could be spent on this, and the house owners would continue to benefit into the future from income from the turbine and green offset credits.  Overall an economically and environmentally sound solution.

Unfortunately on examination of the detail of the legislation Percy Williams & Sons found it stipulated that the generation had to be ‘hard-wired’ to the development, not just owned by it.  

‘I did rather feel that the goalposts were not where one might expect them to be on this one; hardly any houses will achieve this at the moment without huge arrays of photo-voltaic panels or on-site wind turbines which of course restricts their locations to windier and less energy efficient sites. So it is quite safe for the Treasury to offer it’ said Simon Williams.

Percy Williams and Sons are continuing to develop state of art designed and environmentally friendly houses as this is where their passion lies, maybe the government will reward the public who choose to live in these house and the developers one day?

The modern lifestyle depends tremendously on the use and existence of fossil fuels. With levels of these fuels constantly decreasing, we should act now to become less dependant on fossil fuels and more dependent on renewable energy sources.

The decreasing levels of fossil fuels isn’t the only reason why we should begin to use renewable energy. Pollution is becoming a huge problem in many countries around the world, especially the developing world. With carbon emissions at an all time high, air quality can be very low in some areas, this can lead to respiratory diseases and cancer.

The main reason to switch to cleaner energy production methods is the global warming aspect. The more carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere, the greater the effect becomes. We can’t just stop using fossil fuels thinking that global warming will go away, but we can slow down and dilute the effects of global warming through the wide spread use of renewable energy resources.

There are many natural energy sources out there, but you have to decide which method is best for you, as all of these sources depend on your current environment.

The installation of a solar panel or a wind turbine to boost every homes power supply would be an amazing step forward. Some governments are in the process of supplying solar panels to hundreds of households to test this method of energy saving.

A technology set to be very important in the future is geothermal energy. With geothermal energy, you are able to extract heat from within the earth and transform it either into a hot water system, or if there is plenty of this energy, a geothermal power plant. Huge amounts of money have been flowed into research of this method, especially in recent years, in order to make the current technology more effective.

So there we have the reasons why we should turn to renewable energy resources which are more than likely to play a very vital and important role in our future society.

http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com

Picking a good carbon offset provider can be very tricky and usually can take some work. There are some generally accepted key principles that you want to keep in mind while picking an offset provider. Most large offset providers have third party verification, which is when an outside company verifies that the offset provider says they are doing what they are actually doing. Another important principle is permanence; the carbon that is offset is truly permanently not created. The last principle is additionally; the offset can not be business as usual.

You also then have to think about what kind of project you want to be involved in since there are many projects out there. Tree planting is by far the most popular and the most controversial. The key issue is that trees can die from drought, fire, or disease before they offset the promised amount of carbon. When trees are burned in a fire they will release carbon into the air, the exact opposite of what you want them to do. If you follow the news closely, there is new research out almost every week saying trees absorb more carbon than originally thought and a week later the news is that trees absorb less carbon then originally thought. I suggest that you stay away from trees as an offset project.

There are many other great offset projects like: renewable energy certificates, methane capture, and energy reductions. Each renewable energy certificate (RECs, Green Tags) is the creation of 1 megawatt of power usually from a wind turbine. Wind turbine construction is EXTREMELY expensive and selling RECs is a way to pay for it.

Cow dung historically was collected into big pools and allowed to just biodegrade, a byproduct of the biodegradation is methane. Methane is 10 times more potent a green house gas as carbon. One common offset project is to cover the dung fields capture the methane and use it to generate power.

Energy reductions is another important and under rated project. Companies can do many things to reduce the carbon foot print of existing buildings and new construction. There can be such a large reduction in carbon production that you can sell them as an offset project.

There are a few things that I think are important when evaluating a carbon offset provider. I hate when the provider pools your money and can not specify the project. The provider offers more then just tree planting, because it is not the best offset project. Most people tell you third party verification is king, a small provider that is doing a really great project can’t necessary afford to pay for outside verification.

Will offsets save the planet? By buying carbon offsets you are compensating for the greenhouse gases emitted by you in the atmosphere. A plaster strip can assist in curing the wound, but prevention is better than heal. Causing ecological procedures in your life will have major impact than the carbon offsets you are buying. It is indicated that the offset is equal to specified number of cars being reserved away from the road. Commuting by public transport or riding a motorbike can keep your car away from the road too! Physically sustaining a reason is more effective than an imperceptible reduction on your bank account. Your ecological activities like walking, riding a motorbike, utilizing public transport etc. will have a undulation effect on your neighborhood and workplace, and will convince others to pursue. Unconventional renewable energy The lighting, heating, air conditioning and amusement systems, also kitchen and laundry equipments all consume energy from the gridiron. Many of us would like to have a wind turbine or solar panels so that we may have a restorable, ecological resource of energy instead of depend on coal which contaminates the atmosphere. But in practice we are not able to manage it because of the primary costs. Yet there is a chance for running your business or home on alternative energy. Enquire from your local utility about the availability of eco-friendly energy. With additional payment on your standard energy bill you can help them organize alternative energy schemes. It is mandatory for utilities to arrange for providing of alternative, renewable energy equal to the kilowatt hours of the patrons who have signed for eco-friendly energy. When more people sign up for eco-friendly energy, plenty of solar and wind energy systems will have to be fixed. Be inquisitive about Carbon Those of you who are unable to effect ecological changes in your household and think that carbon offsets are the most excellent choice, should take your time to locate about the offset provider. Confirm the details about usage of funds, certification of projects, auditing by independent authorities, feedback from existing clients, and evaluation of rates with that of other companies. Can trees be offsets? One concept broadly recognized for carbon offsetting is planting of trees. As trees grow up, intake of carbon dioxide takes place and the captive carbon will not be released in the atmosphere until the trees are burnt or are decomposed into humus after they die. Although this is a real truth we are yet to know the effectiveness of trees in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. As a long time is required for the trees to develop, so the procedure of carbon capture will expand over that time. But our dilemma of climate change is imminent. So we can’t rely on trees alone to resolve the problem.