politics Archive

Solar Panels and the UK Climate

By
Terry B Jackson
Published: December 3, 2010Posted in: Solar PanelsTags: , , , ,

When we look outside our windows and see nothing but unpredictable weather, it makes it hard to believe that solar panels would actually work in the UK. This popular misconception is completely false, and in fact solar panels can be used effectively in the UK, just as they are used abroad in other climates.

We all know we have a rather unpredictable climate, ranging from hot and bright to cold and dull, so it can obviously make people question the feasibility of solar power in the UK. But the UK actually gets 65% of the sun’s rays that the equator experiences, which is not bad when we consider the equator is the hottest place in the world. Thankfully, the UK is at just the right angle to best harness the sun’s rays, which solar photovoltaic (or PV) panels can then convert into enough electricity to power the average 3 bedroom house.

Many people falsely believe that in order for solar panels to work, they need a constant source of sunlight. But actually solar panels can still produce some electricity on our cloudy British days. Homes can also store solar generated power with special batteries, helping us to save it for a cloudy day. But should we find we end up with more electricity than we need, it can even be sold back to the grid via the Feed in Tariff; a governmental initiative designed to encourage UK residents to invest in solar power..

We are all aware that fossil fuels are running out fast, and that something has to be done about ensuring we have a reliable source of power in the UK. Solar power is a popular choice because it generates energy pollution free, so we are not only able to generate our own power, but also able to reduce our home’s energy carbon footprint by up to 90%.

Providing not just Mother Nature with energy, solar power can provide your family home with energy too. By choosing solar PV panels, you can reduce your carbon footprint now, and therefore help preserve the planet for the future generations to come.

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Is Biofuel A Viable Oil Substitute?

By
Roger Vanderlely
Published: October 2, 2010Posted in: Green EnergyTags: , , , , , , , ,

The inevitable decline in oil production has already forced us to look for alternative fuel sources. Biofuel has been touted as a substitute, but we need to consider the impacts of this approach. Biofuel proponents suggest that by making fuel from plants we will be able to maintain our current fuel-dependent lifestyle.

How realistic is this scenario? We need to consider the costs associated with alternative energy sources. The biofuel concept is that sugars from plants are fermented into alcohols such as ethanol which can be burnt for energy. The sugars that plants produce fall into two broad categories and the treatment of these two types directly affects their profitability.

Simple sugars are the first group. These have up to three individual sugar molecules joined together. When we eat plant material, it is these sugars that we readily digest to give us energy. These are the same sugars that we use to sweeten a cup of coffee or tea. Such sugars are found in the fruiting parts of plants such as apples and corn cobs. Making ethanol from these parts of plants is cost effective and quick, as the sugar is easily converted to alcohol by organisms such as yeast.

The other sort of sugars in plants is those used to make the plant body. This tough fibrous material is called cellulose. Cellulose is made of the same sugar units as found in the fruiting parts, but they are strongly bonded together and these bonds are tough to break. We are unable to digest these sugars and they are known to most of us as dietary fiber. They can be broken up though, using an enzyme called cellulase. It is possible to produce cellulase commercially but it’s an expensive process and cellulase will not give 100% conversion of plant matter into simple sugars. The advantage of it is that any plant matter, whether that’s wood, paper or cardboard, can be converted into simple sugars and then into fuel. It is not necessary to use food crops to produce the fuel.

Presently almost all biofuel production is carried out using the simple sugars from corn cobs or similarly sugar rich plants such as sugar cane. Clearly, by using these crops to make fuel we are reducing the availability of food. With global demand for food rising and prices rising with it, it seems irresponsible to be using what little agricultural land we have to be making oil substitute fuels.

Biofuels may represent a partial solution to our energy needs, but they cannot be produced at the expense of food. Research into improving methods of breaking down cellulose needs to be done. If this can be done efficiently, bioethanol could mean a genuine step toward a clean energy world.

Find more information about this topic in the What Is Biofuel section of www.green-planet-solar-energy.com. You may also be interested to read about the production and properties of fossil fuels and issues associated with that industry.

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Can Nuclear Energy Replace Fossil Fuels For Electricity Production?

By
Roger Vanderlely
Published: September 30, 2010Posted in: Green EnergyTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nuclear energy is held up as the obvious successor to fossil fuels as a solution for producing base load mainstream electricity. But is nuclear a viable long term solution or just another quick fix?

There’s no doubt that fossil fuels have lots of problems associated with their long term large scale use. One problem is that of Peak Oil production, where we may have already passed maximum capacity production, yet demand is still rising. More serious than this is the very real possibility of significant and virtually irreversible climate change brought about at least in part by our continuous addition of Carbon Dioxide and other pollutants to the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels.

How does Nuclear energy compare to fossil fuels for long term production of mainstream energy? There are concerns about Nuclear power, some real and some imagined. If we think “nuclear disaster” most people will be able to recall the names of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl where reactor malfunctions caused lots of suffering. The reality though is that problems such as these, while potent, are extremely rare particularly when compared to the amount of electricity produced by those same reactors. The number of casualties in the coal and oil production sectors is far greater per year for the same amount of electricity production.

Storage of Nuclear waste is also largely an issue of the past with technology now available to store Nuclear waste in solid form, reducing virtually to zero the possibility of leakage, ground water contamination and so forth.

Weapons grade Plutonium-239 is another unpleasant byproduct of Nuclear energy. Enrichment of the fuel source is necessary to make it economically viable and this is where the Plutonium is produced. The use of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War has forever given nuclear weapons a bad name. It is worth considering though that production of these weapons is a political issue and just because they can be made does not mean we should ignore the possible benefits of Nuclear energy technology.

The reality for us though is that nuclear power relies upon supplies of Uranium and Plutonium that are themselves limited. While these resources may have only begun to be exploited, it is certain that if our current level of increase of energy consumption continues then Nuclear fuel will also face the prospect of its own peak production level.

It cannot be a responsible decision to replace fossil fuels with another energy source that is also doomed to run out in the foreseeable future. While those proponents of Nuclear power proclaim it as the salvation of our current situation they are not looking far enough into the future.

We need to be considering future generations when we make decisions regarding energy security. Do we want to hand our children a world swimming in fossil fuel pollution and nuclear waste, or a world that has a clean, secure power supply that has very limited environmental impacts? For solar and wind energy are proven technologies that can be implemented today to make that a reality.

Governments around the world need to start making intelligent decisions that benefit both us and the generations to come. A secure, clean energy source is obviously the way forward so large scale renewable energy production must be implemented immediately.

Get more information about Nuclear energy, coal and oil by visiting the Fossil Fuels section of Roger Vanderlely’s website. You will also find information on possible energy developments such as the Bakken Oil Field.

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What Is Climatic Change?

By
Anna Cross
Published: September 24, 2010Posted in: Green EnergyTags: , , , , , ,

Global warming… the phrase conjures up many a heated debate. Do you believe in it? Or think it’s a bunch of propaganda?

In the past many years, Global Warming is now one of the biggest arguments, with scientists broken down on if it prevails, what (or that) is causing this, and if there is an answer.

There are contrary scientific studies as well as papers on every side of this issue. Can it be a man*made problem, and therefore each and every personal carbon footprint is important?

Is it the bovine-produced problem and each animal that generates bodily waste plays a role in an increase inside the methane in the environment? Is it a new “blipInches on the pure climate cycle?

People have been researching whether or not the global atmosphere has been in a new warming trend as a consequence of gases ‘stuckInches in the surroundings, which prevents the global heat from dissipating, commonly called the particular greenhouse effect.

Basically, the greenhouse influence is the change of heat as well as gases between floor and atmosphere. The particular greenhouse effect can be a natural occurrence; it really is what keeps our planet at a human friendly temperature, with the ideal amount of o2 for humans, wildlife and plants.

People who can acknowledge that global warming is really a problem also acknowledge that there is absolutely no real solution. Your industrial years of air pollution, natural volcanic action and the elevated population have all ended in the gases in your atmosphere; conservation isn’t enough to turn back damage.

In short, evidence indicates that the planet earth is warming up. Would it be caused by mankind’s output of as well as, produced by each of our need for power; or by wildlife output of methane?

Are you worried about global warming? This is a really critical matter that has many worried. For more global warming articles, see GlobalWarming-Articles.com.

categories: Green Energy,Fossil Fuel,climate,global warming,environment,politics,current events

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The UK Government And Solar Panels

By
Sol E. Parr
Published: September 22, 2010Posted in: Solar PanelsTags: , , ,

To encourage more people to use Solar PV Panels and to keep up with legally binding EU targets the government has a number of incentives on offer. To combat the effects of climate change all EU member states must ensure that 15% of all energy used comes from renewable sources by 2020. But only 1% of power in the UK is from a renewable source at the moment.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change are launching the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in April 2011. This has been set up so that the population will begin using natural power sources like the sun, air and water instead of fossil fuels. Not only will you be paid for the energy that you generate but you will also make a saving on your bills.

The initiative is open to anyone in England, Scotland or Wales, be they a business or individual. To qualify for the scheme your solar equipment must have been fitted after July 15th 2009. Those who take part in the RHI from the beginning are expected to most benefit with the expected fall in price of PV panels. Even if the energy isn’t used the government will still pay you up to 18p for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of power generated.

There is also a feed-in tariff system which begun in Spring this year for families collecting renewable energy. Households can make a maximum of 36p/kWh and an additional 5p/kWh should they be on holiday and the power goes to the national grid. For a year involved in the campaign a family can expect to receive almost 1,000 in reward and save about 150 on their bills.

Despite these measures it is still very expensive to convert to solar power with some installations costing 10,000. They are, however, expected reduce the payback time from 14 years to ten.

The UK Government’s inventives are sure to encourage the installation of more solar pv panels in Britain.

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The UK’s Solar Feed-In-Tariff

By
Iain Green
Published: August 23, 2010Posted in: Solar PanelsTags: , , , , , , , , ,

Energy prices have risen drastically over the last few years, and are predicted to rise even higher over the next decade. Alongside this people are increasingly searching for an alternative to nuclear power, so they can power their homes in a more environmentally friendly way.

If you want to reduce your CO2 emissions, then solar PV panels can offer a realistic alternative to nuclear power to power your home or office. Due to the huge reduction in energy bills, having solar power already installed in your home can add 1% to the selling price of your home.

Solar power also has far reaching financial benefits. To get solar power installed in your home or office requires only the purchase and set up fees, and will require very little maintenance once up. But the benefits are huge, including a massive reduction in energy bills, by giving you the means to produce your own power from the suns light and radiation.

Since April 2010 there is even more financial benefit to using solar power. The UK Feed-In Tariff (or FIT) is available across England, Wales and Ireland, and is essentially a cash back system. The tariff means that any home or business generating its own energy through solar power, will be paid for this energy even if they use it all themselves. You will also be paid above the average rate of utility companies since solar power is more expensive to generate than nuclear power.

The tariff allows users the chance to make 44.3p for every unit of energy you sell back to the national grid, and a further 41.3p for each unit you use yourself. This regulation makes solar power a very beneficial alternative to nuclear. Solar power can reduce your bills, reduce your CO2 emissions, and make money with very little effort, regardless of how much of your generated energy you use yourself.

Find out more about the UK feed in tariff rates

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Why The Government Is Encouraging Solar Panel Installation

By
Zoe Chow
Published: April 23, 2010Posted in: GeneralTags: , , , , , , ,

Ever since technology made it possible to have home solar panel installation carried out, it’s been seen quite a pricey plan. A home improvement, indeed. And yes it has environmental benefits. But for many, the amount by which it could potentially cut power bills just was not enough to justify the incredibly high up front installation costs. This made it tricky for Governments to encourage people to go solar.

This was a problem for the Governments of the world, who were increasingly pledging to make ambitious carbon cuts. With solar energy being one way that, if enough people were on board, could certainly make those promises a reality, it was important that solar panel installation became an attractive option.

The UK government in particular made pretty big promises. At the Copenhagen climate convention in November 2009, they promised to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 60% by the year 2050. That’s pretty massive considering that only 1% of the UK population at present has any form of solar energy generation.

This meant something drastic needed to happen and the Feed In Tariff was introduced in April 2010. Essentially, what this means is that homeowners with solar panels installed are paid by the utilities companies just for generating the power! They are paid for every single unit of electricity at premium rates (allowing for the fact that it’s more expensive to generate electricity by solar means than using fossil fuels). They are even paid for the units that they themselves use. In addition, any units the household does use themselves, for example if their home is empty for a couple of weeks while they are away on holidays, are sold back to the grid at an even higher rate.

When you couple this with the fact that generating your own electricity will significantly lower your utility bills, it means that solar panel installation has been firmly positioned as more of an investment than an expense. And there’s another bonus too – adding solar panels to a home can increase the value of that property by 10%!

Get more information about home Solar Panel Installation

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The Benefits of Green Energy

By
Anna Cross
Published: March 14, 2010Posted in: Green EnergyTags: , , , , ,

V:0For a really lengthy time, we have relied on fossil fuels. It offers heat to our homes, gas for our cars and electricity. Because we are now utilizing it much more than ever, there is really a consequence. We’re depleting our resources and slowly killing our planet. Fortunately, we can alter our methods and then shift our attention to green energy sources.

But why green energy sources? Well simply because you can find benefits to utilizing them which we will in no way be capable to get if we do not alter our methods. This truly is also even if some will argue that the issue with green energy is that it’s occasionally hard to generate the energy we require. Whilst that might be true, that’s why you can find other green energy sources accessible and we just to know which ones are viable provided the geographic location.

The numerous green energy options for example solar, wind, wave, hydropower and geothermal don’t produce something damaging which might have a negative effect on the environment. This may be the exact opposite of what you get whenever you continue to run a coal or nuclear energy plant.

Coal you’ve to keep in mind releases carbon dioxide into the air. On its personal, it might not cause that significantly damage but you can find currently 50,000 coal plants around the world and that amount is expected to grow.

Nuclear plants might not release something damaging to the air. The concern is how we dispose of the spend rods and if an additional nuclear accident ought to occur. We keep in mind Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. We now have most likely learned much better methods to prevent an additional incident from happening. Via the years, a few minor accidents have occurred and even though the leak was contained, just imagine if it wasn’t?

Green energy options might not be maintenance free of charge but at least it doesn’t require that significantly to maintain them in comparison to traditional means. Within the end, we save cash simply because such facilities do not price that significantly to run.

The next advantage of utilizing green energy sources is that we will in no way run out of them. For centuries, the sun’s rays have reached so has the wind which is blown from the sea. By utilizing it, we decrease our dependence on oil which is truly a nonrenewable resource.

Should you consider it, numerous of us have taken these green energy sources for granted. If we do the correct point now, future generations will not need to face the mess that we could have handled on our personal years prior to.

In short, the energy is in our hands. We now have the technology and we know what to accomplish with it. The only point we require would be to do would be to put our cash where our mouth is simply because despite the amount of conferences on global warming and climate alter, small has happened.

It’s simple to talk about how concerned we are concerning the surroundings but you’ve to ask yourself when will much more solar panels or wind turbines will be erected? When will the amount of coal or nuclear energy plants be reduced?

Green energy options may be the solution to the environmental, political and social difficulties of this lifetime. By spending much more on these technologies, no country will need to depend on an additional or even a corporation for their energy needs simply because they’re self dependent and free of charge of charge.

Are you concerned about global warming? This is a very critical matter that has most concerned. For more global warming articles, see GlobalWarming-Articles.com.

categories: Green Energy,Fossil Fuel,climate,global warming,environment,politics

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