Green Energy Around the Houses: Small-Scale Hydro-Electrics

Providing green energy around the houses can be tricky. Take the case of an isolated mountain cabin deep within a forest. The heavy canopy of trees blocks most of the sunlight, and their thick trunks break up the down-slope winds, making investment in a solar or wind-powered energy source impractical. All you’ve got is a winding river in which to catch fish. However, with modest resources and a little ingenuity, this river can become your source of renewable power – a miniature hydro-electric power plant.

          Hydro-electricity is generally defined as electrical power generated through the use of force from falling water (such as in waterfalls or dams). It is currently the world’s largest producer of sustainable energy, supplying 17% of the world’s total output in 2005. Large hydropower plants around the world generated around 860 GW as of 2008, with small-scale plants generating around 250 GW. Potential is seen for hydropower to be a primary or auxiliary source of green energy around the houses for people living away from main power grids.

          Small-scale hydro-electric generators can be built in much the same manner as a home-made wind turbine. The natural flow of the river may be tapped and channeled to a dynamo or generator, which is wired to batteries for storage. A portion of the river may also be dammed to increase the potential energy (and hence the kinetic energy) of the water, thereby making the turbines spin faster, generating more electricity. Such set-ups have been known to give around 1 amp, creating more than enough power for a radio and a couple of light fixtures. What’s more, after the initial investments are made, fuel is unlimited and the device (as long as properly maintained), can run for a few years, making it a reliable source of green energy around the houses. Water power

Winds of Change: Tapping Green Energy Around the Houses

From the time when rural areas depended on distant substations and miles-long power lines, the tapping of green energy around the houses is now only a matter of innovation. In fact, all you need is an old dynamo, some PVC pipes, wires and a few other pieces of hardware. From these materials alone, you can produce enough power for all your essential household appliances – through the use of wind power.

          Ancient people have used wind power to steer the sails in their seafaring vessels and to grind their grain in windmills. Now, with the advent of modern technology, wind power usage has been shifted to bringing green energy around the houses of people. At the end of 2009, wind power supplied about 1.3% of the world’s energy usage, a total capacity of around 194,400 MW. Generally, wind power has a high capital cost (when we talk of wind farms), and the risk of structural and resulting physical damage is high. However, in areas where there are strong winds, these can provide a cheap alternative over traditional diesel-powered generators. All it takes is a generator, turbines (which can be cut out of PVC pipes), a mounting system to keep the turbines facing the wind, a tower, and batteries for storage. These home-made structures can generate around 14V DC, which can be converted to 120V AC.

          The 2009 figure of wind power capacity shows a 31% increase over the previous year. This figure supports not only the increasing popularity of renewable energy resources, but of wind power in particular. As of 2008, wind power costs from 5 to 14 cents per kilowatt hour. Of course, treated as a domestic power source to bring green energy around the houses of people, these costs depend upon the owner of the structure. Wind Power, Home Wind Turbines

Small-Scale Power Plants: Harnessing Green Energy around the Houses

Due to the ever-increasing accessibility of renewable energy sources and the steeply rising prices of their fossil fuel counterparts, the production of green energy around the houses seems to be the most practical way to go. As of 2008, a total of 19% of the world’s energy needs is supplied by these renewable energy sources. Green energy is generally defined as those that meet the present demands of energy consumption with little or no polluting by-products, thus preserving the environment for the benefit of future generations. An option is provided by several electricity retailing companies for consumers to purchase green energy; however, this does not necessarily ensure the delivery of green energy into your home. In some countries, only as little as 2-5% of the total energy pool comes from renewable sources.

            But as the adverse environmental effects of burning fossil fuels continue to influence renewable energy sources to become cheaper and more reliable, systems have emerged that allow efficient sustainable energy production even in homes. From photovoltaic cells that harness solar power, to wind turbines, to local hydro-electric and geothermal sources, options are available to bring green energy around the houses of those dissatisfied with the third-party grid approach. After the infrastructure for the harnessing of these resources is built, the fuel is free forever, the only other expenses being in the area of maintenance. This essentially brings to the consumer a one-time payment for unlimited energy resources.

            Clean energy investment is projected to grow from $77.3B in 2007 to $254.5B in 2017. This growth, remarkable for a ten-year period, is a testament to the practicality of investing on sources of green energy around the houses of people. Click Here!

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Biogas: A Good Source of Green Energy Around the Houses

The generation of green energy around the houses entails not only the use of renewable natural resources as power source; green energy must also be harnessed with as little pollution as possible, preferably with zero pollution. Interestingly, there is an exemplary form of sustainable energy generation that uses polluting by-products as fuel – the production of biogas from biodegradable wastes. This technology is especially famous for its use in farms and other rural places. Even some urban settlements have used biogas and similar biomass-related energy sources as a greener alternative for a household’s power source. This is in stark contrast to the fossil-fueled energy which still dominates the world’s energy pool.

            Biogas is generally a type of biofuel produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials, ranging from farm and kitchen wastes to sewage sludge. This characteristic makes the production of biogas as a green energy source around the houses of people not only practical, but also immensely environment-friendly.

            Biogas is produced through anaerobic digesters, air-tight tanks that transform biomass wastes into methane. This can in turn be used for a wide variety of purposes, including heating, electricity, and fuel for various modifications of the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, this raw kind of biogas can be upgraded for use as fuel in industrial machinery. In 2005, world energy supplied by biogas totaled 44 GW, and another 264 GW for heating.

            Overall, the use of biogas as an alternative energy source proves very beneficial, especially in areas with livestock or plantations which require the control of biodegradable wastes. It is very versatile, and a positive investment in the field of providing green energy around the houses of people around the globe.

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Solar Energy: A Free-for-All Source of Green Energy Around the Houses

Worldwide, solar energy is considered as one of the most promising sources of green energy around the houses. It is a prime source of renewable energy due to its constant availability (except at night, and even then, it can be stored in batteries) and ease of use (photovoltaic cells are solid-state, with no moving parts). Solar energy increased 83% in number of installations worldwide in 2009. Once found only in water-heating systems and in less-energy-hungry devices such as watches and calculators, solar power has now found its way into vehicles such as cars, buses and even airplanes, and can now be configured to suit almost any household electrical need.

            Solar energy is widely understood as any form of energy that comes from the sun. In the power-generation industry, solar energy is divided into two major kinds: photovoltaic cells and CSP or concentrating solar thermal power. Photovoltaic cells convert solar radiation into electricity through the use of semiconductors, while CSPs use lenses and mirrors to focus sunlight onto water pipes, generating electricity via the conventional steam turbine. A third category combines the preceding two, and is known as concentrated photovoltaics (CPV). Of the three, the photovoltaic technology (PV) is deemed most practical in producing small-scale green energy around the houses of people.

            Currently, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) are favored additions to newer infrastructures, either as principal or auxiliary sources of electric power. Most of these devices produce from 1 to 10 kilowatts (at $1.80 per watt in 2010, and expected to decline to about $1.50 per watt by the end of 2011). A significant obstacle in the use of BIPVs is the capital installation cost, which is speedily decreasing. Overall, domestic applications of solar power generation are replacing some of the other existing sources, especially in the developing world, bringing green energy around the houses of those who have them.

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Hydrogen Fuel: A Source of Green Energy Around the Houses and Streets

A certain type of fuel produces green energy around the houses and streets, turning out as its waste pure, laboratory-grade water. Cool? You bet! This is a trait of hydrogen fuel: the only renewable energy source that produces something extremely useful as its by-product. That, coupled with its reliability in power production, makes hydrogen fuel a likely candidate as a major sustainable energy source for the future.

            Hydrogen fuel is currently mass-applied only in the field of transportation, as fuel for environment-friendly vehicles. However, since it shows great potential, there’s no telling how far it will go in the future. In this system, pure hydrogen gas burns in the air and combines with oxygen, producing water and trace amounts of nitrogen oxide. Energy is delivered as heat (as in any other internal combustion engine). Because it is a gas, hydrogen requires up to four times more storage area than conventional gasoline, is just as safe, and only a third as light.

            Hydrogen fuel, which does not come naturally in a free state like other renewable energy sources, needs to be produced first. This production can entail other sustainable sources, such as solar or wind power. It has already been tapped for portable and stationary fuel cell applications, both of which can be attached to power grids, supplying green energy around the houses of its users.

            Because the amount of hydrogen present in the world is constant, and production has been stable with the establishment of newer methods, hydrogen fuel is now considered a source for renewable electricity. And yet, there are no sufficient technical and economic infrastructures currently existing to support its widespread use. However, as the pace of scientific advancements gains speed with the passage of time, we may yet see hydrogen fuel supply green energy around the houses of people. Click Here!