Green Energy Is Here And Now – Are You Doing Your Part?

Green energy is no longer a thing of the future.  Green energy is here and now, and you should know what it means and how to make use of it.  Not only will green energy save you a ton of money when used correctly, but it will also have an impact on the saving of our planet.  With that in mind, how can you say no to green energy?

Solar energy

Solar energy is using the sun as an energy source.  Solar energy has been around for many years and you may already be using it in some aspect.  Many people use solar energy in their landscaping and outdoor lighting.  If your outdoor lights don’t need to be plugged into an electrical outlet and automatically turn themselves on when it gets dark, then they are using solar energy.

The same concept that powers outdoor lighting using energy from the sun can be used to power your entire home.  This is done by installing solar panels in the roof of your house.  These panels will then connect to your home’s power source and everything that uses electricity will be using the solar power instead of the power supplied by your electric company.  Solar panels can be expensive to install but look for government grants before you spend your own money, this can cut down on the cost.  Most people who install solar panels as an energy source for their entire homes make their money back within five years or so by not having to pay an electric bill.

Wind energy

Wind energy works much like solar energy, except that it uses the wind to generate a power source for your home.  Wind power is created by turbines, or windmills, that generate power as they are turned by the wind.  A large enough wind turbine, in the right conditions, can generate enough power to take care of all of your energy needs.

Water energy

Water energy is a wonderful source of energy if you live near a running stream or creek.  It works just like wind energy except the running water turns your mill instead of the wind.  Water energy has been used on farms for many, many years in outlying areas that were late to get power from the electric companies.

Giving and getting back

You can use one or all of these sources of green energy to power your home and help to save the planet.  You already know that you are giving resources to the environment by not using up so much of the electric company’s power source.  But did you know that you can also get back from the electric company by using green energy to power your home?  You will have to check your local laws, and with your electric company, but in many places if you generate more energy than you use the electric company has to buy that extra energy from you.  Yes, you read that right, the electric company could actually pay you a monthly electric bill for the remainder of the years that you own your green home.

With All The Renewable Energy Sources, Why Use Anything Else?

The world will never run out of renewable energy sources.  It doesn’t make sense that more of the world isn’t utilizing them.  Much of the world, including the United States, is still using up fossil fuels in order to produce energy.  The frightening thing is that the places that are using the fossil fuels are the countries that use more energy than any other place on the planet.  We will eventually run out of fossil fuels, then what will we do?

There are renewable energy sources that can be used in every city, every region, and every part of the world.  Sources such as the sun, the wind, and water are very easy to use to produce energy, and they are cheaper to use than fossil fuels, too.  Some smart cities are going green and realizing the benefits of it.  The rest of us should follow suit, and fast.

The most common sources of renewable energy are solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower energy.  Solar energy comes from the sun and can be used to produce electricity, heat water, and for solar cooling.  Wind energy can be used to produce electricity, as can the energy that can be captured from flowing water, called hydro energy or hydropower.

Some less commonly known sources of renewable energy are hydrogen energy, geothermal energy, biomass energy, and ocean energy.  Hydrogen and biomass energy come from plants and the organic matter that they produce.  These energies can be used as fuel sources to power automobiles and farm equipment, as well as to produce electricity.  Geothermal energy comes from beneath the Earth.  It captures the internal heat of the Earth and can be used to produce electricity as well as to heat and cool buildings.  Ocean energy is sort of a combination of geothermal and hydro energy, using the water heated by the sun as well as the energy from the ocean’s waves.

With so many sources of renewable energy, why would we use anything else?  Renewable energy is cleaner, with little to zero carbon output, it is much cheaper, and just as efficient as fossil fuel energy.  If those in charge are worried about miners losing their jobs, put them to work building wind turbines instead.

How Wind Energy Can Work For You

Wind energy is one of the simplest ways to reduce your use of fossil fuel electricity at home.  Wind is a renewable source of energy and can be used to power a generator large enough to significantly cut your electric bill, and in very windy areas of the country you may even be able to completely power you home with wind energy.  In fact, some city utilities have wind power plants to supply electricity to entire cities.

Wind energy is produced by wind turbines.  These are tall windmills with two or three blades.  The windmills are on towers and should be a minimum of 100 feet high in order to utilize the fastest wind and be above the turbulent winds.  This gives the turbine the most consistent spin.  The wind will then turn the windmill, which is hooked to a generator.  The spinning of the blades in turn spin the generator and produces electricity.  One large wind turbine can produce 1.5 megawatts of electricity.

Wind turbine energy can be used in conjunction with solar and hydro energy to produce more than enough energy to run a household and not reduce, but eliminate your electricity bills.  In addition to eliminating your electric bill, if you are on a power grid the electric company may have to purchase any extra energy you produce from you.  That’s right; you can get paid by your electric company each and every month using renewable energy to power your home.

There are federal, state and local grants typically available to assist you in remodeling your home to a renewable energy home.  This would significantly cut the cost of the remodel and you could recoup any remaining costs in a matter of a few years with the reduction or elimination of electric bills, especially if the power company has to buy the extra energy from you.

It just doesn’t make sense not to consider renewable energy for your home.  Whether you are thinking of remodeling your home or building a new home, look into renewable energy options.  Not only will it save you money by going green, it will help to save the environment.

Green Energy: Solar Home Competition Scheduled

Have you heard of the Solar Decathlon?  If you get to Washington, D.C. you won’t want to miss the Solar Decathlon in 2009.  This is a contest in which 20 colleges from around the world are chosen to compete in a solar home building competition.  Each team will be responsible for building a home of approximately 800 square feet that is completely powered by solar energy.

To submit an entry for the competition, colleges must submit a preliminary plan for the solar home.  Each will be reviewed and the best 20 plans will be chosen.  The students and teachers involved will be from all sorts of majors of study like architecture, engineering, interior design, and marketing.  The homes must be marketable to the public upon completion.

Each home will be about 800 square feet in design and must utilize solar electricity, solar water heating, and solar thermal energy.  The homes must be able to maintain a specific temperature and must produce enough electricity for the normal consumption of a family that might live in the home.  This includes enough electricity to power an electric car.

The homes must be publicly marketable, too.  The Solar Decathlon’s 20 homes will be on display for guests to browse through each home to get ideas of things they can do to go green in their own homes, as well as to generate interest in the purchase of new solar homes.  The architecture must be pleasing and usable, and the interior decorating must be inviting and livable.  There are a lot of different aspects that need to be implemented into the Solar Decathlon homes.

It is believed that the Solar Decathlons will help to move renewable energy homes to the marketplace at a faster rate.  The first of these events was held in 2002, then in 2005 and again in 2007.  2009 will be the fourth Solar Decathlon, and undoubtedly the best one yet.  The dates for the 2009 Solar Village exhibition have not been set yet, but they have been traditionally open to the public in mid-October.  If you are interested in attending it is recommended that you allow two full days to see all of the houses.  You won’t be sorry you did.

How Cities Can Use Green Hydro Energy

Could cities actually save money by going green?  One company seems to think so.  Hydro energy is the newest thing being tested to supply power to entire cities, and so far it looks to be far less expensive than the current electricity being generated by fossil fuels, with none of the harmful emissions or environmental hazards.

The only thing a city would need to utilize hydro energy is a source of running water and hydro turbine generators.  Several sources could be used for inland cities, including manmade streams.  Hydro energy is a constantly renewable, free source of energy, too.  So far, it doesn’t cost anything to take advantage of natural running water sources.

Not only would hydro energy save cities a ton of money, it would save the residents of the city on their electric bills.  This could have a significant impact on a city’s economy.  If the residents are saving money on utility bills, they will be spending more with the local merchants.  It’s a cycle that benefits everybody from residents to government to large and small businesses.

So why aren’t more cities using hydro energy?  There are a few who have shown great interest in hydro energy sources for their city, Toronto and Ontario, Canada for example. But only long term plans for major US cities are just being discussed and not close to implementation.

Toronto has already implemented its first city renewable energy project using hydro energy of sorts.  Toronto is using the cooler water from the depths of Lake Ontario as an energy source to run the air conditioning in 51 of the city’s office buildings.  This project is effectively reducing carbon emissions by nearly 80,000 tons and reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning by 90%.

More large cities around the world should look into using hydro energy to reduce their electricity consumption, to save the cities money, to save money for the businesses and residents of the city, and to do their part in saving the planet.  If everyone who is concerned about any of these issues would write a letter to their city officials, they will almost be forced to at least look into hydro energy and providing green energy resources for your city.