Alternative Energy - Why do we need it?

Why Do We Need Alternatives?

To answer that question, we need to start by discussing fossil fuels-what they are, where they come from, how they are used and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Within this context, the pressing need for alternatives becomes quite clear.

What are fossil fuels?

Most fossil fuels are formed from the remains of long-dead creatures and plants. Buried over the course of hundreds of millions of years, these carbon-based deposits have been converted by heat and pressure over time into such combustible substances as crude oil, coal, natural gas, oil shales and tar sands. A smaller portion of fossil fuels is the handful of other naturally occurring substances that contain carbon but do not come from organic sources.

To make more fossil fuels would require both the creation of new topsoil filled with hydrocarbons, and time-lots of time. Given estimates of current fossil fuel reserves worldwide, it's not possible we can wait out the problem, and continue our dependence on fossil fuels until new reserves are built. At current consumption rates, the reserves of oil and coal and other fossil fuels won't last hundreds of years, let alone hundreds of millions of years.

As for creating more, experts have pointed out that it can take close to five centuries to replace a single inch of topsoil as plants decay and rocks weather. Yet in the United States, at least, much of the topsoil has been disturbed by farming, leading still more experts to the disturbing conclusion that in areas once covered by prairie, the past hundred years of agriculture have caused America's "bread basket' to lose half of its topsoil as it erodes thirty times faster than it can form.

The Advantages of Fossil Fuels in Energy Production

There are many reasons why the world became dependent on fossil fuels, and continues to rely on them. For example, it has so far been relatively cost-effective in the short run to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity at strategic centralized parts of the grid and to deliver the electricity in bulk to nearby substations; these in turn deliver electricity directly to consumers. These big power plants burn gas or, less efficiently, coal. Since so much electricity can be lost over long-distance transmission, when power needs to be concentrated more in one region than another, the fuels are generally transported instead to distant power plants and burned there. Liquid fuels are particularly easy to transport.

Thus far, fossil fuels have been abundant and easily procured. Petroleum reserves worldwide are estimated at somewhere between 1 and 3.5 trillion barrels. Proven coal reserves at the end of 2005, as estimated by British, were 909,064 million tons worldwide. Coal, furthermore, is relatively cheap.

Perhaps the simplest reason why the world continues to depend on fossil fuels is that to do anything else requires change: physical, economical, and-perhaps the most difficult-psychological. The basic technology for extracting and burning fossil fuels is already in place, not only in the large power plants but at the consumer level, too. Retrofitting factories would be cost-prohibitive, but perhaps even more daunting would be replacing heating systems in every home, factory and building. Ultimately, however, the true resistance may be our nature. We humans tend to resist change in general, and in particular those changes that require us to give up longstanding traditions, alter our ways of thinking and living, and learn new information and practices after generations of being assured that everything was "fine" with the old ways.

Why Do We Need Alternatives?

If there are so many reasons to use fossil fuels, why even consider alternatives? Anyone who has paid the least bit of attention to the issue over the past few decades could probably answer that question. If nothing else, most people could come up with the first and most obvious reason: fossil fuels are not, for all practical purposes, renewable. At current rates, the world uses fossil fuels 100,000 times faster than they can form. The demand for them will far outstrip their availability in a matter of centuries-or less.

And although technology has made extracting fossil fuels easier and more cost effective in some cases than ever before, such is not always the case. As we deplete the more easily accessible oil reserves, new ones must be found and tapped into. This means locating oil rigs much farther offshore or in less accessible regions; burrowing deeper and deeper into the earth to reach coal seams or scraping off ever more layers of precious topsoil; and entering into uncertain agreements with countries and cartels with whom it may not be in our best political interests to forge such commitments.

Finally, there are human and environmental costs involved in the reliance on fossil fuels. Drilling for oil, tunneling into coalmines, transporting volatile liquids and explosive gases-all these can and have led to tragic accidents resulting in the destruction of acres of ocean, shoreline and land, killing humans as well as wildlife and plant life. Even when properly extracted and handled, fossil fuels take a toll on the atmosphere, as the combustion processes release many pollutants, including sulfur dioxide-a major component in acid rain. When another common emission, carbon dioxide, is released into the atmosphere, it contributes to the "greenhouse effect," in which the atmosphere captures and reflects back the energy radiating from the earth's surface rather than allowing it to escape back into space. Scientists agree that this has led to global warming, an incremental rise in average temperatures beyond those that could be predicted from patterns of the past. This affects everything from weather patterns to the stability of the polar ice caps.

Conclusion

Clearly, something must change. As with many complex problems, however, the solution to supplying the world's ever-growing hunger for more energy will not be as simple as abandoning all the old methods and beliefs and adopting new ones overnight. Partly this is a matter of practicality-the weaning process would take considerable investments of money, education and, most of all, time. The main reason, however, is that there is no one perfect alternative energy source. Alternative will not mean substitute.

What needs to change?

It seems simplistic to say that what really needs to change is our attitude, but in fact the basis of a sound energy plan does come down to the inescapable fact that we must change our way of thinking about the issue. In the old paradigm, we sought ways to provide massive amounts of power and distribute it to the end users, knowing that while much would be lost in the transmission, the advantages would be great as well: power plants could be located away from residential areas, fuels could be delivered to central locations, and for consumers, the obvious bonus was convenience. For the most part our only personal connection with the process would be calling the providers of heating fuel and electricity, and pulling up to the pumps at the gas station. And the only time we would think about the problem would be when prices rose noticeably, or the power went out.

There are people who have tried to convince us that there is no problem, and that those tree-hugging Chicken Littles who talk about renewable and alternative energy want us all to go back to nature. More often than not these skeptics' motivations for perpetuating this myth falls into one of two categories: one, they fear what they don't understand and are resistant to being told what to do, or two, they have some political or financial stake in enabling our fossil-fuel addiction. (And sometimes both.)

The reality is that except for altering our ways of thinking, there will not be one major change but a great many smaller ones. A comprehensive and successful energy plan will necessarily include these things:

• Supplementing the energy produced at existing power plants with alternative energy means, and converting some of those plants to operate on different "feedstock" (fuels)
• Shifting away from complete reliance on a few concentrated energy production facilities to adding many new and alternative sources, some feeding into the existing "grid" and some of supplying local or even individual needs
• Providing practical, economical and convenient ways for consumers-residences, commercial users, everyone-to adapt and adopt new technologies to provide for some or all of their own energy needs
• Learning ways in which we can use less energy now ("reduce, reuse, recycle"), using advances in technology as well as simple changes in human behavior to reduce consumption without requiring people to make major compromises or sacrifices

Alternative Energy is a crucial link in our energy future if we are to cut the oil cord. We present thoughts, ideas, info and news about alternative energy at Alternative Energy HQ. Get a free copy of our book "Cutting the Oil Cord - Using Alternative Energy in Your Life" at - http://alternativeenergyhq.com

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Love Me I'm A Liberal

Alternative Energy - Is the Future of Energy Green?

President Bush has called for a 22% increase in federal grants for research and development of alternative energy. Unfortunately, the world thirst for oil is growing, not reducing. One of the major problems of transition to alternative energy is that higher oil and gas prices stimulate the economy through increased employment of industry workers and service and supply companies who support the oil industry, and from oil company profits which keep stocks lucrative on Wall Street. So, as prices rise, companies and employees and contractors are not always inclined to look for alternatives. But if oil production starts declining as some scientist and oil executives predict, we may face major supply problems, especially when it comes to transportation--cars, aircraft, trains and boats for which we have no ready alternative to petroleum-based fuels.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates speculate that oil will peak sometime after 2020, but a number of oil geologists and executives predict it will happen much sooner. According to a controversial new model developed by a Swedish physicist, global oil production will peak sometime between next year and 2018 and then decline. While the amount of new technologies and infrastructures that need to be developed and built is staggering, corporation after corporation is springing up around the world, helped by various governments' tax breaks and rebate incentives, to drive forward the alternative energy mission.

Alternative or "green" energy becoming more profitable to investors and would-be employers, and the continued trouble-brewing in the Middle East, Nigeria, and other areas of importance to the oil-driven economy have made it clear to Americans that we are in need of developing new avenues of energy supply and production. Further, allegations that petrochemical processing and usage contribute to global warming are creating a world-populace demand for a switch to alternative forms of energy to decrease damage to the atmosphere.

Viable energy sources currently being developed, that can act as alternatives to mammoth amounts of oil and coal, include biofuels from things like corn, sugar cane, and soybeans, refined hydroelectric technology, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, the further building of atomic energy plants, the continued development of solar energy photovoltaic cells, more research into wind-harnessed power.

The most recently developed wind-turbine technologies have brought wind-produced energy which is more cost efficient as well as, typically, more market competitive with conventional energy technologies. Solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, technologies are already implemented in pocket calculators, private property lights, US Coast Guard buoys, and other areas. Because costs are falling, solar cells are becoming more common on the roofs of housing and commercial buildings and building complexes. Their energy efficiency (the ratio of the amount of work needed to cause their energy production versus the actual energy production) is steadily on the rise.

Photovoltaic cells create absolute zero pollution while generating electrical power. However, photovoltaic cells are not presently as cost effective as "utility produced" electricity. "PV" cells are not capable at present of producing industrial-production amounts of electricity.

Alternative energies derived from currents, tidal movement, and temperature differentials are poised to become a new and predominant form of clean energy. Some concerns for such energies have centered around the problems with the deterioration of metals in salt water, marine growth such as barnacles, and violent storms which have been problems in the past. However, these problems, for the most part, have been resolved through the use of different, better materials. Ocean-produced energy has a huge advantage because the timing of ocean currents and waves are well understood and reliable.

Vickie Adair is the senior technical writer at Media A-Team (http://www.mediaateam.com) and also publishes as a freelance writer. She writes for several websites such as http://www.houstonmanufacturers.com, an online directory and news site for the Houston manufacturing community, and http://www.natural-products-directory.com, a directory of online business that sell or manufacture organic and/or natural products.

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Are you entitled for Home Energy Grant Saving Scheme Aid?

If you are living in Ireland this is for you. As you are perhaps aware now the Irish Government is keen on encouraging the citizens to go for upgrades to critical building elements in their homes with a view to improve their energy efficiency, cut down on green house gas emissions and generally to have improved living conditions. Toward this end it grants specific financial aid for the initial investment cost through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, by implementing the HES or Home Energy Saving Scheme.

Can you apply?

This is a national scheme and therefore everyone (including landlords and multiple home owners) who put up houses before 2006 is entitled to apply. The year 2006 is made the latest limit because all houses built afterwards would have compulsorily followed the Building Regulations 2003 which generally make the building energy efficient anyway.

Note you must employ contractors who are registered with SEAI (for example Kinggroup.ie etc.), as one prime objective of the Authority is to improve the relevant construction standards, workmanship and techniques. Naturally all products and material used in the works for which grant is requested, must be new and unused before.

Only these upgrades are considered for grants

Currently only the following upgrade measures are considered. 

• Roof Insulation
• Wall Insulation including cavity wall, internal dry lining or external insulation.
• Installation/retrofitting of high efficiency (90% to 98%) seasonal energy efficiency gas or oil fired boilers (which necessarily make them high quality condensing type boilers such as for eg. Viessmann etc.) with heating control up grade.
• Heating control up grades only.
• Once for a BER document after work completion (which is currently Euro 100)

Ineligibility for HES grant aid

Due to a multitude of reasons (for example the scale and type of work undertaken) your building upgrading may not make you qualify for the grant aid. Make sure you do not have any of the following short comings, 

• Your proposed first grant application (and claim) for a measure on it's own, must be Euro 500 or more.
• Your boiler replacement must not be for a unit with efficiency 90% or lower.
• When you are only replacing your boiler but not the heating control upgrades to the specified minimum standards.
• If you have already received a grant aid previously from any one of SEAI aid schemes for the same measures.
• When you do not fully comply with the scheme Terms and Conditions and the requirements set out in the Application Guide and the application form.
• Applicant must be the home owner/land lord and must have full procession of the property.
• The HES application form must be fully completed with valid and accurate at the time of application.
• Applicant must provide Bank account and sort code details to enable electronic payment of the grant.
• Applicant must agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions of the scheme.
• All contractors proposed to be employed must be registered with the SEAI between the dates of application completion.
• Adequate funding for that phase of the project (under which the application is made) must be available with SEAI at the time of approval.
• All the relevant conditions for the grant must be met by the applicant beforehand.

Whether it is Ireland or any other country, the conservation of the environment and the resources for the generations to come, optimization of fuel usage and other resources while providing comfortable and safe living conditions to ones dearest kin is a prime duty and right. In the years to come you will save enough to find better use for what you have been wasting up all this while. Failure to make use of the facilities made available by the State towards achieving these goals cannot be described as wise.

Sam Braidley is a author who writes about green environment and home improving subjects to get more ideas about Green environment please visit http://www.greentech.ie

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Building a House in Ireland

n 2006, the residential sector accounted for just under a quarter of all energy used in Ireland & was the second largest using sector after transport. Energy is consumed by the sector for the purposes of heating, cooking, cleaning, washing, drying, lighting, cooling & entertainment.

Due to the fact that our energy is largely imported from a rapidly-diminishing resource of fossil fuels, there is a huge onus of responsibility on home-owners & designers to reduce the amount of energy required to live comfortably in our homes as well as significantly increasing the amount of fuel domestically generated from renewable sources. Irish consumer spend €6 billion per annum on imported fossil fuels - if we can be more energy-efficient and/or use domestically generated fuels, then the economic & employment benefits are very significant. Also, the environmental benefits will be enormous for the country & the planet at large.

For example, a house builder looking to build an energy efficient house in Cork, or an existing home owner looking to perform energy saving updates should consult with a specialist builder of Eco homes and sustainable buildings. The savings made in long term heating costs will be far greater than the initial investment in green building materials.

With this in mind, the Irish Government has adopted & published "THE NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY ACTION PLAN 2009 - 2020", the primary tenets which are as follows:

• 20% reduction in energy demand across the economy
• 33% reduction in public sector energy usage
• 10% of our passenger & light commercial fleet to be electrically powered

The Action Plan also states that the two major energy efficiency challenges that face the residential building sector are:

• To create a generation of buildings that meet expectations of comfort & functionality while significantly reducing energy usage & CO2 emissions
• To address the legacy of older buildings with poor energy & CO2 performance

The primary driver for improved energy performance in new buildings is the Building Regulations which are regularly upgraded. Contrary to some popular belief, building standards have improved thru the boom period, particularly when measured in terms of energy demand: a typical 2007 house will require 70% less energy than a 1987 house for space & water heating purposes. However, there are many more energy-saving measures to be rolled out. The 2002 Building Regulations are now being used as the benchmark against which ongoing improvements are being the measured. The 2007 Building regulations deliver a 40% more energy efficient house than the 2002 version, while the upcoming 2010 Regulations will increase that margin to 60%. It is envisaged that in 2013, Low Carbon Homes will become the new standard, which will increase the margin of energy efficiency to 70% from 2002.

Obviously, it will be a little more challenging to deliver energy efficiencies in the huge stock of existing housing, much of which was constructed to very low standards. It is estimated that 1 million houses approx require investment to improve their energy efficiency. As many as 300,000 houses built pre-1981 have little or no energy efficiency features & have very significant energy demand.

However, it is hoped that home-owners can be incentivised with a number of measures to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in order for the country as a whole to meet it's 2020 targets. In particular, homeowners are currently being encouraged as follows:

• Home Energy Saving Scheme: Grants are available for improvements such as cavity insulation, external wall insulation, attic insulation, condensing boilers, heating controls, etc
• Building Energy Ratings (BER): All houses or apartments for sale or rent now have to have a BER. As the rating will be likely to become a factor in the price or rent that can be commanded, it is hoped that homeowners/landlords will be motivated to improve their stock. This rating will also be critical for the incoming homeowner or tenant as it will indicate their annual energy costs.
• Smart Metering: The Programme for Government is committed to ensuring the installation of a smart meter in every household in Ireland. Smart meters support energy efficient behaviour in homes by offering consumers information on their energy usage and make clear the opportunities for change & improvement. They also include features such as net metering which allows users to sell micro-generated power to the national grid. International experience suggests that smart meters can prompt behaviour change, leading to electricity savings of at least 3%.
• Warmer Homes Scheme: This scheme addresses the problem of energy affordability by providing attic insulation, lagging jackets, draught-proofing, energy-efficient lighting, cavity wall insulation, etc at little or no cost to eligible households.
• Greener Homes Scheme: This scheme provides grants to home owners to install new renewable heating systems in their homes such as Biomass, Heat Pump & Solar Thermal.

The Government is also involved in other areas in their endeavour to deliver the target energy efficiencies, such as: better spatial & planning policies, consumer awareness campaigns, best practice design for social housing, etc.

The drive to low energy housing is a win:win situation for all stakeholders: energy costs are reduced, carbon taxes are reduced, huge economic & employment benefits, huge reductions in CO2 & Greenhouse gas emissions which will make it a healthier & more sustainable environment for all.

Submitted by Philip Hayes on behalf of Cork sustainable building specialists

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Green Housing and Real Wellness

If REAL wellness ever takes hold, it will affect all manner of environmentally friendly choices, not just decisions connected with physical and mental well-being. REAL wellness is about quality of life. Thus, REAL wellness enthusiasts are likely to be responsive to opportunities for acting responsibly and creatively toward the environment. The ethic of REAL wellness includes respect for The Commons.

My urban planning background makes me alert and responsive to that part of futurism that deals with the land use, open space, ecology and designs for living. An area of special interest is the evolution of the home in response to environmental crises, changes and challenges. In a REAL wellness world, the home of the future will have to be transformed into an environment created for sustainability, energy efficiency, optimal nutrition, family fitness organically attuned to nature. The trend in this direction is already evident: despite the weak economy and a stagnant building sector, green construction is already evident in the construction industry.

Our homes might not look like contemporary plant-friendly, glass-domed arboretums in our lifetimes, but they must become a great deal greener than they have been in centuries since the Industrial Age came about. It's time to rethink our living spaces, given the impact homes have on the ecosystem. The electricity, heating and water consumed by housing is enormous. One estimate (the U.S. Energy Department) puts the percentage of energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions for private housing at 39 percent. The size of our homes is also critical - all green thinking favors compact housing that is small (at least when compared with so many of the Mc Mansions of the urban wealthy) but does not feel small or constrained. Of course, other things (e.g., energy efficiency, resources used) must be equal or superior environmentally in the smaller unit, plus size will have to increase with additional occupants. In Key West, Florida, The Blue City Waves of Change initiative exemplifies many promising sustainability trends in housing. Given their location, these homes are specifically designed in disaster-resistant fashion. This is a vital consideration in coastal and other areas of the US and around the world, given the onset of climate change and rising disaster insurance costs. The Blue-Green building plans are rated by FEMA as near absolute protection.

This means they are tornado proof, insect proof, fire proof, earthquake proof and capable of withstanding hurricanes up to 300 mph. (Let's hope the builders used the equivalent of #4 rivets, not those cheap #3 rivets that Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Northern Ireland used to build the Titanic quickly and at reasonable cost, which fatally compromised quality and is now seen as the cause of the rapid sinking of the Titanic.) To learn more about Key West's Waves of Change, click here.

Recently, The Wall Street Journal asked architects to participate in a futurism exercise to design an energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable house without regard to cost, technology, aesthetics or the way we are used to living. What a neat idea. Designing for REAL wellness-oriented inhabitants to live in such housing was not a criterion, but the criteria that were assigned made resident health a key factor for participating architects and students. (See Alex Frangos, The Green House of the Future, The Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2009, P. R1.) The results of the brainstorming provide a sense for what might well evolve as new norms for housing come into play. Imagine homes with some of the following features:

* A garden façade. Plants that give shade and cooling and special housing surfaces that capture condensation for water use, decreasing reliance on wells that drain aquifers or municipal systems that lower lakes and other reservoirs.

* Spatial layouts conducive to work. This is key to energy efficiency in that work at home reduces, if not eliminates, driving - a huge energy-consuming custom.

* A rooftop reservoir that collects water and keeps the building cool and windmills that generate energy.

* Homes that emulate a characteristic of trees, wherein the surface contains a photosynthetic layer woven into the fabric of the exterior that captures sunlight.

* Design features that heat water and generate electricity, create oxygen and thereby offset any carbon produced elsewhere in the home.

* Gardens on walls. The plants not only nourish inhabitants; they offer shade and cooling and absorb heat more effectively than wood, brick, stucco or glass.

* Prefabricated stacked containers that allow uniformity of quality control and mobility for the homeowner.

* Ponds stocked with fish - the kind of fish people consume (e.g., tilapia), not just look at (e.g., goldfish).

* Structural features that convert sunlight into energy and carbon dioxide into oxygen. One striking possibility is a "biomorphic" outer surface material designed to function like reptile skin. It adapts to conditions - in bright sun, it turns dark and insulates; on dark days it allows light to absorb maximum radiance and heat.

* Attractive and functional design features (e.g., curved roofing) that facilitate shade in order to reduce the need for such energy drains as air-conditioning.

* Self-cleaning glass with special coating that uses ultraviolet sunlight to break down organic dirt which is washed away by rainwater.

* Self-repairing paints, glass and cladding - all infused with microscopic capsules of color that break open and automatically repair scratches and other damage.

* In lieu of wood or metals for upright framing, lightweight, environmentally friendly carbon tubes are utilized.

One of the most striking changes will be in heating and cooling sources. The homes of REAL wellness-oriented homeowners are likely be warmed by ground-source, heat-pump exchange systems. The temperature of the soil is relatively constant, so heat can be drawn in winter, cooled in summer.

As with most of the changes noted above, these systems exist, but technology advances are needed to bring costs within practical levels. One of the designs using new green technologies foresees a construction industry able to produce homes wherein nearly everything used therein is reconstituted and recycled. The illustration noted is a home like a tree. In the forest, a fallen tree biodegrades. In the home, as with the tree in the forest, building materials could be reused or, capturing the green spirit, returned to the Earth.

These features only begin to describe possibilities based on current uses and expanded technologies within range of feasibility. Our REAL wellness lifestyle passion does not operate in a vacuum. Those of us with a commitment to a cleaner environment, to safeguarding natural resources, to mitigating climate change, to protecting endangered and other species (including our own), to planetary citizenship, to saving the oceans and to all that is needed for restoration, sustainability and preservation will welcome the kind of advances described. It does not take a great stretch of the imagination to connect such awareness to our prospects for continued and expanded happiness, meaning and purpose and all the rest associated with quality of life for all people, everywhere.

Publisher of the ARDELL WELLNESS REPORT - an electronic newsletter devoted to weekly commentaries on current issues that affect personal and social well being from a quality of life perspective. The emphasis is on REAL wellness. REAL stands for the key issues embraced and advanced in Don's philosophy, namely, Reason, Exuberance, Athleticism and Liberty. Sample copy of latest edition by request. If you like it, you can sign up - the price is right - free. awr.realwellness@gmail.com

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Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all

I have only slipped away into the next room

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other

That we are still

Call me by my old familiar name

Speak to me in the easy way you always used

Put no difference into your tone

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed

At the little jokes we always enjoyed together

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was

Let it be spoken without effort

Without the ghost of a shadow in it

Life means all that it ever meant

It is the same as it ever was

There is absolute unbroken continuity

What is death but a negligible accident?

Why should I be out of mind

Because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you for an interval

Somewhere very near

Just around the corner

All is well.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost

One brief moment and all will be as it was before 

How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Death is nothing at all

Canon Henry Scott-Holland

1910