A forward-looking, responsible energy policy includes four basic principles, all of which can be achieved with technologies available today. Good energy policy should:
- Protect public health and the environment by promoting clean, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency technologies to reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels and nuclear power.
- Protect consumers and taxpayers by eliminating subsidies for polluting industries and strengthening consumer protection laws.
- Enhance our energy and national security by reducing our dependence on oil.
- Avoid drilling in
America
Renewable Energy
Tapping the Earth’s Potential
The term "renewable energy" refers to the use of the Earth’s systems and cycles to generate energy that humans consume on a daily basis. We have the technology to utilize the movement of the wind and water, the heat and light of the sun, and heat in the ground to create the electric power on which our society has come to depend.
Wind energy converts the power available in moving air into electricity. Wind power does not produce air emissions, generate solid waste, or use water.
Biomass is energy from trees and plants. This includes crops that are grown specifically for energy production and organic wastes, such as wood residues from paper mills and methane from landfills. Using biomass to generate electricity reduces global warming emissions if new plants are grown to replace those that are harvested.
Geothermal energy uses heat from inside the earth to make clean power.
Solar power captures the heat and light of the sun to generate electricity. Solar energy does not produce air emissions, generate solid waste, or use water.
Hydroelectric power captures the energy in falling water. It does not produce emissions or solid waste, but can have a relatively low or high impact on the environment, depending on the site-specific factors such as maintenance of water flow and water quality, fish impacts, and other land use issues.
At the present time, we get most of our electricity from the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include coal, oil and natural gas. The
Only two percent of our electricity comes from renewable energy. However, advances in renewable energy technology have made large-scale commercial development economically feasible. The
In order to increase our use of renewable energy sources, NET advocates for the enactment of policies that would encourage the development and adoption of renewable energy technologies. NET supports the establishment of a Renewable Energy Standard, which would require that a certain percentage of our nation’s electricity come from renewable energy.
Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen Economy
What is a fuel cell?A fuel cell is a device that converts the energy of a fuel (hydrogen, natural gas, methanol, gasoline) and an oxidant (air or oxygen) into electricity. The principle behind fuel cells was discovered in 1839. Using fuel cells to generate electricity dates back to NASA’s Apollo and Gemini missions - they are still used in space shuttles today. Fuel cells can be used to generate energy for cars, buses, homes and industry, as well as cell phones and laptops.
What are the advantages of fuel cells?
When fueled with pure hydrogen, fuel cells produce zero emissions of air and global warming pollutants such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide. Even when fueled with fossil fuels as a source of hydrogen, fuel cells offer significant improvements in energy efficiency, as they remove intermediate steps - like combustion - and mechanical devices such as turbines and pistons. Fuel cells can use hydrogen derived from a variety of sources including natural gas, biomass, wind, and solar energy.
Are fuel cells being used commercially?
Fuel cells already are coming into use now in commercial applications. Several fuel cell buses are already employed in public transport systems in cities such as Are there different kinds of fuel cells? There are many types of fuel cells, including PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane, which is used for small-scale applications like vehicles), molten carbonate (used for large-scale operations such as power plants), and alkaline (which is used by NASA). What’s NET’s position on fuel cells? NET supports
Fuel cells can be used to generate energy for cars, buses, homes and industry, as well as cell phones and laptops. For more about Fuel cells, see: |
Energy conserving landscapes reduce energy costs
ReplyDeleteStructure shading to conserve energy
DEFINITION:
"Energy conserving landscapes" reduce energy costs in a home during summer and winter. Ideally, the energy conserving landscape is also a water conserving landscape.
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CONSIDERATIONS:
It is possible to achieve as much as a 30% reduction in cooling and heating costs through careful landscape planning. Landscaping can reduce direct sun from striking and heating up building surfaces. It can prevent reflected light carrying heat into a house from the ground or other surfaces. By reducing wind velocity, an energy conserving landscape slows air leakage in a house. Additionally, the shade created by trees and the effect of grass and shrubs will reduce air temperatures adjoining the house and provide evaporative cooling.
The use of dense tree and shrub plantings on the west and northwest sides of a home will block the summer setting sun. This is the most effective landscape planting strategy. Additional considerations include the use of deciduous trees on the south side of the house that will admit summer sun; evergreen plantings on the north side will slow cold winter winds; constructing a natural planted channel to funnel summer cooling breezes into the house.
Carefully evaluate existing plants at a building site to identify those that can play a role in an energy conserving landscape. The established plants will require less effort to maintain and will generally be of a larger size and better established than new plantings.
Water is the source of life - treasure it! R5.
ReplyDeleteWater is the source of all life on earth. It touches every area of our lives. Without it, we could not thrive — we could not even survive.
Sustainability – “We strive to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
We should discourage wastefulness and misuse, and promote efficiency and conservation.
"Conservation is really the cheapest source of supply,"
For the benefit of mankind, maintain the quality of life and preserve the peace and tranquility of world population. Water resources must be preserved - to sustain humanity. We must eliminate wasteful utilization of water, conserve our water sources and implement rigid conservation methods. We should utilize solar and or other source of renewable energy to operate desalinization projects from the oceans. Utilize renewable energy sources to purify and transport the water to its final destination. As world population increases the scarcity of water will become a cause for conflict, unless we take steps now to develop other sources of water for drinking, rainwater harvesting – storm-water and gray-water utilization. Designing of landscaping that uses minimal amount of water.
"With power shortages and a water scarcity a constant threat across the West, it's time to look at water and energy in a new way,"
To preserve the future generations sustainability, we should look into urban farming – vertical farming. The term "urban farming" may conjure up a community garden where locals grow a few heads of lettuce. But some academics envision something quite different for the increasingly hungry world of the 21st century: a vertical farm that will do for agriculture what the skyscraper did for office space. Greenhouse giant: By stacking floors full of produce, a vertical farm could rake in $18 million a year.
YJ Draiman, Energy, Telecom and water conservation consultant