Browsing Tag Dependence On Fossil Fuels

Man’s over dependence on fossil fuels has brought about disastrous consequences.  Global warming and Climate Change have been directly attributed to the release of green house gases due to the use of coal, oil and gas. Non-renewable energy sources are not effective, and cost far more than they offer in benefits.

Renewable energy sources absolutely sustain life because they do not emit carbon-based warming and harmful substances into the atmosphere. Additionally, it helps the people live an economical life by not paying the monthly bills on home energy consumption anymore.

Do you want to know what are renewable energy sources and how you can use them to produce free electricity to run your home? The truth about global warming is that it is becoming a much more serious problem that is becoming very hard to deal with today. The main renewable energy sources are examined below.

Solar, wind, and water are renewable energy sources that are friendly to the environment. With awareness to the limits of our natural resources, practically everyone is considering renewable energy solutions.

Residential Solar Power

The residential solar power makes a difference to your family and the Earth where you live in. With the residential solar power at home, you will be able to cut-off some financial expenses.

Harnessing solar power may be extraordinarily affordable if the energy system is all homemade. The storage cells can be used to store the power made during daytime and this will be still in the position to run during night or at times of the blackout.

To successfully turn your home into a residential solar power you need to be situated to a place where there is plenty of sunlight. An open space area would be very feasible to generate more solar energy.

Residential Wind Energy

At present, wind energy is used in a few places to generate electricity, and the feasibility of more wide spread application of this use is being studied.

Wind may be used as a renewable energy source. The energy that can be generated out of the wind power generators is limitless. Unlike the typical energy source produced by private companies, wind energy provides a lifetime power that you need.

Bio Fuels

Bio-fuels are also a renewable energy sources. They have been around for a very long time however just lately, people are beginning to take notice. Liquid bio-fuel which is the one used in cars is a natural and renewable domestic fuel that can only be used for diesel engines.

This can be made from vegetable oils mostly soy and corn. In fact diesel engines were originally created to run on vegetable oil! The nice thing about bio-fuels is that they contains no petroleum, and they are nontoxic and biodegradable.

The fact that we have so many different types of renewable energy sources to choose from means we can use them to our benefit. Some people have already proven the use of renewable energy sources to be very effective that’s why this energy saving idea has been shared to many users nowadays.

The beloved planet we live on, will have no oil resources by 2056. At least that’s what some brainy men think. Renewable energy solutions are sources of energy that will never expire and help the environment. There only about three different types of these energy solutions that can be considered renewable energy solutions: using solar energy, wind energy solutions, and use of hydro energy solutions.

The world’s growing demand for energy combined with the fragile state of earth’s environment means that renewable energy solutions are becoming increasingly important.  Renewable energy generation can provide homes, businesses and communities with their total power requirements, supplemental power or back up power.

If you are a resident in an urban or suburban area who is interested in switching to renewable energy you will probably find the traditional approach difficult or impossible. Renewable energy solutions are currently available no matter what the needs of the customer may be.  

Environment

We are beginning to recognize that our dependence on fossil fuels is hazardous to our environment and getting more and more expensive every day. The importance of obtaining energy that does not harm the environment cannot be understated. Along with the great possibility of reducing the amount you pay for your power bills, you can also help the environment on the problem on energy crisis and global warming without any much effort.  

Wind Power

We all know that wind power is a great improvement over fossil fuels when it comes to our environment. Another benefit is that wind power and wind generation does not have an impact on the surrounding environment. The fact that wind power is a great option for our environment is an enormous benefit, but so too is that fact that we would have complete control over this power source. Currently, however, wind power accounts for a small percentage of energy generated from renewable sources.

Solar Energy

Sun has always provided the earth with heat and light. Solar energy is the most abundantly available and free source of renewable energy solutions. In addition to being very cost effective and environmentally friendly, solar energy systems have many other advantages.

This means that, after a short time, the systems will have paid for themselves, and will continue to provide completely free energy for a long time thereafter. It seems that more and more homes that are requesting solar hot water systems are coming equipped with metal roofs.  

Conclusion

Most people would love to have their electric bill reduced. Unfortunately, many people either don’t want to build their own renewable energy solutions or they are totally unaware of the option to do so. Believe it or not building your own renewable energy solution is very easy as long as you follow a DIY energy guide.

Think of these benefits plus doing your part to make the world a greener place.In addition to making you money and helping the environment, these renewable energy systems are low maintenance.

Product Description
The greatest challenge of our time is to build a world based on the sustainable use of renewable power. Our massive dependence on fossil fuels has upset the very climatic system that made human evolution possible. The global economy and its financial system are in jeopardy, running hot on overtly cheap yet increasingly costly and fast depleting oil. A 100% renewable world is seen by many as an impossible dream in anything but the very long term. But not only does a … More >>

100 Per Cent Renewable: Energy Autonomy in Action

In an effort to reduce energy usage across the country, the federal government has begun offering tax incentives for homeowners who purchase and put into use methods and means of creating and utilizing renewable energy.  The administration of President Barack Obama has expanded upon existing incentives and added new incentives in an effort to encourage home builders and existing homeowners to convert to renewable sources of energy rather than maintaining a dependence on fossil fuels.

Technologies that are eligible for the incentive include solar water heaters, photovoltaics, fuel cells, wind generators, geothermal heat pumps, and other technologies that employ the use of solar electricity.  Geothermal heat pumps are required to meet energy star certification requirements, while solar water heaters must be certified by the SRCC in the state in which they are installed.  Half of the energy or more used to heat the water within the home must be derived from solar sources.  It is also requires that fuel cells have an efficiency of electricity-only generation of thirty percent or more.

The standard allowance for renewable energy sources is thirty percent of the cost, though there is a cap on many of the incentives if they were installed before January 1, 2009.  Systems installed after this date have no maximum incentive.  The deduction caps on these systems vary and are as follows.  For solar-electric systems, solar water heaters, and geothermal heat pumps installed in 2008, the cap is set at two thousand dollars.  For wind turbines installed in 2008, the cap is set at four thousand dollars.  Fuel cells have an incentive cap of five hundred dollars per 0.5 kW.  It is also very important for homeowners and home builders to know that any excess credit gained from these incentives may be carried over into the succeeding tax year.

In order to claim these tax incentives, homeowners must file IRS Form 5695 with their Federal Income Tax Return or as part of an amended return.  This tax credit was initially established in 2005 as part of the Energy Policy Act, and was extended as part of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008.  In February 2009, the credits were enhanced and the bill extended until 2016 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In all, there are a number of federal incentives to encourage the transition to renewable energy sources as well as to help offset the costs associated with doing so.  Homeowners should also look into the various grants available to consumers looking to build a home that utilizes renewable energy as a primary energy source.  Most states offer additional incentives from the use of these energy products, and homeowners are urged to look into both state and federal incentive programs any time they are considering the utilization of renewable energy sources.

The alternative energy consultants tell us that the transition from the petroleum-driven economy and society will not be a smooth one, on the whole. The amount of new technologies and infrastructures that need to be developed and built is staggering-even as Germany achieves powering 10% of the entire nation through the use of wind turbines and solar arrays, even as corporation after corporation is springing up, helped by various governments’ tax breaks and rebate incentives, to drive forward the alternative energy mission. We have lain dormant on alternative energy on the grand scale for so long that we now have to scramble to play catch-up as access to cheap oil lurks ever closer to being a thing of the past.

Consultants on alternative energy also tell us that we need multilateral, international efforts in concert with one another in the direction of getting away from the heavy-almost total-dependence on fossil fuels. They are poised to become too expensive, burning them is polluting the atmosphere, and digging for them is disrupting the natural environment. We have about 30 years left of reasonably cheap oil and gas-and consultants say that within 20 years beyond that point, we had better be at least 90% independent of them. Unfortunately, at the present time the world is mostly not acting as if this is the case. The thirst for oil is growing, not slaking, and it is growing faster now than it did even in the 1970s.

One of the major problems of transition, the consultants point out, is that higher oil and gas prices stimulate the economy (This flies in the face of what many energy so-called “experts” and many members of the public believe, but the fact is that oil and gas are found and manufactured and transported by huge corporations who employ multitudes of staff workers and contractors; and from their huge profits their stocks remain lucrative on Wall Street.). Alternative, or “green” energy has to become more marketplace friendly, more profitable to investors and would-be employers. Wall Street does not like change; so there is resistance to this much-needed economic transition. It is because of this that many consultants are saying that we need an international, governments-backed initiative put into place; we are told that we cannot expect the new economy to spring forth overnight, all clean and polished and perfected, from the black ashes of the fossil fuel economy phoenix.

It is most imperative that the wealthy, big-production nations such as the US, Japan, Western Europe, and others be the ones to spearhead the effort to get off of the fossil fuel dependence. Smaller, poorer nations are very simply never going to achieve the level of energy production through coal and oil that these nations have-for by the time they would be ready to, the cheap access to the fossil fuels will be gone, and they will never be able to sustain their newly-risen civilizations at that time as we have been able to do. The time for transition from black to green is now.

Renewable energy sources are a viable alternative to the global dependence on fossil fuels. This article explores the basic nature of some of these sources of renewable energy in existence today.

Most parts of the world make use of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil at the moment for all their energy needs. These sources of fuel are considered nonrenewable because the society tends to use them faster than they can be renewed.

Nonrenewable energy sources make up about 90% of the energy that is currently being used today. These sources of fuel are constantly being depleted and since they are known to have adverse effects on air quality they cause human as well as environmental problems. A greater emphasis is currently being placed on renewable energy sources in order to get energy. Most renewable energy sources that we have consist of solar, hydro, geothermal and the ocean energy sources. These sources of energy never become exhausted and they are friendly to the environment as they do not add to greenhouse effects or cause global warming.

Solar energy is one of the most readily available sources of energy. The energy of the sun has been used as a source of energy for billions of years. Prehistoric men magnified the strength of the sun in order to create fire. Nowadays you have solar panels which absorb energy in order from the sun to produce heat for cooking as well as heating and also for electrical needs. Heat absorption is stored for use later on and is an indirect conversion of such energy. Electric companies are currently trying to use photovoltaic technologies in order to convert solar energy directly into electricity.

Hydro energy tends to draw on energy that is produced by flowing water. Waves are one result of the winds interaction with the sea surface. This interaction ends up producing a transfer of energy which can then be extracted for power generation while using turbine generations. Hydropower may not be polluting but it can cause environmental harm, hydroelectric generating stations can easily change the flow of the seas and do harm to plants as well as animals.

Wind energy which is a form of kinetic energy tends to be drawn from the movement of the air. This energy has been used for centuries in order to aid sailing, grinding of grains and irrigation too. Nowadays you have wind turbines that transform energy from wind into mechanical energy or in order to charge your batteries. Wind machines or wind turbines collect kinetic energy by trapping the wind in their blades; these blades now turn an electric generator in order to produce electricity. Unfortunately on days that there is no wind, wind energy cannot be collected. Though it is a clean form of energy it has negative effects on the wild bird population and a number of people consider these giant wind turbine machines an eyesore.

Biomass energy is derived from wood, garbage, food crops, manure, grasses, plats, agricultural as well as forestry waste and residue. Biomass energy tends to come from refuse. It is not a new source of energy and it was used in wood burning centuries ago which supplied at least 90% of the energy needs at the time. When biomass is burned the result is either heat or electricity. Biomass may also be converted into methane gas which is the primary ingredient of natural gas. Natural gas makes up 3% of the energy currently being used in the United States today. Biomass can pollute the air and releases greenhouse gases but it does not pollute as much as fossil fuels.

Geothermal energy refers to the heat of the Earth. This sort of energy is drawn from hot dry rocks, magma, hot water springs and geysers. These can all be found within the Earth’s underground. Some can be found deep within the earth while others are much closer to the surface. Currently this energy can be used to heat water within swimming pools as well as spas. This energy is also used to warm up greenhouses. It may also be used to produce electricity through the use of a geothermal power plant. In such plants hot water travels through turbines which have been connected by a generator.

Ocean Energy is derived from ocean waves and the differences in temperature of the water. Wave energy is a kinetic energy that is derived from water movement. Tidal energies trap tidal waves in reservoirs located behind the dams. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion makes use of the differences that exist in water temperature from the surface water to water depths that are further below as an energy source. In order for this to work, a temperature difference of at least 38 degrees Fahrenheit must exist.