Renewable Energy – Info on the Different Sources, Resources, Credits, Systems of Renewable Energy and Related Education and Jobs, Comparison Between Renewable and Non Renewable Energies, and What the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Other Parts of the World are Doing to Improve Energy Efficiency

Image via Wikipedia When Did We Start Using Renewable Energy Sources? It is said that we started to use renewable energy when our ancestors learned how to produce fire using wood. Other than burning wood, they have at their disposal the other natural resources for their energy needs. Sources like water, sun, wind and geothermal heat were already being taken advantage of. The sun being the most...

Clean Coal – The Only Viable Solution

The use of coal presents a real dilemma to the power industry. According to statistics compiled by the Energy Information Administration, it generates almost half of the electricity in the U.S., yet it is globally recognized as a primary contributor to global warming, the cause for acid rain and a general pollutant. Thus, elimination of coal as a primary source of fuel, though encouraged by many...

Wind Power is for the Birds

The Basics of Wind Power Wind energy generates mechanical power or electricity via a wind turbine. The actual power can be channeled to basic mechanical tasks, or a generator, which in turn, turns the mechanical power into electricity. As a renewable resource, wind is among the top technologies involved in providing renewable energy, projected in 1990 to offset billions of pounds of carbon...

Electric Vehicles-Just the Facts

Are we Prepared for Electric Vehiclex As the automobile industry includes electric vehicles in its product portfolio, there remains more questions than answers regarding the affordability and applicability of electric vehicles for the typical consumer. And, as we address these questions, there is little, if any guidance on which makes and models offer the benefits we would expect from selecting...

The “Cost” of “Cheap” Energy

Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuels There is no doubt that energy created from fossil fuels appears cheaper to the U.S. consumer than some of the alternate (renewable) forms of energy. However, studies continue to substantiate the view that there are “hidden” costs, estimated as high as $120 billion in 2005. Please refer to this outstanding article for a perspective on these seemingly...

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs – Are they Helpful or Harmful?

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL) are the likely replacement for the traditional incandescent bulbs that have been the standard since the early 20th century. CFL’s have joined home thermostats and fish as potential contributors to mercury exposure. Since mercury is a neurotoxin, it can cause damage to nerve cells, and can be harmful even in small doses. The effects of mercury exposure can...

A Coming Bear Market for U.S. Electricity Sales?

Economic forecasters and business professionals alike are increasingly alarmed by the broad weakness of the U.S. economic recovery.  Forecasters in many sectors frequently highlight the “lost decade” of the Japanese economy following that nation’s stock market and real estate crash of the early 1990’s, and they openly wonder about parallel patterns in the U.S. and about the implications...

Energy Storage – Essential to Renewable Energy

Electric energy storage has becoming a more dominant topic of the overall energy management discussion primarily because of the: Increased production of electric vehicles being plugged into outlets for recharging every evening, Advent of net-zero homes, and Expansion of intermittent solar and wind generation into the mainstream of energy supply options. As these factors begin to take on greater...

Introduction to Nuclear Fusion

Inertial Confinement Process As the debate around the viability of nuclear power continues, particularly as the reality of the limitations of renewable energy sources become better understood, the advantages of fusion become ever more apparent: Abundance of the primary fuel, deuterium, which is one of the hydrogen isotopes. It can be readily extracted from seawater and tritium, another of the...

Extraterrestrial Energy – Moon or Sun Power

Control Room for Nuclear Fusion The search for viable forms of clean alternative energy continues as each potential solution carries with it significant shortcomings: Nuclear power presents environmental challenges, in the disposition of high and low level radioactive waste or in the event of a nuclear accident (e.g. Chernobyl), The sun can be impacted by the presence of clouds, Winds are...