Buildings are the SUVs of US energy consumption,
gobbling up 71 percent of the nation’s electricity.
In this talk, Arun Majumdar, Director of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy
Technologies Division, discusses how scientists are creating a new generation of net-zero energy, carbon-neutral buildings.
FYI, Professor Majumdar starts speaking at about 3:33 
-(He will get you thinking)-
We talk to Hymini founder, Arthur Huang, about his wind and solar powered gadget
charging device from the floor of the first-ever Greener Gadgets conference.
-Good demo and a step in the right direction- -sam
Years ago small farmers all over the world used a simple system to generate their own electricity using a natural resource found everywhere – Wind. When power companies became commonplace and widespread people began to depend o them for their energy needs and left behind a reliable and self dependent method of generating power. Over the last twenty years or so, there has been a steady number of households turning back to wind as their power source, and why not.
Not only is it a cost effective way of providing power but also of doing your part for the environment. A person’s carbon footprint could be dramatically decreased by simply reverting to the wind as a source of power using one of the simpler methods of harnessing and generating electricity, namely, the windmill.
When one thinks of a windmill you probably have an image of Holland, where for years windmills have been commonplace and were used originally for turning mill stones to produce flour and crush grain. The windmill I recent times has been sprouting up not one at a time but by the dozen in the often seen “wind farms” across the globe.
Often standing 90 meters tall or more, these wind turbines are being installed by developers and even farmers as a business opportunity. The power generated from these turbines is fed into the national grid and the farmer gets paid for this service.
These wind turbines are on a large scale, but what can the householder do when on a limited budget. There are many who wish to do their part for the environment but simply don’t have sufficient funds to make the change over to renewable energy sources. Luckily enough to power the average size home using a windmill doesn’t require much equipment or money to set up. Comprehensive guides and manuals have been compiled with the energy conscious individual in mind.
To find out more on this subject or to read about how you can do your part for the environment visit the link below.
Analysis by Paul Gelling of an inexpensive grid tie inverter.
This inverter will plug into a normal wall outlet and allow you to produce 110 V electricity from a wind turbine or solar panel and lower your electric bill.
We are going to use this inverter on a wind turbine but first wanted to give it a thorough testing out to make sure it wasn’t a lemon.
To buy the grid tie inverter, click the following link: www.amazon.com To buy the Kill-a-Watt Power Strip, click the following link: www.amazon.com
We would all like to think that our homes are efficient when it comes to using energy. In actual fact many of us are falling down on the job.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be difficult to make changes that will make a difference to you. Once you start altering the way you live you will notice your energy bills coming down as well. This is a great spur to inspire you to look for other ways to improve your home as well.
So what can you do right now to make a difference?
Look around your home and see where all your plug sockets are. Most homes have a lot of them – and most homes also leave them switched to the on position even when the item that is plugged in isn’t being used.
Not every item can be switched off of course; if you tried it with your fridge freezer you would wake up to a large puddle the next morning. What about your kettle, your toaster, and any floor standing lights that you leave plugged in all the time? These don’t need to have the switch flicked on unless you are going to use them – and turning them off the rest of the time will save on energy throughout the year.
This is a good start, but there is a lot more you can do in other areas too. Take the task of heating your home for example. How much of the heat that comes out of your radiators escapes out of the house? If your windows are old there could well be gaps that will let the heat escape.
Look in less likely places as well. If it is windy outside and you can feel a draught from somewhere, take the time to find out where it is coming from. Draughts can get in through all kinds of gaps, and plugging them all up will prevent your house losing heat. You will probably find you can turn your heating down as well.
Of course not every energy efficient tactic is an easy and cheap one to take on. You will get the opportunity to use them eventually. If one of your kitchen appliances should break down for example, make sure you replace it with one that is energy efficient. All appliances are rated from A to G, and if you can find an A rated appliance which also has one or two plus symbols next to it, it will be better still.
The bottom line is that every little change you make can save you money on your electricity bill. When you add up those changes over the course of a year, you could be saving a lot of money by becoming more energy efficient at home.
Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
Wind turbine in Trento Italy spinning. 11 kW Gaia-Wind, good for powering farms,
country homes and other small needs.
New 11 Blade with battery and inverter!
Over the course of 10 mwind powerve recorded the installation progress of Michigan’s largest
renewable energy source: Wind Power!
This 4 minute video was created by Program Source International.
248-333-2010 www.program-source.com
We must admit to ourselves that we contribute much to destroying this world, to the ever increasing rate of carbon emissions that continues to damage the world we live in. If we are to join hands and make everything happen for the purpose of making this world a better place to live in then we need to do this for our own good. If not then we will just be contented in doing nothing when in fact there is much that we can do.
We have to conserve energy and we can start it at our own homes. How can we possibly do this? Here are some things that we can definitely do. Paint your house with light colors. Why is this so? This is because light colors tend to absorb less light rather than bright ones.
Other than that you also need to conserve water, make sure that when you use the dishwasher, it is full and no water is put to waste. Make use of fluorescent bulbs rather than incandescent ones which generates more energy. Turn off the lights when not in use as well as unplug appliances and electricity that are not being used at all.
Use appliances that have energy star label, you can save much money and electricity on this one. Learn to appreciate the sun, the cool breeze more. Let the sunshine come in; let the cool breeze serve as your air condition. Plant trees for future use. If you can do away with thermostat, then please do so. If not then adjust it to low capacity.
Those were just some of the energy efficient home ideas that you can make use of. Do these now, apply it to your own home and see how much it can do to help you out. Make sure that you do everything in your capacity to make everything right and according to plan. Turn your own home to something useful now.
This author writes about Run Your Home For Free and Saving Energy At Home.
July 16. 2010 carbon smackdown summer lecture: learn how
Berkeley Lab scientists are developing wind turbines to be used in an urban setting,
as well as analyzing what it will take to increase the adoption of wind energy in the
US Glen Dahlbacka of the Accelerator & Fusion Research Division and Ryan Wiser of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division are the speakers.