Renewable Energy is energy which can be regenerated for an indefinite period of time, unlike energy sources which are generated through fossil fuels(which will eventually be depleted). Most renewable energy sources are clean sources of energy e.g. they don’t emit any green house gasses.
Some renewable energy sources are
- Solar
- Wind
- Geothermal
- Hydro Power
- Biomass
With the rising cost of traditional fossil fuels based energy, renewable energy is becoming a viable option. Renewable energy can be produced on a large macro scale to a small micro environment like solar heating at home.
While renewable energy has many advantages it has some disadvantages as well, one of them is intermittent supply. For example solar power only works during the day, you need an effective way to store the energy for later use.
So for the near future a combination of traditional energy sources like fossil fuels,nuclear energy and renewable energy is the most viable option.
Posted by
admin -
March 5, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Hydro Energy is a well known source of energy, but it has it social and environmental drawbacks. Large areas have to be dammed up which means displacement for communities, flows of rivers gets changed which has environmental effects etc.
Luckily there are small scale solutions available which have none of the effects of large scale hydro electric installations which take year to plan and complete and have all the negative side effects as described above.
A small South African company Onsite Energy are the producers and marketers of the Power Pontoon/Power Barge/Mini-Ptoon with Vurbine® technology which generates hydro renewable energy. To read more about them and their products visit http://www.onsiteenergy.za.net/
Categories: Hydro Energy Tags:
Solar Pool heating is an affordable way to heat your pool to a comfortable temperature for a once of investment in Pool Solar Panels. After the initial investment there are basically no running cost to heat your Pool.
Some Advantages of a solar heated pool.
- You can extend your swimming season
- No running cost
- Environmentally Friendly
- Solar Pool Heating is maintenance free
The only requirement is that you run your pump during the day while the sun is out instead of during the night. As you have to run your pump/filter in any case to keep your pool clean there should be no extra cost at all for a free heated swimming pool
By using CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights) instead of traditional Incandescent Light Bulbs you will save energy which equals to saved natural resources and you save financially as well.
| CFL Light | Incandescent |
| Watt | 20 | 100 |
| Hours | 8 | 8 |
| Price Kwh | 80 cent | 80 cent |
| Yearly price | R 46.72 | R 233.60 |
Even with the more expensive purchase price of a CFL it will pay of very quickly to replace your old lights with new CFL of a lower wattage. The CFL should have under normal circumstances a longer lifespan as ordinary light bulbs as well. So it will save some time as well replacing ordinary incandescent lights.
The only disadvantage of a a CFL is the tiny amount of mercury left behind, but there are many shops nowadays who provide a collection point for CFL so they can be recycled and disposed of in an environmental friendly way
Eskom said on Monday it expects to become a dominant solar energy player as it seeks to reduce its carbon footprint, with plenty of funding available to pay for renewable ventures.
Read More Here
Cape Town – In the run-up to World Environment Day on Saturday, the MEC for the Western Cape’s environmental affairs and development planning department has gone on a walkabout in Darling to personally asses the implementation of solar water geysers in the community.
The department has installed over 1 000 solar water geysers, but MEC Anton Bredell warned that people should not be completely reliant on the government.
http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Poor-community-in-hot-water-20100602
Who leaves their computer running 24 hours a day. I was guilty of that until recently. I don’t sit 24 hours a day behind my computer, so why would I leave it on ? It was pure lazyness for just having my computer ready in the morning when I sat behind my desk. I now switch of when i stop working in the evening/late afternoon and switch on in the morning again. So my computer is now off for at least 12 hours a day.
According to Green IT Week
By turning off your computer each night or when not in use (i.e. lunch times, weekends, when in meetings at night) for a year you save as much energy as it takes:
- to run a clock radio for 1,392 weeks
- to make 9,280 bags of microwave popcorn
- to wash 464 loads of washing
- to use your blow dryer for 5,568 hours
- to vacuum for 464 hours
- to produce 3,480 plastic bags
- to run your microwave 24 hours a day for a week
- to boil your kettle for 24 hours a day for 268 days
By turning off your computer tonight when you leave work you will save as much energy as it takes:
- to run a clock radio for over 3 weeks
- to make over 20 bags of microwave popcorn
- to wash over 1 load of washing
- to blow dry your hair over 12 times
- to vacuum for over 1 hour
- to light a 100 watt light bulb for over 10 hours
Food for though isn’t it.
Check out the new electricty cost calculator on our website. See how much you can save by switching to CFL’s or how much it cost to run your TV or playstation.
http://www.renewableenergy.co.za/electricity-calculator/
The trend toward homes that are powered by alternative energy sources, ranging from wind turbines and solar collection cells to hydrogen fuel cells and biomass gases, is one that needs grow and to continue into the 21st century and beyond. Read more…
Renewable energy is the energy of the future, but before it will be economically viable for the household users there are of course steps we can take to reduce our current energy footprint. Currently renewable energy as it is is more expensive money wise Read more…
Categories: Energy Saving Tags: current energy, electricity user, energy sources, hot water, household users, insulating materials, led lights, light bulbs, lower power consumption, moneywise, powerplant, renewable energy
Renewable energy in South Africa is gathering momentum, with the announcement of a new 300MW wind farm under development near the agricultural region of Caledon in the southern Western Cape province.
According to engineering consulting company Arcus Gibb Africa, the project is known as Caledon Wind and is using the expertise and experience of Swiss-based wind power development company Genesys Wind, the project manager. Read more…
Categories: Wind Power Tags: birdlife, cape bird club, energy generation, environmental impact assessment, generation project, local construction, massive energy, western cape province, wind measurements, wind power development, wind turbines
