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Wind energy is getting a lot more attention now, concerns about the environmental impact of fossil fuels comes to public awareness, with concerns about global warming from CO2 emissions and nitrous oxide and sulfur emissions from coal. Furthermore, the global consensus is that we're at the point where fossil fuel prices are going to rise. While we're several centuries away from using our current coal and oil reserves, as the cost of extraction rises, the costs of energy will also rise.

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At the Going Green 2007 conference last week a panel sat down to discuss biofuels and whether the steamroller was actually moving on this energy front. The consensus from the panel of CEO was that there is indeed a [tag-tec]biofuels revolution[/tag-tec] going on and that big things are going to happen in the near term for biofuels.

Watch part one of the panel below:

Watch part two of the panel below:

Energy Tags: alternative, solar power

[tag-tec]Wind energy[/tag-tec] is one of the oldest forms of non-animal generated power used by human beings; in its simplest form, it's used as a sail for a sailboat. In the Renaissance, --escaped_anchor:3949681d2405620b39db6c5d5222622a-- was harnessed for more commercial applications by the use of wind mills to grind grain, and in the Netherlands, to run the pumps that keep the Zeuder Zee from flooding. Wind energy is getting a lot more attention now, concerns about the environmental impact of fossil fuels comes to public awareness, with concerns about global warming from CO2 emissions and nitrous oxide and sulfur emissions from coal. Furthermore, the global consensus is that we're at the point where fossil fuel prices are going to rise. While we're several centuries away from using our current coal and oil reserves, as the cost of extraction rises, the costs of energy will also rise.

As the costs of fossil fuel prices rises, the break even point for alternative energy sources such as wind and hydroelectric power make more economic sense. Furthermore, the environmental impact of wind energy is significantly less than the environmental impact of a coal or oil plant, and once the initial investment is paid out; there are no ongoing fuel costs to concern one with.

The best economic argument for a [tag-ice]wind energy[/tag-ice] collection facility is that it's a high up front cost, but lower average annual costs over its expected lifespan; in much the same way that it's best to pay a larger down payment to reduce your mortgage fees, the same logic applies to utility companies considering renewable resources.

From the consumer perspective, the best argument for using wind energy is that it's renewable. Nobody has to go to war to harness the wind, and it's not going to run out anytime soon. Secondarily, wind energy is zero emissions � no carbon dioxide or nitrous oxides are released into the atmosphere; this is an important factor as concerns about global warming rise. Most utility companies with wind energy plants give you an option to take a certain percentage of your electric bill from wind energy for a premium price; this is sound ecological sense for most households.

The principal downfall to wind energy is that it only works where there's wind blowing. Unlike a hydroelectric plant, you can't always rely on the wind blowing from the same direction with the same intensity, day in, day out. So it requires that the turbines be placed in an area where there's reliable high wind, which usually means wide open plains or up on mountain tops, neither of which are convenient for wind energy in urban areas. This also encourages storage of power generated by wind energy for later use, allowing a store-and-release model that relies on better power storage densities.

Craig Ritsema

For more information on wind energy resources visit http://www.energyresourcesnet.com/ or our Energy Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Ritsema

Energy Tags: wind, fuel

In recent times biodiesels have been advertised as the answer to all of the energy problems of the United States and other developed countries. What biological resources offer is:

* Cheaper fuel
* Cleaner air
* A renewable fuel source
* A homegrown fuel alterative, allowing the United States to become free from its over-dependence on foreign oil.

What Are Biodiesel Fuels?

Biodiesel is a fuel for vehicles of all kinds such as cars, trucks, buses and other such means of transportation. The renewable fuels are actually made from fatty acid alkylesters which can be gotten from vegetable oil, soybean oil, animal fats and other products such as recycled restaurant grease. It is safe in a lot of ways and can be handled, stored and transported easily.

What Are Its Benefits

If these renewable fuels are used in its pure form it makes for a fuel that burns much more cleanly and emits a lesser number of air pollutants. biofuels also help in the reduction of dangerous emissions of different hydrocarbons, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrated aromatic hydrocarbons. It also protects from other forms of particulate matter that tend to enter the air with the use of petroleum based fuels.

Scientific researchers currently believe that carbon dioxide alone is one of the major causative factors of greenhouse gasses which are linked in turn to global warming. The use of 100% biodiesel fuels is able to reduce the effects of dangerous greenhouse gases by as much as 75%.

The environment alone isn't the sole beneficiary of the use of bioogical fuel resources. Humans also benefit from the use of biodiesels. These sorts of fuels are better for both our lungs as well as our hearts; they also smell better to burn than diesel smoke.

Who Can Use Biodiesel Fuel?

A lot of these renewable fuel sources are currently available in one form or the other today. A number of gasoline stations today offer fuel that is partly a mixture of about 80% petroleum and about 20% biodiesels. The consensus however is that a whole lot more has to be done in order to provide fuels that are completely made of naturally renewable resources to the general public.

Quite unlike most people think, most vehicles that were built after 1994 can handle biological fuels; some of them require some little modifications while others require none at all. No special fuel pumps or filling stations are necessary and fuel can actually be made rather quickly and efficiently as well.

The soybean industry has been one of the proponents of biodiesel fuel for a long time now. The strong points in favor of biodiesel fuels are the positive effects it has on the environment and the nation's economy. The recent surveys conducted by the United States Department of Energy have shown that enough food exists to make approximately 2 billion gallons of biological based fuel.

The cost of biodiesels is quite negligible and soybean oil which is the more popular ingredient for biodiesels is the most expensive at 20 cents a pound. The total costs of producing 1 gallon of fuel based on soybean oil costs just a lot less than $1.50 per gallon. By using recycled fats and grease you spend even less at a little more than a dollar per gallon to make.

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Energy Tags: biodiesels