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According to an industry release this week biodiesel could help out with the summer energy crunch as drivers face higher and higher gas prices.
Here is a sample of that release:
As Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of the summer driving season, many would-be travelers are choosing to stick closer to home versus experiencing the pain of skyrocketing fuel prices at the pump. But as bad as fuel prices may seem now, they could be worse if it weren't for domestically produced, renewable biofuels such as biodiesel.
New data from the International Energy Agency show that global biofuels production has cut consumption of crude oil by 1 million barrels a day, offering savings of $120 million dollars a day. In addition, Merrill Lynch commodity strategist Francisco Blanch says that oil and gasoline prices would be about 15 percent higher now if biofuel producers were not increasing their output. The biodiesel industry is playing a key role in helping to address many of our nation's economic, environmental and energy security woes.
Read the rest of the biodiesel release here
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Energy Tags: alternative energy, wind power
Imagine that. The DOE has come out with a report that actually supports wind power and the role it could play in our energy strategy going forward. Instead of belittling it as an energy source as many have in the past the DOE study shows that wind power could help get us up to 20% of our energy supply by the year 2030.
"To dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our energy security, clean power generation at the gigawatt-scale level will be necessary, and will require us to take a comprehensive approach to scaling renewable wind power, streamlining siting and permitting processes, and expanding the domestic wind manufacturing base," said Andy Karsner, DOE assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The report, "20% Wind Energy by 2030," was released Monday.
Now of course there are obstacles to overcome in this wind development, such as building transmission lines, the pace of building turbines would have to quicken significantly, and the industries ability to ramp up would have to be increased. But the bottom line is that it is a positive step in the right direction. Instead of saying these energy sources won't help we are now saying let's give it a go and that is the right way to approach it in my opinion.
Still, the benefits are clear. Supplying 20 percent of our electricity from wind could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electric sector by 825 million metric tons, according to the report. It would also reduce water used in electricity generation, while reducing demand for fossil fuels.
Other impacts the DOE notes are a new source of income for rural landowners from leasing land for wind farms, tax revenues for municipalities in local communities, and the creation of well-paying jobs in a green industry.
Read the DOE report here
Energy Tags: wind power, energy resources
People can obtain lots of advantages of solar energy. Solar energy actually converts the sun's rays into electricity with the help of solar panels. It provides us the cleanest energy since it does not produce any harmful emissions. Furthermore, solar energy is an inexhaustible source of power. As long as the sun still shines, we can get the advantages of solar energy.
Towards a Greener Earth
Non-polluting energy is one of the major advantages of solar energy. Additionally, it is also soundless. The solar cells extract the energy from the sun without any sound. You can understand the benefit of switching to solar energy when you compare it to the other fossil fuel. The solar cells have no moving parts so the maintenance is easy and almost negligible. Furthermore, the cells have a long lifetime use.
Unluckily, the initial investment on solar panels and the installation of the system requires lots of money. You’ll find that it costs more than thousand of dollars. Nevertheless, after in the long run, you’ll get the advantages of solar energy excitedly since it can reduce your energy bills. You’ll get the advantages of solar energy exceed more than the way you spend money for the initial cost.
As the solar panels have a long life use, once the investments costs are met, there is no more drain only gain. When the system is installed and functioning well, you are free from power failures and blackouts and no more at the mercy of power generating companies.
The initial cost of solar energy is the weakness of applying solar energy. Solar energy at present costs twice as much as traditional sources of power generation which is oil and coal. Nevertheless, as natural sources of oil and coal run out, the cost of producing energy from such sources will increase.
The other drawback is that it is only possible to produce electricity during the daytime. But with good battery backups or provincial grid system, the distribution and flow of electricity is maintained to an optimum level.
The advantages of solar energy generation gain its fame in most of people. Lately, to produce electricity, you don't need huge power plants with expensive machinery. The electricity can be supplied at home without annoyance or any noise to people living in the area. Furthermore, the installation of the system is also maintainable and very easy.
Explore more about the advantages of solar energy, since there are many things you haven’t known and will be answered only if you visit the links here! These guidelines will make you smarter about solar energy!
Jerry Cahill asked: Fuels are the energy-boosters for vehicles. Without it no automobile can run on the road. But these fuels have always been a major factor in pollution problem. That is why alternative fuels or eco-friendly fuels have been discovered.
Biodiesel is one of them. It is equivalent to diesel, which is derived from biological sources. It is a non-toxic, eco-friendly processed fuel, and can be used in vehicles having diesel-driven engine. It is useful as it has less emission than petroleum and diesel. It can also possibly be used in the place of fossil fuels.
Biodiesel looks like a dark yellow colored fluid and is light. It easily gets immersed in water and thus has low density than water, and possess high boiling point with low vapor pressure. It is also non-flammable.
Several countries in the world now prefer biodiesel in their cars than other fuels and thus are also producing them. Australia. Canada Germany, India Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil are some of the countries that produce biodiesel.
Biodiesel has many environmental benefits that make it very resourceful. 1. It produces less emission of carbon monoxide (CO) and Carbon dioxide (CO2). 2. It contains less aromatic hydrocarbons like benzofluoranthene. 3. It reduces the emission of small particles of solid combustion products. 4. It can produce more nitrogen oxide (NO). 5. Sulphur content in biodiesel is low than that of others. 6. It ignites more quickly than other fuels, when added to the engine.
Biodiesel is prepared from hydrocarbon oil or fats. The most common ingredient used in its making is fresh soybean oil. Other things that are used for its production are mustered seed oil and waste vegetable oil.
These oils are mixed, mainly with methanol and sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, which acts as a catalyst and then filtered. The product produce is biodiesel and glycerol. It can be used in two ways- directly that is in pure form or with petroleum. Biodiesel is gradually becoming the favorite all over the world for its eco-friendly nature as today's world is facing the problem of pollution.
Moreover, it is also free from those additional problems that are common in case of fuels like petroleum diesel, and thus can be said that in the coming years it can be the world's primary energy source for transports. For this reason many companies are becoming interested in commercial level production of biodiesel for its good business prospect
Apart from this biodiesel is still a subject of research. Different researchers are working on it to discover other positive aspects of such a valuable product.
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Energy Tags: biodiesel, battery technology
The New Stimulus Plan For wind power Wind Power
In the coming year when the new U.S. administration takes control over the economy. We will see a stimulus that will include green energy steps toward wind energy . Since our demand for energy efficiency will continue to get stronger, eliminating carbon dioxide emissions will require adopting green energy practices. However, the cost has been prohibitively high for most of the commonly used and available methods. Generating energy from home has many possibilities, including getting a rebate or check from the power company for excess power that you've sold back.
One would hope that incentives given by the government will include, tax credits given to tax payers in some form of a credit on their taxes for energy efficiency purchases. Some tax credits were established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The credits can be taken on weatherization, windows, vehicle purchases and appliances. The specifics can be found out from the IRS, local government and your energy company. The credits are available to individuals and businesses.
The Next Step In Renewable Energy Green Energy
Some local governments and state governments already give incentives to residents that are energy efficient. To find out if you qualify for such incentives you should contact you local power company and department of energy.
Incentives are a great way to get people on board with energy efficiency. They can make someone choose an energy efficient product over one that is not. Energy efficiency incentives are something that may not be around forever, so go ahead and take advantage of them and move tward energy independence now.
Purchases of certain energy star appliances may make you eligible for rebates. These rebates are offered by partners of the energy star program. Many times your local power supplier will provide a list in addition to energy star.
Solar energy efficiency is very well the basis of the future of energy in this country. The homeowner will benefit from the incentives.
The Focus On Green Energy Environment
Public and private entities will benefit from the new administrations focus on solar energy making the U.S. energy efficient .
Solar energy is a favored renewable and it is easy to get . The new advances in solar energy are moving it quickly to the forefront of alternative energy sources. New equipment has been developed that allows for energy to be stored for use later when the sun is not out.
Several recent innovations in solar technology have brought us to the brink of affordable solar power that can be used anywhere. Flexible film solar can be built into just about anything, from awnings to bikinis. Now we will start working on affordability. New advances on how to put the flexible sheets together has recently become available. Even solar paint is on the horizon.
The next step to really getting solar everywhere as it should be it to have similar revolutionary advances in storage technology.
