Alternative Energy for the Home

Posted on May 12th, 2010 by admin in SCIENCE | No Comments »

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 to continue into the 21st century and beyond. We have great need of becoming more energy independent, and not having to rely on the supplying of fossil fuels from unstable nations who are often hostile to us and our interests. But even beyond this factor, we as individuals need to get “off the grid” and also stop having to be so reliant on government-lobbying giant oil corporations who, while they are not really involved in any covert conspiracy, nevertheless have a stranglehold on people when it comes to heating their homes (and if not through oil, then heat usually supplied by grid-driven electricity, another stranglehold).

As Remi Wilkinson, Senior Analyst with Carbon Free, puts it, inevitably, the growth of distributed generation will lead to the restructuring of the retail electricity market and the generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. The power providers may have to diversify their business to make up for revenues lost through household energy microgeneration. She is referring to the conclusions by a group of UK analysts, herself included among them, who call themselves Carbon Free. Carbon Free has been studying the ever-growing trend toward alternative energy-using homes in England and the West. This trend is being driven by ever-more government recommendation and sometimes backing of alternative energy research and development, the rising cost of oil and other fossil fuels, concern about environmental degradation, and desires to be energy independent. Carbon Free concludes that, assuming traditional energy prices remain at their current level or rise, microgeneration (meeting all of one’s home’s energy needs by installing alternative energy technology such as solar panels or wind turbines) will become to home energy supply what the Internet became to home communications and data gathering, and eventually this will have deep effects on the businesses of the existing energy supply companies.

Carbon Free’s analyses also show that energy companies themselves have jumped in on the game and seek to leverage microgeneration to their own advantage for opening up new markets for themselves. Carbon Free cites the example of electricity companies (in the UK) reporting that they are seriously researching and developing ideas for new geothermal energy facilities, as these companies see geothermal energy production as a highly profitable wave of the future. Another conclusion of Carbon Free is that solar energy hot water heating technology is an efficient technology for reducing home water heating costs in the long run, although it is initially quite expensive to install. However, solar power is not yet cost-effective for corporations, as they require too much in the way of specialized plumbing to implement solar energy hot water heating. Lastly, Carbon Free tells us that installing wind turbines is an efficient way of reducing home electricity costs, while also being more independent. However, again this is initially a very expensive thing to have installed, and companies would do well to begin slashing their prices on these devices or they could find themselves losing market share.

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Causes Of Global Warming

Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by admin in SCIENCE | No Comments »

There are scientists who say that global warming not only exists but it is a threat to the entire planet and will result in more hurricanes, less food and eventually if not controlled, the death of most living things. There are other scientists who say that there really is no global warming and we have little to worry about as the earth at times gets warmer and then cools off. Then there are those that says that the temperature of the earth is definitely heating up but since the atmosphere has changed little, then what we have is not global warming but simply a need to take measures to cool down the earth by making what scientists consider small changes. But let’s say for the sake of argument that global warming does exist. If it does what are the actual causes?

Source: Solar Energy Home

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Posted on April 17th, 2010 by admin in SCIENCE | No Comments »

Going on holiday for most people is the chance to chill out and get away from their everyday life for one or two weeks, or if they’re lucky, maybe even more than that. You want to enjoy yourself and not have to worry about all the mundane tasks that normally face you on a daily basis. Relaxing and enjoying yourself is what holidays were made for. But in order for you to fully relax, you need to be assured that you are covered for all eventualities. You do not want to have to worry about what you will do in the unlikely event that some disaster befalls you while you are away from home. Imagine how you would feel if your apartment was broken into and your valuable possessions were stolen? Or if your luggage was lost at the airport and you had to wait days before you got your bags back? Travel insurance may be an extra cost but you are paying for the peace of mind that it will provide if anything were to go wrong.
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History Of The Touch Lamp

Posted on April 17th, 2010 by admin in SCIENCE | No Comments »

The TOUCH LAMP was invented by someone from Freeport, New York named Scott Kunen. He first applied for the patent in 1984 and later got another patent in 1987 as a continuation and upgrade of the first patent. The upgrade involved having the control device being able to be plugged directly onto the wall so that it won’t require any additional wiring anymore. Today, there are many models of touch lamps ranging from table lamps, wall sconce, and floor lamps. It is usually the metal part of the lamp that has to be touched for it to light up. Some can be tapped one to three times to choose the level of brightness.

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