May
3
2012
Brighton Earthship Solar Panels (Photo credit: Dominic's pics)
Guest Post
Solar panels have proven to be immensely popular with the UK public since the government introduced the Feed-in Tariff, a scheme designed to help reduce Britain’s carbon emissions through increased production of renewable energy.
Homeowners have been investing in solar panels with companies such as Evoenergy, turning their roofs into mini power stations. In return, surplus energy generated by the photovoltaic cells could then be sold back to the National Grid for 43.3 pence per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for a full 25 years. The government clearly thought the scheme had merit, but had obviously underestimated just how popular it would be.
Two years later and the UK’s solar power capacity had jumped from 26 megawatts to over 1,000, with a standard 4kW installation set to generate up to £1,200 per year. Now, the government – albeit a new one; the scheme was dreamt up under a Labour government – has begun scrambling to get the tariff reduced. After a legal battle, the High Court has ruled that the Department for Energy and climate Change cannot force the new tariff fee of 21p/kWh upon those who had signed up at the old rate. Later, the Supreme Court denied the government the right to appeal. The new tariff has been applied to installations taking place after April 1st.
Yet all this only serves to highlight the major cost and emissions savings that can be made through the use of solar panels. After an initial outlay, the cells will provide renewable energy and make a considerable dent in your electricity bills for 25 years. Furthermore, the government’s Green Deal scheme will allow homeowners and small businesses to borrow the initial start-up cost and pay it back across via fuel bills thorough the lifetime of the panels. Even at the lower tariff rate, the scheme is still a very valuable way of securing a greener, cheaper future for you and your home.
Furthermore, with modern technology on a continuous upward curve, experts are predicting that the future of solar panels will be cheaper still. Consultancy group McKinsey & Company believes that the recent growth seen in the solar industry has been hampered by “growing pains”, and is now entering a period of maturation which will lead to more stable and expansive growth. What does this mean for the typical homeowner? McKinsey & Company expects the price of solar systems to fall a further 40 per cent by 2015. So, regardless of the government’s attempts to contain it and control growth, the solar industry looks set to remain a hit with the UK public for some time to come.
May
2
2012
The Renewable Energy House (REH) headquarters 20 associations working in Brussels to promote renewable energies in front of the European Union. It currently houses 100 people and it preaches by example running the whole house completely on renewable energies. Now it also decided to be the first office building in Europe to go Zero Waste!
The REH knows better than anyone else that waste is, before anything else, a waste of energy.
Recycling vs producing anew from raw materials saves 95% of the energy for aluminum, 70% for paper & cardboard and 30% for glass. Going Zero Waste makes sense from the energetic point of view; the energy –and money!- savings will add to those already implemented in this office building by going renewable. Indeed, it is unlikely that in the short term renewable energies alone will be capable to solve the problems of energy supply in a world with soaring fuel prices, therefore zero waste complements perfectly the renewable energy sector for it saves vast amounts of energy that otherwise would be required in the extraction, production, transport and disposal process.
Following a study run by Greenovate! and Novociclo and after auditing waste arising in the building, a series of measures were proposed to increase waste diversion –waste that is not sent to disposal to the Brussels incinerator- to 90%. Among the measures to be applied in the next 3 years will be:
Replacement of the plastic bottles with glass-jars,
Sorting the organic waste and composting it in the courtyard,
Making sure that caterers serve food with reusable non-single use packaging and avoid buying single-use plates, cups or cutlery,
Maximize paper use –print both sides- and promote not crushing paper (1kg of crushed paper occupies 10-100 times more space than flattened paper),
Replace the 14 km/year of paper towels currently used in bathrooms with an alternative,
Reorganizing the waste collection points, etc
As a result of this combination of measures the REH should be reducing the amount of residual waste to less than 10% by 2015 whilst reducing the total amount of waste generated and saving money and energy.
On Tuesday 24th of April, after the presentation of the study and after having agreed on the proposals and targets for 2015 the terms of commitment were signed by the President of the REH, Jan Geiss, the Secretary General of the REH, Kim Vanguers, the director of Greenovate!, Astrid Severin, the President of Novociclo, Rodrigo Sabatini and the coordinator of Zero Waste Europe, Joan Marc Simon.
The application of the Zero Waste terms of commitment are now going to be monitored on a yearly basis to make sure that the targets are met and REH can be a certified Zero Waste building by 2015.
Courtesy: www.zerowasteeurope.eu
May
1
2012
Navajo Nation (Photo credit: kalavinka)
Renewable energy projects on tribal lands are fast becoming a reality. Tribal communities in the Southwestern United States reside on lands that are known to be rich with potential for the development of solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal facilities on a large commercial scale. Studies have found that tribal lands nationwide have the potential for producing up to 10 percent of the United States’ renewable energy. This development could mean lower rates for electricity, new directions for the nation’s energy industry and a new economic reality for some Native American tribes and their neighboring communities. To that end, tribal communities such as the Navajo Nation have begun to own and develop renewable energy projects on tribal lands.
This is no small feat. For decades, tribal communities in this region have suffered high unemployment, poor social conditions and widespread poverty. As the demand in the West for renewable energy grows, tribes have now recognized that they can diversify their resources and sell renewable energy and leverage their assets to spur economic development. This could create an emerging, domestic market that would serve as a vehicle for economic development and a source of long-term revenue for tribal communities. Continue Reading »
Apr
30
2012
Guest Post
In today’s world, there is a great deal of focus on green initiatives in many
different aspects of everyday life. People are focused on reducing their carbon
footprints by utilizing everything from electric cars to solar energy, and there
seem to be more and more organizations and movements directed toward saving the environment. Many of these efforts and practices have been, and will continue to be very effective – however, we will never realize our true potential to “go green” until we begin to put green initiatives into effect in our everyday lives. And to do this, we all need to better understand some of the little ways in which we can do our parts to help.
All you need to do to begin to understand how you can better contribute to living a more environmentally conscious lifestyle is to think about which everyday habits and applications you use that require energy. For example, consider one of the most basic energy-consuming things that you use each and every day: your home security system. This is exactly the sort of thing that you tend to use without even thinking about it, but which can often be used in a more energy-efficient way. Here are some tips for this specific example.
• Use a yard sign. Many people only consider the technological aspects of home
security systems when looking into buying equipment, and this can result in the
excessive use of technology, and, therefore, energy. There is very little sense, in
the average home, in investing in motion detectors, security cameras, laser trip
wires, and alarm systems – yet many people do just that. Instead of one or two of these extra features, consider putting a simple sign in your front yard, indicating that your home is protected. This is one of the most effective types of home security, as it notifies potential intruders that they are taking a big risk if they break into your home – and, even better, it uses literally no energy!
• Also, with the electronic features that your security system does include, be
mindful of how often you leave them activated. Many people do not bother to turn
their security systems on and off during the day if it is not necessary to do so.
For example, if you have security cameras on the exterior of your home, you may not feel the need to turn them off during the day, because they are unlikely to interfere with anything. Modern security systems allow for a great deal of control and monitoring, however, so you should be careful to conserve energy by turning them on only when they are most needed.
About the Author:
Alex Stewart is a blogger and contributing writer for Home Security System. He has also worked for various other online resources in the fields of security and home management.
