How Does Gas Win An Environmental Debate

Well today in Washington the Senate was debating environmental legislation that will put natural gas in the forefront on generating enough electricity to curb a demand for electricity that has run rampant in recent years.
Coal is to dirty and wind and solar are not dependable enough according to their line of thinking.
There is no doubt coal is dirty as anyone can see simply by looking at a coal miner at the end of the day. At the same time companies are ramping production on photo voltaic cells that are more stream lined as well as more efficient. They should be more cost effective as well. Ampulse Corporation, Golden CO. has raised $8 million along with various partners to step up production of PV products.


“Ampulse has assembled a strong management team along with key strategic partnerships with two renowned laboratories to develop a low-cost, high efficiency, c-Si thin-film PV solution for the residential, commercial, and utility-scale solar markets,” said Daniel Leff.

Wind is well positioned in the market place simply because development has momentum and oil is beginning to be so volatile because of supplies needed in countries like China and India. The shear number of cars alone added to just one of these countries is scary indeed. China's demand for oil alone is to exceed a jump of 150% by 2020.

In any event, the Republicans, today, were clearly trying to either obstruct or derail any progress on environmental policy as the Senate struggles to put rose colored glasses on the rest of the world.

What Everyone Should Know About Renewable Energy

It has long been observed and proven that nature has already provided man with enough resources for energy—sunlight, geothermal heat, tides, and wind. Because these energy are abundant, in fact, so abundant that they could be replenished perpetually, they have come to be known as renewable energy.

Though extended discussions about renewable energy and its sources can become winded and more complex, every average person interested enough should at least know the basics in order to grasp the concept of how incredibly beneficial these energy sources are.

Man has long harnessed the power of wind and had applied it for practical purposes, albeit in smaller scale such as the power produced in windmills. Current technologies had long converted these simple renewable energy mechanisms to develop wind farms that generate energy supply without the associated risk of pollution
. A lot of wind farms have been established in the United States and abroad to generate electricity. This provides proof on the increasing attraction of using wind power as source of renewable energy while decreasing environment risks and hazards. One critical consideration in establishing wind farms would the presence of constant strong winds, which is why many wind farms are located in elevated areas and even offshore locations are considered viable settings for this kind of renewable energy facility.

Renewable energy from water comes in many different forms. The most common would be the hydroelectric energy that is generated by waterfalls while some areas of the world also generate micro hydro systems that produce smaller amounts of electricity. Renewable energy is also tapped from currents deep under the ocean. This is termed as tidal stream power and several technologies have been developed to harness these viable source. Other sources of renewable energy generated from oceans would be tidal changes, temperature difference, tidal motions, and of course, waves.

Another viable renewable energy source is sunlight, which earth certainly has in abundance. There are numerous technologies developed to tap the solar energy and convert it into electricity, heating systems, and even cooling systems. Though most of these technologies are still in the initial stages, there is no denying the potential benefits promised by this renewable energy source. One of the leading concerns is cost of the materials used, though several affordable yet more efficient designs are still expected to be introduced into the market.

A lot of geothermal power plants had been built and have long been operational in several parts of the world. This is because this source of renewable source of energy generates power at low operating cost. Though some experts may contend that geothermal energy would not last as long as the others and is technically not renewable, it is still expected to provide large amount of power for a long time, even for a hundred years or so. However, it is still classified as a renewable energy source by the International Energy Agency and, like all other sources mentioned above, geothermal energy is reliable and environmentally friendly.

Though none of the renewable energy sources are considered to compete with fossil fuels just yet, it still provide some form of alternative for environmentally conscious individuals and communities in doing their share of lessening environmental degradation and destruction, something we can all ultimately derive benefits from.

Is There A Pattern Forming Here?

"Green Building" is a broad term used to describe the design and construction of sustainable and environmentally conscious buildings.

The driving force behind this is to lower our negative impact on the environment and, at the same time, make the buildings we live and work in safer and healthier for us.

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) statistics,`buildings are responsible for all of the following:

* 39% of US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions

* 70% of US electricity consumption

* 15 trillion gallons of water consumption



Even though there is still some controversy over the effect of greenhouse gases on the environment, the last two statistics are very important for those of us living in urban areas experiencing continuous growth, especially the American Southwest. With our population expansion, aging water and electrical infrastructure, and shrinking landfills, designing and constructing green and sustainable buildings makes practical sense from a utilitarian perspective.

In fact, USGBC data shows that green buildings use 36% less energy, require fewer raw materials, and divert less waste to our landfills. Furthermore, the "increased" cost of green building is only one or two percent more expensive than a conventional building. This minute difference exemplifies the tangible and long-term benefits of sustainable design, primarily due to the fact that green buildings conserve water and electricity. Thus, while they are more expensive to build, green structures will save money by conserving more energy over time.

Another push towards the green build movement is by local governments. More and more municipalities
are adopting the USGBC LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines for new
and renovated buildings. In 2006, at the USGBC Greenbuild expo, the Mayor of Denver challenged other major cities to see who can have the most LEED® certified green buildings. They are accomplishing this by offering tax breaks to private corporations and mandating sustainable construction for city-financed projects.

This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of sustainable projects built by LEED® Certified general contractors. However, this growth has not come without challenges. Currently, the following issues are restricting the number of green projects being built:

* Increased demand for green products has lead to long lead times

* New and unspecified materials are labeled “green” products which are not necessarily certified

* Building officials are struggling with a steep learning curve on how to evaluate these new products and sustainable building techniques



Despite these difficulties, the USGBC, sustainability advocates, and green building construction management firms are meeting to overcome these challenges.

The LEED® process is constantly under review and continues to adopt the latest codes and products. This includes Standard 189, a new minimum standard for green building. The USGBC is currently developing LEED® 3.0 and working with national code writers to include new products and techniques.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has even rolled out a new initiative called "Sustainability 2030," which at its roots, is looking to design all buildings by the year 2030 as carbon neutral. The USGBC has even initiated the Green Advantage Builders Certification for contractors to certify their knowledge in green building
techniques.

So what does green building mean at the end of the day? It's simple yet profound: Do the right thing for you, the environment, and the next generation. While most companies are concerned with their bottom line, they ought to embrace the idea that energy and water conservation, green building, and the use of "green materials" in construction stands to increase their savings over time while positioning them as a leader in environmental stewardship.

According to the USGBC, we spend 90% of our time indoors. Due to this fact, scientists have identified an increase in allergies, asthma, absenteeism from school, and even work. There have been numerous studies done on post occupancy productivity levels, which have increased within "green" built facilities. Not only does
green adaptation result in less sick days taken, but also shows an increase in productivity, job
satisfaction, and in the case of schools, better grades.

Sustainability in the News

It has been no secret that the nature seems to be bearing the brunt of human existence and that the state of the environment has slowly been degrading as time went by. Environmentalists have long championed environmental sustainability as the solution to this dilemma and its concept has slowly been spreading and being accepted in different parts of the world. In order to help increase awareness and understanding of sustainability, a lot of news websites has been created and maintained diligently by different environmental groups and concerned individuals who want to contribute to this good cause.

Such is http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/sustainability/ which presents lots of news related to the environment and natural science but still has a nice section focused on environmental sustainability. News on human health and on the political and social aspects of science is also included in the site. It is well maintained and up-to-date with pictures and illustrations to enhance browsing experience. There are also videos on scientific matters and subjects.

Another similar site is http://www.ecoearth.info/ which is maintained by the Ecological Internet Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on promoting environmental conservation through the creation of online portals, search engines, and blogs. The website is comprehensive in the sense that it collects environmental sustainability news from all over the world. It is a good site to visit for those interested in knowing about developments and policies being formulated in foreign territories to protect their environment. There are also excellent links to related websites for comprehensive searching and knowledge collection.

For some local news, there’s the http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/news.php maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara campus. Though most of its news items are related to the university and its efforts toward the practice of environmental sustainability, there are still several articles on local activities promoting sustainability.

Those interested on knowing about sustainability and its impact on the business world should visit http://www.greenbiz.com/. Furthermore, it promotes environmental responsibility among business enterprises, be it big or small. It is maintained by the Greener World Media Inc., which maintains other related websites such as http://www.greenerbuildings.com/ and http://www.greenerdesign.com/. The former focuses on developments regarding designing commercial and industrial buildings to be environmentally sustainable while the latter presents news on the efforts of companies to come up with product designs that are also environmentally efficient and sustainable. Other websites presenting news on the efforts of different industries to attain environmental sustainability include http://www.climatebiz.com/ and http://www.greenercomputing.com/.

Still yet another good website to browse for sustainability news would be http://www.conservationvalue.org/news.shtml which collects news and developments on a regular basis. What’s good about this site is that it also collects blog entries on issues related to sustainability and on the environment in general. It also dedicates a portion for green products and companies offering related services.

The website http://www.naturalnews.com/sustainability.html brings more than sustainability news, it also focuses on living the natural way. There are also videos, podcasts, and cartoons on environmental issues and its impact on human health and nutrition.

There are definitely more environmental sustainable news websites found in the internet and there is no doubt that more will be created and maintained because of the increasing interest and awareness of the general public. It is worthwhile to consider these websites as front liners in the fight against environmental degradation and damage that could hugely impact the very existence of humans in the planet.g

Support the Sustainable Farmer

This means that Fairtrade goods are often more expensive than those without the Fairtrade logo. Although people are now arguing that supermarkets are fueling their excessive profits by adding large mark-ups to these products This premium that the producer charges covers the basic food, housing, health and education needs of the local communities in countries such as India and Brazil. The Foundation awards a consumer label, the Fairtrade Mark, to products which meet internationally recognized standards of Fairtrade. It is the only such certification in the UK.

Examples of Fairtrade products:

*Fairtrade coffee
*Fairtrade Tea
*Fairtrade Chocolate
*Fairtrade Bananas
*Fairtrade Honey
*Fairtrade Sugar
*Fairtrade Fruit Juice
*Fairtrade Wine and Snacks
*Fairtrade Babyfood

The list of goods certified Fairtrade is growing daily as is the range of products available. The co-op changed all their own brand chocolate to Fairtrade a few years ago and now all the other big supermarkets are beginning to move into the Fairtrade market. Nestle have just released a Fairtrade brand. There has been huge controversy over this as many people are asking how a company that is subject to a boycott can pertain to have Fairtrade and therefore ethical principles?

Why buy Fairtrade?

Millions of small farmers around the world cannot get enough money to feed their families, send their children to school or invest just a few pounds into their farm. This is because people want to buy the cheapest goods possible and don't think about the people that working in poor condition and often receive less than £1 per day in wages.
Buying products that display the Fairtrade logo ensures that the producers of products such as tea, coffee and chocolate receive a decent income. Rather than being hit by the ever-changing price of their product on the world market, or being fleeced by a middleman who takes a chunky share of the profits, producers in a Fair Trade scheme are guaranteed a decent, stable price for their produce.

By buying Fair trade products that buy direct from farmers at better prices, consumers are improving the lives of producers all over the world. In Ethiopia, farmers can often get more then twice the price for their fair trade coffee then those that sell it on the open market. This extra money enables the farmers to educate their children and to break the cycle of poverty.

Many people struggle to find a reason not to support Fairtrade. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers. Fair trade is not about charity, it is about settling the imbalance which exists.

How do I know its Fairtrade?

Look for the Fairtrade Mark when you shop and make the choice to support small farmers and workers in the developing world, and encourage your workplace to switch to Fairtrade tea and coffee.

Listen To The Wind

Wind generators are one of the most reliable forms of alternative power sources on the planet.

They manufacture power by transforming the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy.

This energy is then either harnessed directly (in the case of windmills, for example, which were once used to change wheat into flour, or to pump water for farming) or coupled to a generator that creates a direct current that can be used in a more general sense.

In this article I will be talking about the type of wind generators that produce electric energy, as this is more useful to us in our daily lives.

Wind turbines are basically large windmills, with gigantic blades that rotate in the wind and produce power from the conversion of the wind’s force. Wind turbines are made of plastic, aluminum, steel and numerous other space-age metals.

Wind turbines do have a few negative effects on the environment.

One such negative effect is sight pollution. Wind turbines are very visible and quite unsightly because they must be put in proximity to windy, open terrain to be useful.

Wind turbines also require a great deal of energy in their manufacture. This energy is typically fossil-based, and it can take up to five years before wind tunnels are positive in terms of total carbon emissions.

Wind turbines also are linked to the mauling of rare species of birds. Birds have been mutilated as they passed through the turbine fans during migration.

Despite all of the downsides, however, wind turbines should be a choice when talking about a broad plan for renewable energy.

Once erected, wind turbines are amazingly efficient in a larger sense. They generate power from a natural, eco-friendly renewable resource, without the hidden social or environmental penalties that we incur with the use of fossil fuels.

There is no need to mine for fuel or to transport it; there are no global warming pollutants created and no need to store, process or dispose of toxic wastes.

At the low end of the scale, turbines can be as tiny as 5 feet in diameter and are capable of only a few hundred watts.

On the high end of the spectrum, turbines can be as big as 300 feet in diameter and are capable of generating two to five megawatts of power.

As with photovoltaic solar power generation, there might be rebates available for construction of wind turbines, and excess energy can be sold back to the power company.

Wind velocity is affected by topography and increases with height above the ground, so wind turbines are generally installed on top of large towers.

In a typical application, the wind turbine sits on top of a tall tower and generates low voltage direct current, which is used to charge a battery store.

This stored potential energy is ultimately used by routing it through an inverter that changes the low voltage direct current power into an alternating current that can be used in household applications.

By concentrating a substantial number of turbines into wind farms, a substantial amount of electricity can be stored and used, perhaps, for an entire city.

Because the wind doesn’t blow all of the time in many areas, wind turbines are used as adjuncts in hybrid configurations with many different technologies – photovoltaic panels and diesel generators, to name two – to provide a consistent source of electricity.

Unlike fossil-fuel stations, wind turbines are clean and green. They don’t create the carbon dioxide emissions that are causing greenhouse gases or the acidic emissions that cause acid rain.

Today’s turbines are divided into 2 categories: horizontal turbines and vertical turbines.

Horizontal axis wind turbines are actually far better at capturing the wind than vertical axis turbines given the same amount of swept area (which is the diameter of the circle traced by the outside tip of the rotor blades).

Although the public application of wind power has gotten widespread attention, there potentially is an even better use of this gift from Mother Nature, better than the massive wind farms you see on TV.

In fact, this alternate use of wind power could be a financial windfall for you.

Sustainability Works in Rural Mid-West Town

Imagine A whole town living off the grid. This is the Sci Fi stuff you see on TV. Maybe an episode from Eureka or something. Think again!
There is a small mid-west town in NW Missouri doing just that. Welcome to Rockport MO. This little town in wired to 4 wind turbines in the area. The excess is sold back to the electric company. No fossil fuels no nuclear waste . . . just wind power. The local farmers get income from the leases and local workers maintaining the towers and turbines make a living in small town America. It is a win-win situation.

Jim Crawford of the University of Missouri extension office says,

“We’re farming the wind, which is something that we have up here,” Crawford said. “The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it’s as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin…Anybody who is currently using Rock Port utilities can expect no increase in rates for the next 15 to 20 years…”

Take a look for yourself. The title to this post is a link to another article about this phenomena.

Who Am I?

That is the million dollar question each one of us could be asking ourselves. I wonder every morning for about an hour!! I then get along about my day and realize all these things I do, ideals I entertain and people I interact with and . . .and . . .and STILL I wonder who I am.

That said; I am passionate about a lot of things. I am passionate about people, politics, the earth, my children, God as I do or do not understand Him . . .Me . . . I Am. . .We Are . . . and last but not least my wife of 16 years.

I started this blog because I need some ways to advertise a web site where I'll be selling goods to the world of a sustainable nature. There are many other things I'll need to do of course but I needed to start somewhere so here I am. I would dearly love to make enough from this venture to stay home and run the business. Currently I only make it home every two weeks to see my family; my occupation keeps me traveling constantly. Someday!!!

On the political front I don't see much happening. In one corner we have McCain accusing Obama of being Brittany Spears and in the other corner we have Barak saying no he isn't. In reality McCain's ideas on solutions for our energy crisis don't appear to be all that far removed from Bush's. I think that it is very hard to pigeon hole McCain in the same hole as Bush even if they are from the same party. Let me put it a different way; had McCain applied for a job with the federal judicial system under the rule of Bush, he would have been turned down. All in all McCain is an alright guy. I had breakfast at the same table with him while in Antarctica and he is probably the most genuine human being in politics I'll ever meet personally in my lifetime. He is a very unassuming man; a man that is where he is because he is trying to accomplish a task not make a name for himself.

Barak, on the other hand, stands for change; change that is long overdue. Bush has made such a mess out of things that ANYBODY would be a welcome change at this point. The trouble is; does Obama understand what he is getting into and what it will take to straighten out the mess we are in. The economy is way out of whack our deficit is quoted as anywhere from 3.5 triillion (from the conservative estimates) to 9.5 trillion (taking in consideration what is owed to Social Security and some other things). In any event it is a mess and Barak will need some talented help if he is going to get America back on track. I'm not sure he can put together the right team.

Personally I think the next superpower will be the European Union. There is no way around it. They have largely stood back while the U.S. has tried to bail itself out of George Bush's war and we have borrowed ourselves back into a corner. The E.U., excepting the British, have been wise in staying out of a situation that can only end in humiliation.

We, as a nation, have the opportunity right now to take back our place as the worlds superpower. All we need to do is expend more resources in the direction of sustainable energy. To build whatever it takes to power the world into the next millennium is the challenge we must accept. The American people have the knowledge and innovation to do exactly that; provided they can get the funding to do it.

Oil Reserves

What makes Obama think selling oil reserves will solve any of the problems we have with oil today. Is it just a band-aid to lower prices temporarily? He can't be serious! It must be just a political ploy to get headlines. I thought he was an eloquent enough speaker to command headlines without pulling some lame stunt like that.

A couple of months ago, when Hillary thought we should shake loose of some reserves, Obama claimed it would do nothing for the prices or reserve stockpiles. Now he has taken an about face on the issue.

Come on Obama! What's with you anyway? How has our situation changed that we can now sell oil reserves and fix the oil problem. It hasn't! Your just looking for press!

It is a well known fact that oil prices today have a built in speculation cushion of about 30%. In other words, without speculators manipulating the prices they would be considerably lower. Even at that; how significant would it be. I say notta! At $2.80 per gallon; gas would still be to high. There just is not enough money in a consumers pocket to pay that price for gas continually. Add to it escalating prices at the grocery store and other places and it is clear; we need to do something drastic. Selling oil reserves is not it and neither is drilling off shore.

Drilling off shore will not fix the problem. We need drastic policy shifts of a green nature along with the incentives to draw serious investors out of the woodwork with enough capitol to dive into wind & solar power with the tenacity it takes to come out the other side with a workable solution that will at least LOOK like there may be some hope for a greener sustainable future.

If we end up taking a back seat on a global scale; it will only be the fault of the few holding the controlling interest in the oil supply in the USA. It doesn't have to be that way. We had what it took during the industrial revolution to see far enough to put us ahead of the curve far enough for it to last into this century. Now let's do it again. We are the free thinkers of the world. Come on; we can do it.