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Advantages of Alternative Energy
The Major Benefits of Using Alternative Forms of Energy Like Wind & Solar
The ongoing discussion about energy is one that can be polarizing. So, just what is the advantage of alternative energy over fossil fuels?
While researching your options for your electricity needs, you will learn that an advantage of alternative energy is that once you purchased the equipment, you will no longer have a need to purchase electricity from a provider. This can be a life-changing event. With alternative energy, you can now supply your own home with all of the power necessary for your needs without the worry of power outages and other problems with providers.
In fact, you could even tap into their network of power lines and sell the excess electricity that your home will not need back to the power plant. They have to buy it from you. An advantage of alternative energy is that it is clean, meaning it does not produce the harmful pollutants that burning fossil fuels do. This makes the power plant want to buy this electricity from you to help them reduce the amount of pollutants that they release into the air.
After you have a good idea of how much your electric need will be, have the power company install a meter to measure how much electricity you generate for them. You will love to see the meter reader coming to see how much they are going to pay you, instead of it being the other way around inmost cases. The amount of money you will earn will be the difference between how much alternative energy you can produce, with the equipment that you have installed, and the amount that you consume.
Another advantage of alternative energy is that we are finding ways to use it in our vehicles. This will reduce the amount of oil that we will have to buy from other countries. Also it will cut down on the amount of pollutants released into the air.
The technologies that are being discovered for using alternative energy are changing the way we look at burning fossil fuels. The advantage of alternative energy over fossil fuels is that it can easily be replenished from the wind, the sun, or from water power. Fossil fuels are in limited supply and once we have used them all up, we won’t be able to get anymore. Once we have mined all of the coal that the Earth holds, we will not be able to quickly reproduce more.
With the population growing and the consumption rate of fossil fuels rising at an alarming rate, the need for alternative energy sources becomes more and more evident. Studies are currently underway for new ways to utilize this technology.
Read more about renewable energy at SolarCompanies.com
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Local Energy Production Makes Sense
Renewable Energy & Alternative Fuels on a Small Scale Community Basis
With the crisis in oil and natural gas prices, the continued violence in the Middle East, and the environmental concerns brought front and center by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, alternative fuels have managed to become a topic of conversation in the mainstream media.
Unfortunately, not all proposals make sense environmentally. The energy crisis has given the nuclear industry a major boost, despite problems with nuclear waste and vulnerability to terrorist threats, and Republicans in Congress are pushing even harder for drilling on the ecologically fragile Alaskan slopes. Meanwhile the oil companies, in an attempt to keep a stranglehold on the production of energy, are the ones getting billions of dollars in support for developing new technologies, including hydrogen fuel cell and ethanol development.
Let’s face it: If Standard Oil or Exxon could figure out a way to put a meter on the sun, we’d have solar energy in abundance tomorrow. Meanwhile, we really need to challenge this notion of having multinational, multi-billion-dollar companies the ones responsible for doling out our energy needs. Bringing energy production back to our shores from the Middle East, Venezuela, and other political hotspots is only the beginning of a solution.
We need every region in this country, and every community in each region, to make energy production a priority. In the Midwest, that can mean a combination of wind, solar, and ethanol or biodiesel production. Farmers particularly vulnerable to a rise in fuel to run their farm equipment could have their own small ethanol or biodiesel plants on-site, growing the raw material and then producing the fuel they need to operate their tractors, combines, and other machines. The Southeast could adopt solar technology on a house-by-house basis; just retrofitting every mobile home in the Sun Belt with solar air-conditioning capability could save billions in fuel demands every year. In the Northeast, a combination of solar energy and wind power in the summer and wind and biodiesel use in the winter, with family farms growing much of the raw material for the biodiesel, could cut the region’s dependency on heating oil, propane, and natural gas during the coldest months of the year. And all over the country, using sustainable farming and foresting methods to product corn and wood pellet products would provide still another efficient, low-emissions fuel.
Even hydrogen technology makes more sense produced on a local basis as part of a comprehensive energy plan. Hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules into its component hydrogen and oxygen atoms; the hydrogen is then burned, producing more water. Using up massive amounts of water in centralized plants would put a tremendous demand on a locality’s water supply, and then would affect the environment in ways not now known as the fuel is burned and the water redistributed around the country. Locally, hydrogen could be produced using solar energy on a building by building basis, and then could be stored and used to fuel cars or for household energy use. The water produced by burning the hydrogen could also conceivably be collected and reused, limiting the demand on the water supply.
Thinking locally in terms of energy production and use could serve not only to break our dependence on foreign oil but could eventually free us from relying on corporate entities for our energy needs. That is true energy independence.
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics. She expresses her opinions periodically on her blog, http://beyondagendas.blogspot.com
Visit Aldene’s hydrogen technology page for additional information
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Article Post:
How To Get A Rebate for Using Alternative Energy in Illinois
Renewable Energy Resources Program Helps Fund Residential Solar Power
Alternative Energy is all the rage after the State of the Union speech given by President Bush. If you live in Illinois, you should know there are already rebate programs available.
How To Get A Rebate for Using Alternative Energy in Illinois
Rebates for using alternative energy platforms are handled under the Renewable Energy Resources Program. The program is designed to motivate Illinois residents to use alternative energy by providing financial incentives in the form of rebates for those that modify their energy use.
The Renewable Energy Resources Program has been around for awhile, but new regulations went into effect on January 1, 2006. Under the regulations, rebates for going solar may now be as high as $10,000 for eligible solar thermal systems and up to 30 percent of the cost of solar panel systems. These new rebates, however, have a finite life span. You must apply for either or both of them by April 30, 2006.
Make Sure Your Home Meets the Criteria for the Renewable Energy Resources Program
To get in on these healthy rebates, there are a few requirements you must meet. First of all, you must be eligible. Eligible parties included individuals, businesses, schools, non-profits, and institutions of higher learning. You must also be a customer of utility company, meaning you can not be an off-grid energy residence or structure since the rebates are designed to move utility customers to non-utility energy sources.
Solar panels systems are typically used to produce electricity. If you are going with a solar panel system, the requirements are very simple. The system must be approved by Underwriters Laboratories, a fairly common certification throughout the solar industry. The system must also have a rated capacity of 800 watts for production.
Solar-thermal systems are used to produce heat, often in the form of hot water. If you are going with a solar thermal system for your alternative energy needs, it must be approved by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation or similar certification. The system must produce at least 50,000 BTUs a day or have at least 60 square feet of collectors. Put in simple terms, you need to have roughly a system measuring 8 x 8 feet. If you are using the system for a pool, you only get the rebate if the pool is available to the public for regular use.
While President Bush surprised many by highlighting alternative energy platforms in his recent speech. Alas, Illinois was already heading down that road.
Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit us to read more articles on solar power and renewable energy.
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