News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

Today, the world faces many challenges but the most prevalent among them is the changing climate. The vision we share regarding climate change is of overflowing shorelines, drought, and dying animal life as well as human. It should also include wind turbines on grassy knolls, solar plants capturing the energy from the sun in strategic locations and a clear blue sky every day of the year and heavily populated cities regardless of where they are in the world. Wave power farms offshore and cars operating on something other than fossil fuels. Alternative forms of energy abound.

What exactly do we mean by the term alternative energy? There is more to power and energy than crude oil and fossil fuel so let us take a look at these alternatives.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Way before the current hybrid trend in automobiles was begun; there has been much speculation about the way we would be powering our cars in a future without gasoline. It is precisely because of the popularity of hybrid autos that car manufacturers have invested heavily into finding more viable ways to power vehicles. A top contender is hydrogen gas and it can be extracted from crude oil supplies and refined gas, biofuels etc. When the hydrogen is converted for power, any emissions are simply water.

Biofuels: Most people who have gone camping have probably used a biofuels. Campfires burn biomass, which is dried up or composted organic materials that make light and heat. Using a method called prolysis, organic matter is burned to make liquid fuel. This fuel could then be utilized to power up combustible engines or hydrogen fuel cell autos. The only drawback is that burning biomass matter creates carbon and this is a contributor to global warming.

Solar Energy: When we talk about sustainability, solar power triumphs over all others. The sun is supposed to burn brightly for over four billion more years so things are good on the solar front. Through the use of photovoltaic cells the sun’s rays are converted into power. While businesses and industry have been hesitant to convert to solar energy, some have made the jump. The state of California is getting into the solar power business setting up numerous solar power plants and arrays of photovoltaic panels in the Mojave Desert. Home depot has even begun to offer solar power installation services to customers.

Wind Turbine Generators: Windmills sure are not what they used to be. You could power the entire family farm with one of the smaller wind turbines available today. Wind power has been used as a form of assistance to farmers since the 19th century when it was used to pump water for family and agricultural use. It is beginning to make its mark as an industry with wind farms dotting the horizon and landscape all over the nation specifically in the southwestern United States.

Wave Power: Sitting just offshore of Portugal is earth’s introduction to commercialized wave farms. The plan is for this system of wave power units to generate energy from the motion of the waves of the ocean. The primary factor in producing wave power is the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter. The mechanism is what produces the power and turns this energy option into a viable possibility. This Pelamis converter is able to withstand the toughest waves the ocean can send at it because only a portion of the wave is used for energy purposes. There is a lot of shoreline on this planet so big things are expected from wave power.