New Energy Developement

According to one website, energy efficiency is increasing by 2% per year, and becoming even more efficient as technology increases. This is good news. On the left is a graph of the world's resource management in 2006. It's not the greatest picture, but in 2006 petroleum used 35% of our resources. Many people are working on cutting that down and boosting the alternative fuels % up. I just hope it will get better for this goal.

Energy Saving Ways

Here are a few ways to save energy, if you haven't got enough ways to save already.

-Decrease your carbon footprint by finding alternative fuels to run your car.

-Turn the thermostat down as much as 15 degrees. This can save you up to 10% on heat bills per year!

-Insulate your attic.

-Keep the hot water heater at 120 degrees farhenheit and install a hot water heater insulationg banket.

If you follow some of these ideas, You'll save lots of money!

Aerogel

NASA has designed a product called Aerogel, also known as "frozen smoke". It is 99.8% air. It is used in space shuttles and can endure temperatures higher than 2,500 degrees farhenheit and is the most powerful insulator on Earth. Think of the money it could save you if you had it in your home! I'm not sure it is on the mass market, but it is really cool and I think NASA should put it out there.

CO2 Levels

With all the global warming going on, and CO2 levels rising a lot, most people think that it's a pollutant. But it's really not. CO2 is essential to the environment, because without it, plants wouldn't be able to live. So, maybe the soultion to the co2 increase is to plant more plants. The oxygen levels would increase, and the planet would be much more green.

Western Colorado Carbon Neutral Bioenergy Consortium Project

WCCNBC (Western Colorado Carbon Neutral Bioenergy Consortium) is a project to explore using local plant material and processing them for local use at a small scale power plant built by Colorado Mountain College. The project is said to test the capacity of the region to grow low input, high-biomass bioenergy crops. So as a result of this project, grasses and cacti will be grown in Fruita, carbondale, and Rifle. These crops do not need the space that normal food crops need. The material will be converted to butanol, and butanol can be pumped into your car immediatly. Butanol is no more efficient than ethanol. This project is appealing because these grasses and cactiu can easily be replicated in other desert areas. -Info gathered from sustainability article by Adele Israel in the Grand Junction Sentinel

Radiation-The Effects and an Idea

With the power plant meltdown in Japan, and the references to Chernobyl that come with it, some people may be confused-how does it affect us, as humans? A unit used to measure radiation is called a rem, which stands for roentgen equivalent in man. Being exposed to 100 rems can result in temporary hair loss, nausea, vomiting, headache, and some loss of white blood cells. Too much radiation can result in cancer. Half the people exposed to 450 rems die.

Now that we're past the bad part, I have an idea. It probably wouldn't work, but, what if, with all the radiation on free-range, there was some kind of machine that enabled the radiation to be harnessed, and used for energy in, say, homes' electricity. Everyone could put one on their roof or something, and in times like these where radiation poisoning is a factor, the machine could suck the radiation out of the air and use it. Just a thought.

Biomass Energy

Biomass is the power obtained from plants and other plant derived materials, such as compost and residues from agricultures or forestry. Some Examples of getting heat from biomass are burning wood in the fireplace, or burning wood to produce steam which is then used to pwer wind turbines, creating energy. Farms in the future cultivating high-energy crops (such as grass and trees) will significantly expand our supply of biomass. So far, wind is the major biomass product being used today. The largest source of energy from wood is pulping wood or "black liquor", a waste product of processes of the pulp, paper, and paperboard industry. Biomass is a renewable energy source, but like a lot of renewable energy sources it has both positive and negative effects. it may reduce emmissions and pollutants, but factory farming of biomass crops can ruin wildlife habitat.

It always costs a lot each month to keep your home heated. You can cut down this cost by getting better insulation for your house. Insulation minimizes the amount of heat that escapes your house during the winter. Insulation saves you the most money if you live somewhere with lots of climate changes, like cold winters and hot summers. You can also get insulation made out of recycled plastic and paper as well as normal insulation, made from foam and fiberglass materials.

Water Conservation Ways

Looking for water conservation ideas? Well, at http://wateruseitwisely.com/, the website lists a hundred ways to conserve water. One of these ways includes using the water collected on your roof and in gutters to water your garden. Instead of running your food under water to thaw it, just defrost in the freezer, and this is safer for your food too. And if you have ice left over in your cup from a restaraunt, don't throw it down the sink! Throw the ice in a plant, where the ice will melt and water the plant. Visit this website to find other ways to save water and cut the cost of your water bill.

Aquaponics

Colorado Aquaponics is conserving water is by growing greens like basil and lettuce in the same container as fish. They both thrive together. The nutrients for the plants are provided by fish waste. J.D. Sawyer and his wife Tanya run the operation. Aquaponics is a combination of agriculture and hydroponics, where plants are raised without soil. Aquaponics uses just 10 percent of the water typically needed for irrigated farming. On top of that, there are no pesticides or chemical fertilizers. The greens are sold to local store owners along with the fish, which include tilapia and trout. Both the fish and greens are healthy and store owners love the taste. Sawyer says that it is the future in farming. The couple are now looking for benefactors to help them go commercial.



http://cbs4denver.com/business/Colorado.Aquaponics.farming.2.2029260.html

ENERGY BILL COST

If you want to cut down your energy bill and have more natural light in your house, there is a simple solution. Install skylights and windows around your house, allowing more light in your house and therefore not needing to turn on your lights, leading to a lower cost on your lighting bill.

New Batteries

The average family uses more than 8 batteries per person per year. Batteries are sometimes expensive, and over the year the cost can add up. One way to cut down on the spending is to buy recharegable batteries. They cost a bit more, but it pays off in the long run. Also, increasing technology is always finding ways to increase the life of batteries and, therefore, going to the store less and spending less.

Pencil Sharpeners

One way to cut down an energy bill for schools is to take away all the electric pencil sharpeners and just install normal, old-fashioned hand-powered sharpeners in the classrooms. Sure, it takes more effort to move your hand in a circle, and sure, it isnt as fun as operating an electric sharpener, but if you installed enough sharpeners around the school, you could notice a small decrease in the energy bill. Not a huge increase, but every little bit matters.

Baseball Game Bills

To help save the environment and reduce the cost of electric bills in stadiums, some countries, like South Korea, are trying to speed up their baseball games. Korea is in the process to also install energy saving products like scoreboards as a plan to cut emissions. Also, other countries are thinking of eliminating night games altogether.

Showerheads

Installing a water-efficient showerhead can reduce the total of your water bill each month. It uses less water than a normal showerhead, therefore reducing the amount of water you have to pay for each month. The water comes out in a faster stream than a normal showerhead, and it is virtually the same experience. These showerheads are available almost everywhere except at Home Depot.

Handkerchiefs

Do you know how much the average person spends on tissues per year? I don't know either, but I'm sure its a lot. One way to cut down on that cost is to use handkerchiefs instead of tissues. They are washable, reusable, a lot more durable than tissues, and they come in many different colors to suit your personality. So make the switch, and you won't regret it.

Hybrid Tanks?

A lot of money goes into war and ends up costing the government millions. I think that it is a good idea to try and save money in our armed forces. It isn't all about saving money. It is also about protecting the environment with gadgets such as solar powered tents used in the desert to provide shade and generate energy for LED light bulbs and other energy-saving things like that. By the next ten years, the military hopes that 50% of their operations will be done using renewable energy. Another major reason for the military to think about going even more green is because of the number of gas-related deaths in the military. If there was no need for gas in the military, hundreds of lives would be spared. All from eliminating fossil fuels and using hybrids.

Green Wall

Apparently, Portland, Oregon, is so into going green, that they are going to cover an entire 200 foot wall of their federal building with living vegetation and plants. The government predicts that they will save around $280,000 in energy costs per year. This 133 million dollar project also includes solar panels and is on schedule to be completed in 2013. Many people think that this is a waste of money, as this may take quite a bit of time to even out the expenses ... around 475 years. Even so, it is a good idea, and will use 60% to 65% less energy than a normal office building. Designers are also trying to find a way to irrigate the building efficiently, but to no avail so far.

Automobiles on Gas Fumes

Sam Graf

I saw a huge semi truck regurgitating exhaust fumes in huge quantities through the exhaust pipe. That's when I got an idea. What if there was a car that ran on gas fumes and/or other types of vapors? The car would still pollute the air, but it would consume more fumes to run than it would release so the input is greater than output. This could slow down pollution of the air greatly and dramatically. There could also be a device that gathers fumes and vapors while driving, therefore being able to go miles and miles without stopping. I did some research on this, and it turns out that I was not the first person to have this idea.