Monday, 30 September 2013

Efficient living starts with effective steps!



You might not know it, but you're probably wasting a lot of money on electricity you don't need.
 
The experts believe that, both energy and money can be conserved with the help of using energy efficient products  and control living costs by making our homes energy efficient.  According to the researches, about 55 percent of residential energy use goes to heating and cooling our homes. An additional 20 percent goes to heating water, with 20 percent to refrigerators, freezers and small appliances. The remaining 5 percent goes into lighting.





Simple actions, such as  setting our thermostat at 78 during warm weather, replacing incandescent bulbs with LED lights, switching off fans and other appliances when going out! After all we pay for every single unit of electricity we use that's why we need to use energy more wisely.

What else could you do to save energy and money. Below discusses is the list.

1) Get Your House To Harness the Sun--Passive solar heating makes use of the free heat you receive from the Sun to warm your house. Keep south facing windows clear during the day and close your curtains directly after sunset to maximize this effect.
If you are planning to extend your home, think how you can make the most of the sun to warm your house when you need it.

2) Install Solar Power-- Solar water heating systems convert energy from the sun to heat water.
They work alongside your conventional water heater and can provide almost all of your hot water during the summer months.

3) Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine.
Reduce the wash to a 30°C cycle and the amount of electricity saved (not to mention money) will be even higher. Modern washing machines are just as effective at lower temperatures.

Avoid tumble drying - outdoor line dried clothes can smell fresher and save you money!

Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Celebrate Teacher's day with Eco-friendly Tips for Classrooms

Preaching values and incorporating them in the young minds is the real work of a teacher. Influencing and shaping the future of so many minds is the main task of a teacher. There are many issues that are solved by teachers in the daily routine-cycle of a student. Eco-friendliness and environmental concerns are a great issue for the future generations.

The manner in which a teacher lives her life has a great impact on the young minds and this can help them learn the various intricacies about the nature. An eco-friendly classroom can positively effect the manner in which the future generations will learn to conserve the natural resources and protect the environment. Teacher's should keep in mind the three R's for keeping the environment. They are:
  • Reduce
  • Reuse
  • Recycle


    Setting an example in the eyes of the students, there are certain ways in which a teacher can help imbibe certain traits in a student that help them become a responsible citizen. Some of the mannerisms are:

    1. Turn off the lights when not required:

    Teachers should keep in mind to switch off the lights and other electronic devices, when not required, in the classrooms. This will help the children to practice the same at home and other places. 


    2. Help reduce wastage of water: 

    Teachers should check that the tap should be properly turned off when not in use. Also, if there is a tap that leaks, then you should get it fixed immediately as this helps save water. You can perform experiments for the children and show them how much water you can save by proper regularization. This helps the students to understand the basic need of conserving water. 


    3. Save paper:

    This can be done by encouraging students to use both sides of the paper for assignments, combine the worksheets, when making use of the printed copies of lessons. Reduction in the use of paper helps save the environment and benefits one and all.



    4. Keep recycling bins at bay:

    Encourage the students to recycle everything. Be it plastic bottles, cans, paper, etc. help imbibe a sense of recycling in the students. You can also keep recycling bins in the classroom by making use of discarded cardboard boxes.


    So, this Teacher's Day encourage the students to make the most of the opportunities that are available for saving the environment, as this will help the future generations.



Friday, 30 August 2013

The Obvious is not the right answer for future Challenges!

Energy is closely associated to security, we might not genuinely accept or remain unaware of this fact, but it does. Do we ever realize, every bit of food that we waste is exactly the amount of energy that could feed and make destitute population healthier or at least feed them.
Apparently, there are a few people and organization on this Globe, which surfaced with an idea to create energy from waste food and everything that we label as a “waste”, in one way or the other.


A company named Harvest Power devised a similar idea that got its first stride with a dissent that, there are many things, small and big, which are of no use to us. May it be yard trimmings, pizza crusts, apple cores and other food scraps!, they thought of turning everything into energy and compost! The Energy Garden in British Columbia, launched by harvest is an exemplary achievement. It stands to be the largest commercial-scale high solids anaerobic digester in North America. 

This garden is expected to convert up to 40,000 tonnes of food and yard waste per year from area homes, businesses, restaurants and supermarkets into clean energy and compost.
Every innovation that has the power to create and address the challenges of the world represents the exhilarating passion and commitment required to usher in the future of organics management.

The electricity is believed to be cost-effectively and the best part is, it convert organic materials once destined for the landfill into clean energy and compost products. The facility produces enough energy to power approximately 900 homes per year, and provides hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of top quality soil products to local farms, gardens and landscapes.

There are much simpler innovation that has the power to change the world, for example, LED lights. These lights are a great source of non toxic light unlike their counterparts which are manufactured with mercury in them. LED's consume a much lesser amount of energy to produce the same lighting effect that we get from CFL's. 
 
To know more about LED's http://ecolitetechnologies.co.in/
 

Thursday, 29 August 2013

Invention has the Power to change the world, But!

A lot has been written and said about energy Conservation in the past two decades. The speculated reasons for this supervision is bound to reasons, reasons that need tremendous attention and self less procurement in terms of security and restrictive responsibilities. Inflation, sharp hike in the prices of fuel in Global market, degradation of fossil fuels at a rapid pace, Global warming resulting in glacier depreciation further resulting in Floods and other disturbing calamities; this list of reasons stretches precisely to innumerable in number!

But there are a few organizations that have taken a step further in energy preservation. They are leading a counterproductive to not just spread awareness but create energy from the most unlikely means. For example, an outdoor gym in the northeast of England is allowing all-comers to spin hand bikes, recumbent bikes, and fitness bikes, to generate enough power to light the installation at night. And, in time, the hope is that the gym will also recharge people’s phones and music players, and even send some power back to the grid.

The idea was to construct a space where the people could actually work out with actually turning their physical energies into Electricity. According to an expert from Rhodes University “Running round a park could result in better physique and body metabolism, but its monotonous and boring, especially if you don’t actually like running. But this is something more appealing and agenda driven, which has the power to change how we look at the world”. This park actually sparked up an initiative to harness energy, and almost 10 theme parks mushroomed around the globe giving the model of a new world.


 
The same theory was applied in creating an exemplary dance floor by a company in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This modular dance floor system will collect kinetic energy from dancers' movements and converts it into electricity!

Invention has the power to change the world, but our small steps can further embolden these initiatives. For example using LED lighting instead of CFL's, as LED's are more energy efficient, more resilient and more reliable. And don't forget the saving you get on your electricity bill!






Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Use Computer The Way It Consumes Efficient Energy

No doubt each and every electronic device consumes energy and so does your personal computer. Surprised? Computer when starts, small surge of energy it consumes. However, it is less than the energy the system consumes while running for hours. If you are in a fix when to turn off your computer to save the energy, this blog contains certain guidelines to resolve your problem. You need to take into practice the following activities.


  • Don't fail to turn off monitor, if PC is going to be unused for more than 20 minutes
  • Be assured to turn off both CPU and monitor if PC is going to be unused for more than 2 hours.
  • It essential to ensure that the monitors, printers, and other accessories are on a power strip/surge protector. One must turn off the power strip, when such equipment is not used for extended periods. Not doing so will continue to flow power even when the PC is shut off.
  • Don't fail to unplug extra equipment if you don't make use of power strip.

Generally, you may often encounter heating problem in your PC. It is because, the device produces heat, and the more you leave it remain on, the heater it will be. Hence turn off your computer, it will help reduce build cooling loads and protects your PC from being damaged.

Use PC with Sleep Mode & Power Management Feature
The technology provides PC with sleep mode and power management feature. One who uses such PC is believed to save good amount on electricity bills each year. You too whenever buying a computer should ensure that it is equipped with power-down feature through operating system software or not.

Such monitors technically consume not more than 2 watts which is less than the sleep mode. Equipped with power management feature, a monitor goes into sleep mode automatically after a period of inactivity. More than that you can save energy by manually turning off monitor when it remains being unused.

Inactivate Screen Savers

Bear in mind that applying screen savers will not save energy. If you use screen saver, it means you have put your computer to consume more energy than it should actually. Also the activation of screen saver may disallow your power-down feature to function. The point is that you must completely avoid using screen savers if you use modern LCD color monitors.

7 striking energy conservation tips-Plan for a better tomorrow

Energy conservation is a primary concern in the contemporary world, since the resources of non-renewable sources are becoming limited day by day. We should be conscious before it is too late and the precious resources are lost completely. We should join our hands together and participate in the program of energy conservation and contribute to the society. This blog tells you about the different ways in which you can conserve energy. These tips are extremely valuable for storing energy in domestic uses. All these tips will be beneficial for you since you will not only save energy but also money. 


By following these tips you can significantly check your electricity bills.




1. Installation of a programmable thermostat:
With the help of a programmable thermostat, you can significantly be able to manage the cooling and heating systems thereby lowering your utility bills.

2. Unnecessary wastage should be avoided:
Make sure that you turn off the lights, fans, air conditioner, TV, etc of your room when you are leaving the room. You will be surprised to know that computers in standby mode consume much more energy when compared to the state of operating it.

3. LED lights:
Use LED lights instead of high power bulbs. The LED bulbs have been constructed by using new technologies based on the conception of low energy consumption.

4. Natural sources of lights:
Try to use natural sources of lights like sunlight when it is available and thus try to avoid using the electricity based lights.

5. Save the consumption of petrol:
Prefer walking to cover short distances than choosing your private car or bike to travel to such places. Beside this, choose the public means of transportation instead of private cars. This will help in conserving petrol which is a non-renewable source.

7. Reduce the use of ACs:
Use your air conditioner cautiously. Let the cool breezes enter inside your room by opening the window panes and the doors thereby allowing the interior of the room to cool down. Therefore reduce the usage of air conditioners.

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Types of Renewable Energy

There are two types of energy resources found in Nature, Renewable and Non- Renewable.  As there name suggests non renewable are fossil fuels which cannot be replenished or re-used.
Whereas on the other hand renewable sources of energy are those which can be replenished such as wind and solar energy—and will never run out. 
Discussed below are the renewable sources of energy

Solar

Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight directly or indirectly can be used for the purpose of heating and lighting homes. Can also be used for generating electricity, and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses.

Wind

It is actually the sun that derives the winds as well, the energy is produced and harnessed with the help of the wind. whose energy is captured with wind turbines. The Earth's rotation also contributes to the winds, particularly through the Coriolis effect.

Biomass

The plants needs several essential component to grow on earth. Sunlight and water remains a crucial for the same. The organic matter that makes up those plants is known as biomass. Biomass can be used to produce electricity, transportation fuels, or chemicals. The use of biomass for any of these purposes is called biomass energy.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a crucial component that helps in generating living condition on this planet. It is found in many organic compounds, as well as water. It's the most abundant element on the Earth. But it doesn't occur naturally as a gas. It's always combined with other elements, such as with oxygen to make water. Once separated from another element, hydrogen can be burned as a fuel or converted into electricity. Because energy is always needed to produce hydrogen, hydrogen is not in itself an energy source, but rather a way to store and transport energy, so it is often referred to as an energy carrier.

Other than these resources we also have Geothermal, Ocean, Hydropower