GreenEnergy.gs
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Green Energy InformationBiodiesel
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Green EnergyThe good news is that the green movement has put green energy in the spotlight. Once gas rose over three and four dollars a gallon, people were finding that their energy bills were more than half of their mortgage. The economy has severely contracted due to energy shortages. The good thing about all this is that people have finally realized that there really is a finite supply of fossil fuel. People are ready for a change. Nowadays, it is popular to have items that are smaller and that use less resources. The fat consumption of energy idea is now out of style and green energy is going to come about because even low wage workers are finally behind the movement.Bob and His Toyota PriusThere is a new status symbol in town, hybrid cars. Here is some anecdotal evidence of the green movement. Bob is someone that works at Wal-Mart for around $12.00 dollars per hour. He rents a small room in an apartment for $300.00 per month. He makes up for the extra cash he needs by donating to the blood bank. Bob has always wanted a nice car and finally has good enough credit and a down payment to buy a car. What car do you think he wants? You guessed right. Bob wants a Toyota Prius. He is around 45 years old and he wants his first really nice car to be a Prius. Five years ago, Bob wanted a large SUV or a large truck. Now, he really wants the Prius. Why does Bob want to get a Prius?The reason Bob wants a Prius is because he is picking up on the messages of the green movement. He now thinks it is cool to save gasoline and do more with less. The solar panel roof on the Prius really excites him, not because of the cooling feature the solar panels provide, but the fact of being part of the green movement. This new attitude of Bob is a huge shift in thinking. Just a few years ago, people of lower socioeconomic status would not think of paying more money for something that did less. The fact is that most everyone is finally on board with green energy and it is refreshing. Still, there is so much information out there it is hard to know what to do. What green energy technologies are promising? Electric Cars and Green EnergyOne of the most exciting things is the electric car. There is the movie that you can rent from Blockbuster called, Who Killed the Electric Car. The video shows that General Motors was a major player at getting rid of the electric car. In the movie, the state of California made a law that car manufacturers must use some alternative energy technologies. General motors created an electric car and leased it to people. In the movie, they interviewed people that said they loved the car. When the leases were up, many of the people tried to purchase the car from General Motors. What happened is that General Motors decided to take back all the cars and have them crushed. The cars were still in great condition. The cars were taken to a private facility and destroyed. On this same line of thought, Jay Leno makes fun of the car companies. He said on one show something like this, “I have heard of the new technology of electric cars coming out. Incidentally, I do have a electric car. It's a 1910 Edsel.” The point is that electric cars are not new. The show, Who Killed the Electric Car thinks that the electric car was defeated by the car companies for economic reasons. Electric cars need a lot less maintenance, last a lot longer, and do not need gasoline or oil. Most car dealerships will admit that they make most of their money off of maintenance. Why would they want to kill the golden goose? As far as General Motors is concerned, there is really good evidence of them destroying the trolley system in California. Their purpose was to get rid of public transportation to make more people buy cars. Their plan actually did work.The Chevy VoltToday, General Motors has joined the bandwagon to make more efficient cars. They are considered the market leader in electric hybrid car technology. Ford and Chrysler have been calling GM the sinking ship. The large company has been losing so much money it is unreal. Even with government bailouts nobody is sure what is going to happen.GM has much of its hopes pinned to one car. It is the Chevy Volt. They have spent billions in research to produce the car. The idea of the volt is that it is a reverse hybrid. What that means is that the gas engine only kicks in after the electric engine runs out of juice. The car claims that it can go at least 40 miles on a single charge. For most people, that means they can drive to work and back without using any gasoline at all. For the longer trips, the small gasoline engine will kick in and charge the electric motor. The configurations claims to get hundreds of miles to the gallon. It does, however, depend on how you drive it. If you go under forty miles a day and recharge often, then you will never need the gasoline engine. If you go on long trips, the gas mileage will be much less. For that reason, many people aren't sure how to classify the gas mileage claims. EEStor Green Energy Storage TechnologyA company out of Texas is responsible for creating an ultracapacitor that can store energy much better than any battery out there. The technology is much more green than other battery technologies. The best part about the technology is that it can store enough energy to make a car go 500 miles on a single charge. That means that the electric car is here and will be a huge game changer. That is great for green buffs. Cars will be recharged with power from power plants and for most people that means coal. The price to recharge the car will be much lower than gasoline. It will most likely be under fifty cents per gallon. As solar generators become better and more affordable, we can expect that the entire process will be green energy at its best. Some people simply plug their car into their solar array on their roof and charge their car that way. A few serious scientific people have stored solar power in hydrogen and then used the hydrogen tank to power their car.EEStor is has filed several patents and had several large companies take interest in their technology. One of the companies is GM. Their claims do not seem to be coming to fruition any time soon. Some scientists claim that there is too much leakage in the capacitor and that it is just plain impossible for them to accomplish what they claim. Others think that maybe this is one of those technologies that is going to be bought out by big oil. Many people are very hopeful that EEStor will become commonly used technology. Green Energy SolutionsBesides the electric car, there are other innovations that are promising. Most of the greenest energies start with the term bio. For example, biodiesel, biomass, biogass, biobutanol, bioethanol, bioalcohol, and bioether are all green energy products.The common thread of all green energy is that it is produced from organic materials, usually plants. There are many ways to produce green energy. Usually the process is to take organic materials and ferment them into a product that is similar to alcohol. You can change the mixture and fermentations process to create different fuels. Some of the larger oil companies are more excited about biobutanol than anything else. The reason is that it can be transported in the existing pipeline infrastructure and that it can burn in gasoline engines without modification. Many scientists think that ethanol production has been a bit short sighted and should be abandoned. The green energy that has, so far, made the largest impact is biodiesel. The biodiesel has been used on a wide scale in europe. It can be mixed with diesel and can actually help the engine function better because it cleans out carbon deposits. The other added benefit is that the exhaust from biodiesel is one of the cleanest fuels available. Since biodiesel can be made from waste products it is a natural green solution. The motivated individual can make biodiesel in their garage and use the leftover vegetable grease from restaurants. It may seem weird to some people, but the idea is catching on. Some people can save hundreds of dollars a month simply by picking up some old grease from restaurants. One of the reasons biodiesel has become so popular in Europe is that gasoline has always been so expensive there. People have migrated to more efficient diesel engines and attitudes towards biodiesel have been good. In Europe, people really understand it is a privilege to drive. Green Energy Should be CleanThe cleanest of any green energy is solar and wind. Solar panels are one of the products that many people are getting excited about. The use of nanotechnology and special dyes and plastics have greatly improved conversion rates, in recent years. The prices are expected to come down a lot. Once the price point is reached and solar is cheaper than coal fired plants the technology is expected to increase rapidly. Solar can also power cars and about almost anything. Today, there are little solar panels you can buy to run your laptop, mp3 player, cell phone, and just about any device. The power of solar is getting much more powerful.Wind power is also getting more acceptance. Wind power will continue to improve, but rapid changes are not as evident. European companies are finally showing interest in wind power, in the United States. The reason is that the the environment is changing towards green energy. Capitalists pick up on the friendly environment and decide that they will get the support they need and so they invest. Natural GasNatural gas is another major part of the green energy mix. There are massive reserves of natural gas in the United States. Currently, car manufacturers can make natural gas cars that get great miles per gallon. One of the best natural gas cars is the Honda, Civic GX. Using natural gas would be one way to get away from foreign oil dependence.Each state and the Federal government has tax incentives for purchasing a natural gas car. Should you buy an inexpensive natural gas car you can expect that the tax credit may pay for the car alone. Natural gas cars are often less expensive than gas cars because they are considered a pain to use. It is harder to find a mechanic and so forth. In some states, like Utah, natural gas is less than half the price of regular gasoline and that makes it with the extra effort. There are natural gas stations all over the world. You need to keep track of where the stations are because they are common, yet not on every corner like regular gas stations. Summary of Green EnergyThe most important part of the green movement is the innovation and use of energy technology. The factors that are expected to really play out big are wind, natural gas, electric cars, and thin film solar. It is likely that all components will work together. As prices of fossil fuels continue to rise the pace of innovation will rapidly increase and markets will change quickly to produce a few big winners and a lot of losers. Green energy has finally come of age!
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