A new bill introduced into Congress might provide a federal tax credit of $1,500 per � kilowatt of capacity to purchasers of small wind systems nationwide. This five-year credit would apply to all wind systems with capacities of under 100 kW used to power individual homes, farms, or small businesses. This amounts to a subsidy to go off-grid.…
In the US and Canada, the race to find a way of producing biofuel cost-effectively is hotting up. It�s no wonder companies like Virgin are jumping on the bandwagon, hoping to invest in the next big thing. But, with so many new technologies emerging, it could be tough to decide which is worthy of your household investment. We may have to make that choice soon. This article covers six legitimate and successful products that are close to launch.…
Solar expert Jeff Wolfe has exposed an apparently idealistic solar power company called Citizenre is in fact a multi-level marketing scheme.
The stated plan of the company is to build “the world’s largest” solar cell and module manufacturing plant and install 100,000 residential systems annually. Wolfe�s article generated hundreds of comments – some of them in defence of the company from old-style multi-level marketing sales agents who were concealing their true affiliation. In one case, a Citizenre marketing agent is a well-known renewable energy conman who has pulled similar tricks in the past, Wolfe revealed.…
Jamil Shariff is one of the world’s leading researchers into the ancient technology of Stirling Engines – he reveals why they are about to undergo a revival:
Local governments in the US are starting to develop their own strategies for energy-independence, or micro-grids. One little-known technology, the Stirling Engine, is being revived because it can make use of waste heat from other energy sources.
In Helena, MT, city commissioners are designing a project to cut utility bills by generating electricity at the wastewater treatment plant, the city government’s biggest energy user. Camp, Dresser & McKee Inc. are drafting plans for a Stirling engine and generator, which will use excess methane gas at the plant to generate electricity.
The technology likely will cost several hundred thousand dollars but could pay for itself in as few as five years. So what is a Stirling engine exactly, and why are they not more widely used? If the explanation below is too technical, try Building a Stirling Hot Air Engine (2 Video Set)
Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems could be the energy of the future in off-grid locations, both small and large scale. Lenses or mirrors focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. In power stations the beam shines on a vessel that contains a gas or liquid that can be heated up to around 400C (750F) enough for conventional steam turbine. Small-scale off-grid CSP power stations don’t have to be hugely expensive either.
In fact, the basic idea of concentrated solar power is the same as in solar cooking and new methods of water pasteurization – already widely used in the third world – eliminating the need for biomass as a fuel.
But what makes the plants really efficient is their recycling of energy.…
The production of natural gas (CH4) occurs everywhere in nature in swamps, bogs, coal mines, land fills and in the guts of warm blooded mammals. In fact, anyplace where organic matter is present and air is excluded.
It is this same vapor gas that the utility companies market. Made by nature and deposited in the ground over eons of time, the chemical formula is one part carbon to four parts hydrogen (CH4).…
Dean Kamen, remote power, clean water, water treatment,…
wood-chip boilers , wood chip stove, wood-pellet boiler, pellet stove,…
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