Mean Green

In parts one and two of Disadvantages of Wind Power for Homeowners we looked at site considerations, cost, and resistance to the very idea. In this article we will examine the biggest disadvantage of wind power — or indeed any renewable energy source — that there is. But we will also look at the very simple, and necessary, solution.

There is a major problem with wind power, as well as solar, biofuel, hydroelectric or any other ‘renewable’ energy source. In fact, other than nuclear energy, all alternates to oil suffer from the same problem: there is more potential energy stored in oil than can be extracted from any of these other sources. There is a reason why our civilization has grown so dramatically in the last one hundred and ten years or so, and that is because of what oil can do.

Even compared to its closest cousin, coal, oil burns far hotter and therefore requires that much less to do that much more. It has been estimated that the modern human living in the west, with gasoline engines and oil-derived electricity at his disposal, has the equivalent of 500 labourers working for him or her. We have grown used to this abundance, and we have also squandered it in incredible ways simply because of the vast amounts of the earliest discoveries of oil. Remember those images of the oil refineries with huge flames shooting out of smokestacks? That was natural gas being burned off because it interfered with the extraction process and was potentially a hazard. Yes, that same natural gas that keeps your house warm in the winter and costs a bundle. It was considered nothing more that waste material up until very recently.

So as far as it concerns the homeowner, the disadvantage of wind power is likely going to be that it will be no substitute for the old ways. In fact for all of society, renewable energy will not fill the gap that will be left when oil finally runs out. But don’t despair, there are two great solutions that will make the problem irrelevant.

One of the solutions is of course technology. Innovations will improve the existing technology and we will have many new designs and ideas that have not been seen yet coming to the rescue. Green technology is now big business, and governments are finally starting to put real money into this sector.

But the far bigger solution is also simpler: conservation. That’s right, using less energy. Remember the example I gave about natural gas? There are literally hundreds of tools, technologies, methods and policies that have been developed during a mind-set of unlimited energy. Now that we have seen the leading edge of the end of oil, we have to rethink much of what we have done. It won’t be painless, but it doesn’t have to kill us either. What we have to do is do as much as we can on our own to make our own households and our lives less wasteful. We also have to let go of old ways, and accept innovation, and push our politicians toward making policies that make sense in the new world.

Many homeowners are taking matters into their own hands, and creating their own wind and solar power solutions. Even though these small turbines may only contribute a small amount of energy to the household, it also has the added bonus of making the homeowner more aware of how much electricity is being used, and thus becoming more conscientious about saving power.

If you can master the basic skill of how to produce biofuel and conjure up the equipment and ingredients in making bio fuel then you can save a lot of money and possible even make a couple of bucks in selling your product.

It is rather simple once you have a grasp of the fundamental principle of how to produce biofuel. All it takes is a few equipments which you can buy online, in your local hardware and even in the grocery. Also some chemicals to facilitate the transformation of the main ingredient, which is waste veggie oil, would be needed to make a batch of this safe form of fuel.

To begin with making your first batch, you need to make sure that you have a supplier of used vegetable oil. You can get this from the closest restaurant in your place. It would be best to make arrangements with the manager so that you have first dibs on the used oil of that day.

Once you have that all set, you will need a bio diesel kit. You can order this online or assemble one for yourself. The parts and accessories are not that hard to find so no excuses there.

You would need to get some reagents that you will need to use in how to produce biofuel. This would be methanol (racing fuel) and sodium hydroxide (household lye).

Using the biodiesel kit, the veggie oil will be mixed with the catalysts which are methanol and lye. Once mixed, this will make your veggie oil in a fuel fit for a diesel engine. Of course, this product will undergo washing and filtration to be at optimal condition to be used in a diesel engine.

Burning firewood for home heating has brought comfort to humans since before prehistoric times. Now in modern times many people still heat their homes with wood. For some it is the most practical heat they have available and for others it is for the atmosphere and comfort that a wood burning fire produces. But there are many people who are concerned about what burning wood may be doing to the environment.

There are parts of the world where forests are being cleared for making firewood for heating, cooking and other energy needs. But this is typically in poor third world countries where people are more concerned about survival than responsible forest practices. Here in the United States and other developed countries this is usually not a problem.

In developed countries trees that are cut to make firewood are typically replanted or in many cases trees grow back naturally from seed or sprout back from the stumps. Forests are usually not cleared for making firewood, instead it is often made from waste materials from harvesting timber or from trees that are of too poor quality to be made into other products. In the case of my own firewood business I make wood from trees that come from forest enhancement projects. When the forests are overstocked I cut some of the excess trees to help the trees that are left grow better. In cases like this, burning firewood actually helps fund projects that are good for the environment.

Burning wood is carbon neutral, which means the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning wood is reabsorbed by the growing trees that produce the wood. Because of this, firewood and other biofuels are not considered to be a contributor to greenhouse gases.

Pollution from smoke can be a problem in some areas that are poorly ventilated but wood smoke is a natural part of the atmosphere and nature has ways of cleaning it out of the air. Lightning sparked wildfires have naturally been burning and releasing massive amounts of smoke into the atmosphere well before humans started using fire. Smoke can be minimized and in some cases almost eliminated by using modern wood stoves and proper burning techniques.

When burned responsibly heating with firewood can be an environmentally friendly alternative to heating with fossil fuels.

Algae biodiesel could be the discovery of the millennium. According to students at a college in Kansas, algae is the perfect organism for creating pollution free oil needed for biodiesel. What makes algae biodiesel different is the fact that these organisms feed on the waste of humans, clean out the pollutants and generate a large amount of oil all without making even the smallest carbon footprint on the Earth.

Tens Versus Thousands

The two most common feedstocks are corn and soybean. Soy is the more productive of the two. Soybeans are a feedstock used to create bio-alternative fuel. For every acre of soybeans, about 50 gallons of alternative fuel can be manufactured. Algae, however, can yield up to 10,000 gallons per acre. There is no other feedstock that can come close to this level of production.

Are Drawbacks a Concern?

As with anything worth having, there is some work to be done to perfect the process of optimizing the algae biodiesel manufacturing process. Algae tend to grow very quickly, but yield very little oil when left to grow naturally. They can be genetically altered for additional oil output, but this will slow down the growth process.

Over time, these kinks will be worked out and major energy giants are seeing the green potential of these tiny living creatures. Exxon Mobile recently sunk large sums of money into the research and development of algae biodiesel. If growing oil could be harnessed to produce 10,000 gallons of biofuel per acre, the energy crisis would be over in an instant.

A cocaine test can happen when you get a new job or have to have one to continue employment. This is one drug that they look for when they take a sample from you, with urine being the most common way of collecting one to test.

They do not test for cocaine as such, but for benzoylecgonine. This is cocaine that has been metabolized in the system and the remains for which they look for to fail you in the test. It does not matter if it is cocaine or crack, this is what appears.

Cocaine drug testing can give you a positive, even if you have no done the substance for several days. This is because the concentrates in the urine can change throughout the day, and like a pregnancy test, can be higher in the first urine of the day. This is not always true, however, since the length of time you have used the substance can also come into play with the amount that you have.

Drinking a lot of water can help dilute the urine and cause the cocaine to appear in your system light enough to be able to pass the test. Be aware, that you may be called in for additional testing since some labs get suspicious of this activity. There are also kits that offer nutrition, diuretics and guides that you can use to lower the amount in your sample as well.

Most of the time, a cocaine test will show the during in the system for 10 days or more for an average user. Generally, it will be out of your system in about a month. Your results can vary, and it can be sooner or later. The best way to pass any of the testing is to not use illegal substances, but if you do, there are things that you can do to help pass them.

Amid all the panic regarding the diminishing supplies of fossil fuel as well as its expense. What would you say, if I told you that the history of biodiesel tells us that the knowledge of this renewable energy source has been available for hundreds of years? They are just as effective as petroleum and they are manufactured from renewable sources such as peanut, canola, hemp and soybean oil.

This history started with Rudolph Diesel when he designed a compression engine. He made use of peanut oil for this purpose, and he wanted to prove that this was the only fuel source which would ever be required. Way back then he knew that using renewable oil resources were a better option than using fossil fuels.

In actual fact biodiesel was used in diesel engines until the 1920′s it was only then that manufacturers decided to make use of petroleum fuel. Both methanol and ethanol are able to be produced from these fatty acids. Even Henry Ford believed in the concept propounded by Rudolph Diesel and he build a factory which was equipped to mass produce biofuels. He believed that this was the oil of the future and wanted to manufacture all his automobiles to run on this fuel.

When he commenced with this, he was in the top of his market and embarked on partnerships with natural oil companies. However in the 1940′s petroleum based companies started advertising and as petroleum fuel was cheaper at the time, this fossil based fuel soon became the number one best seller.

Biodiesel was originally produced with oils which did not allow a very high yield of fuel, making this fuel expensive. Then they discovered hemp oil. Hemp had been grown for a long time in the US for its many useful purposes. When tested hemp oil was found to be stable and also able to produce greater yield of fuel. Henry Ford went back to the drawing board on manufacturing fuel for his vehicles from hemp oil.

In the same breath, many oil wells had been found in the US and people were getting extremely rich from selling this oil to manufacture petroleum. They were not prepared to give Henry Ford a market share with his products and started a campaign against the hemp oil product, calling it Marijuana.

This campaign was supported by the newspapers of William Randolph Hurst and he had a great amount of sway with the US government. This campaign got the Marijuana Tax Act brought into legislation and people who used hemp oil products were afraid to use it as a certificate was require for any products of this nature. The Government would not issue certificates to anyone and as far as the history of biodiesel goes, this is where the manufacture of this renewable energy source came to an end.