Archive for the ‘Alternative Energy’ Category
June 22nd, 2011 | 
Author: What became clear in 2010 was that some challenges require long-term planning, continual attention, and persistent solutions. The two that come first to mind are Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) and the Food and Fuel competition debate. A third is the continued stream of misinformation in the press about both of those issues.
In fact, it is this issue of misinformation that seems to be more of the roadblock to progress than either ILUC or feedstock competition. It is such a significant issue, that the University of Essex published a scholarly article last summer in Sociological Research Online examining the influence these anti-biofuels NGOs have had on the biofuels debate in Europe: “We found that in many cases the development of NGO policy has been driven more by narrow political opportunities for influence than by broader and more coherent policy responses to global climate change or economic development, or indeed rigorous assessment of the scientific evidence.”
With the millions of euros behind these NGOs and their anti-biofuels agenda—some of those millions coming directly from the European Commission’s fund for environmental NGOs budgets—the question becomes how can a growing, young organisation like PANGEA ever hope to get sensible policy in Europe let alone develop a market for Africa’s sustainable biofuel exports?
The answer: With continued support from our members and partners, that’s how.
Now, more than ever, it is up to us to get the real data to the public. How food and fuel co-production, how ILUC isn’t a factor in Africa, and how unsustainably produced biofuels in other parts of the world, from rainforest destruction to landgrabbing, has absolutely nothing to do with the African experience—let alone the future of bioenergy in Africa. PANGEA voiced its concerns at every Brussels-based event held in 2010 on these issues. We also were in attendance at several events further afield like an event on landgrabbing in Cameroon and one on food and fuel co-production in Ghana. We received top billing in the global sugar and ethanol industry’s leading market report, FO Licht, explaining the difference between ILUC in Africa and ILUC everywhere else. We won’t stop there.
Just as we learned in 2010 that these issues aren’t going away quickly or easily, we learned that we couldn’t afford to be silent. We need more data, more research, more studies and we will produce more reports, more Tweets, and more policy papers. Our members—present and future—depend on it.
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Using natural energy resources doesn’t necessarily mean you will conserve any energy, yet we do advise every household to research the possibility of implementing natural energy resources to influence their home power supply. This will conserve the fossil fuels we are currently consuming at an alarming rate.
Many little things can be done in an attempt to conserve energy in the home. It is knowing how to do these little energy conservation processes that many people do not know about, understand, or just don’t care. Another way relating to how we can conserve energy is to ensure whenever we have finished using appliances that may have a light on them (such as a standby light), we switch the appliance off, or unplug after use. Little things can make a big difference in conserving energy around the home, and this is especially true for dishwashers, washing machines and dryers.
Modern dishwashers have energy saving wash cycles, we strongly advise the use of such features, washing machines can be set to lower temperature washes, when used with the right washing powder, and a dryer, well if you own a dryer, get rid of it and dry your washing naturally on a washing line. Hybrid cars can make a difference to your carbon footprint, and can help you save energy. No, they will not eliminate carbon emissions from their exhausts, yet they will greatly reduce the amount of carbon you pump into the air each year.
The only reason you should need a 4×4 vehicle is if you live in a rough terrain area, or constantly snowy area.
When you choose your next car, be sure to check the miles per gallon to see how efficient your car will be, this not only helps the environment but it saves you money on fuel too. When conserving energy, we can also look to our heating methods, why not reduce your heating thermostat or radiators by only 1 degree for a lengthy time, and compare your heating bill?
If you recycle more, you will be helping to conserve energy put into making new versions of what you have recycled, and this also reduces the burden on landfill sites and incinerators which are not good for the environment.
The three main elements for generating electricity from natural energy sources, come in the form of the sun, wind, and tide.
Other renewable energy sources are geothermal energy, and hydroelectric (which we will not go into on this page.) All of the above natural energies have advantages and disadvantages, we shall now go into each one. The use of natural energy sources still has many advantages over the use of fossil fuels, yet the cost of investment can sometimes be too high for most people.
Solar energy is energy the earth receives from the sun in the form of solar radiation. We can use this energy source to generate electricity, and to heat water. Photons contained within the suns rays, make the production of electricity possible through the use of a solar cell or panel. The main disadvantage of the use of solar power, is that the panels can be quite expensive, and you usually need more than one solar panel, depending on how much electricity you require. An advantage of solar electricity devices is the relative ease of installation, and the long term cost effectiveness. This makes solar panels the most common renewable energy source for home owners. Wind turbines are great for using the winds natural energy source to give a boost to your home power supply.
The problem with renewable wind energy is mainly down to the relatively low output of electricity you could receive. To get a decent output, you need a large wind turbine, but now you are faced with the problem of noise pollution, and increasing cost. You should always consider solar energy sources over wind energy sources, if suited to your location.
An energy source increasing in popularity over recent years is tidal power. This highly renewable energy source has a huge force behind it, and is able to drive water turbines (much like a water mill), around 100 meters out to see as the tides go in and out. The main problem with this method is the effect it can have towards sea life and the blocking of hipping access to various coastlines.