How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHGs$29 Emissions With Refrigerant Gas Tracking

Carbon emissions reporting, measured as both direct and indirect emissions, requires detailed tracking, maintenance carbon emitting systems, and record keeping of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) sources. Direct carbon emission refers to the energy each individual consumes in the form of fossil fuels and electricity that we use for transportation, heating, cooling and lighting.

Carbon (CO2) Emissions Reporting: It's the law.

In many countries, carbon emissions are required by law to be reported across an organization's entire footprint; hence the common term now in widespread use Carbon Footprinting. Carbon data and detailed records of energy, fuel, and refrigerant gas consumption fall under regulatory compliance rules and must be reported in paper, and increasingly, electronic format.

Similar forms of mandatory monitoring, tracking, and reporting of air, water and soil pollutants fall under the Montreal Protocol (refrigerants gases), The U.S. Clean Air Act (many pollutants), and The Kyoto Protocol (6 GHG gases).

EPA and State Regulatory Compliance

Air, water and soil pollutants resulting from emissions that go beyond the property line or are in excess of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or state compliance regulations must be reported in order to maintain a safe and healthy environments. In addition, there is a very high likelihood that the United States will follow suite with many other countries to mandate economy wide carbon emission reporting. Submission of carbon emissions reports help identify main sources of GHG (greenhouse gases) and track the volume emitted into the atmosphere so that these volumes may be ratcheted down over time.

HCFC Refrigerants -- The cause of depleted Ozone and increases of GHG emissions.

This is the main basis and high-level background for carbon emissions reporting. Refrigerants gases add higher levels of carbon into the air due to the composition CFCs and HCFCs. The refrigerants used in commercial heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) or regular air conditioning (AC) units include Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and perfluorocarbon (PFC).

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are a collection of commonly used refrigerant and aerosol gasses with a wide variety of other commercial applications. The common Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) in use today are hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These substances are organic compounds which consist of clorine, fluorine, carbon and hydrogen and are controlled under the rules set forth in Section 608 of the US Clean Air Act.

The U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documented that increased GHG emissions is the result of misuse of HCFC refrigerants. As a result of conclusion, the EPA has implemented protocols requiring owner or operators of refrigerant systems to accurately track their refrigerant usage. Refrigerants, referenced as fugitive emissions, make up one of the four main scopes of carbon emissions.

Carbon Emissions Protocols - Get to know these intimately (scope by scope).

The Climate Registry Protocol was written in preparation of mandatory monitoring and tracking or mobile (vehicle emissions), stationary (electricity production), and fugitive emissions (refrigerant gases). These possible sources of emissions are defined below as noted in The Climate Registry, the ISO standards, the EPA protocols, and the World Resource Institute requirements.

Mobile emissions are those which emanate from transport vehicles. Most commonly, these are emissions from the combustion of fuels in transportation sources and emissions from non-road equipment such as equipment used in construction, agriculture, and forestry.

Stationary emissions are those which come from a regular source but do not disperse over greater areas, rather remaining in concentrations in the specific source area. These are emissions from the combustion of fuels to produce electricity, steam, heat, or power using in a fixed location.

Fugitive emissions are those which may occur as a result of inefficient control equipment or control equipment that is obsolete. Examples include releases of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) from electrical equipment, hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) releases during the use of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, process equipment leaks, etc.

The EPA, ISO, World Resource Institute, and Climate Registry all have reporting protocols which outline, in a systematic way methods for collecting, calculating, and reporting carbon emissions. All protocols are available. There is not a single reporting protocol as of early 2009. The current carbon emission protocols being drafted, reviewed, and supported by businesses and various government agencies all dictate detailed reporting requirements. EPA rules put in place mandatory CO2 emissions reporting regulations. Companies must spend time getting to know the protocols to remain in compliance.

Critical Heads Up - Companies are facing a mind-bending challenge. They must understand the protocols, organize, collect, and report Greenhouse Gas emissions across their entire organization or face extra financial burden.

Where refrigerant gases prevail heavily in multiple sources, refrigerant reporting as well as refrigerant tracking will lead to a better phasing in of mandatory carbon reporting. Legal carbon emissions reporting pave the way for lasting reductions in carbon emissions and improved management of company assets. Measure reduction in CO2 emissions. The goal to keep focused upon is a cleaner environment through reduced use of harmful refrigerants and more efficiently managed companies.

Defining Materiality For Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The definition of materiality is part of The Climate Registry's general verification protocol (GVP). Such protocol allows 5% threshold for an enterprise's indirect and direct emissions. Indirect emissions refer to greenhouse gases discharged through the use of resources and goods during production. Direct emissions are that which are discharged on-site such as refrigerant leak discharged.

Greenhouse gases lead to global warming, which will cause an adverse change in our climate. There are six main gases being tracked by The Climate Registry. They are hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons, which are commonly found in refrigerants, carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur hexafluoride and nitrous oxide.

There was confusion with the absolute value basis that specifies the threshold when the greenhouse gas registry's definition of materiality was released. In the most recent clarifications released, such term was omitted and replaced with 5% understatement or overstatement threshold leeway.

The materiality definition in The Climate Registry's verification standards addresses emissions reported by entities located in North America. Since the worldwide emissions reports are geographically different from that of North America's, this registry is requiring a separate verification statements for both. Documents should include materiality threshold including emissions threshold which are calculated through simplified methods.

The 5 percent materiality definition threshold is standard within financial accounting practices and represents the amount of insignificant emissions allowed. Entities have the flexibility to specifically define which greenhouse gas emissions would be classified as insignificant within the scope of their operations.

Materiality defined will address errors in reporting by a company when it comes to GHG emissions. Inaccuracy in reporting occurs when a certain company's indirect or direct emissions have discrepancies from true emissions, more or less 5%. Under the registry, these inherent uncertainties can be a result of rounding errors, numerical mistakes, uncertain emission factors, or other miscalculations.

The Climate Registry was established in 2007 to provide a standardized method for companies in the United States, Canada and Mexico to voluntarily report greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of the nonprofit agency is to get a better understanding of the harmful effects greenhouse gases are having on the environment by asking companies to report their emissions. The registry supports policies that involve voluntary and mandatory reporting and regulatory oversight of greenhouse gas emissions.

The materiality definition is just one aspect of the registry's reporting requirements. Other greenhouse gas emissions reporting protocols include some types of indirect and direct emissions which are calculated at a company, geographical, facility and operational level. Greenhouse Gas Emissions reporting is made annually. As such, many facilities, especially those equipped with refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, have contracted with vendors of refrigerant management programs. Software and other web-based applications now exist to automatically track and report emissions information, ensuring accuracy and compliance.

Effects of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Everywhere you go, you could often hear people talking about going green, or becoming more eco-friendly. While not everyone has become fans of going green, there is still a large portion of the population who clearly believes that going green is the way to go. For some, it is just a fad that they try to be a part of, but there are actually various reasons why going green has become very popular.

Today, more and more people are becoming aware of the environmental impact of the ways of man. A majority of the health and environmental problems that humans suffer from, stem from the un-green ways of man, one of which is the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Coal-fired power plants are hailed as the biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. In fact, this accounts for 20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States alone, roughly 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide is produced every year just from burning coal at power plants. This figure does not include the greenhouse gas emissions that vehicles on the road emit. Add this up to the 2 billion tons of CO2 and you will get really plenty of gases to contend with in the atmosphere.

These emissions have been the leading cause of respiratory problems that humans suffer from at present. Children, who have sensitive body systems, are more prone to the dangers posed by these emissions. Hence, various governmental agencies have been created in different countries to help in protecting the degrading environment. One such agency is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States.

At present, people are going green by getting their power from green sources. Aside from coal-fired power plants, there are now clean energy sources like wind energy, solar energy, wave energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, and hydropower.

Car manufacturers have now implemented measures to minimize the greenhouse gas emissions that vehicles produce. There are even hybrid cars that do not rely entirely on gasoline or fuel to run, but has an alternative power source in the form of an electric motor. To lessen the environmental impact further, there are now newer types of vehicles that run on biofuel instead of using fossil fuels like gasoline.

Air pollution caused by greenhouse gas emissions is only one of the reasons why more people are going green. There are a host more reasons around you, and all you need to do is to open your eyes, and you will see the need why you must go green.

Global Warming-a Step To The End Of The World

Global Warming is one of the major critical environmental challenges facing the world today. As industrial development is largely based on the use of fossil fuels, which in turn, may boost the concentration of greenhouse gases. Due to which developing countries are under tremendous pressure to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that are the fundamental cause of greenhouse effect to avoid the perils of any environmental catastrophe.

What is Global Warming?

It is the process of heating up of the earth's atmosphere when the level of CO2 is increasing significantly in the atmosphere.

What causes Global Warming?

The emissions of green house gases are responsible for increasing the earth's average temperature. Our planet is wrapped in a layer of heat-trapping gases. When these harmful gases released into the atmosphere, it acts like a blanket, trapping heat in the atmosphere and altering climatic conditions globally.

The principal green house gas that enters the earth's atmosphere due to number of human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels, solid waste, trees and wood products, and also as a result of chemical reactions is Carbon-Dioxide (CO2) - the main driver for the green house effect.

Other contributors of greenhouse effect are:

• Methane - emitted during the production and transportation of coal, natural gas and oil. It also results from livestock, and other agricultural practices and by the death and decay of microorganisms.
• Nitrous oxide - released during agricultural and industrial activities, and during burning of fossil fuels and solid waste.
• Fluorinated oxides - hydro fluorocarbon, per fluorocarbon, and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are artificial and powerful gases released from the emission of variety of man-made activities.

Since Industrial Revolution, humans have been burning fuels on a large scale to run automobiles, to generate electricity, to heat homes etc and are releasing CO2 into the air almost without care and cause untold damage to our environment.

Climate change is the biggest and serious threat to humanity and nature in the 21st century. We must act now to reduce the threat of global warming to secure a healthy and pollution free life for future generation.

Not only human activities, natural processes also contribute to rising global temperature and cause a drastic change in climate.

The primary natural resources that release CO2 into the air (sources) and remove CO2 from the atmosphere (sink) are: -

• Animals and plants respiration, by which oxygen and carbon-dioxide are converted into the CO2 and energy, and process of photosynthesis by which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored as carbon in plants biomass.
• Ocean atmospheric change in which oceans absorb and release CO2 at the sea surface.
• Volcanic eruptions, which releases carbon from the rocks deep in the earth's crust.

A variety of human activities that release CO2 into the atmosphere and remove CO2 from the atmosphere are: -

• Combustion of fossil fuels is considered as the major emitter of CO2.
• A number of specialized industries production processes such as metal production, mineral production and use of petroleum-based products can lead to emission of CO2.
• Carbon Sequestration - is the process by which growing trees and plants absorb or remove CO2 from the atmosphere and turn into a biomass.
• Deforestation, conversely, can lead to significant levels of emission of CO2.
• CO2 can be captured from the power plants are released into the atmosphere and then injected deep underground.

The layer of green house gases gets thicker due to an ever-increasing rate of CO2 into the atmosphere. This, in turn, makes the earth warmer and that the conditions under which humanity has thrived are rapidly changing.

The world has warmed 0.74 in the past hundred years and it will get warmer in the time to come due to constant increase in concentration of green house gases. Global average temperature is forecast to rise 4oc towards the end of 21st century.

Effects Of Global Warming:

The effects of global warming are quite scary and every species on this Planet are under the severe threat of global warming.

Due to the destructive phenomenon of global warming, we see that natural calamities are on the rise. Glaciers are melting faster, sea levels are rising, scarcity of food and water, conversion of forests into deserts, eruption of number of diseases, changes in weather and climate patterns, and there will be more intense and frequent cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons.

Coral reefs are also seen under the threat of global warming. Corals are very sensitive to changes in temperature: a temperature increase of one degree Celsius can trigger them to make bleach and they often die, after severe bleaching.

CO2 pollution is another stress faced by the coral reefs. Absorption of CO2 by the oceans makes the water more acidic; with the result there is a greater tendency for a seashells to dissolve in acidic water.

Coral reefs provide an estimated $375 billions dollars in economic benefits each year globally. But, now about 16% of the world's coral reefs were seriously damaged.

Environmental Defense Marine Ecologist Rud Fujita provide assurances by saying that coral reefs may be able to withstand with indirect threats like climate change, if we can reduce some of other direct stresses on coral reefs. For e.g. threat induced by CO2 pollution.

Many fisheries are also in trouble. Today, 46 important fisheries are depleted in U.S. Ecosystems are being destroyed, and fishermen are losing their jobs.

Rising seas will also have a down falling effect on fish habitat. As sea level rises, it will convert fresh water into brackish water, and brackish marsh into salt marsh resulting into destruction of nursery grounds for a wide variety of marine life.

There is a need to forge a constructive solution in order to maintain the number of fishes, and to enjoy seafood in future.

As global temperature rises, glaciers and sea ice are melting causing a shift in evaporation and precipitation patterns. Due to this, some parts of the oceans are becoming fresher, while others are becoming saltier at the visible pace and could slowly disrupt the way the ocean delivers the nutrients to sea life, leading the sea birds to face mass starvation.

Many species of plants and animals have disappeared as a result of global warming. As climate change wreaks its havoc across the globe, the ecosystem could disappear altogether, or they may undergo serious and irreversible changes.

Changing weather patterns threatens our lives, livelihood and lifestyle. It impacts heavily on the livelihood of farmers who have experienced reduced water levels and crop yields, dried up farms, destroyed vegetation and unpredictable rains have brought destruction and diseases.

Ways To Curb The Emission Of Greenhouse Gases:

Our planet is moving towards an immensely warmer future. Our one single step or effort can really make a big difference to save our environment from the inevitable impacts of global warming and make it a sustainable earth.

• Keep your city green and clean by planting more and more trees. It provides cool shade and reducing air conditioning cost by up to 30%.
• Using high efficiency compact fluorescent light saves both energy and money, and lasts up to 10 times longer than standard bulbs.
• Use energy saving, water saving, and power saving products.
• Buy organic products. It can benefit your health and environment.
• Say "NO" to plastic bags and use your own bag. It also reduces waste.
• Choose biodegradable cleaning products. They have less negative impacts on the soil and water system.
• Reduce the consumption of paper by reusing and recycling it.
• Use laptop instead of desktop. It consumes 5 times less electricity.
• Traveling can also create a huge impact on our environment. Try to avoid it whenever possible. You will reduce the carbon emission by riding a bicycle walking, and taking public transportation.
• Repair the things instead of replacing them also reduces consumption.
• Turn off all the electronic gadgets when they are not in use.
• Reducing destructive fishing practices, keeping habitat healthy, and curbing pollution to lessen the threat to marine ecosystem.
• Need to plan for and devise strategies to cope and ward off the global warming impacts.
• To reduce forest emission in order to avert any catastrophic climate change.
• To grow awareness among the public that indiscriminate clearing of forest causes 20% of global warming.
• To support the efforts of the nation to cut down the concentration of greenhouse gases to document the impacts of global warming on human health.
• Switching to energy-saving products instead of energy-consuming products.
• To generate awareness and mobilize community to initiate environmental improvement action.

Nature has given us lot of resources and always helped in flourishing mankind. But, what we as a human being gives back in return. There is a need to move towards cleaner and greener sources of fuel in order to make our planet healthy and beautiful.

"SAVE EARTH AND EARTH WILL SAVE YOU"

Advantages of Renewable Energy

There are many advantages of renewable energy and with the supply of fossil fuels running low, it would be advantageous of people to look at saving them and using green energy sources instead. Governments and environmentalists alike have been warning people for years that something must be done to keep up with demand and, for whatever reason, people are looking into the various ways they can to power their electronics, cars, etc. No matter what it is, you can find some type of energy source.

Fossil fuels, while commonly used, have negative impacts on the atmosphere. The first impact is global warming, which severely impacts how people and animals live. It also changes the weather patterns including droughts, heat waves and hurricanes.

Do you want to learn all about the damages global warming has on the environment? Then it's time to check out your local library to give you a helping hand. To learn what damages global warming has, check out "An Inconvenient Truth". Don't forget that once you're done with it to find out all the advantages of green energy and how you can incorporate them into your home whether you're building from scratch or renovating your older home. It doesn't take much to make your home energy efficient (along with cost efficient).

Again, there are several advantages of renewable energy. One of the first advantages is that the carbon footprint it leaves behind is reduced. It's the biggest reason that people are turning to solar energy, geothermal energy and wind energy to power their homes.

Renewable energy sources can also create more jobs, which are likely to stay within the United States borders. These positions tend to offer good pay and benefits, which are what many people are looking for.

Among the above advantages of renewable energy, you also have the government providing incentive programs and tax credits to those folks who choose to use renewable energy sources. At the moment, persons who choose to use solar power in their home are available for the federal tax credits. Using these credits can give persons back up to 30 percent of the value of the solar system. Keep in mind that solar energy panels (a common form of solar systems used) can be installed on both residential and commercial properties.

Other such advantages includes affordability. More people would be willing to build new energy efficient homes or make upgrades to include energy efficient technology if the price was right. People who choose to use such energy sources are people who generally support green communities. "Go Green" communities work tirelessly to be environmentally conscious and do whatever it takes to improve their environment and the rest of the world too.

Bear in mind that the advantages of renewable energy can be seen in many of the green cities and can often come in the form of environmental policies. These policies are designed to help citizens be energy efficient wherever possible and assist them to reduce the amount of pollution and damage to the atmosphere. National Geographic produces a Green Guide that gives readers a great deal of information about how to be environmentally friendly. It includes green issues, advantages of green energy and lists of the top 10 green cities.

The vast number of advantages of renewable energy could take up an entire book but remember that with the advantages, there are also disadvantages. A key disadvantage is the cost of installing renewable energy sources such as solar energy panels. Since cost is such a motivating factor, only people who have a disposable $20,000 on hand can afford to outfit their home or business and take part in all the advantages of renewable energy.

Green Powered Homes

Green powered homes are those that utilize "green energy". This is a term used for using energy sources that are renewable, sustainable and have little to no effect upon the environment in the consumption or use of the energy produced by these resources. Another term used is "sustainable technology" - it means pretty much the same thing; using resources that are renewable, and having no negative effects on the environment in the consumption and use of any power generated from such a source. What are some examples?

Well for instance, there is solar power. This is a superb example; the sun's light is a renewable resource because the sun constantly produces light, and will for zillions of years into the future. There is no way any amount of solar panels can deplete it of its energy, and any and all use of the power it provides leaves absolutely no effect upon the environment - perfect for green powered homes. In contrast, the burning of fossil fuels for power is using a non-renewable resource. Fossil fuels never get renewed, only consumed - and their negative effects upon the environment are not ignorable.

Another example of a system used by green powered homes is geothermal power. This uses heat from the ground for space heating and the production of electricity. One way this is done is by directing systems of pipes into the ground beneath a house's foundation for running water through them in order to transfer the ground's heat to the water. This water is then coursed throughout the house to provide heat, and through the use of heat pumps generate electricity. This type of sustainable technology has actually been in use for many centuries, even by the ancient Romans for space heating and the heating of water for public baths.

Green powered homes also can utilize the power of the wind. Wind-powered generators actually deliver a lot of electrical output. Many homes run completely on one or two of these, using a large battery cell much like those used for forklifts in order to store the surplus and regulate the current to their homes for everyday use. All of these, solar power, geothermal power and wind power are just three examples of sustainable technology. There is no need to burn fossil fuels and continue scorching deeper the carbon footprint into our Earth. There is no need to dig up the Earth for such fuels, in one country or another. The sun continuously gives us energy we can use, the wind gives it to us as well, as does the Earth itself. The energy that these provide is clean, free, and using it leaves no mark upon our environment. There really is no excuse not to put to work the great gifts that are given to us through these.

A Renewable Energy Plan

Despite all of the recent negative publicity surrounding fossil fuels, crude oil and natural gas has been beneficial for the growth of our modern world. It has helped the population have life after dark, transportation of goods all over the world, and allowed technology to advance. However, the use of fossil fuels has also resulted in many negative consequences: it has created severe pollution, political conflict, economic control and total dependence of countries that lack this natural resource.

The supply of fossil fuels is limited, and it is only located in certain areas of the world. The demand for fossil fuels creates conflicts which threaten peace. Countries that have adequate fossil fuel supplies could potentially threaten the security and economy of countries that are dependent upon these countries. In addition, there have been many estimates made about the amount of fossil fuels left in the world. These estimates are dependent upon the population growth, and how much the actual fossil fuel consumption increases in the near future. These estimates state that there is enough for approximately another 35 years of oil, 37 years of natural gas, and 107 years of coal [1]. In addition to the negative environmental consequences of using these fuels, there is a finite supply of fossil fuels that will force the use of another form of energy. This limited supply and large demand will cause inevitable price increases. Therefore, the end of low-cost oil is rapidly approaching.

The use of fossil fuels to fulfill the world's energy needs is causing harmful side-effects for people, plants and animals. Waste products from these fuels heat the earth's atmosphere and pollute the earth's air, water, and ground. This results in decreased living conditions for all species of the earth. In addition to being hazardous to our ecosystem, and the health of many species, the pollution is also changing the atmosphere of the world. This trend is called global warming, and will continue to become worse due to the increase in the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity due to the growing world population. In the process of burning the gasoline, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and unburned hydrocarbons are released into the atmosphere. The catalytic converters reduce a large portion of the pollution, but they are not perfect. Many cities currently have dangerous levels of ozone in the air. The world needs a power source that has low pollutant emissions, is energy-efficient, and has an unlimited supply of fuel for a rising world population.

Many alternative energy technologies have been researched and developed. These include solar, wind, bioenergy, geothermal energy as well as many others. Solar cells use the sun to generate electricity, wind power is obtained from the kinetic energy of the wind, bioenergy is extracted from plants and geothermal energy is energy from the earth. Each of these alternative energy sources has its advantages and disadvantages and all are in varying stages of development.

For most countries around the world, if the supply of fossil fuels were cut off -- the entire economy would come to a halt. There would not be a way for people to drive to work, or use electricity in their homes or workplaces. The global population consumes petroleum products at a rate 100,000 times greater than the rate that they are formed. The United States currently imports 70% of the oil, and it is still increasing. About 80% of the total energy in the world is provided by fossil energy sources [2]. The International Energy Agency [3] estimates that the primary world demand for energy is expected to grow by about 45% by 2030. The cost of meeting this energy demand is estimated to be $20 trillion U. S. dollars [2, 3]. Therefore, since so much money needs to be spent on the investment in energy infrastructure in the upcoming years, this enables an opportunity for replacing the fossil fuel infrastructure with a renewable energy infrastructure. U.S. coal and fossil fuel plants are already fairly old because at least half of the plants were built before 1970. If the oldest plants are retired first, it may be an easy progression to transfer the energy production to alternative energy without retiring the plant's prematurely.

Although the demand for oil is increasing, the world's oil production peaked in 2005 [1]. In 2006, countries that had a significant percentage of their power from renewable energy was Canada (16%), followed by France (6%), Italy (6.5%), Germany (5.6%), United States (4.8%), and the United Kingdom (1.7%) [8]. The global community has reached a point where future energy demands need to be balanced with future economic and environmental needs. We currently have a real opportunity to transform the way that our economy utilizes energy, prevent further pollution, and we can help to insure a safer and more secure future.

About Global Warming

For all you global warming naysayers - please keep reading!

Everyone is aware that the definition of global warming is a significant increase in the Earth's temperature over a short period of time due to the result of human activities. An increase in temperature of 0.4° Celsius is significant over a century, and an increase of 1° Celsius is considered global warming. Although 1° or 2° Celsius may not seem like a lot, small temperature changes can have significant effects. When you hear the term "ice age," you probably think of the world covered in snow and ice. Ice ages occur every 50,000 to 100,000 years, and the average global temperature was only 5 °C cooler than they currently are [4, 5, 6].

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a group of over 2,500 scientists from countries across the world that met in 2007 to advance climate research. One of the conclusions of this meeting was that the last 15 years have been the warmest since 1850. Some of their observations were that glaciers and snow have decreased in the northern and southern hemispheres, and average arctic temperatures have increased by twice the global average during the last 100 years. Rain has increased in the Americas, northern Europe and parts of Asia, and South Africa and the Mediterranean have been experiencing drying trends. Overall, hot days globally have become more frequent, and cold days have become less frequent and severe [4 - 7].

Natural changes in climate such as heating due to volcanic activity, radiation from the sun, and changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere sometimes take thousands of years to change only 1 °C. The current carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) determined from the ice cores (180 to 300 ppm) is far greater than the natural range found over the last 650,000 years. If the CO2 concentration rises to 400 - 440 ppm and stays there, the eventual rise in temperature would be around 2.4 - 2.8 °C [4 - 7].

In order to stabilize the CO2 level, it needs to peak, and then decline. The more quickly that this occurs, the lower the peak stabilization level. According to the IPCC, in order to stabilize the CO2-equivalent concentrations around 445 to 490 ppm, CO2 emissions would need to peak by 2015 (at the latest), and then fall to between 50 - 85% below the year 2000 levels by 2050. A later peak and higher concentrations would lead to larger increases in temperature.

A Future Vision

There is many ways to create a "bright future" with renewable energy. There is no single answer for our future energy system. The future energy economy will consist of many renewable energy technologies used in combination -- wind, solar, geothermal and fuel cell energy. The technology to accomplish this is either available, or already being developed. Some of the tasks that we need to accomplish include:

Build an industry based upon alternative energy technologies
Reduce energy costs
Reduce climate change
Increase energy security
Help to create conditions for long-term prosperity
In order to accomplish these tasks, we will have to:

Use a combination of wind power (both on and off-shore)
Use both concentrating and standard PV power systems
Use geothermal systems
Use fuel cell systems that generate hydrogen using electrolysis
Use biomass and municipal waste
In order to successfully have a society based upon renewable energy, there has to be a way to store energy because renewable energy (solar and wind power) is intermittent. Solar and wind energy are both excellent methods of obtaining energy from natural resources, however, the levels of sunshine, and the intensity of wind varies. When these sources are not available - electricity cannot be generated. When a large amounts of energy is being produced, hydrogen can be created from water. The hydrogen can then be stored for later use.

As far as fuels are concerned, hydrogen is one of the most powerful fuels. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe; however, it does not exist in its pure form on earth. Therefore, it has to be extracted from common fuel types or water. The process that is used most frequently for extracting hydrogen is the steam reforming of natural gas. It can also be extracted from coal, nuclear power, biofuels or even waste products. Hydrogen can also be produced using water through the process of electrolysis. Electrolysis splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. Renewable forms of energy such as photovoltaic cells, wind, hydro and geothermal are increasingly being used to produce electricity, and excess electricity can be used for the electrolysis process. The hydrogen can be used, or stored to generate electricity at a later time.

Electricity for Residential and Business Use

Electricity for residential and business use can be produced using a combination of wind, solar, and hydrogen fuel cells. There will also have to be intermediate solutions and cooperation between corporations, utility companies, and individuals in order to successfully transition to a renewable, hydrogen, and energy-efficient economy. Corporations will have to manufacture energy-efficient electronics and appliances, which minimize energy consumption, and automatically turn themselves off when not in use. Utilities and governments need to give incentives for people to use less energy, and individuals need to be more aware of the amount of energy that they are using. There is significant proof that the growth in the electricity demand can be decreased through the use of creating appliances and devices that are more energy-efficient, implementing building codes, financial incentives and helping individuals to voluntarily decrease energy use.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently conducted a study that investigated wind power, and found that implementing 600 GW by 2030 was feasible. If this actually occurred, this would be an estimated 50% of the United States predicted power use in 2030. One advantage of wind power is that it does not take a lot of space -- the towers can be placed on farmland, (and just about anywhere else), without really getting in the way.

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are a technology that can be used immediately, and sales have been growing very strongly during the last decade. However, it still has a small market share due to the high costs of the solar panels. Concentrating solar power may be accepted faster than conventional solar technology because the costs are beginning to be competitive with traditional energy technologies. Concentrating solar power systems allow power plants to produce electricity from the sun on a larger scale, which in turn allows consumers to take advantage of solar power without making the investment in personal solar technology systems. Geothermal energy can also provide a significant amount of energy if it can be proven within the next few years.

Fuel cells have already been used for decades for business and residential use. Stationary fuel cells can produce enough electricity and heat to power an entire house or business, which can result in significant savings - and they also can make enough power to sell some of it back to the grid. Fuel cells can also help provide electricity by working with large power plants to become more decentralized and increase efficiency. Most electricity produced by large fossil-fuel burning power plants are distributed through high voltage transmission wires over long distances. These power plants seem to be highly efficient because of their large size; however, a 7 to 8 percent electric energy loss in Europe, and a 10 percent energy loss in the United States occurs during long distance transmission. One of the main issues with these transmission lines is that they do not function properly all the time. It would be safer for the population if electricity generation did not occur in several large plants, but is generated where the energy is needed. Fuel cells can be used wherever energy is required without the use of large transmission lines.

Fuel cells can power residences and businesses where no electricity is available. Sometimes it can be extremely expensive for a house that is not on the grid to have the grid connected to it. Fuel cells are also more reliable than other commercial generators used to power houses and businesses. This can benefit many companies, given how much money they can lose if the power goes down for even a short time.

In the future energy economy, individual households will be able to produce their own energy. This will help to redistribute power from global oil companies and governments to the people. Individual households can share their energy with the grid to help distribute energy to areas that may have less due to weather conditions.

Personal Vehicles

The Energy Information Administration [2] states that vehicles use 70% of the liquid fuels consumed by the U.S. The average fuel efficiency of current vehicles is about 22 miles per gallon. However, it should not be unrealistic for the average fuel efficiency to increase to about 45 miles per gallon by 2030. Hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles would all provide either lower or no oil consumption, and each can be useful in transforming to a hydrogen and renewable energy- based economy. All of the major automakers have already invested heavily in hydrogen fuel cell technology vehicles.

Many factors are contributing to the fuel cell push in the automotive market. The availability of fossil fuels is limited, and due to this, an inevitable price increase will occur. In addition, legislation is becoming stricter about controlling environmental emissions. One of the new pieces of legislation that will help introduce the fuel cell automobile market in the U.S. is the Californian zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires that a certain number of vehicles be sold annually in California. Fuel cell vehicles also have the ability to be more fuel-efficient than vehicles powered by other fuels. This power technology allows a new range of power use in small two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles, boats, scooters, unmanned vehicles, and other utility vehicles.

In the future, automobiles will be plugged into an outlet in homes and offices to help generate electricity for both the vehicles and the houses. Houses only require an average of 10 kW to power everything. And since automobiles can generate 40 kW of power, a car can become a power plant for the house or office. Cars can also be plugged into a pole when individuals go to work to power the building. This transition to a hydrogen economy provides an important challenge, and great opportunity of the 21st century.

Portable Energy

Portable electronics such as laptops, cameras and cellular phones can last 10 - 20 times longer by using hydrogen. In coming years, portable devices-such as laptops, cell phones, video recorders, and others- will need greater amounts of power for longer periods of time. Fuel cells are very scalable and have easy recharging capabilities compared to batteries. Cell phone technology is advancing rapidly, but the limiting factor for the new technology is the power. More power is required to provide consumers with all of the functions in devices they require and want. The military also has a need for long-term portable power for new soldier's equipment. In addition, fuel cells operate silently, and have low heat signatures, which are clear advantages for the military.

The Creation of Jobs with the New Renewable Energy Industry

The building of the alternative energy industry would easily create millions jobs during the next 10 years. These jobs would include construction and operation of new power plants, manufacturing of renewable energy technology (such as solar and wind power), R&D for new renewable energy technologies, and jobs that are created due to the money spent on these technologies.

In order to transform our oil economy, we need to make an investment in changing it. We need to make sure that we are planning how to power our world during the next 20 years and beyond.

A Few Of The Effects of Population Growth on the Environment

The population of the world is slowly increasing. As this happens, we need to take great caution in making sure we don't harm the environment. If we don't be careful then it could lead to disastrous effects for us and nature.

As cities grow larger and larger the natural land around them is being turned into homes and office buildings. We need to set up more parks inside cities to allow for the large amount of urbanization. These parks help to beautify the city while helping to preserve our environment.

As we build these homes and cities we are using more and more lumber and other natural resources for the buildings. We need to limit how much quarrying is allowed in one area and they need to be replanted instead of left bare. If you have ever seen the aftermath of a quarry you would understand how it is a scar to the earth.

When we use the trees in a rainforest or any forest we should replant at least the same amount of trees that we took out of it. Birds, squirrels, and other animals use these forests to survive and gather food. Without this natural habitat they will slowly begin to die off.

Also alternative power sources should be researched and used more heavily. As we burn more and more fossil fuels we are hurting the atmosphere and slowly losing those valuable resources. Learning how to expand our uses of solar, wind, and hydro-electric energy will greatly help save the environment.

It may not seem like nature is being hurt any now. However, as time goes on we will slowly begin to see a decline of animals and may even see some species go extinct and if we don't change the way we live we may soon outgrow nature herself.

Build Your Own Affordable, Eco-Friendly House

What is the best way to build a low-cost home that doesn't harm the planet? Most materials such as concrete and steel are highly processed and transported long distances, making them unaffordable to millions who are in need of housing. These high-tech materials also cause a great deal of harm to the environment. The answer is to utilize locally available, low-impact natural building materials such as earth, stone, straw and small diameter wood. This article explores several methods of using earth and sustainably harvested wood to cut housing costs to rock-bottom prices. And because the techniques are user-friendly, they are ideal for do-it-yourselfers.

Earthbag building: Like other earth building methods, earthbag building is simple to learn and extremely low cost. It has evolved from the military's use of building durable, blast and bullet resistant structures with sandbags for 100 years. Modern-day builders are using the same basic process of filling and stacking bags to build beautiful houses, offices, shops, schools and orphanages. Earthbag buildings are resistant to mold, fire, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, insects and rodents.

Since the main building material is earth, which is often free or very low cost if delivered, structures can be built literally dirt-cheap. No expensive equipment is needed. Most people already have the basic tools around their home - shovels, buckets, garden hose and ladder. The building process is so simple that unskilled workers can learn each step of construction just by watching for a minute. Earthbag building is extremely adaptable and can be used to build almost any shape imaginable, including domes, vaults, roundhouses, or more typical square or rectangular designs.

Small diameter wood: U.S. forests are currently overcrowded and prone to forest fires. Millions of acres are destroyed each year to fires and disease. Gleaning small trees from the forest in a sustainable manner actually improves the health of the forest and reduces forest fires. With an inexpensive firewood permit (about $20), anyone can obtain wood for building their home. Most of this wood usually goes up the chimney to heat homes, but it is much more valuable when turned into useful products with a long life. All the wood for a house can be obtained this way at much lower cost than buying dimension lumber from a building supply center.

One option is peeling the bark off and using them in the round for pole frames. Wood in the round is much stronger than sawn lumber and requires less processing. With a portable mill or chainsaw attachment, do-it-yourselfers can also mill their own wood for beams, joists, studs, trusses, purlins, window and door frames, trim, cabinets and furniture. Where I live, builders are culling standing dead trees (sound wood) from the forest so as to avoid the time and effort of seasoning the wood. In addition, using sustainably harvested wood as described here is more aesthetically pleasing than conventional stud walls covered with sheetrock. The beauty of the wood is left exposed, honoring the tree from which it came.

Tamped earth floors: Traditional poured earth floors can last for many centuries, thereby saving a small fortune on wood floor framing and replacement of carpet and linoleum every 15 years. Earth floors look like leather once finished and are extremely beautiful. (They're being used in trendy, custom homes.) However, poured earth floors take a long time to dry, making them impractical in all but hot, dry climates.

Tamped earth floors use less water and dry much faster. These floors can typically be walked on one or two days after installing. The building process involves screening road base or other appropriate soil through 3/8" mesh. This mix is spread out in 2" layers and tamped level. The process is repeated until the desired height is reached. Material for the top coat is screened again through 1/8" mesh. The top coat mixture is hand-troweled and burnished, using just enough water to bond well. After the floor has thoroughly dried, seal with several coats of linseed oil thinned with turpentine.

Earthen plaster: The most beautiful wall finish I've ever seen is earth plaster. If you've never seen earth plaster before, you may think of dreary brown walls. Do an Internet search for "earth plaster" and you'll see the amazing results. Because there are many kinds of clay, there's no limit to the range of colors, textures and special effects. One popular method uses mica in the plaster to create sparkling, brilliant walls.

Earthen plaster is the probably the most user-friendly wall finish. In many cultures women, children and the elderly have done the plaster work for centuries using just hands and basic tools. The key to durable earthen plaster is wide roof overhangs of about 36 inches. Keep rain and snow off the walls and it will last a long time, requiring only minor touchup.

Harmful Effects of Deforestation

Human beings always have been and probably always will be to some extent dependent on forests. Trees were their habitat, their environment, their source of food and their protection from enemies. Forests are very important to man, and other organisms, and one of the biggest problems the world is facing today is the threat of totally losing the forests due to massive deforestation and suffering the harmful effects of deforestation.

Deforestation can be defined as the large scale removal of forests. Deforestation occurs when forests are converted to non-forest areas for urbanization, agriculture, and other reasons without sufficient reforestation. It is the permanent destruction of forests and woodlands.

At present, forests are considered among the most endangered on the planet. Everyday at least 80,000 acres of forest vanish from Earth. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations show that the rates of deforestation has not abated and has actually increased by 8.5% from 2000-2005 compared during the 1990s. FAO has approximated that about 10.4 million hectares of tropical forest have been permanently destroyed from 2000-2005 compared to 10.14 million hectares in the period of 1990-2000.

The process of deforestation is often a complex pattern of progressive fragmentation of the forests. Mistakes of this sort could lead to forest destruction. Along with this destruction is the extinction of many species, heavy soil erosion, greenhouse effect, silting of rivers and dams, flooding, landslides, denuded upland, degraded watershed, and even destruction of corals along the coast.

Extinction of Thousands of Species - Destruction of the forests leads to a tragic loss of biodiversity. Millions of plants and animal species are in danger of disappearing as a result of deforestation. Tropical forests are much more biologically diverse than other forest and a very serious effect of deforestation in tropical countries is the loss of biodiversity.

Heavy Soil Erosion - One function of the forest is that its roots hold the soil in place. Without trees soil erosion and landslides easily happen. When heavy rains and typhoons come, soil is easily carried to lower areas especially to communities at the foot of the mountains.

Greenhouse Effect - Deforestation increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The conitnued degradation of our forest heightens the threat of global warming because the trees and other plants that takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to be used for photosynthesis are gone. The burning of wood or its decay contributes to the release of more carbon which combines with oxygen in the atmosphere thus increasing further the levels of carbon dioxide that causes greenhouse effect.

Silting of Rivers and Dams - Deforestation results in the silting of rivers sediments deposit which shortens its life span and clogs irrigation system. As a result of deforestation, the reservoir behind many dams are filled with sediments more rapidly than expected.

Flooding - One major importance of forest is that they absorb water quickly in great amount during heavy rains. But due to massive deforestation there are no trees to absorb the water thus resulting to the loss of many lives.

Landslides - The roots of the trees bind soil to it and to the bedroock underlying it. That is how trees prevent soil from getting eroded by natural agents like wind or water. When trees are uprooted, there will be nothing to hold the soil together thus increasing the risk for landslides which can cause seriously threaten the safety of the people and damage their properties.

Denuded Upland - After several harvests of the forest the cleared land is no longer suitable for planting trees. It has become a desert. The transformation of a forest to a semi-desert condition is called desertification.

Degraded Watershed - When forest mountains are denuded, watersheds are degraded and this leads to the loss of sustained water supplies for lowland communities. This is because trees affect the hydrological cycle. They can change the amount of water in the soil, groundwater, and in the atmosphere.

Destruction of Corals along the Coast - Coral areas are degraded and coral reefs are affected by siltation. As a result of deforestation there is an increase of flooding during the rainy seasons and decreased stream flow in dry seasons.

The forest provides us with many products and important services. It stops soil erosion, refreshes the air, and protect us from typhoons and other calamities. But if rampant deforestation is not controlled it will result to several problems. In one way or another, the denuded forests will back fire and people will certainly lose to the harmful effects of deforestation.

Why Rainforest Deforestation Has to Stop

Rainforest deforestation is as old as civilization. Whenever cities have needed more fuel and more space they just go and chop down a piece of forest. This has had serious consequences in the past. The Middle East and Sahara desert were once heavily forested areas. They became desert at the hand of man. However until recently deforestation only had local impacts, it was never a global issue.
Civilization has expanded to the point now where there is no more space on this planet left to grow into. There are no new continents to go and discover. Our penchant for growth means we are zeroing in on the last remaining rainforests for timber and space for more farmland.
This is a serious problem for the future of the earth's biosphere and the integrity of the ecosystems that dwell in it. If we keep destroying our last remaining rainforests the water cycle will be disrupted, farmland will become unproductive and the land will become an eroded desert.
The Role Of The Rainforest
Rainforests act as a water filter. They prevent the groundwater from becoming too salty by keeping the salts deep in the earth. When the rainforest in razed the salts rise to the surface. This makes water undrinkable and prevents crops from growing in fields.
Many timber companies that cut down old growth forests justify their actions be claiming that replanting new trees mitigates the damage. But reseeded saplings cannot replace a rainforest. They cannot perform the same functions. They have less leaf surface area than rainforest trees and because they lack diversity they are extremely vulnerable to infection.
A Deep Ecological Attitude Towards Rainforests
Conventional ecological thinking would argue that we must save the rainforests because they are crucial to human survival. That is true. But deep ecological thinking would go further to say that these are not our forests in the first place.
Humans do not own the world or own the forests. It is not our prerogative to decide what their fate is. Rainforests are home to millions of plant and animal species. They deserve the right to flourish and nothing gives us the right to take that away from them.
Rainforest deforestation has to stop for the good of the biosphere and so humans can stop destroying creation and take their place as a functional member of the community of life.

About The Author: Thomas is a writer whose passion is Deep Ecology. This is a world-view that sees a value in nature regardless of its usefulness to humans. It is partly about saving the world but primarily about creating a better place for humans to live. Living as part of the community of life and not apart from it is a much richer and more satisfying way of life. But in order to live as part of the community we have to stop destroying the rest of life through rainforest deforestation and other means. We have to let the rest of life flourish.

Do You Know How Important the Forest Is? Help Save It

If we truly understand the importance of the forest, then we would know that a forestless world could spell doom for man. And so, we would make every effort to guard against the destruction of our forest resources. In this article, we would be considering the importance of the forest and the dangers of a forestless world.

The forest is a special gift to man by nature. The forest ecosystem is the most complex, diverse and productive of all ecosystems. It provides a wealth of resources for human kind. It has been estimated that between 4 billion and 5 billion of land surface is covered by forests. This represents between 34 and 41 per cent of the world's land area. Apart from the fact that the forest helps maintain a stable climate, it assists soil formation and nutrient cycling, and provides species biodiversity. Forest also provides a vast natural resource base that has allowed the development of human civilization. In recent times, the forest resources have been exploited for industrial and commercial gains.

Raw materials that originate from the rain forest are increasingly being used in pharmaceutical and medicinal products. They presently form the bulk of pharmaceutical products of China and other Asia nations, and they are very effective. Presently, over 25 per cent of products found in drug stores contain at least one tropical forest extract.

As our knowledge of forest plants increases, so will the proportions of useful products to mankind. In 1984, the commercial value of pharmaceutical and medicinal extracts from rain forest exceeded US $20 billion each year.

Timber has been well harnessed and used as construction material, both for furniture and building. Paper and pulp are also products of forest resources. The forest has also being supplying man especially the poor and those in the villages with fuelwood, a cheap source of fuel.

As population increases, the demand and consumption of forest products is increasing and has led to serious pressure on the forest. Presently, the forest is fast disappearing at an alarming rate. In Africa, over 100 kilometers of land has been stripped of vegetation in every direction. 20,000 square kilometers in Brazil's Amazon forest area has been destroyed between 1995 and 2000. If this continues unchecked, the entire global forest could be gone in a few couple of years.

To save the forest;
- Alternative resources that would substitute or supplement wood and forest resources should be discovered, developed and used.
- Trees should be planted in order to re-forest the woods.
- Extraction of forest resources should be strictly monitored and controlled.
- Authorities should carryout intensive public education and awareness campaigns.
- Strong legislation should be put in place and strictly implemented to protect the forest.

Go Green and Conserve Electricity In Your House - 4 Simple Techniques

Did you ever ask yourself: how can I go green and conserve electricity? What about considering exactly how much it costs you to have a light source on at your house? Protecting our planet isn't the only purpose of saving electricity or energy; being economical is really a primary results of power-saving methods and home appliances.

Let me show you 4 simple methods to go green and conserve electricity not only to save the planet, it can help you to save your wallet.

If you're similar to most people, you never think about go green and conserve electricity, and you spend virtually no interest to your own electrical power meter. The actual bill arrives and will go so long as there isn't a visible increase in the monthly bill, the small print of energy usage aren't frequently statistics all of us look for.

Actually, your power info by itself stops you from even trying to fully grasp these meter numbers. Watts and kilowatts as well as kilowatt-hours each one include their very own signal of abbreviations which keep the typical, not-professionally-licensed-electrician home owner, a bit puzzled - and rightly so.

You Can Go Green And Conserve Electricity Easy

Whenever you get a chance to get through to the stack of payments, sit down at the dining table trying to concentrate, disregarding all of the background sounds, to make sure a person might handle simply to have that check book to sense of balance, not to mention understand the unusual terminology in the electrical meter reading through. Even so, it takes only a minute to comprehend the basic principles, and having those principles straight down can help you make the most efficient conclusions when it is time for you to invest in green products and energy saving solutions.

Why don't we get going. For a start, electrical power is charged to anyone by way of the kilowatt-hour or kWH. Typically, one kWH rates about $0.08 to $0.15. To accumulate a kWH, you have to utilize 1,000 watts of electrical power. To set it in much more widespread terminology, 1,000 watts is the same as utilizing a one hundred watt bulb for 10 hrs.

Now that you've got a much better knowledge of an elementary cost related to your own electricity bill, here are a few methods for you to go green and have much more electric power for the dollars as well as encourage energy efficiency at your residence.

1. To go green and conserve electricity - Purchase CFL light bulbs: CFL light bulbs are more expensive in advance, yet average just to save you $40.50 each year, for each light bulb in electric power costs. Even though the out of pocket price is higher, you'll recover these expenses from the 720th hour or so of use and also in the future, you might be saving cash. These types of eco-friendly light bulbs consume less energy, often a 4th of many traditional light sources might burn up. Additionally they keep going longer compared to typical light sources. Usually, the life span of 1 CFL is equivalent to around ten conventional lamps.

2. To go green and conserve electricity - Put on the Sweatshirt: A sure-fire method to spend less energy is just not to implement a lot of it. During the cold months, trying to keep the warmth on the lower setting up and putting a level of clothes, just like a sweatshirt or just a set of socks, is a very successful method for saving cash and energy. Additionally, your nostrils may appreciate it; using a heating unit on very low helps you to avoid the atmosphere in the house from getting dried out. Getting the heating on higher not simply uses much more electricity, although results in a lot more power employ since dry out air flow is usually counteracted by plugging in the warm air humidifier.

3. To go green and conserve electricity - Shed The Skin: In direct complete opposite of putting a coating, summer time months are ideal for packaging aside weighty sweat shirts and putting on lighter weight clothes all over your property. Through modifying the temperatures a couple of levels over your current relaxation area, it is possible for you to swiftly adapt to a whole new temperatures. The body will not spot the shift, however your wallet will certainly have the cost savings.

4. To go green and conserve electricity - Switch It and Quit: A clear however frequently overlooked green process is switching down the light whenever you get away from the room in your home. Your mommy most likely nagged you about it at the time you were a kid - you most likely nag your kids on the same issue.

If your living room usually dimly lit and also you end up switching on all of the lamps in your house, consider purchasing a unique light fixture using a much more sheer or finer shade, or changing the globe for a brighter, much less opaque globe. The more lighting that penetrates to the room in your home, the less compelled you will be to want all of the lighting on.

Its very easy to go green and conserve electricity and in the long term this simple methods can save a lot of money.

Does One Person Going Green Really Help the Environment?

Many people don't know where to start so I have compiled a short list of ways that you can make a difference in your household and pass the information on to family and friends. Start the New Year off right by Going Green.

Here are ten inexpensive, simple ways to Go Green.

1. Walking: If it is possible walk to school/work or even the store. This will not only cut down on air pollution from your car but also improve your health. In today's society where people face obesity, this is a great way to exercise and Go Green at the same time.

2. Recycle and Reuse: Everyone drinks water and if you are someone who drinks spring water vs. tap water you could cut down on the plastic water bottles in our landfills by recycling and reusing them. Many grocery store chains (i.e. Wies Market) have spring water stations where you can take your jugs and for a small fee fill the jugs back up with fresh spring water.

3. Replace: Replace older appliances with new energy efficient ones. Now this maybe something that could be costly but if you do one every year it can help you Go Green within several years. This change may also be tax deductible. Check with your local government agency to check on any tax deductions that you may be entitled too. Check out the U.S. government's Energy Star program homepage to find out more about how you could be saving money on energy costs and help the environment at the same time.

4. Lights out: Replace your existing light bulbs in your house with new energy efficient light bulbs. This could save you money on your electric bill but can help the environment because you will be replacing them less. Most energy efficient light bulbs have a 3-5 year life span.

5. Inspect: Check the cleaning products in your home for what chemicals are in them and replace them with Eco-Friendly cleaning products. Many people don't think about the products they use to clean and where it goes when it is sent down the drain or sewer. By switching to eco-friendly cleaning products, you can be assured that the products that are going down the drain or sewer will be friendly to our environment and make a difference in going green.

6. Compost: Return your organic waste to your soil. Put you banana peels, potatoes peels, coffee grounds etc. into a compost pile. If you recycle your food and garden waste, you'll reduce the amount of energy used to send this waste to the dump. Compost can also make your plants stronger and healthier, reducing the need for fertilizers. Check out the many sites available to purchase a composter.

7. Laundry: There are many ways to go green when doing laundry. Use eco-friendly laundry products. Do smaller load and/or spread out the time to do your laundry. Don't do all the loads on the same day. The easiest and even the most cost effective way to go green is when at all possible hang your clothes outside to dry. When it is not possible, make sure your dryer is an energy efficient dryer.

8. Soaps: You wash your hands many, many times a day but how many of those times do you stop and look at what is in the soap you are using to wash them. Some soap products have chemicals in them that can harm our water systems and/or septic systems and we are not even aware of them. By purchasing eco-friendly soaps you can get your hands clean without harming your septic or water systems. There are many all natural products that can also leave our hands smelling great and being free of germs at the same time.

9. Plant Trees: When at all possible plant a tree in your yard or your community. Planting a tree in your yard or community will help minimize the effects on global warming and can also add to the beauty of your yard or community. Trees not only add to the value of your property but can also help control many aspects of nature (i.e. control run off, capture dust particles, etc.) Just think if everyone planted one tree a month how beneficial this would be to the economy and the environment not to mention the beauty.

10. Toys: Many people don't think of their children's toys when they think of going green. However, they can be just as important. One major toxin that can be found in toys is BPA. This toxin can cause many effects on your children from brain development to reproductive and behavior in children. Many toys were tested and may were found to include this toxin. As a parent I do not believe that any toy no matter how much my child may love it is worth risking their health to play with. There are other alternatives such as Eco-Friendly toys. Toys that are made from 100% recycled plastic milk jugs. Toys that have no BPA Phthalates or PVC.

These are just 10 ways that you can go green without breaking the bank and not really cause radical change in your lifestyle. However, these changes can have a positive effect on the environment. I hope these tips will help you encourage you and your family, friends and even neighbors to Go Green!! After all we don't own the world it is borrowed from our children.

The Green Living Lifestyle - Every Little Helps

When it comes to green living, many people may think that to live a green lifestyle you have to change everything all at once. This is not the case. You can gradually ease yourself into the green living lifestyle one thing at a time. After all, even the smallest bit of effort can go towards helping the environment. You can start off in small ways, by recycling paper, metal, plastics, glass and so on.

This is the most common idea of the way into greener living, and is a very valuable element in the journey we are taking to a better environment for all to enjoy. Once you've become acquainted with the idea of recycling various materials, you can move onto various other ways of incorporating green living into your own lifestyle.

In the home, you can make sure appliances are turned off at the wall and not just left on standby. You can recycle food waste and use it as compost to help your garden. You can insulate the home so that you don't lose heat, thus helping you to save money on bills as well as the environment.

You could look in local listings for any green organisations close to your home. These people will be full of advice to help you incorporate the green living lifestyle into your days, and may well be able to offer advice on issues that you had not even thought of.

Reduce your carbon footprint by driving less and walking more. This has been a major issue in the news in recent times, and is a very large part of the current green living movement. Gradually, you'll discover the green lifestyle will become second nature to you and that you will look back on the way you used to live your life and realise just how negative an effect that seemingly innocent activities can have on the environment around us. Green living advice isn't about telling you what to do -- it's about helping you understand what you individually can do to help the world around you.

Everyday Practices to Save the Earth

1. How Can You Help

There are many ways you can help to protect the environment and reduce the pollution problems. Just think about your activities and products that you use in your everyday. Think about your usage of water and energy. What can be done? Many studies have been made in making the use of renewable energy sources available. Have you considered installing renewable energy devices such as solar panel on your house. The main problem is that you need to invest a lot of money first and then wait for some time until the investment pays out concerning your electricity usage is reduced. The problem with solar panels is that sometimes they are not effective enough especially on winter days and rainy days. The other renewable energy sources are such as wind and geothermal energy can only have desired results on certain locations and the investments can be high. The other aspect of environmental protection is waste disposal. Do you use recycling bins in your home? Do you carefully separate glass from plastic and paper. It takes a little bit of effort but think about saving the Earth's resources.

2. The Water Usage in Your Household

Do you control the water usage in your household. The clean water is precious, so we should think about the water usage. There are many ways to economize your water usage. Just think about the water pipes and installations in your house. Sometimes the water pipes are old and corroded which leads to a water loss. You should check the pipes and taps, be sure there is no leaking. You should also think about the your house appliances such as dishwasher and washing machine. These appliances have different characteristics concerning their water and energy usage. When you buy new appliances you should check these parameters and chose carefully. If you have a garden you should consider the use of rainwater storage. When there is a rain you can store the water and use it later. In your house you can consider installing water recycling equipment. This equipment can help you save water and reuse the water that you have used for cleaning. The water circles in your house can be divided into 3 types of water: clean water, used water and waste water. The special piping systems can help you regulate the water circulation.

3. The Usage of Different Products

Do you excessively use plastic products such as plastic bottles, cups, bags and so on? These products are often disposed and can not be recycled. What you should consider is to reduce the usage of plastic.. You can think about the alternatives, you should re-use the plastic containers, cups and bottles. The one-time used plastic cups can be harmful for environment, as well as plastic bags. When you buy soft drinks you should consider to buy glass bottles and then recycle them. The plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental problems and the solutions are all up to you. The each and every one of us can make a change, take a step towards a cleaner environment.

4. The Transportation

Do you own a car? Have you thought about what kind of engine does your car have? The big engines usually consume a lot of petrol and have a considerable pollution impact. Do you drive a car everyday to your work? You can say that there is no public transportation to your house, or if there is, it is running slowly and rarely. You can think about getting a smaller car, on a long term this investment pays well. In big cities you should always use public transportation and avoid driving a car because traffic jams can be really annoying. And not only that, traffic jams are very bad for the environment, they are responsible for a large amount of air pollution. Riding a motorcycle or a bicycle, can get you thorough the traffic jam.

5. Take the First Steps to Make Your Environment a Better Place

Now it is time for action. You can think about the other ways you can save the Earth. The future of our planet is depending on each and every one of us. You take the step forward, think about the future. I am open for your suggestions. Thank you for reading this article. Hope you can make some practical efforts.

Tips To Save the Earth

What can you do to save the earth? Saving the earth is everyone's duty. All of us can contribute some effort to make a better tomorrow. If you do not know how to begin, follow these tips.

Turn off your light: When you don't need it, it only makes sense to turn off your light bulb. If you have a regular incandescent bulb at your house, you should change it to a compact fluorescent bulb. Believe it or not, it is good to the environment, and it can also save you a lot of money. Although a fluorescent bulb may seem expensive, energy experts confirm that you will save more money with a fluorescent bulb long term. Even though incandescent bulb may be cheaper, it will burn out often. Furthermore, fluorescent bulb will only use a quarter of energy to generate the same amount of light.

Running faucet: Turn off the running faucet when you brush your teeth. Believe it or not, if you leave the water running for two minutes, you waste up to ten gallons of water.

Turn down the heat: If you must turn on the heater in the winter, you should set it at 135 degrees. Try to put on thicker blanket or jacket when you go to bed. You may not even need your heater.

Carry cloth shopping bags: Cloth shopping bags are better than plastic shopping bags for the environment.

Recycle: Recycle newspapers, plastic, cans, or glass. Learn about your local recycling facilities. Recycle whenever you can.

Alert your family about the environment: If you have children, you should teach them about recycling. Teach them to love the environment.

Can Algae Oil Save the Earth?

In our green real estate section we usually try to focus on environmentally friendly tips for our homes. But this article will be focused on an interesting research, which may lead to helping us if we are feeling guilty because of our cars eat up too much gas. Oil is an crucial part of our everyday lives. People in the developed countries often cannot think of a life without a car, it is just so common to own one. As most of the realtors whose job includes driving around a lot, I do the same. Imagine a life without a car - isn't it almost impossible? The prices of oil are driven up and down by the unsound oil supplies and our nature is suffering from carbon dioxide emissions and fuel burning. These are the well-known crucial problems of driving.

Craig Venter is an American biologist and also a successful enterpreneur who established The Institute for Genomic Research. Genetic engineering is the main topic of his work, that has caused a great deal of heated debate by his most recent project.

We already know that algae are able to create natural oil. This has been the topic of several experiments with biofuels. Venter has ambitions to go further. He is trying to explore if it's possible to adjust the genomic structure of algae in order to make them create oil of almost the same composition as the traditional crude oil. If that works out, we would be able to use the current refineries and other oil industry infrastructure already available. Also plastics could be produced the same way as from crude oil refining, using the current production plants. It doesn't shock us that one of the companies producing the most oil on the planet, Exxon Mobile, contributed $600 million for Ventor to go on with his research.

Now your concern might be, where is the ecological benefit? Well, right here. The oil created by algae might well contribute to dealing with one of the most serious problems of our world. Plants take the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, utilize it in a photosynthesis process to create the oil and then the oil is burned and turned into oxalates. It will of course take more time to figure all this out, this promising solution won't be available this or next year. But for sure it is a hopeful way to try, and Craig Venter with his team have made the first steps towards a success on a field where others have already tried and failed. There are plenty of people in Canada and elsewhere that would love to go easy on the environment, but due to their occupation, it is very difficult for them to stop using cars.

How to Save the Earth One Step at a Time

Saving the planet may possibly seem overwhelming but in reality making some small changes in your life can help help save the planet. Going green is not as difficult as you think it is with this basic checklist!

Here are sixteen methods to help you save the world one step at a time:

1. Brew your coffee at home. Your coffee grounds may be utilised as a dye, cleaner, and deodorizer. You can also use the grounds within your garden!

2. In case you get your coffee at a shop, use a travel coffee mug as opposed to paper cups.

3. Did you know that over 60 gallons of water is used during a 15 minute shower? Help save h2o (and money!) by listening to one song on your I-pod player. When the song is over so is your shower!

4. Hang your clothing out on a clothes line instead of utilizing your dryer.

5. Take advantage of public transportation.

6. Change your light bulbs to fluorescent light bulbs. They last ten times longer and burn just 25% electricity of a standard light bulb.

7. In the event you require a new automobile, purchase an electric or hydrogen car.

8. Don't buy bottled drinking water! Put tap water in a reusable container.

9. Create a compost pile within your yard. Less waste goes to the landfill, and you have fertilizer for your garden. Compost bins can be purchased at your nearby hardware store, the internet, and catalogs.

10. Reuse paper. If you've only utilised one side of the paper, cut up the paper and use the other side like a scratch pad.

11. Plant a vegetable garden and eat what you grow. Growing your own produce is eco-friendly (think about how far the produce in your community grocery shop has to travel) and also will save you money! For each $1 you spend, you should average $4-$5 in produce. Whatever you do not use, can easily be donated to your community food pantries too! In case you can't grow your own personal garden, shop at your nearby farmers market.

12. Obtain your clothing at secondhand thrift shops.

13. Use reusable bags when you grocery shop. Most shops now sell them!

14. Lower the heat in your house a couple of degrees in the winter and put on a sweater or bamboo jacket if you are cold.

15. Install a programmable thermostat. You can help save around 10% in your heating and cooling costs by programming it to adjust the temperature up when you are asleep and not at home.

16. Plant a tree. Trees help remove CO2 from the atmosphere. They also supply homes for animals and produce shade for our homes (which keep them cooler). Much better yet, plant a bamboo garden! Bamboo stores additional C02 and releases 35% much more oxygen into the air than an equivalent strand of trees.

Don't underestimate the importance of these steps! Just think - if only one or two of these measures were done by everybody in the United States, what an impact it would make!

Renewal Energy: The Energy That Can Save Our Planet

If you are looking for renewable energy company profiles on the Internet, you will find hundreds of them. These companies are doing a good job in saving our planet Earth. What does a renewable energy company do? Well, such companies are into the business of converting renewable resources, such as sun's rays into pure form of energy. These companies also manufacture gadgets or instruments that help in the conversion process. The solar energy source is one of the best sources. The solar energy has always been the motivation for scientists to look out for better ways of giving the world an alternative fuel.

Importance Of Renewal Energy Resources

The non-renewal resources, such as fossil fuels, are fast depleting, and people are looking at alternative fuels, such as biofuels. People who care for the environment will try to make a significant contribution toward the cause. People living in energy efficient homes are not only saving their energy bills, but also keeping the environment clean. These energy efficient houses have gadgets, such as solar cooker, solar lights, ground source heat pump, solar water heater, and so on. Some scientists have also developed a vehicle power inverter that saves a lot of energy.

Technology and science have played a great role in making most of the energy efficient gadgets and instruments. An emergency lighting unit is also another innovation creation that has helped not only the households, but also small industries at times of power cuts. In most places, where there are frequent power cuts, the emergency lighting units have made life easy.

Understanding The Renewable Energy Domain

If you are an engineer and you want to do something for the environment, here's a chance. Join a good company and start looking at innovative solutions that can improve the way people currently live.

A renewable energy company will generally employ engineers for research and development. So if you are applying for a job in it's company, make sure that you are getting an opportunity to work on innovative solutions or products.

In the field of renewable energy, the business opportunities are immense. You can start as a dealer of many solar energy-based products. In the rural areas, there is a huge demand for gadgets and instruments that use solar energy.

Renewable energy is one of the cheapest forms of energy. The simple reason for the cost effectiveness is that renewal energy uses renewal resources. A typical company has the expertise to derive energy from sun's rays, ocean waves, wind, and other forms of energy that are present on Earth.

There are several investment opportunities in the renewable energy companies. Several of these companies have gone public, and they are giving good dividends to all of their stakeholders. Before you invest in these company, you will have to check out the financial status of the company and also get some information related to the future projects that might be in the pipeline. The golden rule is that you need to invest in good and reputed companies that care for the environment.