Green Calculation » energy

Philippe Starck Wind Turbine

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:50:01 +0000

Designer Philippe Starck created a fancy looking wind turbine that will sell for as little as $750 this fall. You can be the talk of your neighborhood with this thing on your roof, as it actually provides energy to your home and saves up to 80% of your electric bill every month. Sniffs Starck:

“Imagine a Saturday afternoon, and a guy going stupidly to the supermarket to buy a useless gadget,” Mr. Starck said. “He sees a really sexy object. ‘Oh my God, it’s beautiful. How much does it cost? Five hundred euros? That’s almost what I’d spend on a useless gadget.’ He brings the windmill home, goes to his roof, and 15 minutes later he sees it turning and producing energy. Wow!”

These turbines come in stainless steel, bright orange or a transparent plastic that will be almost invisible on your roof.

Reducing Energy Bill to $0 a Month

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:05:27 +0000

Here’s a guy who is totally off the power grid, with all the modern day amenities, but living in a solar-hydrogen and geo-thermally powered home.

On sunny days, solar panels on the roof of Strizki’s detached garage generate more than enough electricity to power his home. The excess electricity powers a device inside the garage called an electrolyzer, which transforms a tank of water into its base elements – oxygen and hydrogen.

The final piece of the equation is “The New Jersey Genesis,” a hydrogen fuel-cell car Strizki helped design and now maintains for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. He can fill up the Genesis with hydrogen from his electrolyzer and drive it pollution free.

It’s so successful that Johnny Depp is using the technology to power his Caribbean Island.

Solar Energy Facts

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:03:24 +0000

The sun is the main source of almost all energy on earth — even fossil fuels (coal, gas and petroleum) began life as plants whose energy came from the sun millions of year ago. Of course, the sun is also the original source of most renewable energy sources too — solar, wind, hydro — because the sun actually gives energy to the atmosphere, which creates wind, rain and ocean currents.

So what is this stuff? Sunlight speeds 93,000,000 miles to the earth in approximately 8 minutes at 186,282 miles per second! Energy can be measured in kilowatt-hours. 1 kilowatt = 1000 watts or the amount of electicity it takes to burn ten 100 watt light blubs for an hour.

In 2006, the average monthly residential electricity consumption was 920 kilowatthours. About 30% of our total energy consumption is used to heat water. Refrigerators are the appliance that consumes the most electricity (14%), followed by lighting (9%).

You can use the sun to dry cloths just with a cloths pin. This is a form of solar energy. Usually, when people talk about solar power, they mean using the sun for electricity production and for heating of water. Solar energy can also be used to heat swimming pools, power cars, attic fans, calculators and other small appliances. It produces lighting for indoors or outdoors. You can even cook food with solar energy.