Mark Justice asked:
For most of us today energy conservation is at the top of our minds. If you would like to find ways to save money on energy that you use, why not consider some of the lesser expensive and environmentally less damaging fuel sources? Don’t be mistaken, many of these can work in your home. Some of these options, once you’ve tried them, you may not want to be without again. They are sure to save you a good amount of money not only right away but for years to come.
What’s Out There?
There are a number of alternative energy sources, but the best ones are those that are naturally renewable. Consider these, for example.
Solar Light: Solar panels are so in demand that they are backed up in sales for years, in some locations. Solar energy comes from the sun. The panels take that sunlight (solar rays) and use them as it would any other fuel. For night time use, the panels store fuel to be used when you call on it to be used. What’s more is that once you purchase the solar panels you have no real cost to using solar energy. Today, outdoor lights, school buildings and even entire grocery stores are being run on solar light.
Wind Power: Why not put the wind to use? Many places are doing just that. By setting up large windmills, they are able to generate quite a bit of energy. In some locations, wind power powers the entire town. Wind is renewable and completely clean. Why not tap into it then?
Water Power: Take a quick look at Niagara Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World located in Canada. Those falls are huge and the power that they generate is massive just from falling water. The city has been running on just water power for some time. As a renewable source and clean burning fuel, you can see how this energy is one to consider as well.
All of these alternative forms of energy are options that you can and should take full advantage of. There are plenty more as well. Corn is fast becoming the source for taking over for gasoline in cars. Some cities are taking food waste or even animal waste and turning that into fuel as well. As you can see, alternative fuels are the best way to conserve energy. What’s more is that they are completely safe for the environment too.
Atul B Tanna asked:
What is the definition of renewable energy? Renewable energy is energy generated from non depleting natural resources such as wind, sunlight, tides, rain and even geothermal heat. They can be used to power our homes, industries and even our vehicles.
BIOMASS
The main source of renewable energy, on a global scale, is the application of biomass. Biomass is described as using biological material in the production of fuel. Common biomass sources include wood, corn, sugarcane, switch grass and even algae. Biomass makes up approximately 13% to 15% of all energy consumed in the world.
Biomass also includes bio fuel. This is the use of biomass materials such as corn, sugarcane and a host of other sources, to make fuels that power the worlds’ vehicles.
There is great promise in expanding the use of biomass to help reduce carbon emissions, to reduce energy prices and reduce the effect of global warming on the environment.
HYDROPOWER
Hydroelectricity (or hydropower) follows biomass as the next leading renewable energy source. It is estimated that hydropower provides between 3% and 5% of all energy consumed around the globe.
Hydropower produces energy using gravitys’ force on falling water. The energy is harnessed using dams to drive turbines and generators.
The biggest hydroelectric dam is currently being constructed in China on the Yangtze River. This effort has caused the relocation of millions of people and the flooding of important archaeological sites. There is much debate about its impact on the wildlife and fisheries that currently exist.
SOLAR, WIND & GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SOURCES
Solar, wind and geothermal energy make up between .08% and 1.0% of all energies used globally. These eco-friendly sources of energy have the potential to significantly reduce the use of fossil-fuels as the main source of energy in the world.
SOLAR POWER
Solar power is likely to be the most valuable of the renewable energy sources available. Why? Because it is available in abundance and is the least expensive for conversion. As new buildings and homes are constructed, solar technology can easily be accommodated in its design and implementation. In some countries, incorporating solar technology into new or existing homes and businesses also comes with monetary incentives such as tax credits, grants and even loans.
The solar energy process involves placing collecting cells and panels in “sun-rich” locations to harness the sun rays. It is then converted to electricity via photovoltaic processing.
WIND POWER
The use of wind power to generate electricity is growing at a rate of about 30% annually. It is widely used in Europe, and there is a big push in the United States, led by energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens. His idea is to harness this energy using wind farms off the eastern and western coastlines of the United States, gradually reducing our dependence on petroleum products.
GEOTHERMAL POWER
The use of geothermal energies is a main source of fuel in countries like Iceland and Norway. Unfortunately, not all geographic locations will be able to use this type of technology.
CONCLUSION
The use of renewable energy sources is the most environmentally sound method to help reduce overall energy costs and the world’s dependence on fossil-fuels. The use of renewable energies will also help provide a healthy environment for future generations.
Steven Gillman asked:
Is the lie detector test (polygraph) accurate? That depends on who you ask. Studies show results of all sorts. A recent Department of Defense Polygraph Institute study, found one experiment in which less than 37% of test takers who were non-deceptive were classified as such. Others were either classified as “deceptive” (false-positives) or “inconclusive.” Would you really want to “prove” your innocence using a test with those odds?
The APA (American Polygraph Association) says on their web site that the problem is one of differing methods of measuring accuracy. Polygraph critics, they say, “who often don’t understand polygraph testing, classify inconclusive test results as errors.” An “inconclusive” result isn’t an error, they say, but I imagine that if you are accused of murder, and you are innocent, you might want something more accurate than “inconclusive” from your polygraph test. The APA will not call it a lie detector test, by the way, even though detecting lies is what it is supposed to do.
One APA explanation: “If 10 polygraph examinations are administered and the examiner is correct in 7 decisions, wrong in 1 and has 2 inconclusive test results, we calculate the accuracy rate as 87.5% (8 definitive results, 7 of which were correct.) Critics of the polygraph technique would calculate the accuracy rate in this example as 70%, (10 examinations with 7 correct decisions.)” This argument is not entirely unreasonable, since there are several ways to measure accuracy.
What is interesting here, is that even in an argument from the biggest promoters of the polygraph, the example given is of of 87.5% accuracy, and 20% “inconclusive” results. This means that of a 100 people tested in a murder case, about 10 innocent people would be found to be “lying,” and 20 with an “inconclusive” reading. Those with inconclusive results might include both murderers and innocent people.
Lets look at this another way. Of a 100 murderers, 10 would be found to be telling the truth, and 20 would have inconclusive results from their lie detector results. In other words, out of 100 murders, 30 would not be identified, according to the accuracy assumed in the example above.
Now let’s consider the APA method again, with a new example. Suppose we question 100 innocent people about a crime, and just one was found to be telling the truth, while the other 99 tests had “inconclusive” results. A relatively useless test, don’t you think? It correctly identifies just 1 out of 100 innocent people. It leaves a cloud of suspicion over the other 99 people. However, the accuracy would be 100% if we measure the results the way the American Polygraph Association does.
The lie detector test isn’t considered science by most scientists. On the APA web site, you can find a little about the scientific evidence for the polygraph. A small excerpt: “Researchers conducted 41 studies involving the accuracy of 1,787 laboratory simulations of polygraph examinations, producing an average accuracy of 80%. Researchers conducted 16 studies involving the reliability of independent analyses of 810 sets of charts from laboratory simulations producing an average accuracy of 81%.”
Think about this for a moment. Is 80% supposed to be accurate enough?! Such a test would identify 200 out of a thousand innocent job applicants as liars, and many more as possible liars (”inconclusive”). Is this lie detector test really something that should be encouraged? Now you can understand item number 7 from the APAs “Checklist for the Polygraph Examiner”: “Carry a minimum of $50,000 or equivalent professional liability coverage.”
Dowl White asked:
Energy is definitely the most important commodity in the world. Up until the 20th century, wood was the most common source of energy for all uses domestic and industrial. Wood was used to power factories, homes, steam ships and trains until the 20th century. However, with the perfection of the steam engine and the diesel engine, more and more types of fossil fuels were used to create the energy that you need globally. Especially after the First World War, the demand for fossil fuels has grown exponentially to create energy madness and energy shortage.
Nowadays, fossil fuels still supply more than %90 of all our energy needs globally. However, recent research shows that there are only enough fossil fuels for only another 25 to 30 years in the world. Hence, it is essential that new renewable energy sources are found all over the world, as the need for energy grows more and more each day. In addition, the fact that oil barrel prices have reached almost the price of $200 a barrel doesn’t help either as the cost of energy quadruples every year. Since everything in the world is dependent on fuel prices, the price of commodities such as food stuffs, transportation, technological products etc also goes up. Thus more and more products and services become more expensive every day.
Of course, there are also very important environmental concerns for the need for renewable energy sources. Factors such as global warming push the world to use more environmental friendly solutions for our energy needs. Fortunately all types of renewable energy sources are quite environment friendly due to their nature.
There are several different types of renewable energy sources that are available for our use:
- Solar Energy (Using Sun to create electricity from light and to create heating power from its heat)
- Hydro Energy (Energy from dams etc)
- Geothermic Energy (Energy from natural hot water sources)
- Wind powered energy (Using the wind to create electricity)
- Biomass Energy (Using wood and other renewable biological products to create energy)
These types of renewable energies are being used more and more globally. However, especially solar energy and wind energy are being harnessed to be used domestically in our homes.