Tag Archives: Ecology

Demand Responce

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We use electricity every day. It is impossible to imagine a life of a modern person without electricity.  Computers, Cell Phones, even light bulbs, everything requires electricity today. When we turn on a any source which requires the usage of electricity like a TV or an air conditioner – it’s called a demand. Our demand for electricity is growing from day to day and scientists predict that demand will rise at least 40 percent by 2030

By saying demand resp­onse we mean the abi­lity to voluntarily trim our electricity usage at specific times of the day (such as peak hours) during high electricity prices, or during emergencies (such as preventing a blackout). Electricity blackouts, such as the one that hit the both Europe and the eastern United States and Canada in 2003, happen when the power supply is lost, usually caused by a malfunctioning electrical grid or component or by a supply-demand discrepancy. Blackouts aren’t just inconvenient, they’re also money pits. It’s been estimated the 2003 blackout cost New York City alone up to $750 million in lost revenue – States an article from the “USA today“.

Currently, huge industrial companies are looking at demand response solutions as an important piece to the infrastructure solution. These solutions also have the potential to help both the providers and consumers to save money, because such solutions could eliminate the need to build extra power plants and delivery systems which results in saving lots of money.

It was determined by The U.S. Department of Energy that “the average home uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours annually. Consumers spend 8.3 cents per kWh, so that adds up to each household spending about $900 on electricity every year”.

In conclusion we can say that Demand response is indeed a great a way for people who consume lots of energy to make smarter decisions about the energy consumption. A smart grid which can be developed could also be a green energy grid which will have the ability to balance the energy output from fossil fuel-driven power generators and renewable energy sources.

 

 

 

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

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2011 was a year very unfortunate for humanity full of natural disasters, especially for Japan where a series of earthquakes and tsunamis occurred and caused mass destruction. Fukushima nuclear plant was not an excpetion which only made things much worse. A series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials have occured which caused panic and chaos everywhere across Japan: cities and towns were evacuated. It was the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, and only the second disaster (along with Chernobyl) to measure Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

When the earthquake occurred the Reactor 4 had been defueled. Immediately after the earthquake, the remaining reactors 1-3 shut down automatically, and emergency generators came online to power electronics and coolant systems. Even though the tsunami following the earthquake quickly flooded the low-lying rooms in which the emergency generators were housed. The flooded generators failed, cutting power to the critical pumps that must continuously circulate coolant water through a nuclear reactor for several days in order to keep it from melting down after being shut down. As the pumps stopped, the reactors overheated and stopped working. As the water went away the reactor fuel rods began to overheat rapidly. In the hours and days that followed, Reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced full meltdown.

Fukushima-meltdown-prevailing-winds1

The Japanese government concluded that the total amount of radiation released into the atmosphere was approximately one-tenth which was released during the Chernobyl disaster. Significant amounts of radioactive material have also been released into ground and ocean waters around Japan.

Sources used:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18718486
http://www.houseoffoust.com/fukushima/blueprint.html
http://www.nature.com/news/specials/japanquake/index.html

 

 

 

Ways the automobile industry is using to increase gas mileage.

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Technology always improves, time doesn’t stop and humanity is creating more and more marvelous inventions. Machines like cars are a casual thing nowadays, most people in the world own at least one car. Cars can soon be called human’s best friend after dogs of course, but such friends like cars is a not a cheap deal to own especially when we are dealing with the gas mileage system which is used nowadays.

Electric and hybrid vehicles made a lot of news at this month’s International CES in Las Vegas and the big auto show in Detroit. The Nissan LEAF and General Motor Chevy Volt have sold more than any other electrified vehicles, but Ford and others are working to narrow the gap. Better and better technology is used to improve the gas mileage. New cars and trucks sold in the
United States in January will average 24.5 miles per gallon of gasoline, a record high, researchers at the University of Michigan said on Tuesday.The average fuel economy, as shown in window stickers placed on all new cars and trucks in the United States and easily seen at auto dealerships, is up 1 mile per gallon from a year earlier and 2 mpg from January 2011, the researchers said. The average fuel economy of new models on sale in January is 22 percent higher than when University of Michigan researchers began their monthly study in October 2007. Surveys show that 60 percent of the vehicles on the road have tires that are underinflated by at least 30 percent. That’s at least 9 psi below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. People  might also consider a few useful tips to get a better gas mileage like Keeping Your Tires at the Right Pressure or Change Spark Plugs Before They’re Due. These will definitely be useful for any driver in the world. Speed Kills Your Gas Mileage and Your Wallet, it is true because it also take people’s lives away. So why not use the brand new cars and combine them with such tips to save money, lives and improve the life experience in total?

Sources used:

1) The motley fool                                                      http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/01/31/how-technology-is-boosting-hybrids-gas-mileage.aspx

2) Chicago tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-autosfuell1n0b5f27-20130205,0,7658300.story

3) Lifehacker.com                                                                            http://lifehacker.com/5979549/get-better-gas-mileage-and-fuel-economy-with-these-diy-car-care-tips

Germany’s green energy policy.

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Nowadays the problem of pollution and global warning is infestating more and more countries. Such problem is taken very seriously in Germany. Billions and billions of Euros are invested into ecologically clean plants and other industrial projects. The “Institute for Energy Research” shows us that “by 2030, Germany will have spent more than 300 billion Euros on green electricity. And consumer groups are complaining that about 800,000 German households can no longer pay for their energy bills”. If this rise in energy prices continues, household energy bills could exceed the rent that German citizens pay for housing in parts of the country and this analysis is not very promising. All of us know that renewable technologies are not economic compared to traditional fossil fuel technologies. Spiegel.de noticed that “Germany’s four leading electrical grid operators — RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall and EnBW — announced on Monday that they would be hiking by 47 percent the charge to consumers that goes into financing subsidies for producers of renewable energy”. This clearly means that more and more people will have trouble and disbalance with their financial status and overall income and as a result the economical situation might get worse if the switch to the clean technology will be rapid. Electricity prices are expected to increase by over 10 percent next year—the largest increase in a decade. Germany is building one of the world’s most ambitious clean-energy strategies. It supports and advertises renewable energy by granting fixed prices for the electricity that facilities such as wind- and solar-power plants produce. “Germany already produces more than 25% of its electricity from renewables such as wind and solar power, but is planning a complete exit from another low-carbon energy source, nuclear power, over the next 10 years because of safety concerns. It plans a further, even more radical expansion of renewable energy to replace nuclear energy and fossil-fueled power plants, with the aim of sourcing 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and more than 80% by the middle of the century” – states the Wall Street Journal. Overall we can say that the Green energy policy in Germany is very successful and promising but the prices on it are way too high for most German people, but if the changes to the new green energy technology in the country will be slow and planned – the country will definitely benefit both economically and ecologically.