Natural Environment Blog

Another year has begun and the personal New Year resolutions are already almost forgotten. If this sounds like you, why don’t you set your aims a bit lower and start taking a greener step towards home improvement.

As with any new initiative, there is always the risk and issue of how much money will be involved versus the actual outcome. People are open to make a difference, but sometimes the costs involved are not affordable. There are many schemes to help fix this problem, such as ‘green loans’ or the Green Deal Initiative in the UK.

But don’t worry if you find it too difficult to find that extra cash from your budget. Here are five simple tips on making a positive impact on the environment without spending ridiculous amounts of money:

Curtains

Installing curtains instead of blind will keep your house warm, before you consider turning up the heating system. High quality curtains can trap the heat in your home rather than letting it escape through your windows. So if you are on a low budget, this slight change can make you save money in the long term, when winter hits again.

Turn your lights off

An interesting fact: about one in every four homes in the US has electronic products running on standby. This includes leaving unnecessary lights on during the day, keeping computers on overnight or leaving the heating on while the windows are open.

People need to change those habits as many homeowners believe that they themselves as an individual wouldn’t make the difference. That’s WRONG –saving energy on something as easy as flicking a switch is better for the environment.

Green electricity

As we all know, studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between the output of carbon dioxide (CO2) and global warming. However, over half of our electricity output is supplied through the burning of coal, which produces CO2 as a waste product. Nevertheless, you can register to a ‘green’ electricity supplier, who uses electricity sources that do not have a negative effect on the environment.

U-Value Doors

Fun Fact: Over 10% of heat losses in your homes are accounted through windows and doors. Eventually this starts adding up in your energy bills. In order to avoid those unnecessary losses, you can buy composite doors, which will keep your home sufficiently heated. These doors have a U-value of 1.8, which is now a legal requirement. U-value is a simple measure of heat loss in your door.

Insulation

People always underestimate the savings that results from home insulation. Studies have shown that one fourth of your heat is lost through the roof. Insulating your roof is therefore vital and in turn it helps keeping the heat in your room and reducing your bills.

This article was contributed by Sachi Jayatilleke.

Your electricity and utility bills are what make up the most of your monthly expenses, so as much as possible, you wouldn’t want to wake up one morning and find out that your energy bill has gone up. This is something you don’t want to happen, especially during these tight times. But if you feel that your energy bill is too high, you really need to take a moment to determine what is causing it. Here are a few possible reasons.

Your Energy Supplier is Charging You More for Energy

When you know you have been consuming the same amount of energy, but your energy bill has suddenly indicated otherwise, the most probably reason is that your kWh cost has gone up. This means your energy supplier is charging you more for electricity you are using. Now, there are several reasons why this happens including inflation, fuel price hikes, and even change in local energy regulations.

There Has Been a Change in Your Electricity Use Pattern

Clearly enough, how much electricity you use at home will have a direct impact on your monthly bill. If you’ve noticed a sudden increase in the size of your energy bill, it may be that you’ve bought a new electrical appliance, you have had a friend or relative who has come to live with you during the past months, you’re not unplugging appliances and gadgets when you’re not using them, and so on.

There Has Been Extreme Weather Conditions in Your Location

This may seem obvious, but not too many consumers realize that extreme changes in weather conditions can increase cooling and heating bills. When it gets too hot or too cold, for instance, your cooling and heating appliances will have to work doubly hard, thus increasing your electricity consumption. Moreover, moisture can build up on the coils of your air conditioner when there is high humidity, causing for the appliance to use more energy.

The Solution

Now, while you cannot easily manage your electricity use pattern and definitely cannot control the weather to lower your energy consumption at home, you can, nevertheless, find a new energy supplier who can provide you with cheaper services. With the number of energy suppliers today, it is very possible to find and choose a cheap electricity and gas supplier. Also known as green energy, cheap electricity is power produced using renewable resources such as solar power from the sun, wind power, and hydro electric power.

Unlike energy produced using conventional sources, green energy is renewable, cheap, and in no way can cause harm to the environment. Therefore, by choosing cheap electricity, you are not only grabbing an opportunity to cut down your energy bill and save money, but are also doing something that has a significant impact on our environment.

Gene Armstrong is a writer for www.switchwise.com.au. He specializes in subjects with regards to energy efficiency and green energy.

It’s not just a national thing, this is global. Greener living is now a phrase that we acknowledge in our households, and it’s not going away anytime soon! The idea of greener living has developed because of the increasing need to create a sustainable future for our world.

It’s a total fallacy that leading a greener lifestyle has to be inconvenient, difficult or expensive. There are many ways in which any household can not only be more environmentally friendly, but even save money in bills!

Electricity Usage

The first way to go green, and save money in the process, is to cut down on your electricity usage. We all know that we should turn off unnecessary lights, but do we all know that we might even need to be changing the lights we keep on? Replacing your light bulbs with CFLs (Compact fluorescent lights) will save on the energy you’re using.

Why not try turning down your washing machine to a cooler temperature? We are all told to do so, but do we know why? When using a washing machine, up to 85% of energy is used on heating the water, which could be saved.

Chargers are notorious for swallowing huge amounts of electricity, so ensure that as soon as you’ve finished with them, un-plug them!

Heating

It’s not just your electricity bills which you can save the pounds on. By turning your thermostat down just a few degrees, and having shorter warm showers, your heating bills can also drop.

Kitchen

Saving money on plastic and paper can also benefit the environment, and it takes next to no effort! Try saving carrier bags, or buy reusable bags instead of taking new carrier bags shopping with you. It’s a well know fact that plastic carrier bags take an awful long time to decompose, and so reusing your bags save them from spending years and years in the landfill.

Cut backs in the kitchen can also contribute towards your green lifestyle efforts. Instead of buying kitchen roll, why not buy a cloth especially for cleaning up mess. This way, you save money and trees from not buying kitchen roll, but also a cloth, when used with cleaning products, is much more hygienic.

Cut Down on Paper

Most, if not all banks, now offer internet banking, and the option to get rid of your statements in the post, and receive paperless ones over the internet instead, saving on paper usage.

Recycle

Most people have an orange dustbin now, so no excuses for not recycling! It’s not much extra effort, but makes a huge difference! Keep a small extra bin in the kitchen for your recyclables.

Harness Rainwater

If you’re a plant lover, then listen up. To water your plants, don’t use tap water, as that is all costing you pennies! Collect rainwater in a container, and use that instead.

So there we have it - practical and easy ways to stay green, with minimal effort required. Remember, it’s the little things that, if done by everyone, make a huge difference!

James writes for powerexperts.co.uk, a forward thinking business energy broker service, offering greener, cleaner advice.

We hear all the time that going green is a good choice, but have you ever asked yourself why? Have you ever asked yourself why you should even bother to be eco-friendly?

“Why should I go green?” is actually a good question to ask yourself as it gives you the opportunity to seek and find answers. Today, there are a lot of people who just go with the flow and decide to go green without even bothering to ask whether it makes sense at all or not. Don’t get me wrong. Going green does make sense. However, wouldn’t it make more sense if you know the reason behind the very thing you are doing?

Going Green Is the Better Option

Now, if there is one good reason why you should choose to go green, it’s that it is the better option. It is the better choice because it has a positive impact not just to the environment, but to your health as well. And you also probably realize that it has a positive impact to your finances. Take switching energy providers, for example. Choosing to switch power suppliers can actually help you save 10%, or even more, on your electric bill.

The Impact of Going Green to Your Health

When it comes to health, going green is also an excellent choice. Today, more and more people are suffering from respiratory diseases, allergies, and even cancer. And if you come to think of it, it has something to do with the presence of toxic elements that come from the everyday products that people use at home.

Now, both the consumers and the companies that manufacture these products have a role to play on this one. It’s not that manufacturers deliberately want to make people sick by making toxic products, but it’s just that consumers are after cheap products. And in order to make cheap products, companies make use of cheap materials and resources that are often the ones that contain health hazards.

You Can Always Make a Better Choice

Fortunately, you can always make better choices by being more responsible when deciding what type of products to buy and what kind of services to avail yourself of. This doesn’t mean you have to transform your home into a greenhouse overnight, though. You have to understand that even the small, simple choices you make can have a positive impact to the environment and to your health. Investing in eco-friendly products, for instance, may not produce instant results, but it absolutely has a huge impact in the long run. The same is true with choosing to switch power suppliers, investing in energy-saving appliances, and observing other eco-friendly practices.

About the Author: Gene Armstrong is an energy expert based in Australia. He specializes in subjects about switching, energy efficiency, and green energy.

With the number of individuals concerned for the state of the planet rising at a rapid pace, more and more people are finding ways to switch to green electricity. Now, green electricity can be defined in two ways. First, it can be a renewable source of electricity such as solar, wind, or hydro. Second, it can refer to the arrangement between a green energy supplier and a consumer. This article will talk about the second definition and why is it important for household owners to start considering it.

In Australia alone, there are already more than a dozen of gas and electricity suppliers that provide clean and green energy. By choosing to avail yourself of the services of any of these companies, you are already buying green electricity in a sense.

Tips to Finding a Green Energy Supplier

You have to understand that not all of these suppliers actually provide 100% green energy. Some of suppliers who claim to offer green energy actually make use of hydro, nuclear, and coal energy sources, which are obviously not green at all. Therefore, when choosing among the list of green suppliers, take these things into consideration to make sure you are indeed signing up for 100% clean and green electricity.

By signing up with a green electricity supplier, you will still receive the same kind of electricity you have been receiving before. The only difference is that by doing so, you are creating a demand for energy that’s clean and at the same time saying no to unclean electricity.

Does Switching Make a Difference?

Many people consider the campaign for cleaner energy to be a fraud and something that’s not to be taken seriously. According to these people, switching to green energy suppliers does not really make a difference. However, people who have been using clean energy say otherwise. The truth is, while switching does not provide overnight results, it sure does make a huge impact in the long run, especially when combined with reduction to your energy use. For one, as more and more people switch to green suppliers, the demand for new clean sources all increase. Also, you cannot deny the fact that green energy is usually a lot cheaper than dirty energy and allows you to cut down your monthly bill by up to fifty percent.

It’s never too late to consider switching to an energy company who can supply your home with clean and green gas and electricity. If you do not know where to start, there are several online switching service providers that can help you.

About the Author: Gene Armstrong is an energy expert based in Australia. He specializes in subjects about switching, energy efficiency, and green energy.

You might think that solar energy is a relatively recent human invention; however, some form of solar energy has existed on earth for as long as microbes, plants and animals have existed. Without our sun, life as we know it on earth could not exist; life is completely dependent on solar energy. Current technological innovations that allow the use of the sun as a source of energy are actually little more than a copy of processes found already in nature.

The human race has always looked to nature to help improve its lot in the world, from the first man who found a sharp stone and used it as a knife; to the flint knappers who carved arrowheads from rock. Nature and the technological development of the human race have gone hand in hand for as long as the two have existed.

Humans are now beginning to attempt to transfer their power consumption to a more sustainable technology, and one of the most promising such options is solar power. Although solar power in some form has existed for some time, scientists are now attempting to learn from nature to improve current solar power collection and storage designs.

The “Golden Triangle”

Phyllotaxy refers to the arrangement of leaves on the stem of a plant. Scientists now realize that these arrangements were designed to maximize leaf exposure to the sun. For example, the florets (petals) of a sunflower are arranged in what is known as a Fermat spiral pattern. Within the Fermat spiral the sunflower also uses what is known in geometry as the “Golden Angle” of 137.5 degrees to space each petal. The golden angle allows maximum efficiency for the sunflower petals to gather sunlight. MIT researchers applied the combination of Fermat’s spiral and the golden angle to solar panel heliostats, which are the mirrors used to direct sunlight to man-made solar panels throughout the day. The altered arrangement led to a 10 percent increase in efficiency for the area studied.

The Wings of a Butterfly

Meanwhile, another improvement in the rate of solar collection and energy storage is being developed through the study of butterfly wings. The wings of butterflies are much more complex than originally thought. Scientists now know that butterfly wings, although they are extremely thin and light, are made up of a complex structure of overlapping rectangular scales. Throughout this structure are gaps leading to a lower layer of scales. The steep walls on the ridges of the upper scale absorb long wavelengths of light, while filtering the light to allow only the shorter wavelengths to reach the lower scales. This maximizes the use of all the light that reaches the wing. By treating a butterfly wing with a compound catalyst, it was found that hydrogen could be produced at double previous rates. As hydrogen can be stored and used in fuel cells, this could provide an answer to storing enough power for use at night and during other low light situations.

If the history of technological development has proven anything, it is that the design of natural systems often surpasses anything scientists can create. It will be intriguing to see what new developments in solar power remain to be discovered from the study of our planet.

Guest post contributed by Kris Rayner, on behalf of www.GeneralWasteCollection.co.uk

Solar panels are being installed as a long term future investment by smart house owners despite its initial cost. No doubt, this may be quite a pocket drainer to begin with but with the passage of time, you will have greater financial benefits to make up for the investment. Solar panel will not only be a value investment but will add to the improvement in green living value of your home.

The solar panels will again be very effective if you live in an area that receives maximum sunlight. Solar panels are also safe as they do not emit any greenhouse gases. There are specific areas in which solar panels can prove very beneficial for the users.

1. Reduces the cost of your electricity bills

As long as your solar panels are in direct sunlight, you will have ample energy for household utility needs. The excess energy from the solar panel is directly fed into the power system which in itself will mean less consumption of actual electricity power. This means that your electricity bill will be much lower than before you installed the solar panel. As you will be using solar power on good sunny days, there will be less need to utilize the net meter provider. Solar panels are renewable resources as long as the sun shines.

2. Solar panel reduces carbon footprints and are silent

Solar power is not noisy except for a gentle hum when the transformer from the solar panel converts DC into AC for the home provider. Unlike a generator which is run on oil, the solar panel does not emit any gaseous carbon footprints and does not harm the ecosystem through oil dregs or spills. There are no moving parts in solar panels which make it for easy maintenance once installed.

Solar cells have the capacity to last a lifetime without dying out. Since energy is from the sun and is free, the solar panels will keep generating energy whenever the sun shines.

3. An attractive value for your home

When you have a house which has fixed electric bill it will naturally be more appealing for anyone to live in. Any potential buyer will consider the possibility of lower electricity bills and value of using energy harnessed by the solar panels. The added feature of solar panels whether on your rooftop or elsewhere is therefore bound to increase in its demand value. Having a warranty of more than 20 years of life expectancy or even longer and with so little or negligible maintenance, it adds to the desirability and sale value of your home. When a household has lower utility bills, there can be ample savings which will naturally cover the initial cost of installation.

There is no doubt that with the installation of a solar panel in your home, you will not only enjoy peace of mind but greatly enhance the market value of your home, should you ever need to sell your house. Installing a solar panel which will not only give you energy but will cut on your expenses is ultimately a bonus in the long run. By reducing harmful emissions and utilizing natural resources, you will be promoting green living and contributing towards a healthy environment for your community.

About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology and autos. Beside this she is fond of cars and fancy dresses. Recently an article on New Android Apps attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on Kitchen garden.

Today, most people know all about the various green ways of generating electricity: wind turbines, solar panels, hydro-electricity. But green heating methods for the home are somewhat less known. Let’s have a look at the various methods of heating your home in an environmentally friendly and economical manner.

Solar Heating

Similar to solar panels used for generating electricity, solar heating panels can be installed to generate hot water for your home to be used for central heating as well as tap water. If installed to an optimum standard, this method can account for 40-60% of your hot water, the remainder made up by traditional gas heating.

In the winter when there is less sunlight, solar heating naturally is not as effective, so this method is not as reliable throughout the year. However, the important thing to remember is that the resource that it requires, sunlight, is free.

Electric Radiators

This modern, state of the art approach to central heating is highly cost effective. Compared with traditional radiators, electric radiators are much cheaper to run, costing just a few pence per hour. They do not require pipes, keeping the heat confined to the radiators themselves. They also use a lot less electricity than your average storage heater.

If your home is solar or wind powered, this method of central heating truly makes your home totally self sufficient.

Geothermal Heating

This method of heating is gaining large popularity. Geothermal heating utilises the heat found deep underground. By running pipes underground, heat can be brought into the home, and hot air extracted to be ventilated into the building. This heat supply is much more constant than solar heating throughout the year and is readily available for whenever it is needed. This method can provide up to 70% of your heating requirements and, like solar heating, can be combined with a traditional gas source. It is no wonder why this method is gaining such popularity.

Under Floor Heating

This is a very popular heating method. Under floor heating is especially useful for homes that are built in older renovated buildings that do not have existing central heating systems.

This method comes with two options: wet or dry. As the name suggests, the wet option involves pipes with running warm water keeping the home at an optimal temperature. The dry option involves electricity and woven materials. This is a much more expensive option than the wet option, however it is much easier to install in older buildings where the system needs to be build into existing architecture.

Conclusion

You may be thinking that these methods of heating are expensive to install. While this is true, it is important to consider the money that you would save over the coming years by purchasing less gas, or even no gas, to heat your home. These methods, combined with good insulation, can save you as much as 70% on your heating bills. It’s time to move our heating methods into the 21^st century as we gradually say goodbye to our old fossil fuel friends.

Guest post written by Chris Johnson on behalf of Electric Radiators

Small businesses will always strive for ways to reduce their outgoings, particularly in an unfavorable economic climate such as the one we find ourselves in. One good way to reduce expenditure is to look at utilities; switching suppliers or reducing usage can help with energy bills, although it can often be a complicated task.

One way that small businesses are beginning to benefit from attempting to reduce their outgoings is through generating their own electricity. Previously the costs associated with generating electricity prohibited small businesses from considering this option, but  generating your own power is becoming a relatively affordable thing to do.

Increasingly generating electricity is becoming a viable option for small businesses, who can pocket the reduced utility bills, and even selling surplus energy back to the National Grid. Here are three ways in which small businesses can generate their own electricity.

Solar Panels

There are two ways in which solar power can be used to generate electricity. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) uses the sun’s energy to boil some water, while Photo-Voltaic (PV) solar panels convert the energy directly into electricity.

Photo-Voltaic solar panels are still reasonably expensive, but can generate a significant amount of electricity. These are solar panels which use light, so they can still generate power even on grey, overcast days although obviously not as much as long, sunny days.

One problem with solar panels is that they tend to mean power is only available during the day, when the sunlight is casting onto the panels. For domestic properties this can mean that solar panels are not appropriate, but for many businesses the majority of energy use takes place during office hours, when the sun is shining.

Either way, it will be useful to store the energy being generated, so most PV systems come with batteries which can be charged.

Another solution is to sell your energy surplus back to your electrical supplier (as long as you are still connected to the National Grid) and then paying them for your electricity when the sun goes down and you’re no longer generating power.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines are experiencing a rise in popularity recently, particularly due to the shrinking price of micro-turbines in DIY stores.

While it may seem like the perfect solution, with the wind blowing all day and night, the amount of electricity which can actually be gleaned from these wind turbines is often negligible, depending on the specific location.

Wind speeds are always faster above ground level, at heights above an average house. The wind disturbance caused by other buildings around it further decreases the amount of electricity which can be generated.

A large turbine on the edge of a building where it can receive clean, fast air is more likely to generate a decent amount of energy, but there is also the annoyance of the noise of the blades spinning around.

Combined Heat & Power Units

Another method of generating electricity which is bound to become more widely available in the future is the use of Combined Heat and Power units (CHPs).

While they were previously only suitable for large buildings like factories and universities now small CHP generators are on the market, running on natural gas. The heat generated is channeled to provide heating and hot water for the building and is no less efficient than a modern gas boiler.

Future Benefits

While the technology required to generate electricity may still require a sizable initial outlay, the benefits should be apparent for years and years for a small business, with greatly reduced energy bills. As fossil fuels become scarcer the price of energy is bound to keep rising, so it’s no surprise that forward-thinking businesses are beginning to attempt to run under their own steam.

While these opportunities for businesses to save money on their energy use are still worth investigating, many of the technologies are not yet developed appropriately for businesses, and should probably be considered as future prospects rather than immediate changes.

Save Money Now

Most small businesses could be saving money now by switching business electricity supplier and employing energy-saving measures such as using natural light and ventilation where possible, avoiding leaving equipment on standby and turning off lights in rooms that aren’t in use.

This article was written by Adam Cairn on behalf of uSwitch for Business, a price comparison website, helping small and medium-sized businesses save money on their energy costs.

Konarka Technologies has recently released a press release regarding the first ever demonstration of inkjet printed solar cells. According to Konarka’s president and CEO, Rick Hess:

Demonstrating the use of inkjet printing technology as a fabrication tool for highly efficient solar cells and sensors with small area requirements is a major milestone

Konarka Technologies is a company that specializes in organic photovoltaics - solar cells made from plastics (as opposed to silicon).

The ability to print solar cells from an inkjet printer opens up the possibilities of how solar energy can be produced. Konarka is interested in working with partners to explore innovative ways of integrating solar power into products. For example, they have already partnered with Air Products to develop windows that generate electricity.

Although organic photovoltaics is not as efficient as using silicon cells - organic photovoltaics is around 5% efficiency, compared to 15% to 20% efficiency with silicon solar cells - it does allow for a wider range of solar applications, which can only be a good thing. Furthermore, Konarka’s chairman and co-founder, Howard Berke has said that he expects organic photovoltaics to ultimately approach silicon’s efficiency.

I notice that Konarka are billing this as the “first ever demonstration of inkjet printed solar cells…”. I suspect that this is because it’s not the first time we’ve heard of solar cells produced by printing techniques. A team of Japanese researchers have also succeeded in doing this.

In any case, it’s good news for the future of solar energy.