Natural Environment Blog

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.

Based on analysis provided by the Australian Greenhouse Office, there are five household activities that stand above the others when it comes to production greenhouse gases.

Five of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the average household are:

• Travel (to work, shopping, recreation etc)
• Water heating
• General electrical devices
• Heating/cooling
• Lighting

Here, I’m going to discuss some of the easiest things we can do to lower the greenhouse gas emissions from our households. To get the biggest “bang for our buck”, we should first target those activities that produce the most greenhouse gas (such as the 5 listed above).

You might find many of my suggestions blatantly obvious. That’s OK. But remember that despite how obvious some these are, billions of people around the world choose not to change - they’re too used to their way of life.

If we really want to reduce our carbon footprint, we need to break some of the habits that have been ingrained in us for so long. Fortunately this is easier than it sounds. All we need to do is make a decision - do we want to make a difference or not? Once that decision has been made, the rest will come naturally.

Anyway, here are the big 5.

Travel

Some estimates have found that 34% of household greenhouse gas emissions comes from travel. Furthermore, a large part of these greenhouse gases come from cars.

By using our cars less, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. Try walking or cycling instead. As well as environmental benefits, there are also health benefits from doing this. Next time you do your grocery shopping, throw on a backpack and cycle to the supermarket. Throw all your groceries into your backpack and cycle home. You’ll feel much better for it!

Water Heating

Water heating is a high producer of greenhouse gas. This highlights the need to really be mindful of how much hot water we use. Maybe we should ask ourselves some questions like:

• “Do I really need to spend 15 minutes under a hot shower every day?”
• “Do I really need to use hot water when washing my clothes?”
• “Do I really need to fill the sink up to the brim each time I wash the dishes?”

Electrical Devices

Electrical devices are high greenhouse gas producers too. Devices such as TVs, stereos, computers, printers, scanners etc all produce loads of greenhouse gas.

The sad thing about this is that, up to 13% of household greenhouse gas is produced while our electrical appliances are turned off. When turned off, these devices still consume electricity and produce greenhouse gas.

As well asking ourselves “Do I really need this device…”, we should also remember to pull the plug out at the wall when finished with these devices.

Another thing to do is, when purchasing electrical appliances, try to look for the most energy efficient appliances. Depending on where you live, your government might require all electrical appliances to be rated for their energy efficiency. This type of system will make it easier for you.

Heating/cooling

Again, an obvious question to ask is “Do I really need the heater on all the time”. Or if you live in a warmer climate “Do I really need the air conditioner on all the time?” .

In cooler climates, try keeping your body warm - not the room. What I mean by this is, instead of putting the heater/radiator on, wear warm clothing instead (or just move around a lot more!). And if you’re sitting on the couch at home and you’re getting cold, wrap a bed sheet around you, or place it over your legs. You’ll be amazed how soon you warm up.

In warmer climates, opening windows and letting air through can often cool you down significantly. A cold shower or swim is always refreshing too!

Lights

We should get into the habit of turning lights off when we don’t need them. Or even better, don’t turn them on if we don’t need to.

We could also make sure we buy energy efficient light bulbs. They use far less energy than traditional light bulbs and produce much less greenhouse gas. Although, if you do buy energy efficient light bulbs, just make sure you dispose of them properly.

Have you ever wondered how much greenhouse gas you were producing every time you threw your laundry into the washing machine?

Same thing with the clothes dryer. Have you ever wondered how much your clothes dryer was contributing towards your carbon footprint?

Well, here are some statistics the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) has come up with:

• Washing machine: Each year, the energy used to run an average washing machine produces 90 kilograms of greenhouse gas.
• Warm water: If you wash your clothes using warm water, add another 475 kilograms of greenhouse gas to this. This works out to be around 4 kilograms of greenhouse gas produced per wash.
• Dryer: If you use a dryer, add another 150 kilograms to that.
• Detergents: For top loading washing machines, the production of washing detergent generates around 0.3 kg of greenhouse gas per wash. For front loaders, it’s around half of that.

What surprised me is the amount of greenhouse gas produced by using warm water. I knew clothes dryers used up a lot of energy but I wasn’t expecting the hot water to produce more than 3 times the greenhouse gas compared to the dryer. I’m glad I only use cold water to wash my clothes!

If you combine the 90 kg (from running the washing machine) with 475 kg for the water, you end up with 565 kilograms of greenhouse gas produced each year - just from washing your clothes!

If you use warm water and a dryer, you could be producing a staggering 715 kilograms of greenhouse gas just from doing your laundry!

What to do about this?

By doing the following, you can help reduce your carbon footprint:

• Use cold water to wash your clothes. As seen above, using cold water can significantly reduce the greenhouse gases produced from washing your clothes. By using cold water, you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 4 kilograms per wash!
• Don’t waste washing detergent. Production of washing detergent contributes to greenhouse gases.
• Buy washing detergents made from natural substances. They will contribute much less to your carbon footprint.
• Avoid washing clothes that don’t really need to be washed.
• Another thing we can do is, when clothes shopping, look for clothes with self cleaning properties. Some clothes available today come with a self-cleaning textile finish called NanoSphere.
• Avoid using the clothes dryer. Hang your clothes on the clothes line if you can. With a good breeze, your clothes will be dry in no time!

The Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) recently produced a publication called Global Warming - Cool It!. In it, they provide an outline of the various household activities that produce greenhouse gases.

Some of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas include:

• Traveling to work
• Traveling for other activities (shopping, recreation etc)
• Water heating
• Various electrical appliances/devices

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

For those of use looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, this gives us a good indication of where to start. In particular, by concentrating on those areas that produce the most greenhouse gas, we can make a bigger difference.

In my post about reducing greenhouse gas, I discuss some of the things each of us can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

Most people assume that when they push the “Off” button on their TV or other electrical appliance, that it is actually turning the thing off. The reality is that, in most cases, the appliance will actually continue to use electricity even after it’s been switched off.

The vast majority of electrical appliances can’t actually be switched off completely without you pulling the plug out of the mains socket. These appliances churn through electricity all day, every day, for as long as you have the device plugged in to the mains.

Given the number of electrical devices that most households leave plugged into the wall, this can be a huge problem for the electricity bill and for the environment.

There’s even a name for it…

This phenomena is commonly referred to as “standby power” or “standby current”. Standby power is the power that is consumed when an electrical device is switched off or not performing it’s primary role. In some cases, a device will need to be in standby mode, but in most cases it doesn’t.

Various studies around the world have estimated that standby power accounts for between 5% and 13% of household energy consumption. That’s about the same energy required to run your fridge. That’s a lot of unnecessary power consumption!

Also, studies have estimated that standby power accounts for as much as 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of greenhouse gases that our electrical devices are producing these days is having an enormous impact on global warming. And global warming is having an enormous impact on our planet. The less electricity we consume, the better.

Why do we need Standby Power?

Some electrical devices have a “standby mode”, where it will continue to operate in a reduced capacity while it has been turned off. This is where standby power is required.

Examples of where standby power is required:

• Devices that need to maintain signal reception (eg, telephones, remote controls)
• Devices that need to monitor temperature (eg, refrigerator)
• Devices that need to power an internal clock
• Devices that need a continuous LCD display

In most cases though, electrical devices don’t require standby power. There’s no reason you would want this device to stay “on” when you’ve turned it “off”. These devices are simply using standby power through inefficient design. They are churning through electricity 24/7 for no good reason.

What’s being done about it?

Agencies around the world have recognized this problem with standby power and are beginning to do something about it.

For example, in 1999, the International Energy Agency (IEA) established a “one-watt plan”. The one-watt plan is a proposal that all participating countries develop energy policies that restrict standby power usage to no more than 1 watt per device by 2010.

Fortunately, technology advancements have improved the efficiently of electrical devices. Also, many devices could easily be redesigned to use less standby power.

What should I do about it?

The easiest thing you can do to reduce standby power consumption is pull the plug out.

Take a look at all your electrical appliances and determine whether any of them need to be in “standby mode” after you turn them off. For the ones that don’t, simply pull the plug out of the mains power when you’re finished with them. As well as helping the environment, this could cut your household electricity bill by 13%.

You could also purchase a power saving device such as Power Genie. Power Genie sits between your electrical devices and the mains power and ensures that when you turn your device “off” it really is “off”.