If you flip across the news channels or nature based programs, you are bound to hear the many grave concerns that are being expressed by a host of persons ranging from politicians, to environmentalists and down to lay folk about the concerns that the environment is currently facing the world over.

What exactly is the environment?

Why are we all so concerned about it? In a very generic sense the environment refers to the milieu or context of and the surroundings in which a particular item exists. For instance, we may say that the political environment in Iraq is not conducive for democracy and peace. However, when we refer to the environment as it impacts Planet Earth, we are referring to the state of the natural world or of the ecosystem.

The natural ecosystem means the sum total of the organisms that exist on the earth and the interconnectedness of these organisms (including humans) with the earth and its resources. Hence, the ecosystem refers to the connection between the living (biotic) and the non living (abiotic) constituents of the environment.

The Environment Today

In general, we differentiate between the built and the natural environment. The natural environment essentially consists of aspects of nature which exist and have their being without human intervention like air, the soil, water, the atmosphere, animals, birds, plants and humans themselves. On the other hand, the built environment consists of human creations like towns, cities, industries, vehicles and a host of other man-made structures.

The problem in the environment today

The problem in the environment today is on account of the excessive and repressive interventions of humans on the natural environment in the post industrial era. The industrial era commenced in the 19th century and we saw rapid advances over the last century and a half. It witnessed huge advances and strides made by humans in the sphere of harnessing natural resources and advancement in areas of science and technology. Naturally, this was also accompanied by exploitation of natural resources including land, water, minerals and even space.

The growth of human intervention in the natural environment has been necessitated also by the rapid growth of human population over the last two centuries. The global population exceeds more than 6 billion currently and this has far reaching ramifications for the impact on the environment. It is not quite possible to sustain such a huge population on the planet with limited natural resources. Hence, environmental pressures and ecosystem breakdowns have occurred where human beings have over exceeded the capacity of the earth to meet human requirements which have expanded unsustainably.

The environment consists of quite fragile ecosystems, many of which are now extinct or severely threatened. The earth has enough to meet human needs but certainly not to meet human greed! It is quite true that we have not inherited this earth from our parents, but merely borrowed it from our children. Till date, the earth is the only known planet in this vast galaxy that has an environment conducive for life. The environment is all that we have to sustain us and our progeny. It’s high time that we paid less attention to our greedy desires and listened more closely to what the environment needs to sustain itself for the long term.

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Lakeland, FL (PRWEB) February 7, 2011

The 2MW array will be completed next month and is comprised of 8600 modules erected on 9 acres off U.S. 441. Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) will purchase the electricity produced for twenty years at a fixed rate of 0.26 per kWh under the terms of their feed in tariff program (FIT).

Gainesville accounts for 39 percent of all solar PV installations in Florida, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and Sybac’s solar farm is the largest to be built under GRU’s program.

While many investors have reserved the allocation rights to participate in GRU’s FIT program, which has a cap of 4MW a year, investment deals are taking longer to finance which has made it difficult for many to move on to the construction stage. Sybac Solar stepped in and purchased the land and allocation rights from Entrust Holdings, a real estate investment company, and funded the project themselves, introducing their German investment model to the U.S. market.

Artur Madej, Sybac’s president, tills this field of dreams when it comes to building MW scale power plants. Build it and investors will come. The Lakeland office follows the same business model that Germany follows. They provide full service EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) including installation and maintenance for individual investors and they also build their own portfolio of solar farms for resale to investors. “A feed in tariff provides a solid bankable security that provides confidence for investors with a guaranteed return for 20+ years,” said Madej. “There are many in the investment community looking for turn-key solar farms with FIT contracts who are not interested in the project development phase. We just purchased the allocation rights for an additional 500kW system in Gainesville which will be built in the next 4 months and we are working on two 10 MW development deals in Ontario, Canada which has a province wide feed in tariff program,” said Madej.

The total cost to build the solar farm is estimated at approximately $7 million, or $3.50 per watt, a price that is significantly less than the regional average price of $5.50/watt calculated by NREL. Buying power is the reason why Sybac is able to install systems below the prevailing price charged by other solar integrators in Gainesville. The Lakeland office leverages the buying power from its German parent that installs over 300 MW a year in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic. The company is currently installing a 26MW solar plant outside Berlin.

Sybac Solar’s investment in Gainesville has paid dividends in local job creation as well. The company has hired fourteen local subcontractors to work directly on the build. “The Gainesville Chamber of Commerce was a tremendous help,” said Rick Falz, Sybac Solar’s Director of Technology. “They put us in touch with the best local companies that included a fencing company, land clearing, surveyors, engineers and attorneys.” Working with a local workforce is part of Sybac’s corporate philosophy. “We are giving back to the environment with every solar module that we install. We choose to work with a local workforce whenever possible to help the community grow,” said Markus Falz, Sybac’s Project Manager. Sybac’s investment in Gainesville has created over 33 jobs in the construction and installation related services helping to foster economic growth in the area.

The solar power plant will produce over 3,106 mWh of electricity a year, enough to power 300 homes and save 64,780 lbs. CO2 over the life of the system, equivalent to approximately 130,000 auto miles.

[From Sybac Solar Builds Largest Privately Held Solar Farm in Southeast]

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Algenol describes itself as a “science-driven company using biotechnology to produce biofuels and green chemicals from carbon dioxide emissions.”

Who could possibly object to something so green and clean? Anyone with a basic understanding of life. It is impossible to make energy from CO2 emissions, without adding a lot of other ingredients. Algae require water, sunlight and (drumroll…) nutrients – like all other living organisms.

A “lifecycle assessment” of algae fuels recently published in Environmental Science and Technology in January 2010 reports that switchgrass, canola and even corn farming have lower environmental impacts than algae in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and water use. Fertilizer requirements are high on the list of problems, because manufacturing fertilizers is so energy intensive. As phosphorus supplies dwindle, many argue it’s unwise to squander what remains on biofuels rather than food.

Using excess nutrients from local contaminated waterways might help, but entails other risks: many algae fuel companies are depending on genetically modified strains of algae, or even varieties developed using synthetic biology. Algae play a key role in global cycles and are responsible for much of the oxygen. Given these algae are being designed to be hardy, and to spit out ethanol, (toxic and corrosive), we should ask ourselves: can we ensure there will be no “mistakes” resulting in releases into the environment?

Experimentation with algae fuels has been underway for a long time – and yet no commercial scale production yet exists! How much money, and how many years of ongoing investment are needed? Florida is being asked to help foot the bill for developing biofuel industries (on top of whopping great subsides already coming from the feds – Algenol, for example, is recipient of a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy). Floridians should ask themselves: are there better options for our tax dollars? The long term prospects for biofuels are questionable. Report after report has revealed the lack greenhouse gas savings, and the conflicting demands for food, water, land, fertilizer…all of which are slated to intensify in coming years.

American Biofuels Now, among others, argues biofuels will help provide “energy security,” but this is laughable. With a military that, by conservative estimate consumes more than 320,000 barrels of oil each and every day, we will need several planets worth of algae farms to supply even a fraction of that demand, (and end up fighting wars over fertilizer and water access). Perhaps a longer view would favor reducing demand for transportation fuels as a better investment? Public transportation, fuel efficiency, reorganizing our communities to enable work-from-home and offering incentives to ride-share and cut back on commuting distances are a few possibilities with guaranteed – and honest – benefits that can be banked on, for certain, in every home. Pouring money into claims of “making energy from CO2 emissions and sunshine” doesn’t inspire confidence.

— Rachel Smolker works with Biofuelwatch/Energy Justice Network.

[From Guest opinion: Florida has much better ways to use tax dollars than biofuel subsidies | The News-Press | news-press.com]

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The 2011 Florida Renewable Energy Tour is set to kick off Thursday in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

The tour will highlight job creation and local economic growth through renewable energy development and will visit 10 cities this month, leading up to the March legislative session, according to the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy.

Stops on Thursday’s tour include Waste Management in Pompano Beach; Roofing Concepts Unlimited in Coral Springs; a Boca Raton residential solar array installed by Graboski Roofing; a commercial solar array installed by VB Engineering and a new engineering building at Florida Atlantic University.

A town hall meeting featuring local elected and economic development officials is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at Palm Beach State College, Boca Raton campus.

The tour is free and open to the public and is supported by more than 100 companies and organizations in Florida. To learn more and register online, visit the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy at www.farenergy.org.

[From Florida Renewable Energy Tour is set for Thursday]

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TAMPA, Fla. , Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — PennWell Corporation is proud to present its eighth Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America taking place March 8 – 10, 2011 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. The event has added several influential industry leaders to its lineup of speaker participants in ten comprehensive and informative conference tracks. Executive Directors from North America‘s leading renewable energy industry associations–including solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal–will discuss federal and state policy and finance issues during a special plenary session on Thursday, March 10, 2011 as part of Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America at the Tampa Convention Center.

Confirmed participants in the plenary session–one of the first to involve leaders from all forms of renewable energy since the new Congress began work in early January–will include Denise Bode of the American Wind Energy Association, Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Elizabeth McDonald of the Canadian Solar Energy Industries Association, Bob Gibson of the Solar Electric Power Association, Karl Gawell of the Geothermal Energy Association, Linda Church-Ciocci of the National Hydropower Association and Robert Cleaves of the Biomass Power Association. Allan Marks, partner in the Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy law firm and Barry Worthington, Executive Director of the U.S. Energy Association, also will take part. David Wagman, Chief Editor of Renewable Energy World North America magazine, will moderate the session. The session is open to all registered delegates at this year’s Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America.

“The timing of this year’s Renewable Energy World conference and expo couldn’t be better with the extension of the tax credits in December and the arrival of the new Congress in January,” said Dick Rauner, Group Publisher with PennWell Corp., which owns and produces the show. Rauner said “the industry leaders who are joining our plenary session will help attendees understand what the next two years might look like at the federal level and how renewable energy companies can continue to gain momentum across North America.”

After the opening keynote session on Tuesday, March 8 at three o’clock, Renewable Energy World North America will open its exhibit floor of more than 175 leading renewable technology and services companies. Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America provides more learning opportunities, more networking opportunities and more business opportunities than any other all-renewable event making it the premier, can’t–miss, all-renewable power generation event in North America.

For more information on Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America and to register, please visit www.RenewableEnergyWorld-Events.com. Advance registration is available online until March 3, 2011. Registration will also be available on-site at the Tampa Convention Center.

Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America is owned and produced by PennWell Corporation. PennWell Corporation is a diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power, renewable energy, water, electronics, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiberoptics, enterprise storage, fire, emergency services and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes 75 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, web sites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell’s headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; Houston, Texas; London, England; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; and Hong Kong, China. For additional information about PennWell, visit www.pennwell.com.

SOURCE PennWell Corporation

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[From Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America Announces Key Industry Participants -- TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --]

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For many, the sight of a giant wind turbine (or much worse, a wind farm) is extremely undesirable. Despite the benefits of the renewable energy source, some cannot get over the sheer imposition of the structures. This sentiment extends to the area of domestic wind turbines, in which there are many who would never permit such a “monstrosity” to grace their back garden. Now however (well, at the start of the year) there is a remedy for these ills.

The design of two new home wind turbines by French designer Philippe Starck has brought a well-needed level of style to the wind energy sector. His Revolutionair wind turbine designs combine functionality with aesthetics in the manner synonymous with the Frenchman himself.

Demonstrated to a media press conference in Milan in January 2010, Starck unveiled the models which will be manufactured by Italian company Pramac, a power generation equipment firm. Starck voiced his opinion that “energy should not be a punishment, we should create a desire (among people to produce it)”.

The turbines are designed specifically for personal use in the home, and can be situated on a rooftop or in a garden space. The quadrangular design will be capable of producing 400W, while the innovative helix-like design offers an output of 1KW. Starck proclaimed that the generators will be capable of providing between 20 and 60% of an average homes energy needs. Furthermore, with the average home (an average American home) paying approximately $1,000 per annum on energy costs, the turbine represents a good investment at $3,500.

The latest designs come 2 years after Starck’s first venture into the world of wind turbine design, when he produced his first ‘Democratic Ecology’ personal wind turbines. The minimalistic, quadrangular structure was made of transparent polycarbonate went on sale in September 2008 at a price of only €400, or £350.

The development of Philippe Starck’s vision for an environmentally friendly approach to design in general is embodied within his personal wind turbine designs. With these designs, Starck proves that the functional does not have to be institutional in its aesthetics. Instead, he offers a subtle combination of style and practicality, of function and form which had been amiss until now.
Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/add-some-style-to-your-eco-friendly-endeavours-3430151.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #3430151)

[From Add Some Style to Your Eco-Friendly Endeavours]

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A recent but highly effective creation which has recently been introduced onto the Home DIY Energy market are Solar Air Heaters.

In the same way that homemade Solar Panels and Wind Turbines have revolutionized the home energy market, Solar Heaters are now becoming an increasingly popular method for heating homes all over the world.

So how do solar air heaters work?

Even I was amazed at the very simple and very basic looking details of how a Solar Air Heater actually works.

There really is nothing complicated by these and even the build instructions which are also available, are easy to understand too!

As previously stated, Solar Air Heaters work by incredibly simplistic methods and simply utilize the heat from the sun by capturing the sun’s rays and converting that energy into heat.

As sunlight enters through the unit, the sun’s rays are trapped and give off heat. In fact, the heat generated in a solar air heater can reach temperatures of up to 220 degrees so it’s fair to say they certainly generate plenty of warmth!

As cool air enters into the system, it is in turn, heated by the unit. This warm air can then be directed into your home. A solar panel is not required to run this system although they can be used if required to help power a blower fan or thermostat.

They are a genius piece of equipment and if made correctly, they can help heat your home, workplace or garage for many years to come.

A well built Solar Air Heater will provide a stable and reliable source of heat for many years and one of the greatest and most rewarding benefits will be realizing the significant cost saving to your heating and utility bill.

About the Author

So, are you ready to learn more about Solar Air Heaters?

I have more information on these revolutionary home heating systems including build guides and video tutorials which you can access by Clicking Right Here…..

Check it out today and discover for yourself how rewarding building your very own unit can be!

(ArticlesBase SC #3431048)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Solar Air Heaters – How Do They Work?

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www.solarpanelsquick.com – There are many different ways you can get cheap solar panels. There are dozens of websites available that can walk you through the whole process of making your own solar energy systems, with the panels being made for pennies on the dollar. These sites can also give you other helpful tips and information about getting solar panel components for extremely cheap, or even free. One of the ways to find cheap solar panels, or sometimes free panels is to road construction companies that use solar panels to power lights for their job sites. Sometimes these panels get damaged from rocks hitting them. While most of the panel is still good, companies often just buy new systems, throwing the damaged ones away. You can get these damaged panels very inexpensively, or even free. While you may not be able to use the panel itself, it can be carefully broken down and the individual cells that are not damaged can be used in your own panels. There is another way to get cheap solar panels as well. Big businesses and corporations often use solar arrays to power their commercial buildings. Because new panels come out every few years or so, these companies often upgrade on a regular basis. The ‘old’ panels are often given away through programs for those individuals who want to change over to solar power. While they may be ‘old’ and out dated for the business, to you the regular person, these panels are still quite efficient, and can last for residential purposes many …

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