-
The Two Types of Solar Energy, Photovoltaic and Thermal
Like water and air, the Sun is one of the Earth’s life support systems, providing heat and light. Solar energy, which is renewable, widely available and clean, provides enough energy to meet the world’s annual consumption needs every 50 minutes. The challenge is to collect a share – however small – of this heat and…
-
Wind Power Plants
When the wind, a natural form of energy, is capable of creating electricity or a mechanical force, this is wind power. Find out how wind farms work, those devices that are capable of turning the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy and supplying increasing numbers of homes with clean, renewable energy. To learn more…
-
Renewable Biofuels
…Our current levels of consumption, resource usage and seemingly ever increasing pollution calls for drastic changes. One of the areas of highest hopes for curbing some of these earth damaging areas is biofuels. This special type of fuel is derived from biomass, so it has been helping to lessen our dangerous overdependence on petroleum based fuels…
-
Solar Energy Basics
Solar is the Latin word for sun—a powerful source of energy that can be used to heat, cool, and light our homes and businesses…Read More.
-
Power Grids
For power to be useful in a home or business, it comes off the transmission grid and is stepped-down to the distribution grid. This may happen in several phases. The place where the conversion from “transmission” to “distribution” occurs is in a power substation. A power substation typically does two or three things…Read More.
-
Biofuels
Biofuels are combustible fuels created from recently living plant matter as opposed to ancient plant matter in hydrocarbons. The term biofuel is usually used to reference liquid fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel that are used as replacements for transportation fuels like petroleum, diesel, and jet fuel. To learn more, click here…
-
Nuclear Energy
National Geographic offers an in depth look into nuclear energy. Click here to learn more…
-
Substation
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions…Read More.
-
Wind Power
Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to mechanically power generators for electric power. Wind power, as an alternative to burning fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses little land. The net effects on the environment are far…
-
Mining and the Environment
Mining is one of the oldest industries and extracts solid materials and minerals necessary to produce many of the modern products in everyday life. However, it has environmental impacts felt beyond mines and their vicinity…Read More.
