Radiant Energy (Part One)

Earth Day awareness comes every April 22, but you can live cleaner and more efficiently year around with today’s technology. In most cases, even becoming more economical as new inventions and discoveries happen continuously.

Nothing says free energy more than what was once called radiant energy now best known as solar energy. Hear are some examples of the benefits of using natural radiant power from the sun. Power from the Sun: A Practical Guide to Solar Electricity

The Solar Shingle.

The concept of solar shingles is not a totally a new idea, but it is slowly catching on as an alternative power source. Dow Chemical Company has designed a new roof shingle that doubles as a solar panel. Dow Solar Solutions (DSS) and its revolutionary Powerhouse Solar Shingle have incorporated a low-cost, thin-film photovoltaic cells integrated next to traditional asphalt shingles. Photovoltaic Systems

What makes this new solar shingle outshine the others? The Photovoltaic shingles (SHR) innovative design will cost up to 15% less than traditional solar panels, greatly reducing installation cost as both solar generating and conventional roofing shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors. Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Dow will make available in limited quantities of the SHR by mid-2010 and expected to be more generally available in 2011 to the public. Dow expects the revenue to be in the billions by 2020 and this ground-breaking solar-electric technology will be an enormous benefit to homeowners who want to produce cost saving electricity, and “go green“ with their home. Generating clean solar electricity is the wave of the future.

Botanical Air Purifier

There are many so called “air purifiers” out there, but what about an all natural one? Taken from NASA research and later perfected enough to win the Popular Science Invention Award, this tiny device harnesses a plant’s natural ability to remove toxins in the air. This amazing botanical air purifier uses the common house plant’s phytoremediation capabilities to remove household volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as other toxins from adhesives, carpets, paint, and formaldehyde.

Everyone wants clean air for their homes and this device certainly delivers a healthy alternative way to absorb toxins right out of the air. The botanical air purifier is design to work with any houseplant, but a recommended list is included. The plants that work best for drawing air toxins is the Aloe, Peace Lily, Madagascar Dragon Tree, and the Spider Plant. Aloe Vera Handbook: The Acient Egyption Medicine Plant

How does it really work? The purifier and plant work in unison by absorbing the toxins by way of a specially ingenuous fan that draws in ambient air toxins and circulates them around the plant's leaves and roots, which then absorb and metabolize the toxins. This greatly increases the fresh air count and dramatically decreases the air pollution from the surrounding air. An easily removal tray is at the base of the purifier for watering and taking care of the plant.

Le Laboratoire Paris conducted a study on the botanical air purifier and found that it reduces certain chemicals faster than traditional air filtration systems. Extensive testing has proven that the botanical air purifier is quite superior to reducing toxins up to 10 times faster than a traditional air filtration system. This is a wonderful device for removing VOCs in the home or workplace for obtaining fresher, cleaner, and more natural air from plants. The botanical air purifier can be used in any size room. ($199.95) ANDREA: Plant-based Air Purifier (White)

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Going Green

Learn how to be more environmentally friendly and the benefits of the Green movement.

The concept of “going green” has been around for more than a hundred years in America. Environmentalist and advocates like Teddy Roosevelt soon realized that Industrialization and public expansion was seriously eroding the natural beauty of the land. Environmental concern finally leads to establishing national parks and forest reserve. New agencies were created like The Environmental Protection Agency, which led to The Clean Air Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and many other laws against damaging the atmosphere, land, and water.

The green politics of today is global with worldwide “green organizations” from almost every industrialized country. The green party is very concern with ecological health and against any sort of pollution to the natural world. America and some other countries like England, India, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Australia, and Africa, are leading the way to protecting the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency: Cleaning Up America's Act (Understanding Our Government)

Going green isn’t just for the average person. With the creation of Earth Day in 1970, it has brought more attention to help protest against the deterioration of the environment and to celebrate the appreciation for Earth’s natural beauty. There has always been a strong political tone in America to improve the environmental standards. Past U.S. Presidents like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have made attempts to run a “greener” energy-efficient, environmentally conscious White House, but the Obama administration has already taken steps to really make it work. The Roots of Going Green: Your Fork Your Power

First Lady Michelle Obama has already started a herb, fruit, and vegetable garden on the White House lawn. The Obama administration has made it clear that they intend to make LEED certification. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The White House will implement changes in design and strategies to improve performance in water efficiency, energy saving, ventilation, heating, and recycling. LEED Materials: A Resource Guide to Green Building

How does one help on Earth Day? Earth Day is celebrated in the U.S. on April 22. But you don’t have to wait for April 22 to celebrate Earth awareness. Earnest people who really want to “live green” can get help from these web sites listed below. Learn about Earth Day activities that the whole family can do, get free stuff, and tips on living a greener, healthier lifestyle.

Planet Green is a 24-hour TV network and web site dedicated to eco-friendly living. Their web site PlanetGreen.com is full of helpful solutions, tips, latest information, and an active community forum for conversations. They give expert advice on practical ways to live green and healthy. Other major sites like Treehugger.com and go-green.ae are excellent resources. The Go Green Initiative site is a wonderful non-profit organization geared for teaching schools and students to recycle everything and respect nature. The Kaboose web site has a wide range of Earth Day activities. The most popular activities are the arts and crafts that the whole family can do together. Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying

Here is a list of free tips on living green. Solar panels, a good way to become energy independent and make your own electricity. Biodegradable products, saves our landfills from expanding. Green transportation, walking, biking, trains, boats, carpooling, or driving vehicles using Ethanol, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, plug-ins, and Biodiesel fuels. Local Library, why buy when you can read, watch, and listen to it for free. Magnetic generator, a small and cheap device that can make electricity for your home. Cleaning products, Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Vodka. Cleaning laundry with Vodka kills odor-causing bacteria. Cleaner water, install a water filtration system. Composting, reduce garbage output and a great way to feed your garden. Going paperless, popular alternatives are Hemp paper, Bamboo paper, Sugar Cane paper, and Kenaf paper, all come from plants that are much easier to produce and harvest. The Self-Sufficient Home: Going Green and Saving Money

For more eco-friendly products and totally free stuff are listed here. Ecobunga, has great stuff for going green, BookMooch.com is great for music and books. Greenerbuyer.com is good for interesting gadgets, clothes, and green products. For nearly and totally free sites try these: Green Giveways, Freecycle.com, Greenshopaholic.com, The Freesite, Craigslist, Swapster, Seventhgeneration.com, and Swaptree for games, music, and dvds. Checking the internet will bring up a host of Green-going sites and helpful products. Nonprofit Guide to Going Green

Going green and celebrating Earth Day can be both a learning experience and fun. Save energy, save money, recycle, have a greener garden, live healthier and cleaner. Simply changing one’s lifestyle to a more nature friendly one can help the environment and improve our standard of living.

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Renewable Energy

Being more energy efficient is the way of the future. Great thinkers of our time are constantly in search of ways to make new and cleaner innovative methods to producing energy sources like electricity cheaply.

Personal Home Power Plant

The Box. Bloom Energy has been working on a new fuel cell that can power homes using less energy. The inventor is K. R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, has invented a miniature backyard power plant that could generate enough power for your home without any connection to the local electric grid. A self-contained power source within your own residence that makes clean and efficient energy. Sridhar envisions his tiny power box in every home in the conceivable future.

Bloom Energy sees a great market for this kind of independent and future supplanted energy source to replace costly big power plants and grid transmission. The whole design is green tech friendly and a nice alternative. No precious metals used, the Bloom Energy fuel cell incorporates flat wafer technology, and easily fabricated without the need of a clean room.

The Bloom Box and Sridhar were covered in a 60 Minutes news report by Leslie Stahl about the benefits and potential of this new device. Bloom Energy plans to lower the cost to $3000 and reduce its size of The Box thus enabling all Americans to have one in their own basement. Generating your own electrical power wirelessly, no need for cables or loss of efficiency from transmission. Up to twenty large companies are seriously taking note and are already using/testing The Box. Big companies like Google, Wal-Mart, and FedEx have secretly purchased the Bloom Energy Boxes. 60 Minutes - The Bloom Box (February 21, 2010)

Bacteria Spark

Electric Microbe. Professor Derek Lovely knows that most people distain from hearing about bacteria, but one noticeably helpful microbe, Geobacter, is proving to be very beneficial in making electricity. Geobacter has tiny hair-like extensions called pili that it uses to generate electricity from wastewater and mud. BIOTECHNOLOGY: Microbes Behave as Electrical Nanowires.(microbial nanowires)(Geobacter): An article from: Nanoparticle News

At the University of Massachusetts Professor Lovley and his team of researchers in Amherst have engineered a strain of the electrical energy producing bacteria that is 8x more proficient than regular Geobacter. Their goal is to develop a clean and cheap Geobacter-based fuel cells that can generate electricity.

Discovering bacteria like Geobacter that can handle electrons with its
hair-like highly conductive structure may provide a simple way to producing energy. Professor Lovely believes micro-organism cultures such as this can ultimately create reasonably cheap bio nanowires and efficient natural fuel cells as an alternative form of creating electrical power.

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