Image shows a diaphragm, but this is not required

Electrolysis is actually a very simple process involving water, electricity and often an electrolyte (like salt, creating salt water).   A search on renergy cafe of electrolysis will produce many articles and videos of electrolysis is process.  But for our purposes we will be using a very simple model and picture to describe this process.

When electricity is run through water (sometimes containing an electrolyte)  two gasses are formed, hydrogen and oxygen.  Yup thats right H2O the elements in water.  This means that there are two parts hydrogen created for every one part oxygen.   In order for this process to work the rods must be used, they are called anodes on the positive side, and cathodes on the negative. The anode and cathode are placed in your water NOT TOUCHING, but close. Then when electricity is applied it flows through the anode, cathode but also through the water.  It is when this happens that the water is broken into is base elements.  The cathode, negative, creates two parts hydrogen gas and the anode, positive, creates the one part oxygen gas.

It is important to note that hydrogen is HIGHLY COMBUSTIBLE and although this is the reason is useful and being considered as a renewable energy, it is very DANGEROUS.  If you are going to try this at home, be careful and reference professional material for exact experiment details.  That being said, it is the combustibility that has enough energy to power a piston engine like that of a gasoline engine.

Since 2005 energy inflation has meant an increase in household bills which has left everyone out of pocket. In the long-term the Government and the European Union aim to have everyone using some form of renewable energy. Currently there are grants and subsidies available for households to add solar panels or improve energy efficiency. By making your home more energy efficient, you can expect to save a lot of
money in the long-term and of course help to save the planet. However, in the short-term some of these home improvements can be a costly and time consuming exercise for most families.

By far the quickest and easiest way to save money is switching your energy supplier.  Depending on where you live and other factors, a household can save up to 325 pounds on their energy bills. It is very easy to switch energy providers and there are many free websites which will compare prices for you. When you switch ensure you choose a provider which will send you paperless bills, thereby saving paper.

There are also many quick and easy things to do in the short-term which can save money and the environment. Apart from the glaringly obvious recommendations such as switching off appliances, other tips include fitting insulation in your roof and walls, and using energy saving light bulbs. Again many local councils give grants for these things, especially if you are over 60 or on state benefits. Check with
your local authority for the energy packages in your area.

Jane Cocker
British author currently living and working in Buenos Aires

Though the fountain water now runs clear, Obama can make the White House itself permanently “green” by bringing Jimmy Carter’s solar panels back. With oil prices again on the rise and energy legislation pending in Congress, now is the time for Obama to highlight the importance of renewable energy to power our economy, curb the emission of climate changing greenhouse gases, and reduce our dependence on imported fuel.

President Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof in 1977, the same year he established the Department of Energy in response to the oil embargo four years earlier which highlighted America’s dependence on foreign energy.  The energy generated from the solar panels powered the water heaters located in the White House residence.

There was barely enough time to draw a warm bath before President Reagan removed the solar panels after taking office in 1980 (most of the panels were subsequently acquired by Unity College in Maine, where they now, see more, provide hot water for the cafeteria) see more.  The early 1980s were not a particularly promising time for solar energy.  Solar tax deductions introduced by Carter were not renewed during this period and the Solar Energy Research Institute had its budget slashed by almost eighty percent.

Solar energy was quietly reintroduced to the White House grounds in 2002. Small scale panels were installed on a maintenance building to provide electricity and hot water.  A solar energy system was also installed on the White House cabana to heat President Bush’s pool and spa.  The panels were placed out of plain view and the White House issued no press releases on the installations.  There was scant media coverage (see more) of the solar energy systems and what little coverage there was came about six months after the installations were completed.

Obama should take the opposite approach.  Solar panels should be placed conspicuously on the White House roof to draw attention to his cap-and-trade plan, which has attracted opposition in Congress across party lines, and the critical need for a clean energy revolution.

Obama should also use this opportunity to showcase 21st century clean energy technology and current research initiatives in the renewable power sector. Solar energy alone has come a long way from the 500 kilowatts produced worldwide when panels were first installed at the White House in 1977. Global production of solar energy now generates over 2,500 megawatts (see more) of renewable power to fuel a cleaner world economy.  There is no need to wipe the dust from Jimmy Carter’s solar panels.

At the same time, although technological advancements in clean energy are occurring on a massive scale, continued innovation will only happen if demand increases for renewables.  Federal stimulus dollars directed at spurring renewable energy research and development should help lower the cost of equipment like solar panels and encourage average citizens to follow Obama’s lead by generating their own green electricity.

The passage of historic federal climate change legislation may not be feasible over the coming months.  When summer arrives and the hot sun and oppressive humidity dominate the day’s news, however, solar panels on the White House roof can serve as shining symbols of the homegrown power harnessed by renewable energy.  Perhaps as Obama is wading in the White House pool, he will catch a glimpse of the solar panels lining his home’s roof and spot a choice location for a wind turbine.

Written By Jason Marshall

Jason Marshall is a Boston attorney and a member of the Boston Bar

Association’s Telecommunications and Energy Committee.

Retrofit solar hot water heaters are the most cost-effective, learn more, way to utilize solar power in today’s market. By retrofitting, much of the labor and material “costs behind installation can be avoided by integrating the new, solar system into the old, “conventional water heater”. In many cases a new water tank is not needed and existing plumbing can still be used.

Solar hot water systems work using solar collectors to harness solar energy to heat up water, which is then transferred to the home via the pre-existing system. Systems can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the existing system but, either way, they will save money. Water heating, according to the Department of Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/de/solar_hotwater.html, is second only to space heating in home energy usage. That being said, *a solar water heater can reduce heating bills by as much as 25 percent*; not to mention the savings in environmental impact.

Beside lower up-front costs, retrofit solar hot water systems pay for themselves rather quickly in energy savings. They often have payback periods less than five years! In addition, state rebates and
incentives http://www.dsireusa.org/ can take a considerable chunk out of the initial investment, making them even more lucrative for the green-minded homeowner.

Green is the new color of home building and remodeling, and every year more avenues are available to homeowners in that regard. Solar power in general is skyrocketing in terms of popularity and accessibility with retrofit solar water heating leading the way. Why not use the same sun that warms your face
every morning to heat your water every day? It is, after all, “free” energy!

Written by
Taylen Peterson
CalFinder
www.calfinder.com

     Many see nuclear power as an optimal fossil to renewable transition energy.  It is not a solution for the long term and it is appearent that at some point we need to swith to an eniterly renewable energy system.  In the mean time is nuclear a safe solution?  Well… yes and no.  Nuclear waste is known to cause a wide variety of ailments from cancer to birth defects. In the defense of nuclear energy, the waste created has considerably less of an impact on our environment than buring coal. The waste that is created by nuclear power is stored in concrete containers at the plants and ultimately will be properly dumped in a remote desert area in Navada (Yucca Mountain). 

     There is a process of breeding nuclear fuel, creating plutonium, which can be used when uranium begins running thin, but this will only extend the recource and is not currently being used in any commercial application.  The bottom line is, in the short run, environmentaly, nuclear is a cleaner energy than coal, but it too will need to be replaced. 

 

In addition to using geothermal energy to produce electricity, it can be used to assist in the heating and cooling of houses and buildings.  The system that does this is called a geoexchange system, and can be used anywhere in the U.S. and will drop your electric bill 40%-70%.  It works by using the consistent 50 degree temperature found underground to regulate the temperature indoors.  Currently 300,000 homes and businesses in the U.S. are utilizing geoexchange systems. Learn more at http://www.geoexchange.org/

Continued development of geothermal energy will greatly reduce our dependence on dirty fossil fuels.  At Renergycafe.com we hope to see more geothermal energy.

(This video describes a geoexchange system)

There is an excelent slide show here: http://geothermal.marin.org/geopresentation/

Let us start with electricity. You buy electricity from the power company.The power company charges you a “delivery” charge and “usage” charge. The delivery charge is usually small. The usage charge, however, varies from home to home based on how much electricity you use.

Electricity usage is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh for short) and the bulk of your electricity bill is your usage in kWh times the price of a kWh. The typical American home uses about 10,000 kWh per year. (In Europe, the average home uses about 3,300 kWh per year).While 10,000 kWh does not seem like a lot, for a solar electric system it is.

*Sizing a Solar PV System*

We speak of solar systems in terms of their rated peak power output. For example, a system of five 200-watt panels has a rated peak output of 1,000 watts. Using the rated power, we estimate the total electricity production of the system based on the sun and shade conditions for your location. (Average sun hours per day x Rated power x System efficiency x 365 = kWh per year)

In my area, in unshaded conditions, a 1,000-watt solar electric system with the panels facing polar south and mounted at 45 degrees will generate about 1,200 kWh in a typical year and offset 0.7 tons of carbon dioxide per year. The panels will cover 65 to 85 square feet and cost around $8,000 to $10,000** installed.

Now imagine that a homeowner uses 10,000 kWh per year and wants to offset half of that power    consumption, 5,000 kWh per year, with a solar electric system. To do that, they would need a system just over four times larger than the 1,000-watt system used in the example above. Here is the math: 5,000 kWh per year / 1,200 kWh per year = 4.2, 4.2 x 1,000 = 4,200 watt
system.

Therefore, a system big enough to generate 5,000 kilowatt-hours per year would need to be about 4,200 watts. It will offset about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide, cover 275 to 360 square feet, and cost $34,000 to $42,000** installed.

*Ouch! For most of us, those are big numbers.*

**Grants and Tax credits not included in the cost estimates.

*Making the Numbers Smaller*

While solar electric systems are expensive in the short term, they are quite reliable, can be expected to last well beyond the 25 year warranty provided by most panel manufacturers, and they will eventually pay for themselves by offsetting electricity you buy from the power company.

So how do you make the cost of the solar electric system smaller? Use less electricity. This turns out to be both economically sensible and environmentally smart.

If, for example, you cut your usage from 10,000 to 5,000 kWh per year, your home’s carbon footprint (the amount of carbon dioxide your home is responsible for putting into the atmosphere) goes down by about 2.5 tons per year.

Also, by cutting your usage in half, to 5,000 kWh per year and putting in a 2,100-watt solar system, you can realize three savings. Your electric bill goes down by half because you have reduced your usage, it goes down another 25% per year because your solar system is making half of your electricity, and your only need to put up  a 2,100 watt solar system at half the cost of a 4,200 watt system.

Read More By Mark at www.newenglandbreeze.com/tem.html

Thanks,
Mark Durrenberger

      The 2010 Toyota Prius reportedly will come with a solar panel option that will extend the battery life, but what if more could be done.  With the new material the Ohio State Researchers developed about the conventional cells it will increase the output potential.  What if all day you could operate your vehicle and charge it’s batteries simply by using a fixed solar panel.  Also consider powering your entire house with one smaller solar cell and even being able to contribute excess energy back into the grid for others to use.

      Whether we as a global community will be energy dependent in ten years from now is unsure.  What is known, is that advancements are being made in both the solar cells and the batteries that are often used to store the solar energy.  It may be anywhere between five years or twenty before highly efficient solar collectors are produced. When they are, we will all benefit.