The popularity and awareness of renewable energy is growing at a rapid rate every year. It is right that it should be so, because renewable energy (also called sustainable energy or green energy) is our key for a tomorrow. If humans continue to use non renewable resources such as fossil fuels that emit harmful green-house gasses into the environment and devastate mother nature, it wouldn’t take long before there is nothing left of our planet and the human race. For these reasons and many more, it is important that we start generating more of our power from green energy sources and in time eliminate our dependency on fossil fuels. We can start switching over in our very own homes.
A green energy home is a home that is powered by renewable underfloor heating resources such as sunlight or wind energy. This is not nearly as far fetched as it may sound; due to the significant advancement in technology, there are more than 3 million homes worldwide that are powered by solar energy and there is a 30% annual increase of homes that are powered by wind energy every year. People are switching their homes, businesses, cottages to renewable energy sources at a fast growing rate.
There are a few different ways you can choose from to make your green energy home plan become a reality. The most popular being solar energy and wind energy. Now, which one you choose should depend on your location. If sunlight is fairly consistent and readily available than that should be the obvious choice. If you live in a windy location, than opting for a wind system would be the better choice. However, you can install both systems and be assured of an ample supply of power. No matter what system you opt for, it is a very good idea to make an informed choice.
You can hire a professional to install solar panels or a wind turbine or windmill for you, or you can opt to take advantage of the many resources, like ‘Green Power Easy’ that are available to everyone and teach you how to build and install your own system for substantially less money. They are step by step guides that teach you everything you need to know.
The benefits of converting your home to a green energy home are many. Not only are you helping to save the environment, you are cutting down on your monthly electrical bills and opening the door for potential profits through all the energy you are going to generate. You will find that a green energy home requires little care after the initial installation, so you get positive results all around. It pays to go green.
Green energy has many definitions, but generally the definition of green energy is any energy source that replenish itself by nature. Examples of green energy can be solar, wind, and geothermal. All of these energy sources replenish themselves. We can take a look at these three different types of energy sources to see how we can apply them to our everyday lives.
Solar energy-Solar energy or energy from the sun is becoming a renewable energy that is becoming popular for producing electricity and heating water by using the radiation of the sun to heat tubing mounted outside on roofs or in collector boxes. Solar heating systems are used were electricity may not be applicable or for newer green energy homes.
Wind energy-Energy that comes from the wind is used to power generators that produce electricity. Wind power has been used for many centuries. Probably one of the simplest uses is to power boats by the use of a sail. Man found by using material shaped to catch the wind he could push along ships with preciseness. This is how Christopher Columbus found the new world. Wind mills have been used by farmers to power pumps to water their crops. Today we use the wind to power wind farms that can produce enough electricity to power hundreds of homes.
Geothermal energy-Another type energy that has been around for many centuries is geothermal. Some examples of early uses of geothermal could be a simple fruit cellar where fruits and vegetables are stored because the ground temperature remains a constant below ten feet. Even animals such as the black bear that hibernate in the winter are using nature to keep them at a constant temperature. Today we use geothermal energy to heat and cool our homes. By installing a series of pipes below ground level, a desired temperature can be pumped into our homes using either air or water. There are what is called closed loop systems and open systems.
As you can see “green energy” as been around many centuries, but was never thought of as such because decades ago we were not interested in saving energy as we are today. Today we continue to deplete our fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas; we look to other alternatives such as the green energies.
We need to develop more used of solar, wind, and geothermal energy to power our electrical grids. One resource I didn’t mention is water. Water can be thought of as a self replenishing energy, but while powering about 25% of our power plants it still has many problems with downstream flooding and erosion. Hope you are doing your part to continue your education about renewable energy.