If we want to save the Earth, we must use more renewable energy.
From Wikipedia:


Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight[, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat—which are renewable (naturally replenished). Renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels.

In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Hydropower was the next largest renewable source, providing 3%, followed by hot water/heating, which contributed 1.3%. Modern technologies, such as geothermal, wind, solar, and ocean energy together provided some 0.8% of final energy consumption.The technical potential for their use is very large, exceeding all other readily available sources.

Renewable energy technologies are sometimes criticised for being intermittent or unsightly, yet the market is growing for many forms of renewable energy. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of over 100 GW, and is widely used in several European countries and the United States.The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached more than 2,000 MW in 2006,and photovoltaic (PV) power stations are particularly popular in Germany.[8] Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel.Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.

While there are many large-scale renewable energy projects and production, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.

Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. European Union leaders reached an agreement in principle in March 2007 that 20 percent of their nations' energy should be produced from renewable fuels by 2020, as part of its drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed in part for global warming. Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006. This level of investment combined with continuing double digit percentage increases each year has moved what once was considered alternative energy to mainstream. Wind was the first to provide 1% of electricity, but solar is not far behind. Some very large corporations such as BP, General Electric, Sharp, and Royal Dutch Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.

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wind by Logan Dillie

Wind
Wind blowing throught the trees
Wind blowing the snow around
Wind throwing the leaves
Wind brushing the grass
Wind push with all its might agains the rock
Wind push the kite
Wind causing friction to the air plane
Wind breaking leafs from the tree
Wind blowing the paper bag through the air

Wind

Wind is deadly
Wind is nice
Wind can hurt
Wind can kill
Wind can love
Wind can care
Wind is the source of energy

Wind
I loved the poem. Just like any form of nature, it has its destructive side.
Many many thanks Giulia
Perfect your poem. Nice word and style. I enjoying it.
Love & Light
Martin Dulal
very nicely said and i totally agree with you, id also like to add ( HHO ) hydrogen cells , magnetic and electric engines , harnessing our waves and currents from our oceans to produce clean energy are our future
I think wind and solar power are great sources of energy. My family uses solar energy to heat the house.

This is the power behind this recycled laptop
though I do also have solar panels and the sun is also shining on them.
Another advantage to wind and solar and others, is if I do this myself, rather than waiting for large companies to build these.
Is that the money is not going out of my pocket and into theirs.
So I then have more $ to spend on more wind generators.
I would rather have many small ones than one big one.
If something were to go wrong with it, then I'd be without much power other than the solar panels.
Also, I have different configurations to get different results, like a low wind speed version, that produces some current,
but at lower wind speeds as well as at higher winds (but less power than the ones set for higher wind speeds)
this gives me greater coverage (consistency) of incoming power.
I also have a horse so I'm working to make a methane digester to power a generator.
I used wolf/dog team for most of my life, and only had a gasoline powered car in case of emergency.
The one I have now, I have not used for several months.
My income is gradually going up (currently around $200 a month)
my expenses keep going down, my ability to live keeps improving.
And if I run out of money I dont run out of power.

I'm 50, and since I was 12, have only lived "on the grid" around 6 or 7 years total.
And did not like it.
I was paying others, to burn coal, and one year, to generate nuclear waste....
I could not bring myself to turn on a TV or stereo for enjoyment, knowing what I was paying someone to do to this earth....
I could not enjoy that.
I've used wind and solar around 30 yrs now.
I saw the issues, and did not feel it wise to "wait for the world to change"
I am the world, so I changed.

Even though I had wind generators,
I did not even take the time to learn, until this year, how they work!
I had to, because of my income, and low on power and needed more.
So, I set out to "learn" how to make my own.
It took time, but it is knowledge that empowers me for the rest of my life,
and improves my ability to "take care of myself" rather than bet my life on money, so I can pay someone else to take care of me (food warmth etc)
Beyond the self confidence gained, and independence felt,
I know now how to dive into dumpsters, take electronics people throw away,
and use the parts to make power (wind generators) with what what heading for the land fills.
At next to no cost, and gain more electricity for the rest of my life.

One of my reasons for wanting to keep adding on (small units means that is easier to do)
is I like it here in Alaska, using the winds of blizzards,
to power heaters to heat my home.

Somehow, I feel like a successful human,
using the bitter winter winds, to heat my home,
and the stronger those winds blow, the warmer my home.

Besides being free, not destroying this world, not worrying if the power gets knocked out in a storm,
I get this warm glow inside as well.
And did all this on very low income.
And my way of life, keeps improving,
the more I take care of myself, instead of paying others to do what I know how to do myself,
like a good grown up human.
Peace,
becomes a way of life, and of living, without destroying in order to do so,
but it was a path not well laid out,
change seldom means doing what I know how to do,
but learning to do something different,
and the more learned, the less fear there was in the change,
because it was replaced with confidence.
knowing/learning how I was going, vs not knowing,
and paying others by working 40 hr work weeks, to pay for my food warmth and shelter,
Doing it myself I work half as many hours.
And have more.
nor is my life dependent on others
to provide my basic needs
I learned, to do so myself.
Not waiting for the world to change,
I am this world equally, its up to me, to change.
not pay someone else to do it for me.
I cannot tell others to change,
but have the right and responsiblity as a member of humanity.
to do it myself.
Thus WE are changing and humans walk a more gentle path
for each of us that turns away from the cliff,
and learns to live, differently, than following the path of destruction.
When we already know how to do so without destroying this earth in the process.
I did most of my changes 30 years ago.
Not waiting for the world to change,
it already did, I'm just waiting for the rest of the herd to catch up.
you cant get ahead of the herd,
if your following it.
I don't understand why more companies won't put more effort into renewable sources. My guess is that those currently in power in a variety of aspects are just concerned with collecting as much of the Almighty Dollar as they can in their lifetime, and to heck with what future generations will have to deal with.

Tree Thunderchild, thank you for your amazing and informative post. I wish I lived in an area that would allow me to put solar panels or wind turbines up (and I can't believe some of the stories I've read about areas that are actually trying to BAN the use of windmills and turbines!). My husband and I are planning to move to a "greener" area as soon as our finances allow it, but in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions about how we can use less power, short of sitting in the dark all day (hard to do with three active kids, lol).
This is what I use. It is the same as is in use on the International Space Station. They are 12 volt, but I think if you looked around on ebay you may be able to find types of this class that would work in 120 Volt AC outlets.
Mine uses UNDER one watt of current (I measured it, I keep close tabs on power consumption and input)
Note: These are LED's but they are flat, not the tiny bulb type (I have a similar setup with those, at 1.7 watts power consumption (after I modified them with a resistor) and lower light output, without the modifications, still a lower light output but required around 3 watts) These are much much more efficient than the compact florescent bulb type

Also my wind generators put out more power than they did when I bought them.
After learning how car and other alternators worked, it blew my mind that they were so primitive, and put my words to the test I did a sample using a coil, voltmeter and magnet. I got 1.5 volts.
Same coil, same magnet, same voltmeter, using what my son later told me is applied quantum mechanics (I dont know, I just "did it"), anyway I got 7 volts.
So my wind generators have been re-engineered accordingly so I get more power than they are rated, and a lower wind speeds.
The average US wind speeds is 12.5 mph.
If you increase your blade diameter... if you double it, you get 4 times the power.
However there are inherited negative effects of larger turbines besides costs per unit. And those are vibrations, neighbor complaints etc.
One negative item on the Air403 is they make a lot of NOISE. That is one in the middle (an Air 403) on the image I've had for close to 20years, I had to put a larger tail on it after I modified it to keep it from wanting to face the wrong direction.
I am currently at full power, have good winds (almost a blizzard) and am using the extra power,
to use the winter winds, to heat my trailer ;)
Another item to consider (again seek to LEARN as much as you can before you make changes), is the Air403 and other commercially available small scale wind turbines often come with "charge controllers" or as the Air403's is often called, a "brain box".
Up-side: you wont over charge your batteries....
Down-side: that is because they slow or stop putting out power in high winds....
Now to me, that makes little sense! Why in the world, SHUT DOWN, at the best time to get the MOST power?!

So I don't use "brain boxes" I disconnected the one in the Air403, and run 3 lines for AC (alternating current instead of most, that change it to DC or Direct Current) because I can then use extension cords to transfer the power from the unit to the battery where I "THEN" convert it to DC to charge up the batteries.
This saves me a few hundred dollars in heavy gauge copper cables, and gives me more power being transfered to the batteries (less power loss due to resistance). This is why most power companies send AC current, because you can send it farther, using lower diameter wires, than you can do with DC.
To learn how to do this, do a Google search for "bridge rectifier"
And learn what a Diode is and does.
If you do that? You'll know a huge amount about making your own power, and this knowledge is "priceless", regarding your confidence as well as knowing WHAT your buying, and what it will do and wont do.
Understanding how to change it from AC to DC at your batteries instead of inside the wind turbine, can save you thousands of dollars in copper cables to run the power from the turbines to your batteries.
That is $ you could spend on more turbines!

And again, go with different configurations. Yes you can get one that puts out 1000 watts (commercial model not talking about what I get with my modifications), but how many days are you going to have to wait for the day that one has strong enough wind speeds to give that to you?
If you have one like that, and two others that put out LESS POWER (400 watt), that also tends to mean at LOWER WIND SPEEDS.
How many days of power your going to get from "those" before the other one kicks in?
Could save your batteries!
Often larger is not necessarily better. 30 years experience, I go with MORE smaller ones, than a few larger ones.
For more "consistent" power coming in. (besides a whole lot less expensive to "get started" making your own power for free for life) Oh and I do have to replace bearings, once every 10 years, they cost me $2.90 each and I need 2 per unit so its not 'totally' free I guess, but in my book, close enough!
I did not mean to go astray from "short of sitting in the dark all day" but having answered that, wanted to address the issue of not having wind or solar (the two most available sources globally, things are different in different locations, so water or methane etc may be other alternatives also).
My son, spent most of this last year in a tent, needed power for his laptop he uses to make a living with

(not my photo I pulled this from another site that did basically the same thing, but, are they going to ban 'this"? Lawn ornaments, etc? ) A "stepper motor" pulled out of a thrown away printer, spun by hand put out 40 volts (low current but that's fine power is power) that hooked up to a bridge rectifier changed it to DC. so he could charge batteries (12 volt) then a small Colman inverter to plug in the the laptop to.
Small = less resistance regarding "I've read about areas that are actually trying to BAN the use of windmills and turbines!"
If you go with many small ones rather than a large one, your going to find less resistance with ordinances, as well as less initial expense to get you started, and even on the "toy" scale, you start getting "hands on experience".
Which when it comes to going MORE green, is priceless regarding your confidence of knowing by experience, what you want, to add more onto.
But like a garden, solar and wind compliment each other in that you can harvest one when you don't have the other.
So the more different sources you have of free renewable energy coming in, the more consistent your power supply is.
And your reducing your demand (lighting etc) is only going to help you when you to change over, so even if you only do that now, but "learn" about the other alternatives BEFORE you invest, while your reducing your consumption, your only going to come out ahead, and so is this planet.
We are running out of time to change, and I dont like saying that, but its the truth, we need to do it NOW, and honestly? We needed to do this 20 years ago..... the earth, is running out of time.... dont wait for government nor corporations to make the changes FOR YOU, its not a good idea..... or they would have done so 30 years ago when the truth that we needed to change was already blatant.
Dont wait for the world to change, we are the world and we need to change ASAP.
NOT something to wait on until tomorrow kind of thing, when we SHOULD HAVE decades ago.....
Seriously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnMcybRrBFM

http://www.foet.org/

Hi all,,,thought i'd share a few links that may be of interest.
Hi All !

I would like to direct your attention to my current project, which aims mainly to raise public awareness of the issues and impacts of the non-consensual development of oil sands in Alberta, and of the various organizations taking action against it. It also advocates the use of renewable energy.

The Lepufology Project consists in a short sci-fi story in four chapters with a rocking soundtrack lasting a little over thirty minutes. The story is that of Jack Babbitt, regarded as one of the world's most trustworthy investigators of the paranormal, whose unfaltering curiosity for the mysterious leads on an international chase seeking bizarre rabbits of extra-terrestrial origin that have been bio-engineered to eliminate the reserves of petroleum and bitumen on the planet. Over the course of the story, Jack investigates rabbits and crop circles, encounters aliens, is abducted, travels in spacecrafts, and uncovers the outerworlders' plan to save the Earth from earthlings. The story finds its resolution in the tar sands deposits of Alberta.

The idea is to call artists and artistically inclined people from around the world into action by asking them to create digital artwork inspired by the story, donate it to the project, publish it in their own networks, and direct their contacts to the project's website.

In that aim, I would appreciate if you could help spread the following blog post around :

http://lepufology.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/calling-all-artists/

Thank you in advance for your diligent collaboration !

Happy Holidays !

Take care,
Chris

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