Basically the ideas is how ‘Green Energy’ meets our everyday needs supplied by natural resources such as wind, tides and even geothermal heat. ‘Green’ basically means that all the energy is renewable. It is easy to think of the fact that we are often travelling back in time, especially when we think of items such as wind power and windmills. Overall, this is the method of using modern techniques to provide areas such as eco-effiency and planet friendly options.
The home can use a range of new ideas to help with energy usage including Solar Thermal and Solar Water Heating Collectors. For electricity created through roof-installed panels you would need elements such Photovoltaic Panels or PV’s. Another key element is that of Biomass Energy, which relates to Stoves and Boilers burning Wood, Fuel and Pellets. We now also have Ground Source Heat Pumps which is simply the heat from the Sun. Lastly, there are two of the more historical forms of energy production namely Wind Turbines and Hydropower.
For those wanting to train in this area we will expand on each section and cover off some of the skills required. Working in the field of Plumbing, Gas or as an Electrician you can see that the points raised would be of value to you. It would definitely be worth looking at modern careers such as Electricians, Plumbers and Green engineers and see how they relate to this information. So we have researched this site and added links and adverts for interested parties and bookmark via CTRL-D.
Thermal Solar Energy - This technology is based around two core types of knowledge to achieve the results known as Solar Energy. At a first strategy we have Solar Water Heating Collectors which basically creates hot water from solar energy. Then we have the work of the Photovoltaic Heat Collectors, often called Solar Electrical Panels which transform solar radiation into electricity. Obviously situated away from blockages such as chimneys these Solar Panels basically need to be mounted on south facing roofs at an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal.
In the UK, Solar Water Power is now one of the most sought after forms of Solar Energy. Solar Water heating systems are extremely important and can provide over half of hot water needs to houses within the UK. The cost of fitting depends on whether you do it yourself - 500 to 1500 pounds or whether you get a professional fit in which it will cost between 2-5k overall.
Biomass Energy Based Systems: Includes all natural forms derived from plant and animal products such as wood, straw, poultry litter and ‘energy crops’. As such, this is a very versatile material and can be engineered to produce heat, electricity and a combination of heat and power in the form of electricity. It is interesting to note that the UK has some of the largest quantities of Biomass material to generate electricity within Europe. It is the minimal C02 produced alongside the energy production that makes this attractive to the markets. That being said the process where each tree felled is replaced by another helps to reduce the overall effect on C02 as a part of energy produced.
A process titles Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) such as Willow and Poplar are used to meet the demands of such ‘Energy Crops’. Perennial grasses also produce a high yield of dry matter. Of equal importance, although maybe less well known are Municipal and Agricultural Waste. As a by-product, Agricultural Waste is simply part of the process of agriculture. However, derived from food or wood is another biomass entity - Municipal Waste.
Geo-Thermal Energy: By naturally heating the Earth by the Sun one of the offshoots is the potential to generate both warm water and electricity. Having a consistent ground temperature of around 12 degrees centigrade is fortunate for the UK as it allows both the heating and cooling of buildings. Although heat pumps require energy to function their rate of return is superb being a fourfold benefit against the energy put in. This system can go even further if energy efficient items such as wind turbines or solar electrical panels are used.
Wind Energy Systems: The use of wind as a source of energy has been going on for thousands of years, especially in milling grain and pumping water. Whether to a home or local grid when the energy has been generated it must be delivered to appoint if usage and cannot be stored. To be fair the UK has the highest level of wind generation within Europe. It is interesting to note that whilst we can produce 10 percent of our entire requirement from wind power at present we only produce 1 percent. Electricity can be produced from as little as 2p per kWh, but generally comes in somewhere between 2-10p per kWh. Because of this it is estimated that it takes between half a year to three quarters of a year to cover the costs.
Finally, we have Hydropower; an area in which the UK does well within Europe. The fact is that energy creation from moving water is very old although it is now being used in new ways. That aside it is fair to say that some 2 percent of the UK’s electrical load comes from this source.
A hydropower system uses a turbine to create energy from moving water. It is by either water drops or Natural River runs that turbines can work through this process Alternatively ‘Micro-Hydro’ systems use hitherto outdated sluices and dams to generate electricity. Having said that this process could still generate 200mW of the National Capacity. The capital cost of installing a micro-hydro system can run between 200 and 3000 pounds per kW of energy output.
It can be seen that the route to ‘Green Energy’ is growing considerably, especially in light of the need for increasing energy outputs throughout the Western World. Within the UK and mainly the domestic sector we are well placed to take advantage of the schemes listed above.
It is the drive for installations in the domestic sector that looks to favour jobs such as plumbers and electricians. With ‘Green Energy’ rising up the political agenda in Europe a range of financial aids and grants is becoming available. Getting the right qualifications can often provide job security in a new field such as this. Training such as electrical or plumbing that incorporates green technology would be very useful for the future.
(C) Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to www.plumbingtraining4u.co.uk/Green-Engineer-Courses.html or Green Engineer Training.
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