Sunday, May 17, 2009

Enhanced geothermal power systems

The advancement in technology has led to the development of enhanced geothermal power systems. These systems are also called hot dry rock geothermal energy systems or hot fractured rock systems. These systems use geothermal power products for power generation and use very high temperatures found in rocks below the earth’s surface.

These are also known as engineered geothermal power systems that extract green renewable energy in the form of heat from earth that consists of natural geothermal power systems with cracks or pores which are filled with hot water that is sufficient enough to generate power.

Water is pumped at a high pressure using a bore or injection well that is drilled into the hot rock to pump water to generate electricity. Water travels through the fractures or cracks in rocks and captures the heat from rocks till it is forced out of the second borehole. The hot water so obtained as geothermal power product is converted to electricity through either a turbine or a geothermal power plant.

Some enhanced geothermal power systems also use supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid because it results in better geothermal power output.

There are a few advantages of these systems. One of the main advantages is that they use a renewable energy source, geothermal energy for power generation. These systems being green renewable energy structures do not emit carbon compounds into the atmosphere and thus do not degrade the environment. These systems can be handled easily and are also easy and convenient to use.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Rotating skyscraper that works on wind power

Wind power as an alternative power source can be generated from wind energy. Renewable wind energy can be harnessed by using wind turbines to generate electricity. Advancement in technology has led to the design and development of a rotating skyscraper that works on wind renewable power.

The idea of the concept is to use wind renewable power to rotate the skyscraper. The design is built in a way in which fifty nine individual levels or units will surround a central concrete core to form the basic structure of this skyscraper. A horizontal wind turbine will be installed between each floor. These horizontal wind turbines will capture the renewable wind energy and generate electricity for the skyscraper. Each unit will be independent and will move with the wind and so the building will have more resistance to earthquakes. The construction of this type of a skyscraper will take a lot of time an will be very expensive.

Fifty eight horizontal wind turbines will be installed in the building so that they are not visible from the outside. The amount of electricity generated by each wind turbine will be 0.3 megawatt. The amount of electricity generated by a single wind turbine will be sufficient enough to meet the power needs for almost fifty families.

A skyscraper that will run on wind renewable power will be easier to maintain because it will run on wind. A wind renewable power rotating skyscraper will not pollute the environment and also not emit any harmful particles in the atmosphere. This skyscraper will also not contribute to global warming. It will thus be a green renewable energy structure.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Alternative energy companies

The energy obtained from the alternative energy sources is called alternative energy. The various alternative energy resources are solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy etc. The alternative energy obtained from the alternative sources of energy is non- polluting and can be put to several uses.

The use of alternative energy resources and production of alternative energy have increased over the years. Therefore, there is a rapid rise in the number of alternative energy companies.

Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy that meet most of the energy needs today. Their reserves are fast declining and we will shortly face a situation when no fossil fuels will be left. Therefore alternative energy resources are required to meet the increasing needs of energy across the globe.

Alternative energy resources do not cause pollution as opposed to the burning of fossil fuels that emits gases like carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide etc. in the air and thus pollutes the atmosphere. Also these sources are renewable alternative energy sources that can never end.

The energy that is produced by alternative energy companies does not contribute to global warming and pollution. Alternative energy companies are working on developing energy sources that are non-polluting and do not harm the environment in any way.

To set up alternative energy companies a lot of investment is required. Also the research required for the development of alternative energy sources is expensive. These companies produce alternative energy in quantities that are sufficient enough to meet the energy requirements of the world.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Wind Turbines

Wind energy has been in use as an alternative energy source for a very long time. In order to harness renewable wind energy in earlier times, wind machines were used. Today, wind turbines which are the modern equivalents of wind machines are used for harnessing renewable wind energy.

Wind turbines use wind as an alternative energy source to generate electricity. These machines are installed at heights so that they can capture maximum renewable wind energy. Wind turbines have two or three blades or rotors which are like airplane wings. A low pressure on the downside of the blade is created when wind blows which pulls the blade causing the rotor to move. The moving rotor spins a generator to produce electricity.

Wind turbines can be used to generate electricity from renewable wind energy in three ways. One way to use wind turbines is to install them as stand alone units. In stand alone units, the wind turbines use renewable wind energy to pump water or for communications. Another way of using wind turbines is to connect them with utility power grid. Wind turbines can also be combined with solar cells systems to use the renewable energy sources for several purposes.

Wind turbines can produce electricity from renewable wind energy that can meet the energy requirements of small places. If renewable wind energy has to be used to generate electricity for commercial uses, a large amount of renewable wind energy needs to be captured and converted to electricity.

It is easy to install, use and maintain wind turbines.