tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321678782011-12-31T18:54:05.046-08:00Jonathannoreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-47219311565985742012011-03-13T07:28:00.000-07:002011-03-13T07:28:41.247-07:00

Like many people I love the idea of being able to generate my own electricity using the freely available wind and sun. Solar panels and wind turbines are great, with one exception, they cost a lot of money and the financial payback runs into many years. So for once the government did something sensible, they introduced a Feed In Tariff (FITs) scheme that offers enhanced payments for owners of

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-6317276442677776612010-03-26T12:40:00.000-07:002010-03-26T12:40:02.556-07:00

With rising fuel prices, the global economic downturn, peak oil and concerns over energy security, motorists are increasinly looking for ways to improve mpg. And when people are getting desperate they become vulnerable to the various scams that sadly plague the Internet. One such scam is the various 'water 4 gas' systems that claim you can increase your mpg with a device that produces 'Browns Gas

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-32737217250179828922010-01-09T07:54:00.001-08:002010-01-09T09:19:16.108-08:00

While Haynes are best known for their car manuals, they have branched out with manuals to cover a huge range of topics. Understandably the Eco-house manual caught my attention. This manual covers every aspect of domestic renovation from heating and electrical systems through to building materials and outdoor space. Whether you want to work out the payback period on a wind turbine or find out

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-75863559192248217152008-08-12T12:41:00.000-07:002010-01-08T13:02:29.061-08:00

The 2008 Budget The 2008 budget introduced some significant changes to the current car tax (vehicle excise duty or VED) aimed at encouraging drivers to buy more fuel efficient cars. However, the changes have been widely criticised as being nothing more than a green smokescreen and way of increasing revenue. In principal the idea is sound and even some of the most hardened petrol heads agree that

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-81760240734433599682008-07-21T13:21:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:58:02.720-08:00

Climate sceptics - those who think they know better than thousands of highly educated and trained scientists are a rather predictable bunch. The BBC website has a great page where they list the top ten arguements and the reason why they are wrong. It's well worth a read and you can find it here

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-23971119784096556302007-06-08T23:16:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:57:02.727-08:00

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts has announced the launch of an aggressive privately funded energy efficiency programme. Costing $70 million it is intended to help fight global warming. They are taking a pro-active approach and will offer free energy audits to residents in the city, this includes private and commercial properties. The aim is cut the cities electricity consumption by 10

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-31952343773082057652007-04-05T11:56:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:55:08.616-08:00

World domination? George Bush and his thirst for eastern oil? Some sort of evil plot that only James Bond could solve? Well, you should take the title of this post literally, I really am talking about the cost of power, or to be specific the cost of electricity. I believe that the financial cost of something is also a good indication as to the environmental cost. So to give you an idea of what

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-12699476695816389992006-12-04T13:47:00.000-08:002010-01-08T12:53:57.795-08:00

One reason often given for still using incandescent bulbs is the fact that the new energy efficient bulbs do not work with dimmer switches. To be honest, it's a fair point. The counter argument is that you don't need dimmer switches on your lights. The argument that comes back is that we should be able to have what we want rather than just what we need (after all otherwise I guess we would be

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-58434134342265616622006-11-25T10:14:00.000-08:002010-01-08T12:51:13.419-08:00

One of my concerns with the new energy efficient light bulbs is the cost of manufacturing them. When I say 'cost' it includes the money cost and the environmental cost. A traditional incandesant bulb is very simple to manufacture and does not need too much in the way of toxic chemicals. However, the new bulbs are much more complex to manufacture and contain more raw materials and toxic elements.

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-84016186203570691582006-11-21T04:58:00.000-08:002010-01-08T12:51:31.674-08:00

The first rule of being micro green is to reduce. My view is that turning lights off when not needed will produce greater savings and I would only recomend CFLs for lights that are left on for long periods of time such as landing lights or outside lights.

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-70261522983364972522006-11-21T04:56:00.000-08:002010-01-08T12:50:24.572-08:00

Becuase they use different methods to create light, incandesent and CFLs produce very different types of light. The CFLs are actually producing a light that is flashing on and off (50 times a second), this can sometimes be seen when these bulbs start to flicker. Many of these bulbs will not work with dimmer switches which can be a real problem for some people. The light given off by a CFL bulb

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-63240974139021365592006-11-21T04:52:00.000-08:002010-01-08T12:48:00.781-08:00

Traditional incandescent light bulbs work by passing an electric current through a tungsten filament, the resistance of the filament causes it to get very hot and as a by product light is given off. This of course means that incandescent bulbs waste most of the energy they use as heat. Energy efficient light bulbs are obviously the better choice in this respect, but I have some reservations

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-1159012246525972432006-09-23T04:44:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:47:19.325-08:00

This is the first in a series of posts all about light bulbs. Sounds a like there's not much to talk about? Isn't it obvious that we should all fit energy efficient light bulbs? Well it's not as simple as you may of first thought. In this series of posts I'm going to publish some arguments for and against energy efficient light bulbs.

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-1157113784572262752006-09-01T05:27:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:46:35.375-08:00

I guess one of modern life's luxuries that we've all become used to is that we can have any type of food from any part of the world regardless of the season. Go into any supermarket at any time of the year and you will see a wonderful range of fruit and veg from all corners of the globe. Most of you will have probably heard of the term 'food miles'. While its great having fresh foods from all

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-1155110053138269462006-08-09T00:45:00.000-07:002010-01-08T12:45:38.122-08:00

The 3 R's, these are easy, in fact why not set yourself a target to implement one these ideas before the end of the day! Reduce - This one is a personal favorite, it's easy and it saves some cash (I prefer to spend my money on fun stuff!). It's all about not using 'stuff' in the first place - do you need to buy those apples packed in the plastic tray wrapped in another layer of plastic? Why not

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32167878.post-1154682642014598632006-08-04T02:04:00.000-07:002010-01-09T06:07:33.894-08:00

Our planet doesn't need saving, it will do just fine no matter what we do. The fate of planet Earth is linked to the fate of our Sun, as the Sun nears the end of its life it will swell into a Red Giant, so large that planet Earth will be consumed within it. Nothing that humans do now or in the future will change this. The environment and climate however, must be protected. Pollution causes

Jonathannoreply@blogger.com0