Although much has been said and written about the advantages of Solar Panels, there are also a few disadvantages to their name, which we are about to go through in detail.

Everyone knows that the slightest amount of shade, even that caused temporarily by tree branches or birds, for example can interrupt the flow in sunlight, thus causing an interruption in the heating process.

To remain reliable and consistent the photons released by the sunrays have to be steady and unblocked by shade to perform as designed. If not then this will result in a drop in power which will further result in lack of heat necessary to power up water heaters and other appliances relying on the Solar Panels.

When Sourcing Solar Panels

When sourcing for Solar Panels, you will notice that the prices are still quite high and many people are not willing to wait up to 3-5 years to eventually see a return in their investment. Rebates have also been reduced in some countries, with the result that profits will only be seen after longer periods than originally estimated.

One has to bear in mind that one solar panel is relatively small and generates only a small amount of power when fired up by the sun. To see increased benefits, one would have to invest in at least a handful of panels, which will raise the costs considerably.

There is also the issue of having to adjust the panels in such a way as to continually obtain the best results from the direction of the sunlight. Most of these are mechanically operated but some would have to be adjusted manually to try and obtain maximum efficiency.

Mirrors could be a solution as they would reflect the sunlight into a generator but, again the cost of this practice would be unaffordable to most.

Solar Panel Maintenance

Maintenance of Solar Panels could also lead to extra costs, due mainly to the continuous exposure of UV rays and other forms of solar radiation onto the panels themselves. This leads to gradual deterioration of the material and the need to maintain.

When it comes to Solar Panels for use in the automobile industry the disadvantages increase due to the sheer amount of panels needed to be able to generate power derived from the sun, again raising costs. These would need to be charged frequently and prevent long-distance driving from becoming enjoyable or affordable in the long run.

This article is about “The Disadvantages of Solar Panels” and was written by Enviko Solar Panels

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It reuses materials that still hold high value, helps reduce air pollution, assists in reducing our dependence on oil, water and other natural resources, and cuts back on the amount of waste we send to landfills.

There are many convenient drop off recycling locations, curb side collection spots and even buy back programs. One of the easiest items to recycle are plastic bags, and every bag recycled can make a big difference, especially if you live near a large body of water.

Initial Melting

When plastic bags are recycled, the plant will melt and then cool a large portion of the plastic bags down which will make hard plastic. There are a lot of bags that are melted at one time to make the product. Once the plastic is ready to go, it will be cut up in pieces and washed to make sure that it is clean. The plastic will be then taken to a second melting device, which melts the plastic with greater precision and molds it into a long and thin shape. Once this process takes place, the plastic will be cut down in to bead like size.

Bead Form

These recycled beads may be mixed with other virgin type material to make new plastic bags or to even create other new products. The other virgin beads may be a different dyed color and a heavier grade of plastic to work with. It will then go into another device which will add some air pressure which will decide the size and the thickness of the plastic bag. Once this is done, it will be time for the plastic bags to cool off and then it will be wound up into a huge roll. The bags will then be made at a certain width and will be sealed off with a hot metal wire so that the bag will seal itself. The bags are then ready to be used and shipped out to the consumers.

Other Recyclable Materials

There are many other items that are recyclable such as glass, metal, paper, plastic and electronics. Many of these items sit around the home and can be recycled and not thrown away in the garbage. There are many programs and communities that are stepping up to recycle to help the environment. You can always check your local newspapers or nearby agencies to find out who does recycling in your area.

This article was submitted by PM Environmental, offering Phase I Environmental Site Assessment services.

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The forces driving erosion are mostly natural, but human interference in the form of farming, logging and other unnatural changes can make erosion a serious environmental problem.

Human activity has led to a dramatic increase in the global erosion rate, and erosion is responsible for 84% of degraded crop acreage.

Take a look at some natural solutions that you can help take to help stop or slow down that process in your area.

Vegetation

Homeowners that live on a sloped or unleveled property have the ability to plant grass and other plants to help slow down the process of erosion. Just by covering a barren hillside with grass seed and then covering that by hay to stop birds and rodents from eating the seed can make a big difference. Grass roots grow at all angles allowing a network of root webs to reduce the amount of soil runoff during a rainstorm or in a windy situation. Other low growing ground cover like periwinkle is also a great source of ground coverage as, like grass, it is a fast but strong growing plant.

Mulch

Mulch is a great option for a relatively easy fix that doesn’t need too much attention. Also, mulch is very cheap and can be bought at almost any department or hardware store. Be sure you purchase mulch that will blend in well with the natural environment and also will not take too long to deteriorate. Also be sure you know where the mulch came from, as some may carry foreign and infectious mosses or other fungi that can wreak havoc on native plant species.

Erosion Blankets

Many hardware stores and large department stores supply blankets that can help slow down erosion caused by snow, heavy rainfall, and ice. Unlike plants, they do not dig into the soil and latch on, but act more like a band aid and cover “infected” areas. When applying, these blankets must be tightly secured to the affected area in order to be effective. Although not the most effective method, it may be the best immediate solution or in a situation where planting grass or other plants is out of the question.

Retaining Walls

A more permanent solution, retaining walls slow down erosion and last for long periods of time. Many people imagine ugly slabs of steel in the side of a sloped area, which quite often are exactly the image. However, these walls can be built out of large and natural looking boulders and rocks, and when done correctly can blend in easily with the natural surroundings.

Terrace Steps

One of the common methods farmers use to combat erosion for thousands of years is developing graduated terrace steps in the sides of their farms. This method does not make much sense in an ordinary backyard, but is effective when growing crops is the main priority. Be wary of soil conditions and if large objects like rocks and boulders will be a frequent problem.

Windbreaks

Trees, buildings and other tall and large objects act as great wind blockers or windbreaks for open expanses of uncovered soil. Although not as noticeable as rain, wind over time will picks up valuable fertile soil and blow it away from your farm or property. Planting rows of trees is often the most common method of protecting areas from wind, but fences, shrubs and buildings are effective for relatively small areas.

Citations: Image via Soil Science

This article was contributed by Pro-Tec Equipment, distributors of trench shields and other trench shoring products.

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When it comes to the problems of global warming, air pollution, peak oil and so on, we have a fairly limited number of possibly responses. The market is growing, the number of renewable energy jobs being created is great, but for now we can use wind power, solar power, nuclear power, biofuel, or we can really, really hope that all the climate change deniers actually, somehow turn out to be right.

But these are all pretty mainstream ideas. What if we went into the realms of ideas that are So Crazy They Just Might Work? Here are a selection of 100% real alternative fuels scientists are genuinely looking into. What they have in common is that they should all be explained through either a grandiose monologue while you are strapped to a death laser, or by a drawing done in crayon.

Human Blood Batteries

As the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, scientists have been devising a way to generate electricity from human blood. The science involved isn’t even particularly new, the concept of bio-batteries has been around for a while, and they can already run off sweat, urine and tears.

The device itself, which looks like a small, curled up scrap of paper, is designed to be implanted under your skin where it draws in electrolytes from your fluids, passing them nanotech carbon to tubes to create electricity. This battery could be used to power medical implants such as pacemakers, with the paper texture of the battery making it easy to cut out shapes the right size and shape for the patient.

Mad Scientist or Child?

If you’ve come up with a power source that could conceivably fuel a Vampire Robot, it’s pretty safe to say we’re in mad scientist territory.

Landfills as Power Plants

People don’t like rubbish, but they do like electricity. So what if you could come with a way of turning rubbish into electricity? Well, Viktor Popov, at the Wessex Institute of Technology is looking into a way to do just that.

The idea that landfills could be used to provide power has been around for awhile. The idea is that when organic waste decomposes without oxygen around, it starts to generate methane. That methane can be harnessed to heat nearby buildings or even power vehicles.

However, harnessing the full power of all that methane has always been beyond our grasp. Landfill operators will even burn off the methane to prevent it building up, which is bad the environment even aside from the wasted fuel, because it sends all sorts of nasty chemicals into the atmosphere.

The problem with trying to extract the methane is that landfills aren’t airtight, so any attempt to suck up the methane also sucks up the oxygen, which, as we just mentioned, shouldn’t really be around when you’re looking to create methane.

What Viktor Popov has done is invent some simple modifications that allow any landfill to be turned into a methane plant. His answer is to put a membrane over the landfill consisting of three layers: a middle, permeable layer sandwiched between two mostly impermeable layers. This keeps the air out, while the middle layer of the membrane sandwich has carbon dioxide pumped into it, creating a pressure barrier that stops air from being sucked into the landfill.

Mad Scientist or Child?

Turning rubbish into a fuel source is definitely the sort of endearing plan a seven-year-old would come up with right after watching Wall-E.

Moon Rocks

For a long time the holy grail of energy sciences has been fusion power. Not to be confused with fission power, which is what you find in garden or common nuclear power plant or bomb. The simple explanation is that fission creates power by breaking atoms opens, fusion does it by smooshing them together. Current fusion experiments use deuterium and tritium, which both give off secondary radiation, wasting energy and shortening your power plants lifespan

However the Fusion Technology Institute in Wisconsin has manage to build a fusion device roughly the size of a football that can produce a milliwatt of power continuously. Admittedly, you’re still a long way off actually powering a light bulb with that, but it proves it is possible. This device used the chemical Helium 3, which contains huge amounts of energy while giving off no radiation.

Unfortunately, Helium 3 is in very short supply here on Earth. But you know where’s loads of it? THE MOON!  In theory, a space shuttle full of moon rocks would be enough to fuel the entire United States for a year.

Mad Scientist or Child?
Put on your best Brian Blessed voice and declare “We will harness the power of the Moon itself!”

I think we all know the answer to this one.

Dancing

The Temple Nightclub is San Francisco has managed to generate over 480 watts of electricity over 10 hours, with dancing. 16 panels built into the floor of the nightclub used the kinetic energy generated from the dancing to power the lights in the club. This is all part of the vision of the club owner, Paul Hemming,  who is aiming to make his nightclub into the most sustainable in the world.

Mad Scientist or Child?

A special club that generates electricity from dancing is definitely the sort of idea that should be explained in crayon with lots of glitter glue.

Lightening

Researchers in Brazil say they are closer than ever to harnessing the ambient electrcitiy responsible for lightening.

They believe it could be possible too build a device that could capture this ambient energy, not only allowing them to use that electrical power, but possibly even preventing lightening from happening. The team, led by Fernando Galembeck, from the Institute of Chemistry at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, has discovered that in lab experiments air humidity and dust can both accumulate electrical charges, which can be transferred to other materials.

This method of generating power, known as “Hygroelectricity” could possibly be used more families in isolated regions, where the infrastructure doesn’t exist too bring power to them.

Mad Scientist or Child

Lightening. The stuff they used to wake up Frankenstein’s Monster? The only thing other than Plutonium that could generate the 1.21 jiggawatts necessary to power a DeLorean time machine? Mad scientists have been dreaming of harnessing the power of lightening for so long that I’m surprised this is new technology.

Charles Reybreck is a writer and social activist who blogs primarily about volunteer work and renewable energy jobs.

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Drain blockages are a common household problem, which we all will encounter at some point. Usually at precisely the exact time we could do without it happening. Thankfully there are a number of eco-friendly products which are on the market which enable us to solve this issue without resorting to corrosive liquids and chemical compounds.

These products have developed significantly in recent years, as manufacturers have striven to find a formula that works while also remaining a 100% eco-friendly product.

So What Can I Use?

There are many products which have long been associated with drain unblocking, however by far the most effective is found to be a liquid dissolvent. There are many naturally produced, eco-friendly products now available on the market which individuals can simply pour into a drain, leave for a number of hours and the job will be done. The best results and often seen by continuously keeping on top of drains, such as treating them every two weeks or so rather than unblocking periodically when it becomes a major problem.

As well as using an eco-friendly product to unblock your drains, you will also potentially be helping the planet in terms of water usage and savings.

The most exciting aspect of these excellent eco-friendly products is that many have now been developed to deal specifically with certain aspects of the home, and the problems they encounter. Kitchen drainage systems are likely to be blocked with mould, lime scale, and perhaps food waste, so an eco-friendly drain unblocking product has been developed specifically to solve this problem. The same can be said of substances such as hair in terms of bathroom sinks.

There are wide ranges of products available in order to make every aspect of your drain unblocking as eco-friendly as possible.

Blockage Prevention

As well as continuously treating sinks and drains with eco-friendly products to keep them blockage free, you could always invest in a dossil. These products are placed over a sink and are designed to catch anything such as food and hair. Although lime scale will still naturally occur, this will go a long way to solving some of the more severe and common causes of blockage.

Whatever method you choose, be sure to do it in an eco-friendly manner while using some of the most innovative and cutting edge products available. Even the toughest jobs can be taken care of while looking after the planet!

Many eco friendly products which offer a solution to common problems such as drain blockage are available on the market. The UtterlyEco online shop may address these problems in a professional way.

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Most people replace their phone every year to 18 months, and typically choose to do so because of an upgrade, or to take the chance to try out a new handset.

With the speed by which phone technology improves rising every year, it is difficult to keep track of what amounts to close to 90 million mobile phones in the UK alone.

However, many people simply throw away their old phone, or place them into storage within their homes. Phone recycling, and reselling, represent alternative options. Many companies offer services where you send in your old phone to receive a cash payment. These payments can range from £10 to £50 for older phones, and up to £370 for newer models like the iPhone. Competitive pricing between different companies also means that you are likely to get a good deal.

When sending your phone, make sure that you provide the right information on its model type, which can be found on an IMEI label on the back cover. Similarly, remove your SIM card, restore the phone to factory settings, and wipe any personal information that may still be on the phone. As long as the phone still works, and the battery can be charged, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to receive something for it. Phone accessories like cords and battery chargers can also be sold on.

The phones are then used in different ways. Some phones are resold at discounted prices, and many end up being distributed to Third World countries. A large amount of phones are, however, recycled to extract their casings and interior parts. Specialist parts include zinc, silver, copper and hold, all of which can be extracted from a phone battery and used for other purposes. In other situations these materials would simply be added to landfill dumps. Plastic and metal parts can also be stripped and used towards other recycling projects.

The main benefit of mobile phone recycling is that you get the chance to contribute to the environment in a quick and easy way. While one phone might not seem like much of a hazard, consider the billions of phones circulating the world, and how they will cumulatively affect the environment. Degradation of materials will eventually lead to soil and air damage. In this way, multiple government schemes around the world are attempting to encourage the recycling of electrical equipment.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Law of 2007 has particularly pushed for revised standards on recycling phones, while individual phone companies such as Nokia have invested in Take Back schemes to encourage old handsets to be recycled. Getting into good habits over mobile phone recycling now will ultimately create significant benefits for the future. Given the ease by which you can check the value and eligibility of your phone, mobile recycling should be at the forefront of your mind the next time you decide to get a new handset.

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What Is It?

The first step to cutting your carbon footprint is to fully understand what it is. The dictionary definition explains it as: the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted to the atmosphere by an individual or company as a result of the activities they complete. It seems fairly simple and should be easy to reduce this amount, but how?

Nearly everything we use in our daily lives emits some form of carbon, so the first step to leading a greener life is to try and reduce this. Let’s take a look at a typical day and ways in which we can do this.

Good Morning!

In the cold winter months, it can be tempting to hike your heating up so that when you wake on dark and dreary mornings, it’s lovely and toasty. Whilst this will inevitably help you get out of bed, it won’t do anything to help lower your carbon emissions. To start your journey to a greener life, think about insulating your home better; this will not only mean you can lower your energy bills (as you won’t need the heating on as much) but you will also reduce your carbon footprint.

What to Wear?

As you get dressed and ready for work in the morning, take a look at your wardrobe and consider where you could make changes here. Why not give away some of those clothes you haven’t worn in years and instead of heading to a designer outlet on your next shopping trip, take a look at your local charity shop? You’ll be amazed at what you can find there.

The Daily Commute

The biggest way you can reduce your carbon footprint is in the way you travel to and from work. There is said to be over 31 million cars on the roads, so instead of jumping in your car and driving the 2 miles to work, why not take a leisurely walk? Alternatively, if it’s a little too far, have a look and see if there is anyone you can lift share with.

Home time

You’ve had a stressful day and love nothing more than to snuggle up in front of your TV and watch your favourite soaps all night; however this will do nothing for your carbon footprint. Instead of emitting masses of carbon, why not curl up and read a book? Additionally, instead of filling your bath to the brim every evening, take a shower and then on a Friday night when you really need to relax and unwind, you’ll appreciate the tranquil atmosphere of a bath full of bubbles.

Bedtime

Before you head off to the land of nod, take a look around your home and make sure that all of your electrical appliances are completely turned off and not left on standby. By making this simple change, you’ll be amazed at how your carbon emissions will reduce.

And Finally…….

There are a wealth of things you can do in your daily routine to lower your carbon footprint, and there are many products available that will help you do this. For instance, domestic solar panels will not only dramatically reduce your carbon emissions, but will also help you save money as your energy bills will be lower too; and don’t worry about living in wet areas either as they work just as well without the sun!
Implement a few of these tips today to begin your journey to living a greener, more environmentally friendly life!

This post was written by Sally Powell, on behalf of Saving Energy Online, providers of domestic solar panels designed to help you live greener.

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Recycling offered people a chance to become a card-carrying member of the green movement, but with so many issues on the environmental agenda these days, things aren’t as simple as before.

That’s not to take away from the fact that waste and waste management is still a major concern; according to the US EPA, Americans produced about 243 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) – that equals to about 4.3 pounds of waste per person.

Staggering number, isn’t it? Every item thrown away takes energy and resources to transport, and even more energy and resources to process and dispose of. So even if the phrase has been overused into oblivion, people are still urged to reduce, reuse, and recycle. These are ranked in order of importance, even if the buzzword has always been the last one – so the first step should not be in throwing your plastic water bottle in the correct bin, but to use a water filter, or a reusable container to carry your drinks in. After all, the easiest way to manage waste is to not have any at all.

The fact that we will still produce waste is inevitable, no matter how much we reduce and reuse (though that helps). The second step would then be to be responsible about how we manage what we dispose of. Knowing what you can and can’t recycle is a good start – each city has different specifications for what goes into the plants and what can’t be processed, so following those rules will help a lot.

Recycling is a mindset, not just an act. Try to anticipate how an item, or parts of an item, can be recycled before you purchase it. This brings us back to our first point – reducing the amount of waste generated per person. For instance, in buying electronics, try to find something that can be easily upgraded, or at least taken apart so that components of it can still be used long after the item itself has become obsolete, or if just one part is broken. This reduces the stuff that goes into the landfills.

As best as you can, buy recycled. From the word itself, recycling means the cyclical movement of materials through the system, so just throwing new product away isn’t quite enough. If you use plastic bags to carry your trash, consider buying from a supplier that uses recycled materials to create their bags, for instance. In this manner, you help feed the 3R loop by not only recycling, but also by supporting recycled products, reducing the need to tap into our resources to create new ones.

George is a writer who occasionally does work for Plastic Place, a wholesaler of eco-friendly trash bags and garbage. He also likes to write ebooks and sci-fi stories in his spare time.

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The Case For Hybrids

Fuel bills are on the increase, and the pollution produced by standard fuel cars is an issue. Electric cars are cleaner, and more efficient, however so far there are no light, compact batteries available that can cover long distances without needing a recharge. This is a big problem for electric cars. If all you’re doing is hopping into town to work, then driving back at the end of the day, that’s great. If your commute is a longer one, or if your work involves driving a lot during the day, then an electric car isn’t good enough.

Hybrids use far less fuel than standard petrol cars, produce less waste, and can cover much longer distances than current electric vehicles. So far, so good.

Many early adopters believe that they’re more reliable too – so the cost to service your vehicle should be lower than average, at least once hybrids become mainstream enough that they can be serviced at most garages.

The Case Against Hybrids

The problem with hybrids is that electronics are harder to look after than engines. Right now, if you’re mechanically inclined you could service your car yourself, or at least look after the basics. However, when you’re looking at a hybrid of electricity and gasoline, it’s a bit more complicated.

There’s also the issue of changing the batteries. Currently, a battery pack for a Toyota costs $4900, or you can buy individual modules for $138. That might sound like a lot, but most hybrids come with something like an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty. That’s enough for the average commuter, but it may not be enough for people that drive a lot in their jobs.

Another thing to note is that the Prius (used as an example purely because it’s the most well-known hybrid) gets more miles per gallon in the city than it does on motorways. If you’re a long distance driver, you might actually be better off with a regular car, at least for now.

Choosing a Car

For a commuter that does the occasional long-distance hop, hybrids look like a good option. You won’t need to service your car as often if it’s a hybrid, and once they become more popular, the cost to service your vehicle should go down. For long distance drivers, the 50MPG of the Prius might not be good enough for long distance driving, but future models should get better figures. Right now, we’re still in early adopter territory for alternative fuel cars, but the next few years should be interesting.

Written by guest author Amy Fowler on behalf of Main Dealer Discount, experts in helping you to service your car at a discount.

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We are all responsible for the reduction of our carbon footprint, using electrical appliances and lighting comes with more than a financial price, and in light of this we seek to use a cleaner energy means to power our homes. Installing panels on family homes is a great way of reducing out individual carbon footprints, but when working with schools there are many benefits that may not immediately come to mind.

Financially Beneficial
It’s fair to say that schools are often very large and busy structures that require a large supply of electrical energy for the majority of the day. The amount of electricity used is without a doubt a very costly necessity, and introducing solar power to these buildings can be financially beneficial in a number of ways. As schools generally have a large surface area atop the buildings, a larger quantity of solar panels can be installed, harnessing a larger amount of the sun’s rays. If the school was to harness more electricity than it used, it could supply the remaining units of power back to the national grid and receive an appropriate payment. In theory, solar panels for schools can not only help to reduce energy consumption, it can account for the amount of energy needed and still have more in reserve.

Educational Values
Aside from the financial benefits of having a solar panels installed on schoolhouse structures, there are many priceless benefits that apply to the function of schools. Renewable energy is a concept unfamiliar with many of the older generations, and after providing solar panels for schools we can set a great example to pupils, parents and relatives concerning the practicality and benefits of renewable solar energy. Children are at a perfect time in their life to adopt modern concepts and attitudes, by teaching the children about the purpose, and results of using renewable energy they are much more likely to accept and practice these methods later in life.

Environmental Benefits
The main purpose of renewable solar energy is to provide a clean, inexhaustible and environmentally friendly source of electricity to those who have the panels installed. Providing clean energy to sizable structures that use a larger amount of electricity will help to greatly reduce the occupant’s carbon footprint Taking on these projects regularly and providing more and more solar panels for schools may not only have a significant impact on the amount of money saved and clean energy used, but could also have an impact on the local residential areas. Schools often choose to involve parents and locals their recycling and eco awareness projects, the installation of solar panels can play a huge part in this and help to educate others on the benefits of using an alternative, clean energy.

For schools and local councils, renewable solar energy can bring a range of financial and practical benefits, many are immediate and economically valuable, and others are priceless. Demonstrations concerning eco awareness and the functionality of alternative energies can educate and enlighten students, giving us all hope for a brighter future.

A Greener Future
Office block or home solar panels are certainly effective in terms of energy saving, but when on school buildings the panels can act as an interesting science project and learning subject for the children.

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