The Advantages of Wind Energy

We usually hear a lot about problems as well as alleged problems of wind energy in Victoria and much less about its advantages. The most essential point in favor of wind energy is that the electricity that’s generated replaces the power, which would otherwise be produced by burning the fossil fuels in Victoria. Thus, bigger the production of wind energy in electricity supply more is the reduction in production of atmospheric greenhouse gases, which cause ocean acidification and climate change.
 

However, a community where a wind farm is developed is benefitted by:

• Business for the local contractors at the time of construction; transport, electrical, concreting etc
  
• Employment at the time of construction and to a much less extent operation
  
• A boost to the local businesses like motels, hotels and other kinds of accommodation providers, restaurants, cafes, gift shops, hardware shops etc; again especially at the time of construction and to a much less extent at the time of operation
  
• Annual land lease payments to the farmers for turbine sites

Australia especially Victoria has a big potential for wind farm development. However, if this potential is to be built, governments should act more pro-actively. Apart from artificially created low price of the fossil fuel produced energy, the biggest hindrance to wind power development is lack of high capacity electricity transmission lines wherever they are required; and the governments are showing very little enthusiasm for building them. This should be compared with TX where state government is developing transmission lines into the areas with high quality resources of wind in hope of development of the wind farm.

Various Uses of Solar Energy and Solar Panels

With the devastating effect of fossil fuel global warming is increasing. Therefore a vast use of non-conventional energy is growing up. Non conventional energies refer to turbine, solar PV panel and hydro electric panel etc. Among all the alternatives of renewable energy solar energy is widely used.
 

While planning for the installation of a solar panel one must check the solar feasibility report for that place. That will give him a clear idea about the various factors like continuity of sunlight, daily usage etc.

  

Application of solar energy

The list will be endless for the application of solar energy in our daily life. Here I have given some common uses of solar energy.
 

Solar heating for pool:

In winter it’s hard to use your favorite pool. But with the help of solar energy one can heat up the water of the pool. This has become a very common practice in most of the countries. Various clubs and amusement parks use solar panel to generate heat for their pools. 

Using for domestic water heating:

Needless to say that most of the homes around Australia use this technique to warm up the water for bathing, cooking and other purposes.
 

Generate direct current for home:

Some devices like laptops, MP3 players, and mobile phones can be charged from the electricity that has been generated from solar energy. Also PV cells are used for lighting up the in house lighting panels. 

Generations of AC currents:

Solar heat can be concentrated and used for generating steams from water that can revolve a turbine. This turbine will generate AC electricity which can be used for supplying electricity for a large area. This kind of energy is used for housing complex, theaters, shopping malls, small manufacturing units, bakery etc. 

Tips to Save Energy in Your Office

Simple energy efficiency measures like using energy saving lamps, switching off office equipments and setting the room temperature rightly can cut out office energy bills at least by twenty percent. Here are a few energy efficiency tips to help you get started: 

• Ask your staffs to use lights only when needed. Make it clear which lights can be left on and which are to be left off when not required.
• Use daylight sensors and time switches. They can help you to avoid leaving the lights on all through the night.
• Install lights that are energy efficient.
• Install motion detectors for controlling the lighting in normally the unoccupied areas like copy rooms and restrooms.
• Ask your staffs to switch off the equipments when they are not being used. Even if they are in standby mode, the equipment consumed energy.
• Encourage the staffs to turn down thermostatic radiator valves.
• Try to avoid using electric heaters.
• Using window blinds is a good idea. Closing them early in the morning or at night may help in reducing heat loss.
• Install self-adhesive thermal strips all over the windows and doors for reducing draughts. In several office buildings, draught cause 10% heat loss.
• The external doors must have automatic closures.
• Turn off monitors, computers, copiers, printers and lights at the end of the working day.
• Invest in a solar power system. It will help save a lot of your money in your electricity bills and even help the environment. 

However, you may think now that you will need to spend a lot of money for reducing on your electricity bills. There is good news for all the businesses especially the ones in Victoria. Energy efficiency grant in Victoria is available for businesses, which means you can get the financial support of the government for making the office building more energy efficient.