Green Product Pro

Dennis Meizys asked:


How many times have you heard that the secret to weight loss is diet and exercise together? How many people actually take that advice? Or, do we Americans tend to look for the quick-fix, the fad diet?

Welcome to America’s latest fad-diet: Bio-fuels. The main entree these days seems to be Ethanol, which we are producing in ever increasing quantities each year at the expense of our own food supply, and ironically, the environment itself. This heavily government-subsidized fuel requires a large amount of energy to produce: Its feedstock, corn requires fertilizers derived from hydrocarbons (fuels) to grow, then more fuel to harvest and process, and finally to deliver it to the point of consumption. The most pessimistic estimates of how much fuel is required to produce 1 gallon of ethanol exceed 1 gallon of fossil fuels. That means we are actually losing energy by switching to ethanol, resulting in larger imports of oil and natural gas from our close friends in the Middle East, not to mention the inflationary pressure this puts on food products, especially on our ubiquitous corn staple (refer to The Carnivore’s Dilemma which claims that close to 90% of America’s diet is in some way connected to corn and soy.) So why does this process continue? Think of some of the most powerful lobbies in America: Agriculture and Energy. They benefit tremendously from this situation at our, the taxpayer’s expense.

So how do we find balance? Americans keep on tweaking the supply side of the equation: Produce more fuel! Let’s look at the dieting aspect of this now: If we are still far away from producing bio-fuels or hydrogen economically and ecologically, then let’s try saving some energy instead! To paraphrase Ben Franklin: “A Kilowatt Saved is Truly a Kill-a-Watt Generated!” It is said that more efficient use of our current resources could make America self-sufficient in energy without forcing the alchemists to magically concoct a viable renewable fuel. This is one reason Maryland Green Power Co. scrapped its plans to build a biodiesel production facility in Baltimore last year.

Ouch – that means we have to go on a starvation diet, right? Hopefully not. The goal of my newsletter is to examine techniques for reducing our energy usage and still maintaining a comfortable way of life. My current topic concentrates on air conditioning, which is for most of us the largest summertime energy hog in our homes and offices. Yet, with the heat waves we have been experiencing every summer, who wants to turn up the thermostat by a few degrees? You might not have to.

Hence, our goal is to save money and to save energy without sacrificing comfort, or breaking the bank in the process. With fuel and electricity prices increasing at their current rates, we are being financially squeezed into a recession. However, investments in energy should be viewed as an investment much like stocks and bonds. For instance, if you were presented with a piece of equipment which would save enough in electricity costs to pay for itself in one year, would you consider it a good investment? You should – it’s returning 100% ROI annually, which is hard to find in the stock market. Consider that after it pays for itself, it is generating profit at the rate of 100% annually! The exciting part is that these types of opportunities are plentiful in the green energy industry.

For example, using a company’s existing emergency power generators to shave peak demand surcharges off your energy bill, or contracting with your local energy supplier to be “on-call” on an interruptible electricity plan frequently pays for itself in months, not years! However, most of us do not own emergency generators, nor do we consume enough power for the utility company to be interested in giving us generous monetary incentives to disconnect from the power grid temporarily. We residential and small business customers have to content ourselves with small investments in energy efficiency such as the Enigin ACES unit, which can pay for itself in about a year of operation on an average size central air conditioner.

Specifically, a device such as an Enigin ACES is an intelligent version of what the utility company already wants you to do. Some of us have contracted with BG&E for installation of their air conditioner cut-off switch, which cycles your AC compressor on and off to reduce energy usage during hot days, typically periods of extreme peak power consumption, in order to prevent power shortages which contribute to rolling brown or black-outs. Baltimore Gas & Electric offers a small incentive for this operation, but I removed the device because I felt it decreased the cooling ability of my air conditioner unit and I was uncomfortable. However, MGPC ACES is a microprocessor controlled device, which learns the operational profile of your air conditioner over time, reducing over-cooling of the coils, leaving your air optimally cooled. It’s operation can be compared to a person riding his bike uphill. When the rider reaches the top, it is desirable to coast on the plateau as long as speed is maintained. An air conditioner without this kind of control will keep on pumping out the same power even on the plateau. The ACES Air Conditioner Efficiency System lets your air conditioner’s compressor enjoy its free ride.

In summary, opinions on green energy are separated into two extreme poles: Those who believe government should subsidize any environmental project or technology even if it loses money, and those who, in reaction to the first group, claim that the energy crisis and global warming were thought up by some mysterious group seeking to profit from scare-mongering and we should maintain our status quo. These two groups confuse the rest of us into inaction.

I’m hoping that our new generation of small green-energy companies will be the evangelists who tell you to relax, enjoy the ride, and take a deep breath of CLEAN, fresh air, because you can make a difference without making a sacrifice!

Martin Johnstone asked:


Society as a whole is submerged… submerged within the depths of marketing campaigns run by corporate giants? This is a question that anyone could ask and anytime it is asked, could unveil a certain degree of truth in anyone’s life “How did the community - the society arrive at where it is at now?”. The energy industry is filled with giants dictating (could you say dictating? how you ever found out for yourself?) what energies are consumed by the general populace.

If you look to see at how products have become popular, you may find it has been through TV, advertising, celebrities - many of which are endorsed by large corporate organizations and carry along with their ads, the message of these corporations. Thus, you are looking at a large fabric through which many of us look, squint or even peer through to see what is actually available to us in almost any commercial market.

In addition, the current fuels which in general use have relatively high and dangerous waste products. Thus, the information could be said to not be widely known by the general populace as when informed, make better decisions. And so we could say, perhaps ignorance is the path to domination by a few and a dark destiny. If you have any questions and would rather not know, don’t take heed the claims of global warming, increased volatility of weather conditions and/or a Mother Earth’s cry for help.

Although, now with the Internet, many new markets, pockets of clique’s, interest groups, etc… have evolved and are evolving allowing for products to be sold which were not before, services to be offered and the demand filled. It is true that now more millionaires have been made than ever before and many of which have come from the Internet.

Apart of this evolution, new information comes to light such as that which has been found with such things as Hydrogen fuels. Most fuels which are seen on the market currently are centralized and controlled under corporate blankets. If you look at petroleum or nearly any current technology used in mass production of general energy consumption (for example the energy that arrives to your house comes from large plants - centralized - the gas from your car comes from large plants - centralized, etc…, etc…) you will find is centralized and controlled by large corporate structures. But along with these new emerging groups are the green energy groups.

Alternate fuels keep punching away at the headlines of magazines and newspapers (possibly filled with propaganda?) about these various fuels. But, the repetition and noise generated by these green energy groups can but help being heard as the news is ground breaking and shaking it as well.

One of these groups is that has been forming at an incredibly rapid rate is the Hydrogen from water groups. These guys are using water and a basic form of electrolysis (use of electricity such as that which comes from you car battery to electrify water and perform a chemical reaction) to create Hydrogen from ordinary water. This technology has existed since 1820 but also with additional new technologies which have come about, this process is now available to anyone.

Hydrogen is also known as a comparable to gasoline as it is 3X’s as explosive and converts back to water when combusted. Why hasn’t it been in use in vehicles already? (If the answer is not apparent, pleas re-read earlier paragraphs and find out for yourself)

The ease of use and availability of the parts to make hydrogen from water has lead many people from the world to take part. The hydrogen’s most popular use has been to supplement car’s gasoline in-take.

Hydrogen use with car installations as a gas supplement is really only the beginning of the use of hydrogen power as 1 jar of water (approx 6 ounces) will convert to large amounts of hydrogen (as water is basically a “compressed” form of hydrogen) and can be used to power houses, RVs running them for weeks.

The proportions may seem fantastic but when you take into account the fact that HHO (hydroxy) when combusted, turns back to water, you have a fuel which has tremendous potential for efficiency, longevity and cost savings due to the fact is this planet’s largest resource available as a free burning energy.

Anyone who does a simple search with Google on the Internet with HHO, hydroxy, HHO generator or any of the such will find thousands upon thousands of documents representing the growing numbers of people across the world who are taking part of this emerging group across the net which is now extending it’s fabric through to local communities and allowing for a greener planet by cutting out pollutants, cutting down on the need for gasoline, improving gas mileage and a myriad of other eco-friendly solutions to normal day living.

So, count your pennies a little less, take hit and punch through a bit of this fabric which has perhaps been paid out in front of your eyes by the blankets of corporate marketing campaigns. Do a search on the net, check out the afore mentioned sites and see, perhaps it is true that you don’t have to spend so much gas or be in the dark on alternative energies.

James Copper asked:


In the United States, Canada and Australia both commercial and residential consumers can buy green energy from their standard local utility provider of from a provider that specializes in green energy. Many third party suppliers of energy provide green energy electricity that is produced from renewable resources. This energy is delivered to consumers by way of their local electric utility company. The consumer who opts for this green energy course pays a small premium each month on her or his utility bill as the additional cost of the green energy they are getting. The other option is to buy directly from the green energy supplier.

Of course, when a consumer buys the green energy via the local utility company he or she can not know its really green energy in other words, they do not know that they truly got what they paid extra for. It is a matter of trust. The local electric company buys the electricity from the various producers. These can be nuclear, coal, hydroelectric power on a large scale or green energy providers such as solar and wind energy producers.

Must electricity from the local utility company in any country comes from fossil fuels or nuclear power that is not renewable and or pollutes the environment to a high and dangerous level. Green energy is the current provider of a minimal percentage of our worlds electricity. In fact, when utility companies buy green energy for the consumers that request it they generally only buy 25 percent of what they ultimately provide to all.

Consumers who sign up with their local utility provider to pay a premium each month for green energy are not only helping to save their environment but they are also sending a message to the utility companies and the legislature that they are willing to pay extra for healthy air for us all.

There are environmentally conscious, forward thinking countries such as the Netherlands that have committed themselves to matching their consumers purchase of green energy with an equal amount of green energy buy for governmental use. The government of Holland exempts green energy producers and users from its pollution tax. This exemption brings the cost of green energy consumption down considerably.

Several organizations in Europe promote the consumption of green energy, and there are a number of green energy providers, although the high cost of electricity in those countries has kept the use of the less expensive gas and oil the majority provider.

At work now are efforts to distribute cheap renewable electricity in these countries so the average electrical consumer can afford to support the environment and clean air efforts with the use of green energy products. Consumers can install their very own renewable green energy system, based locally.

This may be solar, wind or even water power. Geothermal heat pumps also provide green energy by tapping a few feet into the earths temperature.

Many U.S. states now offer monetary incentives for those who want to use the more costly green energy electricity sources.