Monthly Archives: March 2012

Selected: Top Portable Solar Devices!

Posted by Liesbeth on March 28, 2012 No comments

New: Solar Devices selected For you!

There is a growing interest in the use of all types of green energy, now that fossil energy prices are roaring. In addition, the awareness of people is growing that we cannot go on polluting the earth like we do now. The heightened interest is especially noticeable in the area of solar energy, and solar devices. As an individual who is interested (to say the least..!) in green energy and solar devices, I must say that the number of products offered on the internet is so huge, that I barely know where to start. What products are good? Which ones are bad?
I have selected two great solar devices for you, based on my personal experience in the area of renewable energy. I am only giving you two examples of good solar devices rather than providing you with many different options in each category.

Great Solar Devices 1) High-quality Solar Backpack

Do you know anything more maddening than traveling and being unable to phone because the batteries in your mobile phone have died..! Of course, you can get solar devices such as a charger for your cellphone. An even better option is to buy a cool-looking backpack that simply charges when you travel! It charges when walking, running trying to catch the train, or sitting on a bench outside with your sandwich! I have found one that is not heavy and that can charge different cellphone devices and Ipods, etc. I can really recommend this to you as one of the best solar devices on the market!

Blue Solar Backpack and Cell Phone Charger. 3 watt Solar Power, 3, 000mAh Rechargable Battery.

The Blue Solar backpack & cellphone charger, is fortunately not heavy. It is made by Solar Everything and also has very good reviews. Recommended!

Our Choice: Blue Solar Backpack & Cell Phone Charger.
Looks great & works well!

Great Solar Devices 2) High-quality Solar Charger

As you may have noticed, among the solar devices there are many different solar chargers available. Some huge and impractical, others light-weight and handy. I have seen many, and I have tried many. The Joos Orange Portable Charger is simply a good product that has my preference within this range of backpack products. It is certainly not the most expensive around! It is good value for money.

JOOS Orange will give you power anywhere, and it is a tough, durable & waterproof. It simply delivers power where and when you need it. The best thing is: The JOOS Orange works in real-world light conditions such as low light, in the shade and even in light rain (!!). It also works fast, charging 3.5 times faster than any other portable solar charger in this same price bracket. JOOS Orange seems among the best-performing solar charger under the sun..!

JOOS Orange Portable Solar Charger – $144.00
Retail Price: $154.00
You Save: $10.00

Some more specifications of the Joos Orange portable solar devices:

The Joos portable charger captures up to 20 times more energy than other solar devices. With one hour in the direct sun, it equals 2 hours 3G talking-time! The large 5,400mAh replaceable battery holds sufficient energy to charge a phone several times, and can charge an iPhone about 2 1/2 times.

On top, it is designed to charge all personal electronic devices such as cell-phones, smartphones, MP3-players, GPS devices, portable game devices. Its thin rectangular shape makes the JOOS Orange very easy to carry and store. Adjustable legs make pointing it towards the sun real easy! And perhaps most importantly, the JOOS Orange is rock-solid. The internal battery pack will keep its charge for years. And the JOOS Orange even keeps charging when submerged in water! Among the many solar devices I have seen this is a champion!

* Why Not Build Your Own Electric Car?! *

Posted by Liesbeth on March 10, 2012 No comments

Time to build your own electric car?

Consumers unfortunately still barely buy electric cars, despite great interest in saving energy, and in green energy. If we take a country such as The Netherlands as our example: in the years 2010 and 2011 Dutch individuals – so companies excluded- have bought no more than 58 electric cars! This is only 5 percent of the total number of electric vehicles sold in these two years, which mounts to 1135. The total market share of electric cars is a mere 0.3% of the entire car market in The Netherlands. The price is still far to high. It seems time to build your own electric car!

The electric car is very much the focus of the attention of consumers who are interested in renewable energy technologies, green energy and saving energy. In all likelihood it is the still relatively high price of the electric car that scares them off. Also, the number of plug-in stations is still very limited. Who wants to be on the side of the road with an empty battery, with no plug-in station nearby..? Some electric car manufacturers guarantee a pick-up in the first year of use when the batteries are empty..! The number of plug-ins stations will increase drastically in the next five years or so. It seems many companies are investing in placing plug-in stations in countries where the electrical cars are being used more frequently. It indeed is a sine qua non for the use of electric cars..!

Also, and that still is a great hurdle for people, the range of electric cars is still limited. Every 150 kilometers one has to recharge. Last but not least, once you have driven some 150.000 kilometers in total, you would have to renew all battreries of the car. We still have to wait for the second or even the third generation ef electric cars! Why wait for all this, and take life in your own hands. It is time to build your own electric car!

Where is the electric vehicle charging station??

When a driver has found a plug-in station, it all depends on whether there is a fast-loader or a regular one. If you plug a car with empty batteries in a fast-loader it still takes 20 minutes for it to be loaded 80%. Of course, the charging can be done at home with regular 220 Volt, but that takes 12 hours for the batteries to be completely charged from 0% to 100%.

Fortunately, a lot of research is being done to make the batteries in the car smaller. Further research needs to be done to make batteries more efficient. The American Company Now Envia Systems has managed to produce a battery that allows an electrical car to drive for 480 kilometers. The company has developed a prototype of car that should cost around 19.000 euros. This is a very competitive price for an electric vehicle.

I very much look forward to more research on batteries & fast-loading devices, so that electric cars will be more popular among customers. In this time and age when the interest in green energy and renewable energy is growing among people this is crucial. They need to be more affordable. We will get there (preferably) sooner or later! In the meantime there is only one solution: Build your own electric car!!

Can you build your own electric car?

You can rebuild a car into an electric car. Many people have already made their own converted electric cars. One of them is Tom Hanks.

Did you know that the famous actor Tom Hanks has been driving CONVERTED electric car for years now?

Check out this video from YouTube!!

If you think electric cars are still too expensive to buy, you could consider to build your own electric car! I found an inexpensive & easy -to-follow guide.

Do check if you want to start saving money right now, and BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC CAR!! Click Here!

New Discovery for Solar Panels!

Posted by Liesbeth on March 9, 2012 No comments

Solar panels with new anti-reflective layer discovered!

House with old style solar panels

If we think of solar panels we tend to think of shining bright reflective rectangles on top of roofs: ugly and distracting. For me personally this is so off-putting that I have not placed them on my roof. I live in a neighbourhood built in the 1920s where this would be too distractive, and perhaps even prohibited. The good news is that these shiny blue panels can be covered with a thin anti-reflective layer which turns them into black surfaces! This ultra-thin layer makes sure that the photovoltaic cells in the panels let through hardly any light so that they can generate more energy. All of it, of course, green energy, straight from the sun. Solar panels from now on will be less ugly and more energy efficient!

These type of discoveries make solar panels increasingly efficient. Not only is the market growing for renewable energy, the market for solar panels in growing explosively. But the competition is killing. Especially the Chinese are very much getting into solar energy and solar panels which is why a lot of companies who are making and distributing solar panels have gone into bankruptcy. Prices of solar panels have dropped 80% in the last years!

Solar panels have dropped in price considerably!

To us as a consumer this is really good news because competition implies lower prices. Solar panels last for some thirty years and can be earned back within fifteen to twenty years. Discoveries such as the anti-reflective layer can even shorten this period of earning back. The layer now increases the efficiency of a solar panel with no less than 1 %. This does not seem to be a big increase, but it is. Developments go step by step, and add to the efficiency, which is now 15-20 %.

The discovery was made by Albert Polman, director of the research institute AMOLF in Amsterdam. He published his findings in Nature Communications.

The next challenge is making the sun cells slimmer while maintaining the current levels of solar energy.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that half of all electricity will be generated by solar energy in fifty years time. Solar panels for consumers is to be the big thing! Differences between neighbouring countries can be rather large depending on governmental policies. For instance, in The Netherlands this is still 0,1 %, whereas in Germany this is already 4%. There is still a lot to be won in the world of renewable energy and solar panels in particular!

JOOS Orange Portable Solar Charger – $144.00
Retail Price: $154.00
You Save: $10.00

Green Cleaning Products? Good for the environment!

Posted by Liesbeth on March 5, 2012 No comments

Green Cleaning – no impact on environment

For a Clean Environment!

Although cleaning with green alternatives does not fit exactly within the scope of a website on green energy, I am taking the liberty of making a short excursion into this topic. The reason being that I believe that people who are into green energy are also inclined to use green cleaning alternatives because of the fact that it has no negative impact on our environment.

Especially in Spring time people start cleaning their house. I have never been able to understand why this should be Spring, but anyhow.. Perhaps it is the sun, the promise of new life that gives people renewed energy to clean up their house?

Make sure you do it green this year..! Good for the environment! Fortunately, there are many ways to clean the house in a natural, cost-effective and healthy way without using unnecessary amounts of chemicals that have a negative impact on our environment!

Green Cleaning for the sake of our Environment!

Tip 1) Green alternatives
Increasingly more supermarkets sell ecological cleaning products that form a perfect alternative to agressive chemical cleaning products. You can recognize them on the basis of their eco-label which can differ per country. This label guarantees that the liquid in question is ecologically-friendly.

Tip 2) Use microfiber cloth
A microfiber cloth has a specific structure which makes sure it – when made wet-can absorb dirt better than any other cloth with a cleaning product. Thus no chemicals end up in the sink.

Tip 3) Precise dosage
A German study has shown that we use far too much liquid when simply using a ‘dash’ of it in a bucket. It is an estimated 40% that we use too much in this way. It is best to measure it precisely. It only takes a few seconds!

Tip 4) Natural odour
Replace your odorizer by a bunch of flowers. Yes, fresh flowers! As simple as that! Odorizers often contain chemicals and irritating odours. By opting for a bunch of fresh flowers you get some ‘nature’ in your house. It not only provides oxygen but also spreads a nice odour.

Tip 5) Soda & cleaning vinegar
These two liquids, soda and cleaning vinegar, are vital in each household. They are very versatile and multifunctional. They contain natural acids and can absorb soap-rests and lime residues without doing damage to the environment!

Well, I hope you will also start using these tips when you get the urge to clean your house..! I hope you agree that this subject is also of interest to people who are into green energy. The globe will be grateful to you! Thus we will all save our environment!

Biofuels: Pros and Cons

Posted by Liesbeth on March 4, 2012 No comments

Biofuels: a good alternative?

Chose second generation biofuel!

There has been much discussion about the pros and cons of biofuels as an alternative for fossil energy. I am very much in favour of developing the so-called second generation of biofuels which are produced from plant rests and branches. The current biofuels are made from the edible parts of plants such as the current biofuels. In my opinion this is indeed a form of green energy, but not the right kind.

Why should we use biofuels in the first place? This seems pretty obvious. The amounts of oil and gas that are present in the earth have been formed during four-hundred million years. These resorts of oil and gas are made from tiny plant and animals rests. Human kind is now in the act of completely emptying this resort of oil and gas. It takes us no more than four hundred years to do so… Basically, and this is astonishing, we are using daily (!) what has been formed in the soil during two thousand years. The demand for oil and gas is now huge, and will only increase. Countries such as India, and China are demanding more and more fuels. In a time span of one or two centuries, our descendants will look back on our time as the couple of hundred years that we managed to empty the entire amount of fuels present in the earth! This being said, we urgently need to look for alternative, green energy.

Biofuels seemed the logic answer!

Biofuels seemed the perfect answer because they were made of rape-seed a.o. that could be planted over and over again. In addition, the carbon dioxide produced by cars would be transformed by the growing rapeseed. This seemed a perfect solution to our increasing demand for energy..

What do we expect from these types of green energy? They need to be ecologically-friendly, i.e. they should not cause a carbon dioxide footprint and can be produced endlessly. In addition, there should not be any negative side effects.

There are some arguments strongly against these biofuels produced from for instance rapeseed. First, the amount of agricultural land needed to produce the necessary rapeseed is impossibly large. A car in motion uses as many calories per hour as five hundred people. In order to produce a mere 5% of gasoline and diesel, we would need to evacuate an area as large as the entire part of The Netherlands north of Amsterdam and sow rapeseed. For human kind this is no less than a disaster. It increases the price of food for poor people. What is even worse, the production of biofuels do not even reduce the carbon-dioxide footprint. Its production costs a lot of Co2, even more than is now caused by using gasoline.
Last but not least, its production costs a lot of water which to a large extent comes from underground stocks of water that are not endless.

According to the European Union we need to add biofuel to gasoline and diesel. By the year 2020 this should be 10% of what we are putting in our engines. This measure should reduce the output of greenhouse gases. This seems a wrong measure, unless we will be able to produce a second generation of green energy such as biofuels made from non-edible plant rests and branches.

I suppose we all want to reduce our carbon footprint and are in favour of second generation biofuels. Why? Because this is good for the environment. There are many people out there who would want to take a first step in order to make this world a better place. Why not consider taking a tiny step and get yourself a solar charger? I will let you know when we can start using good biofuels in due course!

Biofuel: Second Generation

Posted by Liesbeth on March 2, 2012 No comments

Biofuel: second generation biofuels are the future!

Let's wait for second generation Biofuel

Chemical company DSM is working on producing energy from plant rests, belonging to the category of green energy called second generation biofuel. One of their directors, Feike Sybesma: “We are on the brink of a green revolution”. This week the oil prices were at an all-time record high, with Brent oil breaking the previous record price of 2008. Therefore it is attractive, and even necessary, to look for alternatives for fossil energy.

Currently, biofuel is produced primarily from the edible parts of crops. Since this is a highly debatable issue, research is now being done on a so-called ‘second generation’ biofuel, i.e. fuel made from the rests of plants. We cannot possibly have food prices for poor people rise as a consequence. This is what is happening at the moment. And this is unacceptable. Second generation biofuel seems to have less problems in this area. The fibres of plant rests of corn and sugar-cane are transformed into sugars with the help of enzymes. These sugars are used as food for micro-organisms whereby ethanol is being produced which in its purest form is flammable and can be used as fuel. A very environmentally friendly type of green energy!

Biofuel from the corn region

In the corn-belt, the corn region in South Dakota in the United States a large plant is going to be built in which rests of corn will be transformed into ethanol. The United States want to be independent of import of oil supplies.

Indeed, we are on the brink of a green revolution; it is estimated that the US government will produce 600.000.000.000 liters a year by the year 2022. According to the International Energy Agency 27% of all transport fuels in 2050 will be biofuel.

In Brazil a lot of cars are already driving on biofuel from sugar cane. The United States are second, and then Europe. It is estimated that the amount of cars fuelled by second generation biofuel will increase rapidly. This is a development in the area of renewable energy and green energy that certainly helps a lot to safe the earth! So, biofuel as it is nowadays is unacceptable. We will have to wait for second generation biofuel.

Industry Go Green!

Posted by Liesbeth on March 1, 2012 No comments

Go Green would benefit industry!

Let's Go Green!

It is a fact that human activities are rapidly changing the Earth’s climate by means of increased greenhouse gas-emissions. This not only has an impact on health conditions. In addition, it has many social, economical and ecological effects. And all of them negative. There is abundant scientific evidence that many of the predicted changes in the environment are occurring while we write. What is not so clear is how climate change is affecting the industry, and the travel industry in particular. What can hotels and travel agencies and the lodging industry in general do to reduce their carbon footprint? Go Green seems the one and only solution. It would not only benefit the environment, the society at large, but also the industry itself!

Due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide, we are noticing restricted water supplies and less snowfall. We alos notice an increased rainfall during previously dry seasons. Alternatively, we see prolonged rain seasons. These are all potential dangers that have a negative impact on travellers and their choice of travel destinations. Especially in Asia the rain season seems to be taking much longer almost every year, with additional heavier rainfall which flooding Indonesian islands. This is getting quite serious. We are feeling the effects ourselves when traveling to these countries. To Go Green would seem to be the right solution.

Go Green seems the right answer!

I suggest that the travel industry can also give a helping hand, and contribute to reducing carbon dioxide output and go green. They need to look into green energy. Because of the green image it would get, the lodging industry can reap some valuable benefits. If they go green, all parties would benefit. Benefits for them would range from reduced operating costs to an increased energy efficiency. And not unimportantly, the industry would building goodwill among travellers.
First, the lodging industry should become aware of its own greenhouse gas emissions and go green. It should ask itself what possibilities it has of reducing carbondioxide For this purpose ,knowledge of carbondioxide emissions, a so-called ‘greenhouse gas inventory’ is useful. This inventory (readily available on the internet) documents the sources and quantity of the greenhouse gas emissions. It counts carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), hydroflurocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). One could check boilers and generators, cars and buses, electricity purchases, and the generation of waste. For guidance and methologies one can go to the Climate Registry, a non profit organization, and The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. It is not too difficult to Go Green!

The benefits of having such a survey and adapting the systems according to the advice given, include cost-saving efficiency opportunities, managing the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, gaining an advantage by addressing greenhouse gas-emissions at an early stage, and -last but not least- getting recognition by travelers as leader in addressing climate change. Go Green, is the answer!

Go Green and saving energy will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also lower the energy bills. If the travel industry also reduces its fuel use in the vehicle fleet by turning to more efficient vehicles and using alternative fuels. You will gain respect from your visitors using green energy, and will pay respect to the earth we are all living on! Go Green is the answer!

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