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Hi,

        If you are a fan of organic fruit and vegetables, then you will be greatly encouraged by a press report today that naturally produced strawberries are more nutritious than conventionally produced strawberries that have been sprayed with chemical pesticides.

I don’t know about you but I have always believed that organic fruit and vegetables were better for us in terms of nutrition. A recent study in America comparing organic and conventially grown strawberries has shown that organic strawberries contain high levels of anti-cancer nutrients such as antioxidants that protect against potentially cancer-causing free radicals in our bodies. Not only that but research has shown that organic strawberries taste better and have a better colour.

This report is in contravention to the UK food standards agency which last year caused controversy when it stated that there was no good evidence that organic food was healthier. This American study will be welcomed by the organic growers. Although their produce may be a little more expensive it is obviously worth it from a nutritional point of view.   

Hi,

           The UK Government has plans to build a number of Eco Towns throughout the country over the coming years. This of course is commendable, but it is dogged by controversy. How for instance are transport links to these town to be established.

The concept of these towns is that everything in them should be green, but that will prove hard to achieve. If you live in an eco town you will be expected to have a battery car. I for one do not accept that. There are many ways to reduce emissions from existing cars by running them on alternative fuels such as hydrogen, or methane.

On the other hand I would very much like to have an eco house. That can be achieved by building one from scratch or converting an existing house to an eco house. I think that the least expensive option is to convert an existing house by using solar panels to generate electricity and to heat water and by using a wood burning stove to heat the house.

What the Government seem to have forgotten is that by their own estimates the UK will have electricity blackouts by 2017 due to the increased demand for  electricity. What use will an electric car be then?

I believe we must all do everything we can to protect the environment by improving the efficiency of  our homes. In doing so we will be saving not only the planet but ourselves a lot of money,since power bills are expected to rise by as much as 60% over the coming years.

Why not find out now how to build your own solar electricity system or solar hot water system 

Hi,

           With all the talk recently of free solar panels to generate electricity, there are some people who just cannot afford to fit solar panels to their house. If this is you then I hope the following tips will help you to reduce your electricity bill.

Experts tell us that if you can use your electrical appliances during daylight hours then you will save on your electricity bills. Now I realise that if you and your partner are out working all day this is difficult, but if one is at home then make sure to use your washing machine,vacuum cleaner and other appliances during daylight.

Other practical measure are to turn off televisions,radios,DVD’s when not in use and leave nothing on standby. It also helps if your change all your light bulbs to energy saving light bulbs, they are now cheap and there is a good variety of shapes and sizes.

Once you turn on your central heating again for the winter, make sure that it is sufficient to heat the rooms in use but no higher. Turn off the radiators in room not in use. It is also helpful if you go for dual fuel, in other words get your supply of electricity and gas from the same provider.

Finally if you do have to change an appliance such as a washing machine, dryer, fridge or oven make sure that you purchase an energy efficient appliance preferably rated A. If you can do these things I am sure you will benefit from lower power bills.

Hi,

          This post continues on from my post of last week on generating electricity at home. There are now a few companies offering FREE  Solar Panels to generate electricity in the UK.

The UK Government introduced their Feed-in Tariff system in April of this year. Under the Kyoto Protocal the UK is committed to generating 20% of energy from natural resources by 2020. Hence they are going to pay householders 41.3p for every 1Kw hour of electricity generated.

The average house would be suitable for installation of a 2kW photovoltaic solar panel system. this would provide around 2,000kW per year and save around £120 to £180 on your electricity bill. simple maths shows that you will be paid around £870 by the Government under the scheme whether or not you use the electricity yourself. The Government is committed to the scheme for the next 25 years, roughly the life of the solar panels.

The cost to install a 2kW system ranges from £12,000 to £14,000 (not £8,000 as I stated last week. apologies).  this means that if you pay for the solar panels to be installed you will receive around £21,750 over the period. So for instance if your system costs £12,000 you will be in profit of £9,750. 

Lets look at the alternatives:

1) If you pay for installation you gain the profit as above, and you save From £120 to £180 per year on electricity bills you have free electricity. 

2) If you go to one of the three solar installers offering free panels, it will cost you nothing to install, but the installer company will keep the £870 per year provided by the Government. You will still have a saving in your electricity bills of around £120 to £180 per year and if you sell you house it will enhance the value.

3) the third alternative is if you cannot afford to fit the panels and do not want the solar installer to get the money from the Government, you can build your own solar photovoltaic panels for a fraction of the installer price. the only down side is that you will have to go off grid as at present the Government are not going to provide a tariff unless it is an approved installation.

Hopefully this situation may change depending on the uptake of the present free scheme. I hope this has been helpful in explaining the current options under to feed-in tariff system.

Hi,

         The UK Government’s present Feed-in Tariff Scheme means that the average household could make up to £1,000 per year by generating their own electricity.

For a typical house this would mean installing a 2.5kW system of photovoltaic solar panels,which would cost around £8,000 and could mean a payout of some £25,000 over 25 years or about £17,000 profit. A typical house owner with  solar installation receives 41.3p for each kilowat hour of electricity generated. It does not matter if they use it themselves or export it to the grid.

The uptake on this scheme has so far been disappointing. Obviously the Government have not realised that most people just do not have £8,000 to spend.

What if you could build your own solar panels? Imagine not having to pay those electricity bills anymore. The fact is that you can now build your own system of solar photovoltaic panels to generate electricity and it will cost only a fraction of what a solar energy supplier will charge.

Check out now how to  Build your own solar panels

Hi,

    The summertime is the right time to ensure that you are going to be warm in the winter. I know most people do not think about the winter ahead when they are enjoying themselves in the sunshine.

However why wait until the frost and snow comes to start upgrading your loft insulation. If you do not have sufficient insulation in the loft of your house, then when you put your heat on it will simply rise up through the roof and you will feel your house colder.

In the UK the current regulation is that you should have 270 mm. of insulation in your loft space. This comes in various forms such as glass wool. There are Government grants for insulation, but it seems that only those with less than 100mm of insulation at present will be able to avail of the grant in the UK.

At this time of year you can usually get good deals on rolls of loft insulation at your local DIY store, so it is worth splashing out to purchase those extra rolls required. Whilst you are at it. Do not forget your windows and doors if they are not  modern double glazed units. You can purchase strips of insulation material for just a few pounds.

I hope these tips have been useful. The climate is changing and if the coming winter is anything like the last one then it makes sence to be prepared.

Hi,

       It seems that there is a use for old coal seams in that Methane gas can be released from the water that is present in the seams. Apparently this water is brought to the surface and the Methane gas is then extracted and used in a power station to provide electricity for homes.

There are lots of old coal seams throughout the UK  and natural fractures in the coal provide pathways for water to drain out so gas is released for collection at the surface. This is not new form of energy, as coal bed methane (CBM) is  already one of the fastest growing forms of energy in America and Australia.

To date just one company that I know of is tapping this source. IGAS, well done to them. North Sea gas is rapidly running out and apparently it is claimed that CBM is squeaky clean and its calorific value is better than the gas currently in the national grid.

Hi,

I have talked before about the possibility of running your car on Hydrogen (from Water) and Diesel or Petrol(gasoline) to save fuel. The good news is that these devices have been improved. There are now a number of companies producing these hydrolizer kits.

One thing that has changed is that in some devices now use Potasium  with distilled water, instead of baking soda and distilled water to produce HHO. Secondly at least one company now guarantees that you will reduce your fuel consumption by 20%.

Thirdly some companies are now measuring emissions once the hydrogen fuel saver has been fitted to vehicles. They are also claiming to reduce emissions to almost zero. This is good news for people in those economies where Vehicle Road Tax is based on emissions.

I hope this means that we can soon start to lobby Government to reduce road tax on vehicles that have been proven to have lower emissions after fitting a hydrogen device. It all sounds very hopeful and I for one am going to check it out. After all who wants to drive a battery car?

Why continue to pay high fuel prices,  save on Diesel or Gasoline
Learn how you can make your own car greener

Hi,
when energy-saving light bulbs were first introduced to the UK they were very expensive and so few people purchased them. Then they became cheap and every supermarket started to offer then in some cases as low as 33p.

the new UK coalition Government has now decided that the subsidies that energy suppliers introduced in order to increaase sales of the bulbs must stop. Under the Government’s Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT), they want energy suppliers to concentrate on helping consumers to reduce their carbon emissions

They want to encourage people to spend money on loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and solid wall insulation. The CERT scheme will be extended from March 2011, so I would suggest you get a stock of energy-saving light bulbs in now before the price goes up.

Hi,

Our reliance on oil to power our cars will soon come to an end as supplies of the fossil fuel run out. But can we really use green  energy like water to power cars? Well the use of water and gasoline or diesel is becoming quite widely established. It is now possible to purchase a kit to run your car on a combination of water and gasoline or diesel.

The aim of these kits is to turn distilled water into HHO. The distilled water is mixed with sodium bicarbonate in a container called an electrolyser. Current from the battery is than passed into the electrolyser and the resulting gas HHO is then fed to the air intake of the engine. HHO increase performance, cleans the engine and reduces emissions. It is also claimed to reduce fuel consumption of the car which varies according to the model.

It is only in recent years that car manufacturers have turned their attention to developing engines that will run on different fuels. Apparently BMW had a design for a water car as much as 30 years ago but took no action on it because of the abundance of cheap oil. Today of course they have a new hydrogen powered car with the Hydrogen 7 model. This car uses gas and hydrogen.

Other manufacturers are researching designs of cars with fuel cells and indeed Honda already has such a car in the FCX. Hydrogen of course is very explosive and so care has to be taken as to how it is delivered to an engine for combustion. This is not a problem with the electrolyser kits as it is HHO that is delivered for combustion. The evaporation of water is another problem that arises when using water as a fuel and the tanks holding the water have to be well insulated.

Development continues and BMW now have another vehicle  the H2R that uses part water and part liquid nitrogen as a fuel. Toyota have had their Prius for some years which runs on battery and gasoline. In recent months we have had a proliferation of new battery cars being put forward, but they only have a range of around 100 miles before needing to be charged up again. In view of the ever increasing demand by consumers for electricity and the likelihood of power blackouts in the UK within 7 years, battery cars are not really the answer.

Water as a green energy does represent an attractive proposition, because hydrogen combustion is clean, burns quickly  and the only emission is water. How soon can we expect to see a car run entirely using the green water source? Well I think that it will be at least another 10 years. The internal combustion engine cannot simply be scrapped. I am sure that scientists can come up with a safe and effective way to extract hydrogen from water to power existing cars. They should also consider biofuels in the short term in the form of waste products, but should not use crops.

 Fortunately those who produce HHO kits are continuing to do research and improve the product. Not only do they now guarantee to reduce fuel consumption by 20%, but they have also done emission tests and obtained impressive results.

The next thing we need to do is lobby the Government to reduce the road tax on larger engined vehicles where it has been proven that a kit has been installed and emissions reduced.

Why wait and continue to pay high fuel prices at the pumps,
Learn how you can make your own car greener

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