Rick Bolt's Blog Random Musings from a Random Bloke

Like always, I have so much I want to communicate but really struggle to put it into words for a blog.  So lets see how this post pans out.

Last night was the all important “Earth Hour”, where electricity consumers lower their consumption for one hour to highlight ummmm… Well to be honest I’m not entirely sure what its meant to high light any more.

Please don’t get me wrong, our family focus is heavily on the environment (Project 18, The You Crew etc). I have previously worked in the renewable energy industry for many years and the electricity industry prior to that for a lot of years. We use only where possible organic (and I mean real organic) products. We do not have any chemicals in the house. We aim to have a lower then expected carbon footprint then most expect from a large family. But to me Earth Hour is not hitting the mark anymore.

The first year Earth Hour made an impact it raised awareness of our use of fossil fuels and that we need to lower our electricity consumption.. The second year although a lot more participated I questioned whether the impact of what needed to be achieved was actually being lost in the hype of Earth Hour. This for me has continued ever since. Last night as I watched the different time zones move into the Earth Hour via twitter there was quite a deal of discussion about who was going to do what and so on. Then as each time zone entered that time period the tweeting from their died down considerably. Then as expected, as that time zone completed its hour the tweeting increased.

But, it was what was being communicated that leads me to believe the message is not actually getting through. A large number of those tweeting indicated that as soon as the time was up, they returned to their normal habits. Lights on, TV’s on. Computers on etc. Now given earth hour is to show the world we want to change what we do and change where we are heading, why participate and then go straight back to the way things were before the “token” Earth Hour. What does that actually achieve?  We talk, We act (for just 1 hour) then we go back to our cosy lives feeling all warm and fuzzy that we did our bit for the environment.

Well you know what? That 1 hour of lower then normal usage was a complete waste of time for so many. If what Earth Hour represents is not followed through and regularly acted upon then it’s a total waste of time. Hence the reason I call it “token”.

And what many people don’t realise is that it did NOTHING at all to lower power consumption or the use of fossil fuels..

As a majority of Australia’s electricity is generated via large scale slow to react fossil fuel burning power stations, a one hour “dip” in the load can not actually be acted upon. These Power generators can not just stop producing, they take time to wind up and wind down and given the immediate nature of the load dump (lights off) and the load increase (Lights on) all within an hour, these stations still had to produce electricity or be in a state that they could feed the grid immediately. The smaller and quicker reacting Gas (and other) type of generator stations may have gone off line and come back on as needed but the larger generators just kept on pumping. If the generators had in fact lowered their output during Earth Hour, when the hour was up and the immediate increase in load occurred they would not have been able to react quickly enough and load shedding would have had to occur. So the bottom line is that while everybody was thinking they were doing their bit, it was actually a total waste of time in regards to the burning of fossil fuels….. That is unless you continue to follow the principles of Earth Hour EVERY day of your life.

And there lies the answer! Following the principle of Earth Hour not for just one hour a year, but everyday of your life. You should only have that warm fuzzy feeling when you are really reducing your consumption long term.  In reality it’s not a hard thing to do. Turn off and leave off those lights you don’t actually need on, turn off at the wall all equipment and appliances your not using. So many things consume power even when “turned off” or on stand by. Unplug battery and mobile phone charges when not in use, turn your PC or lap top off when not actually using it! All very simple things to achieve and that have long term benefits in lowering electricity consumption.

 What action/s can you add to the list to save electricity on a long term basis?

 Thanks for reading my rant

 Rick..

To understand how solar electricity works we need to first understand what solar energy is.

Solar energy is the light or heat energy that travels to us on earth from the sun. Solar Electricity or power is generated by collecting this light and/or heat energy from the sun and converting that energy into usable electricity. The conversion of the solar energy to solar electricity is clean, pollution free and, in reality, will never end.

The conversion of solar energy to solar electricity takes place via a solar cell often called PV or photovoltaic cell. A PV cell is a semiconductor, generally thin wafers of silicon joined together and covered by a non reflective material. A collection of PV cells connected together is called a panel or module. When the solar energy falls on the PV cells an electrical current is produced. This current is a DC or direct current. This current is directed to an inverter. An inverter converts the direct current (DC) generated by PV cells or panels into alternating current (AC). This is the form of electricity conventionally used in homes. Depending on the type of system used the DC power may then stored in batteries or the converted AC power fed back into the electricity grid via the electricity meter on your house.

Solar power systems (photovoltaics) are often confused with solar thermal technology, which is usually used for water heating (solar hot water).

Most solar power systems have the PV modules installed on a roof of your home. Most homes or commercial buildings will need around 10 square metres of unshaded, north-facing roof space to mount the PV modules to allow for a 1kW or 1000 watt solar system. Ideally in the southern hemisphere the modules should be tilted towards the sun at around 30 degrees to maximise the solar collection but there is a simple calculation based on your homes position to ensure the correct angle is achieved. Cloud cover and shading can dramatically reduce a solar power system’s output.

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To me electrical energy was one of man’s greatest discoveries. It has helped build new civilizations. The large amount of electricity produced around the world has its source in fossil fuels, nuclear fission, water, and wind. This blog will briefly explore the different methods of electricity production.

Generally large scale electricity is produced by turning enormous turbines. These turbines need a support to be able to be turned. There are a number of ways of turning these turbines:

Burning of fossil fuels:

Electricity is produced when the blades of a turbine are turned by enormous amounts of vapor. The vapor is generated by heating large amounts of water in huge boiler. The water is heated by burning fossil fuels like coal, petroleum products, and even natural gas. This method releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thus severely polluting our planet. It is important that we look to turn to alternate methods of electricity production for long-term benefits.

By water:

You will be aware that dams are constructed to produce electricity. A popular method to produce electricity, a water dam serves two purposes: producing electricity and unfortunately restricting the natural flow of bodies of water. Dams divert the rivers flow of water to turn turbines, helping them produce electricity. Electricity generated this way helps prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (air pollution); however, this method of electricity production adversely affects the ecosystem in the rivers.

Although water is becoming scarce it accounts for 90 percent of the world’s electricity generated through renewable resources.

By wind:

Electricity is produced when the force of the wind (wind energy) is converted to electrical energy. This occurs when the blades on wind turbine are turned by the force of the wind. This wind energy is then converted into electrical energy via the wind turbine.

By nuclear fission:

Most of us know that nuclear fission not only made the atom bomb, but is also used to produce electricity. Nuclear fission causes a chain reaction where the element Uranium is bombarded by neutrons causing it to split. Every time a Uranium nucleus is split, more neutrons are released, causing more splits in the already split Uranium nuclei. The resultant chain reaction generates a lot of heat which is used to heat water*. As with the fossil fuel methods the water vapor is used to turn the blades of a turbine to create electricity.
* Based on information from http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/nu/Nuclear_fission
By bio-mass:

With technological advancements, electricity is also being produced by bio-mass. The use of biomass for energy production is essentially the reversal of photosynthesis. This energy is released when the plant or waste is burned or converted to fuel.

During the energy conversion process energy is usually released in the form of heat which is used to  generate electricity.

 Bio-mass is a typical way of generating electricity in rural areas in countries like India. In fact, a new technology evolved in the state of Bihar in India that uses human waste to generate electricity.

The learn how to produce your own electricity for your home please read my blog here or go to Earth4Energy