Carbon Footprints

On a cold winter night we would have snuggled under a blanket to keep ourselfs comfortably warm. imagine if one would cover us with a dozen blankets it would get very hot !if we have experience this ,then we will understand global warming better.?

Global warming is the name given by scientists for the gradual increase in temperature that is from 15 Celsius to 22 Celsius of the Earth's surface that has worsened since the industrial revolution
Over the past two decades the effect has become more marked. Considerable evidence exists that most of this warming has been caused by human activities... that's to say we have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through a buildup of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. this is what the carbon footprints calls for

CARBON FOOTPRINTS

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

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The pie chart above shows the main elements which make up the total of an typical person's carbon footprint in the developed world.

A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint (shown by the green slices of the pie chart) and the secondary footprint (shown as the yellow slices).

1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.

2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.

In this day and age, the world needs to look at the different natural energy sources available to us. Global warming could be due our energy craving lifestyle, so we should look into more environmentally friendly energy sources LIKE SOLAR POWER.

SOLAR POWER:-

Solar power is probably the cleanest, most viable form of renewable energy available and it can be used in several forms to help power your house. solar energy work by converting some of the energy in sunlight into a clean form of electricity that can be used in our houses .

Advantages of Solar Energy
There are many advantages of owning and operating a residential solar power system. • Solar panels have a long operational life. Most manufactures warrantee their solar panels for 20 years. • Producing electricity from solar panels is completely silent process • Once you have reached the pay off point, the amount of time it takes to pay for the residential solar power system's installation cost, from there on the system is earning you money. Money you did not have to spend buying electricity from the power company. • Once the solar power system is installed and configured it is pretty much a maintenance free electricity production system. If your system includes a battery pack you will need service the batteries periodically.

With all of these advantages why isn’t everyone using solar power for the home?
There are some disadvantages to solar energy that you need to be aware of. These need to be taken into account as you consider installing a residential solar power system in your house. • A residential solar power system once installed becomes part of the house. When you move, the system stays with the house. • Solar power does not work well for large devices that use an electric heat element. Devices like electric hot water heater, electric whole house furnace, electric oven and range. • During the night and on cloudy days the solar power system does not produce any electricity.. • The cost per peak watt to have a residential solar power system installed is still much higher than what the electric utility company charges per kilowatt hour. • Depending on where ONE live, hail can be a real problem for the photovoltaic panels
. Now, there are some tax incentives and rebates to help off set the installation cost, but there is a sizable investment that still needs to be made out of your own pocket

Wind energy:-

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, wind mills for mechanical power, wind pumps for pumping water or drainage, or sails to propel ships.

There are a range of advantages and disadvantages of wind energy to look at, including the many problems associated with wind turbines.

Advantages:

• Wind energy is friendly to the surrounding environment, as no fossil fuels are burnt to generate electricity from wind energy.

• Wind turbines take up less space than the average power station.

• Newer technologies are making the extraction of wind energy much more efficient. The wind is free, and we are able to cash in on this free source of energy.

• Wind turbines are a great resource to generate energy in remote locations, such as mountain communities and remote countryside. Wind turbines can be a range of different sizes in order to support varying population levels.

Disadvantages:

• The main disadvantage regarding wind power is down to the winds unreliability factor. In many areas, the winds strength is too low to support a wind turbine or wind farm, and this is where the use of solar power or geothermal power could be great alternatives.

• Wind turbines generally produce allot less electricity than the average fossil fuelled power station, requiring multiple wind turbines to be built in order to make an impact.

• Wind turbine construction can be very expensive and costly to surrounding wildlife during the build process.

• The noise pollution from commercial wind turbines is sometimes similar to a small jet engine. This is fine if you live miles away, where you will hardly notice the noise, but what if you live within a few hundred meters of a turbine? This is a major disadvantage.

• Protests and/or petitions usually confront any proposed wind farm development. People feel the countryside should be left in tact for everyone to enjoy it's beauty.

Geothermal energy:-

The ground beneath our feet contains a considerable level of energy in the form of heat. All of this geothermal energy has the potential to generate geothermal power to provide large amounts of electricity.We have used geothermal energy in the form of hot springs for centuries, however, the first attempt to generate electricity from this energy source did not occur until the 20th century.The production of electricity from geothermal energy sources can be a highly powerful and efficient method of usage, yet location is key for an efficient geothermal power station.There are only a handful of locations across the world which are capable of producing viable and efficient levels of electricity from geothermal energy sources. As a result of this, as of 2007, less than 1% of the worlds electricity supply comes from geothermal sources.To harness geothermal energy and transform this into electricity, geothermal power stations are used, in a variety of designs.The three main power plant designs which use geothermal as an energy source are; "dry steam", "flash steam", and "binary-cycle" power stations.

Geothermal Disadvantages

Here are some disadvantages of using the power of geothermal energy to provide heat for your home or water through the use of a ground source heat pump.

• The initial cost of design and installation can be costly, yet this investment would pay off over future years. • The area needed to lay the piping system can be quite large, and this may not be suitable for small developments. Advantages of geothermal energy:- 1., Unlike most power stations, a geothermal system does not create any pollution. It may once in a while release some gases from deep down inside the earth, that may be slightly harmful, but these can be contained quite easily.

• The cost of the land to build a geothermal power plant on, is usually less expensive than if you were planning to construct an; oil, gas, coal, or nuclear power plant. The main reason for this is land space, as geothermal plants take up very little room, so you don't need to purchase a larger area of land.

• Another factor that comes into this is that because geothermal energy is very clean, you may receive tax cuts, and/or no environmental bills or quotas to comply with the countries carbon emission scheme (if they have one).

• No fuel is used to generate the power, which in return, means the running costs for the plants are very low as there are no costs for purchasing, transporting, or cleaning up of fuels you may consider purchasing to generate the power.

• The overall financial aspect of these plants is outstanding, you only need to provide power to the water pumps, which can be generated by the power plant itself anyway.

What can I do?

You have to go to work and we all like being consumers - but there are many ways you can help. Firstly, you need to recognise how you personally impact global warming. Carbon Footprint will show you how to minimise your impact - starting today - and show you how to make the right product choices in the future

Many companies have been working to reduce their carbon emissions over recent years. Ignoring the environmental benefits, being green makes excellent business sense in terms of reducing costs and meeting customer expectations. However, until now the drive has been purely optional. Starting next year, this will no longer be the case, as new legislation is being introduced that is intended to make carbon reduction a priority. Under the terms of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) around 10,000 large organisations will need to buy carbon allowances to cover their carbon emissions. At the end of each year, the companies in the scheme will receive either a bonus or a penalty based on how well they have performed. Currently, the scheme will affect only larger organisations - roughly speaking, those companies with an annual electricity bill of more than £500,000 a year in the UK.
Even if your company won’t be affected by this initial part of the legislation, the rising cost of electricity makes it well worth working out how you can minimise your emissions and at the same time save money for better uses.