Leslie Pratch Residential Wind Turbines By Brent Crouch

Many people these days are investing in renewable energy, both to save energy costs and help the environment. One way households can make a wind energy investment is by installing a residential wind turbine. There are a number of factors to consider before determining if wind energy is right for your property.

Good Wind Resources

An efficient wind turbine system needs wind speeds of 10 mph or greater. The best area on your property to catch high wind speeds will be on high ground without obstructions like buildings or tall trees nearby. In order to determine if your property has the steady wind speed to generate enough electricity for your home, use a wind map of your state or have a wind assessment conducted on your property.

Minimum of One Acre of Land

The ideal properties for wind turbines are at least an acre in size. Wind turbines need space for installation, and must be kept at least 250 feet from property lines. Generally, tower mounted turbines will be 80-150 feet tall and require guide wires for stabilization. The tower mounted style of turbine isn’t the only option for residential wind energy, but it’s the more efficient option, reducing your utility bill 50-90% compared to a roof mounted turbine, which only reduces costs by 10%.

Favorable Zoning Laws

Tall structures like wind turbines are under zoning laws, and will need a permit to install. Since the technology is fairly new, state and local agencies may be facing such a permit request for the first time, and could need more information on the turbine. In addition, neighbors may view the prospect of a wind turbine unfavorably, and homeowners associations may not allow turbine installation at first.

Discussing the wind turbine in detail with neighbors, HOA boards, and zoning agencies could be a major aspect of the turbine installation process. It’s important for those who’ll be seeing and potentially hearing your turbine to be on board with the investment.

Expensive Electric Bills

A wind turbine system will have a high upfront cost, and over the years as your utility bill gets smaller and smaller, the initial costs are paid off in monthly savings. In order to receive a good return on investment from your wind energy system, you should be paying 10 cents/kWh or more for electricity. In 2010, electricity costs averaged 12 cents/kWh nationwide.

If your property is located far from electrical lines, such as a very property or one in the mountains, wind turbines may be very beneficial. These properties may find it most cost effective take the home off the grid completely.

Supplementing electricity from your utility with wind energy is an on-grid system. When the wind is blowing and the turbine working, your home uses power from the turbine system. If the air is calm, your home can draw energy from the electrical grid. Any excess energy your turbine generates is bought by the electric utility.

Using your wind energy system as your exclusive source of electricity is known as an off-grid wind system. These systems generate all the home’s electricity and are not hooked into the electrical grid at all. Generally, off-grid systems include deep-charge batteries and back-up generators in case the wind can’t deliver.

As renewable energy grows in popularity, residential wind energy systems are popping up in every state. The Midwest and Northeast, both with many regions of high wind speeds, have the largest number of wind energy systems. Wind turbines in these areas reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and provide their owners with free energy.

Installing a wind turbine system on your property can cost $6,000-$45,000. The costs vary with style, size, and capacity. The initial investment is recouped in energy savings over a period of years, usually 5-15 years, depending on the amount of electricity the turbine generates. Some costs are also recouped in property value, as turbines systems are considered improvements to the property.

Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch

Leslie Pratch Secrets About Fossil Fuels By Dennis Moore Hopkins

It’s no secret that the fossil fuels we use to power our homes, offices, and vehicles are limited resources. Scientists have spent decades searching for practical alternative energy solutions that would provide renewable sources of energy. Solar and wind power have been available for quite some time, but people and businesses have been slow to accept the technologies on a wide-scale basis for several reasons. Now that everyone is worried about global warming and the pollutants that are caused by the fossil fuels we use, these alternative energy ideas are becoming more and more popular.

Solar Power

Converting the sun’s thermal energy into a useful power source for humans seems like the perfect solution. The sun is free for everyone to use, and in most areas it shines brightly five out of seven days a week, and modern solar cells can collect and store energy over time. The popularity of solar power has increased dramatically in the past few decades, especially in developing countries. Modern solar cells are very efficient, and they are far less expensive for power companies than traditional energy sources. The real obstacle to widespread use of solar energy is the cost of installing the solar cells necessary to collect and convert the energy to a useful form.

Wind Power

Another form of alternative energy that is gaining in popularity is wind power. Humans have harnessed the power of the wind for centuries using windmills. Modern wind power plants have acres of high-tech wind towers that transfer the wind’s energy to useful electricity. There are two obstacles to the widespread use of wind power: the wind is not constant, and some people believe the windmill farms mar the natural landscape. Proponents of wind technology claim that a modern windmill farm could provide as much power as a nuclear plant, without any harmful pollutants or possible meltdowns.

Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch
Leslie Pratch

By Patrick Cannon

Porcelain dolls are a great investment in a child’s imagination and future. Most children, however, will need to be taught the best way to enjoy this investment. A gradual introduction to the world of porcelain dolls from a young age will create love for this art form, the skills and knowledge required to fully enjoy the porcelain doll.

Begin the involvement of your children in your love of porcelain dolls as young as 2 years old, however, do not allow children under 7 to handle the dolls. Start by showing the youngest children the porcelain doll you are purchasing, and briefly explain why you chose that particular porcelain doll, what it represents to you.

As your child gets a few years older, show the young child the importance of cleanliness when handling the porcelain doll by always washing your hands and theirs before handling the porcelain doll for any reason. Another essential lesson for the very young child is the importance of gentleness when handling the porcelain doll. The very young child is unable to generate the level of gentleness required, but can learn the importance of this skill by watching you.

Begin with a less expensive, mass produced porcelain doll for the young child. This will create a life-long love of porcelain dolls, and a hobby for their future. Involving your child in the selection process will ensure the child enjoys the porcelain doll as much as you do. Choosing a porcelain doll that reflects the young child’s likes and interests will help to increase their bond to the doll.

After children are older, more able to be careful, and less likely to break the dolls, have them help you choose their first hand made porcelain doll. This choice is very important and should reflect the child’s interests and areas of curiosity. Take them to the store with you, or better yet, e-shop. Shopping online allows for more choices, and less chance of accidentally knocking over a display.

The choice of porcelain dolls should ultimately be theirs, but remember to place limitations on price, size, or other minor aspects. For example if the child is interested in Japan, consider purchasing a Japanese Porcelain Doll. Maybe your child has a favorite color, purple and is interested in their English ancestors. You could look for a Victorian era doll with a long flowing purple gown. Perhaps your young son wonders about male children of ancient Russia, consider his curiosity a starting off point in your search for a hand-crafted porcelain doll.

The natural curiosity children display also creates an opportunity to explain the traditional dress of the various cultures. As your child grows, so will their collection of porcelain dolls. The interests of children can change quickly and creates the opportunity for grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other relatives to contribute to the collection as gifts.
By the time the child is ready to move out and begin their lives as adults, they will have a great beginning to a wonderful life long hobby of collecting porcelain dolls.

Beginning while children are very young, and involving them in your passion of collecting porcelain dolls will create a hobby, and years of enjoyment in their futures. Allowing children to carefully choose their first porcelain doll will create a life-long bond with the art form of hand crafted porcelain dolls, and creates an activity you can enjoy together for many years.

By Charles N Taft

Almost all the things we do affect the environment. And by the state of our earth today-we see events of acid rain, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and worsening of air and water pollution-it’s obvious that we are not properly taking care of our planet.

The good news is it is not yet too late. Although we cannot exactly say that things are getting better, we can still do something to help save the environment. One of the best ways to do that is through recycling and its equally important associates called reducing and reusing.

Here is a list of simple but meaningful things we can do to alleviate the stress placed upon our Mother Earth.

1. Bring cloth bags whenever you go grocery shopping. Not only are cloth bags highly reliable and sturdy, these are also reusable and enable you to avoid using plastic bags.

2. Buy rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones. Rechargeable batteries may be a little costly but in the long run you will be saving more because you do not have to keep on buying more. More importantly, you are saving landfill space since batteries take up a lot of room in the landfills because they cannot be incinerated.

3. Compost kitchen waste by digging a hole in your yard where you can place food discards in it. Just be sure not to include animal or meat wastes in it. This is not only great for the environment but also gives you wonderful soil for your garden.

4. Be a wise consumer. Buy only things that you and your family really needs. When buying home supplies like food and drinks, it’s better to go for large quantities to avoid small unnecessary packaging.

5. Wash glass, aluminum and plastic containers before bringing them to the recycling center.

6. Use cloth towels instead of paper towels to minimize waste.

7. Stop junk mail. Contact the company sending you unwanted catalogues.

8. As much as possible, steer away from plastic materials because these are harmful to the environment. If you should use them, opt to use those that are reusable such as plastic containers for storing food instead of plastic cling wrap that you can only use once.

9. Make art projects out of seemingly useless junk. Involve kids in these projects and watch their creative imagination flourish.

10. If you have a baby, try reverting to the traditional method of using cloth diapers. This saves you a lot of money and saves space in the landfill.

11. Start a paper drive in your home or in your community. Paper is one of the most common materials that we use each day and if we would be able to collect and recycle a ton of paper, we would be able to spare 17 trees from being cut down.

12. Read news online instead of buying newspapers.

13. Reuse glass bottles. It is safer to use glass bottles as containers for beverages because plastic chemicals leech into the water we drink.

By: Colleen Spiegel-2027

Yes, we can convert to a hydrogen economy. Don’t roll your eyes at me. It’s true. A total conversion to a hydrogen economy is possible in the near future. How is that (you may ask)? Well, we need an interim solution. I’m sure most of you already know how fuel cells work, but for those who don’t, let me explain very quickly…

There are many types of fuel cells, but the most common one is called a proton exchange membrane or PEM fuel cell. This type of fuel cell usually uses hydrogen, but other fuel types can also be used (such as methanol, ethanol etc). When methanol or ethanol is used, the name of the fuel cell changes to “direct methanol fuel cell” or “direct ethanol fuel cell”. Now, hydrogen is fed into the fuel cell, and a platinum/carbon catalyst breaks the hydrogen into protons and electrons. Since protons and electrons are charged species, they cannot exist for very long in nature because they are unstable. Everything in nature moves toward neutralization or a balance of energies. For example, if something is very hot in nature, the heat is distributed to its surroundings, and eventually the temperature of the very hot object equals the temperature of the environment. In the case of ions, positively and negatively charged molecules cannot survive for very long without combining with another molecule to make it more stable. Now let’s get back to the discussion at hand — so in the fuel cell, the hydrogen is broken into protons and electrons. Normally protons and electrons would not be able to stay in the ionic form very long, but because the platinum/carbon catalyst layer is connected to the persulfonic acid membrane layer, the hydrogen protons are able to travel through the membrane to the cathode side of the fuel cell. In the meantime, the electrons are attracted to the hydrogen flow field plate, which is also pressed against the fuel cell layer and is highly conductive. The electrons are then drawn from the fuel cell catalyst layer to power the load. The protons that traveled over to the cathode through the membrane then combine with oxygen coming into the fuel cell and create water. Interesting stuff, huh?

Okay Colleen, how a fuel cell works is interesting, but how are we going to convert over to the hydrogen economy? Well, first I had to explain how the hydrogen is actually used — and now I will get into how our current economy can be converted into a hydrogen one. So, do you know where hydrogen currently comes from? There is a lot of information out there on how fuel cells work, the benefits of fuel cells, and how we would be much better off using them. But, rarely do these articles get into the sticky situation of discussing where the hydrogen comes from. Well, as many of you probably know, hydrogen is not available on this planet in a purely gaseous form. It’s found everywhere in nature, but it is combined with other elements to form other types of molecules. Therefore, the hydrogen has to be manufactured. Many of you will not like to hear this (and I even cringe at saying it), but most of the hydrogen gas currently produced is created from petroleum-based fuels. Aha (you say)! I knew there was a catch to this! Okay, okay, okay I admit — it does seem to be a sticky situation. But, at least we currently have a way that hydrogen is manufactured. At first glance it seems like this may not be any better than our current solution — but it is. The reason why this is a better solution is because hydrogen can be manufactured using many different methods. The interim solution for converting to a hydrogen economy would be to use petroleum-based fuels and coal. Now you’re probably thinking — this person must be totally out of whack! Well, speaking from an engineer’s perspective, coal is not that bad of an interim solution. There are many reasons why I say this:

1. Experts estimate that there is only 30 years of petroleum-based fuels left on this planet.
2. In the United States alone, it is estimated that we have 300 years of fuel from coal that can be utilized.
3. Countries that tap into their coal resources can be more independent, stronger and richer than countries that rely on petroleum-based fuels.
4. The Clean Coal Technologies program in the United States (instituted in 1986), has commercialized numerous technologies for preventing pollution caused by coal processing. Coal is no longer the “dirty fuel” that it used to be.
5. There are already numerous coal processing plants across the United States and many parts of the world. In the United States, half of the electricity is generated by coal. Therefore, new plants may not need to be constructed. We can have plants that generate electricity and hydrogen. A current project that’s utilizing this concept is the FutureGen project, which is funded by the United States government and private industry.