Alternative fuels

Alternative fuel

Alternative fuel (alternate fuel), also known as non-conventional fuels, is any material or substance that can be used as a fuel, other than fossil fuels, or conventional fuels of petroleum (oil), coal, propane, hydrogen, and natural gas. The term "alternative fuels" usually refers to a source of which energy is renewable.

The main purpose of fuel is to store energy in a form that is stable and can be easily transported from the place of production to the end user. Almost all fuels are chemical fuels, that store chemical potential energy. The end user is then able to consume the fuel at will, and release energy, usually in the form of heat for a variety of applications, such as powering an engine, or heating a building.

Some well known alternative fuels include biodiesel, ethanol, butanol, chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, methane, natural gas, wood, vegetable oil, biomass, and peanut oil.

In the year 2000, there were about eight million vehicles around the world that ran on alternative fuels, indicating the increasing popularity of alternative fuels {citation needed}. There is growing social interest, and an economic and political need for the development of alternative fuel sources. This is due to general concerns of sustainability, both environmental, economic, and geopolitical. A primary concern is that the fact that the use of conventional fuels directly contributes to the global warming crisis. Another concern is the problem of peak oil, which predicts a rising cost of oil derived fuels caused by severe shortages of oil during an era of growing energy consumption. According to the 'peak oil' phenomenon, the demand for oil will exceed supply and this gap will continue to grow, which could cause a growing energy crisis by the year 2010 or 2020. Lastly, the majority of the known petroleum reserves are located in the middle east. There is general concern that worldwide fuel shortages could intensify the unrest that exists in the region, leading to further conflict and war.Source from globalwarming.org.in

Wind power

Wind power is so easy to produce from simple wind power stations. These wind power stations can be homely ones, which you can install on your private roof to try to catch some wind. The other side of the wind power stations kinds, are the massive ones you can see on the open fields of many countries around the world, each wind turbine like that reaches to the height of 100m!

For home use, you will need simple wind turbine, connected to wind power station, to produce home use power. The location of the wind turbine, the highest to locate it, the correct direction it to and the right size of the turbine blades are all parameters to consider in order catching the maximum wind power. Open fields, down hills and clean airflow locations are the best places to calculate the maximum wind speed cube for producing wind power. For example, out of a win which blows for 30 Km/H you will be able to produce 300W ( per one square meter cube ). Double of this wind speed will generate much more than double power, something like 2600 Km/H. This is why on windy areas and on high potential locations for windy days, wind power stations are the most green and economical solution.

Home installed wind power stations must have stable wind. If the wind flow is much disturbs, the efficiently of the wind power productions reduce dramatically. This is why you will always see the wind turbines in open area's or high on the top roofs. Comparing to solar panels, wind stations are much costly but also much more efficient. Over the years, you will be able to produce more energy and maintain the power station less than with solar panels. Same like solar systems, the wind systems usually charge large batteries for later use.

There are some advanced solutions to produce wind and solar energy together. The solar part of the system makes sure that the complete system will produce power in no wind days and the wind turbines are taking care of the no sun days. In totally, the system produced alternative power energy, green energy.resources:www.powersavingsystem.com

Global warming effects on animals

Thought that global warming is a phenomenon that takes a toll only on human beings? Well, if you did, we do not blame you. Man, in all the progression he has made along time seems to have forgotten that he too is an animal himself. A lot more sociable than other animals, yes, but an animal at the end of the day. Global warming, as we know it is a phenomenon that leads to climatic changes, weather changes and ultimately to changes in the adaptability of all creatures to their surroundings. When adaptability to such conditions is not possible, it leads to changes in the very living patterns of the creatures, and in the most extreme, yet not rare conditions, leads to the death of the animal. When a large number of these animals belonging to a certain group die, it leads to the death of the group itself, in the due course of time, and this phenomenon is known as extinction. Though it is to difficult to tell about the Global warming effects on animals but this has been a topic of discussion in various forums.

A number of changes occurring among plants and animals point to unnatural climate change, many scientists say.

According to a number of scientists from all around the world, there are a great many number of changes that one learns about the living capacities of animals owing to the climatic changes that are of an unnatural kind. Here are some Global warming effects on animals:

Animals on the Land
By the latter half of the century, it is guesstimated that a large number of reindeer shall have disappeared from most of the regions that they are now seen in. They will move to other, uninhabitable lands, where they will not be able to procreate and sustain in the same manner as they have been doing for many centuries now. In what can be sure of a change due to changes in temperature and weather conditions, marmots, today, are finishing their hibernation processes three weeks faster than they were known to be doing three decades ago. Canadian red squirrels are now breeding much earlier than they normally did, almost three weeks earlier than they normally would. Red foxes are moving out of their own territories and moving north into regions that were known to be the domain of their arctic counterparts. It may seem like a small change, but over a period of time, Fowler’s toads that are normally found in the regions around North America are breeding almost a week later than they were known to do so ten years ago. The polar bears that one get to see today are a lot less healthier and are thinner than the polar bears that could be seen merely two decades ago. Global warming effects on animals are most visible on animals living close to the poles as every year we see a drastic increase in icecaps.


Animals in Water Sources
Coral reef sizes are said to increase by as much as thirty-three percent in size in the years to come in the near future. The pups of elephant seals today are a lot thinner than they were some years back owing to the fact that the food that they depended on has started migrating to regions with cooler waters. The loggerhead sea turtles are now laying their eggs a minimum of ten days earlier than they were known to fifteen years ago. The sex of Hawkill turtle hatchlings seems to be affected because of the increase that was noted in regions with increased temperatures. Nowadays, there are more female hatchlings that are being born than male. Organisms that move with the tide, like mollusks, tidal snails and rock barnacles, hat would normally be found in the warm southern waters are now moving up north.

Birds
The food habits of several songbirds have evolved due to global weather changes one such change is a number of birds not eating insects that depended on leaves with high levels of carbon dioxide for their own source of food. The eggs of the North American tree swallows are now being laid more than a week earlier than they were being laid four decades ago. The breeding pattern of the common murres have changed quite drastically with their breeding season now more than three weeks earlier than recorded ten years ago.