Future Space Technology

With residential natural gas to electricity converters, the genie may finally have come out of the lamp. Around the turn of the last century, people would fill their gas lamps with oil from whale blubber and other crude combustible products. Now, with recent advances in how natural gases can be converted to electricity, energy can be created inexpensively without the need for burning.

While these new converters can convert a myriad of gases to electricity, the most common and inexpensive gas currently is methane. Biogas can also be converted to a usable AC current with this new technology, but currently the field of biofuels in still in its relative infancy so it most likely will be decades before any usable quantities will be generated.

Seven universities in the California college school system are currently installing large commercial natural gas converters on their campuses (among those universities are UC Santa Barbara in Southern California and San Francisco State University in Northern California). These colleges are installing these commercial converters not only to help reduce costs, but also to study this new science.

One of the most predominate types of natural gas converters is also commonly called a solid oxide fuel cell or a natural gas inverter. Since in effect hydrogen atoms (the most common element in gases and the first element on the periodic table) are a combination of one proton (positive charge), one electron (negative charge), and a neutron (no charge), it is not such a stretch to imagine that through a process not requiring combustion that a stream of electrons (commonly referred to as electricity) can be produced. Many people chose to refer to these products as natural gas inverters not only because the final process in converting natural gas to electricity involves inverting the direct current produced to a usable alternating current (hence, inverting the direct current to alternating current). Also, many people have already become familiar with the inverter used in conjunction with photovoltaic panels so the terminology “natural gas inverter” makes sense with the already recognizable “solar inverter.”

Ironically, so much recent publicity has centered around the commercial installations of these gas to electricity converters that the residential portion has been almost completely overlooked. With companies like Wal-mart, eBay, and others having installed these units, it is easy to understand why those installations would hog all of the attention. In reality, it is still a little known fact thousands of similar smaller units have been installed in homes across the country.

In general, the cost per kWatt-hour is about half using a residential natural gas converter than what people are currently being charged from their electric companies when the national averages are taken. So in effect, the “wish” of all those asking for lower utility bills is on the peak of being granted by what would appear to many to be a magical money saving genie installed at the point where their existing gas line comes into their home. Believe it or not, residential natural gas to electricity converters are on the verge of exploding, but not in the manner that you first may think.

George Ward is a proud father, husband, contractor, and energy enthusiast as demonstrated by his favorite book being Atlas Shrugged. He believes unlimited inexpensive energy is a basic pre-requisite of this planet ever achieving world peace.

Residential Natural Gas To Electricity Converters

As the world energy consumption climbs, there is increasing pressure on governments and oil companies to continue uncovering large oil and natural gas deposits. This is necessary to stem the tide of national dependence on foreign oil and will continue to be an important political and economic factor until either fossil fuels are phased out in favour of cleaner energy technology or the fossil fuel supplies run out.

It is easy to understand how in this climate of increasing need, the so-called discovery of 500 billion barrels of crude oil in the United States Bakken oil field arouses a great deal of interest. Continually rising costs of crude oil from OPEC countries has resulted in more expensive heating fuel and gasoline for vehicles, both of which have had a negative impact on the quality of life for citizens of developed nations that import oil to meet their energy needs.

But what is the real status of this oil field? There has been much promotion on the internet about how this is the next big oil boom and that wise investors should seize this opportunity to get in on the ground level in order to make massive profits from the imminent rivers of oil that will be flowing forth from this great deposit. Not only have proponents of the Bakken Oil Field suggested that oil can be produced from this site at as low a cost as $16US a barrel, but that there is sufficient oil there to meet all of the US’s energy needs for up to 40 years. They have even gone as far as to say that this field will hail the return of cheap automotive gasoline in the United States.

To make sense of the claims and data surrounding the Bakken oil field one really only needs to understand two terms. Oil fields are described as either Discreet or Continuous. A discreet oil field contains the vast majority of the deposit in one location that is at least fairly easily tapped and brought to the surface. These are the oil deposits that have brought such wealth and influence to the OPEC countries.

The other type of oil deposit is described as Continuous. While this sounds like a positive description, it actually means that the oil is spread out through many layers and over a wide area. There will be small pockets of pooled oil but these will generally represent only a tiny fraction of the total amount of oil in the surrounding rocks. Obviously this is a far inferior type of oil deposit in comparison to the Discreet type. The status of an oil deposit as Continuous means that access to the oil is either very limited or impossible.

The Bakken Oil Field is a Continuous oil field. The United States Geological Survey has recently reported that less than 1% of the upper end estimate of 503 billion barrels of oil at the site are readily accessible, meaning pooled into deposits large enough to be commercially viable. The remainder of the oil is distributed thinly throughout the area. Because of this it is unlikely that the oil in this area will be profitable to extract any time soon, and the prospect of $16US barrels of oil is a wild claim.

This is a case of buyer beware. The hype surrounding this deposit is certain to attract people who are willing to fool others into investing in empty promises. The promise of cheap oil and huge personal profits are two things that affect us in every day life; the first because we are tired of forking out large sums of money at the petrol pump, the other because we all want to make sound investments and achieve financial freedom.

Roger Vanderlely.

Find out more about fossil fuels and Solar Power Facts at http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com The site covers current technologies, the science behind solar power, formation and use of fossil fuels, home energy installations, kids projects and much more.

It seemed to take a long time for us all to wake up to the pressing need to save our environment. Centuries of abuse have led to a dwindling in our natural resources, seemingly irreversible devastation to our ecology and the prospect of further damage caused by dangerous emissions and deforestation. Thankfully, the Cleantech Group are at the forefront of a shift to a greener new world.

Increasing awareness in environmental issues is a vital part of accelerating global change, and in recent years governments, organisations and private companies have invested heavily in initiatives that drive home the message. Improvements are happening all around us every day, so the momentum needs to be maintained.

The word ‘cleantech’ basically covers any products or services that help to improve performance while at the same time reducing the carbon footprint. It can cover a whole host of things, but the general principle is the same: better efficiency allied to environmental benefits.

The Cleantech Group is based in San Francisco, and was founded in 2002. They specialise in facilitating greener initiatives, whether by providing access to capital for their clients to fund ecological improvements, or investment opportunities for research projects, or a host of other services. They also make themselves available in an advisory capacity for governments and business corporations.

Their main aim, by a wide variety of means, is to provide an impetus for the implementation of cleaner markets and operations around the world. As well as having access to service providers, they also have a vast network of investors and entrepreneurs looking to make a lasting contribution to a better environment. Additionally, Cleantech also publishes some highly influential research data.

The development of clean energy is more vital now than ever before. The erosion of our stocks of fossil fuels is still continuing, despite the dire warnings from experts. Investment in greener sources is imperative, and companies like Cleantech have helped to slow down the rate of damage that’s being done.

Solar power is one of the most obvious methods of harnessing renewable energy, and is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. It goes without saying that it works particularly well in warmer climates, of course, but in recent years it can be harnessed with ease in many other regions, too. Thanks to advances in technology, it can even be stored for later use.

As well as their headquarters in California, Cleantech also have bases in China, Europe, India and the Middle East. Thanks to their input, we face a future with an unprecedented level of optimism. They’re helping to make our world not only a better one, but a greener one, too.

Cleantech have rapidly become a major force in the battle against environmental damage.

The thought of nuclear power still bring images to mind of the Cold War, the Chernobyl accident in the mid-1980′s and the proliferation of destructive weapons. We remember the recent past well. Those images are hard to dispel. So, it’s understandable if the public approaches the idea of building nuclear facilities with caution. But, nuclear power is being used today to produce a relatively low-cost source of energy. There are significant benefits (and a few drawbacks) of doing so. In this article, you’ll discover what those advantages and disadvantages are. We’ll also briefly discuss the future of nuclear power as an alternative energy source.

Advantages Of Nuclear Power

One of the main advantages of using nuclear power is that producing energy through it is less expensive than using our rapidly depleting inventory of fossil fuels. This is due, in part, to the high levels of energy released by nuclear fission (splitting the nucleus of an atom). It’s also due to the availability and relative low-cost of uranium. It’s estimated that uranium reserves throughout the world are sufficient to last over 100 years.

Another benefit is that the process of converting nuclear power into usable electricity doesn’t release greenhouse gases into the environment. Even other alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energy release small quantities of greenhouse gas.

Disadvantages Of Nuclear Power

The cost to build and maintain a nuclear facility is substantial. That means that while nuclear power offers significant cost savings in energy production, it can take years to recoup the initial investment in the facility. Another drawback is that converting nuclear power into usable electricity results in significant nuclear waste. Storage of this waste is problematic because it involves political concessions. Because the political environment can be volatile and unpredictable, decisions made during one administration may be overruled or changed during a subsequent administration.

The Future Of Nuclear Power For Energy

Some claim that the lack of new nuclear facilities being built is a clear signal that the world is moving away from using nuclear power as an alternative energy source. But, that perspective may be short-sighted. In truth, substantial investment continues to be poured into the research of nuclear power. As the costs of using fossil fuels to generate usable power climbs and global warming becoming an ever-present topic of concern, many industry experts expect demand for low-cost, environmentally friendly nuclear power will grow.

Major countries such as Japan, India and the United States are aggressively pursuing the use of nuclear power as an energy source. In fact, Japan recently (in 2005) finalized construction on a new nuclear facility, displaying their dedication to its potential. As we deplete our current reserves of fossil fuels, it’s likely that nuclear power will become more prevalent as an alternative energy source.

Power Systems & Controls is the industry standard for Uninterruptible Power Supply and Frequency Converters

What is a perpetual motion? The term is more commonly used to describe any device or system that indefinitely generates more energy than it consumes, resulting in a production of energy for indefinite time.

Perpetual motion, it is the pot of gold at the end of every scientists’ rainbow. Here is a brief timeline of the Perpetual Motionless Machine:

Past:

Nikola Tesla, a man of brilliance and enigma, was born on July 10, 1856, at Smiljan, Lika province (in modern Croatia). Through the 1890s he absorbed himself in work with x-rays, with high-frequency, high-voltage phenomena, and with radio. By 1899 he built a laboratory in Colorado Springs in which he worked on his invention the “magnifying transmitter,” which included a 52-foot Tesla coil. Tesla’s 111 patents illuminate only his most intelligence. Some of his projects include ultra-high vacuum, a rocket engine design, experiments in directed beams and solar power, and the ball lightning. In 1900, Nikola Tesla said to have found an abstract method that served as a basis for the possibility of a perpetual motion machine. He wrote: A departure from known methods – possibility of a “self-acting” engine or machine, inanimate, yet capable, like a living being, of deriving energy from the medium – the ideal way of obtaining motive power.

Present:

Inventor Thomas E. Bearden and 4 other colleagues was granted a patent on the Motionless Electrical Generator (U.S. Patent 6362718). A motionless electromagnetic generator is a type of magnetic generator which functions on the principle of “the first law of thermodynamics”. The generator can work efficiently when a load is applied even without any application of other external power sources. But the motionless electromagnetic generator has never verified and there are no known or existing functioning prototypes. Typically, the device functions efficiently by shifting its pattern of magnetic flux and doesn’t need to switch from one side to another. Meg was invented by Thomas Bearden as option for electrical energy and claimed to produce huge amount of energy from vacuum. But construction of motionless electrical generator would be difficult as it involves a large amount of money. Then on the year 2008, Thane Heins claimed to have developed Perepiteia a perpetual motion machine but no prototype has been released. His invention is based on “Back electromotive force (back EMF)”.

Future:

With sky rocketing fuel price the thought of having a free, clean, renewable energy is like a jar of honey to everyone. Many researchers, scientists and inventors are on the quest of making a perfect perpetual motion generator. Soon, the world will be free from the harmful emission of fossil fuel when the perpetual motion machine will be made available for everyone and the world will become a better, greener and cleaner place live.