Carbon-Footprint-Calculator

Carbon Footprint

Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.

Carbon Footprint Calculator

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html

Carbon Footprint Flight Calculator

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/flight_calc.html

Express Flight Emissions Calculator

We all know that planes contribute large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. We should all try not to fly if possible, but if you have to, then you should be aware of the impact on the planet. This calculator will show you how much you are responsible for, for your individual flight.
Note: this calculator is currently in development so at the moment only covers flights from UK, London. We will be adding to it over the coming months to take in more start and end points.

Minimise your carbon footprint Today it is more important than ever before to minimise your footprint. Not only are the developed western countries producing more and more carbon emissions, but there is a growing problem as the population in Africa and Asia start living improved lifestyles which consume more energy.
We need to lead the way...
Did you know... Electricity is one of the biggest producers of carbon emissions, so every time you make a coffee or turn the television on you are adding to global warming. switch to green energy


Here's a list of simple things you can do immediately, which will start to reduce your contribution to global warming. The items in this list will cost you no money at all and will in fact save you money.

Sign up to a green energy supplier, who will supply electricity from renewable sources (e.g. wind and hydroelectric power) - this will reduce your carbon footprint contribution from electricity to zero
Turn it off when not in use (lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc. etc. ...) Click here to find out which electrical items in your household are contribute the most to your Carbon Footprint
Turn down the central heating slightly (try just 1 to 2 degrees C)
Turn down the water heating setting (just 2 degrees will make a significant saving)
Check the central heating timer setting - remember there is no point heating the house after you have left for work
Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load - this will save you water, electricity, and washing powder
Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need
Unplug your mobile phone as soon as it has finished charging
Defrost your fridge/freezer regularly
Do your weekly shopping in a single trip
Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it
Go for a run rather than drive to the gym
The following is a list of items that may take an initial investment, but should pay for themselves over the course of 1-4 years through savings on your energy bills.
Fit energy saving light bulbs
Install thermostatic valves on your radiators
Insulate your hot water tank, your loft and your walls
35% of heat generated in the house is lost through the walls. Installing cavity wall installation to a medium size house could reduce your heating bills by up to £100 per year
By installing 180mm thick loft insulation you could stop about 25% of your heating escaping through the roof
Recycle your grey water
Replace your old fridge / freezer (if it is over 15 years old), with a new one with energy efficiency rating of "A"
Replace your old boiler with a new energy efficient condensing boiler
Travel less and travel more carbon footprint friendly.
Car share to work, or for the kids school run
Use the bus or a train rather than your car
Don't use domestic flights (e.g. from London to Edinburgh), use a train or a coach.
Take the ferry or channel tunnel instead of flying to France
See if your employer will allow you to work from home one day a week
Next time you replace your car - check out diesel engines. With one of these you can even make your own Biodiesel fuel. Find out more about Biodiesel.
When on holiday - hire a bicycle to explore locally rather than a car
When staying in a hotel turn the lights and air-conditioning off when you leave your hotel room
Ask for you room towels to be washed every other day, rather than every day
As well as your primary carbon footprint, there is also a secondary footprint that you cause through your buying habits. If you buy foods out of season at the super market, then these will have either been flown or shipped in from far away - all adding to your carbon footprint.
Reduce your consumption of meat
Don't buy bottled water if your tap water is safe to drink (especially if it has been shipped from far away)
Buy local fruit and vegetables, or even try growing your own
Don't buy fresh fruit and vegetables which are out of season, they may have been flown in
Try to buy products made closer to home (look out and avoid items that are made in the distant lands such as China and India)
Buy organic produce
Don't buy over packaged products
Recycle as much as possible

Think carefully about the type of activities you do in your spare time. Do any of these cause an increase in carbon emissions? e.g. Saunas, Health clubs, restaurants and pubs, go-karting etc. etc...

In addition there is your footprint at work. Do you leave your computer and monitor on when you are away from your desk? Do you leave the lights on when you leave the office? Do you print documents unnecessarily - and could you print two pages to a side and double sided?

Bio-Powered-Car-News

When you're travelling to a green car show, it's not the done thing to turn up in a gas-guzzling supercar. Getting from Brighton to the Eden Project in Cornwall by public transport is theoretically possible, but logistically difficult and, what with a combination of trains, buses and taxis, exceedingly expensive. None of the electric cars currently on offer could get close before needing a recharge, and a zero-emissions hydrogen-fuelled vehicle falls at the first hurdle: hydrogen supplies are pretty well non-existent in the UK.

Saab has a relatively viable, real-world, here-and-now solution, however: its 2.0t and 2.3t Biopower models, which drink E85 fuel (made up of 85% bioethanol, 15% conventional petrol) and which can also run on 100% petrol if you can't find an E85 pump.

As bioethanol is synthesised from renewable organic sources - from wheat to waste wood chips - it's being hailed as a way of reducing our fossil-fuel dependency. And as the plants or trees from which it is made absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, the carbon dioxide emissions produced from burning the fuel can be cancelled out. 9-5 Biopower: cleaner and faster The 9-5 Biopower models - available in saloon or estate form - don't rely solely on their relative environmental friendliness for their appeal. Ethanol has a higher octane rating than petrol, allowing greater power outputs. The 2.0t Biopower models, priced from £22,070, have 20% more horsepower and 16% more torque (180bhp/206lb-ft) when running on E85. The newer 2.3t models (from £23,270) have been tuned to give up to 210bhp and 229lb-ft of torque from the 2.3-litre turbocharged engine. When running on normal unleaded petrol, maximum output falls to 185bhp/207lb-ft.

Supreme-Court-Rules-Against-Bush-On-Emissions

Supreme Court rules against Bush on emissions

April 03, 2007

THE US Supreme Court rebuked the Bush administration today for its inaction on global warming in a decision that could encourage faster action in Congress on climate change and lead to more fuel-efficient cars as early as next year. EU lashes Australia, US on climateThe court, in a 5-4 ruling in its first case on climate change, declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate those emissions from new cars and trucks under the landmark environment law, and the “laundry list” of reasons it has given for declining to do so are insufficient, the court said.

“A reduction in domestic emissions would slow the pace of global emissions increases, no matter what happens elsewhere,” Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion.
“EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change.”

The politics of global warming have changed dramatically since the court agreed last year to hear its first case on the subject, with many Republicans as well as Democrats now pressing for action. However, the administration has argued for a voluntary approach rather than new regulation.

The reasoning in the court's ruling also appears to apply to EPA's decision not to impose controls on global warming pollution from power plants, a decision that has been challenged separately in court, several environmental lawyers said.

In the short term, the decision boosts California's and 11 other states' prospects for gaining EPA approval of their own programs to limit tailpipe emissions, beginning with the 2009 model year. Those cars begin appearing in showrooms next year. Emission limits would become stricter each year until 2016.

Automobile makers have said stricter emission limits would be accomplished by increasing fuel-economy standards.
Reacting to the court ruling, the automakers called for an economy-wide approach to global warming, cautioning that no single industry could bear the burden alone.
Today's ruling also improved the odds that Congress would take action on comprehensive legislation to reduce global warming, said business groups, environmental advocates and lawmakers. Several measures already have been introduced.

Senator Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee urged President George W Bush “to work with Congress to enact a mandatory cap-and-trade proposal and other programs to reduce our nation's greenhouse gas emissions”.
EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood said the agency is studying the court's ruling.
In the meantime, she defended EPA's voluntary partnerships to reduce emissions.
“These national and international voluntary programs are helping achieve reductions now while saving millions of dollars, as well as providing clean, affordable energy,” Wood said.
Many scientists believe greenhouse gases, flowing into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, are leading to warming of the Earth, rising sea levels and other marked ecological changes.
Carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas are burned. One way to reduce those emissions is to have more fuel-efficient cars.

In handing an almost-total victory to Massachusetts, 11 other states, three cities and 13 environmental groups that sued the EPA, the court adopted many of their concerns and their belief that taking even limited action concerning new American cars and trucks is better than doing nothing.
The court's four conservative justices - Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas - dissented.
“In many ways, the debate has moved beyond this,” said Chris Miller, director of the global warming campaign for Greenpeace, one of the environmental groups that sued the EPA.
“All the front-runners in the 2008 presidential campaign, both Democrats and Republicans, even the business community, are much further along on this than the Bush administration is.”
Democrats took control of Congress last November. The world's leading climate scientists reported in February that global warming is “very likely” to be caused by man and is so severe that it will continue for centuries.

Former Vice President Al Gore's documentary movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” - making the case for quick action on climate change - won an Oscar award. Business leaders are saying they are increasingly open to congressional action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide is the largest.

Scottish-Green-Manifesto

Scots Green manifesto!

The Scottish Green Party has launched its manifesto for the Holyrood elections. Here are the main points of the plan.
Communities
Redirecting executive subsidies and support for multi-national companies into funding to support local businesses.
Communities to get a say on new national planning frameworks.
An "Environmental Justice Fund" of at least £2m per year to support community improvements help them respond to environmental "threats".
The introduction of a wide-ranging Sustainable Communities bill which would create incentives to buy from local suppliers and requirements for parts of land in regeneration areas to remain in some form of community ownership.
Pay communities to protect "public goods", such as wild areas and freshwater.
Giving all rural households and businesses access to broadband.
Extend crofting throughout Scotland.
Increase native woodland cover to 20% by 2010, 25% by 2020 and 40% by 2050.
Economy
Improve the ability of small businesses to tender for public sector contracts.
Ensure that at least 10% of public spending goes through social enterprises by 2012.
Develop an Ethical Financial Services strategy and support initiatives such as credit unions.
Ensuring the Scottish Executive and its agencies use an indicator which measures quality of life against economic development.
Make sustainable development "the top priority" for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Create a national forum for sustainable economic development.
Work with councils to bring in environmental levies, for example on non-returnable packaging or road congestion.
Greater powers for the Scottish Parliament to bring in pollution tax and set a 50% tax rate for incomes of more than £100,000.
Replace council tax and uniform business rates with a Land Value Tax.
Expand the Sure Start child support programme and establish dedicated support services for parents, "before they reach crisis point".
"Radically" improve childcare and day-care for working parents and improve status of staff from current "low" levels.
New legislation to increase access to flexible working.
Block the use of PFI in new infrastructure schemes and develop alternatives, including municipal bonds.
Establish an independent review to explore how to bring the national grid into public ownership.
Make the reduction of public services' carbon footprints obligatory.
Environment
Appoint a minister for sustainable development and climate change.
Bring in legislation requiring the Scottish Executive to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050.
Establish a four-year fund worth £100m to support carbon-cutting community projects.
Generate 100% of electricity from renewable energy by 2050.
Set targets to improve the energy efficiency of housing and other buildings.
Transport
Upgrade footpaths and pavements
Link all schools and public centres by cycling and walking routes by 2017.
Improve bus services and conduct an inquiry into rural services and pricing.
More funding for Edinburgh trams.
Legislate for road traffic reduction.
Health
Bring in legislation to ensure levels of freshness for food procured by the public sector, including schools and NHS establishments.
Invest in projects to allow more vulnerable patients to be cared for at home.
Fund more respite facilities for older and disabled people.
Rule out fluoridation of the water supply and focus on school-based tooth-brushing schemes.
Increase the student nurse bursary to £10,000 to cut student drop-out rates.
Offer patients access to complimentary and alternative medicine through GPs and local health boards.
Raise the minimum age for buying tobacco to 18.
Waste
Every household in Scotland to be given access to kerbside recycling and compost bins for those with gardens.
Setting a target of zero waste by 2020.
Cut greenhouse gas emissions from waste management by at least half by 2020.
Phase out the sale of single-use batteries while introducing a recycling scheme.
Making incinerators ineligible for funding support.
Education
Maximum primary school class sizes of 20.
Set aside time in the curriculum for extended work experience.
Bonuses for teachers successful in raising attainment in deprived areas.
Ban advertising in schools and bring in free, healthy school meals.
Integrate state-funded religious schools into nondenominational education.
Improve support for home learning.
Scrap the student graduate endowment and bring back grants.
Fund outdoor skills training for teachers and provide cash to refurbish and develop outdoor centres.
Justice
Increased use of victim-offender mediation services.
Keep a record of reasons for sentencing and only jail offenders posing a "genuine risk to the public".
Introduce corporate killing legislation which places duty on individual directors.
Extend the children's hearing system to help 16-18-year-olds.

HomeBrewPower-Featured-In-The-Pudsey-Times-Newspaper

Finally after a lot of hard work and effort Homebrewpower has made it to the press.
Pusdey Times is a leeds based weekly publication which is distributed to around 130,000 addresses around the West Yorkshire.
Pudsey Times ran the following article on page 2
Enjoy
Andy Mahoney
Homebrewpower

Hologram-Prism-Solar-Panels-By-Prism-Solar-Technologies

The main limitation of solar power right now is cost, because the crystalline silicon used to make most solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is very expensive. One approach to overcoming this cost factor is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses, thereby reducing the total area of silicon needed to produce a given amount of electricity.

But traditional light concentrators are bulky and unattractive -- less than ideal for use on suburban rooftops.

Now Prism Solar Technologies of Stone Ridge, NY, has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels.
The new technology replaces unsightly concentrators with sleek flat panels laminated with holograms. The panels, says Rick Lewandowski, the company's president and CEO, are a "more elegant solution" to traditional concentrators, and can be installed on rooftops -- or even incorporated into windows and glass doors.

The system needs 25 to 85 percent less silicon than a crystalline silicon panel of comparable wattage, Lewandowski says, because the photovoltaic material need not cover the entire surface of a solar panel. Instead, the PV material is arranged in several rows. A layer of holograms -- laser-created patterns that diffract light -- directs light into a layer of glass where it continues to reflect off the inside surface of the glass until it finds its way to one of the strips of PV silicon. Reducing the PV material needed could bring down costs from about $4 per watt to $1.50 for crystalline silicon panels, he says.

The company is expecting to pull in another $6 million from interested venture capitalists and start manufacturing its first-generation modules by the end of the year, selling them at about $2.40 per watt. Next-generation modules with more advanced technology should bring down the cost further.

In their ability to concentrate light, holograms are not as powerful as conventional concentrators. They can multiply the amount of light falling on the cells only by as much as a factor of 10, whereas lens-based systems can increase light by a factor of 100, and some even up to 1,000.

HomeBrewPower-Traffic-Is-Huge

Some major changes are happening here at Home-Brew Power!

Our hosting company notified us this month that our monthly bandwidth had far exceeded it's limits for traffic.

We have now migrated the website to a new unlimited bandwidth package which can now handle unlimited monthly website traffic. Whilst doing this we have upgraded the website space to 21Gig so this should now hopefully resolve all the recent traffic problems.

We are currently migrating the old Home-Brew Power files to the new DNS server location so you may notice picture links are down. Please be patient and service will resume as normal over the next 48 hours.

Andy Mahoney

HomeBrewPower-Search-Links-Working

Homebrew Search Links Now Active!

I have now recoded the master template files on www.homebrewpower.co.uk so the 'Google Search Box' works correctly.

You will find the search box at the top of all the Home-Brew Power webpages, please use it to either search the WWW or click the www.homebrewpower.co.uk box to search this site only.

The website is expanding all the time and more content is added on a daily basis.

Enjoy your visit and why not purchase February's edition of Homebrewpower from the links to the right of the page?

Editor: Andy Mahoney

World-Climate-Gigs-Planned

World Climate Gigs Planned!

World climate change gigs planned More than 100 of the world's top musicians will perform at a series of worldwide concerts this summer to highlight the threat of global warming.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Black Eyed Peas will be among those taking part in the Live Earth gigs on 7 July.
The eight Live 8-style gigs were announced by former US Vice President Al Gore, whose global warming film An Inconvenient Truth is up for two Oscars
Johannesburg, London, Shanghai and Sydney are among the host cities.

We have to get the message of urgency and hope out Al Gore
Three other concerts will take place in the US, Brazil and Japan, with the cities still to be decided. There will also be a concert in Antarctica.

Mr Gore made the announcement at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, joined by actress Cameron Diaz and rapper Pharrell Williams, who will perform at one of the shows.
"We have to get the message of urgency and hope out," Mr Gore said.
"The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement."
Other artists confirmed for the Live Earth concerts include Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz and the Foo Fighters.
British performers will include Keane, Snow Patrol, Duran Duran, Bloc Party and Paolo Nutini.
Pharrell Williams said it would be "the biggest party on earth".

Brit Award winners Muse also hope to take part - but will have to consider changing their schedule as they already have a gig lined up in Ireland on that date.
Organisers of the concerts, who are leading a climate change campaign called Save Our Selves (SOS), hope the concerts will reach a global audience of two billion people on TV, radio and the internet.

Proceeds will go towards the creation of a foundation to combat climate change led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, which is chaired by Mr Gore.

Carbon neutral

The concerts' producer Kevin Wall won an Emmy Award for producing the Live 8 concerts in 2005, which were organised by Bob Geldof to put pressure on world leaders to eradicate the debts of the world's poorest countries.
Mr Wall said each concert would last from four to eight hours. Alongside the big names, the line-ups will also include local talent to appeal to regional audiences.
At the press conference, organisers said Live Earth "will become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events in the future".

A meeting of global political leaders in Washington this week has reached a new agreement on tackling climate change.

Delegates agreed that developing countries as well as rich countries will have to face targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenpeace-Vs-Neclear-In-Court

Greenpeace V's Nuclear Power In Court!

The UK government's nuclear strategy was thrown into disarray this morning when environmental campaign group Greenpeace won a legal victory in London's High Court.
A judge ruled that the government's consultation process during a review of energy policy last year had been "very seriously flawed" and "procedurally unfair".
Mr Justice Sullivan said that, as a result, Greenpeace's application for a quashing order should succeed.

The judgment, given in oral rather than written form because of the urgency, comes just weeks ahead of a planned government energy white paper in March, which had been expected to give the go-ahead to new nuclear plants.

Buoyed by the government's indications last July that a new generation of nuclear power stations should be built and run by the private sector, nuclear companies have already been positioning themselves for the contract work which they expect to result
Last July, in the wake of the energy policy review, Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, told parliament that nuclear power had to be part of Britain's energy supply over the next 40 years to avoid over-reliance on imported gas and to meet ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions.

Nuclear power currently provides about 19 per cent of the country's electricity supply, but its share is due to fall to 7 per cent in the next two decades as old plants are decommissioned.
In a judicial review challenge heard earlier this month in the High Court, lawyers for Greenpeace argued that the consultation process leading up to that indicative green light given for new nuclear plants was seriously flawed.

Mr Justice Sullivan agreed, finding that information on two critical issues – the economics of new nuclear building and the disposal of waste – had been inadequate during the consultation period, and that information of any substance only emerged after this had concluded.
As a result, he said, there could be no proper consultation, let alone the "fullest public consultation" which the government had promised.

The judge's decision could be subject to appeal.

Wind-Power-Reaches-Milestone-In-UK

UK wind power reaches milestone The UK has become only the seventh nation in the world to have more than two gigawatts (GW) of operational wind power capacity.

The milestone was passed on Friday when the Braes O'Doune wind farm, near Stirling, began producing electricity.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling described it as a "major landmark" for the UK wind industry.
The government has set a target for 10% of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2010.

The 36-turbine Braes O'Doune wind farm, built and operated by Airtricity, has a generating capacity of 72 megawatts (MW), enough to supply electricity to 45,000 homes in the area, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).
Maria McCaffery, BWEA's chief executive, said passing the 2GW mark, equivalent to two coal-fired power stations, was a "tremendous step forward".

"This is a day for celebrating the achievement of a significant milestone for our industry and underlining the position of wind energy as the true leader in the renewables revolution," she said.
Mr Darling said renewable electricity played a central role in the government's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

LEADING WIND ENERGY NATIONS
1. Germany - 20,622MW
2. Spain - 11,615MW
3. USA - 11,273MW
4. India - 6,053MW
5. Denmark - 3,136MW
6. Italy - 2,123MW
7. UK - 2,016MW
8. Netherlands - 1,564MW (Source: BWEA)

"This is a major landmark. In the last 20 months we have doubled the amount of wind generated electricity we have."
Mr Darling, who officially opened the Scottish wind farm, added that more green energy sources were needed.

"If you are serious about tackling climate change then we have got to be serious about making sure that we have more renewable forms of energy, including wind power.
"We want 20% of our electricity to come from these green sources (by 2020) and we are working hard on removing any barriers to achieving that aim."
Latest government figures show that 4.2% of the UK's electricity is generated by renewables, including wind, solar, hydro and biomass.

Onshore wind farms have proved to be controversial, with a number of high-profile projects facing fierce opposition from local residents.
Plans to create England's largest wind farm in Cumbria were thrown out last March after campaigners said it would ruin the landscape of the Lake District.
The £55m development would have seen 27 turbines, each 115 metres (377ft) high, erected at Whinash, near Kendal.

'Wildlife threat'

And proposals to create one of Europe's largest onshore wind farms on Lewis, the most northerly Hebridean island, have been challenged by wildlife groups.
They say the 181-turbine development will harm important peat bog habitat, and threaten wild bird populations.

However, local councillors on Thursday backed the £500m project, although a final decision on whether the scheme can go ahead is likely to be made by the Scottish Executive.

Despite having some of the best wind resources in Europe, the UK is still a long way behind the world's leading nation on wind power.
Germany has more than 20GW of wind energy capacity, 10 times as much as the UK.

HOW WIND TURBINES WORK
1. Wind causes blades to rotate
2. Shaft turns generator to produce electrical energy
3. A transformer turns this into high-voltage electricity
4. Electricity is transmitted via the power grid

LEDs-Entering-The-Mainstream-Lighting-Industry

LED's - Are they ready to enter the mainstream lighting industry?

The LED is a form of Solid State Lighting (SSL). LEDs are almost universally thought of as being a very recent technology but it might surprise Voltimum users to know that dim yellow light was first produced from a silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor using electricity in 1907 by Henry J Round. Because of many constraints, this discovery was not really acted upon for several decades until the first commercial LEDs were produced in 1968. However, the first bright LEDs did not appear until the 1980s, and development has accelerated since then to include white light LEDs (WLEDs).

LED technology:

LEDs are essentially microchips but are not made from silicone. Instead, they are made from crystals derived from combinations of inorganic substances (typically gallium indium nitride (GalnN), and gallium phosphide (GaP). They are 'cooked' as wafers in a reactor under high pressures and temperatures. The design of the LED is such that these substances are arranged in ways (layers) that allow light to be emitted when an electric current is applied. This lighting effect is termed 'electro luminescence'.

An LED is a particular type of semiconductor diode, comprising a chip of semiconducting material impregnated with 'impurities' (the materials) to create a structure called a pn junction. A DC electric current of the correct polarity passing through the junction creates charge carriers, so that when an electron meets a 'hole', it falls into a lower energy level. In this way, energy is released in the form of a photon, so light is emitted as electro luminescence.

The wavelength of the emitted light varies according the materials, and there are now many of these being used to obtain the necessary brightness and colour. It is in the chemistry of the material combinations that much progress is currently being made. Different bright, pure colours can be produced depending upon the precise mix of materials. Deeply saturated red, green, blue, ultraviolet, orange and yellow colours are all attainable, as is white with different colour temperatures (eg: warm white and pure white). Colours can be near ultraviolet (UV), visible or infrared.

Despite the colours available, LEDs actually produce narrow spectrum monochromatic light. This means that these devices are around 90% efficient ('efficacy' is the correct measure of efficiency in lighting terms - in lumens/W), many times more efficient than conventional incandescent lamps (a mere 9% or so). This is a crucial benefit bearing in mind the increasing risks associated with man-made global warming. However, it is important to remember that LED lighting may not always be the most energy efficient available; it depends on the specific application, and on the LED colour. For example, the 90% efficiency is only achieved by low output red LEDs. LEDs for general lighting are typically around 40% efficient at best.

The monochromatic light output of LEDs also means that special techniques must be used to produce white light from the coloured output. This is achieved in the following three ways: Firstly, by adding a downshifting yellow phosphor to blue LEDs. This mixes the light to eventually produce white light. Secondly, by combining red, green and blue LEDs so that relative intensity colour mixing produces blended white light. Lastly, it is achieved by introducing phosphors to ultraviolet LEDs to produce visible white light.

Gallium nitride, with various doping materials added, and / or a phosphor coating, is one way of producing WLEDs, but some recent WLEDs have used no phosphors. Instead, they make use of homoepitaxially grown zinc selenide (ZnSe) on a ZnSe substrate. This allows emission of blue light from its active region and yellow light from the substrate at the same time.

It should be noted that LED efficacy can vary greatly. For example, low light output LEDs (such as for instruments and back lit displays) have a higher efficacy than bright ones. Efficacy also depends on the colour, as already stated.

White light from LEDs has already been possible for many years but early on, the resulting light was of poor quality and not very bright. The 'holy grail' of LED lighting technology is to produce a WLED that will eventually be bright enough and cheap enough to replace many conventional lamps.

LEDs are extremely compact. This means that to produce enough light for general lighting applications, they have to be made in clusters - usually called 'arrays'. Although LEDs are highly efficient, some heat is still produced, and in arrays, this heat will need to be conducted away. In fact, high output LEDs can produce a lot of heat, and for these, thermal management can be problematic in keeping the LEDs sufficiently cool to stay healthy.

Also, to achieve the best lighting performance from LEDs, dedicated fittings are necessary. This, in the long term, should be a significant benefit in itself, because there are major and exciting possibilities available to lighting designers and architects, as well as for end-users.

Semiconductors based upon special organic materials can also be used to make OLEDs. These hold great promise but are less highly developed, though some in the lighting industry think that OLEDs may be even more exciting longer term than 'conventional' LED lighting.

British-Gas-To-Cut-Prices

British Gas Finally To Cut Energy Prices...........

Did you turn up the heating as the snow fell on Thursday morning? If so, British Gas's announcement of its first cut in energy prices for seven years must have seemed perfectly timed (though the reductions don't actually take effect until 12 March).

Credit where credit is due. British Gas - which has lost 2.7m customers, 14 per cent of its client base, in the past three years - is making significant reductions to the price of both its gas and electricity, as well as introducing an even better deal for vulnerable customers on pre-payment meters. Gas bills will fall by 17 per cent, while electricity is coming down 11 per cent. That's a £167 annual saving for the typical customer who buys both from British Gas.

However, the figures are worth setting in context. The average household's total gas and electricity bill topped £1,000 for the first time last year, having risen 72 per cent since 2004.
Moreover, price cuts could have come sooner. All energy companies, led by British Gas, increased their prices throughout 2005 and the first half of 2006 because the cost of wholesale gas rose dramatically. Yet in the second half, prices collapsed in the wholesale gas market - crucial for the cost of both domestic gas and electricity - ending 2006 50 per cent lower.

Energy suppliers buy their gas in advance, so customers were never going to benefit immediately from the collapse. Yet consumer groups want to know what has taken suppliers so long.

Much to campaigners' irritation, at least part of the delay seems to stem from the six big energy providers jockeying for position. Before Thursday, British Gas had already promised to cut prices "in the spring" while one of its rivals, Scottish & Southern, said last week that it also intended to reduce bills, though it has not said when and by how much.
"We need to see some action rather than simply good intentions," says Georgina Walsh, of the consumer watchdog Energywatch. "Wholesale prices have been low for so long that bills should already be falling."

Analysis from TheEnergy Shop.com, a company that helps consumers switch energy provider, suggests suppliers have never had it so good. The company's founder, Joe Malinowski, believes British Gas's full-year results, to be published on 22 January, will show it made record profits in the second half of last year, having lost money during the first half.

Its best estimate is that customers are currently paying an average of around 2.8p for each kilowatt hour of gas, while suppliers are being charged around 1.2p on the wholesale market. The current price at British Gas is closer to 3.1p, TheEnergyShop.com reckons, or 2.3p if all costs other than acquiring the gas itself are stripped out.

Profit margins are just as robust in the electricity sector. The average domestic buyer pays more than 11p for each kilowatt hour of electricity. Around 4p of that is accounted for by suppliers' costs, other than the cost of generating electricity, which is now below 4p, following the fall in gas prices. So the typical customer is financing a 27 per cent margin for his or her supplier.

These figures suggest there is plenty of room for a price war. British Gas may have stolen a march on its rivals this week, but it is unlikely to be the only company delivering price cuts.
Jeff Slaughter, head of home services at online price comparison site uSwitch, wants British Gas's competitors to declare their hands. Consumers have lost out because energy suppliers have been watching each other, he says, rather than concentrating on customers.
"We'd like companies to be as specific as possible about what they're going to offer customers and when," he says. "The time for price cuts is now."

Every day that prices stay unnecessarily high causes more damage, critics argue. Especially as consumers are paying top dollar when they're using most energy - bills are always highest in the first quarter of the year.

To switch or not to switch?

* With energy providers playing a cat-and-mouse game on price cuts, customers have a dilemma. Should they change gas and electricity supplier straight away, or hope their current providers will cut prices by more than rivals in the months ahead?

* "There is a case for waiting to see whether a price war develops over the next few weeks," advises Joe Malinowski, of TheEnergyShop.com. "I think there will be better propositions available sooner rather than later."

* British Gas's price cuts make its prices for both gas and electricity much more attractive, for now at least. But if you're with British Gas, don't assume you're paying its best prices. Its Click Energy 2 tariff is now the cheapest dual fuel - gas and electricity combined - deal going in the UK, but most customers aren't getting it. The good news is that existing customers can switch to Click, if they do so via an online price comparison service.

* Malinowski is convinced that by 12 March, when British Gas's price cuts take effect, other providers will have followed suit - and that there will be plenty of cheaper deals. It's worth seeing who offers what before deciding on your switching tactics, he says, particularly as you can't get the new British Gas prices for a few weeks.

* In the meantime, this is the most expensive time of year for energy. It may be possible to save money even before the price cuts, if you're currently paying bills by cheque or cash. Switching to direct debit will get you an automatic price cut.

Googleplex-Goes-Solar

Google Enters the Energy Business

I read on the Google blog that they plan to begin installation of 1.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels (PV panels) at their Head Office in Mountain View, California. They reckon it will be ‘the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S., and think it’s one of the largest on any corporate site in the world’. But something puzzled me – do they have enough room for all those panels?
Apparently ‘The panels will cover the roofs of the four main buildings of the Googleplex, and also those of two additional buildings across the street. There will also be a portion of this installation on new solar panel support structures in a few parking lots. The amount of electricity that will be generated is equivalent to powering about 2,000 UK or 1,000 average California homes. 'We’ll use that electricity to power several of our Mountain View office facilities, offsetting approximately 30% of our peak electricity consumption at those buildings.’

You can see how much roof space they have available in this photograph I came across (from Google Earth). So I looked into how much space you’d need to generate 1.6 megawatts from solar PV panels. According to one set of calculations I found on a mail order PV panel site ‘Solar Solar’, Google are going to need 919 PV modules generating 185 watts each. This will cover 13,250 square feet or one third of an acre. The campus covers 22 acres, so it would seem that giving up 1.36% of that space in roofing and parking isn’t such a big deal.
For you or I the cost of 919 PV panels would be anything from £0.5 million to £5 million. For some reason prices in the UK are at the higher end. Luckily for Google, the California Energy Commission has a very good rebate system for homes and businesses, particularly if Google use a ‘Grid tie’ system – putting electricity into the grid during the day when the sun’s out (so the meter goes backwards) and drawing it back at night on an off peak or reduced rate. So it seems Google may now technically be entering the energy market. Googlejuice! Googlegreen!
I dare say it won’t be too long before we can see something demonstrating how many greenhouse emissions have been saved by Google’s solar move - like this one at the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Institute.

Homebrewpower.co.uk has recently undergone extensive redesign.
I hope the new layouts are much easier to navigate.
Please note the navigation links to the far right hand side of the website.
The Picture Album is now fully functional with ALL my work and progress so far, take a look and enjoy the fruits of my labour.

If you have surfed in on www.homebrewpower.co.uk then feel free to bookmark the website. The concept of homebrewpower is to provide you with an up to date portal rich in projects, files, info & pictures all related to creating sustainable, eco, green, carbon neutral heating & power in your backyard!

Main topics covered are as follows:

Micro CHP / CHAP creation & installation
Green power generation
Eco power generation
Energy saving practices, tips, hints & projects
IMAG Generators 1PH & 3PH
Alternative energy
Green Energy
Latest Eco projects and builds from around the world
Eco building products
Solar Panels Photovoltiacs
Solar heating


Enjoy & Have a good look around.

Andy Mahoney
Homebrewpower

February 2007 Homebrewpower-Magazine-Out-Now-£2.00-Instant-Download

February 2007 Homebrewpower Mag Out Now - £2.00 Instant Download


BUY IT NOW LINK http://tinyurl.com/3x7qu6

I am very pleased to announce that the February edition of Homebrewpower Magazine is now out.
It is a brand new monthly publication. If it reaches 2000 purchases then it will become my full time job and will give me the opportunity to bring you the latest news on Eco & Sustainable energy from the UK and around the world.

Please help me make this happen. I need interest from around the globe, I call on advertisers, sponsors, people & groups to purchase this months magazine.

If this works out I will be able to develop my hobby and magazine all year round and bring you the information you want each and every month. I have spent a full month every evening designing, writing, changing & researching Homebrewpower mag and hope this is a taster of things to come.

The more who purchase Homebrewpower Mag the bigger and better it will get.

Homebrewpower will bring you future info on the following.
M CHP Micro Combined Heating & Power Installation and systems (CHAP)
Solar PV
Solar Thermal
Alternative Energy
Hydro Power
Geo Thermal
Wind Turbine Installations
DIY Projects
Technical Advise
Case Studies
UK Reports
Site Visits
Help
On Test This Month
Startling Photography and Graphics
In The News
Plus Much Much More............

My future is in your hands.

Owner & Publisher Of Homebrewpower
Andy Mahoney

Proven-Grid-Tied-Downwind-Down-Wind-Turbine

I have just returned from a visit to a friend in Burnley (Lancashire) who has a 6KW grid tied Proven wind turbine! What an awesome site it was to see it working away in what I can only describe as gale force conditions that are hitting the UK right now!

I have decided to run my homebrew wind machine tonight in 24V mode and the power difference is scary. I was getting around 80W of power into my battery bank running the turbine at 12V but on 24V charging I am now sat here looking at in excess of 1KW! I guess letting the blades run away a little more makes a huge difference on the power output of the turbine!

Above are a couple of pictures from my visit this evening.

HomeBrewPower-Magazine-Launch

I would like to announce the brand new monthly magazine below!

BUY IT NOW LINK http://tinyurl.com/3x7qu6

Homebrewpower will be published online every month commencing February 2007. It is to become a benchmark Sustainable Living publication aimed at people interested in renewable, green, carbon neutral info. I am working very hard to ensure I bring the most interesting information to you each and every month.

I am currently allocating advertising slots at very realistic rates.

If you would like to advertise in the publication then please contact me on info@homebrewpower.co.uk and request a sample publication. Please note that only subject related advertisements will be considered.

Andy Mahoney

Solar-Hot-Water-Panels-DIY-Installation

Solar Water Project - My First Attempt

When I came across the idea of heating water with the sun I set out to purchase some Solar Water Heating Panels. As everything I do here on Homebrewpower is funded from the items I sell (Look at the For Sale Link to the right) then of course I could not afford to purchase new, nor would I have wanted to. I have a desire to see how things work for myself and never rest until I have my head around a project.

I purchased a couple of old solar collectors from www.ebay.co.uk for I seem to remember £100.00 for the pair. They were in a poor state and needed stripping and a little bit of homebrew style reconditioning to get them to work

The picture you see here is nothing more than a mock up at the bottom of my back garden to prove the technology would actually work!

They did but nothing like the solar evacuated tubes you can get now. I will post some info on them in the near future as I want to cover them for every ones benefit.

Andy M

DIY-Battery-Cubicle-Battery-Bank

Home Made Battery Cubicle!

This is my homebrew battery cubicle and inverter setup. The red batteries are Hawker SBS60's and above them is a set of Yuasa deep cycle UPS cells.

Between them they provide me with the power for my conservatory and also the downstairs lighting.

They are charged from a combination of solar, wind and Lister CS sources. The bank is 12VDC with around 1600AH (10 hour rating)

On the top of the battery cubicle I can monitor the charging coming from the wind generator (Amps and Volts) and the condition of the bank (Volts)

Over the December months (2006) We have had some very strong winds and they have given me the opportunity to see what my wind machine can do. It stood up to the battering without fault and I am confident I can create a larger set of rotors to harness more power. The PMDC motor I am using has much more power to give up!

Still not got around to De Coking the Lister yet as the weather is sat just above freezing here in West Yorkshire..... I am also awaiting a head gasket and no not want to split the head without taking the opportunity to replace the existing one as a matter of course!

Andy Mahoney