The Budget Room

In a nutshell, ‘Green Energy’ utilises natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat to provide our daily energy requirement. ‘Green’ basically means that all the energy is renewable. It is easy to think that we may be travelling back in time when we think of items such as wind power and windmills. But in the main, this is the process of utilising modern technology to provide eco-efficient and planet-friendly alternatives.

The home can use a range of new ideas to help with energy usage – including Solar Thermal and Solar Water Heating Collectors. For electricity created through roof-installed panels, you would need Photovoltaic Panels or PV’s. Biomass Energy is the next phase, and this involves Fuel, Pellets, Stoves and Boilers burning Wood. What shouldn’t be forgotten is the heat stored in the ground from the Sun – often simply referred to as Ground Source Heat Pumps. When we think about Wind Power and Hydropower we have two of the more common forms of energy generation.

Thermal Energy Systems: This technology is based around two core types of system. Making hot water from solar energy is the first stage – and is known as Solar Water Heating Collection. Solar Electrical panels or Photovoltaic heat collectors transfer solar radiation into electricity. To get the best results these panels need to be south facing at an angle of around 30 degrees from horizontal, and away from blockages.

Within this discipline, Solar Water Power is often regarded as the most popular form of Solar Energy within the UK. Solar Water heating systems can provide over 50 percent of a household’s hot water requirement during the year. The cost of fitting depends on whether you do it yourself (500 to 1500 pounds) or whether you get a professional fitter – in which case it will cost between 2-5k overall.

Biomass Energy Based Systems: Including all natural energy forms derived from plant and animal products – such as wood, straw, poultry litter and ‘energy crops’. As such, this is a very versatile material and can be engineered to produce heat, electricity and a combination of heat and power in the form of electricity. Indeed, within the European Markets, the UK has some of the leading levels of Biomass material at hand. It is the minimal C02 produced, alongside the actual energy production, that makes this attractive to the markets. Much of the UK wood crop is sustainable, in order to ensure that C02 produced during any heating process is absorbed.

A process called Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), utilising trees such as Willow and Poplar, is used to meet the demands of such ‘Energy Crops’. Of equal importance is the ability to produce dry matter – and perennial grasses are very good for this. Within this process also sits the lesser known Agricultural and Municipal Wastes. Under normal agricultural activity, agricultural waste is a natural by-product. Municipal Waste such as food or wood can also be utilised as a biomass product.

Systems Using Geo-Thermal Energy – The constant energy of the Sun heating the Earth results in both warm water and electricity being produced. Using the ground temperature of around 12 degrees in the UK – we can both heat and cool buildings. Heat pumps are recognised as a very good form of power generation, generally giving back four units of energy for every one used. Utilising the energy generated from wind turbines and solar electrical panels alongside heat source pumps, can make them alomst 100 percent renewable.

Systems Based On Wind Energy: As an energy source, wind energy has to be one of the oldest forms of energy creation in history. Where the local power grid demands it, energy can be diverted and sold there. In fact, the UK has the largest wind resource within Europe. Although, within the UK we currently only utilise 1 percent of electricity from wind, yet the potential rests at a surprising 10 percent. Overall, electricity could be generated from as low as 2p per kWh – instead of the current 2-10 p per kWh. Due to this, we are looking at 6-9 months in total to cover the costs.

Hydropower is a method that suits the UK energy production system. The field of using moving water to release energy is a very old technique – albeit we now do this in new ways. That said, this type of energy can generate around 2 percent of the total electrical demand for the UK.

Using a turbine, a Hydropower system can transform the energy of water into other forms. No water reservoirs are required – as the turbines either run through a water drop-off system or the natural power of the river. Alternatively, ‘Micro-Hydro’ systems use hitherto outdated sluices and dams to generate electricity. Having said that, this process could still generate 200mW of the National Capacity. Between 200 pounds and 3k per KW of energy output, is a good estimate of the overall cost of a project such as this.

Due to the energy requirements worldwide, ‘Green Energy’ is naturally growing at a fast rate. To be fair, the UK domestic market is actually leading the resurgence, with a variety of schemes.

With the rise in demand for domestic installations, both Electricians and Plumbers are well placed to take advantage of this technology. It is the political view of this type of energy generation that results in grants and financial aid becoming ever-more prevalent. Getting the right qualifications can often provide job security in a new field such as this. Electrical or plumbing training that incorporates green technology could be very useful for the future.

Author: Scott Edwards. Browse around Electrical Training Courses or electricianstrainingcourses.co.uk.