There are several categories of green energy (GE). They are anaerobic digestion, wind power, geothermal power, hydropower on a small scale, biomass power, solar power and wave power. Waste incineration can even be a source of green energy.
Nuclear power plants claim that they produce green energy as well, though this source is fraught with controversy, as we all know. While nuclear energy may be sustainable, may be considered renewable and does not pollute the atmosphere while it is producing energy, its waste does pollute the biosphere as it is released.
The transport, mining and phases before and after production of nuclear energy does produce and release carbon dioxide and similar destructive greenhouse gases. When we read of green energy, therefore, we rarely see nuclear power included.
Those who support nuclear energy say that nuclear waste is not, in fact, released into our earths biosphere during its normal production cycle. They stress as well that the carbon dioxide that nuclear energy production releases is comparable, in terms of each kilowatt hour of electricity, to such sources of GE as wind power.
As an example of the GE production the average wind turbine, such as the one in Reading England, can produce enough energy daily to be the only energy source for 1000 households.
Many countries now offer household and commercial consumers to opt for total use of green energy. They do this one of two ways. Consumers can buy their electricity from a company that only uses renewable green energy technology, or they can buy from their general supplies such as the local utility company who then buys from GE resources only as much of a supply as consumers pay for.
The latter is generally a more cost - efficient way of supplying a home or office with GE, as the supplier can reap the economic benefits of a mass purchase. Green energy generally costs more per kilowatt hour than standard fossil fuel energy.
Consumers can also purchase green energy certificates, which are alternately referred to as green tags or green certificates. These are available in both Europe and the United States, and are the most convenient method for the average consumer to support green energy. More than 35 million European households and one million American households now buy these GE certificates.
While GE is a great step in the direction of keeping our environment healthy and our air as pollutant free as possible, it must be noted that no matter what the energy, it will negatively impact the environment to some extent.
Every energy source, green or otherwise, requires energy. The production of this energy will create pollution during its manufacture. Green energys impact is minimal, however.
Green home building is all the rage in America today, and many people do not realize that green home building practices have been in play for decades in Europe. We have many technologies that are just emerging in the United States that seem to be new and innovate...they are not. Green home building is usually discussed in such a way that people marvel about these new technologies, but they are really only new to us. In Europe, for example, there is a building material called Autoclave Aerated Concentrate, or AAC, which has been used in new construction for years. According to GreenHomeBuilding,com, this substance is fire proof, highly insulating, and lightweight. It can be easily transported in large quantities, which will conserve fuel. Additionally, AAC is made of water, sand, cement, lime, and aluminum powder. Eighty percent of the AAC is made up of air, which is the main ingredient. The most important benefit is the fact that its production does not produce any byproducts. Builders have been using this building material in Germany for almost a century; however, it was introduced in the United States in 1996 and still is not widely accepted. An additional green home building material that is used widely in Europe but not in the United States is the Wood Fiber Board. This type of board is created from the wood chip waste which is a byproduct of sawmills. According to GreenHomeBuilding.com, these boards are free of allergens and they do not emit any toxins during their manufacture. They are cheap to make, durable, and totally compostable. They are not used much in the United States. We prefer cutting more trees, I guess.. It seems as though we prefer not using something we already have, but rather wasting to create new products. Europe is by far more advanced then we are when it comes to green home building practices. They have been doing these things for about one hundred years, so for Europeans, there is nothing new or innovative about green home building; it is a way of life. We have a long way to go, but we are finally in the right frame of mind here in the United States to begin conserving resources... I just hope it is not too late.
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