Enviromental Protection Blog

Nowadays you will find most of the homes in UK, equipped with solar panel. It is one of the best ways by, which one can cut down his electricity bills and also converse energy. The other benefits of solar panel include it being the best eco friendly way of making and utilizing energy and it also is cost effective. But in order to fully utilize the solar panel you have to go through the Solar Panels UK buyers’ guide, as it has all the information about the solar panel, and how it should be used to achieve maximum efficiency.

These Solar Panel UK buyers guide are available online, and hence you can check them out and get informed about how these solar panels should be mounted, which type of solar cells is best for you, what are the different affordable options of solar panel, how to calculate the exact amount of energy you utilize and lots of other similar questions. These guides will also help you acquire the knowledge of solar panels and how they are maintained or handled. Solar panel is the best option till date, which can drastically lower your power bill, so wait no more and go through these amazing buyers guide as soon as possible.

David Suntin of Trending Today.

According to a few different reports, consumer spending has risen slightly and unemployment rates remain at a steady 9.1 percent. However, there has been a pretty consistently downward trend in regards to the state of the current U.S. Economy. Aside from some of our government’s more recent budget plans, there are many different ways in which we can advance forward through this financial crisis, starting with sustainability.

Folks like Dan Zwirn and Darrell M. West look toward clean technologies. In their report on sovereign wealth funds, they claim that the rebuilding of the American economy is reliant on a few different things, including that of the incorporation of green banks. However, Mr. Dan Zwirn goes on to say that the problem with financial investment, particularly in that of green banks, is lack of funding.

They’re proposed solution is foreign capital from GPIs (Global Public Investors) as the main stimulant for keeping these in play, aside from the obvious role the government would have in providing financial reinforcement.

Inherently true as well is the fact that more green jobs would emerge. Green Banks are very insistent upon hiring certified sustainable professionals in various fields of clean and alternative energies, along with infrastructure. For instance, many of their loan officers are LEED certified.

Green banks are typically focused on long-term growth prospects, including that of clean tech investment. This could include anything from wind farms to bio fuels. There are many financial institutions set up already that tend to facility needs in regards to energy efficiency. In one particular piece published by the Guardian, the author states that their government backed GIB (Green Investment Bank) might just be “the turning point in the UK…” Yet, there was still an issue of funds, and when exactly the bank could start borrowing.

Nevertheless, it’s still a very practical option for enhancing and hopefully creating some viability in a plan to pull the economy out of this hole that it’s currently in. By
promoting investment in green banks, we’re also supporting the incorporation of all things green, including that of jobs, alternative energies, deforestation, conservation,
infrastructure, and more.

I’m a huge fan of rechargeable batteries. I’ve been using them since the late 1980s. At the time, it was to keep from spending enormous amounts of cash on batteries for my boom box. Now I use them in everything I can. And rechargeable batteries have come a long way since Ni-Cad (nickel cadmium) batteries were introduced. I’ve since graduated to NiMH (nickel metal hydride) for my portable electronics that use standard size batteries like AAA, AA, C, and D.

Whenever possible, I choose electronics that actually use standard size batteries, particularly my digital camera, a Fuji Finepix S1000, which uses 4 AA batteries. This means I can keep 2-3 sets of rechargeable AAs hanging around ready to go as back up. Of course, this doesn’t preclude me from using regular, one-shot batteries. I keep those in case of emergencies and for my smoke detectors!

Rechargeable battery packs aren’t new. I have one for my Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop. However, finding a quality, universal rechargeable battery pack isn’t easy. And you still have to plug them into the grid. What about accessing a renewable energy source directly, like solar? (a wind powered portable charger would be an interesting feat of technology!)

Now, I haven’t purchased a personal solar charger yet. I find that when I’m on the go, in the middle of the day, I’m not going to be in the position to leave my netbook, battery charger, cell phone or other portable electronics sitting in the sun, out in the open; not to mention the damage direct sunlight may cause.

Here comes the Energizer Bunny to the rescue with solar powered energy for on the go!

The Energizer® Energi To Go® SP solar driven power pack (see photos below) offers another option. It’s small enough to take with you, so you can leave it in the window of your car to charge up while you’re doing other things or let your office lights do the charging for you. Not enough light? You can also use the AC adapter to plug it in.

Need a charge? Plug in the unit and away you go.

Unfortunately, neither the SP1000 or SP2000 are powerful enough to charge your netbook. For netbooks and laptops you have to turn to the Energi To Go® XP AC power packs, XP8000 (netbooks only) or XP18000 (both netbooks and laptops)

For day 36 of our carbon fast we were thrown way outside MY comfort zone!

The suggestion read “Consider giving up your car. The General Manager of Boston’s MBTA just gave up his and now uses a ZipCar when he needs an automobile.”

Well good for him, I commend him, I really do, but this is NOT for me.

A Zipcar is not an easy thing to find in the villages of England and the bus service isn’t exactly brilliant. It’s a scary thought though, to realise how dependent I am on this old lump of steel.

I can’t shop without it. How totally NON independent is that?

Sure I grow some food, but not enough to eat 365 days a year. it’s a sobering thought to realise just how reliant I am on my vehicle and now I’m going to direct you to an excellent post which says it all.

Over on Eco Crap, Argentum Vulgaris sold his car 19 years ago and he hasn’t looked back.

He tells me that my reliance on my car is all in my head and that I don’t need one. He then goes on to say that this challenge isn’t a challenge to be green, it’s a challenge in survival. This terrifies me, I have to admit.

Spring is the perfect time to prepare your garden for the oncoming growing season and tidy up after the winter months. Make your garden as colourful as a flower shop and plant your own summer flowering plants and shrubs in borders and beds so you don’t need to buy flowers online or visit a flower shop for special occasions.

Mulch flowerbeds, dress with top soil and fertilise to nourish plants throughout the coming months. Once you have prepared the soil, add a splash of colour with some early flowering bedding plants. Pansies, violas and primroses are great for brightening up spring pots and borders and violas often last right through the summer as well.

There is still a chance of frost during March, so make sure delicate plants are protected or covered through to April. Don’t transfer bedding plants to the garden until the weather warms up and there is no likelihood of a sudden night time temperature drop.

Bulbs should be starting to appear and that’s an indicator that weeds will also begin to crop up shortly after. Remove moss from driveways and paths before it gets established and pull up weeds as soon as they break through making sure you get the root as well as the leaves.

Cut down perennials that have been left to stand over winter and prune back shrubs, roses and fruit trees before they bud. Harshly cut back shrubs such as hydrangeas for compact growth and dense flowers in the summer. Spray roses to protect from mildew and black spot once a fortnight throughout the spring and summer months.

Laurel, yew and box hedges thrive when planted in the spring so if you are planning a new hedge, this is the best time to make a start on the project. You should also plant out conifers and evergreens in the spring.

Prune and then protect fruit trees and bushes with netting to keep birds and bugs away later in the year. Seed bare patches on lawns but wait until the grass dries out completely after winter before attempting to cut it. Mow your lawn using the highest blade setting for the first cut of the season and cut on a lower setting each week as the weather improves.

Peas, carrots, broad beans and early potatoes can be sown throughout March and April. Sow drifts of summer flowering seeds so that you have a constant supply of flowers to cut from your garden instead of having to buy flowers online or visit a flower shop.

Representative Doc Hastings, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, is introducing a long-overdue bill designed to increase domestic oil production by overturning the Obama administration’s de-facto moratorium on new offshore oil and gas exploration and production that has been in place since the Deepwater Horizon blowout last year.

Hastings is introducing a packet of three bills and the House plans on taking up the bills perhaps as early as 5/5/11. The bills would, in short, reopen the Gulf of Mexico to drilling, open lease sales off the coast of Virginia and expedite the permitting of new drilling. These bills, in my opinion, do not go far enough, but they are a great start.

Claims that increasing domestic supply would not affect world price are simply wrong. Increased domestic supply would help reduce prices in two ways. First – and this the first day of first year economics – increasing supply of a good in short demand tends to reduce prices. Second, new oil supplies, particularly from the U.S., would have an inordinate impact on the world market. Uncertainty due to the ongoing unrest in the Middle East is a significant factor in the current high prices. Though an additional 2 million barrels a day from ANWR and the OCS would only be a drop in the bucket of world oil demand, because it is coming from the stable U.S. it would reduce the uncertainty that impacts global oil prices. Just holding the lease sales and granting the permits to drill, long before any oil flows, would tell the market that medium and long-term help is on the way. This would have an outsized moderating influence on high prices and the volatility in the market – beyond that the simple addition of the oil would have. As I’ve stated before, in commodities markets, where oil comes from counts.

Aside from its affect on prices, new oil production would also help reduce the federal budget deficit and, perhaps, moderate some of the budget cuts facing coastal states. A recent paper by my friend and colleague Rob Bluey explores the fiscal impact of the current offshore oil moratorium.

Bluey points out, based on Obama administration actions and statements, that 2011 could be the first year since 1965 that the federal government did not sell any leases in the Gulf. And this at a time of declining production from existing wells — the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects a decline of 240,000 barrels per day in oil production from existing production in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

The result: the government will collect less less in rent, royalties, lease payments and taxes. How much takes one’s breath away. Offshore leases currently generate more than $200 million in rent payments per year. In addition to lease payments, oil companies pay an 18.75 percent royalty to the federal government on the oil produced. With oil currently trading above $100 a barrel, that equals $4.7 million in lost revenue each day. If the government’s own projections are accurate, that would amount to $1.7 billion this year. Royalties, leases and rent make up a sizable amount of revenue each year. In 2008, the offshore industry paid $237 million in rent, $8.3 billion in royalties and $9.4 billion for bids on new leases. By comparison, last year those numbers dropped, while rent increased modestly to $245 million, royalties fell by more than half, to $4 billion, and lease bids fell by approximately 90 percent to just $979 million. This year, if no leases are offered, lease bids will fall to zero – from 9.4 billion to zero in just three years.

Will Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson make a back door move to ban lead bullets the day before the November 2 elections?
Environmental Protection Agency Reviewing Petition to Ban Lead Bullets

Several environmentalist groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) are petitioning the EPA to ban lead bullets and shot (as well as lead sinkers for fishing) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Although EPA is barred by statute from controlling ammunition, CBD is seeking to work farther back along the manufacturing chain and have EPA ban the use of lead in bullets and shot because non-lead alternatives are available. But here’s the catch: the alternatives to lead bullets are more expensive. A ban on the sale of lead ammunition would force hunters and sport shooters to buy non-lead ammunition that is often double the cost of traditional lead ammunition. A box of deer hunting bullets in a popular caliber could be upwards of $55.

Nissan has been marketing the Leaf as the Green Car for everybody, so it has got to irritate the Nissan Company that the Chevy Volt won the award for the “World Car”. The Nissan Leaf did win the 2011 World Title, but the Chevy Volt won on the “Green” designation. This may cause Nissan to slightly alter their advertising.

Winning the “World Car” award as well as finishing second in for the “Green” award should bring more attention to the Nissan Leaf as well as the Chevy Volt. The more people that begin buying environmentally friendly cars will help to drive the price of this car and auto insurance Ontario down, allowing more people to buy environmentally friendly cars. The more people driving cars like these will help the environment, so events such as the World Car Awards that help bring environmentally friendly cars to the forefront is a great thing for out world.

More importantly than the environmental awards, is simply showing that “green’ cars such the Nissan Leaf can also be fun cars. No longer are all hybrids and electric cars considered underpowered and not feasible in the real world. The Nissan Leaf earned the World Car Award, as well as potentially millions of dollars worth of free press over the event.

The Nissan Leaf was a great pick for the Car of the Year award, but it will be very interesting to see if they can retain the title next year or if another car such as the Chevy Volt is able to surpass the Nissan Leaf.

Throughout the years, the NCPA has chronicled various ways government policies intended to protect the environment have precisely the opposite effect, causing worse environmental problems than the issues they were intended to prevent or correct.

We’ve documented how Federal land management has created a tinderbox on National Forests (wiping out forests and killing people) in the West and harmed wildlife on public lands nationwide. We’ve pointed out how federal fisheries policies are contributing to the near collapse of the Ocean fisheries. In addition, I have written concerning how national energy policies on offshore drilling, wind power and ethanol are, causing a variety of environmental and human harms.

Today, however, I want to focus on policies a little closer to home, your home, my home, everyone’s home. Federal policies aimed and energy and resource efficiency are unfortunately wasting resources and in some instances literally killing people – yet the feds, rather than staying out of our bathrooms and our kitchens want to increase their control over our everyday purchases.

The Department of Energy, in its infinite wisdom, has decided it knows how much energy your refrigerator’s freezer should use in creating ice cubes. It wants to force a decrease in the amount of energy refrigerators use in making ice. What’s the harm you say? First, why should the government tell you how much energy you can use to chill your drinks, if you are willing to pay the power bill, it’s none of their business. Second, in reality, every time the government raises efficiency standards all manner of unintended negative consequences result – including, often, increased energy use. When the government forces conservation, it reduces it makes energy cheaper and when energy is cheaper, people use more of it. Increasing auto fuel economy, years of experience show, hasn’t decreased gasoline use since making driver cheaper has encouraged people to drive more. In addition, corporate average fuel economy standards have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths on the nation’s highway – fuel efficient cars are, on average, less safe at any speed than larger vehicles.

Increase television and computer energy efficiency and people buy bigger TV’s and computer screens and leave them on or in stand-by mode rather than shutting them off. In addition, these refrigerators will be much more expensive meaning people will keep their older, less efficient units longer – repairing them rather than replacing them. The divide between rich and poor even enters into the realm of appliance purchases.

Remember when government decided to regulate our toilet flushes. At one time, we had water guzzling but effective, long-lasting (no planned obsolescence for good old American made toilets of by-gone years – they last forever) toilets. The Federal government knew better, it mandated toilets that used less water per flush. These toilets proved often to be messy disasters. They stopped up and backed up far too often. Often it took (still takes) multiple flushes to do the job that only took one flush on the old toilets. Multiple flushes and increased complexity often increased the rate at which the new toilets broke and had to be replaced. Multiple flushes also meant far less water was saved than expected. People hated the new toilets so much that a thriving black market arose in good-old five-gallon toilets scavenged from trailers and mobile homes scheduled for destruction. Only government has the hubris to believe they know best how the average American should use the john.

Eco Gardening –Everyone can help.

There are many occasions throughout the year that warrant a gift of some sort, to acknowledge the importance of the recipient, to the giver. Not least of which is mothers day, when many family members choose to send flowers. In Victorian times the flowers selected often relayed a message, such as rosemary for remembrance and roses for love. Today, although the subtlety of meaning is lost, flowers are selected for their beauty and are given to simply say ‘Thank You’, ‘I love you’ or just to lift spirits in what could be considered troubled times.

It is for much the same reason that many people take up gardening, to relieve the stresses of everyday life and on a practical level to attempt to lessen the impact of the threatened global consequences of modern living. There are many things that can be done in the garden to lessen the impact on the environment, such as using reusable containers for planting out or selecting bio-degradable options. Collecting rain water runoff into water butts, for watering the garden or using ‘grey water’ (used washing or bath water), as long as biodegradable detergents or soaps have been used. Not using peat products, as peat bogs are a dwindling and irreplaceable resource as well as being an important part of the natural ecosystem.

It is for this reason that many people are questioning how the flowers they purchase, for say a mothers day gift, have been grown. Do the growers use chemical fertilizers and pesticides? Do the growers actively protect the environment? How far have the flowers had to travel before they can be purchased by the consumer as a mothers day gift? It is not always easy to find out which countries send flowers abroad for sale on mothers day. It is always best to shop around when looking to get flowers delivered.

Researchers are working hard to develop plant varieties that are pest and drought resistant to eliminate the need for the use of chemical pesticides. Alternatively, others are looking into the use of natural predators to eliminate common pests. Customers who are eco conscious are actively making the decision to purchase or send flowers that have been grown by grower’s that are prepared to farm in a responsible, eco friendly way. So when purchasing flowers for an important occasion this year, consider the influence you can have on the way gardeners and companies run their businesses. This is a problem that affects everyone and even a small change could be a change for the better.