Archive for October, 2011
Achieving sustainability: going green at home
Sustainability entails protecting both the environment and the economy by using of natural resources and technology prudently. It does not mean the government has to impose socially disruptive regulations. While reasonable governmental initiatives can certainly facilitate sustainability, how likely will that happen in the current partisan atmosphere? Some politicians want the government to do more for the environment. Others demand that it do less. We, the public, don’t need to wait for the federal government. We can all begin (or continue) to go green at home.
For just one example among many, think of the products we use to keep our homes clean. Within living memory, people cleaned with common products such as vinegar and baking soda. Then businesses began promoting specialized cleaners: some for windows, some for wooden furniture, some for countertops, some for dishes, and so on. They advertised that these newer cleaners worked better and were more pleasant to use. So everybody started using them.
Tags: environmental consequences, going green at home, governmental initiatives, sewage treatment plants, vinegar and baking soda
The Newest Wind Energy Technology: The WindPipe
John R. Tuttle has come up with a new kind of wind energy technology that may just change the future of wind power forever. Tuttle’s WindPipe does not resemble traditional wind turbines as there are no long blades or rotating power generator. In fact, there are no rotating parts to Tuttle’s WindPipe at all!
Tuttle’s WindPipe looks similar to a funnel connected to a pipe with a horn-like wind capture head at one end. Tuttle’s prototype can be mounted vertically, horizontally or at just about any angle. “WindPipe technology is truly different’, says Tuttle, “because it does not require propeller blades and can be laid on its side or any other angle, it can be used not only in traditional wind farm tower arrays, but inside buildings and even underground with air ducted in from the winds above. Wind capture does not have to be circularly shaped as with spinning propeller blades, capture can be rectangular or any other shape with the air then ducted to the energy converter system for direct energy conversion to electricity.”
Tags: clean renewable energy, direct energy conversion, tuttle inc, wind energy technology, wind turbines