Posted in Renewables

What are the Benefits of Renewable Energy Use?

Renewable energy, or clean energy, comes for natural processes that are regularly replenished. For example – sunlight and wind.

The sun keeps shining and the wind keeps blowing. Many people think of renewable energy as a new technology, but in fact, we have been using it for a long time for lighting, heating, and transportation. It is true that people have been using cheaper but dirty energy like coal or gas for the last five hundred years. However, now that scientists have found less expensive methods of capturing wind and solar energy, tables are turning. Renewable energy is booming and what is most important, people are starting to understand its benefits. So, without further ado, here is how we can benefit from renewable energy use.

Less Global Warming

Human activity is overwhelming and burdening our atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other emissions. Because of it, we have incessant storms, sea-level rise, drought, extinction, and many other extremely harmful impacts. In contrast, renewable energy does not have any emissions that are harmful to the atmosphere. This is because renewable energy comes from green and clean sources. So, if we turn to using renewable energy, we will be saving our atmosphere and our planet, that is, we will be responding to global warming. Not to mention, we will keep our environment safer and cleaner for generations to come.

Inexhaustible Source of Energy

Renewable energy will just not run out. And that is one of its strongest benefits. This cannot be said for fuel, gas, and coal. Even now, it is getting hard to obtain them, and it will probably be even harder in the future. However, fast-moving water, heath from the earth, strong winds and sunny skies are always going to be here for us. And they will provide a constant supply of energy. By using these inexhaustible sources of energy we will be more independent.

Improves Public Health

Health is the most important thing. But, we are affecting and damaging our health with pollution. Pollution affects everyone; there is no doubt in that. By constant use of coal and gas plants, we are polluting air and water, which then creates breathing problems, heart attacks, cancer, premature death, and numerous other diseases. But, by using clean and renewable energy we can stabilise the greenhouse effect, improve the quality of water we drink and the air we breathe. This will not only improve public health but also save many lives as well. People are slowly starting to understand the benefits of living in a ‘clean’ country. So, should you decide to relocate overseas, make sure that you are moving to a place that is using renewable sources.

Gives Independence

Renewable energy helps people and households gain morWhat are the Benefits of Renewable Energy Use?e independence. It is self-generated and as such helps people become independent from the coal-powered energy. By installing solar panels on your home or business, you instantly reduce your dependence on electricity and all the fees that come with it. Moreover, any solar energy that you generated but did not use, is sent back to the utility company. You can also install batteries and become even more independent as they will collect and store all the solar energy which you can use later on when your power usage overtakes what your solar panels are generating. By doing this, we are helping build a more sustainable world.

Saves Money

Using renewable energy will definitely help you save money in the long run. You only have to pay for the initial cost of construction and setup, and the whole thing will quickly begin to pay for itself. You will also save money on maintenance and operating costs as well. This is because you do not have to pay for the refuel. Sunshine is bountiful and we can easily capture it with solar panels. The same goes for wind and other sources of renewable energy. They are free. As previously mentioned, the only investment is to create a facility where energy power will be converted into electricity. This first investment might seem expensive, but soon, you will realise that you are saving anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Creates Jobs

Renewable energy creates more jobs as it is more labor-intensive than fossil fuel sources of energy. Just think about it. People need to install solar panels, and technicians need to maintain them. This applies to all renewable energy technologies. Today, thousands of people are working for this industry and according to some research, by 2030 even more people will be employed, that is, approximately 24 million people. And, increased support for renewable energy may create even more job positions. Two biggest renewable energy industries are the wind and the solar industry.

  • The wind industry needs a variety of employees. For example, in 2016, more than 100,000 people were hired to work in manufacturing, construction and turbine installation, project creation and development, transportation, logistics, finances, legal and consulting services, and many more. Moreover, many new factories are being open every day.
  • The solar industry is one of the biggest ones and it employs the biggest number of people. This industry employed more than 260,000 people in 2016.

 Lower Reliance on Foreign Energy Sources

Another benefit or renewable energy and its industries is that it can be produced locally and lower the reliance on foreign energy sources. Nowadays, the usage of fossil fuels is the most common. Even though it is polluting the atmosphere. The USA approximately imports 57% of fossil fuels from other countries in the Gulf. That is a lot of ‘dirty’ energy, which costs a lot as well. That is why by using renewable energy and reducing the dependency of fossil fuels can save both the economy and the environment.

This article was kindly written and contributed by Sally Norton.

Green homes give glimpse of renewable hydrogen future

Imagine a house where all the electricity is generated by rooftop solar.

Now imagine that, in addition, the stove, hot water and heating systems are all powered by the leftover energy.

It sounds like an emission-free pipedream, but the technology may be one step closer with the launch of a $3.3 million pilot project in Perth’s south.

Canadian gas giant ATCO is building a micro-grid at its Jandakot base, which will convert solar power into hydrogen fuel.

The micro-grid will use 1,100 solar panels to produce electricity, which will either power ATCO’s buildings or be diverted into battery storage.

Any leftover electricity will be used to power an electrolyser, which splits oxygen from hydrogen using water and an electric charge.

The oxygen is released, while the so-called “green” hydrogen is captured and stored.

The micro-grid will then divert the hydrogen in two ways — into a fuel cell for back-up power or into the reticulated natural gas network, to create a “greener”, lower-carbon fuel.

Blended natural gas and hydrogen fuels are already used in other countries and ATCO plans to test different blends at its operations.

‘A very local’ solution to energy storage

ATCO Australia managing director Pat Creaghan said the micro-grid offered the potential for large-scale recycling of excess solar power.

“It is a mixture of different technologies that we’re bringing together from some existing technologies to get a sense of how we operate in the future,” Mr Creaghan said.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) contributed $1.5 million in funding towards the project.

ARENA chief executive Ivor Frischknecht said blending hydrogen with natural gas could help solve the challenge of energy storage.

“If you think about having a system that runs completely on wind and solar, which I think we will within a few decades … there’s going to be a big storage requirement and we need that across a variety of different storage mechanisms,” Mr Frischknecht said.

“If you have a lot of rooftop solar, for example, the electricity network can’t deal with a lot of rooftop solar being fed into it.

“You could potentially, on a very local level, turn some of that electricity into hydrogen and store it.”

While blended natural gas and hydrogen fuels are used overseas, it remains to be seen whether Australia’s gas pipelines will be able to transport them.

“Some of the existing natural gas lines are ready for it and some need some work before they will be,” Mr Frischknecht said.

The micro-grid is expected to produce its first hydrogen by the first quarter of 2019.

Originally Published by ABC, continue reading here.

2018 Program Available for Download

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference Program is now available online.

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.  The sustainability topics that will be embraced include integration, politics, technology, automation, future of renewables, procurement, food security, sustainable construction and waste as a resource.

Featured Speakers for 2018 include:

  • Mr Lucas Cullen, Board Member, Blockchain Association of Australia
  • Dr Helen Lewis, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney & Environmental Consultant, Helen Lewis Research
  • Mr Chris Nunn, Head of Sustainability, Real Estate, AMP Capital
  • Mr Tony Roberts, Deputy Director-General, Environmental Policy and Planning, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
  • Ms Kate Wakeling, State Community Manager – Queensland, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
  • Ms Simone Looi-Britton, Sustainability & Public Policy General Manager, Veolia Australia and New Zealand
  • Mr Jon Westover, Managing Director – Global Operations, Jurlique International
  • Dr Kate Ringvall, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Australia
  • Ms Emma Herd, CEO, Investor Group for Climate Change

Click here to download the conference program.

Visit the 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference website for further information and to register today!

Bunch of Old Bananas or Building Materials of the Future?

Potatoes reborn as insulation, peanuts processed into partition boards and mushroom bricks that grow in five days – just some of the ways the building trade could change its wasteful ways and construct virtuous new cities.

Bunch of old bananas or building materials of the future?

Photo: article supplied

In a report released on Wednesday, international engineering firm Arup set out novel ways for an industry that devours raw materials to cut waste.

“We need to move away from our ‘take, use, dispose’ mentality,” Guglielmo Carra, European lead for materials consulting at Arup, said in a statement.

“What we need now is for the industry to come together to scale up this activity so that it enters the mainstream.”

Arup said common organic food waste such as bananas, potatoes and peanut shells could be refigured into building materials to cut food waste and lower carbon emissions.

The global construction industry is one the world’s largest users of raw materials, with cement production alone responsible for an estimated 5 percent of carbon emissions, more than the airline industry.

Countries such as India are pushing to create “green homes” while aluminium smelters are responding to the demands of regulators and developers to produce low-carbon materials.

Traditionally, food waste is managed through landfill, incineration and composting. But the design and engineering firm said if food waste could be diverted and reused, it could become a key architectural resource.

Waste not

More than 40 million tonnes of dried organic waste from agriculture and forestry were produced in Europe in 2014, according to Arup, with the amount growing each year.

Along with using food waste, the report explored the creation of novel building materials such as mushroom bricks that take five days to grow and cultivated micro-algae facades, along with manufacturing processes that use 3D printing.

About a third of food produced around the world is never eaten because it is spoiled after harvest and in transportation, or thrown away by shops and consumers.

The report by Arup is part of a wider bid to encourage the so-called “circular economy” across the construction industry.

This was originally published by Eco Business.

Click here to read the entire article.

New Printed Batteries To Transform Australian Renewables

Solar panels could soon be made with their own embedded battery storage in what is an Australian global first.

Batteries would be laminated to the back of the panels and deliver “in-built” storage, making it eventually standard for them to deliver energy day or night as required.

It’s one of several plans for ultra-thin, flexible screen-printed batteries that could eventuate within three years and offer new opportunities for manufacturing.

Currently companies such as Tesla and South Australia’s Redflow offer solar panel and battery solutions, but the batteries are separate entities. If this idea takes hold, printed-on storage could be part of an ordinary solar panel.

printed batteries

Photo: article supplied

Because they can be printed in any shape, printed batteries could also power electronic skin treatment patches and other wearable technology.

The project is being undertaken by Printed Energy Pty Ltd, an investee company within the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund, in collaboration with two of Australia’s leading universities in the field of energy storage and materials science, the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales.

Printed Energy is the principal financial backer. It is providing $1.5 million in direct funding for the project, and $6 million in-kind assistance.

Trevor St Baker, founder of ERM Power and the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund, said printed batteries could transform everyday life.

“Unlike traditional batteries, the printed battery can be any shape required for the specific application, such as wearable electronics and medical and healthcare products such as skin treatment patches,” he said.

“It’s literally the printing of solid state batteries in a thin, flexible format that can be adapted to almost any shape.”

He said printed batteries would transform solar generation from day time energy generation to night time energy delivery.

The $12 million project has also received another shot in the arm: a $2 million grant from the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects scheme.

University of NSW Dean Mark Hoffman hailed the breakthrough as delivering the missing piece of the puzzle for renewable energy.

“The world is crying out for storage solutions, and this partnership has the potential to deliver on that urgent need. What’s exciting is that this technology also has immediate applications in wearables and small-scale devices.”

Chris Greig, director of The University of Queensland Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation and the UQ Energy Initiative is enthused about how the technology could transform Australian manufacturing.

This article was originally published by The Australian.

Click here to read the entire article.