Alternative Energy - The Increasing Use of Liquefied Natural Gas

Alternative energy article
The Increasing Use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by Chris Jent

When natural gas is cooled at normal pressure to about -260°F, it condenses into a liquid form known as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG takes up about one six hundredth the volume of gaseous natural gas making it very efficient to transport. When it is necessary to transport natural gas energy to stranded or mountainous destinations, shipping it as LNG is much more practical. The absence of a pipeline infrastructure to these areas make direct connection of small gas utilities to the pipeline grid impractical.

Liquefied Natural Gas when vaporized to gaseous form, will burn in concentrations of between only 5 and 15 percent mixed with air. Another advantage is that LNG, or any vapor associated with it, will not explode in an unconfined environment. In the unlikely event of an LNG spill, the natural gas has little chance of igniting an explosion. The process of turning natural gas into a liquid form removes from it, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sulfur, and water, resulting in almost pure methane. LNG is a clean fuel and a safe fuel.

Liquefied Natural Gas is usually transported in specialized tankers with insulated walls. The process of auto refrigeration in these tankers is used in which the LNG is kept at its boiling point, so that any heat additions are countered by the energy lost from LNG vapor that is vented out of storage and used to power the vessel. This is another example of the efficiency of LNG.
LNG storage facilities continue to be important in meeting peak demand needs of local utilities and also provide a more economical way to store gas until it is needed. Several niche markets, such as vehicular fuel and using it as an alternative energy to propane for facilities off the pipeline grid, keep LNG in an increasingly high demand whether its from domestic or foreign sources. Replacing propane or other fuels in certain isolated industrial sites such as mineral extraction and forest product facilities has proven to be effective economically. Growth depends on expansion of current facilities and new construction. The need for additional supply sources to meet projected U.S. demand generally coincides with numerous developments in LNG trade on a worldwide basis.

Although Liquefied Natural Gas currently accounts for a small percent of natural gas used in the United States, it is expected that LNG imports will provide a steady, dependable source of natural gas for U.S. consumption. Domestic natural gas exploration companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation continue to locate new sources of natural gas as well. Since 2001, companies have announced plans for the construction of LNG import facilities to serve U.S. markets. LNG imported to the United States comes via ocean tanker, and receives the majority of its LNG from Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, and Algeria. Some other shipments arrive from Nigeria, Oman, Australia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates.

About the Author
Chris Jent is the Chief Marketing Officer of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.

Alternative energy article

Hydrogen Fuel Cells - How It Works by Jon G. Michel

Hydrogen Fuel Cells - How It Works by Jon G. Michel
Alternative energy article

Converting your car to run on water is a technology based on splitting water on board a vehicle, and using the resulting gases not to drive the vehicle, but rather to boost the efficiency of its combustion. It is a do-it-yourself technology, specifically designed for beginners with no special tools and very limited budgets.

A working system can be built at home with basic hand tools for $20-$100, installed in minutes and removed in seconds. No modifications to the engine, computer or fuel injection systems is needed, so any backyard mechanic can install it easily.

The technology is age old... over 91 years, and all that's been done since then, is raise it from the dead and develop a simple structure based on low cost hardware. Basically, the hardware consists of an electrolyzer, bubbler and water reservoir which have all been combined into one super-simple device.

Another advantage is the employment of coiled/spiraled electrode wires - rather than flat plates or spiraled plates. The magnetic vortex created by the coil assists water splitting, so you don't need as much power from the car's electrical system, thus simplifying the system even further and lowering its cost.

Three major factors work together to cause water splitting; direct current flowing through the electrode wires to the water, the magnetic vortex created by the shape of the electrodes, and the vacuum provided by the engine itself.

The effects of this technology is lowered emissions and improved mileage, simply due to a more complete combustion. Today's internal combustion engines suffer from poor efficiency of 20%-25%, as any mechanic will tell you; 75%-80% of the gasoline, instead of being converted to forward motion, is instead converted to pollution and carbon deposits (unburned fuel), as well as heat (global warming), vibration and noise (knocking/pinging).

The main problem is oversized fuel droplets in the mixture . The hydrogen, being such a small particle, hits a droplet, cuts it into smaller droplets and attaches itself to the smaller droplets. Now the finer, hydrogen-enhanced mixture, is capable of burning more thoroughly. That basically explains hydrogen fuel cells and how they work.

On top of improved performance, the engine steam-cleans itself every day, and the resulting effect is smoother and quieter operation.
This technology is not capable of running a car on water alone. The aim is not to replace gasoline but to enhance it, and open the door and the mind to the possibilities of water to fuel technology. With correct fine tuning you can double the mileage, rendering a new energy balance... half gasoline, half water.

Very little water is used, in an economy car it's around 2700 miles per gallon of distilled water, together with 4-6 teaspoons of household baking soda as catalyst. Tests have demonstrated many times that the fuel consumption of a 4-stroke generator can also be cut in half with this technology.

Not all cars, loads and driving conditions will gain the same, obviously. For ethical reasons one would not build up expectations for more than 10%-50% improvement in fuel economy, however there are daily success stories from experimenters who are seeing gains of 80%-100% in various vehicles. For some, significant economy gains inflict a revelation that something can be done about it, while for others it's a life changing factor.

There are books that teach everything about the technology and how to manufacture it. Like in the Golden Age of Greece, we're in a period where one has to take advantage of this technology... before there's very little government and corporate america interference. Actually, from what I've heard, government is already making use of this technology in their army hummers. Plus their are contracts on the tables waiting to be signed from the big car manufacturers (hint).
All in all, with today's high prices in gas, this technology has become a buzzword for practicality and affordability. Now something can be done about gas prices, pollution and global warming... all three in one.

At the time of this writing the technology is only for gasoline and diesel cars and trucks. However many experimenters are working on adaptations to propane/LPG/CNG propelled vehicles, as well as boats and other applications such as stationary generators, lawnmowers etc.


About the Author
JG Michel webmaster and publisher, often writes about topics that improves people's lives, such as in this topic. Visit this site for more information on "how to convert your car to run on water"

Alternative energy article

Bioethanol: The Golden Fuel by Andrew Beckers

Bioethanol: The Golden Fuel by Andrew Beckers

With governments like the U.S. backing the bioethanol industry, biomass crop productions are growing. If CO2 emissions can be cut in half by growing and manufacturing conventional farm crops like corn, then bioethanol stands a good chance of becoming the soup du jour from the alternative fuel menu. Yet there are other complications like food price inflation due to increased food scarcity resulting from food being diverted energy creation. Of course one must first decide if bioethanol is really worth it in terms of its "green claims."

What is it, and is it clean enough?
Bioethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, is a non-fossil, high octane fuel with lower emissions than gasoline. Made from renewable agricultural sources, it is a clean fuel for internal combustion engines. Hydrous ethanol contains water and can be used as a gasoline substitute, but requires a modified engine. Dehydrated ethanol can be used in proportions of 5% (E5) to 85% (E85). Most cars today can use E5, and Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) use E85. Both can be blended with conventional fuel.

It does take energy to produce it, and there are concerns related to the large amount of land needed for crops. Another concern is whether such biofuels release more carbon dioxide into the air than can be absorbed by growing plants. A better solution might be a process currently being developed in the U.S., whereby trash like waste paper is broken down into sugar and then converted into ethanol. This would by pass many of the ethical, environmental, and financial issues connected to bioethanol production.

How do they make it?
Bioethanol is obtained through a manufacturing process of fermenting biomass, which contains sugar and starch. Sugar cane is used in tropical areas, primarily wheat in Europe, and corn is produced in the U.S. and Brazil. Rectification and distillation processes turn the biomass into a concentrated form and removes by-products that are no needed in the fuel itself. The negative side of bioethanol as mentioned above is it's use of fertile land for food, which drives the food prices up and locks up usable land to grow more foodstuffs. There has all been great concern amongst certain environmental groups about the waste products left over from manufacturing bioethanol as evidenced in bioethonal pollution finding it's way in to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. This of course provides a big argument from within the green fuel camp against bioethanol production and use. Despite it's negative aspects, when the issues have been worked like, which crop to use and where to grow it and of course what to do with the waste, bioethanol stands to be a very powerful clean fuel alternative. One hopes as the oil price continues to stay above 10 dollars that every means necessary is found to make bioethanol as efficient, clean, and financially attractive as possible.

Is your car a FFV?
Many FFV owners may not even know if their car is a FFV. Since most U.S. manufacturers, Japanese and European car manufacturers now produce FFVs, it may be worth checking to see if your car can use bioethanol - and where you can buy it.

Alternative energy article

About the Author
Andrew Beckers writes about information that is important to humanity. Learn more about bioethanol.

Brazil And The Road To Fossil Fuel Independence by James Chandler

Brazil And The Road To Fossil Fuel Independence by James Chandler
Alternative energy article

In the world today, Brazil is the one country that has already taken major steps to greatly reduce their dependence on foreign oil. During the 1973 oil crisis, the Brazilian Government at the time decided to implement their "National Alcohol Program", better known in Brazil as "Proalcool". It was in essence a plan to create an ethanol production infrastructure for the country's automobiles.

Today, 8 out of 10 cars on the road in Brazil run on ethanol. Some run on 100% ethanol. This brilliant program set the stage for ethanol to fulfill the promise of energy independence and freedom from reliance on fossil fuels for the Brazilian people.

The Source
The United States is the largest producer of Ethanol producing about 35% of the world's ethanol. Brazil is a close second producing about 32 to 33% of the world's ethanol. In America, Ethanol is derived from the distillation of sugar that is obtained from corn. In Brazil, ethanol is derived from the sugar cane plant. Sugar cane grows all year round in Brazil. The ethanol derived from sugar cane provides 8 times the energy that was used to make it. Also, the waste material after the sugar is extracted from the cane is used as energy for power plants.

Ethanol burns cleaner than regular gasoline because of the extra oxygen in its chemical makeup. Because ethanol is distilled from a plant, it emits no harmful toxic emissions such as carbon monoxide. The CO2 that is released into the air when ethanol is burned is absorbed by the original plant or biomass (such as the sugar cane plant) that the ethanol was extracted from to begin with, making ethanol a carbon-neutral fuel.

Brazil is poised to greatly surpass the United States in ethanol production worldwide. The road that led to this energy paradigm shift was not so smooth though. In the beginning, the government was subsidizing sugar cane growers. But as soon as oil prices dropped in the early 80's, the government stopped subsidizing sugar cane growers and many of them went out of business. Demand for ethanol had dropped.

The Future
Brazil has managed to achieve a 50% replacement of petroleum by ethanol. Also, 80% of all of Brazil's car fleet is flex-fuel capable. They can run on 100% gasoline or any combination of ethanol/gas mix such as E10, E25, or E85. Brazil is on the road to total oil replacement by ethanol, a notion that doesn't sit well with the national oil company in Brazil; Petrobras. The present sugar cane cultivated area in Brazil dedicated to ethanol production is about 7.4 million acres. It constitutes about 1% of the total arable land. In Brazil, there has been an increase of about 3% a year in ethanol production without having to add to the arable land with more sugar cane plantations. This is due to the refining of extraction technology and the derivation of higher yielding sugar cane plants. It wouldn't be hard for Brazil to achieve 100% replacement in the very near future.

About the Author
If you want to learn more information about ethanol, ethanol production and ethanol products, please stop by All Ethanol and have a look

Alternative energy article

Alternative Energy/ Geothermal Energy ─ TAPPING THE EARTH'S UNDERGROUND ENERGY TREASURES

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY ─ TAPPING THE EARTH'S UNDERGROUND ENERGY TREASURES by Kartel

"Some researchers believe that by pumping water down to that trapped heat and then using the hot water to turn turbines as it returns to the surface under very high pressure. We could generate power for decades ─ even centuries" Australian Geographic

Beneath the surface of the earth lies a huge treasure of earth's deposit. It is not gold, silver, precious stones or oil. It is the tremendous store of heat called GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.
The temperatures deep inside the earth are in the order of hundreds and even thousands of degrees Celsius. The amount of heat conducted to the earth's surface from this interim in one year is thought to equal some 100 billions megawatts hours of energy ─ many times the electrical power used world wide; an astounding amount of energy indeed.
Much of this heat is stored in underground layers of molten rock, or magma. Harnessing this treasure, though, is a challenge. However, the earth's heat is indeed a treasure because it is a clean source of energy that offers distinct advantage over oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear power.

The greater concentration of this heat lies under the earth's crust in a layer called the mantle. The average thickness of the crust ids said to be about 35 kilometers. This is much deeper than the drilling capacity of present technology. These crusts, however, is made up of a good number of plates and is thinner at certain places, especially where the plates meet.
The magma at the locations is said to be able to rise closer to the earth's surface and the heat the water trapped in the rock layers. This water is usually only two to three kilometers below the surface of the ground, well within the reach of modern drilling techniques. It can be mined and put to good use.

To mine or tap this heat, heat pumps are connected to loops of piping buried in the grounds. The energy is thus gathered and can be used to heat homes in the wintertime or perform other useful works. Usually, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. However, pressures are much higher underground, and water remains liquid at higher temperatures. The boiling point of water remains increases to about 230, 315, and 600 degrees Celsius at the depth of 300 1525, and 300 meters respectively. During the drilling process, where the drilling taps into water that is above 175 degrees, the water can be used to drive electrical generators.

A lot have been said or have to be said about geothermal energy and its impact on environment. One striking thing about it is the fact that countries that develop power from it reduce their dependence on oil. Take for example, every ten megawatts of electricity generated for a year represents a savings of 140, 000 barrels of crude oil per annum. Equally, geothermal resources are immense, and the dangers of depletion are much less than it is with many other energy sources. Pollution problems are greatly reduced. In addition, geothermal energy production costs are very much at a low side compared with those of many other energy forms.

In spite of all these positive notes, there are some environment concerns. Geothermal steams usually contain hydrogen sulfides, a toxic. This is quite a lethal toxic when much in high quantity and equally a nuisance in low quantities because of its uncomfortable sulfurous smells. However, unlike the other energy sources such as fossil fuels in particular, treatment processes for removing it are effective and more efficient than emission control systems at fossil -fuel power plants. Even at that, particulates in the effluent may contain small amounts of arsenic or other toxic substances. Happily, when these particulates are collected and reinjected into the ground, the danger is kept to a minimum.

Another negative side is the possibility of contamination of underground water supplies, this though can result only when and if the geothermal wells have not been sealed to great depth with steel casings and cement.

Above all, one is quick to note that the sitting of most geothermal power plants is only noticeable by the steams vented from the power plant. With careful management, geothermal power can co-exist with people, animals, plants, and the environment.

Most geothermal power plants are installed using only high- temperature steam for power generators. However, efforts are in top gear to extract energy from fluids that are less than 200 degrees Celsius. As a result, binary -cycle technology has been developed. This uses tapped hot fluids to vaporize a secondary fluid, which in turn drives a turbine/generator set.
All countries living in areas of recent volcanic activity or dormant hot springs sources are enjoined to tap into these earth treasures to save our planet earth from the deadly effects of fossil fuels and make the earth a GREEN place to live in.
http://getechsol.blogspot.com/

About the Author
A prolific online and offline writer. HE IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO ISSUES OF THE MOMENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCALE

Alternative energy article

Alternative Energy - Discover How HHO Outperforms Other Renewable Fuel Solutions

Discover How HHO Outperforms Other Renewable Fuel Solutions by Bret Copeland

Discover How Hydrogen Succeeds Over Other Renewable Energy Sources. The generation of energy sources beyond those derived from fossil fuels has attracted increasing attention and gone more mainstream in recent years. This is not a movement confined to any particular geographical zones, it is actually becoming more and more pervasive on a global basis.

What has brought about this significant change? One reason is the need for energy sources that are renewable and won't eventually run out at some future date. Currently around the world the consumption of fossil fuels is 100,000 times faster than their natural production. According to an estimate the demand for these fuels will suddenly outstrip their availability in a matter of centuries-or less.The effect of toxic emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels is another, more urgent reason to seek out alternative and cleaner energy sources. The consumption is not the only thing that adds to the pollution. The development in technology has made it possible to extract fossil fuels in a much easier and more cost effective way. This has lead to the corporate race of finding more resources. This involves digging deeper and deeper into the ground. This further causes the scraping off ever more layers of precious topsoil. Run Your Car On Water To Boost MPG But not all alternative energy sources were created equal.

For instance, biofuel sounds like a great idea... how could the environment possibly be harmed by growing more corn. Well, you need more agricultural land in order to grow the corn without hurting the food supply. In order to provide that land you have to kill trees. Trees are the front line troops against the environmental harm done by fossil fuel emissions.
And electric cars sounds great until you realize that you need to recharge the batteries every day and consider how that could impact the power grids in large cities, etc. These are the big picture factors that have to be considered when assessing the value, benefit and effectiveness of alternative energy sources.

There have already been cases of biofuel facilities being guilty of the kind of environmental crimes and corruption that their industry supposedly exists to combat. There have been several instances across the US of the dumping of glycerin into nearby bodies of water by biofuel plant companies. Glycerin is the waster product from biofuel generation. Glycerin can be sold on the market but it has to be processed and the processing costs and the market value after the processing make it unprofitable so these plants have just been dumping the stuff, in one case they were also charged with wiping out an entire species that was on the endangered list! Run Your Car On Water To Boost MPG

Fossil fuel experts forecast that worldwide fossil fuel availability will peak in ten to thirty years. It's a falsehood. But even if it was true, we can stretch the availability of oil indefinitely by doing a couple of different things. Primary is to do an installation in your current vehicle engine of a converter to enable your vehicle to run on a combination of gas and hydrogen.But the best solution for generating hydrogen is through electrolysis. A Hydrogen On Demand type system!This process is very simple and direct. It uses an electrolyzer, through which a small current is sent through water, which simply splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen.

About the Author

Bret Copeland writes regularly about autos related topics. I hope you enjoy this article.

Alternative energy article

Alternative Energy - Renewable Solar Power

Solar power is recently broadly used not only from business but from private homes instead of traditional energy resources. The main benefit of using it is that it is renewable - solar power cannot finish and as long as there is sunlight power can be generated.

What do you need to have to benefit from renewable solar power? In fact the equipment needed is neither extraordinary nor very expensive. All you need to have to start using solar power as alternative energy sources solar panels. Moreover solar panels are pretty easy to be manufactured in case you want to do them yourself. The materials required are not very expensive and the actual manufacturing does not require great skills.

Once you have the solar panels installed you should decide what for you will use the renewable solar power. It can be used for generating electricity or heating of your home or just for heating water. Many people prefer using solar panels to get hot water only. Other uses it for home heating as well. Some also get panels installed to generate electricity. Still you will have to get a lot of solar panels installed if you want to fully replace your current electricity supply. However in the most cases you will be able to generate enough power for your garden lighting or other small electricity consumables.

No matter what power of your home needs you replace with renewable solar power, you will definitely cut your utilities bills, especially during winters when you have to pay hundreds just for heating.

Not only renewable solar power is good for your pocket, it is in fact very beneficial for the global ecology. Solar power is totally pollution free - to generate it you don't need to use any fuels and by generating it you don't pollute the air, water or soil in any way. It is actually better than using wind power because solar power generators do not produce any noise. The only real disadvantage is that you cannot generate power during nights and if bad cloudy weather power generation is greatly reduced.

Alternative energy article by Ashish Arora
Earth4Energy is a Solar Power do it yourself guide that explains you generating you own electricity from Solar Power however the benefit of Earth4Energy is that you can save few thousand dollars, which would have otherwise been paid for Electricity Bills.

Alternative Energy - Queen of England to use only hydro power at summer retreat

London - The Queen of England plans to only use electricity generated from alternative energy at her summer residence in Scotland, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
Balmoral Castle is to become the first royal household to be energy self-sufficient. A hydroelectric power station fed by a river - the Gelder Burn - on the castle's estate is to power not just the Queen's apartments but also around 1000 homes in the neighbouring area.The manager of the power plant, Alasdair Gill said "The powerful year-round flow of water should generate about one megawatt (MW) of electricity and run like a miniature version of the massive Scottish hydro plants that can produce 300MW of power. These initiatives have been welcomed by environmental campaigners." The Queen has recently made concerted efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the royal household, such as converting the state cars - a Rolls Royce, a Daimler limousine and a Rover 400 - to liquified petroleum gas (LPG), the paper said.//dpa

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