Alternative Energy Resources on sk33lz

Biofuels

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

Biofuels are not a new type of fuel. They are the fuel of the future though, as we deal with global warming and to help reduce the dependency on foreign oil. We can use biofuels to bring back our breadbasket farming communities and help other countries start a legitimate export product. Many farmers are catching onto the trend and using biofuels to fuel their tractors and other farm equipment.

Bio-Diesel

Biodiesel is a mix of vegetable oil and petro-diesel. You can make it fairly easy with minimal byproduct, and it burns much cleaner than regular diesel fuel. It does require some minor chemistry skills for the titration of the fuel with lye. This process has a byproduct and can be bad for the environment if not processed and disposed of properly.

Ethanol

Ethanol is made from corn. It is a very clean burning fuel. Due to the demands for corn to make E85, corn prices have risen in the past few years. Hopefully they stay low enough for this fuel to catch on more.

LP Gas - Propane

LP Gas, or Propane Gas, is one of the more popular of the biofuels used today. It is a natural occurring gas that burns fairly clean and is also quite inexpensive. Propane is used in homes for heating and cooking. It is also used in some forklifts to power their engines. It is gaining popularity in vans and buses in larger cities like San Francisco and other green friendly cities. The SFO Airport has shuttle buses that use Natural Gas as their fuel in their fleet.

Straight Vegetable Oil Fuel

Straight Vegetable Oil fuel is just as it sounds, it is used cooking oil or fresh oil used for fuel in cars and homes. Reused or recycled vegetable oil can also be used in engines as it does not have to be pristine.

Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) Conversion Kits

Soon we will have svo conversion kits available to convert many of the popular models of diesel engines for cars and trucks from the top manufactures. We hope to satisfy ever customer with the best straight vegetable oil conversion kits at the lowest price. Make sure to check back soon for the best kit for your vehicle. You can email us with any requests for kits that are not displayed on the website. We will try to find all of the parts needed to setup you diesel engine for a veggie oil conversion.

Hydropower Energy

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

Hydropower is energy that is created by the force of moving water. Hydroelectricity is currently the most well known usage of hydropower energy, although hydropower itself has been around for centuries. Before there was hydroelectricity, there was hydropower. Early uses of hydropower before electricty are irrigation, water mills, water wheels, textile machines, sawmills, dock cranes and lifts. These methods used water directly to move components of machines or mills. Another way of using hydropower to produce kinetic energy is to use a trompe to produce compressed air. This method allows for machinery to be powered by compressed air, which could be pumped to locations far away from the water source.

Pennsylvania is known for it’s many water based mills for making grains. In my town alone, there are several roads named after old mills that used to be on those roads. Pennsylvania’s early mills used hydropower to create the energy used to power their mill wheels and mill stones. In other parts of the country hydropower was used to extract minerals from the ground. The use of hydropower technologies lead to the use of steam power during the industrial revolution. While hydropower used to be used everywhere, it has evolved into mostly hydroelectricty and marine energy at this point.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is currently the most widely used alternative energy and renewable energy source on the planet with over 777 GW installed worldwide. The reason for this may be that there is a very low output of greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuel power plants once the facility has been built. Hydroelectric power plants also produce no direct waste as compared to fossil fuel power plants. In 2006, 777GW was 20% of the whole world’s electricity usage, which accounted for 88% of the production of renewable resources.

Marine Energy

Marine energy or marine power is energy created by the ocean’s natural kinetic energy including waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. Marine power and marine energy are also known as ocean power and ocean energy. There are 5 types of marine energy that have been indentified currently. The 5 types of marine energy are are Marine Current Power, Osmotic Power, Ocean Thermal Energy, Tidal Energy, and Wave Energy. We will look into these into more detail and provide more detailed descriptions for each very soon.

Solar Energy

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

The Sun is the most abundant alternative energy source that we have available on planet Earth. The Sun has been used by just about every species on Earth over time for various reasons. Sunlight can be used to dry wet things, warm a cold-blooded animal, and most importantly grow plants through a process called Photosynthesis. While there have been many uses for sunlight over time, there has now come a time in human history that we can start using the Sun’s energy to generate electricity. The process of generating Solar Power is a bit technical, which I will cover later, but for the most part, we are using an element called Silicon with a special coating to transfer the Sun’s energy into DC power. This means we can ultimately power our home, business, or vacation home with the Sun.

Sunlight is a seemingly infinite alternative energy source, but it is only available part of the day and sometimes not at all due to clouds, rain, snow, or fog. The availabity of direct sunlight on your property and regional weather patterns will affect how well solar power will work to generate electricity for you. I live in Pennsylvania and we have a lower than average amount of daily sunlight, so for me to really feel the benefits of Solar Power the system would need to be very large, or supplemented by another alternative energy source like a Wind Turbine. Learn more about Wind Turbines in my Wind Power guide. Outside of supplementing the system, additional power needs to be stored for later in batteries, or sent back to the grid. There are two main types of Solar Power systems; Off-Grid and Grid-Tie. The type of system that you want to use depends on your plans for how you want to use your Solar Energy.

Learn more about Solar Energy below.

Wind Energy

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

Wind Energy is as old as the wind. Ok, jokes aside, it can be used in its pure form to turn a windmill for power or to sail boats on the ocean. Pennsylvania can be quite windy in some locations, so it is a viable option for some alternative energy. Learn more about Wind Energy here at Penn Alternative Fuels. Wind power is quickly becoming the preferred alternative energy and renewable energy source for creating electricity growing at a rate of 30% per year. There is currently over 198,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power being produced throughout the world, though most wind energy is being produced in the United States of America, Europe, and Asia.

Old Fashioned Windmills

In Pennsylvania, especially towards Lancaster County, windmills are basically a staple for any old farm. The Amish have used windmills to power their farms for over a century. The old fashioned windmill acts similar to a propeller on an airplane or boat, but in the reverse fashion. Instead of the engine powering the propeller, the propeller is used to drive a turbine which is used to generate power. An old fashioned windmill needs to be facing the direction of the wind to gain it’s full power, as it is mounted in a horizontal position. In some cases you lose out on some of the energy that you can harness from these types of windmills, as they do not always turn the correct direction on their own. Advancements in technology have brought about a new era in wind energy as it is much easier to track the direction of the wind and maneuver the windmill in the correct direction. Another advancement has brought about a whole new type of windmill all together.

Vertical Windmills

Vertical windmills are a newer type of windmill that enables the windmill to be powered by wind from any direction. This is a huge advancement in wind energy technology as it can harness 100% of the wind’s energy and turn it into electricity. Because these windmills are mounted in a vertical position, their fins can catch the wind from any direction to power the turbine.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

This particular type of wind turbine was developed by a company called WePower. WePower’s vision according to their website is, “About enabling communities, businesses and individuals to harness the power of wind as a source of natural, free, clean and renewable energy.”, which is a great motto.

Wind Farms

Wind farms are large groups of wind turbines in the same location used to create larger amounts of wind power. Many people may only know of the big wind turbines on the sides of mountains, but there are actually 2 types of wind farms; onshore and offshore. An onshore wind farm is located on dry land, while offsore wind farms are built in the ocean or on large bodies of water. The United States of America leads the way in terms of operational onshore wind farm capacity with 781.5 MW of power at the Roscoe Wind Farm, followed by the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center at 735.5 MW. The UK currently holds the largest offshore wind farm at Thanet Offshore Wind Project with a capacity of 300MW, followed by Horns Rev II in Denmark at 209 MW.

Onshore Wind Farms

The world’s first onshore wind farm was constructed in 1980 and consisted of 20 individual wind turbines rated at 30 KW each. The total capacity at the time was only around 600 KW. While that may not be much, there is currently a wind farm larger than the Roscoe Wind Farm’s 781.5 MW under construction. The Alta Wind Energy Center is also in the USA and is rated for 800 MW. China currently has proposed construction for the largest wind farm on the planet, the Gansu Wind Farm, with a 20,000 MW capacity. The United States of America may be the current leader, but other nations are realizing that alternative energy works and may be the world leaders in wind power soon enough.

Here are some of the largest onshore wind farms on the planet currently.

Roscoe Wind Farm, USA - 781.5 MW Capacity
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, USA - 735.5 MW Capacity
Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm, USA - 662.5 MW Capacity
Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, USA - 599.8 MW Capacity
Sweetwater Wind Farm, USA - 585.3 MW Capacity
Buffalo Gap Wind Farm, USA - 523.3 MW Capacity
Dabancheng Wind Farm, China - 500 MW Capacity
Panther Creek Wind Farm, USA - 458 MW Capacity
Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, USA - 450 MW Capacity

Offshore Wind Farms

While the USA is the leader in onshore wind farming, Europe leads the way in offshore wind farming. The first offshore wind farm was built in Denmark in 1991. There are currently over 39 wind farms operating in Europe with locations in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom and Denmark seem to be leading the way in offshore wind farm technology, as they hold all the spots for the largest offshore wind farms. The combined operating capacity of all offshore wind farms in Europe is 2,396 MW. Europe has also set goals for itself for sustaining wind energy growth by setting goals for 40 GW to be installed by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030. This has led to more than 100 GW worth of offshore wind farms being proposed or under current development. There are currently no offshore wind farms in the United States, but some projects are under construction on the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Pacific Coast regions of the country.

Here are some of the largest offshore wind farms on the planet currently.

Thanet, United Kingdom - 300 MW
Horns Rev II, Denmark - 209 MW
Rødsand II, Denmark - 207 MW
Lynn and Inner Dowsing, United Kingdom - 194 MW
Robin Rigg (Solway Firth), United Kingdom - 180 MW
Gunfleet Sands, United Kingdom - 172 MW
Nysted (Rødsand I), Denmark - 166 MW

Windfarms in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has some great locations for wind farms. There are currently several wind farms operating in Pennsylvania. While none of them are the largest by far, it is great to see Pennsylvania doing their part in creating renweable energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

For more information about what is happening with wind farms in Pennsylvania, check out the following resources:

ActionPA.org

PAWindEnergyNow.org

For more information on wind farms in the USA, check out the American Wind Energy Association’s website.