Solar+Energy

**__Solar Energy__**  ** Solar power **// is the generation of electricity from sunlight. This can be direct as with solar panels, or indirect as with concentrated solar power, where the sun's energy is focused to boil water which is then used to provide power. The solar power gained from solar panels can be used to eliminate the need for purchased electricity. // Solar power is right now the most commonly used form of alternative energy throughout the world. Solar power is also one of the only alternative energy sources that are practical for domestic use. Therefore I believe that solar power is the most effective and practical of the green energy inventions. The only problem that I see with solar power is that it is hard to convince people to change and that solar energy is an efficient form of electricity generation. Solar power can be used by anyone with enough money to spare to convert their homes, and other appliances to be powered by the sun. Many people are already implementing solar energy to power their homes with solar panels. The solar panels are very expensive but after a few years time people have found that these panels pay themselves off when each month they are less reliant on the electric company. Every day of the year these solar panels are collecting the sun’s rays and converting them to useful electricity, even when it is a cloudy day they collect any small amount of light shined on them. These panels also store the electricity collected throughout the day so that homeowners can power their homes at night. Big businesses are starting to have entire office buildings powered by solar panels. I believe that if we convinced everyone to use solar energy in their homes that we could dramatically reduce the negative effects of global warming because less fossil fuel would be used to generate electricity, the next step after converting the homes to solar power would be moving towards solar powered cars. Solar powered cars are a new technology and are not as developed as the solar panels seen on homes and office buildings. If everyone switched over to solar powered cars, the dependence on oil would be almost completely broken. We would no longer be reliant on the Middle East and the oil producing and exporting countries to power our cars. Also the amount of emissions being poured into the atmosphere would be dramatically reduced which would be a huge help with the global warming problem because many scientists agree that much of the problem is so many cars on the road every day dumping CFC’s into the air. Although right now all this solar technology is very expensive I think that just like everything else as time goes by prices will go down and everyone will be able to afford it. As we have seen throughout the years, it is very hard for people to change their ways, we hear excuses every day like it’s already too late to change any of the negative effects of global warming. Also we hear that global warming is a myth and therefore why should we switch over to alternative energy sources. These are words of people being stubborn and not wanting to change their daily lives as they are, but as I stated before the benefits of using solar power is definitely worth the change.
 * __ Solar Power Editorial __**

-Matt Anderson

One of the hardest parts of getting anything done is getting people to change their ways or their daily lives. The definition of global warming is //the increase of the average temperature of the earth’s surface and oceans since the mid twentieth century and its projected continuation.// This is the definition according to about ninety percent of the world’s leading scientists but many people have their own definitions of what global warming is. Some believe that global warming is a real and scary reality and skeptics believe that global warming is a government ploy to get citizens to buy into this so called scam. When I asked Travis Gerstacker what his definition of global warming was he stated “ When humans defile the atmosphere to disrupt the normal climate and weather conditions of the earth.” Travis is a believer in global warming along with the ninety percent of scientists who say that the facts should be evidence enough to convince people that global warming is a reality. Scientific research shows that Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the planet. . Also the last twenty years of the twentieth century were the hottest in 400 years. The colder parts of the planet are feeling the most effect from global warming, average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have raised at twice the global average. The arctic ice is melting at an alarming rate and it is estimated that in 2040 we could have no ice in the arctic. Glaciers and snow caps are melting; Montana’s National Park now has only twenty seven glaciers, versus one hundred and fifty in 1910. Thawing in spring is now a week earlier and freezing in the winter is a week later. There have been heightened extreme weather incidents, including heat waves wildfires, stronger hurricanes and more violent tropical storms. These are a few of the alarming facts that have been found out about global warming. The problem is that even though most people do believe global warming is a legitimate threat to humanity, most are too lazy to do anything about it, claiming that the negative effects of global warming wont effects our generation. Both Kevin Macera and Travis Gerstacker said that they don’t believe that any of the effects will be felt by us, possibly not even our children, or grandchildren. Both also agreed that using alternative sources of energy would help the currently disintegrating atmosphere, but neither claimed to have made any attempts at making the switch. This is the current trend with many people, when asked most agree global warming is a problem and something needs to be done but most also admit that they have done nothing to help. When I asked both guys if they would ever consider using alternative energy sources both said they would and the drive behind the possible switch would be saving money, they said that if alternative sources of energy saved them money on the electric bills that they would gladly start using various forms of green energy. For Governments this means that incentives are a good way to convince people to change. So in the end it is not a question if global warming is a myth or if it’s a legitimate threat to our humanity with ninety percent of the worlds scientists agreeing with the statement that global warming is real, it is a question if people are willing to change their ways to fight for the future generations of the world. By putting off making changes people are making the problem worse because the planet is being negatively affected every day.
 * __ Global Warming, a myth or for real? __**

-Matt Anderson

[] this video is the trailer for the movie An Inconvienient Truth. It is a pro global warming video. Al Gore a major global warming believer stars in the video and he shows many of the negative effects of global warming. This video gives a visual aid of the scary effects of global warming on our planet.

[] The book wind and solar power systems explains the mechanical designs of wind and solar power energy. It talks about how the electronics work and how the electricity is generated. The books shows people how to design the features of the desired system. Helps with assesing energy potential of certain regions. Also gives profitability charts which will help to choose sights for building.

**Great reference book....** This is a good reference book on renewable energy sources. It is well organized and easy to follow, even for non-electrical engineers. As an environmental engineer, I have found it an excellent reference. Published on September 13, 2000 by Bina Indelicato

[] Article on solar energy. Explains the defintion of solar energy and what it is. Talks a little about how solar power works.

rss url="http://news.mongabay.com/xml/energy1.xml" link="true" number="5" date="true" author="true" Blog on energy news throughout the world. includes updates on new sources of energy and international agreements between countries. Talks about moving to the new frontier, Space, and how it could save our planet. Also includes peoples reactions to the global warming problem. (MA)