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We continue our “Five things you did not know about ” series with another fascinating way of producing energy. Feel free to comment, give advice and share your personal opinions. So here they are, the five things you probably did not know about wind power.

1. 19% of the energy produced in Denmark is wind power.  Unfortunately, Denmark is the only country that uses this much wind power.  Worldwide the energy produced using the wind is only 1% of the total energy used.

2. It is believed that humans have been using wind power for at least five thousand years and that natural  ventilation was a concept used by architects in building ancient structures.

3. Windmills have been first discovered in Afghanistan, in the 7′th century. They were made of six to twelve sails covered in cloth material and were used mainly for grinding corn.

4. In the present time, the most used form of producing wind power is a wind turbine. Wind turbines work by transforming the kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy which is then converted into usable electricity.

5. A wind farm (picture below) is basically an area filled with wind turbines. The largest wind farm in the world is the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas. This wind farm has 421 wind turbines and can make enough electricity for 220,000 homes per year.

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1. About 30% of the radiation that we receive from the sun at the upper atmosphere is reflected back into space. The rest of 70% is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses here on Earth. Even in these conditions, the energy that our planet gets from one hour of sun exposure is equal to the amount of power that humans use in an entire year! Just imagine if we had the means…

2. Even if the ancient Greeks believed that the sun was truly the god Helios, driving his chariot around the Earth towards the sky in the morning and in the evening back again, they still built houses so that they would get enough heat from the sun during winter. So did the Chinese.

3. Photovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electicity. This is the official definition of Photovoltaics given by Wikipedia. In simpler terms, solar energy can transform into electricity and this process with all its implications is studied by Photovoltaics.

4. Silicon is a chemical element found in sand whose semiconductor proprieties were discovered In 1954 by Bell Telephone Company. Right now silicon is the main element used in producing solar cells for solar panels. To put this at a larger scale, silicon from one ton of sand, used in photovoltaic cells, could produce as much electricity as burning 500,000 tons of coal.

5. Solar water disinfection can be achieved by exposing water bottles to the sun for a certain period of time (6 hours if the water is exposed to a bright sun or more, depending on the state of the weather). This way the quality if drinking water is improved due to UV-A radiation and sun temperature.

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Acid rains are known world-wide as something “bad” and of course, polluting. But here’s your chance to learn a bit more about these phenomena and maybe help prevent them one day.

The phenomena basically cover all kinds of acidic precipitation, meaning rain, fog, snow and they usually form due to the human emissions of sulfur and nitrogen in the atmosphere.

Acid rains are caused by one of the following factors (or a combination of the factors below): emissions from vehicles, emissions from factories (especially sulfur), volcanic activity, lightning, or organic decay. Even if there is nothing we can do about the last two sources, you should know that most of the emissions (over 90%) are man’s fault.

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The consequences of acid rains are of course dire. Plants, animals and humans all have to suffer. Acid rains affect the soil and useful substances that plants need for growing. If the plants die and the water is damaged, then the whole ecosystem is affected, because animals lose their green habitat and are left with nothing to eat and toxic water to drink. Next on the food chain? Man. Diseases such as Asthma are common for children living in poor environments where the water is not treated and eating fish from acidic waters.

Another effect is the slow destruction of paintings and materials from buildings all around the world, some bearing more meaning for us than others. From the Acropolis in Greece to the Taj Mahal in India, the structures are faced with an increased decay due to acid rains.

Although the areas said to be most affected are The Northeastern section of the United States, the Southeastern section of Canada (the Toronto-Hamilton area), Central Europe, Scandanavia (Sweden, Norway and Finland), India and China, the emissions may also travel to other parts of the world. You probably noticed that the affected areas are also the most industrial ones.

What to do?

Luckily, there are solutions and environmental groups make pressure in order for the to be applied. However, the cheapest, easiest and most common solution is of course prevention: less emissions can become possible by not using your car so much. Try waking or buy a bike. Also, switch off the light when you don’t need it, save energy, don’t leave things plugged when not used. Reducing energy will decrease the amount of coal used to produce it meaning negative emissions in the atmosphere will be reduced also.

In case you wonder where your area fits in, you can measure the acidity of water where you live. Here are a few suggestions for doing that found on Science Across the World:

1. Collect rain in very clean plastic containers which you have rinsed three times with distilled water. Dry the buckets, then put out the buckets just before it rains.

2. Support the buckets at least 2 metres above an area with little dust - this might be a grassy area. Soil dust may be alkaline and tend to neutralize acid.

3. Measure the pH of the rain as accurately as you can. If possible use a calibrated pH meter. Alternatively use narrow range indicator paper or a swimming pool testing kit.

If you use indicator paper, dip it in the water and remove it immediately. Wait a few minutes for the colour change to stabilize. It can take up to 5 minutes. Compare the final colour with the chart and read off the pH.

If you collect snow, let it melt before you measure the pH.

These are most of the things you need to know about acid rains. However, don’t hesitate to look into this matter further and find more useful information regarding the area where you live.

Sources: Essortment, The Acid Rain Report

From time to time, we will try to give you examples regarding the environment and people acting to save it. Here is a powerful one.

The reef rehabilitation project took place in Manado Tua Island, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Due to the intense fishing in this area, major sections of the coral reef have been compromised, which meant the partial destruction of the ecosystem.

With the assistance of Seacology, a nonprofit environmental organization that helps preserving endangered biodiversity of islands throughout the world, the local citizens installed snowflake-shaped ceramic modules, to replace the original coral branches. The “EcoReef” modules provide shelter for fish and a home for the larval corals, that is so they could start building a new coral reef.

The project took place in January 2004, under harsh sea conditions.

So did it work?

Of course.

After only two months, the modules were filled with algae and a few baby corals. Several fish colonies moved their headquarters here as well. In time, the ecosystem fully recovered and new species were observed living here.

We find this to be an amazing ecology lesson and we encourage you to take action whenever you see nature suffering. If you can’t do this alone, ask your friends to join you. If you and your friends are not enough, you can contact your closest nonprofit environmental organization that has the resources but moreover the will help you out.

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Have you ever wondered where all our waste goes?

Well, there are two major options: they are either incinerated or thrown away in huge waste dumps in open fields, usually in the vicinity of large cities. Now if our waste in incinerated, smoke and toxic gases are set free into our atmosphere, raining down on us when the weather goes bad. If it is left in open fields they poison the lands. Sure, recycling can do a lot of good in these matters, but we still have a long way to go.

An article written by Ed Fitzgerald on Ecology Global Network brings a whole new perspective to the notion of waste dumping. Sure, we were all aware of the pollution of rivers, lake and oceans, but raise your hand if this is how you imagined it.

Apparently the size of the plastic waste dump in the Pacific ocean is twice the aria of the continental United States. The process is simple; 10 percent of the world’s plastic waste is dumped in the seas all over the globe, slowly finding its way in the Pacific Ocean.

Due to water currents in the water, the plastic is broken down into millions of small pieces that are eaten by the fish and other marine forms of life.

The UN Environmental Program makes a sad, but true assessment: over a million seabirds, as well as more than 100 thousand marine mammals, die every year from ingesting plastic waste. This is a startling fact. So who’s fault is it again?

Let’s take a global approach. What really happens here is this: millions of people throw their garbage away, not taking into consideration the simple plastic/paper recycling rule. The garbage is disposed of into the sea, finally being a part the planetary ocean. The marine life mistakes waste dump for food. Some of the fish die, some of it ends up on our tables. Let’s call this “revange”.

See original article here

Throwing plastic overboard is against the law. However, since you’re going to throw your trash anyway, here are a few ground rules offered by eHow:

” The Story of Stuff” is a 20 minutes film about all the unknown negative consequences that derive from us “getting stuff”.

It deals with the processes of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal and the people involved in following them through.

“From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”

The is not only very educational but also made in an interesting, funny way. The conclusion and the most important part of the whole movie is a summary of the things that we have to change in the world in order to have a healthier planet.

Some things are shocking, but true nevertheless.

Guaranteed to keep you posted!

via The Story of Stuff

This is a true story and perhaps one of the most tragic I’ve ever read. I have found an investigation article about illegal e-waste trade with the poor nations of Africa. The country in discussion here is Ghana. The reporters have found an e-waste dump with computers originally used by British National Health System (NHS).

The reportage continues to describe the entire process of poisoning the environment. Near the capital Accra, filthy children work in a highly toxic environment to extract metallic parts from the dumped computers. There were the air is poisoned with burning lead and plastics is the final resting place for old PCs, TV sets or mobile phones. Nobody cares.

In the same place, where you can barely take a breath, skinny children collect metals like copper and lead. The worst thing to do is to burn the computer parts. The “combustion releases toxic metals - lead, beryllium, cadmium, mercury - into the atmosphere. Likewise, burning creates some of the most carcinogenic and toxic substances known, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans.”

As shameful as it is, the harm comes from the developed countries. We are the danger. The reporters discovered stickers indicating the computers were the property of Thames Gateway NHS Trust. They even found confidential data stored on some hard disks.

Although the Great Britain and Ghana have signed the Basel Convention which supposes to combat the hazardous waste dumping, the crime against the environment and people continues. Help us spread this news and make people aware of the e-waste danger.

Read the original story here.

Solar water heating is not what you would call a technological ingenuity. In fact, solar heating panels can be installed relatively easy helping you save money and energy.

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Solar heating systems are generally composed of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to its point of usage, and a reservoir or tank for heat storage and subsequent use.

Solar water heating can be used for your home, to supply daily water needs, but also for larger projects such as your swimming pool.

According to Energy Saving Trust, there are three major methods of using this kind of alternative energy to get domestic hot water:

• Solar panels or collectors - are fitted to your roof. They collect heat from the sun’s radiation. There are 2 main types of collector:
  • Flat plate systems - which are comprised of an absorber plate with a transparent cover to collect the sun’s heat
  • Evacuated tube systems - which are comprised of a row of glass tubes that each contain an absorber plate feeding into a mainfold which transports the heated fluid
• A heat transfer system - uses the collected heat to heat water;solar
• Hot water cylinder - stores the hot water that is heated during the day and supplies it for use later.

Solar water heating can provide you with about a third of your hot water needs. The average domestic system reduces C0₂ by around 325kg per year and about $450 a year of your hot water bills, when installed in a gas heated home. Just imagine how much we could save if we all cheeped in!

Of course, a problem arises: installing such a device can cost up to 5000 US Dollars. However, when considering the benefits, this sum is not all that huge.

As you see, the results of installing a device like this are amazing: a typical system reduces the need for normal water heating, therefore reducing the costs of electricity or fuel and also the negative impact on the environment.

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According to Wikipedia, sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet’s climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, fisheries, and the systems on which they depend.

Basically, while doing our daily activities we inevitably interact with the environment. The major negative impact that the modern industrial society has on the planet must be reduced, or the Earth will eventually die out. In order to slow down the alteration process, each and one of us must act responsible.

At greensafeguard we will constantly try to let you know how you can make a difference.

To begin, here are some environmental tips from the Washington Department of Ecology about the simple things that YOU can do to help save our planet.

1. Turn down the heat, wear sweaters.
2. Carpool, bus, bike, walk.
3. Install low-flow devices for toilet, shower, faucets, gardens.
4. Avoid creating waste, re-use, reduce, recycle.
5. Avoid disposables, use durable products, buy recycled products.
6. Don’t litter, cover pickup truck loads, pick up litter.
7. Avoid toxic & poisonous products.
8. Take household hazardous waste to collection days or sites.
9. Compost yard and food waste.
10. Get involved, join a local community group working on streams or sustainability.

You don’t have to do them all at once, you don’t even have to do them all. The important thing is to realize everyone can make a difference. By acting small, the generations to come may have a chance of enjoying the miracles of nature we are admiring today.

Mahatma Gandhi said it best: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world!”

I have created GreenSafeguard.com because I love nature. First of all, I want to thank God for the beautiful places we have on Earth. The problem is that not everybody appreciates this or they just don’t care. Perhaps these humans can’t imagine that Earth will be destroyed from our fault. Pollution, destructions, wars or careless people reduce our chances for a clean planet, but tomorrow is another day to fight all that.

photo by dimgol

That’s our aim, here at GreenSafeguard. I promise you that I will raise funds to plant trees, to clean rivers and lakes, to plant flowers. Furthermore, I will use this blog to create awareness among careless humans. We all should make efforts to save the planet. And you must take action too! Help us protect the planet for better days.