Archives: 2008 November

Originally designed in 1892 to be used in the compression ignition engine named after it’s inventor Rudolf Diesel. Diesel Engines have the ability to run on a wide variety of fuels, such as diesel fuel and modified vegetable oil. The most commonly useddiesel fuel is refined from crude oil. This fuel is most widely used by commercialbusinesses to deliver goods to the market and to fuel some commercial machinery. Due to its effect on the economy it is important to understand how the fuel is produced.

Diesel fuel is produced to different levels of distillates or grades. Distillates are simply liquids that have been distilled or refined to a certain grade. The most common distillate used by diesel engines in the United States is No.2. This fuel can also be used for heating. Distillate No. 2 is used because it has a low amount of sulfur. Due to new regulations effecting sulfur content in diesel fuel Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) fuel was replaced by Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel.

Low Sulfur Diesel fuel contains a maximum of 500 parts per million (ppm) sulfur. Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel fuel contains less than 15 ppm. By 06/01/06 80% of the vehicles on the highway must be ULSD. By 12/01/2010 100% of vehicles on the highway must be ULSD. It has been estimated that almost all diesel fuel used in the USA will be ULSD by 2015.

A barrel of crude oil can produce many products including liquefied petroleum gases, heavy fuel oil, jet fuel, diesel fuel, gasoline and heating oil. Vegetable oil can also be used in conjunction with other ingredients to produce Biodiesel. Biodiesel can also be made from animal fats or recycled restaurant grease. This biodegradable fuel has proven to reduce the emissions of particulate gases.

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Join the massive crowds that have gone to wind power, solar and other types of power generation. Save the planet and save your money at the same time.

1. If not done properly, home wind power can be pricy. Done right, the savings are a pure dream. The magic takes place when a simple turbine is placed on a high tower or on a roof. The blades take kinetic energy from the wind, turn it into mechanical energy in a shaft which in turn changes it to electrical energy in a generator. Many places on earth already have residential generators of 1 kw and bigger.

2. It will take a few years to pay for itself but, once up, turbines can have a life of up to 25 years. Grid-connected system owners may be eligible to receive a small tax credit for the electricity they sell back to the utility. Power purchase agreements and system leases may help you take part in the solar future at a fraction of the up-front cost.

3. Energy Ball is really a family of windmills that take advantage of something called microwinds. They have a unique rotor design which encloses the generator itself. Energy Balls currently are sold in sizes of either 1 meter or 2 meters in diameter.

4. Turbines for home owners or small industry come in sizes varying from 1kW to 50 kW outputs. Turbines, like airplanes, utilize the laws of aerodynamics to work. Turbines can be made passively able to better cope with high wind speeds and light electrical loads with, for example, “furling” to point them out of high winds, or using designs such as VAWTs that tend to speed up less due to turbulence.

Our society revolves around the production of energy and electricity and therefore its production is very important to us. Today, it is made by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, nuclear fission, and with water and wind and solar energy mainly.

With most types of electricity generation, energy is used to turn magnets in turbines which induce electric current in wiring. Here are several ways that we make electricity:

Burning of fossil fuels. Large amounts of moving vapor is produced when water is boiled. By burning fossil fuels, then heating water in large furnaces this can be done. Fossil fuels include coal, petrol and natural gas. These fuels release large amounts of pollutants into the air including greenhouse gases. They are also non-renewable, so we should look to alternative, clean sources of energy for future energy production.

Falling water. Hydroelectric plants can be created at waterfall sites to funnel the falling water down into turbines in order to turn them. Hydroelectric dams can generate a lot of electricity and can also be used to restrict bodies of water. They may, on the other hand, damage local ecosystems.

Over 90 % of the world’s renewable energy is produced by hydroelectric dams.

Wind power. Wind turbines can use propeller-like blades to directly turn a motor which will generate electricity. These wind generators may have to be high up in the air to gather enough wind in some places, but they are very environmentally sound.

Nuclear fission. There is a lot of energy in matter, and some unstable elements, like uranium or plutonium isotopes, can be used to generate a nuclear reaction which is then used to heat water, create vapor and turn turbines.