November 2007

Since winter is definitely on it’s way we decided to do an article about fireplaces. Since nothing beats sitting in front of a warm fire while it’s snowing outside and drinking some hot coco.

Now a days fireplaces are thought of more as a decoration then as a source of warmth and even cooking. They can still be very useful in heating your home and even cooking up many things from hot water to popcorn to stew, let your imagination and ingenuity go wild. My neighbor across the street does the majority of his winter heating with a wood-stove and on days that one of us is home we run our fireplace.

Since we love history and like to visit restored homes from the 18th and 19th century we have been introduced to some of the inventive things for the fireplace from when it was the center of the home. Some of those things still work and can be a great help with getting the most from your hearth.

Though before adding any additions making sure your fireplace and chimney are in working order should be the first step to using it to help heat your home. A clean and properly functioning fireplace that is kept up can outlive a home. Making sure there are no leaks or cresol buildup in the chimney is essential before using it for the health and safety of you and your family.

The easiest addition to your fireplace would be a fireback or the modern version a fire reflector. These are made of cast iron or reflective metal and are placed at the back of the fireplace to retain and reflect the heat out of the fireplace, not up the chimney. You can also find a grate version where the fireback is attached to the back of the grate, with some you may even have a smaller version on the front to double the heat retention. The fire reflector can be on to three panels that stand behind the fire and due to the shiny surface pushes more heat and light into your home. Another fireplace improvement would be a tepee style grate where the logs are stack like a mini bonfire. This should increases the vertical flow of heat and less heat escapes through your chimney. A grate with a mesh enables the embers to stay together and provide warnth longer.

Blocking the draft when not in use, is another energy saver. There are various methods for this. Closing your flue is only the first defense. There are inflatable bladders that insulate your closed flue, covers that close off the front of the fireplace, having installed doors and so on.

Putting a fireplace insert into an open hearth does everything in one step. Though this is the more expensive single item, if you buy everything above it can be the cheaper one. An …

By: Warren Peters

In his State of the Union Address for 2007, President George W. Bush called for a 22% increase in federal grants for research and development of alternative energy. However, in a speech he gave soon after, he said to those assembled, I recognize that there has been some interesting mixed signals when it comes to funding.

Where the mixed signals were coming from concerned the fact that at the same time the President was calling on more government backing for research and development, the NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of Golden, Colorado was laying off workers and contractors left and right.

Apparently, the Laboratory got the hint, because soon after the State of the Union Address, everyone was re-hired. The second speech of the President’s was actually given at the NREL. There is almost unanimous public support for the federal backing through research grants, tax breaks, and other financial incentives of research and development of alternative energy sources.

The NREL is the nation’s leading component of the National Bioenergy Center, a virtual center that has no central bricks and mortar office. The NREL’s raison d’etre is the advancing of the US Department of Energy’s and the United States’ alternative energy objectives.

The laboratory’s field researchers and staff scientists, in the words of Laboratory Director Dan Arvizu, support critical market objectives to accelerate research from scientific innovations to market-viable solutions. At the core of this strategic direction are NREL’s research and technology development areas.

These areas span from understanding renewable resources for energy, to the conversion of these resources to renewable electricity and fuels, and ultimately to the use of renewable electricity and fuels in homes, commercial buildings, and vehicles. The federally-backed Laboratory directly helps along the United States’ objectives for discovering renewable alternative fuels for powering our economy and our lifestyles.

The NREL is set up to have several areas of expertise in energy research and development. It spearheads research and development efforts into renewable sources of electricity; these would include such things as solar power, wind power, biomass power, and geothermal power.

It also spearheads research and development of renewable fuels for powering our vehicles such as biomass and biodiesel fuels and hydrogen fuel cells. Then, it seeks to develop plans for integrated system engineering; this includes bringing alternative energy into play within buildings, electrical grids and delivery systems, and transportation infrastructures.

The Laboratory is also set up for strategic development and analysis of alternative energy objectives through the forces of economics, market analysis and planning, and alternative energy investment portfolios structuring.

The NREL is additionally equipped with a Technology Transfer Office. This Office supports laboratory scientists and engineers in the practical application of and ability to make a living from their expertise and the technologies they develop.

NREL’s research and development staff and its facilities are recognized for their remarkable prowess by private industry, …

A biodigester is a simple renewable energy resource that is largely overlooked. Mainly because it has two main componenets that people don’t like to talk about. Feces and methane. Over Thanksgiving my Uncle reminded me about digesters and how they can be a great source of alternative energy. Especially in rural environments, where livestock is kept.

The nice thing about a biodigester is that as long as you have plentiful water, the other main ingredient, you should be able to harvest the stored energy that is discarded by all living animals. Plus the solids that are removed after the digestion has occured makes great fertilizer. For working livestock farms the cost for a biodigester can be $250,000 or more depending on your stock and numbers, but then again having all your energy needs produced from something you need to get rid off anyway is a big plus since it can cost upto $200 per cow per year.

For those of us who are looking into a digester instead of composting a great article was found aboutBiodigester Design and Construction. It is from Rural Costa Rica.com and shows how to build our own personal digester as well as pointers on what is required daily. After looking into digesters, designs, output and input, it has to be seen as a viable option for personal as well as farm/ranch energy source.

Another plus is that even the solids have uses. From fertilizer for your crops, bedding for livestock, to plant pots, and now even flooring. Researchers at Michigan State University and the U.S.Department of Agriculture think that floors made from manure are the next big step. According to a news article from Discovery Channel on Feb 12, 2007 flooring made from these solids match or beat the quality of those made from sawdust. So who knows what else can be made from these solids.

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