BuildaWindMill.net

Why is important for ‘business’ to use renewable energy? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Do you know a company that uses renewable energy and has reduced its carbon footprint? And one that doesn’t and is considerably contributing to global warming etc

It’s important because fossil fuels are a finite resource. Global oil production is beginning to decline as old oil fields reach their peak, (the Gwhar and Cantrell giant oil fields for example,) and their production curves begin the inevitable slide downwards. Although new oil fields are being discovered, they are not very large, and for every new barrel of oil found, eight are being used at the same time.

A report from the UK Energy Research Centre published in August said that there was a ’significant risk’ that the peak of conventional oil production would happen before 2020, and that means we will soon be staring down the barrel of the ultimate oil crisis.

Some governments and corporations are waking up to this and beginning to develop alternatives to keep the worlds transport systems moving when cheap oil runs out, such as more energy efficient – or electric cars, bio fuels (which put the world’s food supply under pressure,) and hydrogen (which is too dangerous for public use at present,) but none of these is likely to make up the shortfall in time.

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In the past I have done wind generators, like what is the best curvature for the blade and what is the best type of material the blade should be. If you have any ideas on this it would be great too. I have my own windmill.

Making a mousetrap-powered car might be cool. You could experiment to see what you need to do to get it to go the longest distance, or go the fastest speed. Do a search on mousetrap cars and you’ll get ideas. Email me if you have questions, as I’ve had my students make them.

These sites have lots of different ideas:

http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Resources/GettingStarted.html

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open4energy has published a list of home energy scams to help energy conscientious home owners avoid being taken advantage of. They range from down loadable plans to build a magnetic generator, a solar panel or a windmill, to energy saving plug in gadgets, to full blown sales promotions for kvar power factor correction units which have negligible savings capabilities for even the biggest homes.

Each one we find is another community we can protect!

The most common website I encounter is DIY solar panels. The claim is that "for under 200 dollars you too can build your own solar panel and save thousands" I do not dispute the validity of that claim. I do take issue with what they don’t say. There are some building code violations to say the least. I have posted a blog on this very issue, and will continue to do so on a weekly basis. It is my goal to bring clarity to the cyber solar world. Check out my post "To build or not to build that is the question" at http://www.solarmandan.com.

P.S. Maybe we could post links to each other"s sites.

I am looking for alternative sources of energy in india.Recently i heard about mini windmills. Are there anybody in india who manufacture such mini windmills that can generate around 1000 to 2000 watts of electricity for home consumption?What is the price of such windmill?

Suzlon is the leading windmills producer in India …. Please visit Suzlon’s website for more details… and if you are based in Chennai, there is an department for win energy in Guindy (South Chennai)

why not try?

You may want to study the following to get some background information:

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_hydro.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/behrens16.html
http://www.richardpresents.com/alternative-energy/generators.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_4599912_water-wheel-electric-generators.html

This is a project for school please i NEED help

the basic concept is that you need a turbine and a generator. the easiest way to get these objects would be to use a fan blade as the turbine and a DC motor as a generator. basically you can use any DC electric fan for this. spin the fan blade by blowing another fan against it. use a multimeter (or voltmeter/current meter) to determine if you are creating a voltage or current at the two poles of the motor (where the wires connect). if you are getting a reading on the voltmeter, you have just produced electricity by using wind power.

I’m on the verge of buying a house (in the midwest) within a month and would like to cut back on utilities, so I’m trying to determine which would provide the most savings. I know a typical horizontal axis windmill would be more efficient, but unfortunately it’s out of the question (due to safety & space issues) in a residential area. Due to financial limits, I can’t get both (at least not yet). I will be using a gas stove since electric ones are such power hogs (in case that makes a difference).

Geothermal is always going to be better in the long run. Once you get pipe down a certain depth (usually 4-6 ft) the earth’s temperature is pretty consistent at 55 deg F. Wind energy is great! and generally a better bang for your buck IF you always have wind. The problem is that unless you live in Wyoming it’s not going to be consistent enough and the cost to build it is too much.

There are gov’t subsidies for both also. But a closed-loop geothermal system will be the cheapest.

But if you want to get really fancy you could do an open system: use water to heat the house and use the hot water in the shower, etc. This is much more expensive up front though. It would change your heating system completely and your water system.