Green Renewable Energy

Get eco in your kitchen with these tips. From electricity, to water consumption, your kitchen can be earth-happy if you follow some simple guidelines to re-use items, minimize waste and be as environmentally friendly as you can.

Microwave - Cooking in the microwave and other small appliances can be extremely efficient compared to a stove. When buying one, go for models with the highest energy star rating.

Bamboo and aluminium steamers - Bamboo or aluminium steamers are perfect for conserving energy. Always try to combine cooking time and energy. For example, a roast and vegies can both be cooked in the oven at the same time, while a pot of pasta can also be used to steam vegies.

Food processor or blender - Making your own sauces, dips and dressing not only saves money, it’s healthier and drastically reduces packaging.

Eco bags - When you get back from the shops, put your eco carry bags back into your car or handbag to avoid forgetting them next time. Many eco-bags are made from a light weight parachute material that is easy to compact and stow away.

Water efficient fittings - As has become the standard, it is a great idea to install water=saving devices throughout the home - especially in the kitchen where taps are used the most.

Pots of herbs - Plants herbs in pots and place them close to your kitchen. That way, when you need some fresh herbs, they are already close at hand.

Recycling - Set up a system to separate your waste. Separate plastics, glass, newspaper and cans. Put a calendar up to remind yourself when different items are collected and contact your local council for more information.

Compost Pail or Bokashi bin - Invest in a small compost pail or in a bokashi bin to collect your kitchen scraps. By keeping your compost pail close by, it’s easier to collect scraps as you go and then add them to your garden or composting system later.

DIY cleaning products - ditch the chemicals and make your own cleaning products. Mix white vinegar with water for a terrific floor cleaner and add a touch of lemon for a fresh scent.

Leftover fridge calendar - Keep a calendar on the fridge to mark your leftovers. This way, you can tell at a glance if you really need to do another shopping trip.

Plastic tub - Don’t have a grey water system? Use a plastic tub in the sink to catch water from washing vegetables. If you use a grey water safe dish detergent, you can gather the water you use from rinsing your dishes as well.

Coffee and tea - Use fair trade, organic or rainforest alliance coffees where ever possible. Same goes for teas. Always go for loose-leaf teas brewed in a pot or plunger - less packaging.

Kettle - Go for the most energy efficient model. Look for ones that shut off after the water is boiled and remember to only boil the amount of water you need to avoid re heating unnecessarily.

The world of big business is making daily headlines by “going green” after discovering that what’s good for the planet is also proving good for business.

IBM recently announced “Project Big Green,” a $1 billion initiative to reduce energy consumption by offering new lines of energy-efficient IT products.

Wal-Mart is adding solar power to more than 20 stores.

PepsiCo is buying renewable energy certificates to offset its carbon footprint. Even major banks and energy firms are being asked by shareholders to prove that they, too, are going green.

It’s not just the biggest businesses that are attracting new customers and shareholders and reaping huge profits by “going green.” Small businesses also are growing eco-profits by embracing surprisingly inexpensive strategies to add value to their products, services and brand.

Consider these innovative examples:

- Bob Smith of Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, California, has attracted positive publicity (and new customers) by promoting his efforts to reduce his small firm’s waste output and take other environmentally conscious steps. In turn, he has received welcome positive publicity from the press. “What PR budget? That is our PR budget,” he told the Albuquerque Tribune about “going green” to market his business.

- In Florida, Natalie Kelly formed Home Therapy Cleaning Services, which uses only nontoxic, all-natural cleaning products for her home cleaning business. She used to sell aromatherapy candles from her home, she told the St. Petersburg Times, but today uses an aromatherapy baking soda blend to freshen carpets.

Here’s what you can do:

- Two inexpensive ways any small business or solo entrepreneur can go green are to change light bulbs to energy-efficient bulbs and use biodegradable cleaning products.

- With that done, tell your customers and the media about these simple ways to go green. You will have just earned instant credibility as a green business, and also as a media resource for simple, effective ways to “go green.”

- Many communities online and offline are forming networks to exchange energy-saving ideas for home and business. Form your own energy network, enlisting neighborhood businesses that will welcome another opportunity to show they’re going green, too. The plus for you is that you will have just positioned yourself and your business as a community environmental leader.

- Copy what the New York Times called “Phase 2″ of the corporate response to global warming. Partner with an environmental group. Travelocity invites customers to donate an extra $10 to $40, which goes to the Conservation Fund to plant trees to offset the carbon used by a client to take a trip. Whole Foods invites customers to buy a $5 “wind power card” that goes to Renewable Choice Energy to build wind farms. What local environmental group can you partner with to promote on your Web site (and vice versa), to set aside a day that a percentage of profits will go to that organization or to make their fliers available at your business?

- Make use of readily available, free information to hand out with your business literature or to make available in your office. For example, create a one-page flier on your letterhead inviting clients to calculate their own carbon footprint by visiting http://multimedia.wri.org/safeclimate_calculator.cfm.

- Go deeper green! Attend a “green” conference in your community or region, and promote your attendance. (Go to Google.com and type in “green” and “conference” and your area to find out when and where they are scheduled.) Write a “green” article on simple ways you are going green and submit it to one of the dozens of “green” Web sites and blogs that invite reader contributions. It’s a great way to market your smart ideas and your business!

About the Author:

Tushar Mathur We are all About Green at : Talking About Green and selling green products at : Buy Green

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Going Green Is Not Just For Big Business-You Can Grow Profits, Too!

LEDs are solid-state semiconductor devices that convert electrical energy directly into light.
Thermal sources of light such as flames and incandescent filaments emit light when heated, either by chemical reaction (flames) or electrical heating (filament lamps). LED “cold” generation of light leads to high efficacy because most of the energy radiates within the visible spectrum.
Other common high efficiency light sources, such as fluorescent lamps and electro luminescent devices, also produce light without much thermal radiation outside the visible spectrum.
Because LEDs are solid-state devices, they can be extremely small and durable; they also provide longer lamp life than other sources.

Light is generated inside the chip, a solid crystal material, when current flows across the junctions of different material compositions.

An LED consists of two elements of processed material called P-type semiconductors and N-type semiconductors. These two elements are placed in direct contact, forming a region called the P-N junction. The composition of the different materials determines the wavelength and therefore the colour of light generated.

LED resembles most other diode types, but there are important differences. The LED has a transparent package, allowing visible or IR energy to pass through. Also, the LED has a large PN-junction area whose shape is tailored to the application. The device shown in Figure 1 is an AlGaInP LED because the semiconductor layers are aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and phosphate (P).

Main LED materials

The main semiconductor materials used to manufacture LEDs are:

*Indium gallium nitride (InGaN): blue, green and ultraviolet high-brightness LEDs
*Aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP): yellow, orange and red high-brightness LEDs
*Aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs): red and infrared LEDs
*Gallium phosphide (GaP): yellow and green LEDs

Why LEDs?

LEDs have a range of benefits which is fast making them the best solution for real energy efficient lighting. Over the course of the next few years some aspects are expected to change significantly.

Lifetime
As solid-state light sources, LEDs have a very long lifetime and are generally very robust due to no mechanical or moving parts.
Incandescent bulbs have an expected lifetime of 1k to 5k hours, while good quality LEDs are often quoted of having a lifetime of 50k hours, more than 5 years continuous use. However it is important to to understand that the performance of LEDs degrades over time, and this degradation is strongly affected by factors such as operating current and temperature.

Low maintenance
The long lifetime of LEDs reduces the need to replace failed lamps, and this can lead to significant financial and environmental savings, particularly in maintenance, labour and recycling. This makes LED fixtures useful for installations in inaccessible locations, but if tasks like cleaning the light fixture are required, then the light sources could be replaced at the same time, negating the “low maintenance” advantage.

Efficiency
As a semiconductor device, LEDs are highly efficient. Current device technology is allowing the performance of these to be pushed to limits that exceed that of standard lighting.
The directional nature of light produced by LEDs allows the design of luminaires with higher overall efficiency.

Low power consumption
The low power consumption of LEDs leads to large energy savings that can often drive the installation of LED-based systems. Initial purchase costs start off higher, but can be proven to return the investment cost in a short period of time.

Brightness
Light outputs are constantly being increased and there are several products that have higher lumen output than traditional lighting.

Heat
LEDs do not produce heat in the form of infrared radiation (IR) unlike incandescent bulbs which makes them hot to the touch.
This lack of heat production allows LED fixtures to be used in locations where heating from conventional sources would cause a particular problem e.g. illuminating food, textiles, artifacts, etc.
However, LEDs do produce heat at the semiconductor junction within the device and good thermal management must be employed on high power devices to maintain operation life

Cost
In many applications, LEDs are expensive compared with other light sources, when measured by metrics such as “£-per-lumen”.
LED manufacturers continue to work towards reducing their production costs while at the same time increasing the light output of their devices.
However, the high initial cost of LED-based systems is offset by lower energy consumption, lower maintenance costs and other factors.
The initial cost may seem high, but take into account the electricity usage that is saved, they pay for themselves.

Electricity Cost savings from switching to LED Direct replacement bulbs
10W LED Bulbs Vs 75W halogen bulb running cost comparison

Small form-factors
LEDs are very small - typical high-brightness LED chips measure 0.3 mm by 0.3 mm, while high-power devices can be 1 mm x 1 mm or larger. There are many examples where the availability of small, high-brightness devices have enabled significant market advancement. The obvious example is in mobile phone handsets, where blue, green and white LEDs are now used in most models to back light keypads and liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens.

Instantaneous switch-on
LEDs switch on rapidly, even when cold, and this is a particular advantage for certain applications such as vehicle brake lights.

Colour
LEDs are available in a broad range of brilliant, saturated colours (although performance varies across the spectrum), and white devices are also available. Modules containing different colored LEDs (typically red, green and blue, or RGB) can be tuned to a huge range of colours, and easily dimmed. RGB modules provide a much wider gamut of colours than white LEDs or other traditional white light sources, which is a particular advantage in applications such as backlighting liquid-crystal displays (LCD’s).

RGB LEDs and colour mixing
LED characteristics change with time, temperature and current, and from device to device. For RGB LEDs, the performance of different colored devices changes at different rates. This can result in variation of lamp colour and intensity, and poor reproducibility.

LED Vs Halogen

LED Lighting Types

Now the LED bulbs are widely applied in household, office, street, shop, park etc for decoration and lightings LED lighting family mainly includes:
1. LED ball lamp
2. LED spot lamp
3. LED ground lamp
4. LED tube light
5. LED rope lamp
6. LED pool lamp
7. LED curtain lamp
8. LED Christmas (festival) lamp
9. LED ceiling lamp
10. LED road light
11. LED Solar light
Etc.

In a word, LED lightings will be the future of lighting, and it will definitely replace the halogen lights in soon future.

About the Author:

Leading Manufacturer of LED screen & LED Light

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - New Concept of Green & Energy-saving Lighting - LED Light