Nature.is

The Garage – Heating

Theoretically it can be said that only a little amount of all solar energy that reaches the surface of the Earth could meet the energy needs of mankind as a whole and thus there should be no shortage. The problem is that we have not yet reached the stage of technological development where solar energy can be harnessed in an ecologically and economically benign manner. Therefore fossil fuels are still being used (gasoline, diesel oil and coal), for electricity production, space heating and transport.

Around 90% of all Icelanders are fortunate enough not to require fossil fuels for space heating or for electricity production. Nevertheless the annual emission of greenhouse gases is around 18 tons/per capita in Iceland which is similar to the US, and energy usage per capita is amongst the highest in Europe. These greenhouse gas emissions are mainly caused by a large fishing fleet and by aluminium smelters and other heavy industrial plants. Even though electricity in Iceland comes mainly from hydropower dams, it does not mean that Icelanders can allow themselves to waste energy. Firstly, electricity costs, secondly hydropower has certain negative environmental consequences and thirdly Icelanders could export more energy than they do today, or use it more creatively if resources were spared and hydropower dams were used more carefully.

All heavy energy intensive industry involves the indirect export of electricity. Electricity is always the product of other energy sources such as hydropower, gasoline, oil or in other countries even nuclear power. If Icelanders were to diminish their usage of energy they could save enough energy to produce hydrogen fuel which hopefully will be used along with other fuels such as methanol and methane for transport in not too many years. This is only a simple example to show how all things are environmentally interconnected. Saving energy in the home not only saves money but also saves the environment for future generations.

Lowering the heat indoors

A common indoor temperature in Iceland is 23-25°C, but research shows that 20°C is optimum temperature indoors, with regard to air quality and comfort of the residents. It should be kept in mind that the cost of space heating goes up by 7% if the indoor temperature is raised by one degree. It is unnecessary to heat as much on sunny days and easy to lower the temperature before going on holiday or leaving the house.

It is a good idea to use the warm waste water from the space heating system to heat up the garage. The cooling effect caused by the garage has to be assessed and then especially how well insulated the garage door is. In some cases it may be unnecessary to heat up the garage at all.

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Garage - Fuel

The most commonly used fuel, petrol and diesel, release a great amount of CO2 and it is therefore of great importance to find and develop new sources of energy that are more environmentally friendly. For many years now the development of more efficient diesel and petrol cars, hybrids (electric- and petrol fueled cars), methane cars, hydrogen cars and electric cars has been underway. In recent years a race has begun for the next generation of buyers; a generation that will demand ever more efficient, economic and less environmentally harmful cars.

Changing the usage of fuel from one type to another
Changing the type of fuel being used in transport is no easy matter, and apart from the production and distribution of the energy, the fuel has to be adjusted to the motors being used today. It is best if a new source of energy can be adapted completely to older types of vehicles, here ethanol and biodiesel can be mentioned. It is a worse option if older vehicles have to be changed to a large extent. Thus it can be mentioned that the use of methane demands large gas containers which are costly and which diminish the functionality of the car. The methane is easier to use for newer cars because then the car as a whole can be designed with the gas containers in mind. The worst option is when a new energy option is introduced requiering new motors. Here both hydrogen and electricity can be mentioned. Such large changes cannot be carried out except over tens of years and only if the new energy and the new motors are very much cheaper than the energy that preceeded them.

Biodiesel
Biodisel is the organic environmentally friendly fuel which has the greatest possibility of becoming reality today. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil or from animal fat but the greatest hope lies in the production of biodiesel from algae. Experimental projects have been carried out on behalf of Siglingastofnunar by cultivating rape in order to produce biodiesel in this country but N1 started importing Biodiesel in 2007 and sells it in three service stations at Hringbraut, Skógarsel and at Reykjavíkurvegur. The advantage of using biodiesel is that it can be used on any diesel car whatsoever. However practical problems have hindered further development but they are being solved as they arise.

Ethanol is being produced by fermenting biomass. Bioethanol E85 is available at the Olís fuel station at Álfheimar. Brimborg has marketed ethanol cars in Iceland. Ethanol has been fermented from sugar cane or from corn but there are intensive experimental projects going on related to producing ethanol from cellulose.

Methane is a renewable source of energy formed by the decay of organic material. It is hoped that the use of methane as a car fuel will increase in the future as it can be considered environmentally friendly in two ways. Firstly it’s burning releases no CO2 and secondly it consumes methane which is an especially harmful greenhouse gas. It is therefore much better to use the gas to fuel cars instead of using petrol or oil.
Metan Ltd. Is a company that has for a few years now produced methane gas but there is still only one refueling station in the country which does not really motivate people to buy methane cars. There are, on the other hand, hopes that this will change in the coming years as the supply of methane cars is increasing considerably. It is worthwhile to note what methane cars are available as dealerships are fast becoming green. Only a short time ago it was almost impossible to get any dealerships to sell methane cars so the development is certainly going in the right direction.
It is possible to convert normal cars into methane cars and Borgarholtsskóli started teaching that kind of conversion in 2007. Vélamiðstöðin ehf., MeGas ehf. and Einn grænn ehf. offer the onversion of normal cars into methane cars today and the number of cars using methane as fuel is rapidly increasing.
Methane cars are usually hybrids, with one tank for methane and another smaller one for petrol. That way it is possible to drive long distances and use petrol to some extent where there is no methane available (the gas tank tough, can be as small as 15 liters).

Hydrogen has relatively insignificant environmental effects as long as the energy to produce it is derived from water, wind or solar power, unless of course the plants environmental impact is significant (i.e Kárahnjúkavirkjun). The problem tough, with hydrogen cars is that their development is still under way and its results are still unsure, and it is also unsure when it will be possible to produce enough hydrogen cars to make a difference. Iceland can safely be called a hydrogen country as it has invested substantially in projects connected to the development and promotion of the hydrogen idea.
Íslensk NýOrka is a front-liner in Icelandic hydrogen research. Hydrogen cars have still a long way to go to become a real choice for the average consumer and furthermore hydrogen is not considered by all to be any solution as it is not really energy in itself but rather a carrier of energy. A few such cars are now in Iceland in connection with various projects and the car-rental agency Hertz will for instance be able to rent out hydrogen cars within a short while, which is a significant step as this will be the first time in the world the public gains access to hydrogen cars. The operations of the cars have though been troublesome for various reasons. One of the reasons is that there is only one refuelling station for hydrogen at Ártúnshöfði in Reykjavík.

EVEN/Northern Lights Energy now works hard on introducing electric cars into Iceland, but electric cars are by many considered to be the most feasible solution for the long term future, not in the least for Iceland where electricity can be produced in a more environmentally friendly manner, than in many other places in the world. Possibly the electric car is the dream solution, - only if we were not facing again those practical problems. Rare Earth metals are used for the motors, and the control system of the electricity. It has to be taken into account that producting those metals is a highly polluting business. Most hopes are placed on Li-ion batteries which are capable of storing large amounts of energy compared with weight. But how much Lithium is available on Earth or in the Solar System for that matter? Will there be enought Lithium for the car-fleet of the world? For Iceland it would be awesome to drive pollution-free and silently on electric cars, but then the highly polluting production process is maybe forgotten, because we will never notice it. There is no rose without thorns.

Traditional cars
If the choice is between a diesel- or a gasoline car, it is ampt to keep in mind that a diesel car spends around 25% less fuel than a comparable gasoline car. However around 16% more carbon dioxide is created by burning one liter of diesel oil than gasoline. This means that when choosing between two cars the diesel car has to use 16% less than the gasoline car in order to be comparable to a gasoline car. To this is added that diesel cars produce more aerosol, NOX and PAH´s* than gasoline cars even though diesel car engines are always improving.
The economic aspect of diesel cars is best revealed during long distance driving. It is more difficult for the diesel car to be economical in city and short distance driving. The same goes however for gasoline cars. A cold gasoline engine spends a lot of fuel until it has reached operational temperature. Here we should consider the advantages of an engine heater.  Using an electric engine heather, the motor reaches normal operating temperatures much sooner, polluting less and spending less fuel. Also the car becomes warm and cosy in a few minutes. Not bad on a cold winter morning.

PAH´s are poly-aromatic-hydrocarbons which are known carcinogens.

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Slök arðsemi Kárahnjúkavirkjunar

Fyrir rétt rúmum 10 árum gerðu Náttúruverndarsamtök Íslands þá athugasemd við skýrslu Landsvirkjunar um umhverfisáhrif Kárahnjúkavirkjunar, að fjárfestingin myndi ekki skila arði. Eða, með öðrum orðum, eyðilegging öræfanna norðan Vatnajökuls yrði ekki réttlætt með þjóðarhag. Hið fyrr nefnda hefði forstjóri Landsvirkjunar, Hörður Arnarson, ekki getað sagt skýrar á haustfundi fyrirtækisins í gær.

Matsskýrsla Landsvirkjunar bar með sér að enginn hagfræðingur kom að gerð hennar. Niðurstaða skýrsluhöfunda var sláandi lík niðurstöðu vitringanna þriggja sem fengnir voru til að rannsaka umhverfisáhrif Laxárvirkjunar með 54 metra hárri stíflu í Laxárdal og Mývatn sem uppistöðulón. Vissulega - sögðu vitringarnir - myndi framkvæmdin valda nokkru tjóni á náttúrunni þar um kring en hún væri þjóðhagslega hagkvæm.

Fram kom í máli Harðar Arnarsonar í gær að heildarstofnkostnaður Kárahnjúkaverkefnisins hafi verið 2,3 milljarðar Bandaríkjadala Áætlaður stofnkostnaður fyrirfram var 1200 milljónir dollara, skv. Sumitomo-skýrslunni sem gefin var út haustið 2001 til að svara gagnrýni Þorsteins Siglaugssonar fyrir hönd Náttúruverndarsamtaka Íslands. Hvort tölurnar eru fyllilega sambærilegar skal ósagt láitð en þarna munar greinilega mjög miklu, nærri 100%.

Vakin er athygli á nýrri skýrslu iðnaðarráðherra um raforkumál, greiningu Hagfræðistofnunar HÍ, 3.4. Þjóðhagsleg þýðing áætlaðra framkvæmda á bls. 42

Snúi maður röksemdafærslu Hagfræðistofnunar á haus má segja að skammtímaáhrif virkjana- og stóriðjuframkvæmda séu öðru fremur hagsmunir byggingaverktaka, verkfræðifyrirtækja, stjórmálamanna og einstakra landshluta. Mun síður langtímahagsmunir Íslendinga. Eins og Hagfræðistofnun bendir á:

Ef fjárfestingarnar eru hátt hlutfall af landsframleiðslu kann að vera erfitt fyrir peningayfirvöld að halda aftur af verðbólgu.    
Langtímaáhrif af stóriðjufjárfestingum eru miklu óvissari en skammtímaáhrifin.

Forstjóri Landsvirkjunar verður ekki skilin öðruvísi en svo að langtímaáhrif Kárahnjúkavirkjunar séu helst þau að það mun taka mun lengri tíma en ella fyrir fyrirtækið að skila eigendum viðunandi arði.

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Jólaljósin og virkjunarþörfin

Orkunotkun okkar nær hámarki um jólin. Hámark orkunotkunar er merkilegt fyrirbæri því að það ræður í raun stærð virkjana. Þessi afltoppur ákvarðar í raun nauðsynlega stærð virkjana. Það er ekki hægt að geyma rafmagn og því gildir að því hærra sem við teygjum afltoppinn því stærri virkjun þurfum við og þá skiptir litlu máli þó að meðalnotkun dragist saman.

Um jólin þegar að jólaseríur eru kveiktar á næstum hverju heimili, á hverjum vinnustað, í hverjum búðarglugg o.s.fr. er ekki úr vegi að hafa í huga að LED seríur nota brotabrot á við hefbundnar perur og endast margfalt lengur. 500 ljóstvistar eyða jafnmiklu og ein 40 W pera. Þannig er hægt að fá meiri skreytingu fyrir minni orku.

Byggt á upplýsingum frá Sigurði Inga Friðleifssyni framkvæmdastjóra Orkuseturs.
Grafík: Jólasería, Guðrún Tryggvadóttir ©Náttúran.is.

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The Garage - Electricity

The use of electricity generated from sustainable sources of power and the increased use of electricity in general are the cornerstones of the development of self-sustainability. The energy need of homes should to be as low as possible and electric appliances and equipment should thus be as energy efficient as possible. Appliances such as fridges and freezers are responsible for about 75% of the home’s energy use. Electric appliances are graded from A to G based on their energy use, where A++ stands for the most efficient and G the least. You can save a lot of money by considering energy efficiency when buying new appliances.

The energy labels Energy Star, GEEA and the European Union energy label help us find the most energy efficient appliances. These labels can usually be found on computers and various electric appliances.

Electric appliances on standby drain power continuously. On top of being a fire hazard, some of these appliances actually use more energy when not in use than while used. All over the world a fantastic amount of energy is wasted on appliances on standby. A discussion has been growing about the need to redesign electrical appliances so that they are completely off when shut down.

For energy efficient lighting, a well-organized system of electric equipment, lights and cables is needed. The energy efficiency of the equipment itself is not the sole matter to think about though, as the lighting also needs to be set and calibrated according to need. A development in energy efficient electric lighting and light sources has been taking place the past few years. When organizing lighting it is necessary to consider the entire process; everything from how much power is put into a room for lighting to the quality of the lighting.

If you click on each electric appliance here in The House and the Environment you will get information about how to avoid unnecessary waste of energy.

See Nature's Guidelines on Energy.

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