Environment Adrian Fletcher on 12 Oct 2008 06:29 am
What’s So Good About Earth4Energy ?
The pertinent fact is that using grid electricity and other forms of traditional energy sources are getting expensive. And this trend will not change in the near future or every again if alternatives are not found. People are waking up to this fact as they read the bottom line on the monthly utility bill. It’s hurting and they are looking for a change. With this in mind and an increasing awareness of individual responsibilities towards the environment, people are ready to take positive action.
An idea that is becoming popular is to consider powering your home with renewable energy systems. Renewable energy has a number of advantages over carbon based, fossil fuels. Firstly it does less damage to the environment. Secondly, it does not deplete or reduce if humans decide to use it. Indeed, we waste many renewable energy resources each day that we don’t use them. Thus renewable energy systems are an ideal solution going forward, as traditional energy sources become less and are harder to find.
This is where the Earth4Energy manual comes in. It shows you how to create two renewable energy systems that you can plug into your home power supply, thus saving money on utility bills. It details exactly how to build these systems, including finding the parts free or cheaply. It uses diagrams and photographs to simplify the instructions. It lists some of the criteria that make the systems viable.
Although this information is timely and useful for people looking to get into renewable energy, I don’t think this is the main benefit of the manual. I believe it’s best point is that it shows people how to set up a renewable energy system for a fraction of the cost of the commercial alternatives.
Indeed, the cost of a professionally installed renewable energy system could be as high as $20000 depending on the requirements of the home. This kind of money is either not available or hard to justify using on something that isn’t essential when a solution is already in place.
It also means that if the decision is taken to spend this kind of money on a system, it will not pay for itself for a number of years.
In the case of the systems you will be creating based on the Earth4Energy manual, the cost is small enough that you will have made the initial investment back within a couple of months (6 months maximum). After that, all the energy you create will supplement your energy needs and help to reduce your energy bills.
So there is little to no financial risk of creating an Earth4Energy system even if they may not be as efficient as the more expensive options that are available.
So the true value of this guide is not the plans and instructions for setting up 2 renewable energy systems in the home, but that it opens up the field for anyone that is willing to outlay around $200. It can help the individual in saving on energy bills but if everyone acts on the guides instructions, can also make a difference to the environment.
on 12 Oct 2008 at 8:12 pm 1.Solar Bozo said …
Caution, while I have not purchased this particular book, other books in the genre do not give enough info to actually build a solar panel or wind generator.
I do not believe for a moment any of the so-called testimonials on the site.