Alternative Energy for the Home or Office: the time is "now"

The trend toward homes and small businesses powered by alternative energy sources such as solar power, geothermal heating, wind-turbines or biomass gases and domestic use of energy-saving electrical appliances such as Infrared Heating or low-energy water-heaters has begun - and will continue well into the 21st century.

This is not supposition, but an absolute "given" of presently dwindling stocks of fossil fuels and their corresponding price rises; the "politics" of international fossil-based energy plus the huge existing investment in existing fossil fuel infrastructure that weighs down large corporations' ability to change quickly. The time is now right for individuals and small businesses to start investing in alternative energy sources and energy-saving electrical appliances.

We have to become more independent of fossil fuels not only because of their impact on the environment, but also because it is becoming more expensive to extract their dwindling stocks. Equally we also implicitly invest disproportionate political influence in the countries that hold such fossil fuel reserves by continuing our dependence on them. Not all of these countries are fully accountable or necessarily benign. But even on a domestic level, we would do well to break the huge influence fossil fuels have on our wallet and daily politics, not only due to the taxes now being levied for their usage, but also because of the influence we bestow on the large corporations and their unions who mine, refine and distribute fossil-fuel power. We all remember queuing at petrol stations for our 20 litre ration in the very recent past.

"Carbon Free", a UK group of Energy Analysts postulate that:

a) assuming traditional energy prices remain at their current level or rise, due to dwindling stocks;

b) political issues continue to exist with the countries that supply fossil fuels and

c) fossil fuel charges and distribution remain a "bargaining chip" between corporations, government and unions, versus "Joe Public"

then the parallel trends of individuals and small businesses adopting "Microgeneration" of their own power using alternative energy technology such as solar panels or wind turbines and adoption of ever more power-saving electrical systems in the home or office will gather momentum and set the pace for government and the large corporates to follow suit.

The paradox for large corporations is that microgeneration and exploitation of power-saving electrical systems makes more economic sense "bottom-up" i.e. the individual and small business can adopt the technology more cheaply and make better initial use of it than large corporations can, because of the structural changes implied in installing the generation devices and the generally lower-level of consumption in the first place that suits the lower power output of these alternative energy devices. For example solar energy hot water heating technology is an efficient technology for reducing home water heating costs in the long run, although it is initially quite expensive to install. And yet, solar power is not yet cost-effective for corporations, as they require too much in the way of specialized plumbing to implementhot water heating by solar energy. Wind turbines too, are an efficient way of reducing home electricity costs, while making individuals more independent of the local grid.

Carbon Free concludes that the combined effect of micro-generation of alternative energy plus energy-saving electrical devices will be to home energy supply what the Internet became to communications and "intermediary" retail companies (companies that sat between the consumer and the wholesaler). People literally take "power" into their own hands and the bigger companies are left catching up.

The shift implies a restructure of the entire electricity market: its generation, infrastructure, distribution and whole mechanism of retail charging says senior analyst at Carbon Free, Remi Wilkinson. Power providers will have to diversify their business to make up for revenues lost through household energy microgeneration. The trend is being encouraged by government support and tax incentives to individuals and beusinesses to "go green". Power companies will also have to cut the costs of energy-saving units themselves as the battle for political influence is won by those demandingthese alternative energy systems, as opposed to those who supply them.

Carbon Free's analyses have also shows that energy companies are of course reacting to the situation to leverage microgeneration to their own advantage and open up new markets for themselves. Carbon Free cites the example of electricity companies (in the UK) reporting that they are seriously researching and developing ideas for new geothermal energy facilities, as these companies see geothermal energy production as a highly profitable energy source for the future. The UK is also re-commencing nuclear generation as a means of electricity generation.

About the Author: Mike Howard, Director of Green Energy (Eu) is a rapidly-emerging expert in the field of Green Energy and power-saving electrical products for the home and office. With more than twenty years experience in top-end building Mike is sole UK distributor of the renowned Redwell Infrared Heating systems.

Let Green Energy (Eu) help you with your energy saving choice.

We're always ready to talk to you. See our contact details.