People have started mentioning solar chargers for mobile phones and iPods almost everywhere you go, or so it seems like. And, of course, everyone has had it happen to them. There you are, stuck on a train in the middle of nowhere, or up a mountain, and suddenly your iPod or phone loses what little battery it had left, even if you’re sure you charged it just last night. And suddenly you’re left with the prospect of facing the rest of your journey with no music or without a phone to keep people updated with regards to your progress. Never fear, though, for it seems like there could be a cheap, durable and travel-sized (for your convenience) Solar Charger.

Nowadays, we keep ourselves amused during long journeys (or even just travelling to and from work) with the technology that we surround ourselves with. The last thing anyone wants to do is actually interact with their fellow travellers on the 06:30 from Birmingham New Street to London Euston because, really, it’s just too early in the day (and God forbid you try to read on any train operated by South Eastern! Travel sickness will be imminent in your life if you do that.)

But what if there was a neatly-sized charger pack that you could just slip into your bag – or your pocket, even; measuring 144 x 84 x 30mm, the Globetrotter Solar Charger in its specially designed and extra-tough carry pouch weighs only 457g. The Globetrotter (also called the Freeloader) can charge any class of iPod, all current Nokia and N series phones as well as, but not limited to, the Tom Tom sat nav, the Nintendo DS and the Blackberry smartphone. The kit comes complete with two cables – one to connect your gadget to the computer for charging and one to link between the Globetrotter and one of the eleven adaptors included.

The solar panels on the Globetrotter can charge the internal battery within 5 hours (cut down to 3 hours if using the supplied USB cable to charge from the computer. The Globetrotter is impact resistant and features a rust free aluminium body and can simultaneously charge your phone or iPod while being charge itself. The Globetrotter kit also comes with a Supercharger – a super-fast, super-durable way to charge your Freeloader. The Supercharger can fully charge a Freeloader in only 4 hours of sunshine – meaning that you can charge your Freeloader twice in one day.

Described as the “ultimate travellers’ power pack”, the Freeloader Globetrotter kit comes complete with a Freeloader Portable Solar Energy System (including eleven connectors and corresponding connection cables), the Freeloader Supercharger (making you less reliant on the weather to charge your helpful friend) and a tough carry pouch, designed to protect your Freeloader even in the hands of the most accident-prone users. We’re not suggesting you chuck it off of a cliff, but almost anything short of being launched from a height like that, and it will probably survive.

It comes in two colours – green and pink – and while we’ve heard that some people have been disappointed, thorough testing assures us that as long as you charge the Freeloader up fully and then just top it up as needed, you should be okay.

The Freeloader Globetrotter kit costs £54.85 (inc. VAT) with an additional £3.95 for standard UK delivery. Buy direct from Nigel’s Eco Store or shop around, but it seemed like a good deal to us.

Posted under Product reviews, Uncategorized

Google, the world’s most popular internet search engine, has invested $168 million into a solar farm – to be added to the $1.6 billion from the US government. A solar farm, that is, unlike most domestic generators of solar energy in that the site is huge. and looks set to be an indication of the future. Situated in the Mojave Desert, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will be completed in 2013 (work started in October last year) and will be able to boast of 173,000 heliostats that concentrate the sun’s rays onto a solar tower. The towers (three, in total, on the site) will stand about 137 m (450 Ft.) tall and are expected to generate 392 MW of energy – enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.

BUT HOW DOES IT ALL WORK?

The whole system works by mirrors turned to catch the sun and then focusing that power onto solar receivers. The ISEGS complex will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 400,000 tonnes a year and is set to be the example and prototype for many more such super solar farms worldwide. While it is the first such project in the United States, similar projects have been announced in other countries. The most notable of these is in Inner Mongolia in China where a facility is being built near Ordos City and will eventually be capable of producing 2.2 GW of energy – although the project will not be completed until 2019 when full capacity is reached.

The ISEGS project has found its site four and a half miles to the southwest of the town of Primm in California – unremarkable to most and unheard of by many outside of California, but now notable for its proximity to the Ivanpah solar power plant. The project is named after the Ivanpah dry lake near its location and the whole venture is being masterminded by the company BrightSource Energy (www.brightsourceenergy.com). Unlike nuclear power plants, any accidents will not have a hugely disastrous impact on the surrounding area.

This is not the first time that Google have invested in start-up renewable energy plans. Last year, the company invested $38.8 million in a wind farm – but the Ivanpah plant is its largest and most ambitious investment to date.

Until now, Europe has laid claim to most of the world’s solar farms – there are several in Spain, for example – but with companies like the US-owned First Solar rapidly expanding, perhaps this venture will truly become worldwide as people learn to rely more on solar power and less on fossil fuels. Solar power, unlike coal and natural gas deposits deep underground, is highly unlikely to run out any time soon.

Posted under Environmental News, News

It is a typically sunny, long afternoon in the English countryside. Bees are buzzing, hedge rows dip and turn, and the slow curvature of the rolling hillsides drop off towards the horizon line. In fact, we could be plotted anywhere along the steady timeline of British history. It’s true; going by appearances alone it’s hard to tell, whilst out rambling or picnicking on one of Britain’s many soft knolls, not where we are but when we are.

That is until you’ve seen a peculiar looking specimen of tree – the wind turbine. Their presence is unmistakable; standing straight in regimented lines, rotors turning, or planted by themselves, tall as a flag pole in support of some local farm.

Admittedly it took a while for a character to grow out from this very modern twenty-first century mechanism. Indeed, the national newspapers were all too eager to dwell upon the immediate reactionary defense from our nation as a whole; easily anticipated from a country most often described as ‘stoic’ and ‘proud’, let alone one with a heritage like Britain’s. And the public’s general negative feeling did well to capture the response that most people had at a personal level to what seemed like an invasion of technological progression.

So, have things changed since then? Well, arguably, no – not really. The general consensus on Britain’s adoption of wind turbines and other renewable energy seems to follow the line that We’re happy to have it, but hate to see it! And this, quite frankly, has to change.

Agreed, the great British countryside is changing. And, no, it doesn’t look the same as it did. But this will never be the case. After all, nothing on Earth has a design – be it biological or technological – to remain in stasis. It seems appropriate to recall some old wise words once uttered…All that remains permanent is change. Which is why when change is inevitable it must be understood.

Wind turbines are Britain’s primary hope for producing renewable energy, on site. By ‘on site’ we are talking about domestic sourcing – within Britain – rather than paying for power from across seas. The sites on and around Britain are naturally provided for in order to harbour wind farms and make use of the sustainable and renewable energy source that we have for centuries taken for granted – wind.

Solar energy, for all its merit, would not come to great affect if it were to harness a typical British summer. And being a relatively small cluster of islands, restricted by the amount of land we have available, other renewable sources such as Biomass remain impracticable. And despite great innovation and technological advancement in many areas of renewable energy, Britain’s key renewable source is, and will be for the foreseeable future, wind power.

So what’s to be done? Well, to surmise with one word, we have to ‘change’. Changing our perceptions; our habits; and our methods.

It’s the buzzword that environmentalists and politicians have been using for years, and which, quite honestly, has lost all meaning. Change requires action. And to make this sound less dramatic, to put it ‘in the kitchen’ so to speak, in a day-to-day reality, we’d need only to look at the energy we have supplied directly into our homes.

By doing something as simple as changing your current energy tariff to a ‘clean’ energy supplier, you will be making that necessary change. If your electricity is sourced from a supplier that uses ‘clean’ power – or in other words uses renewable sources to produce the power – then they are getting the financial support needed to sustain their good practise; the government will recognise this change in trends; and the renewable market will be boosted by the new income. All this action will, in turn, bring electricity prices down, advance renewable technology (so they can design more integratable models), and help Britain become a more sustainable country.

Think of it this way: by doing something as simple as changing your current energy tariff, you could have more money to treat yourself to a picnic in the great outdoors knowing exactly why you feel so proud that the countryside looks this ‘clean’.

Posted under Articles

At Ecoswitch we’re often talking up the benefits of renewable energy and green energy for the home, because it can often be cheaper, and it is certainly more environmentally friendly. What we don’t do though, is explain that switching to alternative energy is good for business.

Why Renewable Energy is a Great Way of Promoting CSR

Switching to an alternative energy company harbours the same benefits for a business as a home: it can work out cheaper, its environmentally friendly, and its stable and sustainable.

In one respect though, it is exceptional. for a business, it can be the perfect way to signal ethical considerations and a serious commitment to the corporate social responsibility of an organisation.

These days, that side of a business is more important that has ever been before, and whilst the work of an electricity and gas supply goes on silently, its useful for a business to be able to show that it practices what it preaches ethically by showing that even the way that their business is powered adheres to a code of environmental friendliness.

It might not be the most important consideration when switching to renewable energy, but its certainly one that uniquely benefits businesses and organisations.

Saving Money, Helping the Environment, Attracting Custom

Of course the fact that it may be cheaper, and that it significantly reduces CO2 emissions (in fact, on 100% renewable energy tariffs, they’re effectively zero) is still an incredibly encouraging thing at business level.

That it can also attract custom is just an extra added bonus: there are certainly individuals out there (including this writer, for one) who would see an organisation using renewable energy companies as something of a vote-swinger.

It’s important to say that it won’t do much solo – if the organisation is terrible to begin with, a green energy supply isn’t going to change things – but if its a choice between two great companies, then many would go with the one who has taken time to implement such ethical considerations.

Switching a Business to Alternative Energy with Ecoswitch

If this kind of thing sounds like the right kit and caboodle for you, then take a look at switching to renewable energy through the Ecoswitch green energy pages.All you need is geographical details and a few rudimentary stats regarding energy consumption, and you’re away.

Switching takes a few minutes, but the rewards last years. So take a look now!

Posted under Gas & Electricity

Now that you’re up-to-date with what a green energy tariff is, we’ve compiled a concise collection of the leading energy suppliers and a who’s who of the eco-specialists on the market today.

EDF Energy

EDF’s Climate Balance tariff is for their existing customers. It works with a sense of off-setting your carbon usage: 0.42 pence per unit of electricity and 0.147 pence per unit of gas used is first matched by EDF and then contributed into a running fund to develop sustainable energy projects and offset CO2 emissions. Their Green Tariff works through a similar process: this green fund has been set up so that all-year support and investments can be made into initiatives supporting community based and educational projects, such as developing and installing microgenerational equipment (ie., solar panels and wind turbines) for schools and neighbourhood projects.

Scottish and Southern Energy

Scottish and Southern Energy have teamed up with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and concentrated their efforts to protect and support Britain’s ecology and local wildlife. When you make the switch, £10 for gas and £10 for electricity donations will be made in your name; as well as an added donation of £5 for every year you remain with the tariff.

ScottishPower

ScottishPower’s H20 tariff focuses on the renewable source of hydro-power. Every unit of electricity used by their customers will be matched by ScottishPower as they’ll generate the equivalent by using their hydro-power stations in Lanark, Galloway and Cruachan. As well as this great way of supporting local renewable power generation, ScottishPower offer another method of investing in renewable energy: their Green Energy Fund means that for a flat donation of £10.50 a year you’ll be able to support the development and day-to-day running of energy projects around the UK.

NPower

Like a lot of the leading energy suppliers, npower offers a ‘matching’ tariff, where for every unit of electricity used they’ll meet it with a unit of renewable energy to be pooled back into the National Grid. They too have a green fund set up, but they themselves will make the £10 donation in your name to help support developing renewable power schemes.

British Gas

One of the most encouraging things about British Gas is that they do not charge their customers to make the switch from a standard tariff to a green one. Plus, they guarantee to source their electricity for this tariff from a variety of renewable sources.

As well as the leading energy companies creating greener tariffs, there are also green energy companies who specialise in offering environmentally aware tariffs. Here are the leading two currently on the market place:

Ecotricity

Ensuring that their electricity is derived from renewable sources, Ecotricity are also keen investors in building, running and developing renewable sources. As well as running wind farms across the UK, in 2006 they invested £7 million in wind energy.

Good Energy

Not only do Good Energy supply 100% ‘clean’ electricity sourced from renewable energy sources – including wind, solar and hydro power – they also provide a unit by unit equivalent service which match your energy consumption and invest the amount of units back into the National Grid. On average, customers have saved two tonnes of CO2 a year and brought back their carbon footprint by about 1/3.

For more information on green energy check out the EcoSwitch comparison page onsite, or find out what it will cost you to make the switch today to a more eco-conscious tariff by clicking on the ecotricity link below.

Posted under Articles, Electricity Generation

At current, most electricity in the UK comes from traditional methods – fossil fuels, particularly coal, from coal-fired power stations – and the growth in energy consumption through a growth in population, not to mention a growth in industrialised populations, has been one of the biggest contributors to global warming, CO2 emissions, and the problem of climate change.

The reduction of CO2 emissions has been a constant goal for politicians in the past two decades, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change first set up at the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio in 1993, to the Kyoto Procol in 1997 and the new deal laid down at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference this month.

Where energy efficiency has become an issue, and the reduction of CO2 emissions in business an issue too, the way that households get their electricity has been left largely untouched: looking at bringing down consumption rather than changing the way we consume, coal-fired power stations remain the order of the day, so that only a reduction in energy use can bring about a reduction in CO2 emissions.

Green Energy in a Domestic Setting – An Occurrence on the Rise

There are companies that are looking to change that, of course. Currently the biggest organisations in the UK for just this purpose are Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Energy. All three aim to produce renewable energy, green energy and clean electricity for use in the domestic sphere, meaning that energy consumption is not related to CO2 emissions.

Unfortunately, though it can sometimes be more expensive – or more difficult to get hold of – than conventional energy sources; the companies that have had a hold on gas and electricity consumption for decades – E.On, British Gas, etc – use cheap sources, meaning that they can provide their service cheaply.

But that is not to say that green energy isn’t cheap: it just struggles at times to match the prices of those companies who are more interested in cost that environmental concerns.

Continued Investment is Bringing Down Green Energy Prices in KWH

Despite any potential difference in price, though, it has been shown that green energy and ethical gas and electricity are coming to match traditional gas and electricity prices per KWH. As technology improves and the use of green energy is becoming more common place, prices are coming down; they are expected, potentially, to begin to beat the prices of so-called ‘brown’ electricity.

It is an encouraging scenario indeed. And with CO2 emissions reduction so fervently sought after, government and private investment in green energy, too, will be a welcome thing indeed.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

It was touted, now over a year ago, that the Green New Deal as it was so-called, could address employment problems and kick start a drive towards a flourishing green sector in Britain, helping the transition to a low carbon economy. With the economic downturn placing long-term goals behind short term solutions in the estimations of a substantial many, the growth of a green sector has fallen – in some senses quite understandably – into the shade.

Nonetheless, its important to remember that a green sector is a necessary engine for sustainable growth in alternative energy, green initiatives, and a reduction of CO2 emissions in the UK.

After some time out of the media limelight, the concept of a strong and developed green sector has once again reached the news thanks to announcements made in Chancellor Alistair Darling’s 2009 pre-budget report.

Green Sector Boosted by Pre-Budget Report Tax Breaks – The Basics

In an effort to encourage investment into a growing green sector, New Labour have – through Darling’s pre budget report, made public earlier this month – granted tax exemptions for income generated through several green measures. Growthbusiness.co.uk neatly summarised the gains that the green sector will receive as a result of the next budget:

“Income generated by small-scale renewable energy facilities (such as wind turbines or solar panels on your roof) is to be tax-free. A ‘boiler scrappage’ scheme is to be launched to encourage people to replace inefficient old boilers with greener models. Company car tax is to be abolished for electric cars and there is a renewed commitment to installing smart meters in homes by 2010 and providing funding for home insulation”.

Thanks to such exemptions, the interest generated around a strong UK green sector should grow in coming months, and the encouragement that government has given for such a growth is a promising factor indeed.

Whilst the pre-budget report has encountered some criticism for its attempts to generate revenue in difficult times – the National Insurance payment being increased is a prime example – it is certainly welcome to see that New Labour are prepared to back initiatives that will increase the presence of a green sector in the British economy.

Posted under Renewable Energy

Certainly, nuclear power is renewable, but how environmentally friendly it is comes under regular scrutiny and analysis. With nuclear power again doing the rounds in government, its viability as an energy source for public consumption is once again under examination.

Nuclear Power – An Introduction

What exactly is nuclear power?

The Global Development Research Centre, an independent think tank concerned with environmental reform, defines it in the following way:

“Energy, usually in the form of heat or electricity, produced by the process of nuclear fission within a nuclear reactor. The coolant that removes the heat from the nuclear reactor is normally used to boil water, and the resultant steam drives steam turbines that rotate electrical generators”.

So that’s the process by which its made. What, though, are the credentials for claiming that nuclear power is renewable, then?

What Makes Nuclear Power Renewable?

Its first worth noting that nuclear power is of incredible low carbon value: most of the carbon it creates is not in the process by which the energy is made, and its CO2 emissions are minimal.This is what potentially makes nuclear energy ‘green’.

The debate over its inclusion in the renewable energy family, though, drew mainstream coverage in the 1980s. The argument goes that uranium is in effect an inexhaustible resource – the amount that can potentially be created outlasts the life of the sun according to this argument – meaning that the energy it creates is a potentially infinite, renewable energy.

As is to be expected, the validity of this argument is highly contested: many take issue with the argument that uranium would last the billions of years to take to outlast the lifespan of the sun. Others dismiss its credibility simply on the basis that lasting an incredibly long time is not the same ‘infinite’.

Can We Begin to Talk About Green Nuclear Energy

A similar debate continues over the environmental friendliness of nuclear energy. In its short life time, nuclear power has had some pretty awful press. the atomic bomb and Chernobyl are incredibly high profile tragedies that will remain strong cases against the use of nuclear energy.

In arguments about its safety, such cases will make sure that – at the very least – nuclear energy is always treated with caution. Theoretically, many argue, it is quite safe: particularly since improved technology has improved safety. But others argue that the practical problems of toxic waste dumping, plus the margin for human error.

Posted under Articles, Renewable Energy

E.On has just received planning permission from South Lanarkshire Council for the development of a 29.9MW wind farm consisting of 13 turbines able to power around 20,000 homes. The development, located on land at Dungavel Hill, south of Strathaven, Scotland, should help offset around 40,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year.

The permission granted by the local council will allow E.On to help the Scottish Government achieve its’ Green Energy Targets of 31% by 2011 and 50% by 2050. Ahmed Mulla, E.ON’s project developer for Dungavel, said:

“This is excellent news for us and another step towards helping Scotland meet its renewable energy targets.”

The scheme will also bring contract opportunities to local employers in the region. During the construction phase there are expected to be between 50 and 60 contractors working on site.

South Lanarkshire Council are also pleased as E.On have agreed to make a minimum contribution of £60,000 per year to the Council’s Renewable Energy Fund for the lifetime of the project.

In response to these community and social initiatives, Ahmed Mulla commented:

“We’re especially pleased the planning report recognised the benefits this project will bring to the local community and beyond.”

The above development is another positive development for E.On and another example of how a large multinational is now trying to make serious efforts to balance environmental considerations with the need to make profit.

The above development follows a similar announcement back on 07 October this year, when E.On decided to shelve plans for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth. That would have been the first one built for three decades. But E.On recognised that Britain didn’t need another Coal Fired power station, particularly in light of the constant deluge of environmental pressure from a variety of organisations spearheading ‘The Big If and Give Coal The Boot’ campaign.

These positive environmental developments are increasingly helpful to E.On as their Environmental Performance is measured partly by the amount of energy that they source as a Company from Renewables. EU targets require the UK to source 20% of their overall energy requirements from Renewables by 2020. The latest Fuel Mix data provided by Suppliers indicated that E.On are sourcing 0.3% of their energy from Renewables so developments like Dungavel will only serve to help their environmental performance longer term.

Posted under Articles, Corporate, Electricity Generation, Gas & Electricity, Renewable Energy

Coal-fired power plants have come under harsh criticism in recent decades, and the development of viable alternatives – namely the increased efficiency in renewable technologies like solar energy and wind energy – have further accelerated the demise of the traditional technology, with coal-fired power stations becoming associated with outdated and old fashioned technology.

Certainly, the vast CO2 emissions that coal-fired power stations contribute to the atmosphere and to the UK’s total carbon emissions yearly, has meant that coal-fired power stations have largely deserved the criticism to which they have become attached.

Carbon Capture and Storage Could Give a New Lease of Life to Coal-Fired Power – Green Carbon a Possibility

Outdated and old fashioned it may be, but coal-fired power stations have formed the bedrock of energy generation in the UK and other developed nations for decades; the industrial revolution was founded on the use of fossil fuels and coal for production, and it has played its part in the generation of a vast wealth of technologies and services.

As such, coal-fired power plants are numerous, and the techniques and technologies by which it generates energy, electricity and gas are well understood.

For that reason, the current government, through the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), are favouring a continued use of coal-fired power plants, and combining them with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The thinking behind their support is that if the chief problem with coal -its CO2 emissions – is removed, then the long trusted methods can remain in use; it is less of a leap than a move to renewable energy.

For that reason, the DECC announced this month that it will go ahead with the building of new coal-fired power plants, but that any new plants will be fitted with CCS technology.

How Long Can a Green Carbon Push Last? The Finite Resources Problem

Certainly CCS technology would remove the dangerous CO2 emissions element from the creation of energy through coal-fired power plants, but the second problem – albeit a more long term problem – is that of the finite existence of coal. Whilst a continued use of coal, coupled with CCS, removes the CO2 emissions issue, it leaves unsolved the question of the future sustainability of energy generation.

Indeed it has already been argued that where CSS buys us valuable time, it must not be seen as the general answer to the energy problem: that answer should come from renewable energy sources.

Posted under Electricity Generation, News