All good questions, there are many ads in all kinds of media today that shout the virtues of “Green Power” and promise that if you do you will save money, help decrease global warming, save the planet, and just be an all around better person. Are they right?

Renewable energy, in many of its forms has been around and used in some cases for hundreds if not thousands of years, in fact as long as our planet and the sun have existed, they will be here as long as our planet and the sun continue. So if this is true, why are they not used more often? The simple answer is that finding and using fossil fuels is easier and cheaper, however fossil fuels do pollute our environment, and they will be depleted at some point in the future.

The first uses of the sun by early man were probably for passive light and solar heat, he may have lived in a cave whose opening was oriented to take advantage of the heat of the sun and the light it provided, he may even have placed a large rock at the opening that would heat all day, and then give off radiant heat at night. Much the same way that free radiant heat from the sun is used today. Someone, unknown to history, found a clear crystal of some sort and found that by letting the sun shine through it heat was created, and now man was able to create fire at will.

For about the last 100 years man has studied and been trying to perfect the conversion of the suns energy into cheap, usable electricity. 100 hundred years is a very short time, and this experimentation has, and is, making fantastic gains, however it is still far more expensive to produce solar panels and other parts needed for solar power generation than it is to just purchase the cheap power from our local electric utility.

Power from the wind has also been around forever early sailing ships were powered by the wind, which of course allowed early man to discover many other parts of our world. In days past we did not have clothes dryers everyone hung their laundry outside and let the wind and sun do the job. For centuries windmills have been used to grind grains, pump water and many others uses. Of course the sun is also partly responsible for the creation of wind.

Water power, commonly referred to as hydro power has also been around a long time doing such things as moving logs downstream to the mill which used water power to cut them up, powering the mills that ground grains for food, and still do today. Hydro electric power plants are true marvels of technology, and have been used for many years. As long as the sun evaporates water, then deposits it at higher elevations in the form of rain or snow and gravity moves it downstream, there will be hydro power.

Geothermal power has been available as long as the earth has been here. The earth is a huge furnace, producing temperatures in excess of 9000 degrees Fahrenheit at its core. There are places in the world where this heat comes very close to the surface, making it very easy to harness. Geothermal power is not restricted to just hot mineral baths, parts of the western US, in most of the country of Iceland make extensive use of geothermal power for heating, and to power turbines to produce electricity. Home heating and cooling, and the provision of hot water are easily and very cost effectively accomplished by the use of geo heat pump technology.

Bio energy, the use of energy from recently living things, such as wood, grasses, corn etc. is quickly becoming a more important part of the energy puzzle. Think ethanol to supplement gasoline and reduce harmful emissions. The home fireplace is another example of using bio fuels.

Research and development of these and other yet to be discovered sources of renewable fuels continues nonstop and will help mankind answer its energy need now and in the future.

Climate change or global warming is the result of a buildup of greenhouse gases (GHG), chiefly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere exclusively from human industrial processes. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that normally would exit into outer space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms. During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent.

As more and more people are concerned about global warming and seeking to reduce their climate impact, carbon offsets, along with personal carbon reductions, provide an important solution to global warming. Carbon offsets let you pay to reduce the global GHG total instead of making radical or impossible reductions of your own. If you are running a business, you have a responsibility to keep any pollution that may result from your business activities under control. By considering health, safety and environmental issues together you can ensure that people at your premises remain healthy and your environmental impact is kept to a minimum. Calculating the carbon footprint of your organisation can be a first step to reduce the emissions it causes.Business carbon offsetting is obviously important in slowing or even reversing climate change.

The total set of GHG emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product is commonly called their ‘carbon footprint’. It is a measure of the impact we make individually on the earth by the choices we make regarding our lifestyles. Many activities generate carbon emissions, which contribute to accelerating global warming and climate change. Probably the biggest contributors to our footprint are our travel needs, and our electricity demands for various activities. However, all our actions have a direct or indirect impact.

With world economies booming our carbon emissions are on the rise. Every industry makes a major contribution to the carbon emissions through almost every area of the company’s activities. Some businesses, particularly those that are energy-intensive, will have requirements to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsetting is a way to counter damage done through the release of carbon emissions (CO2), from business activities. Carbon offsets enable individuals and businesses to reduce the CO2 emissions they are responsible for by offsetting, reducing or displacing the CO2 in another place, typically where it is more economical to do so. Offsetting does not undo the environmental harm caused but does cut the total amount of CO2 released. The idea behind carbon offsetting is that you then do something to remove the equivalent amount of carbon from the atmosphere so making whatever it was that you did “carbon neutral” – as if it had never happened in the first place. This is usually achieved by paying a company a fee based on the amount of carbon dioxide you have released or caused to be released. For every tonne of CO2 emitted, an equivalent tonne is supposedly removed elsewhere with the help of special projects. These projects provide anything from energy efficient light bulbs or cookers to wind farms.