Go Green Matter

Natural energy is very abundant in nature. With homemade wood stoves or fireplaces, obtaining energy from nature has become an essential device that provides heating in every home. Tapping natural resources can be a lot beneficial for families who wanted to save much from their electrical bills, and whose family wouldn’t want to save more from their bills?

In installing homemade wood stoves, it is necessary to maintain optimum safety. Safety not only in the installation process of the stove but also safety in terms of fire staying inside the wood stove. Another important point to remember with regards to the efficiency of the wood stove. Properly installed wood stoves have to be very efficient in providing heating to the whole house.

There are different techniques on how to install a wood stove but you have to at least the following basics, such as having the chimney, stovepipe, plus floors and walls. First, the chimney is an essential component of every wood stove. This can be either a lined masonry or a class A insulated metal. If your house has already an existing fireplace chimney, you may use this if it is partially or fully lines with the appropriate linings. If you have a pre-fabricated fireplace, this may not be usable for most wood stoves.

Second, the stovepipe connects the chimney to the wood stove. Stovepipes have to be ideally 18” from the wall or ceiling. Stove pipes’ heights can be reduced with the use of special double-wall close clearance interior pipe or even pipe heat shields.

Finally, floorings must be non-combustible extending from under the entire stove, about 12 inches from the sides and 18 inches in front of loading doors. Clearances from the wall can be reduced with the use of a heat shield on the stove or a firewall that is properly installed for protection.

If you have all these basic materials on hand in how to install a wood stove, you have to next follow these few safety guidelines. First, you need to have someone over to help you install your wood stove. An expert must be present to assist you in installing your homemade stove. If anything should ever happen, the insurance company must be consulted as it might not be able to cover damages created by an improperly installed wood stove.

Also, some important things to remember are the following guidelines:

• Do not make use of a flammable liquid in starting your fire.

• Make sure you have a smoke detector installed in your home and have it tested regularly.

• Regular clean your chimney for any possible build-up of creosote as it can be a source of chimney fire.

• Before going to sleep, make sure you do not create a roaring fire.

Another point to remember is to put a metal or glass cover on your wood stove as it does not only increase its efficiency, it will also prevent sparks from igniting within the surrounding area.

What do you know about nuclear power? What are the advantages really of having nuclear power? What then are the disadvantages of having nuclear power? Should we worry about it? Thousands of questions are needed to be answered to fully understand the pros and cons of nuclear power.

Let us first take a look the affirmative side. Nuclear power does not depend on fossil fuels. Through the help of nuclear power plants, carbon dioxide emissions are lessened. Since it does not depend on fossil fuels, the fluctuations in both oil and gas prices do not affect the cost of nuclear power. Nuclear power produces the energy the world needs. It can produce large amount of energy by just using small amount of fuel. To summarize its advantages take a look at the list.

• Nuclear power produces large amount of energy from small amount of fuel.
• It produces small amount of waste.
• It is reliable.
• It costs the same like coal. It is not really expensive to do.
• It does not produce carbon dioxide or smoke.

On the negative side, we know that mining and purifying uranium are not really clean processes. There is also a contamination risk when the fuel is transported from and to the nuclear power plants. It can cause pollution which is detrimental not only to humans but also to animals and other creatures as well. And once the fuel is used, you cannot just throw and dump it anywhere. There should be a specific and proper site for it. Study should be conducted to properly dispose the nuclear waste. Nuclear power is possibly deadly as it is still radioactive. So here are some of its disadvantages in general.

• Even if it produces small amount of waste, it can be very dangerous. It should be properly dumped for hundreds and thousands of years to die away the radioactivity.

• Though not a large amount of money is used to do it, a lot of money should be spent for its safe dumping, otherwise it can cause major disaster.

• It causes pollution which can be very destructive.

Yes, the use of nuclear fuel will decay into safe radioactive levels, this will however takes hundreds and thousands of years before it happens. For now, this waste should first be monitored and guarded strictly. As we have said, it should not just be dumped anywhere. Doing this will surely costs high amount of money plus the vast amount of money needed for the construction of nuclear power plant.

Nuclear waste causes problem. Despite its being independent from fossil fuels, it still causes water pollution, air pollution and even destroys our environment. We cannot afford to put at stake our natural resources. We should do something to protect our natural resources.

Using fossils fuels will not last, and using fossil fuels do not have a positive effect on the environment either. This is why more and more companies and people are switching to renewable, clean, and sustainable forms of energy that can get the job done just as well as fossil fuel energy. Here are some forms of clean energy that are available, yet still need to be promoted for wider use in our communities and the economy overall:

Natural Gases
Natural gas renewable energy, like methane, are great forms of clean energy that only turn into carbon dioxide and water when burned, unlike the more complex fossil fuels that release all kinds of chemicals that pollute the air.

Geothermal Energy
This clean energy form utilizes the Earth’s heat from the ground and transforms it into electricity that is distributed to our homes.

Solar Energy
Solar energy is energy that is harnessed from the sun’s rays through solar collectors and panels which later transform these wavelengths into electricity.

Hydro Energy
This is a clean energy form that is very sustainable and utilizes the one element that makes up 70 percent of the world’s surface – water. Hydro power energy is harnessed from the water flow, currents, and waves that happen with water movement.

Wind Energy
This is energy that is transformed from the mechanical energy that is created from wind captured by wind turbines. This is later transformed into electricity that provides hundreds of home with electric power.

Knowing all the different clean energy resources & timber investment that are sustainable and renewable, you can take your part in promoting these clean energy sources for more people to support. It is only through the support of communities that companies will think twice about providing them with energy that is taken from non-renewable sources like fossil fuels.