In high school science class, you learned that an atom is made up of a certain number of electrons orbiting a nucleus. The atom can be positively or negatively charged, depending on a lack or excess of electrons (respectively). Otherwise, the atom is neutral. Just as the north pole of a magnet attracts the south pole of another magnet, two atoms that are oppositely charged are attracted.
A lot more people are choosing self-employment from a home office after the last round of unfavorable corporate downsizing. A home office (or telecommuting) refers to working at home using computers and other related appliances; the office often doubles as entertainment thanks to the equipment’s flexibility to play games, socialize online and so on.
A typical flashlight holds two or three cells (batteries). When these cells are placed in series or a stack, the voltage increases. For instance, a 1.5V battery flashlight: when two cells are placed in series, the voltage increases to 3V (1.5V + 1.5V).
It is important to differentiate energy efficiency from energy conservation and to be totally clear with these terms. Many people assume they mean the same thing, as they “lower the thermostat, switch off the lights and freeze in the dark”. They may even take it as “doing without”, but that is not it at all. Energy efficiency is ‘doing more with less’. It’s like saying the glass is half empty or half full; it is a matter of semantics. Hopefully, attitudes will change for the better.
Energy, pollution and climate change are familiar terms to most people, but what do you really know about smog, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change?
You may have noticed that your home runs on either 120V or 240V instead of the 12, 24, or 48 volts a battery supplies. Off-grid homes, small holiday cottages, boats and recreational vehicles used to use 12V direct current systems but such low voltages (and DC) are only useful in very small installations. There are relatively few low-voltage appliances and wiring a low-voltage direct current system is often difficult and unviable for a typical home in full-time occupation.
Energy conservation (using less to do more) is healthy for the Earth and reduces a renewable-energy utility station’s size and cost. Obviously, more battery power will make a light bulb last longer, but it is less obvious that a more efficient light bulb requires less battery power. Typical electric circuits push electrons through an electrical conductor to reach the load before returning to the source.
Many people still believe that we are naturally entitled to cheap energy, regardless of increasing gasoline costs or the high subsidies for the rising cost of imported heating oil. Every gallon of gasoline offsets the cost of American military guarding the Middle East, trickling subsidies, cheap government land with heavy investment in drilling and developments in exploration technologies. But these costs do not include the damage to health or the environment that come from fossil fuel consumption.
