Where “green tech” evolved in the 1970s from government controls intended to mitigate the effects of manufacturing and agricultural pollutants on the environment, “clean tech” is built into the business model from the very beginning. Green tech has traditionally always seen as an expensive, but required, drain on a company’s profits. Clean tech is built into the business strategy as an acknowledgement that resource scarcity and pollution exist and must be addressed when planning profitable strategies. It is a long the same lines as when a business incorporates the cost of paying office rent or the cost of purchasing manufacturing materials into its overall budget.

Also, there are some products which are included in green funds which would never be included in a clean fund, such as ethanol. Where an alternative energy fund would include a company which produces ethanol in its fund because ethanol is considered to be an alternative to petroleum based fuels, a clean tech fund would not include an ethanol-producing company in its portfolio because of it’s net carbon effect. Ethanol production requires so much petroleum based fuel in order to grow the corn and process it, that there is negligible positive effect on the environment for using it.

Green tech Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tend to focus narrowly on a single business sector, like energy, manufacturing or recycling. As a result, green energy Exchange Traded Funds can be extremely volatile and sensitive to fluctuations in the price of oil. Clean tech ETFs have not been so volatile (although, in fairness, they have only been around since the Clean Tech Index was created in 2006, so there is not a long history to track). Clean tech companies exist across a broader range of business sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and new materials. As a result, clean tech Exchange Traded Funds have seen a more stable performance, comparable to the returns from the S&P 500 Index.

About the Author

Author and entrepreneur Bernz Jayma P. is the owner of a financial blog dedicated to helping people expand their knowledge on personal finance. You may visit his blog at http://www.Invesmint.com.

Panniers (the French word for “baskets”) are bags that attach to the sides of bike racks that mount over the rear (and sometimes, front) wheels. Panniers are typically sold in pairs so you can balance your loads on either side of the wheel. They attach to the racks using systems of hooks and springs (or webbing). They tend to be the largest, most spacious bags available for commuting and touring. Capacities range from 500 to 3,200 cubic inches per pair. Some models are waterproof and others are designed specifically for carrying groceries and can even be used as shopping bags while in the store.

Whether you are a bike commuter, getting into bike touring or just need a simple bag for tooling around town, you should start thinking about what will work best for your needs. In fact, if you are planning to use your bike a lot for transportation or touring, you should consider putting together a system of bike bags that can be adapted to specific tasks. Start out slowly, purchasing one or two bags for your immediate needs, and then add more storage options as those needs evolve. When deciding what kinds of bike bags to buy, the following guidelines are helpful.

Capacity

Start out with small bike bags (like handlebar bags or small to medium-size panniers) for day trips and light loads. You can purchase larger bags (such as trunks that mount on a rear rack or larger panniers) when you find that you require more storage capacity. If you start by simply going out and purchasing the largest bags you can find, you may quickly find that they won’t be able to securely hold small loads and they will be cumbersome on the road. Even for longer trips, you will find that smaller bags can come in handy. Sit down and make a list of the items that you are most likely going to be hauling on your bike and figure out how many cubic inches of space they will require. If you are going to use your bike for grocery shopping, think about the largest items that you typically buy (e.g., case of beer) and determine how big a bag you would need to carry these items.

Adjustability

Look for bags that adjust to handle different-sized loads. Features like expandable pockets, extending collars and compression straps will allow you to use the same bags for a variety of different uses.

Accessibility

You also will need to consider how many openings the bag offers, how large these openings are and how they are secured (e.g., latches, zippers, ties). Also, look for features such a s dividers, pockets, compartments, and internal stiffeners, that help keep gear organized inside the bag. Purchase at least one small bag that is easy to reach as you ride. Such a bag gives you easy access to snacks, your wallet, your mobile phone, and maps without forcing you to stop and dig through larger bags.

Balance

The key to maintaining good balance even with a full load is keeping your gear as low and as centered as possible on your bike. Choose bags that make this easy, especially if you have lots of gear to carry. This doesn’t mean you can’t buy one or two bags that sit higher on your bike, but focus on installing most of your storage down low and balance it as much as possible from side to side. Again, panniers are ideally suited for balancing loads side to side.

Water-Resistance

Most modern bike bags are made out of coated nylon to protect gear from moisture. Read product descriptions and reviews carefully. Typically, they explain what type of materials the bag is made from, often describing it in terms of deniers. A denier is a unit of fineness for nylon and polyester fibers, based on a standard mass per length of 1 gram per 9,000 meters of yarn. It is a technical textile term for measuring the bulk of a fiber. As rules of thumb, a larger denier, polyester bag is not stronger than a smaller denier, ballistic nylon fabric made with a two-by-two basket weave. Also, ballistic and Cordura nylon materials are superior to polyester fabrics. Manufacturers will also typically indicate whether a bag is water resistant or waterproof. In addition to the materials, the specific design will also make a big impact on water-resistance. If you plan to be riding in the rain, make sure that you check all of the openings to ensure that they can be closed securely, and that all zippered pockets are protected by rain flaps. Obviously, fewer openings mean less risk of leakage.

Extra Features

Look for extras like water-bottle pockets, carrying straps, handles, removable fanny packs, mesh pockets for wet gear, clear plastic map pockets and so on. Also look for bags that can be converted into grocery bags, daypacks, book bags or briefcases when you reach your destination.

Attachment

Make sure your bike bags are easy to attach and tighten down. Some manufacturers, like Topeak, have special attachment or mounting systems for attaching bags that require special racks, while others include mounting hardware with bags that are designed to work on most racks. Be certain that the bags don’t get in the way, even when fully loaded.

More Information

For a complete selection of bike panniers, bags and accessories, please check out Bicycle Panniers.

Remember the time when your mother used to advise you to consume carrots instead of that bag of potato chips, which was high on calories and low on good nutrition, saying that carrots are good for your eyesight? But you used to counter her saying that munching those red sticks was like consuming a plateful of chemicals considering the synthetic fertilizers that were used way back. With health concerns taking precedence, the new mantra for gardening these days is to grow organic vegetables,and carrots too fall into this category.

For a health freak, there is nothing as tempting as a plateful of freshly harvested carrots, right from his backyard. And oh, what joy!!! if he can really cultivate them as most others of his ilk are doing these days. Indeed carrot farming can be a really profitable venture for you in more than one ways if you have a place and a will to grow them. Even if you are hard pressed for space, you can nowadays raise carrots in containers. All you require is to arm yourself with the right knowledge for throwing yourself wholeheartedly in this endeavor.

Here is what you need to do to grow organic carrots right in your home garden. As you may be aware, organic farming calls for using compost and fertilizers that are based on organic matter that decomposes gradually thereby imparting health to your plants. Growing organic carrots too calls for using this stuff besides a few other important things. To begin with, directly sow your carrot seeds into loose soil, as this what is basically required to grow cultivate a good crop of carrots.

Experts advise sowing the carrot seeds at least three weeks before the date of previous spring frost. Add organic compost to the soil while planting seeds. Seeds should be virtually left on top of the soil, but gardeners must ensure that these are moist. Adding mulch helps the germinated seeds to retain adequate moisture. Thinning the seeds in accordance with the directions given on the pack helps if planting has been undertaken thickly.

Keep the soil moist, nourish the crop with mulch and fish emulsion while they grow. Protect them from pests. Soon you will have a garden full of organic carrots to munch on, just as your mother desired. Grow organic vegetables,particularly carrots, feed on them and lead a long, healthy and happy life.

Vegetable gardening can be very stimulating. If you are just planning to have you own organic garden, here is a vegetable gardening guide to help you along with the new pastime and get you started. First you need a space at your disposal, if you are an apprentice it is advisable not to start with a big space. You must begin with a single raised bed of 9′x12′. Then as you learn all about organic gardening, you can add number of beds to dwell upon.

Prepare the bed early in the season then it is time to sow, you can first plant the kind of vegetable which your family needs. This doesn’t mean you have to supply vegetable for your family for the whole year. Be contented with small achievement that you can little by little increase. You can search the internet, read gardening books and catalogues to assist you in deciding on what kind of vegetable to grow in certain time of the year or season.

The next significant step you must do after planting is uprooting the weeds surrounding your crop. Weeds are obstacle in making your vegetables grow healthy. You have to hoe on a regular basis even if you do not see weeds among the plants. Avoid walking on the beds. Another method to exterminate weeds is by mulching. Organic mulches like pine needles, grass and straw are advisable to use, you just apply it when the soil is wet. You can preserve the dampness of the soil as well as enhance the temperature through mulching.

Another important aspect in vegetable gardening is watering the plants. Frequent watering supports root formation, steadiness of the plants and revival of nutrients. It is best to put in sprinkles or drip irrigation. It is essential and a must for seeds and transplants to be watered every day. Water the plants before it withered.

The last thing to deal with is the problem with pest and diseases. You should never use pesticides for the basic reason that they terminate bugs that are useful too along with the damaging ones. The common strategy to overcome this trouble is to grow other plants along with your main crop. You can plant onions and garlic together with carrots. Grow flowering plants around the beds because it draws beneficial insects.

Hope this vegetable gardening guide will be of great help in creating your own organic vegetable garden. You can also learn more from browsing the internet, by reading books on gardening or talking about it with neighbors. Have fun on building your own garden.

There are several words that you will be introduced to when brewing beer. Some of them are probably things that you have heard before such as pH, Ale, and Lager. This article will give a more in depth description of these terms as well as give you a variety of new homebrewing vocabulary that you may not have heard yet.

ABV – Alcohol by volume
ABW – Alcohol by weight
Airlock – a plastic top that lets carbon dioxide be released during fermentation without contaminating your brew.
Ale – top fermented beer
Carboy – glass fermenter
Conditioning – Adding sugar to your beer before bottling. This makes the left over yeast react with the sugar to create carbonation.
DME – dry malt extract
Dry hopping – adding hops during the fermentation stage
Fermentation – the time in the brewing process where your beer is sitting in a container and reacting with the yeast. This usually takes a couple weeks and is done before bottling your beer.
FG – Final gravity (the gravity of the beer taken at the end of fermentation)
Gravity – denseness of a liquid (used to determine the amount of alcohol)
Hydrometer – tool used to determine gravity
IPA – India Pale Ale
Lager – bottom fermented beer
Lautering – mash separated into the wort and leftover grain
Malt – Grain (either barley or wheat) sometimes in a malt extract form which is a syrup
Mead – fermented honey
OG – Original gravity (the gravity of the beer taken at the beginning of fermentation)
pH – percent Hydrion
Pitching – pouring yeast into your beer
Sparging – filtering water through grain to get the sugar out of the grain
Wort – What you call your brew when you have finished boiling before adding it to the fermenter.

There are a dozen or so mobile recycling sites on the Internet that allow anyone with an old mobile phone to easily exchange it for cash. The process has been made easy enough so that anyone can use the sites.

Using websites such as these make disposing of an old mobile handset quite an easy thing to do. In the past to avoid simply throwing a handset in the bin, one would have had to find a buyer within their network of friends, family and contacts or by listing on an auction site or in classified sections.

Some of these mobile recycling sites will pay up to £250 for a mobile handset. The amount they will pay depends on how old the mobile phone is, how much the phone originally cost, the condition it is now in and whether it is working or faulty.

The top companies are: Fonebank, Envirofone, Greentec, Mopay, Love2Recycle, Earthmobile, Royal Mail Simply Drop, Mobile Phone Xchange, Money4urMobile, RPC Recycle, Phone Recycle Bank, Sell Old Mobile, Boots Mobile Recycling and Mobile Cash Monster. Each one will pay slightly different amounts for the same phone and have different methods of payment and all the options.

Most of the top mobile recycling sites pay by cheque as standard, but there are other payment methods available such as PayPal, shopping vouchers, bank transfer, postal order or cash. Shopping vouchers, if chosen as a payment method, often have higher value for the same phone handset.

To sell an old phone for recycling using a dedicated website you can expect a payment to come through within 3 to 7 days. All that is required is that you enter the make and model number into the recycling website, then select the phone you wish to recycle, then you will be given a freepost address within which to send the handset to.

There are two benefits to recycling old mobile handsets. Firstly you can reclaim some of the original value of the phone And use this money to put towards the cost of a new one. Secondly are the environmental benefits which ultimately results in less carbon dioxide being put into the atmosphere. Also by preventing old handsets going to landfill sites we prevent poisoning the land. Every time something is recycled energy is saved by not having to make our new material from scratch and instead reconditioning or recycling the old material into new. One of the most valuable elements inside every single mobile phone is a small amount of gold. This means that you can old and broken mobiles still have value and the gold within them can be simply melted down and used again in a new phone.

Which country consumes the most energy in the world?  That one is a no-brainer, isn’t it?  Recognized as one of the most powerful and developed nations in the world, America was responsible for 20 percent of global primary energy consumption in 2006 and is reported to have consumed 99.4 quadrillion Btu (quads) of primary energy in 2008. (Source: EIA, 2009)

Except for a decline in the mid-1970s as a result of the oil shocks, energy use in the United States has been growing steadily throughout the past century. The energy consumed today by America is double of what was used up in 1963 and almost 40 percent higher than what it was in 1975. The only saving grace is the country’s readiness to recognize the potential for improved energy efficiency and accordingly, prioritize the efficient use of energy by widely adopting energy efficient lighting, heating, cooling, transport and computing technologies across every cross-section of the society.

Until a few years back, opportunities for energy efficient lighting did not strike an attractive pose for the housing segment, businesses, industries or municipal sectors, owing to the huge purchase price of efficient lighting systems. Not many realized that the cost savings over time positively outweighed the initial costs of these energy saving measures.

However, unprecedented investments in efficient lighting technology are making it easier and more affordable for American homes and businesses to retrofit their buildings with LEDs and other energy saving lighting solutions. According to a recent market research, the sale of traditional light bulbs in several European countries has dropped by 35 percent in the first quarter of 2009, with LEDs accounting for 65 percent of sales.

Considering that America has approximately 81 million single-family homes, 25 million multi-family housing units, 7 million mobile homes and 75 billion square feet of floor space contained within 5 million commercial buildings, it does not come as a surprise when EIA reports state that residential and commercial buildings accounted for 73 percent of total electricity used in the United States in 2008.

Within the next twenty years or so, if all buildings in America were to be upgraded with energy efficient lighting, the surging demand in lighting electricity can be reduced by as much as 33 percent, generating energy savings of around $265 billion. By using efficient lighting for just one-twentieth of all the homes in the United States, the government can definitely, avoid the need for 13 new medium-sized (300MW) power plants every year.

Buildings are the largest opportunity to improve  energy efficiency in America and steps are being taken by all Americans to make their home or business energy-efficient as evidenced by the fact that more than 8,000 single-family households in America applied for the federal tax credit for 50 percent savings during the first year of its availability.

America’s energy saving initiatives for the next few years are likely to overcome all barriers in the domestic and commercial use of energy efficient lighting technologies, thereby lowering annual electricity use and contributing to a greener environment.

Well, that’s the big picture.  If you are looking to get started taking your own dent in our bloated energy consumption and are looking for accurate, objective, and detailed information to help you choose the best LED light bulbs to help meet your lighting needs while reducing your personal carbon footprint, please check out our LED light bulb reviews. For a complete guide to LED light bulbs along with reviews from real customers, click here.

LED lamps are nothing but a cluster of individual LED light bulbs. These bulbs operate on the principle of a pin junction where the energy flows in one direction from p to n side when a voltage is applied it. The p and n sides of the junction are made of different semiconductor material. Just by varying the semiconductor material, the color of the emitted light can be changed.

A few years back LED light bulbs had limited usage. They were used only in digital devices and traffic lights, but now they are being used widely in residential and commercial lighting. Some LEDs produce light of wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm while infrared LEDs produce light of the wavelength greater than 830 nm. With the introduction of diodes that produce white light, the applications of these bulbs have become widespread.

Many people are switching to LED lamps because of their many benefits. They are energy efficient, environment friendly, and have good life span. Also, they are sturdy and do not get easily damaged due to shocks. An LED lamp consumes one-tenth of energy consumed by an incandescent bulb and has an average life span of 10 years. The luminous efficiency of LED light lamps varies from 20 lumens per Watt to 55 lumens per Watt. Though the Compact Fluorescent bulbs also have good luminous efficiency, but many people do not prefer them as they contain harmful mercury. Mercury poses problems both to the environment as well as to the health of the occupants.

However, there are no such problems with LED lamps. They are entirely free from harmful materials. Moreover, they need to be replaced only once in a decade, hence the waste generated by them is very less. Therefore, they are environment friendly. LED light bulbs are of many different types. If you need a focussed light in one direction, then LED floodlights and LED downlights are useful. LED globes are useful if you need diffused light that illuminates the entire area uniformly. One can also buy LED tube lights, dimmers, and garden lights for their homes or offices.

How to Buy a Light Emitting Diode Bulb?

Since LED light bulbs are relatively expensive than Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and last for almost a decade, one should choose them carefully.

Determine Your Needs – This includes wattage of the bulb, type of illumination required, and place for which it is required. You can get anything from 3v to 18v LED bulbs. A 3v LED bulb is as good as 25W incandescent bulb, a 12v LED bulb serves the purpose of a 50W incandescent bulb, and a 18v LED bulb can be used at places where 100W incandescent bulb is required.

The illumination of these bulbs varies depending upon their manufacturer and construction. While some 12v LED light bulbs are equivalent of 40W incandescent bulb, some serve the purpose of 60W incandescent bulbs. Therefore, one should check the entire specifications of the bulb before buying the LED lamps.

Luminous efficiency is one thing that can change the performance of the bulb. Though most manufacturers offer bulbs of 20 lumens per Watt efficiency but buying the one having efficiency between 40 lumens per Watt to 55 lumens per Watt is better.

You should determine the color of light you want. It depends on your personal taste and the area that has to be illuminated. Color is often represented by temperature in Kelvin. A low temperature of 2100 K indicates warm colors like yellow while high temperature of 5100 K indicates cold colors like blue. Most people prefer warm colors for indoor and cold colors for outdoors.

Beam angle is another factor that should be considered while buying an LED light bulb. If you want to focus light on a small area then a LED bulb with narrow beam angle of 15 to 30 degrees is good. If you want to lighten up a wide area with subtle lighting, then choose an LED bulb with a wide beam angle of greater than 45 degrees as it spreads the light over a large area. Buying LED light bulbs is not difficult. Several online stores sell these lights. Before buying, spend some time researching on the types of LED lamps available. Also compare their rates. Most sellers offer warranty on these bulbs and you should check it before striking the final deal. You should buy the one having at least one-year warranty.

If you are looking for accurate, objective, and detailed information to help you choose the right LED light bulb to meet your lighting needs, please check out our LED light bulb reviews. For a complete guide to LED light bulbs along with reviews from real customers, click here. ]]> http://greentecharticles.com/join-the-led-lighting-revolution/feed 0 http://greentecharticles.com/solar-power-generator-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-attempt-to-create-your-own-solar-system http://greentecharticles.com/solar-power-generator-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-attempt-to-create-your-own-solar-system#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:51:26 +0000 rhaley http://greentecharticles.com/?p=69

If you are reading this then that means you are already planning on building your own solar power generator. Building your own solar generator from solar panels is not as easy as what you have read or heard on the internet. It is impossible for you to complete this project with just a bunch of free videos in YouTube or free articles that you have found in Google.

Getting the right information is the key in building this project. You need a detailed guide on how to plan and build your own solar power generator. You need dependable articles and videos to build a solar panel from the bottom all the way to running and maintaining your own solar power generator. It is an exciting but somehow complicated task.

To avoid disappointment and frustration you need to arm yourself with the right information. Do not think that this kind of project is only for professionals because anybody who can read and follow instructions can actually build their own solar power generator by simply following the steps and by educating themselves regarding the subject.

A lot of people underestimate this project; they think that they could just go online and pick up an article or two about solar panels and successfully build your project. Plan your project carefully and make sure you get your hands on the right information. I get dozens of phone calls from people who get stuck in the early stages of this project because they did not plan ahead.

It is true that you can create your own solar power generator to reduce or eliminate your energy bill but without the right information and detailed instructions on how to do it you will not be able to complete the project. Creating a solar power generator from solar panels could be an easy task, but a complex and detailed guide is necessary to avoid wasting valuable time and energy.

Representatives from building efficiency advocacy groups on Friday, January 29, 2010, held a webinar to outline the Home Star program (nicknamed Cash for Caulkers) and said that its prospects for becoming a law should be known within several weeks. A Home Star Coalition has been formed, which includes large retailers Home Depot and Lowes, equipment suppliers such as Dow and GE appliances, along with energy-efficiency contractors, labor groups, and environmental advocacy groups.

For homeowners, the proposed legislation provides incentives to weatherize homes and upgrade to more efficient lighting or heating and cooling systems.

It will be structured on two levels–silver and gold–depending on the level of investment made, said Matt Golden, the chair of the EfficiencyFirst advocacy group and the CEO of home energy-efficiency company Recurve, on Friday.

To get up to $2,000 in tax credits for an energy efficiency retrofit, a homeowner needs to do at least two approved improvements and work with contractors that meet certain “basic standards,” said Golden, adding that Home Star is designed to fit with the EPA’s Home Performance EnergyStar standards and state programs.

The gold level involves having a building’s energy “performance” rated by contractors accredited by the Building Performance Institute. The more stringent performance goals, which could reduce a building’s energy consumption on the order of 20 percent, would be eligible for up to $4,000 of tax credits, according to the description on EfficiencyFirst’s web site.

The intent of Home Star  is to create jobs in the short term, either through training or creating demand for home efficiency products and services. But given the amount of money being discussed and its standards-based approach, Home Star has the potential to be “transformative” in the building efficiency industry, Golden said. “This is a moment in time where we are going to have a foundation to drive a strong industry,” he said.

President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which includes venture capitalist and green-tech investor John Doerr, has endorsed the plan as it meets economic and environmental goals, Golden noted. There’s also the potential to create demand for green building products: among some of Home Star Coalition members is Serious Materials, a Silicon Valley company that makes energy-efficiency building products, including windows and sheet rock that’s manufactured in a relatively low-polluting way.

Golden cautioned that Home Star is not yet law. But it does have clear support from President Obama, who has touted the benefits of home weatherization many times and called insulation “sexy” during a Home Depot visit last month.

For much more information on the Home Star/Cash for Caulkers Program, including the latest updates on its legislative status, please visit Cash for Caulkers Program Guide.