Innovative green technologies help China's drive to save energy and cut emissions!

The Chinese government’s investment in research and development of green technologies has exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) for the 2006-2010 period.

Zhang Laiwu, vice minister of science and technology, made the remark Thursday at a press conference in Beijing, also saying that China had developed key technologies that could cut greenhouse emissions.

China has applied energy-saving technologies to traditional industries including steel, power, building materials, chemicals and agriculture, which have enhanced their competitiveness, he said. China has also issued supportive policies for new-energy industries. For instance, the pilot program of energy-saving and new-energy vehicles has been implemented in 25 cities, and the government has provided subsidies for the purchase of 5,000 vehicles, he said.

Also, more than 1.6 million LED lights were being used in 21 cities in a pilot program to promote the use of LED lights, which will save more than 164 million KWH of electricity annually, he said.

Another interesting story this month revealed that China has succeeded the United States as the most attractive location to invest in renewable energy projects. China's clean energy market - particularly in solar, biomass and wind - are presenting golden opportunities for investors.

Pentagon turns green to cut fuel bill

THE US military has been told to go green to cut costs after the Pentagon's annual fuel bill hit $US20 billion. The biggest energy-saving campaign by the Pentagon is forcing the armed services to look at alternative ways of powering aircrafts, ships and armoured vehicles. Algae, vegetable oil and even animal fat are coming to the rescue.

First in the line of the accountants' fire is the Air Force. Fighter aircraft use up 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of fuel on an average mission - at the current price of $2.18 a gallon. The Air Force's transport service, which ferries troops and cargo around the world, is the largest fuel-guzzling organisation on the planet.

The US Navy is planning to have a green carrier strike force by 2016, with every aircraft on board and all the escort ships being powered by a 50-50 mix of petrol and biofuel. The carriers are nuclear-powered "so that's already alternative", Admiral Philip Cullom, the head of the Navy's Task Force Energy, said.

In April the US Navy showed off a Green Hornet, a FA18 that has completed more than a dozen flights with half of the fuel tank containing an oil extracted from camelina, a member of the mustard family.

"When I spoke to the pilots they said they didn't know whether they had petroleum or biofuel ... it flew just the same," Admiral Cullom said. He plans to use the equivalent of eight million barrels of biofuel by 2020.

Jeff Braun, the director of the US Air Force alternative fuels certification office, said that on August 26 a C17 transport aircraft would attempt to fly on tallow (animal fat) fuel. "What's left over from the meat process is what we call yellow grease and you extract the oil from it," he said.

Alan Shaffer, the Pentagon's principal deputy director of defence research and engineering, said that an alternative oil source with potential was algae.
"The beauty with algae is that you can grow it anywhere and to grow it it needs to absorb carbon dioxide, so it's not only a very effective fuel, in theory it's also a carbon sink. That's a pretty good deal," he said. Mr Shaffer believes that with investment - the big airlines are interested - algae could take off.

Increase the temperature = Decrease your utility bill

When you're in a tropical climate having the aircondition on indoors is almost a must for your comfort. However, cooling down your home with airconditioning is very likely to be a significant part of your utility bill. Not only is it very expensive to cool down your home but it also puts a strain on the worlds natural resources.

There are a few easy tips to decrease your home cooling expenditure and the most important one is to increase the temperature. It will save you up to 5% on your home cooling costs for each degree that you are able to raise your thermostat. So if you would normally put your airconditioning on at 18 degrees celcius imagine the change in you cost if you change the temperature to 23 degrees. Yes a 25% decrease in the cost of coolig down your home. Now imagine what you can do with all that money saved...

Here are another few easy tips to reduce your home cooling expenditure:- A dusty filter reduces air flow. Examine your unit's air filters once a month and clean or replace filters when necessary. Keeping your filters clean can cut energy consumption 5 to 15%.
- Minimise the area being cooled or heated by shutting doors to unused rooms
- If the machine has adjustable louvres, adjust them towards the ceiling when cooling, and towards the floor when heating (as cool air falls, hot air rises)

What did you do during the Earth Hour?

I stayed home and sat in the dark!

I wanted to play hide and seek but my cats were all sleeping (yes, they do know the game) and my baby boy was fast asleep too but he can barely crawl anyway :) I looked out my window and saw that quite a number of my neighbours were sitting in the dark as well. The darkness and silence brought me back to my childhood days when my sisters and I used to play hide and seek (in pitchblack darkness) and had to play our little game without even as much as a squeek! As we did not want our parents to know that we were still playing when we suppose to be in la la land! So what did you do during the Earth Hour? Let us know what you were up to last night ;)

Tip of the day: Planning to wash your car today? Why not bring your car to the nearest drive-through wash in your area. You'll save more water this way than using your hose and doing it yourself. And drive-throughs are way more fun!

Strike the Lottery and buy an Eco Home!!

Well thats what the new millionaires, Nigel Page and Justine Laycock did (if you haven't heard, they are the ones that scooped up the 56 million dollar pound!).

The home is now almost completely carbon neutral and runs on just 10 per cent of the energy a normal household needs. The 400-year-old dairy farm buildings are completely airtight and feature a "solar park" where heat from the sun is captured in 20 panels. The energy is stored in rocks in the ground and distributed to underfloor heating in the house and the swimming pool. The buildings also have a very low humidity level to stop dust mites, smells and condensation. The state-of-the-art household sits in the rolling countryside with landscaped gardens, a massage room, a limestone steam room with a vaulted ceiling and a sauna. I do not understand why they need both a steam room and a sauna when they have the same purpose. hmmmm. The more the merrier i guess.

Well at least they thought of the environment when splurging on a luxury home. And they were nice enough to give away their old house to their long time maid, plus a car too! What would you do if you had millions of dollars? I wish I could own an eco home but for now the only thing I can do is switch my light bulb to energy saving ones, use less water and do my part in recycling! :)

Tip of the day: Turn the main water valve so the flow of water would be less when you switch on the taps in your house as people have a habit to turn the tap to full blast accidentally, wasting alot of water....