Feed-In-Tariff Investment

Howdy all? How is everyone doing? It's been a rainy holiday season. Usually during the end of the year, it'll be raining for almost everyday. There have also been many bad news to the consumers especially when we know that the Malaysia's power utility, TNB is raising its electricity tariff. This couldn't has come at a better timing,when the economy has slowed down and the ringgit Malaysia has weakened. How much more do Malaysians need to suffer, to be able to feed themselves?

Luckily, at the same time, SEDA (also known as Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia) has opened up the quota for the Feed-In-Tariff programme once again, but the application will be closed by end of December 2015. The reason for this programme is not only reducing the burden to the house owners but also to reduce the grid load of the national electrical power station and also to encourage the use of renewable energy.

What is Feed-In-Tariff?

Feed-in-Tariff is a special tariff rate that TNB would buy electricity from the Solar PV owner. The FIT rate for 2013 is around 4x of TNB residential Tariff rate, this means TNB is buying at a 4x tariff rate compare to the tariff rate that they are selling. The FIT is govern by Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia. (SEDA).

It is a policy or program created to increase investments in renewable energy, which is solar PV panel. FIT provides long term agreement and guaranteed pricing, promotes diversity in renewable energy technologies, while securing producers' return of investment at the same time. Such producers can be some private investors, business owners, house owners or even farmers.

How does it work?

The idea of FiT is to let you earn not only to pay for installation costs, but to make profits as well for making the investment. Its aim is to reward you whenever you generate electricity. If you’re eligible to produce renewable energy, you will be allowed to sell electricity to the national security grid. The government or your electricity supplier will then pay you a certain amount per kWh of electricity you generate. Typically, the rates are high enough to let you regain the money you spent for the technology with guaranteed profits at the same time.

Period of which the renewable electricity could be sold to distribution licensees and paid with the FiT rate. The duration is based on the characteristics of the renewable resources and technologies. The duration is 16 years for biomass and biogas resources, and 21 years for small hydropower and solar photovoltaic technologies.

Return of Investment

The amount that you can earn depends on the type of technology and the size of the system you’re using to generate renewable energy. But in any case, FiT guarantees payment for all electricity that your system has generated (*Generation Tariff*), plus an additional payment for exported unconsumed electricity to the national security grid (*Export Tariff*).

During the installation of the solar panel, an additional PV meter (similar to TNB meter) would be installed to record down the electricity generated by the Solar PV system. TNB would pay the house owners based on the unit (kWH) generated multiply by the Feed in Tariff Rate.

How much would it cost you to install solar panel? A set of home solar PV is expected to cost around RM29,000 to RM 85,000, depending on your roof sizing and the numbers of solar panels that can be installed. It may sound a little expensive, but considering the long-term profit that the FiT can offers, return of investment surely looks favorable. 

Based on studies, a 2-storey residential house with 4kWp Solar PV System (Roof Integrated) installed, which costs estimate about RM30,000 in 2015, is expected to have 15.56% rate of ROI. That only takes a little over 6 years for the payback of the capital investment, assuming that the system yields 5,333 kWh/annum (total system yield). If you’ll manually calculate it, it’ll goes out as: RM0.91 x 5,333kWh = RM4,853.32 per annum. And since it's a 21-years contract with TNB, you are generating a total income of RM101,920 on average.

Where can you find the installer?

There are a few registered PV installers but make sure you are using the registered one because there are many scammers in the market that actually looking for profit only. Alliance Bank is the first financial institution to provide financing option for ordinary Malaysians who plan to install the solar system on their roof.

When viewed as a long term investment, it does sound like a viable proposition worth exploring. But as with all investments, carefully study the plans, do the calculations, obtain all the necessary background information, and consult with homeowners who have already installed the PV system, to get tips on the do’s and don’ts.

If you are interested to invest in this program, or wish to help building a sustainable environment for your future generation, you may email to ukiya75050@yahoo.com for more information. Remember that the quota is only opened up to end of Dec 2015, The quota will be reviewed and could be reopened as early as year 2018.

Eco-Furniture

Χαίρετε~

How is everyone? Hope everything is fine for all. So the holiday season is coming, I believe most of you have plans on your destination. I was recently in Singapore to attend a seminar, and at the same went to IKEA to grab some furnitures. It was a marvelous trip. IKEA was filled with all the necessities that I need. 

While I was having a coffee break in their cafe, I was observing their structure and the furnitures that are sold in there. It makes me think: Are all these furnitures eco-friendly? We know that furnitures come at the expenses of trees, but there are other alternatives on how to make them. That is why this time, we'll be talking about the recycled furnitures.

What Is The Concept?

So what is the concept of eco-friendly furniture or also known as sustainable furniture? As the people of the world become increasingly knowledgeable about the value of home energy efficiency, they are now also thinking about the quality of their home environment. And that includes furniture too, because depending on what it’s made out of your furniture can affect your home’s indoor air quality.

A lot of furniture is made using artificial wood and other materials that release various toxins into the air. The chief culprit is formaldehyde, which is the most common toxin found in artificial wood furniture, and big contributor to poor indoor air quality. The formaldehyde comes from the amount of glue used in making the furniture – the more glue in the wood, the more formaldehyde.

Sustainable furniture, on the other hand, is made from nontoxic, renewable resources, including recycled materials. These products can be disassembled and recycled when no longer needed. The idea behind sustainable furniture design is to make it so that the materials and products are always recycled after use, thereby avoiding disposal in landfills. This is in addition to the fact that they also help contribute to a healthier indoor environment.

Sustainable furniture is relatively easy to source, with any number of designers and stores offering various styles and models. It’s important to remember, though, that it is only a component of an energy efficient home. To understand how to design and build an energy efficient home, you will need to engage a Home Energy Professional.

How Do You Make It?

Heating and cooling are no longer exclusively an architectural issue, but one that can be tackled with smart furniture design. This elegant-looking Climatic Table can regulate indoor temperatures by storing heat and increases energy savings by up to 60% for heating and 30% for cooling. Designers Raphaël Ménard and Jean-Sébastien Lagrange created an entire series called Zero Energy Furniture that can “store a large quantity of thermal energy within a small volume.”

The first piece in the series is The Climatic Table, made from solid oak and corrugated anodized aluminium. The secret to the table’s energy-efficient performance lies in the innovative use of phase-change materials (PCM), integrated between the surface of plain wood and the folded sheet of anodized aluminum. Thanks to this great technology, the table can help smooth out temperature fluctuations and, in the case of office buildings, save up to 60% of energy required for heating and about 30% for cooling.

The top is made from solid oak which has great thermal qualities, while folded aluminium sheets placed on the underside have high conductivity and great structural properties. This fantastic design was presented at the 2015 Milan Design Week.

Worthy or Not?

Advantages

1. Lower Energy Costs: 
   Recent studies show that energy efficient furniture can reduce your home appliance energy usage of between 25% and 50% depending on the model and the type of furniture. 
    
2. Better Design.
   Their design is usually very modern and they look higher end than traditional models.
     
3. Eco-environmentally Friendly.
   These furnitures are not as bad for the environment. They have a smaller smaller impact on the woods usage.

 Disadvantages

1. Higher Price:
   Their price is higher than traditional models and it can be a big investment.
    
2. Smaller Selection:
   There are not as many models available in the stores.
    
3. Expensive to Repair:
   Because of their extensive technology, the parts and labor is more expensive.

Boardroom - The Core of A Company

Salam Sejahtera Semua~

How is everyone doing? I bet some of you must be clearing your end annual leave, or some might be preparing for the Deepavali celebration. Either way, it's fun to have such a long holiday and such fun is usually shared with the family members. Too bad, I have to oversee a project to upgrade a boardroom into a smart one (or we can call it the energy efficient room).

As you all know, boardroom is a place where all the important meetings, either with the stakeholders or the potential customers, for the growing of a company. Therefore, it's such an important task to make the boardroom as presentable as possible. This will bring the image of a company to the visitors and it's the first (and could be the last) impression to them.

So I would like to share my experience on the boardroom that I'll be doing, along with some other examples from other projects that had been done around the world.

What Is Smart Boardroom?

So what is exactly a "Smart Boardroom"? How does it look differently from the others? Well, you need to focus on your business and not the technology running it.  Let's bring it all  together under one easy way to use interface for equipment like projectors, computers, video, lighting, microphones and audio, all “just work” at the touch of a button.  So whether you need to simplify your technology, or make a great first impression on clients, automating your boardroom is a logical next step for your technology growth.

Simplicity: Set your conference room setup in one touch to include lighting, audio, video, shades, and temperature.

Flexibility: Build your system gradually. Start with the highest priority items and add more over time.

Cost Efficient: Existing electronics can be integrated into your Smart System.

Centralized: All of your systems are accessible from a single intuitive touch screen.

Remote Access: Ask your conference room scheduler to have the room set for a meeting at 3:00. It can be done from his desk.

 

How To Make It Smart?

Few of us would refute the old adage that in business, you have to spend money to make money. So it makes sense that if you want to hold more effective meetings, you have to invest in them. Over the last few decades, corporations have invested heavily in technology, designed to increase individual employee efficiency. But fewer companies have extended this investment past the desktop and into the boardroom. Plush leather chairs and polished boardroom tables are no longer enough to furnish a boardroom – meeting room tools are essential to create a fully functional workspace.

I've reviewed several meeting room tools that can be used to turn your meeting room into a highly productive collaborative environment. So read on, and decide if you think an investment in meeting room technology would pay off for your organization.

Computers

With the increasing reliance on computer-based presentation programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint and the need to access up-to-date information, very few meeting rooms can afford to ignore computers. Ideally, you’ll have a networked computer in your meeting room so that meeting participants can access their files directly. 

Projectors

A data/digital projector displays your computer applications. A projector is essential for showing presentations, spreadsheets or video clips to large groups of people. Digital projectors (also known as LCD or DLP projectors) have fallen dramatically in price in recent years. In-Focus, NEC, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba all manufacture digital projectors.

Copy Boards

Copy boards take your traditional whiteboard one step further by offering a means of recording your notes. The board is connected to a printer, so any notes on the whiteboard can be printed out and distributed to participants. Newer boards can be connected to a computer, allowing you to save notes as a computer file. 

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards take your whiteboard one step further again. The board is connected to a computer and a projector, so you can actually interact with computer-based information. Now with the information you'd have at your desktop available to you in the meeting room, you’ll never be stranded without a crucial fact or figure. Like a copy board, an interactive whiteboard can be used to write and save notes, but the interactivity lets you move, sort and group your notes as well. In terms of pricing, interactive whiteboards are more cost effective than copyboards, as you get the additional functionality for a similar price. The SMART Board and Rear Projection SMART Board interactive whiteboards from SMART Technologies are the industry leaders in this category.

Plasma Display Panels

A plasma display panel (PDP) is a flat-panel display that offers another alternative for viewing a computer image. A PDP is much slimmer than a standard monitor and offers a significantly larger viewing area (42" to 50"). The major selling point, however, is the exceptionally clear, bright image. PDPs are still relatively new to the market. PDPs are manufactured by companies such as Pioneer, NEC and Fujitsu.

If your organization has invested in a PDP already (or is thinking of doing so), you can add an interactive overlay for your panel. An overlay adds touch sensitivity and annotation capabilities to your PDP (exactly like an interactive whiteboard). For example, SMART Board for Plasma Displays interactive overlays from SMART Technologies is designed to work with several popular PDPs on the market.

Conferencing

Conferencing equipment is essential for companies that regularly meet with people in different geographic locations. Audio conferencing (a system of phones and microphones) can be purchased for a desktop model to a premier system. The leading audio conferencing phones are manufactured by Polycom and Gentner.

Data conferencing lets you share text, images and data in real time. Some conferencing packages, such as Microsoft NetMeeting software, may actually be included free with your operating system. Video-conferencing uses telephone or data lines to transmit audio and video. Prices for a video-conferencing system range from a desktop unit to a multi-site boardroom system. Leading vendors are Polycom, PictureTel, Tandberg and VTEL.  

Multimedia Cabinets

If your office has made significant investments in multimedia equipment such as video or DVD players, speakers, scanners, projectors, etc., you may want to consider purchasing a multimedia cabinet to store and access your peripherals. In many companies, multimedia equipment is under-utilized because people don’t have time to set up and configure each piece of equipment. A multimedia cabinet comes pre-configured with the necessary wires and cables, so all you have to do is plug it in and it’s ready to go. Commercial cabinets, such as SMART Expression mobile multimedia cabinets from SMART Technologies

Room-Control Systems

Room-control systems let you control a wide range of electronic equipment (audio, video, projection, lighting, screens, blinds, security and communication) from one central location. Prices have fallen recently, and you can now acquire a system for under RM2,000. Leading manufacturers of room-control systems are AMX/Panja and Crestron.

Worth the Investment?

Making the initial investment in meeting room technology can seem like a costly endeavor. But keep in mind that an investment into more effective meetings can have big payoffs for your company in terms of increased productivity and more efficient group collaborations. 

In business today time is money, so investing in your boardroom will bring you much more in return. Few would refute that you have to spend money to make money and no longer it is enough to invest in a nice polished boardroom table and plush leather chairs. Businesses are now recognising the fact that it is necessary to invest in the technical infrastructure of their boardrooms, yes to impress their biggest customers, but also from a business efficiency perspective. Who isn’t interested in attaining those objectives?

Haze, Haze, Go Away, Don't Come Back Another Day

Howdy folks? It's been a hazy day in the South East Asia region, especially Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. This phenomenon is caused by the forest fire in Indonesia. It actually did hit above 200 for the Air Pollution Index at one time. We have to actually wear a protective mask to filter the smoke from entering our lungs.

At the same time, the sales of air purifier have also shot up tremendously due to this air quality problem. But the consumers need to know which air purifier to buy and which to avoid. I will share not on the specific air purifier that gives out a better air quality but I will share on which types of air purifier is energy efficient and provide long-term investment for the homes or office buildings.

How Does It Work?

Although they may seem like a new innovation, air purifiers have been around for more than 200 years. What started as protective masks for fireman, air purifiers have now evolved the ability to protect you and your family from airborne pollutants.

As allergies and asthma now affect more than 50 million of people around the world, the concern for safe indoor air quality has rapidly increased. Allergens like smoke, mold spores, pollen, bacteria, viruses, pet dander, and other pollutants damage your lungs and immune system. Unfortunately, most of these irritants cannot be seen by the naked eye. Air purifiers filter allergens and pollutants seen or unseen by the human eye. To remove these objects, air purifiers typically use filters, electrical attraction, or ozone.

Air filters utilize fine sieves that filter particles from circulating air. As air flows into the air purifier, the finer the sieve used, the smaller the particles it traps. The accepted benchmark for air filters has been set by the High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are guaranteed to trap 99.97% of airborne particles larger than 0.3 microns. Microns are the standard unit used for measuring air particles. Each micron is equivalent to 1/25,400 of an inch. The naked eye cannot see anything smaller than 10 microns, so pollutants like bacteria and viruses escape detection. Room air conditioner filters only capture particles 10.0 microns or larger. HEPA filters remove smaller allergens like dust, smoke, chemicals, asbestos, pollen, and pet dander.

The more times the air passes through the HEPA filter, the cleaner the air becomes. The room capacity of a HEPA air purifier will determine whether the air cleaner can handle your air purifying needs. 

In addition to the HEPA filter, there's an optional medical grade ultra-violet (UV) light system, used to quickly kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi upon entry into the air purifier. UV light also protects the HEPA filter from biological and viral contamination.

Electrical attraction is another technology utilized by air purifiers to trap particles. Three types of air cleaners work using electrical attraction: electrostatic precipitating cleaners, electret filters, and negative ion generators.

Electrostatic precipitating cleaners or electronic air purifiers draw particles in by fan and charge them with a series of high-voltage wires. Several plates (precipitating cells) carry the opposite electrical charge and attract the contaminants as they pass by the plates. Electronic air purifiers are perfect for individuals who don't want to worry about the costly replacements of HEPA filters. The downside to these units is that many create a nasty byproduct, ozone.

Electret filters in air purifiers use synthetic fibers that create static charges to attract particles. Electret filters are offered in a variety of types including plain, pleated, disposable or reusable. Depending on the type of filter you need, will determine how often the filter requires replacement.

Negative ion generators or ionic air purifiers use tiny, charged wires or needles to create gas molecules with negative charges or ions that adhere to the airborne particles and collect in the filter. However, many ions end up back in the air, sticking to furnishings and other surfaces that may be stained by them.

Ionic air purifiers only remove certain types of particles and aren't always effective against gases, chemicals, or odors. Some ionic air purifiers have been shown to re-circulate the same dirty particles that they draw in, making them much less effective than traditional air purifiers using HEPA filtration.

Types Of Air Purifier

It may come as no surprise to see that air purifiers come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. What’s more important to notice, though, is not all air purifiers work the same. In fact, different types of air purifiers employ different technologies when cleansing the air you breathe.

It is vital to know and understand how each of these technologies work, so you can be sure to choose the right air purifier for your specific needs. Of course you will also need to know which air purifier is working efficiently with the energy consumption.

Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) is a measure of the amount of contaminant-free air delivered by the room air cleaner. When considering the purchase of an energy efficient room air cleaner, the comparison should not solely be based on CADR. The CADR of a specific air cleaner model is affected by a number of factors included the size of the model; larger units often have higher CADRs.

First, find the AHAM suggested room size noted prominently in the label. This suggested sizing should match the size of the room you are trying to clean. Next, compare CADR numbers from manufacturer to manufacturer and from air cleaner to air cleaner. Higher ratings for the dust, tobacco smoke and pollen CADR numbers indicate that the unit will filter the air faster than a unit with lower ratings. If the ratings are same from one unit to the other, then the air filtering performance is similar.

Return Of Investment

Room air purifiers - sometimes referred to as "room air cleaners" - are portable, electric appliances that remove fine particles, such as dust and pollen, from indoor air. A standard room air purifier, operating continuously, uses approximately 550 kWh per year in electricity. This is more than the energy used by some new refrigerators!

Energy efficient room air purifiers are 40% more energy-efficient than standard models, saving consumers about 225 kWh/year. These savings could add up to RM800 over its lifetime!

A Windy Season

Hello everybody and welcome back to my blog "Towards A Greener World". Hope you guys have a great time during the long weekends. I went for a short trip to a place called Mount KK and it was such a nice view. The people is nice, the food is fantastic and the weather is great. We even went to Kundasang (it's the closest town to Mount KK).

Imagine the outside temperature is below 20 degrees Celcius and I actually bathed cold water during the night. It was freezing and quite windy. When I was sitting down there relaxing and enjoying the skies, I can see the trees and leaves are moving vigorously due to the strong wind. Then the idea comes in: why didn't the locals install a wind turbine to harness the free energy?

Maybe they did not know about this recyclable energy and I believe some of the urban people also do not know about this. So I would like to share more on this energy source with you so that you can have some knowledge about it and maybe, just maybe, that you can install one on your roof to save on the energy bills.

How Does It Work?

So how do wind turbines make electricity? Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.

Wind is a form of solar energy and is a result of the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the earth's surface, and the rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the world and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes such as sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.

The terms wind energy or wind power describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.

Types of Wind Turbine

Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups: 

1. the horizontal-axis variety, and 
2. the vertical-axis design

Horizontal-axis wind turbines typically either have two or three blades. These three-bladed wind turbines are operated "upwind," with the blades facing into the wind. Wind turbines can be built on land or offshore in large bodies of water like oceans and lakes. 

Utility-scale turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts. Larger wind turbines are more cost effective and are grouped together into wind farms, which provide bulk power to the electrical grid. 

Single small turbines, below 100 kilowatts, are used for homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping. Small turbines are sometimes used in connection with diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations, where a connection to the utility grid is not available.

Return On Investment

The price of a home wind turbine could fetch from RM1075 minimum. However, do take note that a wind turbine is a relatively large device and it is not so suitable for urban or small-lot suburban homes. The economics of a wind system are determined by the average wind speed in the area, the availability of rebates or tax credits, and the cost of electricity. As a general rule-of-thumb, we recommend that you have at least a 10 mph average wind speed and be paying 10¢/kilowatt-hour or more for electricity. 

Will it help the environment if I install a wind turbine at my home? Wind turbines produce no pollution and by using wind power you will be offsetting pollution that would have been generated by your utility company. Over its nominal 30 year, life it will offset approximately 1.2 tons of air pollutants and 200 tons of greenhouse gases.

The return of your investment on wind turbine depends on your cost of electricity and average wind speed. The wind system will usually recoup its investment through utility savings within 6-30 years and after that the electricity it produces will be virtually free. Compared to purchasing utility power, a wind system can be a good investment because your money goes to increasing the value of your home rather than just paying for a service. Many people buy wind systems for their retirement because they are concerned about utility rate increases.

What To Consider When Buying?

What size would you need for your home? Homes typically use 1,000-2,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. Depending upon the average wind speed in the area this will require a wind turbine rated in the range 5-15 kilowatts.

You do not need to take the wind measurement for a year before buying it. For residential systems the cost of taking wind measurements is not justified in most situations. Wind resource data published by the local authority is sufficient to predict performance. In a very hilly or mountainous areas, however, it may be prudent to take wind data before purchasing a system to ensure that your site in not in a sheltered area.

Are wind turbines reliable, and what about maintenance? The turbines have only 3 or 4 moving parts and do not require any regular maintenance. The turbines are designed to last 30-50 years or more and they operate completely automatically. Small wind turbines do make some noise, but not enough to be found objectionable by most people. They do not interfere with TV reception.

Pros & Cons

So how good or bad to install a wind turbine at your home? I have listed a few of them to help you decide on whether or not to install a wind turbine.

Wind Energy Pros

• Wind energy is clean, and harnessing it does not produce any harmful by-products.
• Wind is free and 100% renewable.
• Turbines pay for themselves within a few years.
• The power company pays you back if you produce extra electricity.
• Tax incentives may be available from local or the federal government for those who install wind turbines.

Wind Energy Cons

• Upfront costs are high.
• You must have enough land to accommodate a turbine.
• Not all geographical locations are suitable for wind turbines so have to check with your local wind speed averages.
• Building codes may restrict turbine installation.
• Wind turbines make noise and some people (possibly your neighbours) find them to be ugly.
• Turbines typically operate at only 30 percent capacity (but to put that in perspective - solar panels operate at only 15 percent efficiency).
• Blades have been known to kill birds.
• Turbines can be damaged in lightning storms.

So as you can see, the renewable energy of wind is not for everyone. It still depends on few external and internal factors before installing it. But one thing for sure, as the electricity cost is going and with more introduction of tax rebate, this wind energy could be the next big thing for a smart home.

Futuristic Automotive Industry

Hola, ¿cómo estas?

It's been a long time since I wrote my last blog post because was on a business trip. It was a fun and challenging experience, meeting with different people in a totally different culture. In case you are curious, I was in Yangon, Myanmar for the "Renewable Energy Conference 2015". It's a networking event that invites industry professionals that aims to build a partnership networking through face-to-face meetings and open discussions to build and further strengthen guests' networks.

While I was in Myanmar, I did saw some electrical cars that not only looks impressive on the outside but on the inside as well. The interior design looks sophisticated and it is comfortable while driving it. I checked on the Internet and it's truly an energy efficient hardware that's worth sharing with the masses.

How To Define An Energy Efficient Vehicle?

The car which has been with us since the 19th Century, has evolved tremendously over the decades. The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor, Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It had been through many histories, wars and technologies era. We have seen the emerging of many brands such as Toyota, Honda, Ferrari, and many more.

So how do we define an energy efficient car or vehicle? The answer is in the term called Fuel Efficiency. Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application fuel efficiency, especially fossil fuel power plants or industries dealing with combustion, such as ammonia production during the Haber process.

In the context of transport, fuel economy is the energy efficiency of a particular vehicle, given as a ratio of distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed. Fuel economy is expressed in miles per gallon (mpg) in the USA and usually also in the UK (imperial gallon). There is sometimes confusion as the imperial gallon is 20% larger than the US gallon so that mpg values are not directly comparable. In countries using the metric system, fuel economy is stated in kilometres per litre (km/L) in the Netherlands, Denmark and in several Latin American or Asian countries such as India, Japan, South Korea, or as the reciprocal ratio, "fuel consumption" in liters per 100 kilometers (L/100 km) in much of Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Litres per mil are used in Norway and Sweden.

Fuel consumption is a more accurate measure of a vehicle’s performance because it is a linear relationship while fuel economy leads to distortions in efficiency improvements. Weight-specific efficiency (efficiency per unit weight) may be stated for freight, and passenger-specific efficiency (vehicle efficiency per passenger).

Fuel efficiency is dependent on many parameters of a vehicle, including its engine parameters, aerodynamic drag, weight, and rolling resistance. There have been advances in all areas of vehicle design in recent decades.

Hybrid vehicles use two or more power sources for propulsion. In many designs, a small combustion engine is combined with electric motors. Kinetic energy which would otherwise be lost to heat during braking is recaptured as electrical power to improve fuel efficiency. Engines automatically shut off when vehicles come to a stop and start again when the accelerator is pressed preventing wasted energy from idling.

Design

Cars are the primary mode of transport with most households having at least one. The current generation of cars emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change. For every litre of petrol used in a motor vehicle, 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) is released from the exhaust. The new breed of efficient cars and hybrids are increasing fuel efficiency by significant margins and with electric cars emerging onto the market, we have cars with zero net carbon emissions.

As one of the major investments for most families, car efficiency also means lower running costs, better insurance rates and even green loans. The efficiency of the vehicle (design, engine, weight, etc) determines the fuel consumption and the amount of greenhouse gases and airborne pollution released per kilometre, so there are many factors to consider when aiming to reduce the emissions you create. Here we shall take a look into two types of energy efficient car: Hybrid and Electrical

Hybrid - A vehicle is a hybrid if it utilizes more than one form of onboard energy to achieve propulsion. In practice, that means a hybrid will have a traditional internal-combustion engine and a fuel tank, as well as one or more electric motors and a battery pack. Hybrid cars are sometimes mistakenly confused with electric vehicles. Hybrids are most often gasoline-burning machines that utilize their electric bits to collect and reuse energy that normally goes to waste in standard cars. Theoretically, diesel-electric hybrids would be even more fuel-efficient, but hybrid systems and diesel engines both represent extra cost. So far, installing both in the same vehicle has proven to be prohibitively expensive.

Electric - also known as electric vehicle or EV, it uses energy stored in its rechargeable batteries, which are recharged by common household electricity. An electric car is powered exclusively by electricity. Historically, EVs have not been widely adopted because of limited driving range before needing to be recharged, long recharging times, and a lack of commitment by automakers to produce and market electric cars that have all the creature comforts of gas-powered cars. That has changed. As battery technology improved, simultaneously increasing energy storage and reducing cost, major automakers introduced a new generation of electric cars.

The Good, The Bad & The Not-So Ugly

With all the technology that is getting improved by the seconds, we all know that they bring more benefits than harm to the environment and living beings. However, we still need to know what is the upside and downside of using an energy efficient vehicle and it can be depicted  in the table below:

Prices vs Saving

Who doesn’t want clean air, clean water, a comfortable climate and a healthy environment for today and for future generations? Although most folks agree that hybrid and electric cars contribute to all of these society blessings, if they also save us money, they’ll grab a bigger share of the market.

Each person’s green car payback will be different. The comparisons are based on an average of 15,000 miles (1 mile = 1.6 km) driven annually, with 45 percent of that on highways and 55 percent within cities. If you drive more than that in the city, you could stand to save a ton of dough by driving a hybrid or all-electric car. Stop-and-go driving and relatively slower speeds require less energy from the cars’ batteries, maximizing the already stellar energy efficiency of electric drive.

If you drive more than 15,000 miles a year (that’s about 1,250 monthly, 312 weekly or 45 daily), you’ll definitely break even sooner. Gas prices are volatile and it’s difficult to predict their roller coaster rides. But there can be no disputing that the faster gas prices rise and the higher they go, the more you’ll save. Below is a simple worksheet devised to help you calculate your own potential payback period with whichever vehicles you’d like to consider and whatever gas price you want to input. (See How to Calculate Your Own Green Car Payback). The calculations and worksheet consider only prices and gas mileage, but you should also look at the cost or savings associated with insurance, maintenance and local incentives.

The Verdict 

Saving money doesn’t have to be the only determining factor when it’s time to buy a new car. People consider comfort, safety, performance, capacity, reliability, resale value, style, color and even whether a car has an iPhone dock. The bottom line is how well does a particular vehicle meet your particular needs and desires? The decision comes down to cost versus value: How much are you willing to pay for the features you want to get? What about the early adopters of the personal computer, Palm Pilot or iPad? They probably hoped those devices would serve their needs, but we’ll bet they didn’t expect those gadgets to pay for themselves. Many consumers simply enjoy the ability to invest in technologies they value.

Greener cars have been proven to be well made, durable and long-lasting and to save their owners thousands of dollars. Depending on the price of gas and what you want or need out of a good set of wheels, you may have to wait a few or even many years to realize your savings. How long will you have to wait? When it comes to green car payback, it all depends. But as they say: Patience is a virtue.

Nothing Beats A TV Time

Everyday there is a time where all the family members and friends would gather around at the living room and spend the quality time together in front of the magic box. These tradition has been around since the invention of the magic box called television.

So what is television? If you check on the dictionary, it says "a system for transmitting visual images and sound that are reproduced on screens, chiefly used to broadcast programs for entertainment, information, and education." So from the definition, we know that television has became from a luxury into a basic necessities in our daily life. 

Types of Television

There are so many televisions that had been invented to suit the lifestyle of many different races and classes. Buying a TV can be frustrating if you’re not quite sure what you are looking at. So we shall focus on the 5 types of television.

CRT - Cathode Ray Tube is the old style ‘chunky TV’ (and monitor).  The reason it’s so bulky is because the box has to house a screen and a projector gun. An image is created by firing electrons through this ‘gun’ onto a screen, exciting the particles on it. These TV formats have been on the fall since the early 2000’s with the introduction of far smaller LCD screens.

LCD - LCD’s are thin displays, normally used in laptop computers and TV screens. The term ‘LCD’ Stands for ‘Liquid Crystal Display’. A liquid crystal display is a special flat panel that can block light, or allow it to pass. The panel is made up of segments with each block filled with liquid crystals. The colour and transparency of these blocks can be changed by increasing or reducing the electrical current. LCD crystals do not produce their own light, so an external light source like a florescent bulb is needed to create an image.

LED - Contrary to popular belief, LED TV’s are not a completely new format of TV- Instead they are simply an updated version of the previous LCD generation. LED use the same technology as an LCD TV, but instead of being illuminated by a florescent bulb from behind, they are lit by an array of LEDs (light emitting diodes). These are far more efficient and smaller in size, meaning the TV can be narrower. LED can be broken up into two further major categories Direct (Back-lit) LED and Edge-lit LED:

1. Direct LED -These displays are backlit by an array of LEDs directly behind the screen. This enables focused lighting areas – meaning specific cells of brightness and darkness can be displayed more effectively.
2. Edge-lit LED - As the name suggests have lights set around the television frame. Edge-lit models reflect light into the centre of the monitor, and are the thinnest, lightest models available. Since they have fewer lights in the centre of the screen.

LED is the most popular format of TV on the market now due to its cost, size and versatility, although it is not the highest quality image available.

Plasma - Plasma screens are made of 2 sheets of glass with a mixtures of gases stored between the layers. These gases are injected and sealed in plasma form during the manufacturing process, hence why we have the name ‘Plasma TV’. When charged with electricity, the gases react and cause illumination in the pixels across the screen. Plasma, is arguably superior to LCD & LED in terms of contrast and colour accuracy. However the format, due to costs, is restricted to larger screens sizes, usually 40-inch +.  In these larger screen sizes, buying the Plasma option tends to work out cheaper. It is also used in the super-sized 80-inch+ screens as the plasma screens are easier, and more cost effective, to produce over a larger size.

OLED - This is a massive leap forward in screen technology. Unlike its name suggests, OLED is nothing like LED. OLED stands for ‘Organic Light Emitting Diode’ and uses ‘organic’ materials like carbon to create light when supplied directly by an electric current. Unlike LED/LCD screens, an OLED TV doesn’t require a backlight to illuminate the set area. Without this restriction of an external light source, OLED screens can be super thin and crucially, flexible. As the individual areas can be lit up directly and not via an external backlight, the colours and contrasts are much better on OLED TV’s. On the whole, OLED is thinner, more flexible, faster at processing images, creates deeper colours and more crisp in contrast. It is, however, still very expensive and will not be seen on consumer TV’s at an ‘affordable price’ for at least another year.

Energy Efficient Television

ENERGY STAR certified televisions are on average, over 25 percent more energy efficient than conventional models, saving energy in all usage modes: sleep, idle, and on. The label can be found on everything from standard TVs to large screen TVs with the latest features like 3D and internet connectivity. Many models that earn the ENERGY STAR incorporate LEDs, the latest in screen backlighting technology.

Saving energy with ENERGY STAR certified home entertainment products helps protect the climate. A home equipped with TVs, a Blu-Ray player, a compact audio system, a cordless telephone and a home-theatre-in-a-box that have earned the ENERGY STAR, can save nearly RM500 over the life of the products. If each TV, DVD player, and home theatre system purchased this year earned the ENERGY STAR, we would prevent nearly 2 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year, equal to the emissions from more than 175,000 cars.

Financial Cost

When buying a new TV, as with any other electrical appliance, find out how much energy it uses, check out sust-it.net, before you buy. Taking long term running costs into your buying equation, makes sense. Look for ‘Energy Efficiency’ labels and, when you get it home, don’t leave it on standby.

Research done by Sust-it, the energy efficiency site for electrical hardwares, shows that TVs are now, on average, sixty per cent more efficient than they were five years ago.

When plasma and LCD TVs first arrived in the shops, we were dazzled by their stunning picture quality and screen size, and overlooked the fact that, compared with most tube televisions, these beasts were energy guzzlers – something the salesman, wowing us with bright colours and a 42-inch screen, would neglect to mention. In 2006 a 42-inch Plasma could have cost you RM474 per year to run (at today’s prices), now thanks to public awareness and advances in technology, a similar model uses nearly six times less energy, produces 264.90 kg less carbon and costs only RM84 to run per year.

Sust-it used its extensive energy usage data to compare the running costs of 1,800 televisions and found that since October 2006 and July 2011, there has been a decrease in the average amount of energy flat screen TV’s are using, and, in addition, the decrease in stand-by consumption is nearly 100 per cent.  This is better news for the environment, as TVs account for around 6-8% of the global domestic electricity usage, and for the consumer by saving them money on electricity bills.

Consumers need to be wary of old energy hungry plasma models, which are still available and will be difficult to spot until new energy labels for TV’s become mandatory in December 2011, go for LED if possible.

Sharp, whose TVs top Sust-it’s efficiency charts, commented on the research saying “Sharp have made increasing energy efficiency a key part of its wider commitment to minimising the environmental impact of product life-cycles. Technological advances are made not only to improve picture quality, but also to reduce energy needed to power the screen.  For example, the added yellow sub-pixel in Sharp’s proprietary four colour Quattron LCD panels allows more light through, using less energy to produce a brighter, sharper picture. Where ten years ago, a 32-inch TV would have consumed nearly 300 kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year, the same size Sharp TV now requires 80% less energy when turned on, and an amazing 98% less in stand-by mode.  This is why so many of our TVs have already received the 5-star energy efficiency rating.”