Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A golden future for green energy

According to a study published this week by the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity production from green energy sources like wind, solar, and biofuels will exceed nuclear and gas by 2016, marking a huge victory for the energy revolution!

"As their costs continue to fall, renewable power sources are increasingly standing on their own merits versus new fossil-fuel generation," said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA.

On Tuesday, American President Barack Obama revealed his plans to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. "I'm setting a new goal," the President said. "[The U.S.] federal government will consume 20% of its electricity from renewable sources within the next seven years."

The IEA’s study analyzed trends in the global market, and expects over 20 countries to see an increase in clean power production. And not minimal, either – an increase by at least 40% during the next half-decade! In fact, the study predicts that green energy will comprise nearly 1/4th of the global market by 2018, up 20% from a similar study done a few years ago. That’s a remarkable turnaround when you consider the current state of the climate crisis.

So, why the sudden progress?

Countries like China and India are turning to renewables more and more in order to meet their staggering energy demands. These markets will offset the slowed growth in the U.S. and Europe.

It also helps that the cost of green energy has gone done significantly since the turn of the century. Wind turbines can now stay competitive with coal and oil-burning power plants in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Brazil, and Turkey.

Even the use of biofuels, which recycle agricultural waste, is up. The study predicts that “more than 50 countries will be generating more than 100 megawatts of electricity using biofuels by 2018.”

For years now, NRGLab has been developing high-efficiency gasification techniques, turning agricultural waste, rice husks, coal, and natural gas into cleaner-burning fuels. If you’re interested in learning more about NRGLab’s innovative energy projects, visit our website at nrglab.asia.



Make sure you’re there to cash in on the looming golden age of green energy.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Want to develop the country? Develop a sustainable energy program first!

The valley around the Indus River in Pakistan is one of the steamiest regions on earth. Temperatures teeter regularly in the low 100s. But what should be a solar energy hotbed, is instead an energy wasteland. Only one-third of Pakistanis who inhabit this region have reliable access to electricity. How can any country expect to make social, cultural, and political progress without a well-informed, technological-proficient population?

The World Bank has long hoped to bridge the gap between developing countries’ abundance of natural resources and the discourse keeping them from competing on the global economy. They’ve invested $11.6 million towards gathering data to help guide those developing countries on a sustainable path, but so far – no answers have presented themselves.

While first-world problems like unemployment, healthcare, and gun control rage, many parts of the world are still afflicted by power blackouts and tainted water wells. Simple luxuries we take for granted. So hospitals can’t open. Schools close. Small businesses go bankrupt. Asia and Africa account for roughly two-thirds of the 1.2 billion people currently living ‘off the grid’. These are people who’ve never heard of Facebook or Google!

This outrageous number often scares investors away from developing countries. Instead, they dump their private equity in the U.S. and European markets which, though certainly unpredictable, are much more reliable.

The world’s poorest populations are punished as a result. If temperatures rise by 4 degrees C, 7.2 degrees F by 2090, which according to a recent studied published by the World Bank they’re expected to, then crops across the African continent will burn. Rice paddies in Southeast Asia will drown. People will die and villages will be wiped out.

How do we expect the developing world to develop without any people?

The challenge they face right now involves simple math: fossil fuels are cheaper than green energy alternative. Although the world’s wealthiest countries have donated considerable sums of money to renewable energy programs throughout the third world, there’s simply no way to combat the affordability and availability of fossil fuels.

Because these people have worries other than their carbon footprints. Most don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

That’s why NRGLab is lending a hand to the developing world. By helping them create an independent energy infrastructure, we can begin the healing process.

The future isn’t set in stone. And we’re dead set on making sure it’s greener than today.


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Why own such a big, energy guzzling home?

Are you single? Are your friends trying to prepare for their future families by taking out mortgages on small houses? Well, if you answered “yes” to both these questions and happen to live in an apartment, then you’re substantially less responsible for global warming than your friends.

Apartments use an estimated 40% less energy than single-family homes, according to recent findings. Sure -- apartments tend to be on the small side. They can be noisy. And unpredictable. But by minimizing space and windows, they waste much less energy. Much, much less.

Over the past thirty years, without efficiency upgrades in multi-family buildings, the United States per-household energy use in apartment buildings has dropped 38%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The use of energy for heating fell a staggering 50%!

Other types of home have seen decreases in energy usage, mostly from efficiency improvements in regular appliances. But single-family homes still make up the bulk of real estate in the U.S. -- and obviously, that's the front where the energy war can be won.

Companies like WegoWise, a Boston firm whose analytics help people save money on utility bills, are focusing on the energy needs of multifamily home. It's a difficult task – how do you fairly go about dividing energy costs versus function for single versus multi-family homes?

ThinkEco, a company whose energy-saving products facilitate consumption reduction by enabling cloud-control connectivity to multiple energy loads, is hoping to dominate the windowed air-conditioner market. ACs are staples of older homes in cities such as Washington D.C. and New York. With more efficient models, these cities could drastically cut down on their utility costs.

In the future, energy-saving fads will come and go. But last year, in the U.S., 30% of new homes were multifamily buildings with more than five units. Buildings like these will help put a stop to bleeding electricity.

The answer is smaller housing! Practical living. Cooperation.

You don’t need a two-car garage, third story, or finished basement to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind. So ditch the energy-guzzling home. Settle for an apartment!

Monday, June 17, 2013

In desperate times, new map shows world-wide energy potential

NRGLab isn’t alone in helping the developing world obtain reliable access to energy. A program being instituted by the World Bank is helping countries map their energy potentials. The hope is that this new map will provide countries with a plan for creating a renewable, self-sufficient infrastructure. Fingers crossed.

The World Bank’s program extends beyond outdated solar and wind models to provide the real data governments need to understand their natural resource potential. Pakistan epitomizes the energy challenges faced by developing countries. Despite an abundance of renewable resources – hydro, bio waste, solar, and wind – one third of the nation's population lives without regular access to electricity. Pakistan has lofty goals for their solar and wind programs currently in development, while innovative projects like those offered by NRGLab go unnoticed.

“The importance of this resource mapping cannot be overstated,” says Arif Alauddin, Director of Pakistan’s National Energy Conservation Center. “The country’s energy shortage is unprecedented, tariffs are going up, and petroleum imports are eating up a large share of export earnings.  There is a need to shift to domestic renewable energy resources.”

While solar and wind maps have been available for years now, they fail to identify projects in the private sector in need of development funding.  So basically – the rich get rich, while everyone else in the science community struggles to get noticed.

This problem is why the World Bank joined together with nine countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia, to create a new map of renewable energy potential. Financed by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), the map will cover solar, wind, biomass, and small hydropower potential.

Resource mapping is a step in the right direction, for sure. But does it quite cover the array of energy opportunities presented by NRGLab?



With our revolutionary gasification techniques, NRGLab can convert all-natural gas, coal, risk husk, and APG into useable fuel. For developing countries, this means increasing their share of the global energy market, not to mention creating a sustainable, independent domestic infrastructure.

“Resource mapping is a crucial step in providing the resource and policy certainty that commercial developers need to scale up investment in renewables,” says Oliver Knight, Senior Energy Specialist at ESMAP.  “In addition, government authorities will be better informed in negotiations on specific projects, and donors will have a clearer sense of the data and capacity needs, as well as the renewable potential, of clients.”

NRGLab has been focused on this goal from the start. Providing consumers with a cost-effective, clean alternative is the solution to the energy crisis. For more information on partnering with NRGLab, visit nrglab.asia.

Together, we can ensure a greener future. For our children. And their children. For centuries after we’re gone.

Friday, June 7, 2013

New program cutting down universities’ energy consumption

A new program, called Emergency Demand Response, is empowering American universities to earn income for reducing their campus’ energy consumption. This comes in response to regular electrical spikes across the grid, since more people are inclined to blast their air conditioners and run fans all day long during the summertime.

Is your university on the list of those raking in the big bucks? This year alone, Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA will earn $99,000. The University of Virginia - $192,000!

Just think of all the dorm room systems and multimedia libraries that go unused during the summer. That’s money that could be going towards other things. Like paying teachers. Renovating facilities.
So by now you’re probably asking, “How can I get my school involved so we can get some decent cafeteria food around here?”

Well, participation in Emergency Demand Response requires a university’s facility to be on ‘standby mode’ to reduce energy consumption during periods of increased grid activity, from June 1st to Sept. 30th.

"We want to be efficient as possible, and [Emergency Demand Response] is certainly a driving force," said Michael Brewer, Muhlenberg College’s director of operations. The money earned from the program has allowed them to construct automated electrical systems where software now manages energy efficiency.

At Ohio University, both the students and faculty are taking this issue seriously. 2013 marks the University’s third year with Emergency Demand Resources, and by 2014, they’re set to earn $47,000 annually.

Other institutions use incentives to raise awareness. "If someone makes a post on our Facebook wall about how they will cut their energy usage for an hour, they can win a water bottle," says Nina Morris, a faculty member at the University of Virginia. "Social media is helping to get the word out about our sustainability programs."

The only downside to the program is that a university is required to shut down power to its facilities if they receive a phone call from an official dispatcher. Now think if that university could oblige, earn money, and stay online all at the same time.

With the SH-Box by NRGLab, you could power a computer lab, a library, or the dean’s office without ever plugging into the public grid. Not only that – the SH-Box is carbon-free, so you won’t be contributing to the climate crisis.

It’s nice to see society finally coming together to find solutions that work for everyone. Curbing consumption and cutting down on carbon emissions is going to require a unified effort. From the U.S. to the Ukraine – it’s only one planet Earth. To learn more about NRGLab and the revolutionary new SH-Box, visit nrglab.asia.com.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Creating a greener future, one step at a time

Besides investing more money, what other steps can the government take to ensure a greener future? Plenty!

Complex problems require complex solutions. Over the past decade, governments have tied themselves to various ‘breakthroughs’ in energy technology. Nuclear power plants. Solar panels with increased battery capacities. Wind turbines with better conversion rates. But these trends come and go. Why? Because in and of themselves, they cannot create a sustainable infrastructure.

NRGLab is helping the world create an energy ecosystem instead. With a collection of independent producers and distributors, we can make electricity universally available.



We can’t do it alone, though. We’ve developed the SH-Box – a carbon-free electrical generator that’s both affordable and portable – but that won’t be enough. NRGLab needs support to advance manufacturing. What kind of support? Yours of course!

Since 2008, the U.S. government has invested in new energy programs to stimulate innovation at deliberate points along the course of technological development. Policymakers fear unnecessary bureaucracy and extensive red tape, but eventually, they will have to come together to establish a clear vision for the future – no more jumping from trend to trend.

Programs like the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) within the U.S.’s Department of Energy are trying to address the fundamental issue of climate change. We need to understand 100% why surface temperatures are on the rise so we can solve the problem once and for all. The EFRCs and Office of Science are studying causal theories in chemistry, material science, and physics that could lead to pragmatic energy strategies.

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research has taken over a decade’s worth of research and material to develop batteries that are five times more energy efficient than any of today’s lithium-ions, and at one-fifth of the cost!

Investing in transformative solutions like those provided by NRGLab will allow society to overcome the economic and political barriers that are preventing us from making the breakthroughs in green energy our planet so desperately needs right now. This includes investing in better gasification methods, all-natural renewables, and energy independence.

Every journey begins with a single step. The question is: which way will you step? In line with the sheep, or ahead of the pack?

NRGLab is currently recycling waste across the world into clean diesel fuel. With our SH-Boxes, we’re giving consumers the opportunity to enjoy energy independence. For more information on any number of our projects, visit us at nrglab.asia, and help us ensure a greener future!

Monday, June 3, 2013

In a globalized world, we need an energy cocktail

Power makes the world go ‘round. Banking systems. Information technology. Multimedia. These days, everything depends on electricity. But what if you live ‘off-the-grid’? Worse yet —what happens when energy becomes scarcer than gold?

Global demand for energy is expect to grow by at least 35% by the year 2030. While policy makers scramble to come up with answers, rising populations and longer life expectancies drive that number higher. How can this outrageous demand for electricity be met?

Developed countries represent two-thirds of the world’s crude oil demand, and the United States, Europe and Japan have already exceeded their demand ceilings. Today, China consumes more energy than the United States – something which was once thought impossible. Even with increased energy efficiency, rising incomes and improved standards of living means a greater demand for energy.

Environmental concerns continue to dictate the energy market. The question of global warming and carbon has never been more pressing now that atmospheric levels have surpassed 400 million parts per unit. Over 80% of the world’s fuel consumption is carbon based —oil, coal, and natural gas.

The transition to alternative, renewable sources of energy is already in motion. Wind and solar are improving, but still have major drawbacks.

The answer to this energy crisis requires a unique cocktail of solutions. Responsible consumption. Innovative thinking. And one large shot of NRGLab.

Our vision of a globalized energy grid is complex, and needs time to be realized by a majority of people who are simply too accustomed to using fossil fuels. Real progress means curbing consumption and investment habits. New techniques, facilities, buildings, and vehicles are like band-aids over the real problem of energy dependency.



The real solution is responsible energy independence. With a generator like the SH-Box, which is carbon-free and cost-effective, you don’t have to rely on dirty, expensive fossil fuels. In fact, you could be paying as little as $0.03 per kW, or a fraction of your current energy costs.

Interested in learning more? Follow us on Facebook, or visit nrglab.asia for more information on the SH-Box and NRGLab’s energy revolution.