What Green Engineer Courses Should I Consider

In a nutshell, ’Green Energy’ utilises natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat to provide our daily energy requirement. They’re all considered naturally able to replenish and thereby ’Green’. The older energy skill sets often have value set in times gone by especially when we think of wind power and windmills. This option is preserved by the use of technology, eco-efficient options and planet friendly alternatives.

Solar Thermal and Solar Water Heating Collectors are examples of what can be used in the house as part of renewable energy technologies. Following on it is items such as the Photovoltaic Panels (PV’s) that develop electricity through suitable roof-panels. Another key element is that of Biomass Energy, which relates to Stoves and Boilers burning Wood, Fuel and Pellets. There is the old heat from the Sun now known as Ground Source Heat Pumps. When we think about Wind Power and Hydropower we have two of the more habitual forms of energy generation.

Looking at each area in turn we will consider some of the skills needed by those who want to train in this field. If you currently work in the areas of Electrical, Gas and Plumbing then this could be appealing to you. Certainly by getting information from many sources we can look at the career potential for Electricians, Gas and Plumbers. We’ve also provided links and adverts from several training providers, so book-mark this page (CTRL-D) and you can come back later to review other options.

Thermal Energy Systems: Often called Solar Energy, this is fact based on two types of solar panels each using different ideas to get their results. Making hot water from solar energy is the first stage and is known as Solar Water Heating Collection. Secondly, Photovoltaic heat collectors – often simply referred to as Solar Electrical Panels – which transform the solar radiation into electricity. Across the board, Solar Panels should be mounted on a south facing roof, at an angle of 30 degrees away from horizontal, and to some extent away from blocking trees, surrounding buildings and chimneys.

Within Solar Energy overall, Solar Water Power is now commonly used in the UK. Solar Water heating systems can provide over 50 percent of a household’s hot water requirement during the year. The average cost of installing this type of equipment is expected to range from 500 to 1500 pounds for a DIY system, through to 2-5k for a professionally installed system.

Systems Utilising Biomass Energy: Although in the modern world this now includes ’Energy Crops’ it also takes in suitable plant and animal substances. Due to its adaptability it can produce a range of energy forms from heat and electricity through to combinations of both. It is interesting to note that the UK has some of the largest quantities of Biomass material to generate electricity within Europe. One of the main factors of this style of energy is the result without the impact on C02. With each tree being planted as another is felled you can see how the C02 produced during heating is minimised and why the system is deemed sustainable.

A process titles Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) such as Willow and Poplar are used to meet the demands of such ’Energy Crops’. Perennial grasses are also responsible for large quantities of dry matter. Of equal importance, although maybe less well known are Municipal and Agricultural Waste. Using normal agricultural activity, Agricultural waste is a natural by-product. Another biomass element is that called municipal waste and this comes from wood or food goods.

Systems Based On Geo-Thermal Energy: Used in the generation of warm water and electricity this energy mainly comes from the Sun and heats the Earth. Having a consistent ground temperature of around 12 degrees centigrade is fortunate for the UK as it allows both the heating and cooling of buildings. With four units replaced for every one unit of energy used these heat pumps are very effective. This system can go even further if energy efficient items such as wind turbines or solar electrical panels are used.

Wind Energy: When you consider the milling of grain and pumping of water it is easy to see how long wind energy has been with us. However, in more recent times there’s been the option to recover the energy for its own sake – and deliver this either to a home unit or to the local power grid. With regard to wind generation it is the UK that has the highest production within Europe. The fact remains that in the UK there exists the ability to realise 10 percent of our electricity requirement from wind power as opposed to the current value of 1 percent. Frankly, electricity can be realised from as little as 2p per kWh as opposed to the current level of 2-10 p per kWh. Recovery of the cost involved is somewhere between 6-9 months.

Finally, we have Hydropower; an area in which the UK does well within Europe. Just like a thousand years ago we are looking utilising energy from water. That aside it is fair to say that some 2 percent of the UK’s electrical load comes from this source.

By using a turbine a Hydropower system can transfer the kinetic energy of moving water into another form. By using a dam or a natural river process these turbines do not require water storage. Alternatively ’Micro-Hydro’ systems use hitherto outdated sluices and dams to generate electricity. This process alone could meet 200mW of the UK requirement. When considering the install cost of items such as this it is worthwhile to think about the return which rests somewhere between 200 pounds and 3k per kW of energy created.

The demand on ’Green Energy’ continues to develop in light of the energy demands worldwide. That said the UK is well placed, especially in the domestic sector to take full advantage of the various items above.

It is the drive for installations in the domestic sector that looks to favour jobs such as plumbers and electricians. With EEC and UK recognition of renewable energy getting ever-higher on the political agenda, the grants and financial aid for introduction of these systems can only increase. As a new industry, there are a range of new certificates to gain whether new or coming to this industry from a likeminded source. Training such as electrical or plumbing that incorporates green technology would be very useful for the future.

(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Pop to Solar Training or plumbingtraininginfo.co.uk/Green-Certification.html.