Recent Articles
Opportunities in Power Generation
As a child growing up, when I asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up,” I usually said Firefighter, sometimes, I said I wanted to travel. I never said “I want to be a Gas Control Systems technician”
But, that’s what happened, I count myself lucky that I found this path.
The Power Generation Industry isn’t going anywhere! I’m often surprised by the criteria I see marked as important in regards to selecting a career path – the two main questions should be:
- Will the industry be thriving and growing in ten years?
- Does the Industry have Money?
If you can answer, yes, to both accounts, you have found a winner.
The Power Generation Industry is filthy stinking rich and hungry for expansion at all times. Expense is rarely considered, since the whole world eats out of our hands. Controlling Power is literally “Controlling Power”
I’ve seen diplomats and government officials bend a knee to oil and Gas Executives so many times its become commonplace.
I decided to work in the Power Generation Industry all the way back when I was a college freshman. I remember running across 3 holes to chase down a golfer who had left his nearly one hundred dollars worth of change after ordering a drink at the mid-course “Back Nine” Bar. The man laughed and told me it was intended as a tip and seemed to think nothing of my sweaty surprised face.
Later, my co-workers explained that the man was an Gas and Power Executive and always left great tips. My strengths were not in business, but over time I was able to access the industry and get paid handsomely for my work as a Gas Control Systems technician.
Unlike many “technical” jobs, I find myself able to travel quite frequently and wherever I go, I can afford to eat out and see the sites as time allows.
Looking forward to the day, a sweaty caddie hunts me down to give me back my tip!
Biofuels: A Clean Alternative Source of Power
In today’s society, the price of oil is constantly on the rise. Also, our fuel consumption as a whole is growing, making the demand for oil and gasoline even greater. Due to global and international turmoil as well as the demand and destruction we are enacting on our planet, traditional fossil fuels as we know and use them today may not be the best source of energy as we continue to move forward with our high-energy consuming way of life.
In a world of expanding energy consumption, where traditional fossil fuels are becoming increasingly extortionate, it wont be long (with only slight exageration) until you need to take out a payday loan to fill your tank. With the creation and development of biofuels, we can not only save money by offering an alternative to the high demand of oil and fossil fuels, but we can help to save and preserve our planet as well.
Biofuels are a fuel source that is produced from plants that can be grown and harvested instead of plants and other carbon based materials that need to be pressurized under the earth for millions of years. The process of creating energy from these organic materials is similar to that of producing energy from fossil fuels, that is, by combustion. While the idea that a fuel source can be grown and regrown as needed may seem like the answer to our global dependency on fossil fuels, there is more to the process than simply switching over.
First of all, vehicle engines as they are today will not be able to run on biofuels. There would either need to be a massive movement by the auto industry to manufacture engines that could run on biofuels, or engineers would need to develop some sort of conversion that would enable current car engines to be able to run on biofuels. Also, unfortunately, as of yet there are no biofuels that are as energy efficient as gasoline from oil. Many of the biofuels produced today produce only a fraction of the energy that traditional gasoline can produce.
Despite the current drawbacks, with further research and addition support from research institutions and the auto industry, biofuels may be a clean alternative power source to traditional gasoline. With the development and usage of biofeuls, we could help to improve the life of our planet by decreasing our dependency on fossil fuels.
Alternative Fuels
Biodiesel. Biomass fuels. What on Earth are they?
For the uninformed, they’re alternative fuels, the fuel equivalent (if you like) of alternative energy sources. As of the last decade or so, scientist and relevant branches of the global fuel industry have been researching, developing and testing alternative fuel resources. The bottom line is this: one day, maybe in the not too distant future, natural fuels will run out.
The way in which we life our [modern] lives dictates that sooner or later fossil fuels and naturals gases and oils will be wipe out. Such resources were always going to be finite. Fuel use, storage and development isn’t as straight forward a process as erecting buildings and property investment is. Coupled with demand that will eventually outstrip supply, it all leaves us with only one possible outcome – no more fuel. It’s pure math.
In an effort to avoid the inevitable (if that were ever possible?), a whole group of fuel industry related bodies have forged ahead with massive research and development projects, as a means of directly combating the future depletion of fuels such as petroleum gas and diesel. The research and projected outcomes (generally) are that alternative fuel sources will become viable, in order to keep the world turning.
Besides automotive reasons, many of the worlds power stations are currently fueled using natural resources and whilst there are more and more incidents of alternative energy being employed (wind and solar power for example) there is still a lack of mass produced alternative fuels. So – where are we with this global conundrum?
As of now we are, as a planet, not too far off the mark. In the automotive industry, there are now examples of hybrid vehicles, and engines that have been developed and can now be used with alternative fuels such as Biodiesel and electricity. We all know what electricity is, and how something can be propelled along via electricity (basically something that charged and can then be drawn on to release the stored energy – i.e. a battery) but what is Biodiesel?
In a nutshell it’s a man-made fuel that’s derived from natural resources. Biodiesel looks and behaves like conventional diesel with one significant difference – it’s derived from animals fats and oils rendered from vegetables, grease that’s collected and recycled from large food outlets. Biodiesel is cleaner, cheaper to produce and has no lasting effect on the planet.
This is what’s so great about this type of research. We’re exploring natural ways in which we can continue to trade with each other, to live in comfort, to move around the globe and reach out to each other, and all by way of reducing the big, black footprint we’re currently leaving behind. In the not too distant future it’s hoped that all vehicles can be fueled using Biomass resources, the same with power stations.
It’s likely that in our lifetimes we’re going to see a massive, global upswing in the jump to alternative fuel use and for each and every one of us, that’s a massive leap forward! If you’re interested in further, more in depth research and explanations about these types of fuel, please feel free to click the following link: alternative fuels .
