Electricity happens when electrons start moving around. Running or spinning a magnet past a copper coil makes them start moving around in the copper coil. So the axel of the spinning part is attatched to a wheel on the inside which has either the magnets or the copper coils on it. The other component stands still.

The electricity created by the copper coil will flow through wires attatched to either end. You can charge a battery (do not ever try charging a battery unless you have an extensive knowledge of electronics or a kit or something because if it is overcharged it could explode), run a motor, turn on a light, etc. A gigantic wind turbine or a hydro dam (which also uses a turbine) can hook up to the grid and power a whole neighborhood!

There are many cutting edge wind technologies out there; most of them are silent, beautiful, able to be installed in an urban setting, and do not kill migratory bats and birds. The majority of these cost hundreds of dollars and can power a whole house.

Another option is making your own turbine, maybe even from recycled materials for that extra greenness. There are many places you can find instructions. MAKE: magazine, Instructables, and many more locations on the ‘net. Sometime I’m even going to post wind-turbine making instructions right here on the CAN website!

If you want to learn about the inner workings of wind turbines— ALL turbines, in fact, click here.

Energy is never created or destroyed. The amount of energy in the universe is exactly the same as it ever was in the past or ever will be in the future. The thing with energy is it is always changing forms. There are a few forms of energy:

• Kinetic energy: motion. A ball that is rolling has kinetic energy.
• Chemical energy: chemicals that have energy stored in them. Wood has energy stored in it from the sun, which is released when it burns.
• Heat: pretty self explanitory.
• Light: also self explanitory.
• Electrical energy: electricity, both static (sparks you get from touching something or from clothes that just came out of the dryer, also lightning) and current (the electricity that runs through wires, powering lights and appliances).
• Sound energy: ripples in the air that register as sounds to our ears.
• There are more types, like tension and magnetism but lets stick to the basic ones above.

Some energy transformations are obvious, like current electricity can be used to create heat, light, sound, kinetic energy, etc, and plants, through photosynthesis, store energy from the sun in chemical form. Kinetic energy, when combatted by friction can create heat (try rubbing your hand together fast—it is more difficult than moving them the same speed while they don’t touch, but it creates heat). Burning chemical energy usually creates heat and light, and some machines turn the rising heat into kinetic or electric energy by catching it in a turbine. Now that you sort of know the basics about energy, I will move on to what this article is really about.

A good example of what I said in the first paragraph is SodaStream. SodaStream is a company which produces home soda makers— devices with a chamber of compressed carbon dioxide to which you can attatch a bottle of water and, with the press of a button, carbonate it. The seltzer (soda water) can then be flavoured with many ready made flavours sold by SodaStream.

SodaStream claims to be ‘The Earth’s Favourite Soda.’ Not to say they aren’t; they are certain to save a lot of cans and bottles from the landfill. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that, since the machine uses no electricity or batteries, it is more environmental. Although Sodastream does not directly list this fact as one of their environmental virtues, it is, discreetly, on their ‘Environment’ page. And someone on teensygreen, the blog where I heard about SodaStream, did make that mistake (which is why I decided to write about it).

So what is not environmental about using no electricity, you ask. Well, think back to how energy works. It comes from somewhere! The energy that powers SodaStream home soda makers is from the compressed carbon. The CO2 is under pressure because it is squished so tightly, so when there is an opportunity it squirts out. But obviously, for the CO2 to contain stored energy, it must have come from somewhere. And, surprise surprise, somewhere down the production line electricity compressed the carbon. So it does use electricity!

In fact, if it used electricity more directly, SodaStream may be made more environmental. Then it could take CO2 out of the air, where it is harming the environment and put it in the soda. Also, that way, the machine would never run out and need to be replaced.

To test the oven  I got one of those super unhealthy cookie dough rolls from the store (So I wouldn’t be too disappointed if they didn’t work out). I covered the bottom of the oven with wax paper and spooned the cookie dough onto it. Wow, that dough was so greasy! Then I covered it with the sheet of plexiglass and set it in the sun on my roof deck. I propped it up a bit so it was angled towards the sun.

The cookies took somewhere from two to four or possibly five hours to cook. There was so much grease that it went through the wax paper and got all over the bottom of the oven. When I opened the oven, I picked up a cookie and the bottom stuck so I ate that one and let the rest cook for about another hour and a half. By then the cookies where equally done and the bottoms still stuck. It was because I had used wax paper instead of an oiled tray (which I will do next time), not because they were undercooked.

The oven works by using the aluminum foil covered flaps to reflect heat from the sun through the acrylic cover where it is absorbed by the black paint and trapped by the cover. According to Kyoto Energy, it can heat up to 100°C, but probably only in, say, 40° weather (it was designed for third-world countries near the equator, not for Vancouver).