Federal student loan consolidation allows all active student loans to be compiled into one manageable monthly payment. If a student qualifies for federal student loans, then he or she also qualifies for federal student loan consolidation. This includes Stafford loans, Perkins loans, PLUS loans, Direct loans, HEAL, SLS, Health Professional student loans, NSL, and Guaranteed Student loans. Whether the recipient of a loan is the student or his or her parents, they can look into student loan consolidation. All loans must be consolidated separately, however. In July of 2006, a new provision maintains that married students are no longer allowed to lump their student loans together for the purpose of consolidation. An individual's loans must be consolidated separately.

Consolidation becomes a viable option only after the repayment period for a loan or loans has begun, or during the inherent grace period. Students are no longer able to begin consolidating their loans while they are still attending college. Parents however can begin to consolidate their PLUS loans at any time. As long as the repayment plan is satisfactory, loan recipients are also able to consolidate student loans if the loans are in default.

Both parents and students have to consolidate their student loans with a lender who is different from the one who loaned them the initial student loans. Doing so allows them to receive a lower interest rate and substantially more savings. Generally, lenders require a minimum balance for loan consolidation. Federal and private student loans have to be consolidated separately. This is because federal loan consolidation usually offers better advantages and lower interest rates. Interest rates are determined by averaging the current rates of the loans which will be consolidated and rounding the answer up to one-eighth of a percent. The interest rate can go up if a borrower extends the terms of the loan's repayment plan.

Federal loan consolidation requires no credit checks but the period of repayment is usually longer. In general, consolidating federal student loans results in lower monthly payments, because the loan period is extended from ten years to anywhere between twelve and thirty - it all depends on the amount of the loan.

Federal student loans and private student loans cannot be consolidated into one big loan. They are entirely separate loans and have to remain separated even in matters of consolidation. The primary benefit of consolidating private student loans is the borrower's ability to receive a single payment a month. It is entirely possible that the monthly amount will be lower, as the act of consolidating resets the entire student loan period. Any private student loan which has been consolidated will likely have a higher total interest rate, since it has to be paid out over a longer period of time. When deciding to consolidate student loans, the recipient of the loan should research which consolidation companies offer variable or fixed interest rates, what any penalties may be, and what kinds of fees are charged.

Student loan consolidation benefits also include interest rate reductions offered by lenders to those who sign up for automatic direct debit programs and make prompt repayments, in order to encourage borrowers to sign up with them. On the average, you will get a 0.25% discount if you direct-debit your payments and a 1% discount if you have paid promptly for 36 months. You should be aware, however, that you will lose the reduction permanently if you are late with just one monthly payment. Even if you're enrolled in direct-debit, you can still be late on a payment if you have an insufficient balance in your bank account.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, although you'll enjoy student loan consolidation benefits in the form of lower monthly payments, in the long run you'll end up paying more in interest rates. Since loan consolidation can increase the repayment term from the standard ten for student loans to as much as thirty years, you may end up paying as much as double or more of the interest you would have paid on your non-consolidated loans. However, you can reduce the amount of extra interest you'll end up paying by increasing your monthly payments once you can afford to do so.

Those pursuing careers in low-paying fields may also want to consider an income-based repayment (IBR) program rather than loan consolidation. Under an IBR plan, your monthly payments will be capped at an amount based on your income and family size, although you will be paying off your loan for 25 years rather than the standard ten years of student loans. However, if you qualify, any remaining balances after 25 years will be canceled. Still, if you believe that student loan consolidation benefits outweigh any potential drawbacks, then you should sign up for a loan consolidation program.

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1. Bendungan Tiga Ngarai (Three Gorges Dam), terletak di provinsi Hubei, Cina. Jika semua selesai di 2011 dapat menghasilkan listrik sebesar 25.615 mega watt, cukup untuk menerangi seluruh indonesia saat ini. Luas waduknya saja ga kira-kira, hampir sepertiga luas danau Toba, atau sekitar 632 km persegi.
2. Itaipu di Brazil dengan kapasitas 14.000 MW dengan luas waduk 1.350 km persegi
3. Guri (Simón Bolívar) di Venezuela dengan kapasitas 10.200 MV dengan luas waduk 4.250 km2
4. Tucuruí di Brazil dengan kapasitas terpasang 8.370 MV dengan luas waduk 3.014 km2
5. Grand Coulee di Amerika dengan kapasitas terpasang 6.809 MV
6. Sayano Shushenskaya di Rusia, dengan kapasitas listrik 6.400 MV
7. Longtan Dam di Cina dengan kapasitas terpasang 6.300 MV
8. Krasnoyarskaya di Rusia, dengan kapasitas 6.000 MV
9. Robert-Bourassa di Kanada dengan kapasitas 5.516 MV
10. Churchill Falls di Kanada dengan kapasitas terpasang 5.429 MV

1. Air tidak berbau, tidak berasa, dan berbentuk cairan transparan pada temperatur kamar.
2. Air meliputi 70% dari permukaan bumi, baik berbentuk air laut, sungai, danau dan gunung es.
3. Sialnya, 97% air yang ada di bumi ini asin dan hanya 3% nya yang berbentuk air segar. Dengan jumlah populasi manusia 6,8 milyar (perkiraan wikipedia) di Bumi ini dan kebutuhan air untuk minum kita yang 2 liter perhari, berapa tahan air kalau tidak di hemat.
4. Air bisa menghasilkan energi listrik. Diperkirakan 24% (sekitar 675.000 megawatt) dari kebutuhan listrik Dunia berasal dari tenaga air menurut National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Bandingkan dengan kapasitas listrik terpasang kita sekitar 24.700 megawatt
5. 60 % lebih tubuh manusia terdiri dari air (berbeda menurut usia dan jenis kelamin). Dengan perincian 83% darah kita terdiri dari air, 70% otak kita terdiri dari air, dan 90% paru-paru kita terdiri dari air.
6. Air dapat berubah bentuk. Membeku (dibawah nol derajat Celsius), berbentuk cairan di temperatur kamar, dan berbentuk uap padatemperatur 100 derajat Celsius keatas.
7. Air juga berpengaruh terhadap iklim di permukaan bumi

Sumber: witcombe, ga.water.usgs