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| A Wind Turbine For Your Home |
| 07.28.08 (3:52 pm) |
They call it "wind turbine in a box," a simple off-the-shelf but high-performance wind turbine.
The innovative wind turbine is the first major launch of a commercial product from the Grand Valley State University energy center in Muskegon. Plans are to sell the turbine at home improvement stores for less than $2,000 to homeowners who can use it to provide up to 20 percent of their electricity.
E-Net LLC -- a technology development company brought to GVSU's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center by the center's executive director, Imad Mahawili -- has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Muskegon-based EarthTronics to develop, manufacture and market the WindTronics turbine line.
Link to entire story.
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| John Deere's renewable energy harvest |
| 07.28.08 (3:42 pm) |
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Realizing farmers can make money on more than just crops, the maker of green tractors puts its cash behind wind turbines. By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer September 5 2007: 11:18 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For Steve Tiedeman, a farmer in Woodstock, Minn., it hasn't been all that great of a year. The weather's been dry, and he's lost about a third of the corn on his 1,000 acre farm. But Tiedeman, along with a growing number of farmers across the Midwest, can now rely on another, more stable crop: wind power. Pickens urges action With the help of big companies that put up the cash, farmers once tied to the weather, government subsidies or the fluctuations of the commodity market can now rely on the relative stability of the wind. Link to entire story.
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| Energy in China: 'We call it the Three Gorges of the sky. The dam there taps water, we tap wind' |
| 07.28.08 (11:41 am) |
In the vast natural wind tunnel that is Dabancheng, the gales that roar between the snow-capped mountain ridges get so strong that trains have been gusted off railway tracks and lorries overturned.
Such is the ferocity of the elements that police sometimes have to stop the traffic that passes through this arid, six-mile-wide plain on what was once part of the Silk Road. That used to be bad for business in Xinjiang, the most westerly region of China, which formerly depended on the trade route between central Asia and the densely populated cities in the far east.
Today, however, the gales themselves have become big business in Dabancheng. The area is home to one of Asia's biggest wind farms and a pioneer in a Chinese industry that is forecast to lead the world by the end of next year.
Link to full story.
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| Will Artifical Trees Solve Our Energy Woes? |
| 07.28.08 (5:58 am) |
According to a story on the Nature magazine news site scientists have finally figured out the structure of the last of three hydrogenase enzymes. Why is this important? Because hydrogenase enzymes are the key to splitting hydrogen from water to create carbohydrates in the natural world. Green plants and some microbes and algae use this process. It has long been assumed that, if we understand the structure and operation of these enzymes, we will be able to produce artificial Photosynthesis and through that process and an endless supply of fuel in the form of carbon/hydrogen compounds.
Click here for full story.
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| Global Warming: Human Induced Or Natural Cycle and Does It Really Matter? |
| 07.23.08 (10:44 am) |
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I have been following the Climate Change phenomenon for a long time now and the recent argument over whether the reality of Climate Change is man-made or a natural cycle has become much of the focus of the media. To me this is something of an obfuscation of the reality at hand. The opponents of man-made Climate Change go to great lengths to prove that humans are not in any way responsible for the events that we are observing. The man-made Climate Change proponents on the other hand are arguing just as vociferously in support of their model. Click here for full story .
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| Human rights a 'compass' for climate change policies |
| 07.21.08 (7:53 am) |
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Katherine Nightingale 17 July 2008 | EN | 中文  Climate change can have an effect on human rights Flickr/ItzaFineDay Human rights can be a "compass" to guide research and policy development for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, according to a report. The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) says climate change will threaten — directly or indirectly — almost all human rights, including the right to food, health and a livelihood. But they have received little attention on the policy stage so far. Human rights can be used as thresholds or minimum standards that climate change, or policies to deal with it, must not breach, says their report, released last month (24 June). Link to full story . My Thoughts: Unfortunately human rights are often the first thing that is forgotten in any disaster of the magnitude as is possible as a result of Climate Change.
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| The Honda GX NGV As A Model For Natural Gas Vehicles |
| 07.20.08 (7:42 am) |
Many people have never heard of using Natural Gas as a vehicle fuel. Many municipal fleets of cars and buses have been using natural gas fuel for some time but even so how many people have really considered using natural gas to fuel their car? There has not been any real mass media exposure to popularize domestically natural gas or to show consumers what the advantages are of using it. Despite this, Honda has developed and is selling a CNG version of its popular Civic and so I thought I would take a look at that car with an eye to price and fueling so that visitors to this site can learn more about real world applications of the Pickens Plan which already exist.
Photo From The Honda Website
With a manufacturers suggested retail price of $24,590.00 the natural gas Civic is definitely cost competitive with gasoline fueled vehicles of a similar type. This may be the most important factor for most consumers because, as much as we may want to do something positive for the environment on a personal level, it always seems to come down to the age old question of "what's in it for me?". If I can see a benefit to myself or my family from using alternative fuels then I'm on board but if switching means some kind of personal sacrifice or the expenditure of more money or effort for "the common good" with no personal payoff I (like nearly everyone else) will be much less likely to do it.
Another reason to look at the Honda GX is because I already posted a blog on the cost and process of converting an existing vehicle to run on CNG. The cost of the conversion, as quoted in that post, seemed to average more than $10,000 per vehicle. I think that kind of investment would be prohibitive for many people, even with the available financial incentives from the government. It would be much easier just to use that money to put a substantial down payment on a new Honda GX or similar vehicle.
 The Phill home fueling station from Fuel Maker
Once you have your new CNG fueled vehicle where do you go to fill up your tank? It isn't like there is a natural gas pump at your local gas station. Honda links to the site of a company called Fuel Maker who produces a home fueling appliance for CNG car owners called Phill. I haven't been able to find a price for the fueling system yet but will post that as soon as I find it.
If CNG vehicles catch on it will be a short time before filling stations spring up and in the meantime I am sure CNG vehicle owners who have Phill appliances could create their own network to refuel each other while traveling. The fuel cost being set by their local supplier.
All in all I think that CNG vehicles offer a great alternative because they could create competition between suppliers of different types of fuel. This competition would be expected to create better service and reduced prices for the consumer as suppliers struggle to capture and maintain their market share among vehicle owners.
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| A Bottle of Wind |
| 07.20.08 (5:58 am) |
Trying to decide the best energy course for the planet is not an easy task. There is so much information out there and so many competing technologies making so many claims that it gets more than a little mind boggling. I like the fact that The Pickens Plan is keeping it simple. It consists of developing and promoting two technologies which are already in place to some extent. Even so, these technologies can and probably will lead to the further implementation of other beneficial systems. Wind can provide the energy for transportation systems or personal vehicles for example and tie in very nicely with electric cars.
Wind energy is often criticized because it is only there "when the wind blows". This is of course true in a very basic sense but with an entire grid of wind towers that problem is less apparent because the wind is always blowing somewhere and the load can be shifted according to demand and availability. In addition, energy that is generated by the wind can be stored and many ways. Batteries are the first one that you think of and the most readily available. But batteries are bulky, heavy, expensive and contain chemicals which are usually dangerous.
Other ways to store wind energy range from the practical to the fantastic. Practical ways would include using wind energy to pump water up into a damed lake during off peak hours and then releasing that stored water through hydroelectric turbines during peak hours when electricity is more in demand and significantly more expensive. This is actually being done already with normally produced electricity. Other ways would be to use the wind energy to produce hydrogen from water and store the hydrogen in carbon nanotubes or to store the electrical energy produced by the wind turbines on the plates of Ultracapacitors (these show a lot of promise).
Image from greentechmedia.com
One of the more fantastic ways that is actually being proposed to store wind energy is to use the energy produced by wind turbines to compress air and then store that compressed air underground. Of course there are limited places where you can get airtight geologic formations which would let you do that. On the surface though it is very much like pumping water up to fill a dam. It is just a matter of storing the energy until it is needed more and can be sold at a higher price. If you couple that with the compressed air cars that are being developed you get an interesting picture of the future.
As I write this, somewhere in the back of my mind, Bob Dylan is singing; "The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind...".
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| General Assembly President says climate refugees are already a reality |
| 07.17.08 (10:32 am) |
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General Assembly President says ‘climate refugees’ are already a reality Wednesday, 25 June 2008 Climate change is forcing people around the world to leave their villages or even their countries because of the increased frequency of floods and droughts and the re-emergence of diseases, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said today. “The topic of climate refugees is no longer a concept – it is a sad fact,” said Mr. Kerim at the first annual meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum, held in Geneva. He said the impact of global warming was already so intense that it was altering the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people, calling for “a global alliance for action” to devise solutions to the problems raised by climate change. My thoughts: I think that many people in the American midwest would agree after record floods caused thousands and thousands to flee their homes earlier this year. I guess that would make them "Climate Refugees" too.
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| Laos sunshine turns villagers green |
| 07.17.08 (8:36 am) |
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Only 48 per cent of Laotians are connected to the electrical grid. Access to electricity is limited due to lack of infrastructure and high costs so most rural communities rely on environmentally unfriendly energy sources, such as firewood and kerosene. Solar-powered systems are a logical alternative but start-up costs are high. To get around this, local company Sunlabob Rural Energy is renting solar-based systems to villagers. Solar-powered lanterns are available to rent at a competitive price and users can recharge the lamps for a small fee at a central facility in the village. Alternatively, a whole village can rent the equipment for generating solar electricity from the company and sub-lease power to individual houses. Link to entire story .
My Thoughts: You see? In other parts of the world locally produced power from renewable resources can and does work. Perhaps we here in the United States need to look outside our own box to find the solutions to our energy woes that really make sense.
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| Its Easy Being Green: It Pays to Recycle |
| 07.17.08 (6:54 am) |
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July 16, 2008 Recycling one glass bottle can net you five cents, if you live in the right state and find the right recycling facility. But what if earning money for recycling at home was even easier? Philadelphia-based RecycleBank Inc., aims to do just that. The company rewards people with points for recycling at home in order to “change behaviors and attitudes—not as enforcers, but encouragers,” and to make “recycling understandable, easy and rewarding.” RecycleBank’s users place their recyclables in a recycling bin equipped with a monitoring chip. On pickup day the hauler will scan and weigh the recyclables. The weight of the recycled material in the bin is converted into RecycleBank points deposited into the resident’s account. Residents can check their "balance" online and cash in their reward points for a maximum of $25 a month or $400 a year at several dozen national chains. They are also able to keep track of how much they are recycling. Link to entire story . My Thoughts: Ok so no one is going to get rich by recycling their waste but four hundred bucks a year is nothing to sneeze at. I like the idea. The fact that it is successful just proves what I have been saying; "the way to achieve change is through economic incentive to the individual consumer".
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| NYC speeds transformation of yellow cabs to green |
| 07.17.08 (4:17 am) |
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"NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's yellow taxi fleet now will go green at the rate of 300 new hybrid cars a month, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Wednesday, citing an agreement with car-makers to supply the fuel-light cabs. There are already more than 1,300 hybrid taxis in the city, and each one saves its drivers about $6,500 a year, Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman Matthew Daus said in a joint statement with the mayor." Link to entire story . My Thoughts: I have long believed that public transportation systems should go to alternative fuels and I am delighted to see NYC take the lead in converting taxis.
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| Hydrogen-Enhanced Combustion Engine Could Improve Gasoline Fuel Economy by 20% to 30% |
| 07.12.08 (5:42 am) |
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Work being done by ArvinMeritor, IAV (Ingenieursgesellshaft für Auto und Verkehr) and MIT on enhancing gasoline combustion with a small hydrogen gas stream is pointing toward a potential estimated improvement in gasoline fuel economy of 20% to 30%, depending upon the baseline engine. Writing in the October issue of MTZ (Motortechnische Zeitschrift), Utz-Jens Beister from IAV and Rudy Smaling from ArvinMeritor describe their progress with the Hydrogen-Enhanced Combustion Engine (HECE) concept, as applied to an SUV-class 3.2-liter V6 test engine. -- The premise of HECE, on which the research collaborative has been working for a number of years, is that the addition of a small amount of hydrogen to the cylinder charge can allow homogeneous charge ultra-lean-burn combustion engines to operate much leaner than otherwise possible. My Thoughts: There are numerous people on the internet trying to sell small electrolyzers to accomplish this same effect on board your car as well as commercial companies trying to do it for big trucks. An electrolyzer is far less expensive and complex to build and you could even do it yourself. However I have yet to see one that produces enough hydrogen to do the job. From my own research I know I could increse the hydrogen output of these electrolyzers by roughly 600% and that might be enough to actually do this, but no one is asking for my help...lol
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| Renewables investment 'needs robust policy frameworks' |
| 07.10.08 (6:50 am) |
Katherine Nightingale 3 July 2008 | EN | 中文 Renewable energy investments in developing countries are growing but this will only continue with coherent policy frameworks, experts warn. A report, prepared by the UK-based New Energy Finance for the UN Environment Programme, shows that over US$148 billion was pumped into the global sustainable energy sector in 2007 — a 60 per cent increase from 2006. Sustainable energy accounted for a fifth of all new power generation capacity worldwide in 2007. Wind power was most popular with investors, but solar power was the sector that grew most rapidly. My Thoughts: How many countries are ahead of the US when it comes to developing renewable energy sources? We should be a bit embarrassed in my opinion...
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| African 'wall of trees' gets underway |
| 07.10.08 (6:45 am) |
Esther Tola and Christina Scott 7 July 2008 | EN
Three years after it was first proposed, preparations for an African 'wall of trees' to slow down the southwards spread of the Sahara desert are finally getting underway. The 'Great Green Wall' will involve several stretches of trees from Mauritania in the west to Djibouti in the east, to protect the semi-arid savannah region of the Sahel — and its agricultural land — from desertification. A plan for the proposed US$3 million, two-year initial phase of the project — involving a belt of trees 7,000 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide — was formally adopted at the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (Cen-Sad) summit on rural development and food security in Cotonou, Benin, last month (17–18 June). My Thoughts: I think that both the Globalization of industry and the effects of Climate Change are bringing us all closer together as one species on this planet. It is time for us in the United States to start paying attention to news from around the world. Our news media seems to pretty much isolate us from most of the happenings in the world that don't make headlines. This is probably just for economic reasons and in that respect the internet is great because it allows the viewer/reader to make their own choices as to the news that crosses their desktop.
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| Obama and McCain Offer Competing Plans on Halting Global Warming |
| 07.09.08 (11:24 pm) |
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Both Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) say they will act to begin reversing global warming upon entering office. However, their approaches do differ. CNN Money and Fortune magazine present their analysis of the candidates’ ideas and positions.
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| The latest news on FutureGen |
| 07.08.08 (6:46 am) |
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Last month, the Department of Energy announced that it will likely select the revised FutureGen clean coal projects by the end of the year — underscoring the federal government's commitment to making clean coal a part of our energy future. According to the Department of Energy, the projects will concentrate on the carbon capture and sequestration component of multiple commercial power plants across the United States. My Thoughts: Realize that the FutureGen process involves a hydrogen fired generator. The coal is only used to produce hydrogen fuel.
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| Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind |
| 07.08.08 (4:56 am) |
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USA Today
July 8, 2008
SWEETWATER, Texas — Get ready, America, T. Boone Pickens is coming to your living room.
The legendary Texas oilman, corporate raider, shareholder-rights crusader, philanthropist and deep-pocketed moneyman for conservative politicians and causes, wants to drive the USA's political and economic agenda.
"We're paying $700 billion a year for foreign oil. It's breaking us as a nation, and I want to elevate that question to the presidential debate, to make it the No. 1 issue of the campaign this year," Pickens says. My Thoughts: When you get people like Pickens supporting clean energy other people listen. I joined up with the Piskens Plan on their website to see what develops... He supports natural gas fueled vehicles as well. I think that technologies like that (cars powered by gaseous fuels) and the FutureGen hydr4ogen electric plants open the door to the future use of hydrogen fuel from water because the technology to use the fuel will already be in place so I support it wholeheartedly.
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| Energy Technology Pathways to Achieving Climate Change Goals |
| 07.04.08 (9:03 am) |
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Energy Technology Pathways to Achieving Climate Change Goals "A new report identifies end-use electricity efficiency as the most effective and most economical method to bring carbon dioxide emissions back to current levels by 2050. The analysis uses three scenarios - baseline, global stabilization to 2005 levels by 2050 (ACT), and global 50% reduction below 2005 levels by 2050 (BLUE) - to identify the costs and constraints of advancing the technologies needed for reaching a more sustainable energy future." Ok, here is the world's plan for energy development for the foreseeable future. You can download and read the entire plan if you are so inclined. I would recommend doing this before you decide to support or (especially) invest in any new or emerging technologies.
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| 1988-2008: Climate Then and Now |
| 07.01.08 (7:20 am) |
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1988-2008: Climate Then and Now Andrew C. Revkin "I thought it might be worth inviting you all to read and “annotate” (as we’ve done with a couple of climate speeches and a polar bear decision recently) my cover story for Discover Magazine, reported through that hot year and published in the October 1988 edition." My Comments: In this story N.Y. Times author Andrew C. Revkin ponders on a story he did on Climate Change for Discover magazine way back in 1988. Interestingly, NASA scientist James Hansen was there as a focal part of the story. Twenty years is a long time when you think about it, many young adults today were in diapers then and this debate has been going on for their entire lifetimes and so little has really changed. Maybe that is the real point of the story; how little has changed...
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| 1988-2008: Climate Then and Now |
| 07.01.08 (6:57 am) |
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1988-2008: Climate Then and Now Andrew C. Revkin "I thought it might be worth inviting you all to read and “annotate” (as we’ve done with a couple of climate speeches and a polar bear decision recently) my cover story for Discover Magazine, reported through that hot year and published in the October 1988 edition." My Comments: In this story N.Y. Times author Andrew C. Revkin ponders on a story he did on Climate Change for Discover magazine way back in 1988. Interestingly, NASA scientist James Hansen was there as a focal part of the story. Twenty years is a long time when you think about it, many young adults today were in diapers then and this debate has been going on for their entire lifetimes and so little has really changed. Maybe that is the real point of the story; how little has changed...
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