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RedditIn his Washington Post column last Friday, EJ Dionne writes that Al Gore is playing "his usual role of unpaid party visionary by arguing that we can ease the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the crisis of dependence on foreign energy all at once." While Republicans attempt to exploit high gas prices with a "drill, drill, drill" election year slogan, Gore explained in a speech yesterday at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC "that the technology for alternative fuels – wind, solar and geothermal – is far more advanced than we realize," and that we should pursue a 10-year goal of obtaining 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources and clean fuels.
Gore said: "…when we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them…. our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges – the economic, environmental and national security crises. We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change... But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand. The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels."
In the audience was Senator Bernie Sanders, who spoke with Vice President Gore backstage about his new bill, the 10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2008. A truly independent voice in the Senate, Sen. Sanders has been a leader in pushing the Democratic Congress in a progressive direction – and energy policy is no exception.
Last year I wrote of Sen. Sanders' green collar jobs amendment which passed but currently awaits funding. Now his 10 Million Solar Roofs legislation – whose cosponsors include Republican Senators Arlen Specter and John Warner – offers yet another transformative alternative to oil dependence as usual. The bill would provide homeowners, businesses, non-profits and state and local governments with rebates covering up to half of the cost of photovoltaic systems which average $20,000. In order to qualify for the federal rebates, stringent energy efficiency standards would need to be met. Some experts say that if 10 percent of the existing rooftops in the US were equipped with properly installed systems, they could supply 70 percent of peak energy demands during summer months.
"My bill picks up in a sense where California left off," Sen. Sanders told me in an interview. "California and oddly enough New Jersey are the leaders in the country in providing incentives to help people and businesses put up photovoltaic units on their roofs. California had a 10-year, 1 million rooftop project, we're saying that we can do 10 million rooftops in the course of 10 years. Now, number one, if you do that, it provides a helluvalot of electricity, which means you don't need coal-burning plants, it means you don't need nuclear power plants. Number two, what rooftop electricity does, it really makes people more conscious about sustainable energy in a way that even solar thermal [plants] won't – because that's just another power plant. The idea of having rooftops all over this country producing electricity is, I think, an extraordinary thing. You're going to have 10 million individuals, homeowners, businesses, involved in producing electricity…. So, I think this will aid in improving our consciousness about how we utilize electricity, how we produce it, and so forth….And the goal also is not only producing the electricity, it's when you start using that much photovoltaic, the cost of that stuff is going to go down."
Sanders recently took a trip to Nevada and New Mexico for a Congressional field hearing on solar energy. In Nevada, he saw two major solar installations, including the Nevada Solar One project in Carson which is now providing electricity to 17,000 homes. "That's small," he told me. "Right now on the drawing board – people don't know this – but… there are about a dozen plans for the Southwest, these are called ‘concentrating solar plants' or sometimes people call them ‘solar thermal plants.' These are the same technology, electricity-generating technology, as coal or gas. The same bloody thing except the fuel now is from the sun. There is one plant that Pacific Gas and Electric plans to build within a couple of years that will provide electricity – one plant – for 400,000 homes, the equivalent of a small nuclear power plant. So, there is huge potential in concentrating solar."
In fact, he said the Southwest "turns out to be an optimal place to on the planet" for solar thermal plants. It's estimated that with an aggressive approach 15-20% of the US electricity needs could be produced just from the region. "So when Gore says that in 10 years we should produce 100% of electricity from sustainable sources, 20% of that can come just from [there]," Sen. Sanders said. "And then you can have another huge amount from photovoltaics. Then you got wind, then you got geothermal, then you got biomass. It is a doable deed."
Sanders challenged the myth that a state like Vermont can't produce solar energy – and it's important to differentiate between solar thermal plants and photovoltaic panels. "The country that is probably leading the world in photovoltaics I believe is Germany," Sen. Sanders said. "Germany's solar exposure is worse than Vermont's…. It is a technology that can be used in 50 states. Photovoltaics can work, and it's important to know that because [the notion that it can't] is a myth."
Sanders sees his bill and the production of solar thermal plants as a piece of a much larger picture – and one that won't happen any time soon without a change of administration and a new President.
"It's certainly not going to happen under the Bush administration," he said. "Here's where I think we're at: if we have a president – if Senator Obama is prepared to do what Al Gore just was talking about yesterday. And to understand that, one, we have a planetary crisis. Number two, that the importation of hundreds of billions of dollars of oil from dictatorships in the Middle East is a geopolitical disaster, it's a major economic problem. If Obama is prepared to make this a major priority – Gore was talking about the man on the moon analogy, other people talk about the Manhattan Project analogy – if he's prepared to do that then these 10 million rooftops become absolutely part of that…. It's part of an overall energy approach to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, and, by the way, environmental concerns. We're focused on greenhouse gas emissions, we forget that this coal is making a lot of people sick as well…. Of course there will be economic dislocation… [and] we want to protect the coal miners who will lose their jobs. But at the same time you are going to create major industry after major industry in terms of sustainable energy. I think at the end of the day we create millions of jobs in net and it's absolutely an economic win. It's a question now of taking on the fossil fuel industry, and the huge amounts of lobbying money and campaign contributions. At the end of the day we can reverse global warming, we clean up the environment, we create good jobs, we break our dependence on foreign oil – hey, that's a pretty good agenda, huh?"
It is indeed. This Sunday, former politician Al Gore will be on Meet the Press where he will once again lay out his visionary agenda. Meanwhile, we are lucky to have at least one visionary politician inside the Senate who relentlessly pushes this desperately needed transformative agenda.
Complete Convention Coverage »
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
Bernie going green...green with other peoples money.no surprise here.
Posted by JOMAMMA at 07/20/2008 @ 8:24pm
Bernie going green...green with other peoples money.no surprise here.
Posted by JOMAMMA at 07/20/2008 @ 8:24pm |
better to spend tax dollars on clean energy that creates jobs, rather than subsidize oil companies to further our dependence on middle east oil.
Posted by italiano at 07/20/2008 @ 9:40pm
Maaaaasch is hero worshiping legacy affirmative action poser McCain. Yep trust him to rubber stamp some imaginary Ayn Rand energy policy! JonbombomIran McCan't graduated in the bottom 1% of his flight school class, number 894 out of a class of 899, went on to lose a total of 5 Navy aircraft. The first 4 he lost were due to pure accidents completely unrelated to combat. The fifth and last aircraft that he lost was when he was shot down over Vietnam after logging about 20 combat hours. He's STILL suckin the big govt tit he claims to abhor. Some maverick. And not ready for CIC bottom 1% went to NO Afghanistan hearings past 2 years.
Posted by winyahn at 07/20/2008 @ 10:37pm
And what happens when demand for oil & gas drops by 5~10% and OPEC, by then with much larger surplus capacity, floods the market with $20/bbl oil and gasoline drops to $ $1.00?
Any kinda of `crash' program of this massive scale....affecting most of the US.......resting on the financial assumption that $130/bbl oil is `permanent'...ie, static.......this is the same fallacy Libs never cease to come up with....like Welfare or increasing tax rates and assuming no changes of behaviors by those either benefiting, could benefit, paying, or could be paying, for your gradiose social agendas.
Pfffftttt.......
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 10:39pm
Grow up Glee. "Libs, libs" - is your fixed cognitive straw man. You're the Lib you hate.
OPEC's kicking ass, as is Exxon and Halliburton and NBC/Lockheed and Bear Stearns.
You're hypothetical is typically immature. Fantasy.
Posted by winyahn at 07/20/2008 @ 10:50pm
The real reason the right doesn't want us using solar & other forms of alternative energy is that we as individuals will become INDEPENDENT of their nefarious profit & control system. All of the shill scientists & naysayers say it isn't feasible. Too many personal investments. Too many "consultant" fees.Too much to lose.
Posted by Sorelish at 07/20/2008 @ 11:08pm
....immature. Fantasy.
Posted by winyahn at 07/20/2008 @ 10:50pm
The way I, and most common working folks see it.....the only thing immature, is those asking other people to pay for your vision!
Like Gore asking YOU to live the life he won't.....
Like Obama, telling you to learn another language he hasn't......
Like You, saying "hypothetical" when in fact, the exact scenario of dropping oil prices happened in the mid- to late 1980s'.......it's young punks like yourself, that's driving your own jobs offshore.........all the while, blaming hardcore realists, like most conservatives, for your own stupidity.
One thing I do find rather interesting, I'm enjoying high energy prices just as much as you GW cultists.......as I've said before, when you Libs decide to shovel big money to subsidize whatever, I'll be there to collect your tax money and laughing all the way.......I did it w/ADM when ethanol was still peaking.......sold at fat profits before ethanol's fraud became more evident.
Heads I win.....tails you lose....NO FANTASY!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 11:18pm
.....the right doesn't want us using solar & other forms of alternative energy is that we as individuals will become INDEPENDENT of their nefarious profit & control system.....
Posted by Sorelish at 07/20/2008 @ 11:08pm
You know next to nothing....
Go google for the biggest 3 players in any alternative energy and see whose' money is behind it......It's a bunch of HAPPY money! Dimwit!
Heard of VC (Venture Capital)? Boone Pickens (wind)? How about BP (solar)? Smart capital knows where to be....why do you think they built up K-St.? How do you think ethanol got going? You think you, Winyahn, italiano, etc...are the ones out there inventing and patenting these technologies?
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 11:23pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 11:23pm
Once I'm outfitted with solar panels I'll be buying more every year? You moral degenerate.
Posted by Sorelish at 07/20/2008 @ 11:26pm
These are the same technology, electricity-generating technology, as coal or gas. The same bloody thing except the fuel now is from the sun.
••• oil is solar energy.
There is one plant that Pacific Gas and Electric plans to build within a couple of years that will provide electricity – one plant –
••• that's, right plants.
for 400,000 homes, the equivalent of a small nuclear power plant. So, there is huge potential in concentrating solar."
••• exactly. plants use solar energy like really cooly. why can't we figure that out? i mean, why not cut out the corn middleman? we need to invest in plant technology.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/20/2008 @ 11:52pm
In fact, he said the Southwest "turns out to be an optimal place to on the planet" for solar thermal plants. It's estimated that with an aggressive approach 15-20% of the US electricity needs could be produced just from the region.
••• but that would be unconstitutional!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/20/2008 @ 11:53pm
is he spending my money?
Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/20/2008 @ 9:04pm
well, you do pay the man.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/20/2008 @ 11:54pm
And what happens when demand for oil & gas drops by 5~10% and OPEC, by then with much larger surplus capacity, floods the market with $20/bbl oil and gasoline drops to $ $1.00?
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 10:39pm
well, that's the plan.
turns out iran ain't so bad after all. and israel just happens to start stretching the arm towards some of it's neighbourcitos.
hmmm.
yep. gas prices are going down in september and especially october!
glurp! glurp!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:01am
BWAHAHAHA!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:02am
You think you, Winyahn, italiano, etc...are the ones out there inventing and patenting these technologies?
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 11:23pm
too bad. it would seem more efficient to pool our resources in a harmonious way instead of always having to "compete".
no wonder vulcans regard us strangely.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:05am
The way I, and most common working folks see it.....the only thing immature, is those asking other people to pay for your vision!
••• sharing is a virtue.
Like Gore asking YOU to live the life he won't.....
••• actually, i'm kinda hopin' he'll get the hints i keep dropping him about all those trappings.
Like Obama, telling you to learn another language he hasn't......
••• ¿y tu?
Like You, saying "hypothetical" when in fact, the exact scenario of dropping oil prices happened in the mid- to late 1980s'.......
••• oil is finite. and stinky.
it's young punks like yourself, that's driving your own jobs offshore
••• actually i've heard he's taken up mandarin.
.........
••• .......................................
all the while, blaming hardcore realists,
••• actually, who's to say?
like most conservatives,
••• unfortunately, it seems that many of these "conservative" only want to conserve lo suyo.
for your own stupidity.
••• always ponder what you fling.
One thing I do find rather interesting, I'm enjoying high energy prices just as much as you
••• me too! people are driving more slowly! they're staying closer to home! it's great!
GW cultists
••• i'm sure your right, captain climate.
.......as I've said before, when you Libs decide to shovel big money to subsidize whatever,
••• no comment.
I'll be there to collect your tax money and laughing all the way.......I did it w/ADM when ethanol was still peaking.......sold at fat profits before ethanol's fraud became more evident.
••• that's what i didn't want to comment on. oh, well. happy that's dirty money and you know it. listen to science, not your wallet. your kids will be happier.
Heads I win.....tails you lose....
••• again, immoral and probably illegal.
NO FANTASY!
••• again, who's to say?
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 11:18pm
Bulleted by MOI at 07/21/2008 @ now
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:16am
no changes of behaviors
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/20/2008 @ 10:39pm
oil is finite.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:17am
and so is the earth you are made from.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:17am
Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/21/2008 @ 12:10am
shouldn't that read:
Posted by ibbleblibble on 07/21/2008 @ 12:10am?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:19am
the earth is already green.
we don't need to "go" green.
we need to stop squishing it.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:21am
shave and a hair cut,
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:21am
two bits!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 12:22am
i support the effort to bring about these technologies to general use by the public. But even if they were ready to mass use - which they are not because of the costs - they cannot sustain a grid because of reliability. A honest -and very aggresive - national objective for these would be 30% of the total energy output which is many times more than the about 3% or less as of today.
Nuclear generation can not be taken out of the picture realistically. We need to deal with the spent fuel in a very sound and safe way.
Still, our foreign dependency will continue because of transportation. We will need to focus on conservation (increasing car mileage drastically), mass transit (specially here in the West), hybrids, and specially all-electrical cars for short distances (metro commutes).
If we do all these things I am sure we can reduce our oil consumption to less than half, maybe a third of actual and we can be self-sufficient or almost so.
About Al Gore's objective if adding as he says clean fuels: natural gas for example? then we can arrive at very interesting and high percentages. But technically it would be practically impossible to rule out nuclear.
Posted by Frank42 at 07/21/2008 @ 12:39am
Yes. More solar. Private, decentralized solar. And wind generation. And household solar-driven Stirling engines compressing air for CA cars. And anything else we can think of.
The reason that these technologies are not successful is simply that they take energy out of the hands of the corporations, so have not been much supported by big money.
But lifestyle changes are also needed - we must remember: THAT WHICH IS NOT SUSTAINABLE WILL NOT BE SUSTAINED.
When yr lifestyle stops being sustained, will it all just collapse, or will there be a graceful way out?
Posted by mikecope at 07/21/2008 @ 02:03am
Go on a little vacation and come back to find...
HAPP still arguing for the status quo and "just wait oil will drop and we'll forget all these silly ideas of FREE energy!".
Want some fun? Ask him (as a ditto-head of Rush) what Rush's view on global warming is...and what the presumptive leader of the Republican Party (Sen. McCain)'s view of it is...and who's right?
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/21/2008 @ 08:54am
"The way I, and most common working folks see it.....the only thing immature, is those asking other people to pay for your vision!"
I am "common working folk", and you are talking out of your ass. My future generations have been massively indebted to pay for the violent and greedy vision of neocon hacks and corporate parasites, while more and more of my fellow citizens cannot afford healthcare, higher education, or even the gas they need to get back and forth to work.
Those of you who would apologize for the pols and corporations who relentlessly pick our pockets and make this nation less secure are beyond pathetic.
Posted by drhammer at 07/21/2008 @ 09:03am
"...as I've said before, when you Libs decide to shovel big money to subsidize whatever, I'll be there to collect your tax money and laughing all the way.......I did it w/ADM when ethanol was still peaking.......sold at fat profits before ethanol's fraud became more evident.
Heads I win.....tails you lose....NO FANTASY!"
Any questions, class?
Why any of you other than *.msk would engage in communication with someone like this is beyond me.
Posted by drhammer at 07/21/2008 @ 09:28am
Why any of you other than *.msk would engage in communication with someone like this is beyond me.
Posted by drhammer at 07/21/2008 @ 09:28am
Then, Mr. "common working folk", why do you "engage".......guess it is beyond yourself....ROTFLMAO!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008 @ 4:18pm
FZ, slow (last) night, huh? Glad you found something to expend your time with on my words of wisdom....heheheheh!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008 @ 4:20pm
HAPP still arguing for the status quo....
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/21/2008 @ 08:54am
Wrong read....yet again......
It's hard to make money out of "status quo"!
Chaos derived from disruptive technologies, hurricanes, earthquakes, tax policies, subsidies, mass hysterias, herds heading over the cliffs.......that's what I thrive in!
"status quo" are for wimpy bond buyers.....my time to be that, is another 5 to 10 years away.....::~~))
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008 @ 4:24pm
Chaos derived from disruptive technologies, hurricanes, earthquakes, tax policies, subsidies, mass hysterias, herds heading over the cliffs.......that's what I thrive in!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008
dirty, dirty.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/21/2008 @ 4:49pm
"Chaos derived from disruptive technologies, hurricanes, earthquakes, tax policies, subsidies, mass hysterias, herds heading over the cliffs.......that's what I thrive in!" said "2Happy,"
thereby offering first-hand confirmation of Naomi Klein's "disaster capitalism" thesis.
Just in case anybody still believes that capitalists as a group are too rational to regard catastrophes as a good thing just because they are positioned to profit from them ... please read what "2Happy" has to say!
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/21/2008 @ 6:32pm
......please read what "2Happy" has to say!
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/21/2008 @ 6:32pm
Thanks for the recommendation! Just to add another exclamation mark, the type of chaos I like best, are those made by Libs/Demos over my objections!
Thanks entirely to you & your party, I've attained a great deal of HAPPINESS in my energy holdings......some chaos are truly thingy of beauty....LOL!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008 @ 7:59pm
Bernie going green...green with other peoples money.no surprise here.
Posted by JOMAMMA at 07/20/2008 @ 8:24pm
What tired crap is this? Do you think our government hasn't been "spending other peoples (sic) money" to facilitate our wasteful petroleum economy? The entire invasion of Iraq was conducted with a trillion dollars of our money and credit simply to get Iraq's oil off the market for a decade - raising the cost of this fossil crack to record levels. Every time a battle fleet ships out to the Persian gulf it is on our dime, but in the interests of Exxon and BP.
Posted by Sir_Loin_of_Beef at 07/22/2008 @ 12:36am
Bernie going green...green with other peoples money.no surprise here. Posted by JOMAMMA at 07/20/2008 @ 8:24pm
Hmm. Does that mean I shouldn't have to pay taxes on this war? I don't support the war so why the hell do I have to pay taxes to fund it? Or how about troop presence in South America in order to protect petroleum rich areas. I don't want to fund that either. Jom you complain about people using OTHER peoples money to fund their programs. Does that mean pacifists don't have to pay taxes on the American military or police because they don't want to use it? I pay for plenty of your programs that I don't want to and so do many many other people. I am being forced to pay for a war that I don't agree with and thought we should not have gone into in the first place. On top of that my children will be paying for this war also. Tell me why do I have to pay for the death and destruction of others but then you don't have to pay for an attempt to make this country energy independent so I don't have to continue paying for wars I don't want.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/22/2008 @ 12:38pm
Chaos derived from disruptive technologies, hurricanes, earthquakes, tax policies, subsidies, mass hysterias, herds heading over the cliffs.......that's what I thrive in!
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/21/2008
Well that explains it. 2HAPPY is an anarchist.
Posted by k330k at 07/22/2008 @ 2:08pm
Wind power: A reality check
Plans are afoot to prod the nation into using much more renewable energy. Can it be done, and what's the cost?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- High-profile personalities have been telling the nation to ditch that dirty fossil fuel and turn to renewable energy.
T. Boone Pickens,......He's investing hundreds of millions of dollars on a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle, and his hedge fund, BP Capital, is said to own stakes in several companies that equip cars to run on natural gas. If his energy efforts pan out, he could get even richer in the process.
Then there's Al Gore......
The question is, are these plans realistic or just dreams?
"It's not out of the realm of technical feasibility," said Chris Namovicz, a renewable energy analyst at the government's Energy Information Agency. "But they come with pretty significant price tags."
The order is indeed tall.....
One of the big challenges with using wind to replace natural gas is that, unlike the steady flame from natural gas, the wind doesn't blow all the time.
To make sure enough power is available........any type of backup system comes with a price.
"It's very costly, and very inefficient for society as a whole," said Fremont. "Policy makers will have to decide if the benefits are worth it."
....Another impediment to large-scale wind generation is a lack of turbines and infrastructure, said Hamilton. Companies like General Electric.....aren't building enough of those turbines to meet demand because government tax credits offered to energy producers expire every two years.
.....tax credits are a big incentive for people to invest in wind energy - Pickens would net $60 million a year,.....
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/22/2008 @ 11:55pm
From http://cleantechnica.com/2008/07/07/90-of-israeli-homes-solar-hot-water- equipped/
Joshua S. Hill: "It began in the early 1950's when the Israeli government encountered a fuel supply shortage, and restricted the times when water could be heated. In response, the people decided that they would start heating their own water using solar panels.
By 1983, 60% of the populated were using solar panels, and a law was eventually passed making what was already a common practice a law, regulating that all new houses be installed with a solar water heater."
Gosh, we can criticize Israel all we want for its extreme cruelty to the Palestinians, but they sure are a helluva lot smarter - and ahead of their time - than everyone else in the world!
From John Perlin:( http://www.californiasolarcenter.org/history_passive.html )
"Fuel consumption in ancient Rome was even more profligate than in Classical Greece. In architecture, the Romans remedied the problem in the same fashion as did the Greeks. Vitruvius, the preeminent Roman architectural writer of the 1st century BC., advised builders in the Italian peninsula, 'Buildings should be thoroughly shut in rather than exposed toward the north, and the main portion should face the warmer south side.' Varro, a contemporary of Vitruvius, verified that most houses of at least the Roman upper class followed Vitruvius' advice, stating, 'What men of our day aim at is to have their winter rooms face the falling sun [southwest].' The Romans improved on Greek solar architecture by covering south-facing windows with clear materials such as mica or glass. They also passed sun-right laws that forbade other builders from blocking a solar-designed structure's access to the winter sun."
There is obviously nothing new about having intelligent design (no pun) in building houses etc., but America always misses the point, evidently.
Despite our love for Frank Lloyd Wright, very few other famous architects have echoed his statements (found in his "The Natural House", a book published in the fifties) espousing radiant floor heating (something very efficient, and which Wright was very fond of), and berm houses (rammed earth construction).
Do your own research -- find out just how easy it would have been for us if we (America) ever had the slightest bit of common sense. :-)
Posted by jahjahgabor at 07/24/2008 @ 9:32pm
There Is A Viable, Proven Renewable Technology
The press is going along, printing small stories here and there, but not doing any in depth stories, on what should be jumped on as a very big story the minute they saw it.
Ocean kinetics using the Gorlov Helical Turbine. With the development of the GHT technology, which eliminates the need for dams for extracting power from tidal currents, the major obstacles to developing power from these tidal currents have disappeared. One or more tidal power plants using Gorlov Helical Turbines can now be justified economically.The kinetic energy of ocean streams is enormous.
The mass of water carried by the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean is many times greater than the water flow of all the Earth's rivers combined. The energy potential of the Gulf Stream at this location is greater than any imaginable requirements for America. The conceptual design for a large-scale floating power farm in the Gulf Stream using GHTs is described by the author in the article "Helical Turbines for the Gulf Stream" Alexander Gorlov, "Gulfstream Magazine", 1998.
Employing the approach described in this article, a moored modular power farm with 320 standard twin GHTs could harness about 210 megawatts from an ocean area of only 0.16 square km. Construction costs for such a marine power farm is estimated to be about $300 million (in 1998 dollars), with an installed cost of about $1430 per kilowatt. This estimation was made using GCK Technology‘s new experimental industrial size twin GHTs, which are 2.5 meters tall and 1.0 meter in diameter. Once installed, the power farm could be expanded as needed in the future, since the potential of the Gulf Stream is practically unlimited. For example, one square mile of ocean surface in the Gulf Stream could generate about 5,500 megawatts using the described design. For further information contact, GCK, Inc. with offices in San Antonio, Tx, Edward L. Kurth President & General Counsel, kurth@gcktechnology.com, puts the technologies potential on the line, stating we only need 1% of the available power from ocean currents to light up the world.
While we now suffer from the ethanol boondoggle with astronomical food price inflation, knowing full well that ethanol energy, and its energy coefficient is even worse than gasoline; it takes one and half times the amount of ethanol to go the same distance as gasoline. Yet the Government plans on subsidizing ethanol at the annual rate of $25 billion over the next 5 years and renewables will get the princely sum of $50 million.
Wind and sun are an unreliable source, as wind and the sun are not always in evidence. The alternative fuel suggestions that are being offered now are ruses, to placate the public's rising awareness of the warming problem.
Hydrogen fuel cells are the worst option because they emit water vapor. Scientists have discovered that as an unexpected result of global warming, the water vapor in our atmosphere is increasing, which in turn is making the problem worse. The more water in a cloud, the more heat it can hold. You do not have to be a scientist to see if you converted all cars to output water vapor, you might have a problem worse than our current one.
Technology, 1998 Politicians and fossil fuel freaks won't let that happen because it spells instant replacement for these carbon spewing technologies.
However, S. Korea has deployed these turbines in the Uldolmok Straits and currently generates 80,000 Mw, providing electricity to 80,000 homes and businesses. The Government of S. Korea plans on shutting down 6 nuclear plants and foregoing construction of four new plants as they expand deployment of the Gorlov Turbine.
So, for the very short-run, there is a proven technology that can replace dependence on imported oil and usage of fossil fuels. A strong leader needs to understand the challenge and face down the oil and fossil fuel mavens so that America can immediately move to a cleaner, renewable and inexpensive energy alternative. 98
Posted by robbrian1 at 07/25/2008 @ 08:44am
Posted by robbrian1 at 07/25/2008 @ 08:44am
yay!
moon power!
i've been saying for years that fuel cells are NOT harmless.
imagine 2,000,000,000 cars pumping out water vapour. blade runner here we come!
wind and solar ARE viable options for private use. the consumer can go on grid when necessary.
read this:
http://www.dlsc.ca/news/july_07/13_07_07_green.htm
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/26/2008 @ 11:54am