I just read a new book called Two Cents Per Mile: Will Obama Make it Happen with the Stroke of a Pen? Simply put, this book shows the open conspiracy going on between the Department of Energy and corporations to prevent the development of 100% electric cars. I don’t think Obama is fully aware of the consequences of moving toward a hydrogen economy and preserving the internal combustion engine. The book calls upon the reader to send letters to local, state and federal officials to get us back on track for all electric cars. There are links in the book to customize form letters. If you value America’s future, the environment and are concerned about what kind of world our kids will inherit, you have to check this book out. http://www.amazon.com/Two-Cents-per-Mile-President/dp/0615293913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245854577&sr=8-1
The way for the U.S. to secure a leadership role in the 21st century is by leading on all the issues that confront the world, to exhibit thoughtful strength and realistic ideas. It will require more than military strength, diplomacy, reversing the current economic chaos, and strong alliances. Our place in the world, our rights, and our freedom depend on leading based on principles we don't just preach, but practice.
In the case of our reckless, decades-long descent into a position where we are addicted to fossil fuels mostly coming from abroad, the time for new ideas is past due. Clean new energy sources aren't just good for our children and the environment, they're a key to our national security. Now more than ever our leaders must partner with innovative businesses and entrepreneurs to make the United States more self-reliant again. The President and the Congress must resist the insidious temptation to do nothing about energy while dealing with the various other domestic and global challenges.
Of course, no matter if the business is banking or big oil, well-funded special interests don't want to give up the loopholes they've lobbied for over the years. They work to preserve their special deals with Congress, while lobbying the media into misleading Americans with catch phrases such as "Cap & tax" to keep us from thinking about what's at stake.
While most Americans support a cap on carbon pollution there's now a flood of "talking points" and sound-bites circulating about the supposed short-comings and dangers of any new plan. The real threat of cap-and-trade is that it doesn't favor the mega-corporations, and the ultra-rich energy barons. Changing to new and cleaner energy sources changes where the money goes - more of it stays in the U.S., in smaller, newer companies; it creates jobs that we desperately need to recover from the fiasco of letting the financial giants "self-regulate."
"It looks like green jobs are real. Recently, two solar energy companies — Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Wacker Chemie AG — announced billion-dollar investment plans to build plants near Clarksville and Chattanooga." U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
In fact, a cap and trade system simply uses pure capitalism to reward efficient, innovative businesses while it effectively penalizes out-moded industries. Used world-wide it plays to American strengths, conveying tremendous economic advantage to industries and countries ready to innovate, and results in domestic job growth. Only somebody making lots of money off the existing rules could possibly deny the benefits of a global cap and trade system.
Many members of Congress benefit from huge campaign donations from energy companies. They'd be happy if we'd all stop paying such close attention to how energy policy intertwines with national security. They smile and want you to "trust" them to get it right, and the longer they've been there the more they want you to just trust, and not verify, that they're working for you. Uh huh.
DRD ENTERPRISES INC OF DAVIE has completed a 30 foot monolithc concrete dome in Inverness, Florida. The goal of this module is to prove that an indestructible home can be built that uses little to no outside energy source.
March 21, 2009 will be the viewing of this 30 foot module, one of several to be joined to form multiple living modules. Once solar panels and or wind generator are added this module it will become self sustaining, off the grid capable, including a cistern. The 3 inches of exterior closed cell foam will keep the interior temperature at approximately 78 degrees. By maintaining the interior temperature, the energy saved to operate a cooling system can be redirected to other appliances.
Each module will be powered by its own system as required for its use.
DRD Enterprises believes that technology of today and rethinking how homes are built that an indestructible, self sustaining home, including compost sanitary system, can be built.
Thomas Edison said "We could all live much better lives if we were not so resistant to change."
Want to learn more www.safedomes.com
Europe’s biggest agricultural producers are taking up new incentives for solar power to supplement farm incomes as well as help meet renewable energy targets.
The solar panels installations that are called integrated because they are built into the roof rather than superimposed, is booming in France thanks to legislation creating 20-year contracts with strong incentives to sell electricity to the grid. Government guarantees of long-term electricity contracts at an inflation-linked “feed-in” tariff, helped win the scheme bank support. The investment means constructing five enormous sheds covered by 36,000 square meters of solar panels with a capacity to generate 4.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 4,000 homes. At 0.55 Euros per kWh, integrated solar photovoltaic panels generate nearly twice the revenue of ground-mounted and superimposed solar panels. Another example is a group of 77 cattle breeders in the Aveyron region of south-west France, who formed a company, SAS Adder, to manage the construction of 33,0000 square meters of integrated roof panels on their farms.France whose goal is to have renewable energy make up 23 percent of its energy consumption by 2023 is imitating Germany, Europe’s leader in solar and wind power. The built-in technology is encouraged by the authorities as aesthetically acceptable, in a country where wind farms have been sharply criticized as eyesores.
With US know how, ingenuity, and innovation this could be applied by not only US farmers but by large commercial buildings also.
Source:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090224.wsolar0224/BNStory/Science/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp
My name is Rich England. I am a Chemical Engineer and am currently unemployed. I have spoken to several Human Resource Professionals. They tell me I am unemployable because I am over-qualified to do anything I am not completely unqualified to do.
I graduated from High School in 1972. In 1973 I saw people beating each other up in gas lines, and thought “Now there is a problem I can sink my teeth into”. I went to college to study Chemical Engineering. I became one of the first people in the country to study Biochemical Engineering, with an eye toward creating ethanol as a fuel. Of course, when I graduated, there was no money available, nor employment in the field. So I found work in the Civil Service as a Test Engineer.
My entire education has been geared to alternate energy, though I have never been able to find work in the field. Today, even though I struggle to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, I am hopeful that my knowledge, skills and abilities will soon be of value. I have recently completed the basic design calculations on one of the three devices upon which the Hydrogen Economy will be based. Of these three, only the Fuel Cell has current materials development issues. The other two devices can be built now. It is these other two devices that can be used to power cars and trucks that do not pollute, can be fueled like electric cars, and are cheaper than petroleum fueled vehicles! As an Engineer, I know how to build the machines that do what we want, with NO carbon footprint. But, I’m not a Business Major. I don’t know how to build a large multi-national corporation that solves the problems created by other large multi-national corporations that are marshalling their resources to make sure my machines don’t get built. I guess what I would like to see is a program through the Small Business Administration that makes extraordinary support available to those technologies the country needs and current economic leaders want suppressed. Perhaps it is cynicism, but after all these years I rather suspect that the only way I will be able to find employment solving our energy and pollution problems is to employ myself. All I need is the money to pay myself.
So I have come across an idea that Barack Obama REALLY needs to hear about. If you agree, please spread the word to him and to all of your friends and colleagues!
The idea is: Solar Roadways. An idea that is finding its way in the world thanks to Scott Brusaw in Idaho. It involves creating a system of interconnected solar panels that also serve as roads. At first glance it sounds a little crazy, but ultimately, if you extend the lifetimes of our roads and combine our power generation AND transportation infrastructure, this actually becomes cost competitive with current roads and a completely renewable source of energy.
Think about it. And check out the website at http://www.solarroadways.com . You can also see a video of the project on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3PeSm6_hTE
Contact: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
It has been my perception that what has driven some Americans increasingly in the past two decades has been personal greed; greed not for just money but for power, control, influence, domination, security, knowledge, ideology, ..., all for individual or limited closed association/club benefit. That is not only the mentality of individuals, but of people operating in government and business as well.
We now witness the results of greed by a select few:
Corrupt and special interest government officials who set themselves above as aristocrats regulating government for their own investments or hidden ownerships in companies and organizations. Many who also take bribes and illicit favors from corrupt lobbyists.Laws are actually written/drafted by who? Do you really think your legislator, congressman, or senator sits down in front of a computer or uses his own pen and paper? Or, did you think it's his staff? It is lobbyists who actually do 99% of the work; work they have vested interests in, to see it is written the way their 'client' wants it worded. Do you as an individual have lobbyists employed by you? Financial institutions that cheat and steal from the unsuspecting, far beyond the weak laws of usury. Trustworthy? Bank & 'Trust?' Wanna givem another bailout for cheating? It looks like lobbying paid off for the financial 'institutions' (we have all been taught to 'respect?' the term 'institution?', but maybe we are learning). Insurance Companies that 'legally?' bribe law enforcement, judges, and congress/legislators with grants, equipment gifts, perks, and free trips in order to gain unprecedented influence/control -- everything from mandatory laws, to not or barely paying claims, to price fixing, to all sorts of corrupt and unfavorable methods imposed on individuals. Do most people realize that premiums (a name of 'respect?' for monthly payments you are charged) are used by Insurance Companies to pay for -- grants, equipment gifts, perks and trips as payoffs for public laws, regulations, and controls that the public does not want. It is a form of taxation represented/controlled by insurance companies, not taxation with public representation. It's a twisted form of taxation charged by insurance companies. Manufacturing barons who import economic slave labor and outsource to slavery. Pharmaceutical corporations that cover-up sickness and death with misinformation in order to push up profits. Weapons manufacturers that promote violence, war, and enduring sickness. Energy companies that monopolize production/prices and cause destructive environmental damage.American Companies, or those using names, that import/offshore products who turn a deaf ear and blind eye to safety, quality, and poisons.Service providers that care not about consumers but are strictly money driven, with less regard for employees; employees who suffer with unreasonable demands for performance and who are not paid a living wage. Private educational institutions that cater to the wealthy who have abandoned the public. The concept for the masses of "let them eat cake"; they will eventually go away from malnutrition of education because it will make them perish; and, those who survive can be the servants. Suburban Public School administrators in growing housing markets whose actual and hidden agendas are to serve land developers and government aristocrats. They play statistical number games made of fudge, intentionally choking out struggling students by actually encouraging students to drop out or be 'home schooled' by mom or dad. That's how suburban schools 'look' more attractive to potential home buyers, with faked academic 'success' -- faking the 'No Child Left Behind' statistics, a real game, using kids as pawns. But aristocrats brag, statistically they look like they have done a good enough job to re-elect them. And, most importantly to them, they can continue to reap the profits from either the land they own or are financially connected with.Inner City School administrators in decaying areas that hopelessly cope with being under funded, attracting the poorest quality teachers. Children do not choose to be born into poor families, or choose uncaring parents, nor do they choose parents that are ignorant and uneducated. Do these kids have the hope of opportunity? They are pushed aside as the burdens of a greedy society, in hopes they are not seen nor heard from now or later in life -- good to be used as the pawns in wars, or workers for catering to the wealthy though. Employees of city/county/state/fed. institutions (schools, universities, jails, prisons, leases/sales of buildings to Gov., contracted services, hospitals, VA facilities,...) who take kickbacks and gifts, in return for higher costs and sweetheart deals with companies often owned by or financially benefiting government aristocrats.Major colleges and universities chasing the buck by catering to overseas students. They somehow brag of a 40% to 60% foreign enrollment, while American students grasp for help and aid. Community colleges that are given the leftovers in funds, coping with unrealistic expectations of graduating students or preparing them for major colleges. Even with 100% tuition/books paid, it is unrealistic to expect students to juggle working full time jobs (for food and living) while going to school and studying full time. It is not surprising to see such an astronomically high dropout rate in America. Capitalist have made it clear to students, not to have hopes that are too costly; or, they will import already educated talent. Do wealthy capitalist require students in their families to work full time at low paying jobs while pursuing higher education's? Maybe they simply know it's a story made up for the 'less fortunate', like a fairytale dream, achieved by one to two percent and used as shining examples, stories told to pacify the masses. Those with capital also know, they can hire a well enough educated dropout at a reduced rate to do the job of a graduate, a real bargain. …
We could each recite instances far beyond this short list, and it is all for greed. People’s greed has been rooting through our nation and causing so much destruction. Certainly money has been a primary instrument of their greed, but their other instruments of power, control, influence, domination, security, knowledge, ideology, … have all been used to chip away and damage each of us who together form our great nation. With renewed vision and focused determination we will heal and rebuild to become more active and much stronger.
To learn more details, you can read my other three blogs about 1) Educational Devastation, The Need for an Entirely New System, 2) The Auto Industry, A Few of My Personal Experiences, and 3) Invention, Innovation, and Education.
Blog members can reply here, or anyone is welcome to contact me at: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
I have an idea for part of an economic stimulus package that can take a giant step towards alternative energy usage. Create a major tax incentive and 0% interest loans for individual home owners to convert their homes to solar or wind for electricity.
When we looked into converting our split-level home to solar, we found the price tag was going to be $18,000 to $20,000. This was well outside what we could afford without a loan, which would increase the price because of interest. It also would take us a decade to make that money back on savings from our utility bills; half the expected life time of such systems.
ADVANTAGES:
DISADVANTAGES:
There are a number of ways that the incentives could be done, but they should be major. Ideas that would make converting a home to alternative energy without direct costs to the consumer would be ideal. Such ideas could include a 100% tax credit rather than just a tax write-off, longterm 0% loans which are paid back at amounts similar to current utility bills, 100% tax write-offs that repeat for 2 or 3 years (at 100% each year), etc.
Additionally, there are a number of ways the incentives could be designed to focusing them towards the general population, though I would not want to exclude the wealthy as they likely use more electricity than the average home. Ideas could include initial limitations to a primary residency, an upper limit to how much incentive is provided for a single home (say $30,000), etc. There may also need to be limitations for when the owner sells the home, such as: full payback of 0% loan due at time of sale, multi-year tax write-offs stop if home is sold during that time, etc.
Is this a perfect idea? Of course not. But I firmly believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I believe that this can be done quickly, with relatively little up-front costs to the government. I believe that it can provide an almost immediate shot in the arm to the economy, and can make a huge leap towards the use of alternative energy; much faster than any type of major wind/solar/tide/geothermal/hydro projects could, or than changing our auto industry could. At the same time, it works fine while these, and other longer term, stimulus projects get off the ground.
One Colorado Commuter's Experience
Most people have never heard of an electric motorcycle, but you’ll find one in the parking lot of the Gaiam Real Goods offices in Broomfield, Colorado. Following a dream, Real Goods Renewable Energy Technician Jeff Blamey joined Gaiam in December 2006 and began to convert a gasoline-powered motorcycle to run on electric wall current for his commute to work.
He found the perfect motorcycle on eBay (a 1984 Honda VF 500), devoured a book on electric motorcycles, and spent four months designing the conversion on his computer.
Once the parts were assembled, it took Blamey a month to convert the bike. He removed the engine, transmission, radiator and fan; cut and welded metal trays for the first, second and third batteries; made saddlebag mounts for the fourth and fifth batteries; and mounted the PMG 132 motor and Alltrax controller he bought from Electric Motor Sports in Oakland, California.
According to Blamey’s calculations, his motorcycle commute costs him less than $.10 per day for eight miles, as opposed to $.75 by car or $.53 by gas-powered motorcycle. He estimates the cost of conversion, including the motorcycle, at around $3,000 and figures the batteries could last as long as five years, with replacement packs of six batteries costing around $450.
A simple vesting scheme for the earning of performance bonus is as follows. Five years seem to be a reasonably long time period to expect payoff from today's effort or decision which are beneficial to a company's future long term benefits. So we can use five year as a moving vesting period. As an example, an employee (or executive) starts working for the company this year. The salary is, say, $50,000. That is divided by five. $10,000 is the number entered into the company's pool over this year and the next 4 years. At the end of this year, the total pool from all workers, current ones as well as quit or retired ones, is used to prorate and share this year's bonus. Next year, this worker may get a raise to $55,000. So his number for this second to sixth year is $11,000. At the end of his second year, his prorata share is based on his total number of $10,000 + $11,000 or $21,000. In his third year, his prorata share would be based on something like $10,000 + $11,000 + $12,000. In his fifth year, his share would be based on the summation of his preceding 5 years of salary divided by five. The key feature is that even after he quits or retires, he will still have four more years of sharing in the bonus pool, though in declining share. This may be a simple enough scheme to incent workers and executives to work towards the long term success of the company. In addition to using salary as the base, performance factors related to the individual's meeting specific corporate long term goals can be used to multiply the base salary. It is not so difficult to implement this scheme. Bad employees can be excluded from future vesting if they are dismissed for cause. Is there any downside or moral hazard to this compensation scheme?
The scheme I have proposed can be applied to the executives and workers of GM, Ford and Chrysler if they receive bailouts. To initialize the base participation numbers, each employee is assigned one-fifth of his/her last five years' total wages. For the executives, because of their past poor management, they start off as if they are new employees with no previous vesting. So they will start with one-fifth of this year's base salary.
I read in The Forum of the December 3rd USA Today a piece by Alan M. Webber titled "Blame and the Big 3". A founding editor of the business magazine Fast Company and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors, he wrote:
"For the automakers, that means a bailout should include a government commitment to a floor on the price of gas at the pump - say $4 per gallon - with the promise of an automatic tax increase of 10 cents per year for five years. If the automakers and consumers knew that five years from now gasoline will be no lower than $4.50 per gallon, that alone would drive auto design, manufacturing and purchase in a smarter direction. Some of that increase would need to be rebated to low-income Americans who need their cars for work - another reason it's a three-way deal."
This is almost exactly what I had written up about the use of the CO2 charge and the public benefits fund to provide a stable financial future for this same challenge of changing the auto industry. But my analysis showed that this CO2 charge of $2 per gallon at today's market gas price of $2 per gallon is a very high $ per ton of CO2. On the other hand, this possible government policy also addresses "energy independence" and "US automakers global competitiveness". Both of these national goals also carry a dollar cost for US residents to pay.
The conclusion is: If Americans are willing to pay and make sacrifices, the policy is workable. But if the policy is not flexible and changeable when it is no longer optimal, then it may create unintended consequences.
During this global financial and economic crisis, and possible depression, which will last for at least a year or longer, oil prices will likely remain low. This would mean that hybrid cars, and future plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will not be competitive. Investments in large scale wind and solar projects will stop. Other new energy technologies such as coal gasification or liquefaction will also be even less economical. How much taxpayer subsidy do we want to interfere with free market economics?
Mandatory national Renewable Portfolio Standard is central planning in disguise. Large scale wind power developments forced to be accepted into the nation's fragile transmission grid will likely increase the frequencies of blackouts. These will cause economic disruptions. There are solutions to the problem, but the risk of blackouts will still be higher.
The best idea is to modify the proposal to raise the gasoline tax. A carbon public benefit investment program should be instituted instead. This is not a carbon tax, but is similar. A rough calculation shows that a $1 per gallon add-on price is about $60 per ton of CO2 emission, which is very high. NordPool CO2 market price is around $15/ton. I have done some screening analysis which shows that at about $25-30 per ton, a CO2 charge will make wind or solar power plants firmed up with storage economicly highly competitive without tax subsidies. Nuclear and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plants would also be competitive.
If we translate $30/ton of CO2 into gasoline price, that is about $0.50 per gallon.
The automobile industry is highly dependent on the oil price, which has become very volatile. Long term investments prefer stable economic and financial forecasts. The government can intervene to provide a stable gasoline price to the consumers by adding a quickly adjusted variable CO2 public benefit charge, so that the consumer price, no matter what the oil company costs are, will be stable at about $3.50 per gallon.That seems to be the breakpoint when people start to feel the pain and want to switch to more efficient or alternate fuel vehicles. At today's gasoline price around $2 per gallon, this means that the CO2 charge would be $1.50 per gallon now. But if the oil price goes back up to $120/bbl, the CO2 charge would be effectively reduced to zero.
Now, how do we make this CO2 charge work in the midst of this financial crisis? The amount of CO2 charge we pay at the pump, if charged through a credit card, can be traced to the account holder and credited to the consumer/investor. (Those who do not have credit cards can use the receipts to file a credit on their account.) I look at this money as being held in a trust fund by the government in the name of the consumer. It may be treated as a savings account which can be withdrawn by the consumer under some conditions. It may eventually be available like another source of retirement income. So the consumers do not see it as a tax burden, but a savings that also is for the public and global good.
Car companies will see this as providing a forecastable and stable financial future for developing more efficient cars. But actually, with today's oil and gasoline prices, the CO2 adder of $1.50 per gallon is about $90/ton of CO2. That is too high. If CO2 credit is traded between the electricity CO2 market and a car CO2 market, the disparity between the $15/ton in NordPool and the $90/ton to make the new car technologies viable would indicate that the world would be better off to reduce CO2 in power generation rather than in cars. Or that if the $15-30/ton CO2 charge is applied to gasoline, then the economics for electric vehicles may not be so favorable.
The same idea on how to treat a CO2 charge on the cost of electricity would apply, but instead of continously adjusting the CO2 price to maintain a stable electric price, the price schedule of the CO2 charge will be projected into the future with periodic adjustments. In this manner, long term investments in different power plants will have a more stable financial forecast. Electricity consumers will similarly see the charge as their investments held in a public benefit fund. They will have some control and ownership of it, and it may be treated as a savings account or a retirement account.
We need to become energy independent, and I hope that the following can help stimulate a conversation on how, in practical terms, we can accomplish that. The latter 2 sections of what follows cover some of my thoughts on that. Certainly, if you have any ideas to add or subtract, I welcome them.
1. JOBS: The US can create millions of manufacturing jobs without dismantling NAFTA – the US can limit its imports to components only and, thus, create millions of “assembly” manufacturing jobs, while still encouraging imports from the lowest cost foreign suppliers. Note: this is a trade policy enacted by most countries to protect their labor force.
2. BUDGET PRIORITIES: Instead of spending a trillion dollars annually on the military (half of the world’s spending and 8 times more than China), the US can have its military industrial complex suppliers manufacture something other than arms, such as solar panels, wind turbines, and other technologies that can reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil (i.e. they get the same money; they just produce something that improves the Economy).
3. RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSITION: The US can sell high-yield treasury bonds to US banks to finance the switch to renewable energy. The bonds will be paid back by capturing revenue that would otherwise go to foreign oil producers. The bond annuities (reliable earnings) will help free up the credit market and, of course, the renewable energy investment will create millions of jobs.
4. WALL STREET REGULATION: If the US can regulate Credit Default Swap agreements for what they are (insurance) and re-regulate the Rating Agencies so that they can never again offer bogus “AAA” ratings to capture new business, the market can stabilize and avoid future mortgage backed security melt-downs.*
5. STOCK MARKET SAFETY NET: If firms can value their holdings based on historical average pricing, as opposed to mark-to-market pricing, then such firms won’t go bankrupt suddenly, as their holdings in crashed securities will only be discounted on their balance-sheets incrementally – this will prevent panic selling and, further, allows time to shore-up the declining values.
6. IRAQ WAR: The US can end its Treasury depletion in Iraq by simply reframing the War effort to “America won the War when Saddam was no longer in control of his nation (Day 3 of the invasion); the Iraqi threat ended when Saddam was tried and executed by the new Iraqi government; and, thus, the continued US Occupation doesn’t protect Americans, but only continues to hurt the US Economy.”
7. IRAQ OIL: Tens of billions of dollars can be recouped from Iraq’s oil sales, which are being performed by Halliburton (VP Dick Cheney’s company). In this light, the War was originally promoted to Congress by the Bush Administration as a self-funded effort – Iraqi oil sales were to offset the cost. Yet, while Halliburton got the no-bid contract to pump and sell the oil, none of it has been used so far to offset the US tax payer burden, and Halliburton has since moved its headquarters from Houston to Dubai. Beyond Iraq’s received mineral rights, the rest of the oil earnings remain unaccounted and should be recouped from the world’s most successful war profiteer.
