National standard?

According to this article, Congress is considering passing legislation that will force power utilities to acquire 20% of their power from renewable sources.

This is good news, I think. The utilities claim that it will raise costs for the utilities; costs which, presumable will be transfered to the consumer. I'm not really worried about this cost - I think it pays for itself. But one thing that was mentioned was that certain parts of the country might be affected more heavily.

Passing legislation like this is wonderful. But should the standards be national, or local?

Business and energy blog

It's called climatebiz

http://www.climatebiz.com/

Thanks to Mordechai for the tip...

Solar energy video

Here's a short video from the NYTimes. It's a little light on the details, though...

Plug in hybrids

Plug in hybrids are cars that have a rechargeable battery as well as a gas tank. You can use the gas if the battery runs out, and you can charge the battery through a normal house power supply.

I first learned about these while watching "Who Killed The Electric Car?" (which, by the way, is a very interesting and debate-provoking documentary). They seem like a great idea to me.

Looks like Ford is partnering up with a California energy company to push them. See here for more.

One of the most important points of the article is that electric grid has excess capacity, which could be rerouted to fuel these cars. How that can be done in an efficient way is certainly a major challenge, though. I'd love it if someone out there could send me some reading material regarding excess capacity on the grid... (yolevins@gmail.com)

Cool new plant - the seashore mallow

The seashore mallow is a plant that grows in salt marshes along the coast line.
So what does it have to do with energy?
- Its seeds yield good quantities of oil for biodiesel
- Its roots absorb carbon dioxide
- It grows where normal crops don't grow, so it doesn't displace arable land currently being used to grow food.

To see the complete article click here

Pretty scary stuff...

Here's an excerpt I read today:
(to see the website this came from, click here)

3. A world energy crisis

In recent weeks, there have been an increasing number of reports concerning serious electricity and gasoline shortages in no less than 24 countries around the world. In many cases, the leaders of these countries have announced that the situation is critical while at the same time offering assurances that they have plans to improve the situation shortly.

In about half the countries, the problem is simply not enough electricity capacity to meet growing demand sparked in part by rising world temperatures. In many cases, urban population is increasing so fast that investment in new infrastructure is not keeping up. In those countries which depend on hydro dams for a significant portion of their electricity, droughts have lowered water levels to the point where generators are being shut down. Countries that use oil for thermal or diesel power generation are finding their customers simply can’t afford electricity from $70 oil. Finally, in a few places such as Iraq and Nigeria, insurgents keep blowing up fuel lines to the generating stations. Rolling blackouts ranging from a few hours to most of the day are becoming far more common around the world than most of us realize.

Incidences of oil and gasoline shortages are becoming more common too. Nepal is completely out of retail gasoline and diesel as they can’t afford to pay India for their imports. A few weeks ago, Gambia nearly shut off all electricity production as the country could no longer afford the fuel. This list of woes goes on and on.

For most, there is little prospect that the situation will improve in the foreseeable future. Blackouts will grow longer and more widespread. Gasoline shortages will increase and supplies increasingly will be sold at black market prices.

Crazy Australian Water Plan

Someone's been watching Finding Nemo one too many times...

But if it works, I would give this guy major props.

Giant solar farm in California

Cleantech America is planning to build the world's largest solar farm, enough to power more than 20,000 homes.

Bill Barnes, Cleantech's CEO, sounds pretty confident in his company's ability to save the world... check it out

Iranian Oil

According to this article, Iran is about to run itself into the ground economically.

I'm no economist, but if anyone out there would care to read the article and recapitulate a few of his key points for me in layman's terms, I would be one happy fellow.

Hybrids

Here's a nice little interactive demo on hybrids from MSNBC

Floating wind turbines

Two companies, Norsk Hydro from Norway and Seimens from Germany, are teaming up to build floating wind turbines in the North Sea.

Here are a few numbers:
2009: The proposed year for a prototype turbine
$34 million: Its cost
5: Its megawatt output
2,200: The deepest water it can work in (in feet)

Here's the full article: