The Green Opportunity

2011-10-22T16:12:00.002-04:00

Support Occupy Wall Street wherever you go with this bumper sticker:

available via EBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/220879185489?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1202

#OccupyMadison

2011-10-16T20:31:00.001-04:00

So, I went down to the capital yesterday to see what the #OccupyMadison protests were all about. I have been following the wall street events the past few weeks and was excited to hear we had something going on local.

Here are my photos from Saturday: Occupy Madison Oct 15 2011

There were some pretty good speeches. Between them the crowd would chant, "we are the 99%" The reality is that the protesters themselves are not really a true representation of 99% of the people. You can comfortably say though that they are representing the majority by doing some simple math. With 10% unemployment and another 45% under-employed or a part of the struggling middle class you have 55% so yes, the Occupy protests are likely representing the majority.

It feels powerful to know that the majority is rising up against the 1% at the top.

I received this letter titled "A Contract for the American Dream" at the event...give it a read, it's very intriguing.

Contract for the American Dream

Bulb Act didn't pass!

2011-09-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

Great news. Rep Barton's Bulb Repeal Act didn't pass in the house this week!!!

For an understanding of how EISA will impact utility demand side management programs check out this paper by Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation in Madison, WI.

Congress moves to repeal EISA legislation

2011-07-09T10:53:00.000-04:00

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is about to get a leg chopped off on Monday. Congress is voting on house bill 2417 which would effectively eliminate the new efficiency standards for general use light bulbs in America. This is all happening even after the NRDC recently estimated that the new standards could potentially equate to 12.5 Billion in annual energy savings by 2020.

The legislation, or EISA as it's commonly referred to in the lighting industry reduces the maximum energy use requirement of general use light bulbs by 31% with a phase in period starting this January with the 100 watt bulb. This legislation is no different than requiring appliance manufactures to reduce energy consumption of their products through new Federal Standards or requiring car manufacturers to increase MPGs with CAFE standards. So why is there such a push against energy efficiency in lighting?

The Edison Incandescent $0.50 at retail

For that answer I give you Thomas Edison. Edison is the quintessential American inventor, holding more than 1,000 patents in his name when he died the most famous of all is of course the 1879 invention of the incandescent light bulb. That light bulb that Edison created is essentially the same product you can purchase at the store today. No significant changes have been made to it's technology. It still creates light in the same way it did back in 1879.

CFL Standard Bulb, typically $1.99 at retail or less when purchased in multi-packs

In the past 15 years we have seen alternatives to the incandescent hit the shelves, Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFLs), Halogen and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are the most commonly used. The price of these bulbs when compared to the almighty incandescent is unfavorable. They are more expensive, even with electric utility discount programs that are so common these days. What the consumer or business owner needs to keep in mind though is that the total cost of ownership of a CFL is actually less than an incandescent because it uses 75% less energy. The CFL will last longer and they're now made in a range of color choices and even for specialty applications. The savings with CFLs is very clear, they are cost effective. For LEDs that's a tougher argument, the energy savings are actually slightly better than CFLs but the initial first cost is still really high, close to $40 per bulb. Utility discount promotions will likely help bring down these costs in the future.

GE 9 watt LED Bulb $26 at retail

CFLs do have mercury in them which allow the lamp to create the light. The amount is small, less than 5 mg but still that fact leaves some consumers uneasy and the bulbs need to be recycled properly. The manufacturers though, knowing that EISA is looming have ramped up production of Halogen lighting which does save the required 31% set forth by the legislation. And, the quality of light is similar to that of incandescents and they actually last twice as long. The cost is slightly higher but it's more than made up by the 31% energy savings you'll incur from day one. And, if you replace more than one of your old incandescent your savings will multiply even faster (because you can purchase bulbs cheaper in multi-packs).

Halogen Bulb, 31% energy savings, $1.00 at retail

It's a frustrating development that congress wants to repeal the energy efficiency act for lighting. Consumers will continue to purchase those old Edison incandescents maybe because they look good, maybe because it makes them feel good or just maybe because they don't know what else to choose. It's too bad the new efficiency standards couldn't have helped them out.

University of Maine's DeepCwind Consortium

2011-01-03T12:14:00.000-05:00

Deep C aka Sea -- get it?

Maine has come a long way in just a few short years on really driving forward a deep water wind initiative. They've secured funding from the DOE, have started construction on a testing facility right on the UMaine Orono campus, and are working towards the first installed deep water wind turbine off Mohegan Island in 2012.

All this in a state hit hard by the biggest recession in decades. This investment positions Maine well to compete in what is sure to be a large and impactful industry in the coming years.

http://www.deepcwind.org/

There is a bright future ahead with electric cars

2010-10-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

Can you see a world where cars make zero noise, release zero emissions and travel on zero gas? Well, here in the fall of 2010 we're at the beginning of that revolution. It may be many years before electric cars rule the road but the first of them are set to be on the sales floor this fall at Chevy and Nissan sales floors.

The Volt and the Leaf are the beginning of a new revolution. Of course they're going to be expensive and they'll probably be ridden with issues. We can only guess that there will likely be issues with batteries, distance, charging and some people will point out wisely that charging an electric car with electricity produced by burning coal is no better than burning gasoline. All of these things will be challenges but, one thing is clear, the electric car revolution is set to begin.

It'll take years to see major advancements but we can rest assured that the car industry will learn from the mistakes and capitalize on the opportunities. It may be 10 or even 20 years from now but I would venture to guess that electric cars will rule the roads in our lifetimes.

ENERGY STAR Conference in Denver

2010-10-10T17:31:00.000-04:00

This past week I attended the ENERGY STAR conference. The conference gathers people from different industries; including manufacturers, retailers, utilities, program implementers and energy efficiency geeks.

One of the presentations I watched was by the Shelton Group. A key point in their presentation was that we must communicate the real and measurable benefits the consumer can see when they "go green". It's not good enough anymore to just say, hey this product is green, you should use it.

First of all, who deemed it green? And, furthermore why should the consumer care if it's green? Ever since the large increase in environmental awareness, (stemming from the energy price shock of 2007 - 2008) "green" has gone mainstream. Everyone is using it and trying to tailor their product to meet the green standard.

This is of course a good thing as it moves companies to develop more sustainable and efficient goods and services. On the contrary though it reduces the impact of the green label. So, green is out. Instead, a more definitive answer to how the product can help the consumer's pocketbook and therefore help the environment is becoming a requirement

We need to explicitly state and be clear to consumers why green is a good product choice for them. And, of course since the consumer has many choices the product must be similar in price and quality of a "non-green" option. This is a challenge of course because most efficient technologies require a higher price tag because they cost more to produce. This may change though.

The market will eventually drive efficient options towards becoming mainstream and the consumer's first choice. Manufacturer's costs will eventually come down and the efficient option will become cost competitive and some day may even be one of the only options. We are not there yet but the one thing I learned at this conference is that we are getting much closer.

How much oil is being spilled into the gulf?

2010-05-20T17:06:00.002-04:00

PBS put together this great tool to understand the enormity of this problem... I don't think many people even realize it. Today BP came out and said it would take them until August to completely cap the leak.

We are all one.

2010-03-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

I've always felt that there were simillarities with the atoms and molecules that make up my body and also the ones which make up someone on the other side of the globe. After all, we haven't always been seperated by the world's oceans...remember Pangea?

So, I was happy to find this article yesterday in the NY Times reflecting on the life of Geoffrey Bubidge, a physicist who's life work produced the first real understanding of how we came from the stars. He must have influenced Joni Mitchell along the way with her lyrics, "we are stardust".

Allan Sandage of Carnegie Observatories, an old friend of Dr. Burbidge’s, once explained it this way: “Every one of our chemical elements was once inside a star. The same star. You and I are brothers. We came from the same supernova.”

So, we are from the stars. Mmmm, what a calming realization. So, the question beacons, will we ever go back?

China Prepares for Arctic Melt

2010-03-02T12:34:00.002-05:00

I read this article today regarding China preparing for shipping and natural resource opportunities in the Arctic. Here is a quote....

In the summer of 2007, the Arctic ice cap shrank to a record-low minimum extent of 4.3 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles) in September. The melting in 2008 and 2009 was not as extensive, but still ranked as the second- and third-greatest decreases on record. Link

This isn't the first time the arctic melt has made the news regarding new business opportunities. In 2007 Russia sent a diving team to the bottom of the north pole and planted a flag, thereby "claiming" to be the first to do so and therefore holding some kind of claim on the oil that could theoretically be extracted there.

Does this effort bother anyone else? One could make the argument that the reduced shipping distance will reduce energy usage but obviously this isn't the only reason China and Russia are pursuing the Arctic. Oil reserves are claimed to be quite substantial.

We're pushing the limits of our planet so much that some countries (not coincidentally the largest) are actually applauding the opportunities that global climate change is providing. This is the perfect example of a negative feedback loop.

Our loop looks this this...
We burn fossil fuels to provide energy for our world>burning of fossil fuels produces Co2>Co2 warms the planet>warming melts ice>ice melt produces more opportunities to extract more fossil fuels>we burn more fossil fuels>Co2 warms the planet and the cycle just continues. It kinda sounds like this is the Earth's way of exterminating us!

Will we ever get off this bad trip we're on?

Earth Hour

2010-02-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well, Earth Hour is upon us again on March 27th. The point of Earth Hour is to shut off all your lights and electronics for one hour. It's actually quite enlightening (pardon the pun) because when we shut down all the things we typically use in our daily lives we realize our dependence on them.

Earth Hour is a great way to spread the message of "less is more". It also helps us understand the true costs of increased energy consumption. Effects such as climate change, the rising costs of energy and their affect on the geo-political situation throughout the world are all negative concequences of our rising demand for technology and energy in our lives.

Join Earth Hour on the 27th of March to stand up for a world where co-existence with nature is normal and invited!

~Joe

The Return of the Green Opportunity

2010-02-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

After a very long silenced period I am returning to this blog. And I want to make it fresh and entertaining. Bringing new ideas to the forefront. I was recently inspired by an article written by Tom Friedman in the NYT - link. In it he talks about how the dispute over whether climate change is actually happening is futile. Instead we should focus on the real problem of natural resources and sending a ton of money over seas each year to feed our energy addiction.

Why? We could invest similar amounts of money here in the US to bring solar, wind and geothermal energy to the masses. Distributed energy systems such as the ones on roof tops in California and New Jersey are especially ripe with opportunity. Right now the costs of these systems are prohibitively high and they will likely remain larger capital expenses. This is money that the typical American household doesn't have and isn't willing to invest in when they can just as easily get electrons from the grid at an inexpensive rate.

What American's don't realize though is that the majority of that power is coming from coal. And almost 100% of the energy we use for transportation is coming from oil that's sold to us from the middle east. Yes we have an opportunity to invest in domestic natural gas but for how long? And, what will it cost to retrofit our cars to burn LPG?

Copenhagen

2009-12-09T16:04:00.002-05:00

Our children are watching, world leaders in Copenhagen are going to hopefully shift the tides in the right direction towards emissions reductions....

We can only hope that "something" is going to happen...

Be the Change you Want to See

2009-10-28T10:18:00.005-04:00

If we all acted in accordance with our values and beliefs wouldn't the world be better off? Probably not and here's why - we all have different values and beliefs and some of them conflict with the common dream of protecting our planet, the one place that ALL of us call our home.

In discussing the world with my a friend this weekend we started talking about how religion is tearing our planet apart, creating silos of belief and value systems. Religion has this nasty way of pushing people into corners where they can justify their beliefs and values with others. Some of these beliefs tell people that other religions are wrong. Most religions are consistent with this message, "we are right they are wrong."

Then, right when I started to feel good about the conversation and feeling like my friend and I were on the same page he says to me. "That's why Christ needs to come back, to save us from all this crap."

Ughh, nothing has changed with my friend, he's still in the same silo, awaiting the return or the rath, or whatever.

Religion is killing us, let's face up to that.

And to be clear I don't equate religion and spirituality. I believe we can and should have spirituality in our lives. I know it helps me to realize the bigger picture. I find my spirituality through meditating, experiencing nature, reading good books about our planet and having deep conversations.

This is what's wrong with our world

2009-10-19T14:59:00.001-04:00

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Monday that pursuit of export-led growth by Asian nations could lead to a reemergence of global trade imbalances and undercut efforts to achieve more durable growth.

Throwing his weight behind a call by the Group of 20 nations to rebalance the global economy, Bernanke said Asian nations should put in place policies that discourage excess saving and boost consumption.

At the same time, he said the United States needed to increase its saving and "substantially reduce federal deficits over time."

Kyoto Protocol

2009-07-29T11:17:00.002-04:00

In 1992 the United Nations produced an international environmental treaty at the conference for Environment and Development in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The treaty’s intent is to achieve the stabilization of green house gases in the atmosphere. The treaty was negotiated and adopted for use in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. Japan’s agreement in the treaty is a reduction of green house gases of 6%. The US by contrast was required to reduce by 7% and the EU has ratified the treaty at 8%.

Japan was hesitant in signing the protocol but did after concessions were made in 2001 revolving around the usage of carbon dioxide sinks which allow countries to meet the requirements by putting cO2 back into the ocean or via landfills, these techniques are often referred to as “carbon capture.”

The Kyoto Protocol has often been referred to as a “first step” towards reducing carbon emissions but in no way has been overly successful. The US for example has yet to ratify this agreement in congress and therefore has not taken any steps with legislation to reduce emission outputs. The United Nations are meeting in Copenhagen this December to develop the framework for the next global emissions bill.

Global Climate Change and its likely affect on Japan

2009-06-26T10:52:00.004-04:00

In looking at the island nation of Japan, global climate change and a warming of the planet holds the possibility of catastrophic effect. According to the APEC Center for Environmental Technology based in Osaka City, a sea level rise of 50cm would result in the disappearance of 70% of the sandy beaches in Japan. A rise of 1 meter would result in a loss of 90% of sandy beaches in Japan and 100% of the beaches in Osaka. People living in the lowlands of Japan would likely lose their homes and be forced to relocate to higher ground.[i]

In addition, shifts in the climate will likely affect the agricultural output of certain zones. In Japan climate change could impact rice production by as much as 40% according to the 2007 IPPC report as reported by the Japan Times.[ii] This is likely due to the decline in potentially good agricultural land. Japan also relies heavily on food imports to sustain its population’s needs and similar declines in food yield in China and Australia will likely affect its ability to sustain. The recent droughts occurring in Australia for example created an increase in imported food costs for Japan.

For these reasons and for others which have not yet been discussed it can be assumed that the Japanese culture would look highly upon the notion of sustainable living. The Japanese would have much to lose if sea levels began to rise. And certainly even more to lose if the rise begins earlier than anticipated as recently reported by the journal Science. They reported that there is a possibility of a sea level rise of 21 feet in certain parts of the world.[iii]

[i] APEC Virtual Center for Environmental Technology Exchange. “What Results from Global Warming?” <http://www.epcc.pref.osaka.jp/apec/eng/earth/global_warming/dounaru.html>

[ii] Japan Times. “Climate Change Could Decrease Rice Yields by as much as 40%.” <http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070920a9.html>

[iii] Oregon State University. “Sea Level Rise Could be Worse than Anticipated” <http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2009/Feb09/icesheet.html>

Japanese Sustainability

2009-06-24T19:52:00.005-04:00

I will be posting a research paper I wrote for my class trip to Japan. It's on sustainability. Here is the abstract:

This paper seeks to understand the role that sustainability plays in the Japanese culture and the affects that climate change has had on Japan’s awareness of sustainable living.

I will start with chapter 1 today! Enjoy!

Defining “Sustainability”

Sustainability is often defined as the ability to maintain balance. The most often used forms of looking at sustainability are environmental and business. In business, sustainability is often looked at as a way for a firm to survive without undertaking massive debt, layoffs or undergoing shifts in strategy in inopportune times. Often sustainable business models are sought after as one of the more successful ways to run a business over a long period of time.

In terms of environmental sustainability, the form is similar but the focus moves toward the impact an individual, organization or business has on its environment. The Regional Ecosystem Office defines sustainability as,”The ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes and functions, biological diversity, and productivity over time.” [i]

Sustainability has taken on many variations over the past ten years as humans begin to awaken to the likely fact that we are affecting our planet’s ecosystem negatively. The International Panel of Climate Change has written numerous reports on the likely causes of climate change and have found scientific results that point to an accelerated warming of the atmosphere through human usage of fossil fuels. From a recently released report to policy makers, the IPCC offers this scientifically proven fact; “Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850).”[ii] Reports like the IPCC and also the recent energy price shock experience across the globe in the summer of 2008 have put efforts to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels the forefront.

[i] Regional Ecosystem Office (U.S), Definition of Ecological Sustainability. <http://www.reo.gov/general/definitions_r-s.htm#S>

[ii] International Panel for Climate Change. AR4 Synthesis Report, “Summary for Policy Makers.” <http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm>

Japan is full of Sustainable Practices

2009-05-23T11:24:00.003-04:00

I have found so much in Japan revolving around efficiency, sustainability and just being respectful of one another, it's a beautiful thing.

I hope to post more tomorrow, stay tuned!!

Went to Shabuyah Last Night

2009-05-20T10:39:00.007-04:00

Shabuyah is like the trendiest area for young people on Tokyo...all the cools kids hang out there...

I have found that Japan is an amazing place to live, eat, shop and have fun...I can't wait to come back again.

We leave Tokyo today for Kyoto...Kyoto is going to be more of an old time Japanese experience. Most Japanese I have spoke to have told me it is their favorite place to go.

Here are the pics from the trip so far...

Went to Akihabra today...

2009-05-17T09:04:00.005-04:00

Akihabra is this giant electronic mecca, you can scoop up any gadget that you'd find anywhere else in the world here, at a discount. Animation is popular and so is the many cartoon characters.

We also saw the Imperial Palace and participated in the Three Shrine Parade....wild

I ate a pork/eggplant dish and then later had a beef bowl with soup....it's now time to crash, I'm exhausted!

We also saw the Imperial Palace which was quite the site...

I'm in Tokyo!

2009-05-16T19:20:00.003-04:00

Hello World, I am in Tokyo - staying at the Presso Inn Kayabacho. It's Sunday morning, about 8:30 am. We are headed into the city today for the Sanja Matsuri Festival, it should be a fun day...it's raining a bit but I picked up a cheap umbrella for 700 yen or 7 dollars.

Some interesting findings so far...

*Tokyo is VERY clean

*They have a recycling program and bins on every street corner

*It's a very pedestrian friendly city and great for riding your bike. Oddly enough most bikes are kept outside on stands but are not locked up!

Enjoy your evening Western World!

Joe

In the Minneapolis Airport

2009-05-15T14:27:00.005-04:00

Katie went to school in Minnesota and this is the first time I've been up here....it does look beautiful outside (from the airport windows) haha....

We are about to board in 1.5 hrs, so....I'm getting ready!

I have been reading a book by the name of Eco Barons, it's about people who are leading the way in the Green Revolution.....visionaries of sort. It's my dream to be profiled in a book like this someday, I know Katie and I talk often about playing a role in the future of cleaning up this planet and we certainly want our kids to have a good healthy Earth to live on.

So, for the next 12 hrs I will be in the air, flying over the Pacific Ocean. Japan is 13 hrs ahead of Eastern Central Time, 12 hrs ahead of Central....so when it's 10pm there it'll be 9am on the east coast.

Stay tuned, cool posts to come!

~joe

Alternative Energy Primer

2009-05-12T17:07:00.001-04:00

Alternative Energy Primer

View more presentations from joepater.

Heading to Japan on Friday

2009-05-12T13:21:00.004-04:00

Hello all -

I am headed to Japan on Friday for an international business trip with the Maine Business School. I will be focusing my visit on Japan's environmental consciousness, including sustainability, clean energy and the culture's awareness of climate change.

If you're in Japan and would like to meet please let me know, I am very interested in meeting conscious people in Japan, I can be reached at joepater@gmail.com - I will be posting photos and updating this blog daily from Japan.

Arigatou Gozaimasu,

Joe

One of these things is not like the other...

2009-04-24T18:09:00.003-04:00

Does this look right to you? This is from the IPCC's 2007 Climate Change Synthesis Report.

Should we be shitting our pants right now?

Urgency?

2009-04-20T13:08:00.007-04:00

First of all I want to apologize....last summer I was totally on the "doom and gloom" bandwagon. Encouraging my readers to quickly "lock in" at heating oil prices before we saw 5 and 6 dollars a gallon in the Northeast. This was premature, and as we saw this fall and winter, prices collapsed alongside a worldwide comsumption decline.

To give myself credit I did spot an eventual weakening of demand and prices in late summer but by then it may have been too late for some. For those who suffered with 4 dollar heating oil contracts this summer I truly do apologize.

From here I'm not going to give any stern predictions but I can say this. By the end of this summer's driving season we will likely see prices for gasoline around $2.50 a gallon. Not very painful at all but it is something to keep ourselves aware of. In the summer of 2010, if the economy rebounds and industry begins picking up we will likely see a trend upward again.

For now, my concern has moved to the interconnected topic of global climate change. Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary has offered his opinions on climate change stating the following on Saturday at the Summit of the Americas, "Caribbean nations face "very, very scary" rises in sea level and intensifying hurricanes, and Florida, Louisiana and even northern California could be overrun with rising water levels due to global warming triggered by carbon-based greenhouse gases."

This is far from being "news" - these possibilities are well known in the scientific community. For example check out Mr. Al Gore's recently updated climate change talk. You can watch it on this page below.

I feel a sence of urgency upon us, not in the same vain as last summer's oil shock, more along the lines of our civilization's survival. If that's not important than I don't know what is.

Thinking about the Future

2009-03-28T10:54:00.004-04:00

How many of you out there are actively spending time thinking about what our future looks like? I would imagine that the number of such people is growing quickly in today's turbulent environment. With all the deep changes our world has incurred over the past 10 yrs and the explosion of population growth over the previous 50 years, the question of "what are we doing here?" is more relevant than ever.

We need visionaries like you, we need people who can see a brighter, cleaner and more sustainable future. We need a shift in the human mind. The only feasible way to accomplish this feat is to start in our collective mind. And, in order to effect the collective mind we must all start in our individual minds.

Have you noticed that topics considered "flaky" or "new age" in the past are now filtering into the mainstream? Maybe you've experienced people talking about an expanding of consciousness in a random setting like a grocery store. The feelings of change are deeply seated in our consciousness, and the election this past November was only the beginning of what lies ahead.

We are slowly awakening to the fact ( a 385 ppm fact) that our actions need to shift towards a sustainable way of thinking. This shift will include how we derive energy from the world, how we consume, create, travel, work, communicate, express ourselves and so much more.

Every bit of thought in the future must be based in a true regard for the Earth. We must remember that we are only tenants on this planet and our landlord can kick us off at any moment.

All of this starts with you so I urge you to continue to think, talk, communicate, blog and tweet about this subject. This is certainly a worldwide effort and once we realize that we're all from the same specs of stardust, we may find true respect for one another and the planet we inhabit.

Life in the future can be so much more incredible than we could ever imagine.

The Abundunce Conundrum

2009-03-26T08:27:00.007-04:00

Ok, here is the scoop....idealists and people who tout the power of the mind to attract what we want have always believed in abundance. Abundance is typically supported by the idea that there will always be enough resources on the Earth for everyone, regardless of any changes. And, we shouldn't spend time hoarding resources or preventing our fellow man from having as much as us.

The power of abundance is very real and there is a sense of presence, at least in my experience of not committing energy towards gathering more than one needs. In essence allowing the surrounding community to have their share. This ideal works in theory because it allows us to spread resources amongst each other.

In our changing world this ideal is becoming even more important because our long standing belief that there will always be enough in the world is slowly beginning to shift. We're finding that the massive explosion of population has pushed our world to the limits. In order to continue life as we know it we must be conscious of the resources we consume at an individual and societal level.

The Earth does have the capability to regenerate itself but if we continue to pollute and push it beyond healthy levels (closing in on 400 CO2 ppm) we may find that our trust in the Earth's ability to provide us a home may be coming to an end.

We must shift, this shift must happen sooner rather than later. If you believe we have time you're part of the problem. We cannot make any more excuses, we can't keep putting this off.

The Earth is like a pissed off landlord and we're about to be evicted.

Solar Future

2009-03-25T10:50:00.006-04:00

Are we on course for a future deriving power from the Sun? We should be! The power the Earth gets from the sun in the course of an hour could power our energy needs for an entire year! Isn't that amazing?

Of course before anything like that could truly be tapped we would need to transition our consumption of fossil fuels for transportation to electricity. There are a multitude of companies working to do just that. We can only hope that their technologies will sway the public to try these new fangled devices, electric cars!

Here are a few electric car advantages to consider.

1) No Sound! Can you imagine driving down the road with little to no sound? Or sitting on your front porch and seeing a silent car drive by? Amazing huh?

2) Less expensive. Right now we travel on gasoline for about 7-12 cents per miles depending on your mpg's at today's gas prices, (I paid 2.03 per gal this morning). On electricity we'd likely be able to achieve the same quality driving at 1-3 cents per mile. I know this doesn't translate to a big savings but last summer when gas was at 4.15 a gal we were paying 16 cents per mile! That is a HUGE difference.

3) It'll be so much cleaner for our environment. Assuming we can create the electricity with renewable energy, (wind, solar, bio-mass and yes even nuclear power would do), our emissions output would drop dramatically. We're currently at 385 co2 ppm (parts per million) in the atmosphere and some scientists claim we could be at our very near a tipping point in which we would not be able to recover.

4) Sustainable living opportunities. Assuming you installed solar or wind capacity at your home, you could charge your electric car or electric truck on your own and drive to work or town at no transacted cost. Of course the capital costs involved with installing these systems are still high but if we start using the electricity created from them for transportation (assuming we can) the pay back period starts to shorten!

5) Smart grid capabilities will improve. Everyone these days is talking about the smart grid. One of the big issues with our current grid system is that we have little to no way of storing electricity for use at other times. For example when the sun shines the hardest most people are at work. And when the wind blows the hardest most people are sleeping. These are essentially the reasons that coal and oil are so powerful, they can be used when needed at all times.

This could change with the batteries in an electric car. For example a utility could invest in wind power and charge it's customers car batteries at night, when the wind is blowing the hardest. The power will sit in the car battery awaiting to be utilized the next day. This innovation could achieve one of the most challenging aspects of electricity, storage!!!

These are just some of the reasons we should be welcoming an electric car future....please post more below in the comments!

This is what I am looking for.

2009-03-24T14:13:00.002-04:00

Something big and transforming, something large in scale yet simple in form.

It needs to involve technology to move our planet in the right direction, but the technology shall not be the focus. It shall be the idea that is the focus, the shifting of a paradigm.

This shift will impact our vision of the world, and the realization that we are inhabitants of the planet earth, located somewhere in the suburbs of the milky way galaxy.

Eventually we will understand that we are an evolved, diverse community and we have all come from the same specs of stardust.

Taking Responsibility onto Oneself

2009-03-23T13:14:00.002-04:00

I think a key point to always have in our mind is that we must have a sense of true responsibility for ourselves and the collective whole.

Once we begin to take responsibility in everything we do, life will shift. We will begin to awaken to another level.

True responsibility refers to caring for oneself and your surrounding community. It means taking what life gives you, dreaming and building your future and enjoying this moment at all times.

This also includes a responsibility toward others and not expending energy pulling someone down. The energy spent on criticizing is like a virus in our collective mind. Constructive criticism on the other hand spurs innovation and develops even stronger ideas.

Accepting everything and respecting everyone is when all of this will start. Living in the present moment, aware of everything and every thought that surrounds us.

amazing...truly amazing

2009-03-20T19:33:00.000-04:00

Ascent Solar

2009-03-11T10:15:00.002-04:00

Ascent Solar, a thin-film solar cell manufacturer in Littleton Colorado announced the commencement of their new 1.5MW solar cell line today. Here is a video that describes their process. Ascent is looked at as one of the most highly innovative solar cell developers on the market today and while you can't buy their product yet it will likely play a part in future solar developments. If you'd like to look at what their stock has done take a look at ASTI

Ascent Solar Technologies manufacturing process deposits multiple layers of materials, including a thin film of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) semiconductor material, on a flexible, lightweight, plastic substrate and then laser patterns the layers to create interconnected PV cells, or PV modules, in a process known as monolithic integration.

Jimmy Carter's Proposed Energy Policy circa 1977

2009-03-03T11:39:00.003-05:00

Here it is...from April 1977 It's amazing how much of this is relevant to our situation today and how much we still haven't dealt with....this was 30 yrs ago!

Jimmy Carter delivered this televised speech on April 18, 1977.

Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem unprecedented in our history. With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly.

It is a problem we will not solve in the next few years, and it is likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century.

We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.

We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.

Two days from now, I will present my energy proposals to the Congress. Its members will be my partners and they have already given me a great deal of valuable advice. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. Some will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices.

The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation.

Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern. This difficult effort will be the "moral equivalent of war" -- except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not destroy.

I know that some of you may doubt that we face real energy shortages. The 1973 gasoline lines are gone, and our homes are warm again. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. It is worse because more waste has occurred, and more time has passed by without our planning for the future. And it will get worse every day until we act.

The oil and natural gas we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are running out. In spite of increased effort, domestic production has been dropping steadily at about six percent a year. Imports have doubled in the last five years. Our nation's independence of economic and political action is becoming increasingly constrained. Unless profound changes are made to lower oil consumption, we now believe that early in the 1980s the world will be demanding more oil that it can produce.

The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day and demand increases each year about 5 percent. This means that just to stay even we need the production of a new Texas every year, an Alaskan North Slope every nine months, or a new Saudi Arabia every three years. Obviously, this cannot continue.

We must look back in history to understand our energy problem. Twice in the last several hundred years there has been a transition in the way people use energy.

The first was about 200 years ago, away from wood -- which had provided about 90 percent of all fuel -- to coal, which was more efficient. This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution.

The second change took place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. They were more convenient and cheaper than coal, and the supply seemed to be almost without limit. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. Nearly everyone who is alive today grew up during this age and we have never known anything different.

Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.

The world has not prepared for the future. During the 1950s, people used twice as much oil as during the 1940s. During the 1960s, we used twice as much as during the 1950s. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of mankind's previous history.

World consumption of oil is still going up. If it were possible to keep it rising during the 1970s and 1980s by 5 percent a year as it has in the past, we could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.

I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld. You may be right, but suspicions about oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum.

All of us have heard about the large oil fields on Alaska's North Slope. In a few years when the North Slope is producing fully, its total output will be just about equal to two years' increase in our nation's energy demand.

Each new inventory of world oil reserves has been more disturbing than the last. World oil production can probably keep going up for another six or eight years. But some time in the 1980s it can't go up much more. Demand will overtake production. We have no choice about that.

But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth. We waste more energy than we import. With about the same standard of living, we use twice as much energy per person as do other countries like Germany, Japan and Sweden.

One choice is to continue doing what we have been doing before. We can drift along for a few more years.

Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. Three-quarters of them would continue to carry only one person -- the driver -- while our public transportation system continues to decline. We can delay insulating our houses, and they will continue to lose about 50 percent of their heat in waste.

We can continue using scarce oil and natural to generate electricity, and continue wasting two-thirds of their fuel value in the process.

If we do not act, then by 1985 we will be using 33 percent more energy than we do today.

We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. Supplies will be uncertain. The cost will keep going up. Six years ago, we paid $3.7 billion for imported oil. Last year we spent $37 billion -- nearly ten times as much -- and this year we may spend over $45 billion.

Unless we act, we will spend more than $550 billion for imported oil by 1985 -- more than $2,500 a year for every man, woman, and child in America. Along with that money we will continue losing American jobs and becoming increasingly vulnerable to supply interruptions.

Now we have a choice. But if we wait, we will live in fear of embargoes. We could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs. Within ten years we would not be able to import enough oil -- from any country, at any acceptable price.

If we wait, and do not act, then our factories will not be able to keep our people on the job with reduced supplies of fuel. Too few of our utilities will have switched to coal, our most abundant energy source.

We will not be ready to keep our transportation system running with smaller, more efficient cars and a better network of buses, trains and public transportation.

We will feel mounting pressure to plunder the environment. We will have a crash program to build more nuclear plants, strip-mine and burn more coal, and drill more offshore wells than we will need if we begin to conserve now. Inflation will soar, production will go down, people will lose their jobs. Intense competition will build up among nations and among the different regions within our own country.

If we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions.

But we still have another choice. We can begin to prepare right now. We can decide to act while there is time.

That is the concept of the energy policy we will present on Wednesday. Our national energy plan is based on ten fundamental principles.

The first principle is that we can have an effective and comprehensive energy policy only if the government takes responsibility for it and if the people understand the seriousness of the challenge and are willing to make sacrifices.

The second principle is that healthy economic growth must continue. Only by saving energy can we maintain our standard of living and keep our people at work. An effective conservation program will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

The third principle is that we must protect the environment. Our energy problems have the same cause as our environmental problems -- wasteful use of resources. Conservation helps us solve both at once.

The fourth principle is that we must reduce our vulnerability to potentially devastating embargoes. We can protect ourselves from uncertain supplies by reducing our demand for oil, making the most of our abundant resources such as coal, and developing a strategic petroleum reserve.

The fifth principle is that we must be fair. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, every interest group. Industry will have to do its part to conserve, just as the consumers will. The energy producers deserve fair treatment, but we will not let the oil companies profiteer.

The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce the demand through conservation. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy. Conservation is the only way we can buy a barrel of oil for a few dollars. It costs about $13 to waste it.

The seventh principle is that prices should generally reflect the true replacement costs of energy. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford.

The eighth principle is that government policies must be predictable and certain. Both consumers and producers need policies they can count on so they can plan ahead. This is one reason I am working with the Congress to create a new Department of Energy, to replace more than 50 different agencies that now have some control over energy.

The ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are more plentiful. We can't continue to use oil and gas for 75 percent of our consumption when they make up seven percent of our domestic reserves. We need to shift to plentiful coal while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy.

The tenth principle is that we must start now to develop the new, unconventional sources of energy we will rely on in the next century.

These ten principles have guided the development of the policy I would describe to you and the Congress on Wednesday.

Our energy plan will also include a number of specific goals, to measure our progress toward a stable energy system.

These are the goals we set for 1985:

--Reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than two percent.

--Reduce gasoline consumption by ten percent below its current level.

--Cut in half the portion of United States oil which is imported, from a potential level of 16 million barrels to six million barrels a day.

--Establish a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, more than six months' supply.

--Increase our coal production by about two thirds to more than 1 billion tons a year.

--Insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings.

--Use solar energy in more than two and one-half million houses.

We will monitor our progress toward these goals year by year. Our plan will call for stricter conservation measures if we fall behind.

I cant tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. But I think most of you realize that a policy which does not ask for changes or sacrifices would not be an effective policy.

This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future.

Whether this plan truly makes a difference will be decided not here in Washington, but in every town and every factory, in every home an don every highway and every farm.

I believe this can be a positive challenge. There is something especially American in the kinds of changes we have to make. We have been proud, through our history of being efficient people.

We have been proud of our leadership in the world. Now we have a chance again to give the world a positive example.

And we have been proud of our vision of the future. We have always wanted to give our children and grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we've had. They are the ones we must provide for now. They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act.

I've given you some of the principles of the plan.

I am sure each of you will find something you don't like about the specifics of our proposal. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in our lives. To some degree, the sacrifices will be painful -- but so is any meaningful sacrifice. It will lead to some higher costs, and to some greater inconveniences for everyone.

But the sacrifices will be gradual, realistic and necessary. Above all, they will be fair. No one will gain an unfair advantage through this plan. No one will be asked to bear an unfair burden. We will monitor the accuracy of data from the oil and natural gas companies, so that we will know their true production, supplies, reserves, and profits.

The citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury.

We can be sure that all the special interest groups in the country will attack the part of this plan that affects them directly. They will say that sacrifice is fine, as long as other people do it, but that their sacrifice is unreasonable, or unfair, or harmful to the country. If they succeed, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing.

There should be only one test for this program: whether it will help our country.

Other generation of Americans have faced and mastered great challenges. I have faith that meeting this challenge will make our own lives even richer. If you will join me so that we can work together with patriotism and courage, we will again prove that our great nation can lead the world into an age of peace, independence and freedom.

Jimmy Carter, "The President's Proposed Energy Policy." 18 April 1977. Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. XXXXIII, No. 14, May 1, 1977, pp. 418-420.

"It begins with Energy"

2009-02-25T09:22:00.002-05:00

Barack Obama had it right last night in his State of the Union address...

He stated a desire to have a cap and trade bill to restrict output of greenhouse gases and create a market for emissions permits. This will be a huge first step toward the development of renewable energy's across this great nation...I can't wait!

If you'd like to watch President Obama's speech here is a link to the NYT

Living With Limits

2009-02-19T11:12:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine passed this along to me today, it's a great read about the current financial crisis and how it's creating more excuses to dealing with the longer term environmental crisis.

Is Renewable Energy a Bridge Towards Utopia?

2009-01-25T12:24:00.009-05:00

As a Maine family almost 15% of our income went toward energy in 2008. That's pretty typical here in the Northeast where a good portion of our energy budget goes toward heating our homes in the winter and powering our cars longer distances than most.

So it got me thinking about what we could possibly change this year. It's a tough reality to handle; energy is going to continually get more expensive over time. The price collapse in crude oil we're experiencing right now will not likely last forever. Soon enough oil will rise again and our pocketbooks will shrink again. So, in this energy timeout I got to thinking about what we could feasibly do. And, I asked myself...what if I attempted to use our discretionary income to completely free my family from the volatile costs of oil?

Maybe if I invested in our home, making it more energy efficient, possibly even installing a small wind turbine or a couple of solar panels, I could free us from a future of rising energy costs. And, if the Chevy Volt becomes the catalyst for an electric car revolution what could that do to our discretionary income in 5 or 10 years?

The stock market surely isn't the best option for investing these days, not likely to produce decent returns for at least a couple of years. What if a majority of the population took the next 5 years to invest in themselves? Investing in their energy future, their children's future and the idea of living independently from the volatile costs of finite earthly resources.

Could this be a catalyst for the beginnings of a Utopia in our world? Maybe it would introduce an expansion of consciousness within communities across the globe. We would certainly need a large scale catalyst to make this a reality, something so immense and widespread that it allows us to calm our minds and enjoy what we have, in all meanings possible.

What could this shift instill on our world? Wouldn't it be great if we could save more for ourselves and help grow our local economies? What's most amazing is that this future is emerging in the distance...if we can only look far enough out to see it.

What do you think??? post your thoughts into the comments link on this page....

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is Hanging by a Thread

2009-01-21T15:32:00.004-05:00

Yes, we may be exeperiencing a chilly, blistery winter but there is little doubt that global warming is continuing, possibly even accelarating. While we can't see the artic ice melting from our cozy little habitats, scientists are reporting on the continuing decrease of artic ice....and it's happening at an alarming rate...

The Changing Landscape... The Next Bubble?

2008-11-18T14:46:00.004-05:00

these are some of my favorite lyrics from a band I truly enjoy, Umphrey's McGee from Chicago

I see these lyrics as a poetic interpretation of the world we're living in...the world of irrational exuberance and the decline of seemingly inculpable bubbles - the tech boom of the late 90's, the real estate bubble of the last 8 years and the collapse of the financial/credit leverage boom we're experiencing at this very moment.

No matter how it's read
only so much can be said
about subscribing to a point that has no ground
No matter how it feels
your speculation isn't real
nothing can be gauged until it comes around

~2nd Self, Umphrey's McGee

So what's next?

Peak Oil Report Updates

2008-11-15T15:14:00.004-05:00

Two reports recently came out discussing our energy future...they are well worth the time reading if you have any. The basic findings of these reports are simmilar and they boil down to these basic facts.

We are running out of cheap, easy to access oil.
Demand for oil and petroleum based products is growing, including agriculture products.
OPEC severly limits our ability to have a confident understanding of how much oil is left in the ground.
There will undoudubtly be more oil price shocks, simmilar to what we experienced last summer.
The length of these shocks will increase.
Peak Oil presents a security risk for a good portion of the developed world.

The Oil Crunch, Securing the UK's energy future - the first report of the UK's taskforceon Peak Oil and Energy Security - Oct 2008

Executive Summary from the IEA's first edition of the World Energy Outlook - Nov 2008

Cap and Trade

2008-11-08T10:47:00.002-05:00

Will a Cap and Trade market implementation change our world for the better? The answer is probably yes. Here's some reasons why...

Financial Incentive - businesses are in business to maximize profit and value for their shareholders. Sometimes they accomplish this through the detriment of the envrionment, their customers and even themselves. Too often executives at corporations make decisions based on their immediate term needs, ie, the bonus they'd like to get by the end of the year. Therefore the decisions made are not always focused on the long term environmental concquences. This is unfortunate but it's very true.

A cap and trade system would install financial incentive for business to emit less carbon into the air. All business have their hands in carbon output in some form. Either they are producing something, transporting someting, providing something, creating something, talking about something, etc etc. Anything we try to do is related to energy consumption and therefore it's linked to carbon emissions.

The best form of reducing your impact is by utilizing energy that is derived from renewable sources, wind, solar and geothermal. All of these are sources of energy that are renewable, clean, have limited emissions and can be sustained for years to come.

As a cap and trade policy begins to come to fruition you'll see businesses move towards renewable sources of the energy they use so they can obtain the huge financial incenvtives that will be offered to early adopters...

My thoughts on the future of Energy

2008-11-02T13:53:00.005-05:00

Hello all, it's been a while since I've just posted some thoughts...With the upcoming election on Tuesday I thought it would be wise to envision 2009 and beyond....

These are just some thoughts I've been having and they're also my best educated guesses on a few things....

Economy: I see the economy at a standstill for most of 2009. Now, this won't be a complete loss though. What it will accomplish is a realization that our world cannot depend on continued growth at the expense of the environment. Population has soared over the past 100 yrs primarily due to our ability to harness fossil fuels. A majority of everything that encompasses what we consider our "quality of life" derives from our ability to harness energy in a more efficient manner. We have successfully done that for a long time by using Oil, Natural Gas and other hydrocarbons to fuel our work, make food more abundant and allow us to have more children and a higher life expectancy. 2009 will be a year of shifting paradigms and therefore we cannot expect the same things we've depended on in the past to propel us into the future.

Energy: With the looming threat of peak oil and future oil shocks, this next leadership will be essential in creating our future. This past summers run up in oil and the subsequent fear that accompanied it will not be the last. The recession will allow for a breather in which we'll be able to make clear and concise decisions about our energy future.

I feel as though the scientific and technological breakthroughs coming out of the alternative energy industry will give us the sustainable future we're looking for. The future in which we are no longer dependant on foreign entities for energy and the future in which all countries can power themselves independently. This future is certainly possible. Just pay attention to the developments in wind, solar and nano-technology and you'll soon realize that nothing is impossible. The only limit to the human mind and it's ability to create solutions for the future is ourselves and our concern for the impact of the change today.

Which bring me to my last point. Both candidates for president have supported a cap and trade system for carbon output. This system would essentially create a tax on carbon. If you're a high emitter of carbon you might be under a higher tax bracket unless you purchase credits from renewable producers of energy. This "market based system" for pollution is the answer that Earth has been awaiting. As a society we understand how markets work and this installation of market economics in our carbon based world will bring a sign of significant change to come.

It will be the first sign...and hopefully whichever candidate wins on Tuesday, the cap and trade market will be one of their first priorities.

Joe

An Energy Fix Written in the Stars

2008-10-16T12:24:00.001-04:00

By Ben Bova
Sunday, October 12, 2008 from the Washington Post

You're heading into some rough times as you move into the White House, Mr. Future President, what with the economy in recession, financial markets in turmoil, global warming, terrorism, war and soaring energy prices. But I can offer you a tip for dealing with that last issue, at least: Look to the stars.

That's right. You can use the powerful technology we've forged over a half-century of space exploration to solve one major down-to-Earth problem -- and become the most popular president since John F. Kennedy in the process.

Right now, the United States is shelling out about $700 billion a year for foreign oil. With world demand for energy increasing, gas prices will head toward $10 per gallon during your administration -- unless you make some meaningful changes. That's where space technology can help -- and create new jobs, even whole new industries, at the same time.

You'll have to make some hard choices on energy. Nuclear power doesn't emit greenhouse gases, but it has radioactive wastes. Hydrogen fuels burn cleanly, but hydrogen is expensive to produce and hard to distribute by pipeline. Wind power works in special locations, but most people don't want huge, noisy wind turbines in their backyards.

Solar energy is a favorite of environmentalists, but it works only when the sun is shining. But that's the trick. There is a place where the sun never sets, and a way to use solar energy for power generation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: Put the solar cells in space, in high orbits where they'd be in sunshine all the time.

You do it with the solar power satellite (SPS), a concept invented by Peter Glaser in 1968. The idea is simple: You build large assemblages of solar cells in space, where they convert sunlight into electricity and beam it to receiving stations on the ground.

The solar power satellite is the ultimate clean energy source. It doesn't burn an ounce of fuel. And a single SPS could deliver five to 10 gigawatts of energy to the ground continually. Consider that the total electrical-generation capacity of the entire state of California is 4.4 gigawatts.

Conservative estimates have shown that an SPS could deliver electricity at a cost to the consumer of eight to 10 cents per kilowatt hour. That's about the same as costs associated with conventional power generation stations. And operating costs would drop as more orbital platforms are constructed and the price of components, such as solar voltaic cells, is reduced. Solar power satellites could lower the average taxpayer's electric bills while providing vastly more electricity.

They would be big -- a mile or more across. Building them in space would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one: We already know how to construct the International Space Station, which is about the size of a football field. And the SPS doesn't require any new inventions. We have the technology at hand.

Basically, an SPS needs solar voltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity and microwave transmitters to beam the energy to the ground. We've been using solar cells to power spacecraft since the 1950s. Solar cells are in our pocket calculators, wristwatches and other everyday gadgetry. You can buy them over the Internet. Microwave transmitters are also a well-developed technology. There's one in almost every kitchen in the nation, in the heart of our microwave ovens.

Some people worry about beaming gigawatts of microwave energy to the ground. But the microwave beams would be spread over a wide area, so they wouldn't be intense enough to harm anyone. Birds could fly through the thinly spread beams without harm. Nevertheless, it would be best for the receiving stations to be set up in unpopulated areas. The deserts of the American Southwest would be an ideal location. You could gain votes in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California!

It's ironic, but when solar power satellites become commonplace, the desert wastes of the Sahara and the Middle East could become important energy centers even after the last drop of oil has been pumped out of them. SPS receiving stations could also be built on platforms at sea; Japan has already looked into that possibility.

I admit, solar power satellites won't be cheap. Constructing one would cost about as much as building a nuclear power plant: on the order of $1 billion. That money, though, needn't come from the taxpayers; it could be raised by the private capital market. Oil companies invest that kind of money every year in exploring for new oil fields. But the risk involved in building an SPS, as with any space operation, is considerable, and it could be many years or even decades before an investment begins to pay off. So how can we get private investors to put their money into solar power satellites?

This nation tackled a similar situation about a century ago, when faced with building big hydroelectric dams. Those dams were on the cutting edge of technology at the time, and they were risky endeavors that required hefty funding. The Hoover Dam, the Grand Coulee Dam and others were built with private investment -- backed by long-term, low-interest loans guaranteed by the U.S. government. They changed the face of the American West, providing irrigation water and electrical power that stimulated enormous economic growth. Phoenix and Las Vegas wouldn't be on the map except for those dams.

Solar power satellites could be funded through the same sort of government-backed loans. Washington has made such loan guarantees in the past to help troubled corporations such as Chrysler and Lockheed. Why not use the same technique to encourage private investment in solar power satellites? If we can bail out Wall Street, why not spend a fraction of that money to light up Main Street?

What's more, a vigorous SPS program would provide a viable market for private companies, such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, that are developing rocket launchers. Like most new industries, these companies are caught in a conundrum: They need a market that offers a payoff, but no market will materialize until they can prove that their product works. The fledgling aircraft industry faced this dilemma in the 1920s. The federal government helped provide a market by giving it contracts to deliver mail by air, which eventually led to today's commercial airline industry.

A vigorous SPS program could provide the market that the newborn private space-launch industry needs. And remember, a rocket launcher that can put people and payloads into orbit profitably can also fly people and cargo across the Earth at hypersonic speed. Anywhere on Earth can be less than an hour's flight away. That's a market worth trillions of dollars a year.

It will take foresight and leadership to start a solar power satellite program. That's why, Mr. Future President, I believe that you should make it NASA's primary goal to build and operate a demonstration model SPS, sized to deliver a reasonably impressive amount of electrical power -- say, 10 to 100 megawatts -- before the end of your second term. Such a demonstration would prove that full-scale solar power satellites are achievable. With federal loan guarantees, private financing could then take over and build satellites that would deliver the gigawatts we need to lower our imports of foreign oil and begin to move away from fossil fuels.

I know that scientists and academics will howl in protest. They want to explore the universe and don't care about oil prices or building new industries. But remember, they howled against the Apollo program, too. They wanted the money for their projects, not to send a handful of fighter jocks to the moon. What they failed to see was that Apollo produced the technology and the trained teams of people that have allowed us to reach every planet in the solar system.

A vigorous SPS program will also produce the infrastructure that will send human explorers back to the moon and on to Mars and beyond. It could also spur young students' interest in space, science and cutting-edge technology.

Americans are a frontier people at heart. We have a frontier that begins a scant hundred miles overhead and contains more riches of energy and raw materials than the entire Earth can provide. Mr. Future President, if we use these resources wisely, we can assure prosperity and peace for the world -- and you have the opportunity to write your name in capital letters across the skies.

Ben Bova is president emeritus of the National Space Society and the author of nearly 120 nonfiction books and futuristic novels, including "Powersat," a novel about building the first solar power satellite.

Chaos in our world...

2008-10-08T10:50:00.002-04:00

An opinion in the NYT this morning struck me. It hit at my heart because it makes me realize that chaos is all around, at all times. The financial markets drudge through some of the toughest financial times we've ever experienced yet nature and the world still move along as though nothing has changed. We create most of these challenging times, they exist in our minds. We have built the financial skyscrapers of the world because we have desired growth and stimulation.

As humans we are challenged every single day by not only the changes in the world but also by our understanding of who we are. Our 401k money drops in value and we get a pain of stress in our spine as we realize that who we thought we were " x number of dollars " is actually different now, we are now " less x number of dollars "

In a lot of ways we create our our pain, and to add to the mess it's fed to us through the media because we crave it...we want to feel the pain....as a society of course...you individually may very well hate the pain.

I would be willing to bet on this hypothesis. "If you don't have money in the markets right now how are you feeling about this turmoil?" I would be willing to bet that 75% of respondents are happy this is happening, almost like a "cleansing" If you don't have ties to the market, (which is most unlikely because almost everything is tied to the market) you could truly take a non bias approach....I wonder how many of us are able to do that.

Ok, I don't know exactly where I've gone with these thoughts but I have a suspicion that investor psychology plays such a larger part of our markets. Every decision we make is funneled through the vicintine conduit of our brains. It's all filtered through our past experiences, current circumstances and the deep seated history of ourselves....what does this mean for our world markets?

BLAh BLah BLAH, if you're still reading I commend you...and I reward you with the opinion piece from the NYT - here is the link

The Human Season Editorial: The Rural Life

Space Based Solar UPDATES

2008-09-30T19:37:00.000-04:00

This is from the NSS website -

Advantages of Space Solar Power

Unlike oil, gas, ethanol, and coal plants, space solar power does not emit greenhouse gases.
Unlike coal and nuclear plants, space solar power does not compete for or depend upon increasingly scarce fresh water resources.
Unlike bio-ethanol or bio-diesel, space solar power does not compete for increasingly valuable farm land or depend on natural-gas-derived fertilizer. Food can continue to be a major export instead of a fuel provider.
Unlike nuclear power plants, space solar power will not produce hazardous waste, which needs to be stored and guarded for hundreds of years.
Unlike terrestrial solar and wind power plants, space solar power is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in huge quantities. It works regardless of cloud cover, daylight, or wind speed.
Unlike nuclear power plants, space solar power does not provide easy targets for terrorists.
Unlike coal and nuclear fuels, space solar power does not require environmentally problematic mining operations.
Space solar power will provide true energy independence for the nations that develop it, eliminating a major source of national competition for limited Earth-based energy resources.
Space solar power will not require dependence on unstable or hostile foreign oil providers to meet energy needs, enabling us to expend resources in other ways.
Space solar power can be exported to virtually any place in the world, and its energy can be converted for local needs — such as manufacture of methanol for use in places like rural India where there are no electric power grids. Space solar power can also be used for desalination of sea water.
Space solar power can take advantage of our current and historic investment in aerospace expertise to expand employment opportunities in solving the difficult problems of energy security and climate change.
Space solar power can provide a market large enough to develop the low-cost space transportation system that is required for its deployment. This, in turn, will also bring the resources of the solar system within economic reach.

Disadvantages of Space Solar Power

High development cost. Yes, space solar power development costs will be very large, although much smaller than American military presence in the Persian Gulf or the costs of global warming, climate change, or carbon sequestration. The cost of space solar power development always needs to be compared to the cost of not developing space solar power.

Requirements for Space Solar Power

The technologies and infrastructure required to make space solar power feasible include:

Low-cost, environmentally-friendly launch vehicles. Current launch vehicles are too expensive, and at high launch rates may pose atmospheric pollution problems of their own. Cheaper, cleaner launch vehicles are needed.
Large scale in-orbit construction and operations. To gather massive quantities of energy, solar power satellites must be large, far larger than the International Space Station (ISS), the largest spacecraft built to date. Fortunately, solar power satellites will be simpler than the ISS as they will consist of many identical parts.
Power transmission. A relatively small effort is also necessary to assess how to best transmit power from satellites to the Earth’s surface with minimal environmental impact.

All of these technologies are reasonably near-term and have multiple attractive approaches. However, a great deal of work is needed to bring them to practical fruition.

Wonderjam 08

2008-09-25T13:37:00.002-04:00

Check out out the upcoming Wonderjam Festival in Lincoln. If you're interested in Music, Peace, Alternative Energy or Art you'll have a blast.

Wonderjam.org

Space Based Solar Power

2008-09-24T10:34:00.002-04:00

How would that work?

Well....the pieces are coming together to make this seemingly science fiction become a possible reality. Here's how it would work.

Solar Panels based in orbit would extract energy from the sun's radiation and would transmit that energy wirelessly to energy satellites on earth. We already power a huge telecommunications network in orbit by using solar panels and not to mention satellite TV and radio. The only real challenge is being able to get that power to Earth.

Recently two pieces of news crossed the wires that are pointing to our abilities to harvest solar power in space.

# 1 - The National Space Society announced a week ago that it successfully sent a wireless transmission of power across two Hawaii Islands.

The project demonstrated wireless power transmission between two Hawaiian islands 148 kilometers apart, more than the distance from the surface of Earth to the boundary of space. Read More here

# 2 - Japan is hosting a conference in November to discuss a timetable for building a space elevator made of nano materials that could hoist solar power transmitters into space easily. This is a huge step toward a real science fiction type idea.

In the carriages, the scientists behind the idea told The Times, could be any number of cargoes. A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy — perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle. Read more here

Someone has already taken the time to create a youtube video showing the possibilities.

Oil Prices Drop?

2008-09-09T17:28:00.008-04:00

*** Update...OPEC Cut production by 520,000 barrels to prop up pricing. This was announced early Wednesday morning...contrary to new on Tuesday....

Original Post

______________

LOOK OUT BELOW!!!

Here's the scoop folks....Oil has not dropped because of the lifted moratorium on Off Shore Drilling... it's dropped because our demand for the black gold has dropped substantially...in fact we're in line to reduce consumption for the first time since 1991.

My point in stirring this pot on a seemingly happy set of news is that we shouldn't go running for the F-150's...in fact we're in a period of decline in demand but in the long haul we'll be faced with another Oil Shock, and it won't be as easy as this last one.

300 dollar oil is in our future folks, and if you're not preparing for it...at least in the mental sense you should..

Opec controls the world of Oil - production and output, and they are the most obvious place to look when prices decline...this is the news from Opec today -

OPEC oil ministers will likely decide to keep output at present levels, the group's president said Tuesday, suggesting that most members could accept prices at $100 a barrel.

Ministers of the 13-nation organization are expected to make a formal decision on what to do about production amid rapidly falling prices when they meet later Tuesday for consultations likely to last into early Wednesday.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil's comments, however, indicate that most members would rather accept less-costly crude than cut back and risk renewing the market turmoil that in recent months set one price record after another.

"We will probably stay at the (present) level," Khelil told reporters.

Doesn't this seem fishy to anyone? "Will probably stay at present levels?" and...they "would rather accept less costly crude than cut back and risk renewing the market turnmoil." Seems like Opec is rather happy with our current situation....

I don't know about you but I want to get off the black gold soooo bad!

Heat Pumps and Solar Hot Water

2008-08-13T10:56:00.004-04:00

Well, Crude Oil costs have declined, in fact they've dropped significantly over the past month. We're now hovering near $113. For an exact figure look to the right >>>>

Honestly I wouldn't go jumping for joy...America has moved into a conservative mode in terms of gasoline usage. Rising gas and food prices have shifted us into a different mind set. Do we really need to make that extra trip? Can we car pool to work? This way of thinking has translated into a strong decline in gasoline usage. In fact if we keep it up this will be the first year since 1999 that our yearly gas usage has declined.

So, the question arrises...should we stop worrying? Should we go out and splurge on that F150 truck? You know..the one with the 0% financing, 6K in rebates and 12 MPGS?

The answer is NO! Don't take this move downward as a sign post of things to come. Yes, gas prices might stay flat for the rest of the year but as demand continues upward and China's factories come back on line in September (they have been shut down due to the Olympics), demand will surge again.

So, take the opportunity now to wean yourself off of the black gold...and, here are two products you can take a look at for your home.

Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water from Apricus
These folks make their product in Mass and it looks like a great option for Hot Water...

Each evacuated tube consists of two glass tubes made from extremely strong borosilicate glass. The outer tube is transparent allowing light rays to pass through with minimal reflection. The inner tube is coated with a special selective coating (Al-N/Al) which features excellent solar radiation absorption and minimal reflection properties. The top of the two tubes are fused together and the air contained in the space between the two layers of glass is pumped out while exposing the tube to high temperatures. This "evacuation" of the gasses forms a vacuum, which is an important factor in the performance of the evacuated tubes.

Another is the Hallowell Acadia Heat Pump manufactured right in Bangor Maine!

The concept behind Acadia™ is relatively simple. A traditional air source heat pump is primarily designed as an air conditioner with a secondary function of heating. This means that below freezing conditions these systems require supplemental heat, which is typically inefficient electric elements or a secondary fossil fuel system, to make up the loss of capacity. These back up systems have given heat pumps a bad name.

This is not the case with the Acadia™ system. The system uses the patented boosted compression process, known as Opti-Cycle™, which employs a unique two-stage primary compressor, a series booster compressor and a liquid economizer for maximum heat absorption during any condition.

Above 30°, the system uses only the primary compressor. We use the Bristol Twin Single™ compressor which gives us two stages of output from the primary compressor. The Twin Single compressor has the ability to provide 50% or 100% capacity. For example, a 3 ton compressor could provide either 1.5 or 3 tons depending on the mode of operation.

Reasons to choose the Acadia™:

Savings: Using efficient technology has never been so cost effective. Electricity is the most price stable form of energy available today and, with the volatile fossil fuel market, homeowners are looking to electricity to provide reliable and predictable heating and cooling costs. Efficiency is the key to saving money and the Acadia™ operates at efficiencies from 200%-400% throughout its operating range.

So, there ya go, two options to invest in for home heating...please let us know what your thoughts are on these products.

Climate Change Skeptics

2008-08-12T14:58:00.004-04:00

This morning while listening to the Voice of Maine I heard Ric Tyler tell his audience that Al Gore is a fraud and that he has scammed the American people with his global warming propaganda.

It's frustrating how easy it can be for skeptics to shun the issue of climate change.

The truth is that there has been countless research done by the world's top scientists, it's been peer reviewed and revised back and forth for the past 25 years. And, even though the majority of this research shows YES, humans are affecting Earth's climate negatively, almost nothing has been done on a global level to combat the problem.

Why do you think this is? Are people afraid of change? Of course we are! As a species we've become accustomed to our way of life. We've been fed the idea that we can have whatever we want, whenever we want it. Our society promotes consumption through the idea that resources are limitless. Wall Street and the Government demands consumption for the growth of our economy. And, in the case of anything changing, the whole understanding of who we are comes into question.

Does Ric Tyler has the right to say that he doesn't believe in global warming? Sure he does, but who is going to take the lead for change in this country?

Who is going to finally recognize the problem as real and then lead us into changing it? Well...the answer is YOU! You and me, and everyone else who sees this problem emerging has the opportunity to change and shift into a more sustainable lifestyle.

Think about the things you do, the things you eat, the electricity you use. It all matters, and if you think it doesn't than you might as well believe that you're a worthless cog in the machine. Every one of us is an important part of the whole and we can make a difference. Start with your mind, expand your knowledge of the world and climate change, shake up the "status quo." Demand that your radio talk show host explain why he/she believes that global warming is a hoax! I did.... (see below)

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Joe wrote:

Hey Ric - well, since the majority of evidence clearly points toward climate change due to human actions over the past 100 years (primarily due to the industrial revolution and increased CO2 emissions), maybe you should try to explain to me and your listeners why YOU are a skeptic....you do realize that you're in the minority, right?

Check this out for a look at some data in a form you'll understand.
http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov/ClimateTimeMachine/climateTimeMachine.cfm

Joe

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 9:43 AM, Tyler, Ric wrote:

Joe --

Good to hear from you!

As to Global Warming NOT being a scam -- um -- can you prove global warming to me?

Home Heating Oil Program

2008-07-28T12:50:00.003-04:00

The Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program has delivered millions of gallons of discount home heating oil to poor and elderly households in Massachusetts and other cold weather states since 1979. This unique program helps protect needy families from volatile heating oil prices, which often leave households having to choose between heating Link to Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program

our National Debt...terrifying

2008-07-23T15:52:00.002-04:00

National Debt as % of GDP. see also: (Source)

In 1981 the gross national debt, compared to the nation's annual income, reached its lowest point since 1931. Despite his claim to hate the debt, Reagan instituted unprecedented peacetime deficit spending. This is not partisan politics, this is straight off the White House web site.

As the graph shows, Bush II repeated Reagan's performance and turned the debt upward again. Bush II's own Office of Management and Budget provides all the data. [from Zfacts.com]

MaineRenewables.com

2008-07-22T09:18:00.005-04:00

Since I have strong readership within the state of Maine (my home state) I decided to work on a new online community for the state - MaineRenewables.com

It's an online marketplace and forum for Mainers to purchase and sell renewable energy sources. Wood, Pellets, Solar and Wind. I also intend to include info on Geo-Thermal energy in the future.

From the classifieds you can search for or sell cord wood, pellets, solar equipment or services and wind equipment or services.

In the discussions there are a range of topics focused on important issues within the state.

If you have feedback I would love to hear it and please feel free to post a classifieds listing if you have something for sale.

Peak Oil - how will you ride the slide?

2008-07-21T09:37:00.005-04:00

Don't let this past week's slide in crude oil prices fool you....we still have the basic economics of supply and demand staring us right in the face.

This is from the EIA and it's not a list we should be happy about being on top of....

Matt Simmons - Peak Oil Whistle Blower

2008-07-21T09:30:00.004-04:00

according to Matt Simmons we're there....he takes an utterly pessimistic view on the future of Oil Supply & Demand.

Take a look at these when you have a moment...July 10th - Fast Money

And, he was talking about this way back in early 2007 with Bloomberg

And, he has all of his recent presentations on this website.

Boone Pickens

2008-07-15T16:18:00.006-04:00

well....you've probably already been hit with the pickensplan.com media push....if you haven't you'll probably see something soon, especially if you're at all interested in whats going on in the world...and if you've been reading this blog you heard about this plan back in April when Boone was speaking with Bloomberg on their CEO spotlight....

here is a vid from pickensplan.com

e-commerce good for the environment?

2008-07-14T10:55:00.004-04:00

Well, I just finished up a class here at the University of Maine on Electronic Commerce and completed a research paper on it's affect on the environment.

If you'd like to read it you can download a copy here... link

Enjoy and please let me know what you think about my findings...

Thanks!
Joe

The future of Energy = Wind and Solar

2008-07-10T16:10:00.006-04:00

...point blank, period, zilch, done, nothing else to be said here.... ok, well I'll say a bit more to prove my point.

We've been using the sun FOREVER!!! I don't mean like 25 yrs ago when the first solar panels started to make their way onto old hippies houses in California...I mean FOREVER.

The Oil we're using right now is actually a form of sunshine from millions of years ago. That sunshine fueled plants, pre-historic animals and everything else that equates to what we call Crude Oil today.... we're using the sun of the past!

Why can't we harness the sun's energy right now to a larger extent?? Well....WE CAN! and, even better....WE WILL!

Solar will have pricing parity with coal generated electricity by around 2012. This means that the technology will get to a point where providers of electricity will pay about the same for Solar technology vs Coal fired technology.

And, as a homeowner or business owner, solar technology will have a much smaller upfront capital investment. Not to mention the long term savings of not paying someone to pipe electricity to your home!

The powers that control our world are scrambling to figure out how to tax us for Solar...the sun comes to all of us, free of charge....embrace it, it is our future! Wanna learn more about do it yourself Solar Projects? click here for Builditsolar.com

And, wind is already nearing pricing parity and we're seeing it with the increased approval and development of Wind projects all over the US.

And, the cost of good ol' crude is not gonna be going back down anytime soon...if ever.

Wind is a form of Solar Power???

2008-07-08T09:56:00.002-04:00

I guess I didn't know this but again it shows that the Sun is the ultimate energy source...

From CNBC....

Wind energy is actually a form of solar energy, created by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. Hot air rises, replaced by cooler air, resulting in wind. Since air has mass, wind — air in motion — has kinetic energy, which is transformed by some form of windmill. This can be either mechanical (think of windmills in the Western states used to pump up water or to grind grain) or electrical energy, in more modern wind farms.

Even with erratic federal and state subsidies, wind capacity in the US has blossomed from 2,500 megawatts in 2000 to more than 18,000 megawatts now — enough to serve 5 million homes. With more consistent support in recent years, the pace of new installation capacity has increased, and wind is becoming an increasingly more important part of the country’s energy mix.

In 2007, 5,200 megawatts of new wind capacity was added in the US — 30 percent of all new electricity generation for that year. In 2002, wind's share of that equation was just 1 percent. The US led the world in new wind generation for the third year in a row in 2007, followed by Spain and China. In the first quarter of 2008, $3 billion was invested, adding another 1,4000 megawatts (serving 400,000 homes).

Despite break-neck growth rates, wind still represents about 1 percent of US electricity supply, but the Department of Energy estimates it could reach 20 percent by 2020. North Dakota alone could supply one-fourth of the country’s demand if there were enough transmission lines. Realizing this potential depends on consistent policy support, including the production tax credit. It will also require significant construction — and non-discriminatory access — of new transmission lines.

The Smart Grid

2008-07-02T22:16:00.005-04:00

It's becoming more and more obvious how big of a role transmission lines and "the grid" will play a part in the green energy movement. If we don't have the ability to send these new forms of energy into the areas they are needed we're going to face an even larger problem down the road when new forms of electricity generation, specifically wind, are implemented on a mass scale.

The new power grid commonly termed the "smart grid" is amassing a growing community of state officials, business professionals and scientists who have been working on the ideas that will hopefully develop into the next generation power grid.

Today we have a criss cross of power lines across the nation creating a puzzle of interconnected parts.

Here is the Wikipedia entry on the difference between today's grid and tomorrows...

The electrical grid is an interconnected system of power plants, power lines, wires, etc. moving and delivering electricity from power plants to end users. Also referred to as a transmission and distribution (T&D) network, today’s grid faces challenges to keep pace with the modern digital economy and information age, which require higher load demands, uninterruptible power supplies, and other high-quality, high-value services. Additionally, microprocessor-based technologies can alter the nature of the electrical load and result in electricity demand that is incompatible with a power system that was built to serve an “analog economy.” This can lead to electric service reliability problems, power quality disturbances, blackouts, and brownouts. However rapid advances in communications and information technology now provide electric utilities with opportunities to invest in critical grid infrastructure that can serve the growing demand for high quality, “digital-grade electricity.”^[2]

Simply put, Smart Grid is the application of communications and Information Technology(IT) to the electric power transmission and distribution networks themselves. Smart grid is more than smart meters, which entails replacing analog mechanical meters with digital meters. Smart meters are transformed when connected to a real-time, broadband and Internet-enabled Smart Grid that extends from the generation plants to each electrical outlet (smart sockets) or device attached to the grid.

Think of it like internet technology and networking being utilized for our power grid. In the same way that each and every "node" is a piece of the network, each and everyone of our power sockets in our home will essentially play a part in the grid.

The implications of this are far reaching. We could get to a point where someone with windmills in his backyard could easily provide energy for the local community, in essence becoming his own power company! As well there may be other technologies focused on storing excess energy for use in a peak demand periods.

If you're interested in learning more about this fascinating new technology on the horizon you should subscribe to the smart grid newsletter, it's available at smartgridnews.com

I was stirred up on this topic after reading this article about Maine's transmission lines being inadequete to handle new power generation sources.

speculation in the oil market?

2008-06-23T19:10:00.006-04:00

If you're listening at all to the news these days you're bound to hear a story revolving around oil speculators. The main question floating around out there is whether or not speculators are driving up the price of oil.

From an initial outset of hearing a story like that you might imagine no way! And you may find yourself asking, isn't Wall Street smart enough to understand whether or not they are artificially affecting the price of the world's most important commodity???

Well, here are some facts to understand before forming your opinion.

Currently on Wall Street we trade daily at least 15 times the entire worldwide demand for oil in one day.

from Bespoke Investments

Anyone can play in the oil market regardless if you're a Nymex Commodity Trader. By using ETF's one can ride or slide on the wave of crude oil prices. The usage of ETF's affects the price of crude oil contracts in not only a monetary but also in a psychological way.

Barrons had a piece in today's paper calling for 100 dollar oil by the end of the year. And, here was an article from last Friday on MarketWatch.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- TrimTabs Investment Research, which tracks assets flows into exchange-traded and other funds, said Thursday oil speculation risked tipping the world economy into financial ruin. TrimTabs backed up its hand-wringing by noting the potential impact of these funds in the futures markets: this year, commodity trading advisors and commodity ETF's have received $2 billion a month. If just half those monthly assets bought oil futures, these would present long positions in 100,000 contracts a month, or about 3% of the open interest in oil futures. "The U.S. is going broke, and the rest of the world is sure to follow," said TrimTabs CEO Charles Biderman. Link

And, while looking through the news I came across this article...it's worth a read if you have the time. "Gas Could Fall to $2 if Congress Acts"

So, just to give you a heads up....pay attention these next couple of weeks. We may see a slide down way under 4 bucks for gasoline and closer to 4 for heating oil.

In the long term time horizon Barrons still maintains that we could very well see 200 dollar oil but that the current trend is looking downward and if congress passes legislation on speculators we could see a dramatic price pullback.

Stay Tuned!

the looming northeast heating oil crisis

2008-06-02T16:22:00.005-04:00

This past winter in the Northeast we were faced with heating oil prices of $3.10-3.75 per gallon before the season was over. This summer heating oil prices have already jumped to $4.50 and there is no sign of stopping.

This blog isn't meant to be alarmist but in these critical times it does not pay to be conservative. If you live in the Northeast you must take steps now to ensure your family's economic safety this winter. We will face prices of close to $6 per gallon of heating oil. This number is not far off and will also be spurred upward by the demand this summer as people start to fill their tanks in preparation.

It would also be immensely wise to consider investing in a wood stove or similar technology. Two cords of wood is equivalent to 200 gal of heating oil in terms of BTU's. Do the calculation for the price of cord wood in your area and you'll see that it's much much cheaper to burn wood. And, as a side note it's also much better for our environment. I recently paid 300 dollars for 2 cords of green wood that will need all summer to dry. If I would have paid for 200 gallons of heating oil I would have paid 900 dollars.

If this isn't troubling then I don't know what is.... I do understand that it's tough to see this right now in the beauty of the summer. Life is blooming again, the weather is great and the last thing on your mind is Heating Oil prices. Fortunately though if you have the foresight this summer to invest in a wood stove, pellet stove, wood boiler or improved insulation in your home your pocket book will thank you next winter.

If you're already on this band wagon, which you may already be since you're reading this blog then please try to spread this message to others. Take the time and help an elderly person evaluate their heating options. Take a Saturday and help someone stack a couple cords of wood. I am new to this state but I can already feel that it's the people that makes this state special. Please do your part and spread this message.

For further research you can use this tool to evaluate the cost differences between cord wood, oil, natural gas, electricity, pellets and coal - Link here

And, if you're looking for a way in which you can fund a home efficiency upgrade please check out the Maine Housing Authority's website

Finally another GREAT resource Mainers all pay for but is seldom used is Efficiency Maine. If you pay an electric bill in this state you pay into this program regardless if you use it. Efficiency Maine is great source for information about energy efficient technologies, heating audits and just general information about state incentives and resources. Efficiency Maine

Stay tuned, there will be more on this topic...

Nuclear Energy

2008-05-30T13:39:00.008-04:00

So, we hear a lot about Nuclear Energy being the next big power source that we'll need to tap. Politicians use it in their stump speeches on energy, stating that it's clean and can provide massive amounts of power. Which is true...Nuclear can provide back-end clean energy for many people across the globe. But, Nuclear is only clean on the back end and only with carbon dioxide emissions. Meaning that it takes a lot of petroleum and energy to develop a nuclear power plant and even though it doesn't emit carbon, it leaves radioactive waste to be dealt with.

The average time from approval to power generation with a nuclear plant is 8 years of construction. Construction that includes tons of concrete, steel, manpower and of course lots and lots of money. The creation of a nuclear plant is in the billions of dollars. And, in the case of a plant needing to be decommissioned the cost of doing so is also in the billions of dollars.

It's funny because we do hear a lot of "nuclear" talk these days, but typically it's the people that want the quick and easy answer, including commentators on CNBC, CNN and other news sources. It's as if nuclear is the ultimate answer to our issues. Truth is that Nuclear takes 2-3 yrs for permit approval and then another 8 yrs of construction.

Ok...I'll admit that I do see the point of nuclear, it solves our energy crisis with a clean energy but come on.....can we really invest our future in a technology that's hazardous to our health and society?

Anyone remember this? On 26 April 1986, reactor # 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, Ukraine, blew up during a routine daily operation. Nearly nine tons of radioactive material - 90 times as much as the Hiroshima bomb - were hurled into the sky. Winds over the following days, mostly blowing north and west, carried, fallout into Belarus, as well as Russia, Poland and the Baltic region.

Chernobyl is the most extensive nuclear problem this world has faced. Many people who were exposed to the radiation either died early deaths, had children with problems or simply gave up on life prematurely due to the problems they would inevitably face down the road.

Here's a picture of Chernobyl today....

My generation only somewhat remembers this incident, not only were we young but this happened on the other side of the globe...of course nothing to this extent could ever happen here right?

Well....lets think about this, the development of nuclear power could also contribute to nuclear proliferation, the spreading of nuclear knowledge, equipment and abilities. This knowledge could inevitably land in the hands of someone who may have bad intentions. In the same way the splitting of the atom is the ultimate power source it is also the ultimate weapon. A weapon we decided to use to our advantage in bombing Japan at the end of World War II.

After six months of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians. Source

I'm not trying to scare you on this Friday afternoon but I would like you to question people when they throw out statements like nuclear is the only answer or, we need to work on nuclear now! Nuclear is not the answer, nor will it ever be.

There are amazing clean energy technologies and advances in Wind and Solar that can power our world without putting ourselves at the risk of nuclear weapons development, human error at the helm of a nuclear reactor, the disposal of radioactive waste and even the possible of the end of civilization.

Finally if you DO want to REALLY get scared today please click on this link and read the most recent findings by US intelligence, I promise this WILL scare you... Article here

how does solar power work anyways???

2008-05-29T15:58:00.004-04:00

Have you ever wondered how solar power actually works? How does energy from the sun get translated into power that you can get from your electric socket at home?

Well here's the scoop from Suntech Power's website...

Sunlight is made up of small particles of energy called photons. Photovoltaic (PV) systems use semi-conducting materials such as silicon to absorb some of these photons and transfer them to electrons. This process is known as the photoelectric effect and it is the basic physical process by which PV cells convert sunlight to electricity. Special electrical properties of the Photovoltaic cell provide the voltage needed to drive the current through an external load (such as a light bulb).

You may have also heard of "thin film" solar technology. It's a bit different than the first generation solar technology. Thin film does not use silicon which is good because silicon is actually the most expensive input on PV cells.

The hot investment money these days is definitely going into thin film technologies because it's proven to be the most cost effective way to harness the sun's power. And, we all know that our habits won't change until the cost of something is on par or less than what we're currently used to paying.

Here are some of the hottest thin film companies out there today...
FirstSolar ticker symbol FSLR
Ascent Solar ticker symbol ASTI
NanoSolar - privately owned at this point but keep your eyes open for their IPO at some point

Others are also getting into this technology including Dupont and Madsar, a large Abu Dhabi company....see the recent news here...

Finally isn't this the ultimate dream? An electric car powered by solar panels on your roof. Bring her home and power her up with the electricity that was generated from the sun all day....it's good to dream about this stuff....it's not too far off!

You can read all about this car and it's owner at this link

Michael Bloomberg is a Smart Man

2008-05-28T16:00:00.005-04:00

here are his comments from the World Science Festival today...

There is a tragic lag between what we know and what we do. For example, in the 1950s, the head of the American Cancer Society and other respected scientists were already linking smoking and cancer. And as early as the 1970s, researchers predicted that increased greenhouse gas production was accelerating global warming, with the potentially catastrophic consequences that are playing out now, all over the world. Yet policy makers failed to heed these warnings. Why? Far too often, it’s because of what I call ‘political science’ – the willingness to disregard or suppress scientific findings when they don’t conform to a pre-determined political agenda.

Read an article from the NY Times here

Boone Pickens Wind Energy Project

2008-05-28T09:28:00.010-04:00

Hey there, by now you've probably heard about Boone Pickens' large scale wind project in the Texas panhandle. He's developing a 2,000 turbine wind energy farm with capacity to generate an output of 4,000 mega watts. The location is Pampa, Texas and Pickens has dubbed it the future "Wind Capital of the World."

What I think is truly amazing is the space in which this project is being developed. Pampa is in the Pink on this Wind resource map of Texas, check it out and then look at how much RED is along our coast lines on the entire US map

Now, it needs to be noted that the cost of developing wind power resources off shore is much higher, but production is also MUCH higher. In Europe, off shore wind projects have been common place. Here are pictures from Windpower.org - the Danish Wind Industry Association.

In the US we have a truly amazing resource right at our finger tips and time will tell if we ever truly embrace it. If you'd like to invest in this sector I would like to point you to a few options.

First, GE is a huge player in this space. GE is the company that got the order from Boone Pickens and you can imagine that they will continue to grow in this field. GE for me is a long term buy.

Second, Jim Cramer recently made this statement in his NY Post blog regarding Wind if a Democrat is in the office next November.

In wind, there’s only one pure play right now, Broadwind (BWEN), which I think could double over the next eighteen months on a surge in orders under a Democrat. It’s an unseasoned player, but with the Department of Energy predicting that there could be $40 billion spent on wind by 2030, when it projects 20 percent of our energy will be wind-based, Broadwind’s worth the speculation. Link to blog

And, if you're not willing to put your money in specific companies you might want to look at two ETF's. The PBW is a great option for a wide range of clean energy investments or the TAN which specifically is invested in Solar Technologies.

This IS the time to invest....before the shift

Map of Sustainable Energy

2008-05-27T10:28:00.005-04:00

After having a conversation about Solar and also learning that Maine's coast is considered one of the "Saudia Arabias" of wind, I was determined this morning to find a reputable map that outlines both of these sources of energy in the US.

The first map is Solar.....you can see the majority of solar power can be derived from the Southwest. I do find it interesting though that the same amounts of energy
can be derived from the sun in Madison,
Wisconsin and Orono, Maine...for example.

And, here is a wind map for Maine, like I mentioned above I learned this weekend that Maine's coast is considered one of the largest wind resources in the US.

If you'd like to see what the entire US map looks like check out this link to the US Dept of Energy

It's amazing to imagine the amount of energy that we can derive in a sustainable fashion from the Earth. Environmental Florida recently put out a study that showed some amazing results.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has identified the potential for more than 7,000 gigawatts (GW) of concentrating solar power generation on lands in the southwestern United States alone - more than six times current U.S. electricity consumption. Other areas of the United States, such as Florida, the mountain west, and the Great Plains can also generate significant power from the sun. Link

And regarding Maine's wind resource, Governor Baldacci has been a strong proponent of developing sustainable energy resources for use in Maine and recently his task force released these findings.

Following months of analysis and study, the Task Force on Wind Power Development in Maine has unanimously approved this report concluding that each of the goals established by Governor Baldacci can be achieved: Maine can become a leader in wind power development, while protecting Maine's quality of place and natural resources, and delivering meaningful benefits to our economy, environment, and Maine people. Achieving all three of these goals simultaneously, however, will require careful planning and balanced decision-making.

Maine has a significant wind resource that can be tapped to provide clean, indigenous renewable power that will not produce greenhouse gas emissions or other air pollution, and that will increase the reliability of the region's electricity supply. After a detailed review of Maine's wind resource, regional and projected markets for clean power, technology trends, and Maine's greenhouse gas emission goals and policy commitments, the Task Force concludes that Maine should seek to host at least 2,000 megawatts (MW) of installed wind power capacity by 2015, and at least 3,000 MW by 2020. The Task Force believes that at least 300 MW of the 2020 goal could be achieved with projects built offshore. Link

More to come.....

Global Peace Index

2008-05-20T17:30:00.003-04:00

this is an interesting take on Global Peace done by a "vision of humanity"

The US placed 97th which is hardly surprising given our fear based government

Iceland scored # 1 and not coincidentally Iceland also was named the Happiest Place on Earth by the World Database of Happiness...read the Economist article here

UPDATED VORTEX FUEL SAVER RESULTS

2008-05-13T09:48:00.003-04:00

update # 2

It has been pointed out to me that I've shown a 39% increase from my initial results. My first tank should NOT be counted towards the new MPG number, so my new average of 32 (31.5 + 32.5/2) is an increase of 9 MPG, not 5. This represents an increase of over 39%, not 20%.

So, if my increase has been 39% that verifies a savings of $1.46 per gallon.

Yesterday I filled up again - 9.49 gallons of gas produced 310 miles = 32.66 mpgs

This is with a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 Manual 5 Speed. Other similar results have been found with other users. For example see this blogger who is testing the product in California Link

I am still looking to do a smog test on my car but unfortunately my county in Maine does not have a smog test requirement for our yearly inspection.

I will keep you posted. Also, if you'd like to talk with me regarding this feel free to skype me at joepater6 and we can discuss.

Vortex Fuel Saver Update!

2008-05-08T12:58:00.007-04:00

well, I am now 3 fill ups into using my new Vortex Fuel Saver and I must say that I am impressed. I have seen an increase to 32 MPGS!

On my first fill up I didn't see any changes, and at first I was very skeptical. Plenty of my friends and even my mechanic who installed the fuel saver thought it was probably snake oil. Well, my second fill up I saw a major jump, and I averaged 31.5 mpgs. The second fill up was even better, I averaged 32.5 mpgs.

I am happy to say that the product is working....I haven't been able to check emissions but I am confident that my hydrocarbons have most likely gone down.

The Vortex Fuel Saver uses magnets that attach to the air inlet hose, gas lines and coolant hose. Check out this youtube to see it in action.

If you are interested in more info or even buying one send me a message.

ANWR is not the answer!

2008-05-06T13:59:00.004-04:00

drilling in ANWR is not the answer at all.

By most estimates ANWR would add close to 1 million barrels per day into the supply of crude oil. The US currently uses 20.6 million barrels a day out of the total worldwide consumption of 85 million barrels. http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html

Adding 1 extra million barrels a day will hardly make a dent in the oil crisis that the US is facing. As well drilling in ANWR would take 4 years to get up and running and would take until 2020 to get to peak production. Is ANWR a worthy investment? No, it's not. Developing incentives and technology to wean our country off of oil would be a much more sustainable answer.

To complain about ANWR is to not have all of the facts. While this is also an environmental issue and yes many say that all left wing liberals are for environmental protection, this is more of an economic issue. It does not make sense to load billions of dollars into developing drilling in this area when the total amount of oil thought to be located there is approx 5 Billion Barrels.

5 Billion barrels / 1 Million barrels per day = 5000 days. 5000 days is equivalent to 13.7 years. ANWR would provide oil for the US for 13 years!!!!! Are you kidding me? This is a complete waste of resources, technology and money.

We are so stuck thinking about now that we forget about tomorrow....

Boone Pickens on Bloomberg

2008-04-29T20:23:00.004-04:00

Mr. Pickens was on the CEO Spotlight on Bloomberg.com today. Rhona Shaffler had a great interview with the Energy guru....

I picked up some of the really interesting thoughts he had....

"price will go up until demand is met"

he's amused by politicians who claim we should bring down prices. what they don't realize is that by doing so we will stimulate demand. the only way demand will slow is with higher prices. As we lower prices we encourage more use and therefore see even more rising prices.

We ship 6 hundred billion dollars overseas for oil a year, and in his opinion most goes to the enemy, therefore, we're paying for the war against us...

He says as a country we practice "never mind the cost, send us the oil"

Exxon is 3% of the 85mil barrels a day, getting them to come to congress and talk about pricing is absurd..

He also talks about being deep into wind energy investments and he thinks it's a partial solution to our problems.

70% of oil that's produced goes into transportation, if we could move natural gas into transportation and replace it's electrical energy demand with wind power we would see a deduction of 38% in oil imports, that's a big number Pickens says...

He's got a 10 billion dollar wind project to be started in 2010 and finished in 2014, the first phase of that project will cost 2 billion dollars.

Pickens also mentions his prediction a few months ago when he stated oil would drop to 60 bucks, then he talks about his shift from short to long, and he even gets nervous!!!!!!! (notice the itch) He also says he lost a lot of money, and now he is long...

"i missed it"

Aptera - 120 MPC!!!!

2008-04-28T13:51:00.005-04:00

you've gotta check out this review of the Aptera up on Popular Mechanics, this plug-in electric car gets 120 miles per charge and it's slated for release at the end of this year. cost is going to be around 30K

And, they're working on a second "hybrid" edition that should get close to 300 MPC's!!!

These cars can travel up to 90 mph as well....wild

see more here

Can we change our impact on the world?

2008-04-17T14:59:00.000-04:00

The answer is yes. We can change our impact on the world by becoming conscious of our own personal consumption. As a society we are sick, we're totally focused and obsessed with consumption. And it's no wonder how we got to this point. The industrial revolution a century ago put us in a place where we could consume more and become less dependent on the land and people around us. We viewed this as a good thing; in essence we were "spreading" our risk. Then the technological revolution 10 years ago opened up the door to globalization and even more consumption. Now we can order online and ship anything right to our door. In the last 120 years we have created a culture of more more more. While our grandparents and even our parents may be conservative and careful with their usage of resources, our generation has been sold the idea that we can have whatever we want, whenever we want it. And, while this idea may be true it's actually becoming the cause of the issues our planet is facing.

This brings us to my idea. I want to invite you to become conscious in your life. Wake up to the idea that you are connected to everyone and everything else. At the most basic level of our physical state we are all made of the same thing and in all reality we are one. When you feel the need to buy something or use a disposable resource like a styrofoam cup take a step back and analyze yourself. Are you consuming just to consume? Are you addicted to the feeling of consumption? The more you can become aware of your place in the world you'll find that you can make a difference. Start within your own life, don't worry about anyone else. The shift is going to require a sustained effort from everyone at the personal level. There is a self-sustainable future looming in the shadows, choose within yourself to become conscious and lets see if we can make it happen.

Crude Oil hit's $115 today...

2008-04-16T14:58:00.005-04:00

it's no joke anymore.....wait, was it ever a joke?

President Bush revised his stance on global warming today by proposing that the US stop it's growth of Green House Gas Emissions by the year 2025. It seems awfully convenient that Mr. Bush would make this statement at the end of an 8 yr term when crude oil costs have quadrupled in this time frame. (yes, they seriously have quadrupled)
He is not ready to say that the US should adopt a market based approach to force the emitters of greenhouse gases to pay for their emissions (widely known as a "cap and trade" policy) but he is finally admitting to that being an option.

We are so far behind the curve....read more here

Vortex Fuel Saver

2008-04-13T21:17:00.001-04:00

I am having this installed on my 2001 Ford Focus tomorrow - http://vortexfuelsaver.com/

Here are my five most recent fill ups - I started very close to E on the first fill-up

3/12 - 10.8 gal - started "trip" odometer at 0
3/20 - 9.81 gal
3/27 - 8.61 gal
3/31 - 8.27 gal
4/7 - 10.67 gal - at this point the "trip" odometer was at 1,055.1 miles
4/11 - 9.29 gal - 1,321.1 miles

So, over the course of these 6 fill ups I have the following

57.45 gallons
1,321.1 miles
= 23 miles per gallon which is a bit less than the 25 city and 32 highway I should be getting according to fueleconomy.gov

I do know that my snow tires are playing a part in the mpg's and the cold weather as well. I will keep my snow tires on for another 3 weeks and it should be about the same temp over this course of time as well.

I will post every fill up I make here - we'll see if this product does it's job as it claims.

does jim cramer affect our global economy?

2008-04-11T19:18:00.002-04:00

in my opinion he is a huge advocate of growing worldwide consumption rates
of course he's really just a market player in the entire realm of things, but the way in which he's able to influence his audience is an amazing one.

i wonder what would happen if jim used his voice to help start moving investment money towards cleaner and more sustainable investments

don't get me wrong, i respect the guy, big time...and i've watched/listened to his show for a few years now, (not religiously but when he is on i am always listening to what he's saying) i don't always agree....but i definitely listen

so, I'm wondering....can someone out there please ask jim to open up his mind to the huge possibilities of wealth creation that's out there in clean energy and global sustainable business?

wilkins ice shelf

2008-04-09T08:55:00.002-04:00

The wilkins ice shelf is close to breaking away from antartica. this "thin strip" of ice is the size of Coneticut. Pretty wild stuff....this would be the seventh ice shelf in the region to collapse in the past 30 years. The Larsen B ice shelf, which disappeared in a month's time in 2002, is the best known.

The Wilkins Ice is hanging by a thread and scientists should know it's fate within the next couple of weeks.....

Earth Hour

2008-03-28T12:29:00.000-04:00

thought this was cool ---

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

Earth Hour en Español

Learn about Earth Hour events around the world.

the changing world, where are the investment opportunities?

2008-03-27T10:23:00.006-04:00

this is an email to my friend Joe re: his recent investment in the SPY and AGG

Hey Joe, regarding the stock market you picked a great time to get started, you probably bought near the bottom, the spy is a great overall market tool...you'll get complete access to the entire market...it's a great place to get invested near a bottom too because it covers it all...and the AGG is a good pick too, it's a bond play that diversifies your holdings...I like what you have thus far and you will see long term growth but you're also not taking on much risk...

honestly you may want to shun risk, from one point of view you may not be willing to weather the possibility of loss, from another point it could be possible you don't want to put this money at risk. first I would try to understand your goals for this money....obviously you picked limited risk investment tools in the agg and spy, and these are very safe places to put money into the market. moving forward I would not remove that money, and would continue to invest 20-40% of your savings into these two tools.

if you are willing to take on more risk being that you're young and have a steady job there are some really strong long and short term opps in the stock market. and, while looking at the industries I will mention you also have the choice of investing in the specific stocks I will name OR, you can invest in an ETF that tracks the entire sector or a set of companies from a specific sector....therefore you get automatic diversification. the prospective gains will be less with an ETF but an ETF is much safer.

if you invest in individual stocks you risk the possibility that the company could go out of business or maybe have a hard time in their market. this is more of an issue in small or mid cap stocks.... (small mid and large cap refers to market capitalization which is a calculation of the number of outstanding shares, or the number of publicly owned shares x the price of the stock) the larger the number theoretically the less risk involved....some of the biggest market cap companies are exxon mobile, microsoft, ge, ford, etc.."blue chips"

So, maybe you want to look at a couple large cap companies, maybe it's a company you like, maybe it's something you see as growing.

besides large cap there are a number of small cap stocks that have huge potential gains over the next few years....one sector of which is clean energy, solar, wind and other forms of energy that wont depend on oil. there will be a big shift towards these technologies over the next few years....it's almost a 100% guarantee that can be cited with news in climate change, the upcoming presidential election, the US role in the global economy, our dependence on the middle east, the cost of alt energies becoming "on par" with oil based energy, and even President Bush saying multiple times over the past 3 years that we must "get off oil."

the huge amount of money we spend on oil is going to go somewhere, and there is a huge opportunity ahead of us if you can position yourself on this upcoming wave. it can be something as simple as investing in a start up solar or investing in an etf that focuses on clean energy...both tools are available.....

here are some options to research...

ASTI - this is a thin film solar company that will begin production in fall 2008, they are a leading edge innovator in thin films, no longer are solar panels going to be big and bulky, this company (along with a few others) have figured out how to "print" solar panels onto large sheets. they have done this through the use of nano-technology and other innovations....the price of this stock today is around 10 dollars....

FSLR - this company is also a thin film solar company, they have been in production for 4 years now and are very successful, they have had most of their success in Europe and specifically Germany where government incentives make it very easy to purchase and use clean technology. this stock today is around 200 dollars, they are the market leader and the company that is furthest along the line in innovative solar products, they have something like 1 billion dollars in booked future business....it's all a matter of increasing production...and as production rises of course price will decrease creating demand from businesses and utilities...FSLR does a lot of business with utility companies.

in regard to clean tech ETF's the PBW is the most popular and most cited fund, it works like a stock, you purchase PBW just like anything else you would purchase...I don't know much about other clean tech ETFs but here is a good web article I've read before, it's 2 articles revolving around much of what i've just mentioned....they are older articles but are still relevant.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/20598-tree-huggers-unite-a-survey-of-cleantech-etfs
http://www.fool.com/investing/etf/2007/03/08/the-next-new-thing-clean-tech-funds.aspx

another company that is an innovative/diversified play in itself is GE, they are involved in everything from health care to military to clean tech , to space, etc etc etc.....just by investing in GE you get a wide range of exposure...they are a good safe play as well...in fact I think I am going to put some money into them with my IRA...

another growing sector is agriculture....this is gonna be big as the world gets more populated and more wealth is created throughout places like china and India...there have been studies done that show that the first thing an upcoming economy or country does when it starts creating massive wealth is changing it's food patterns to include more proteins...chicken, beef, etc...

so, in order to supply the world with enough livestock, companies that work in the agriculture business are a great play, the seed companies, fertilizer and equipment companies all stand to benefit big time....here is a brief I just found by doing a Google search...

Corn is approaching $4 per bushel and soybeans are again closing in on their highs. Higher commodity prices allows farmers to spend more money on new equipment, higher yielding seeds, and better fertilizers. I like Deere (DE) and Caterpillar (CAT) in the equipment space. Monsanto (MON) is the seed play. Potash (POT) and Terra Nitrogen (TNH) are my favorite fertilizer stocks. All of these companies will benefit from increased agricultural spending over the next 12-18 months.

i guess my best advise is to listen to what you're hearing out there, have you seen how food prices are going up? it's all a part of this agricultural boom and the world not being ready for the shift....

we're living in a pretty integral space in time, although, i am sure that everyone has said the same thing for centuries but hey...isn't the now always the most important?

well man, that's it for now, feel free to fwd this email if you feel it would help anyone else out....and as always do your own due diligence, I can only be responsible for the ideas, any of these companies could burst, blow up, be bought out or cough up a dead cat at any moment, although as i mentioned some are safer than others...

the more you can understand your risk tolerance the better, I would invite you to take some chances though, you're right it is a bit like gambling but the cool part is that all the info you need to make good decisions is easily accessible, it's a calculated risk but doing research and understanding the market will allow you to greatly reduce that risk....

joe

Wind Power

2008-03-26T14:36:00.002-04:00

there are some hot stats for Wind Power these days....

2006 was a booming year for Wind Energy, the industry installed 2,454 MW of new generating capacity. This represents a 27% growth rate!

There was also an additional 4 Billion dollars invested in Wind and as well Wind passed the threshold of 10,000 MW installed capacity which is a sybolic milestone that proves that Wind is no longer an "alternative energy."

for more reading check out the recent edition of Composite manufacturing magazine, March 2008 edition.

I also heard recently that even in residental installations home owners have the capability to pay back their investment in wind in less than 5 years. This is an amazing stat as well.

the next bubble...

2008-02-25T12:37:00.003-05:00

Harpers had a very relevant article this past issue regarding the next big bubble...Alternative Energy. The article is certain that after the tech bubble and the now collapsing housing bubble, we will find that investments into clean tech will fuel the next bubble and according to Harpers the size of this bubble will double the height of the tech bubble. Are you on board for this massive creation of wealth? In my opinion this is a wonderful time to jump on the the "green boat" - some stocks to look at would be ASTI, a thin film solar firm and CSIQ, a canadian silicon solar firm.

You can read the entire Harper's article here....

the clean tech revolution

2008-02-18T17:20:00.002-05:00

hello all, check out this book by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder. It's a great peek into the next big growth wave we're going to encounter...

amazon link

bush has officially jumped the shark

2008-02-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse it officially has...George W, in his infinite wisdom has cut funding to critical enviromental programs our future depends on...

The cuts in the new budget include a deduction of 330 million in funding to the EPA which included funding for the cleanup of the San Francisco bay and air pollution cleanup programs.

As well he's asking congress to fund the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, the first nuclear weapon program in the last 2 decades. Wait....weren't we just accusing Iran of using nuclear power plants to cover up nuclear weapons development? And now we're about to do just that? Makes me sick...

link to treehugger article

global cooling?

2008-02-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

the funniest and most intriguing thing to ever come out of anyone's mouth during a discussion of "global warming" is, why the hell is it so cold then? The MidWest and the Northeast have been experiencing an especially cold and snowy winter...so, what gives? Where is the Global Warming everyone is talking about?

Well...there's a good link up on the drudgereport today regarding an alternative point of view. It's about the Sun's solar cycles and how the Sun seems to have gone into a quite lull, defined by a slowing of sunspot activity or magnetism storms. I suggest you read the article yourself to get a sense of what's going on but I thought it made a very strong point. We totally take for granted that the sun will continue to be there. It's our #1 source of energy on Earth and we assume 100% that it's never going to falter us.

Maybe it's not the Earth that's in peril but rather the sun....hmm, perplexing idea huh? The Sun is like a God to us, it's a constant, we never consider that it could die....well, guess what, the Sun is just like every other star in the universe and yes, eventually it will die. Yes, it might be 10 Billion years from now, (which is the current estimate) but there's nothing to suggest that we might see cycles in which the Sun provides us less energy than we're used to.....

" if the sun shuts down, we've got a problem. It is the sun, not the Earth, that's hanging in the balance"

how green is my candidate?

2008-02-07T10:02:00.000-05:00

Well, with the upcoming Maine Democratic Caucus on Sunday and Obama and Clinton visiting the great GREEN state of Maine I thought it would be interesting to look at all the candidate's environmental policies, republicans included. I found this very information table on each candidate from solar-nation.org a website dedicated to making America a true solar power.

To me it looks as thought the Democratic Candidates are much more attune to the Environmental crisis developing around us. And, in terms of policy it looks as though Obama slightly edges Clinton as the Greenest Candidate. I am especially pleased with Obama's consideration of banning coal fired plants.

Until we rid ourselves of the energy ghosts of the past we won't make any significant improvement toward alternative ways to fuel our lives and economy.

across the universe

2008-02-05T12:04:00.001-05:00

On Monday Beatles Fans celebrated the 40th anniversary of the recording "Across the Universe." And, along with them, NASA celebrated the 50th year of their existence. Isn't it amazing to think that space exploration is only 50 years old? We're still in the infancy of exploring the cosmos. Well, to celebrate NASA beamed a recording of "Across the Universe" to Polaris, the North Star, about 431 light years away.

What does this have to do with Green you ask? Well, assuming we eventually do find the capability to communicate over vast distances with other life, (providing their is extra-terrestrial life of course) we may find that the answer to many of our questions will lie within intelligence already much older and experienced than ours.

And, if we can't figure out how to cut greenhouse gases effectively over the next 50 years, maybe some good neighbor from up above will send us some tips. And, maybe it'll be as a thank you for sending them the sounds of the Beatles! =)

full story here....

climate change confusion

2008-01-29T15:49:00.000-05:00

It seems that global warming discussion is all the rage in some circles while in others it's laughed at as purely a myth or better yet, a natural cycle.

What is this confusion all about? Well, the world is filled with conflicting opinions and you know how that goes, everyone has got one! Along with the conflicting opinions comes confusion from our government. For instance today on the back page of the in Bangor Daily there were three very relevant articles on global climate change. All three were regarding different issues but they all tie into the same theme, we are becoming increasingly confused with our planet.

The first was an article regarding the US House of Representatives purchasing $89,000 in carbon off-sets to cancel out greenhouse gas emissions from House buildings. Carbon Offsets are a way in which individuals or businesses can pay money to offset carbon emissions. The money is supposed to go to groups that are fighting climate change or technologies that reduce carbon output. This industry is currently booming as these credits are now traded frequently on the Chicago Climate Exchange. What this article discovered though is that the money spent by the House went to a clean power plant project in Iowa which ended a year before the money even got there. Does this happen regularly? Why all the confusion? Well, Carbon Credits have been a big source of controversy because where does this "credit" really go? Many have even begun to believe that this is only a feel good solution developed by big wigs and corporations to downplay their role in the environmental crisis. here's the full article

The second article was about the snow storms raging through China the past two weeks. These storms have come at an unfortunate time as almost half of the country is attempting to travel to celebrate the lunar New Year which starts on February 7th. This is typically the only time many of China's migrant workers get to spend any time with their families back home. The storm has left almost 200,000 sleeping in and outside train stations waiting for the weather to break. AP Article Here

Ok, so this sounds more like Global Cooling right? Well, it's actually all a piece of the puzzle. More greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will create more violent and longer storms. Don't be fooled...global warming can also have it's cool days.

And, finally a funny story from California, it seems as though a couple of neighbors have got themselves into an environmental feud. One is insisting that his neighbors hundred year old red woods are blocking sunlight from reaching the Solar Panels he's installed on his roof. The other is claiming that cutting the trees will eliminate any good that will come of the solar electricity that's generated. Link Here

Quite the pickle for the environmentalist huh? What would you do?