January 2007 Archives

General Motors has a prototype of their Sequel fuel cell car at the Pennsylvania Auto and Boat Show in Harrisburg. You can't see any of the guts, but they give a basic description and the specifications are interesting.

Volkswagen of America unveiled the next step in the company's U.S. diesel strategy at the Washington, D.C. auto show.

Bush told us last night to cut gasoline usage during his State of the Union Address.

Caterpillar Inc.,BP,Duke Energy Corp., General Electric Co., Lehman Brothers, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., among other energy related industries, issued a statement this week forming the United States Climate Action Partnership.

Beneath this lump under the drywall of my bedroom wall is a secret passage to the heavens. It was covered with an old pie plate when I found the 6 inch diameter hole.

Enclosing the fire pit.

About 9 years ago, I rented a cabin in the Adirondacks with a friend to go skiing. The gas lit, rustic cabin had two potbelly stoves. It was about 0 degrees outside the night we arrived. We built two huge fires, which made the place really cozy, until about 2 am when everything went wrong.

In the beginning there was fire and humans liked warmth.

Once upon a time, before multinational corporations figured out that they could profit by owning all the trees in the forest and control the simple needs of mankind, fuel was free.

Playing Mother Nature takes a lot of electricity. When I first started shooting pictures at Ski Roundtop, in the late 1980’s there was a huge red light behind the counter that would come on when the snow making equipment started pulling too much power from the regional electrical grid.

They click and make snow at Ski Roundtop. The two windows are data from the weather stations on the mountain. YDR-Paul Kuehnel
The old tri-pod snow guns of that era slowly gave way to higher aerial guns that took advantage of the longer free fall of the water/air mixture. This year, Ski Roundtop has added computerization to their latest fan snow making guns. The fan gun incorporates a motor, fan and water nozzles so that not as much energy needs to be pumped up the mountain in the form of compressed air and water.

We've heard a lot of hype from General Motors recently about its Saturn VUE Plug-in and Volt prototype. Johnson Controls-Saft recently announced (Jan. 9) that they are striving for major advances in lithium-ion technology.

The Internal Revenue Service qualified the 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid yesterday for a $2,350 credit.

The U.S. government National Climatic Data Center published a report Tuesday saying that last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years continuing a nine-year warming streak "unprecedented in the historical record" that "was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels"(Washington Post)

A Lilac blooms last November in Emigsville. Paul Kuehnel

I am in a positive mood tonight and see a silver lining in this cloud of doom. If the planet continues to warm and rain increases in the U.S. as the report suggests...

Over the long term, the most effective way to conserve energy is by using energy more efficiently.--during a radio address by George W. Bush on May 12, 2001)

--From a desk calender, GEORGE W. BUSHISMS, a friend gave me for Christmas

...reads a sign today on the butter sculpture at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. The 800 pound Liberty bell and likenesses of Benjamin Franklin will head to Philadelphia after the show to be processed into biodiesel by Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel

The butter sculpture at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. YDR-Paul Kuehnel

Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel was granted $369,696 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to partially fund a demonstration and testing facility to research the production of heating oil and biodiesel from restaurant trap grease. Restaurant trap grease is the last stop for waste water that leaves a commercial kitchen before it hits the sewer system.

Intellichoice.com, specializing in automotive cost-of-ownership data, has published a study that says over the long haul, hybrids save cash.

• They cost significantly more to purchase than their 'non-hybrid' counterparts.


• In 2006, all hybrids were IntelliChoice Excellent Values in their respective classes.


• They have about the same maintenance and repair costs for the first five years or 70,000 miles as compared to gas versions of the same model.


• Hybrids hold their value better over five years compared to gas powered versions of the same model.


• Average insurance costs are somewhat to significantly higher on hybrids.


• As expected, fuel costs are dramatically lower on these models.


• Hybrids are in demand. Currently most if not all hybrids have Target Prices at or near Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).

General Motors plans to unveil its plug-in electric hybrid car, the Chevy Volt, today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, though production is years away.

The Volt uses electricity as it's primary source of power. A small gasoline engine powers a generator rather than the vehicle's wheels. GM engineers say while the Volt concept can travel 640 miles on 12 gallons of fuel, about 53 mpg, many drivers would rarely use gasoline at all, and some could get 150 mpg in regular use. (Detroit Free Press)

It's good and bad news: It's nice out, gasoline is about to get cheaper at the pump because oil hit an 18 month low today - complacency about the fuel crisis will continue.

How quickly the “oil crisis� of Summer has faded. The same quirky market that sent gasoline over $3 is sending it back to down to $2. There is a surplus as houses don’t need as much fuel oil during a warm winter.

The crisis remains: World oil demand will increase by 47 percent by 2030 (U.S. government Energy Information Administration)

Northern Illinois University currently has 19 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles on campus. Four of the vehicles are currently used by the NIU Police Department. NIU officials purchased the first hybrid vehicles in December 2002. “We bought the first couple with the idea of trying out the new technology and seeing if we were able to extend our fuel at the time,� Bill Finucane, NIU

Some of the findings of the long-term test include:

CNW Marketing Research says that a year ago about 30 percent of car shoppers considered buying a hybrid, and they were willing to pay $2,500 more than they would have for a conventional vehicle.

In December, however, hybrid consideration was at 12 percent, and shoppers were only interested in an additional $1,152.

A review of the new Hybrid Nissan Altima on detnews.com describes the new Nissan Altima as a sexy Toyota Camry.

Using parts and technology licensed from Toyota, the review says the car ‘drives like a Nissan with a Prius soul transplant.’