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I once heard an electrical utility use the marketing phrase, "Electric heat is 100% efficient"

The logic is that 100% of the energy available at a heating element becomes heat. The amount of energy lost to get that heat out of the heating element from the energy source is hard to quantify.

Electrical energy begins as a fuel source or renewable, transformed into heat, then motion or converted (solar cells) and is pushed though wires. The efficiency rapidly deteriorates.

I was looking at the specs of a 1997 all electric Chevy S-10. The system efficiency is 73%.

Electrical energy is converted to chemical storage in batteries and then converted back to the motor. Some electric vehicle motors are liquid cooled. This is because the heat generated in the motor must be carried away and that is energy not going to the wheels.

I came across a conventional thermal electricity production efficiency table for European power plants from 1990-2004 (ims.eionet.europa.eu) The average efficiency was 38%.

Think of your home heating system that is converting heat from fuel (running at 60%-95% efficiency), only you have to heat that water to high temperature steam and push a turbine with it loosing efficiency along the way.

Transmission and distribution losses of electricity in the USA were estimated at 7.2% in 1995 (climatetechnology.gov)

My fat cat is more efficient at gathering sunlight than a thin cat. She is 100% efficient at annoying me to get out on the deck for energy capture.

None of this is really scientific, but if you started with 38% efficiency from the power plant then subtract 7.2% from transmission and distribution, then plug it into a vehicle that is 73% efficient, there isn't much of the original energy of the raw fuel to move the vehicle.

To be fair, the efficiency of a gasoline powered vehicle is about 12%, Much of the energy of gasoline is lost in heat and friction, plus we can't forget the energy exerted to refine the fuel.

The value of an electric vehicle is more determined by the energy source.

If you live in Quebec, where over 90% of your energy is produced by hydro or if you are fueled by a solar grid, inefficiency is irrelevant.

Sunshine and flowing water will release their energy regardless of whether we capture it, waste is irrelevant unless you are trying to catch more.

The efficiency (and value) of electric cars should be graded by how well we use renewable resources before electrical energy ever reaches the vehicle, otherwise we are just wasting fossil fuel by converting, transmitting and storing it's energy.

Citizens Bank Park is combining baseball with environmental awareness. The program combines the use of energy, consumables and fan awarness,

• Utility power usage at Citizens Bank Park is fueled by 20 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). According to the EPA, this is the largest single purchase of 100% renewable energy in professional sports and is equivalent to the planting of 100,000 trees.
• Frying oil will be used as bio-diesel fuel. Recycling glass, plastic and cardboard generated from game day preparation and sales; using carry-out trays that are 100 percent post-consumer fiber; providing bio-degradable serviceware and cups; utilizing plastics that are easier to recycle; using compostable products; reducing amount of condiment packaging waste by providing dispensers instead of individual packets; and using locally grown produce and organic foods.
• Building-Related: The recycling of cardboard, paper, fluorescent lamps, lighting ballasts, plastic, aluminum and glass bottles; utilizing environmental-friendly cleaning products as well as a "bio-enzyme" which eats grease trapped in kitchen drain pipes; utilizing energy conservation using the Building Management System and Light Control System; universal waste recycling; converting to LED lighting (which uses 80% less power and lasts years longer than traditional incandescent bulbs); right-sizing trashcan liners; and re-using rain run-off water for landscaping and field irrigation.
• Recyclable Containers: 35 oversized, 80-gallon recyclable containers will be placed throughout the ballpark for fans to utilize and aid in recycling efforts.
• "Red Goes Green Cards" for Phillies Employees: All full-time Phillies employees, including players and coaches, will receive a one-year credit to secure clean, renewable energy for their home consumption, compliments of the Phillies and WindStreet Energy.

Jay McGinnis' inconspicuous house near New Park, Pa. is an experiment of alternative energy.

The windmills produce compressed air and electricity. The innovative air compressing wind mill stores the air throughout the farm using underground lines that act as a reservoir taking on air when the wind blows.

The solar panels on the garage heat water. The solar panels on the workshop generate electricity that is sold back to Adams Electric Cooperative Inc. Instead of using expensive batteries, McGinnis sells the solar electricity back to Adams Electric during times of peak sun (and demand in Summer) and supplements the farms' electricity when the sun isn't shining.

The hopper at right holds corn burned in the outdoor furnace that pipes hot water back to the living spaces. The wood that also feeds his boiler is grown on his property.

The 3-cylinder 2005 Honda Insight has consumed an average of 55 mpg over it's service life. The vehicles hybrid system recovers energy from braking and supplements it's tiny gasoline engine with an electric motor and batteries. The shape of the car, fender skirts and other design features of the quirky 1999-2005 Insight was capable of squeezing out 124 mpg by one hypermiling competition.

McGinnis believes that our fossil fueled world is in big trouble and we all need to do anything to use less.

McGinnis' business, The Woolen Mill Fan Company, creates reproductions of water motor fans. The parts cast in Central Pennsylvania by an Amish foundry bears the unusual mark of something produced in the United States.

Wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase year over (American Wind Energy Association).

In contrast, the coal industry employs about 81,000 workers. (2007 U.S. Department of Energy report)

Coal employment has remained steady in recent years though it's down by nearly 50% since 1986.) Wind industry employment includes 13,000 manufacturing jobs concentrated in regions of the country hard hit by the de-industrialization of the past two decades.
cnnmoney.com/greenwombat

My natural gas bill is going up and so will electric rates soon and my income has been stagnant the past few years, so I set up a nuclear powered clothes drier to cut costs.

I came to the conclusion that my clothes drier, burning natural gas and electricity, really serves no purpose other than to consume resources and waste my money. In the winter, the beast sucks heated air out of my house that is already heated with gas. Every ten years or so I will spend $400 on a new machine.

Here is how it works: A giant ball, of mostly hydrogen and helium gas, is compressed and hung above my yard. This gigantic nuclear reactor isn't taxed and hasn't been monopolized on yet. It's free for me to use and should last several billion years. This is my heat source.

My blower is a byproduct of the reactor called wind. It also hasn't been monopolized on and taxed yet.

By taking a rope and attaching it horizontally to two vertical objects in my yard, I was able to maximize the effect of the nuclear reaction and wind.

Dry clothes for free.

Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, voted with his fellow Republicans against the (energy) bill, calling it an example of "what is wrong with Washington."

Instead of addressing the interest of all Americans, Platts said the bill would continue to prohibit drilling in the locations where most of the oil and natural gas can be found. inyork.com/ydr 08/18/08

And in about 7+ years when this oil and gas hits the global market (a free and open oil market) where the value is controlled by those who have most of the oil (OPEC), the price effect will be nothing. The thirst by developing nations will continue to pressure that market and will only be more severe in following decades.

Oil is a dead end. The cry for drilling will continue until the day we run out and then there will be panic for a solution.

What is wrong with Washington is that it has allowed it's vision to be powered by whatever the monopoly is of the time.

What is wrong with Washington is that we should have been building a national resource of renewable energy decades ago so we wouldn't be so controlled by this mess now.

What is wrong with Washington is that it lacks innovative heroes who can dig through the think of the crowd, the flow of money, and look beyond the rhetoric of the day to the survival of future generations.

Congress' earlier attempts this year to renew wind, and solar tax credits, with a measure proposing higher taxes on the oil and gas industry to pay for it have been shot down.

"It's pretty remarkable. ... Wind turbines are used in political ads, yet we stand on the verge of not extending the credit which supports the growth of the largest-growing sector of the utility and energy area in the country," - Hunter Armistead, head of renewable energy for Babcock & Brown, the private-equity firm with 20 U.S. wind farms generating 1,600 megawatts wsj.com

House approves offshore drilling with alternatives, drillers revolt - greenmesh 9/08

Sen. Barack Obama recently visited Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation in West Manchester Township. Bob Silknitter, of Red Lion, raised his hand and wondered why Sen. Obama never mentions hydroelectric power during his campaign speeches exhorting clean energy alternatives.

Solar and wind can be micro installations. Small businesses, and individuals are capable of exploiting this technology now and adding renewable energy to the electric grid.

You can't dam up your backyard and build a hydro station. It would be very difficult, if impossible, for Met-Ed to dam up a portion of the Susquehanna River and build a new hydro station.

New technology will make this cheaper and more available. If people are inspired and demand their government to provide incentives to empower all of us to be energy independent.

Hydro installations are huge capital expenditures taken on by government or huge power companies. Waterways in the United States are highly regulated and highly developed with people. In short, it is really difficult to build new hydro installations.

At the turn of the century about half of US power was generated by hydro, now that amount is down to 10%. Hydro takes a huge amount of land and water and most of those ideal situations have been used in the U.S.

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey has some great charts and graphs about hydro power in the U.S.

Most of the work done by Voith and American Hydro here in York is turbine replacement and to increase efficiency of the turbines at existing installations so utilities can squeeze more power out of falling water. The craftsmanship and innovation at these plants constantly evolves the planet's oldest form of producing power.

It really isn't realistic to promote hydro in the way one would promote solar and wind.

Commercial hydroelectric generation in the U.S. has been around since the 1880's Companies like Voith and American should be commended for constantly making technology this old even better.

The solar cell was invented about the same time (1883) but the evolution and application as part of our energy plan are quite different.

I am fascinated by machines that blend methods of locomotion we are familiar with and executes them in different combinations. Larry Weirich recently flew his home built hovercraft off of the Goldsboro Marina into the Susquehanna River.

Instead of cutting though the water like a standard boat, a hovercraft floats on a cushion of air and is propelled by pushing air.

Weirich says that if a standard boat and a hovercraft have the same horsepower, the hovercraft will go faster because it doesn't have to deal with the friction of cutting through water.

Some other vehicles and their frictional properties...

I was stretched out on my deck tonight gazing at the sky while a storm rolled in.
I came to the conclusion that only the sun and the rain, as long as they fall above my property, are free. What comes from the sky above my head cannot be taxed nor can it be repackaged, marketed and sold back to me at compounded profit and then taxed.

Harnessing these things in my backyard, I could take control of my increasingly squeezed and controlled by corporate entity - life.

The secret is in the invention, not buying the product.

I am going to build a rain collection system to water my garden. I can tell you right now that it will probably take 40 years to pay for the parts since water is pretty cheap, but it will be an exercise in securing freedom and independence. A working sculpture of hope for my future.

BUSKIRK, N.Y. (AP) — A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.

That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.

Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.

These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves. (AP)

I can't say that I would choose to live on the edge of peril. I find too much hope and enjoyment in life to risk that for even one day by adopting a doomsday view of the future.

However, how cool would it be if everyone cut their driving in half, came up with a random alternative to heat their home that the commodities market wouldn't harness for profit. Gather the tax free, corporate free, sun, wind and water on their own properties and use their own soil to provide themselves food and fuel. The price oil, natural gas and electricity would plunge from the lack of demand and the individual would gain a degree of independence.

Doomsday averted.

Plug-in hybrids have been touted as a short-term squeeze on foreign oil. The concept is that you plug into your home outlet and run on the energy grid for a 100 miles or so until the batteries deplete before a gasoline engine needs to fire.

Electrical generation likes consistency and using non-fossil fuel sources during low demand that are already in place like nuclear, hydro and wind could cut oil use.

However, consider if everyone had a plug-in hybrid and started plugging them in during peak energy demand on a hot summer day. More power plants and peak demand plants that run on natural gas and oil would have to be built and fired up to meet the demand. Humans by nature seek convenience.

For plug-in hybrids to become part of the short-term energy solution incentives for time-of-day metering and consumer education need to be part of the sales pitch, otherwise, we will just have another ethanol quandary to sort out.

Martin Library will host an environmental panel discussion on February 21 featuring:

I was interviewed, via keybord of course, since I will be one of the moderators. Below is the text of the interview:

5. In your opinion, how does the level of environmental awareness in York County compare to that of other similar-sized communities?

York is a land of plenty. We have enjoyed low population congestion and are blessed with resources. California is tuned into air pollution because congestion and climate patterns demanded action. The desert southwest is tuned into water supply because of the lack of it. Other than the Codorus Creek, a stray landfill and an occasional bad ozone day, York County generally has not been confronted in the face with major environmental issues. High oil prices, wars and global cries that we need to act have brought these concerns home to York.

6. What do you believe the typical Yorker can do to improve the environment?

Use less to do more. Nothing will lower pollution, lower oil prices, and stretch resources more than choosing to use less through product choice and lifestyle. This concept runs contrary to our financial model that, up until now, has promoted and thrived on people using more energy.

7. As editor of Greenmesh.com, what do you see as the most promising alternative to oil-based energy?

Experimenting with many alternatives is the best was to transition away from an oil based economy. It takes time to understand the repercussions of any form of energy production. Solar collection is the lowest impacting source of alternative energy, but in places like Pennsylvania, solar isn’t practical most of the time. We have already experienced the implications of diving head first into corn-based ethanol by higher food and feed prices.

All methods of energy production have environmental implications and placing all our eggs in one basket gives power to a new monopoly and will accentuate any negative effects of pushing a single solution of energy production....

The race is on to become leaders in self preservation. States and communities that become innovators and solution makers will have an edge.

With electricity rate caps set to begin to be lifted at the end of 2009, they said, there is urgency to get conservation measures in place. Increased competition for "green" companies from other states could hurt Pennsylvania's economy down the road, they added.

"New Jersey and New York each are spending $200 million a year," said John Hanger, president of PennFuture, a statewide environmental advocacy group. "We need at least $150 million a year or we're not going to be a competitor in locating clean-energy producers here." www.philly.com

What's undecided in government is whether consumers are willing to pay now for promoting alternative energies though subsidies that are often risky investment due to the undeveloped nature of many technologies. Thinking green often pulls money away from entrenched capitalization (oil,coal...revenue streams) and money fuels government.

The urgency is reality: California has long tried to push tougher pollution laws often blocked by federal government. California has a dense population and a climate that makes controlling pollution a more in-your-face issue than most of the country.

In 2009 when electricity caps are lifted in Pennsylvania, consumers can expect and 20-30% increase in their electrical bills. One of the reasons that will be given will be high energy prices. A high cost is an in-your-face issue for consumers.

We stand at the crossroads made in all great investment decisions, only there aren't any safe government backed securities to bank on with this one. The worst decision is to make no decision.

Some community leaders are taking their destiny into their own hands.

In Parkland, Fla, there is free hybrid-car parking. Cash rebates for installing solar panels. Low-interest loans for energy-saving home renovations. Money to tear up desert lawns and replace them with drought-resistant landscaping.

Starting next year, San Francisco will offer home owners rebates of up to $5,000 for installing solar panels if they use a local contractor.

The city of Berkeley is financing the cost of solar panels for homeowners who agree to pay the money back through a 20-year property tax assessment.

Baltimore offers at least $2,000 toward closing costs for people who buy new homes close to where they work. It is called the "Live Near Your Work" program.

n Arizona, many cities pay residents to replace grass with artificial turf or plants that use less water. Scottsdale, outside Phoenix, will pay up to $1,500.
AP

Pennsylvania Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency

The energy bill fell flat in the Senate Friday after the house passed it. The White House issued a statement saying,

"“Their proposal would raise taxes and increase energy prices for Americans. That is a misguided approach and if it made it to the president’s desk, he would veto it.” nyt.com

The bill is more of a panic reaction by a few well intentioned to a dire situation than a solution.

Well true, the bill would have increased the price of energy for Americans because a majority of the taxes were on oil companies that would have passed the cost along to consumers; before the money taken away from consumers could catch up by creating competition with alternative energy. Also people affected by feed prices like cattleman lined up not liking it because the huge ethanol mandate would push the price of feed up squeezing them against consumers.

The love for corn based ethanol is mind boggling requiring production of ethanol and other bio fuels, from about 5 billion gallons a year of bad science and impact of the food supply today to 36 billion gallons of the same and yet to be discovered methods of production by 2022.

Old school oil wants to clutch it's money as long as possible and government is here to empower status quo economic highways. Meanwhile, no one with power is enough of a hero to see the big picture and force change. The planet continues to die.

Nothing is going to get done here until consumers start using some things, stop using others and conserving what we must use but don't want. The great part about capitalism is that there has to be a market for something to gain power. Ultimately, an educated consumer holds all the power.

$159 a barrel by 2030 with 270 million cars in China

As gasoline prices quietly scrolled past $3 a gallon locally this week and a barrel of crude nears $100 there wasn't much to say here at greenmesh, though it's an oozing fissure in the dome of the volcanic energy crisis.

Those in the energy industry who can profit this quarter are not saying much as those who just "need" a 7-liter pickup truck to commute to work from their well heated, over-sized house. Life, aside from accelerating dollars in and out of a pockets, goes on.

The International Energy Agency in it's annual World Energy Outlook has taken a more pessimistic view over previous projections that in the past said pumping trillions of dollars into sucking oil out of the earth could meet global energy needs.

$100,000,000,000 in today's dollars could shift us to Hydrogen according to Peter Schwartz, a former futurist for Shell Oil, who is an investor in two companies developing hydrogen power technologies and Doug Randall, Global Business Network.

With that investment, the nation could shift the balance of power from foreign oil producers to US energy consumers within a decade. By 2013, a third of all new cars sold could be hydrogen-powered, 15 percent of the nation's gas stations could pump hydrogen, and the US could get more than half its energy from domestic sources, putting independence within reach.

All that's missing is a national commitment to make it happen. wired.com

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Iraq War Cost

I welcome $3 a gallon for gasoline. These small warning signs dotting the landscape are a wake-up call of what is to come. There is a price at the pump where an informed democracy will force a solution with it's tax dollars; perhaps that number is $4, $5 or $10.

Here are some projections by the IEA:
The staggering pace of Chinese and Indian economic growth in the past few years, outstripping that of all other major countries, has pushed up sharply their energy needs, a growing share of which has to be imported. Free trade means increased standard of living for developing countries. The world’s energy needs would be well over 50% higher in 2030 than today.

Oil demand for transport almost quadruples in China between 2005 and 2030, contributing more than two-thirds of the overall increase in Chinese oil demand. The vehicle fleet expands seven-fold, reaching almost 270 million. New vehicle sales in China exceed those of the United States by around 2015.

Passed along to me by greenmesh reader KenBob:

Wind Belts are micro wind generators that use a property known as aerolastic flutter. Energy of the wind is converted by vibration akin to the bow of a musical instrument; converting the power of a wind tension membrane. No bearings to suck energy, wind power machines are 10 times cheaper to produce than turbines according to the video below. (Popular Mechanics)

Third-World Wind Power: First Look

An electric ferry that will take passengers to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island uses a "solar sail'' covered in solar panels that collect energy from the sun and wind.

It is almost silent, emits no vibration vibration and emits no fumes, reducing water pollution and air emissions.

The solar/wind wing captures wind and solar power at computer controlled angles and folds down in high winds. Two diesel engines burning low sulfur fuel add power on high seas and act as a backup for 2 large batteries at the center of the boat that can power it for four hours. The three hull design minimizes wake to reduce coastal erosion.

Miss Statue of Liberty, manufactured by Solar Sailor, of Australia, will be able to reach a maximum speed of 13 knots and seat up to 600 passengers and should be in operation by the end of 2008.

Cool graphic about the operation from the New York Post

In York County, we are familiar fish ladders over the Holtwood Hydroelectric Plant. Without a fish ladder, the 55-foot tall barrier prevents migration of fish and the ladders help restore the pre-human order of life.

A fish passageway over the historic Flat Rock Dam in Philadelphia allows American shad to swim upstream to spawn. The passageway was designed by Buchart-Horn Inc. in York, which won the 2007 Honor Award for Water Resources

Shad once populated the Susquehanna River in great numbers, making their way downstream to the Chesapeake Bay early in their lives and back upstream later on to spawn. But the 20th century was not kind to the long, silvery fish. Pollution, dam-building and overfishing severely depleted their numbers. They’ve been making a comeback in the early 21st century, thanks in part to projects such as fish lifts at Holtwood and other dams.

As consumers become more aware of their impact on the planet and energy companies scramble to find renewable resources that they can market as easy on the natural cycles of the environment, the environmental impact of new technology becomes more of a concern than in the past.

Wind farms are experiencing a boom in Pennsylvania. Estimates are that seven wind farms statewide will be generating energy by the end of this year, and western Pennsylvania remains a prime location. Ellen Lutz, director of development for Gamesa’s Atlantic Region said that the Allegheny Ridge is an ideal place to build wind farms. “There are very good ... wind patterns.” tribune-democrate

The United States gets less than 1 percent of its electricity from wind-powered generators, compared with 20 percent in Denmark and 9 percent in Spain. Technological advances could push U.S. wind-power use to 5 percent by 2010, the Electric Power Research Institute says. philly.com

ecologee.net catalogs internet service providers that are run by solar, wind or a combination of eco sources.

Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc. solar powered network in Romoland, Califonia aiso.net

The Harford Community College's Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Expo will be held April 13-14 from 9 AM - 4 PM.

Exhibits will include Energy Efficient Vehicles - Fuel Cell, Biodiesel & Hybrid; Energy Efficiency and Green Building Design; Solar Hot Water, Thermal, and Lighting Systems; Remanufactured/Recycled Products; Straw Bale Construction; Photovoltaic Panels; Wind Power Systems; and Geothermal Heating & Cooling. Workshops on Global Warming, Passive Solar Energy, and Sustainable Design.

When I was in high school and dinosaurs roamed the earth, we were obsessed with volcanoes. Science fairs were littered with volcanoes; huge messy displays of energy waste. I don’t know why geothermal explosions were so popular other than humans liked to see things blow up (The Volcano phenomenon also explains Mentos and Coke.)...
Windmill Design, a science fair project that tests blade efficiency. at the 47th Annual Dallastown Area High School Science and Engineering Fair YDR-Paul Kuehnel

American architect Thom Mayne is building a wind-powered skyscraper in Paris, France. Standing at 984 feet, the building will be nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

Wind turbines will power the building's HVAC systems for part of the year. A retractable outer layer will reduce the heat from sunlight through the windows in summer.

The building, set for completion in 2012, will cost close to $1 billion.

Xcel Energy and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)has a pilot facility that uses electricity from wind turbines to power electrolyzes to produce hydrogen, which is then compressed and stored at 3,500 psi.