See a glimpse of the Clean Energy of the future.
Discovery Channel, March 11 2 10:00pm.
““Krupp and Horn have turned the doom and gloom of global warming on its head. Earth: The Sequel makes it crystal clear that we can build a low-carbon economy while unleashing American entrepreneurs to save the planet, putting optimism back into the environmental story.”
- Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City
There is enormous push for renewable energy development as particularly evident in the Stimulus Bill. It is well understood at government level that Renewable Energy sources are needed to reduce our dependance on oil, reduce our carbon dioxide output and the effects on climate change, and to meet our energy needs for the future.
Solar Power (aka PhotoVoltaic, PV) is the #1 favorite of the renewable energy alternatives for a number of reasons including that it can be deployed on home and building rooftops without placing a new burden on existing infrastructure, and it can be ‘farmed’ in desert or low use regions.
So, there are many financial incentives to help make it attractive to residential and commercial building owners. But, there remains the difficulty of understanding the various incentives and how to use them. Many states offer rebates; many states do not; the federal government offers a tax credit; some states also have tax credits; some do not.
New York State has some the most attractive incentives. And the incentive for Solar PV becomes greater when the cost of electricity is already high. Rebates and tax credits combined help bring the cost of electricity down to about 20 cents per kWh (kilo-watt hour). Read the rest of this entry »
By Robert Bryce, Feb. 5 2009
On its website, Wisconsin-based Renew Energy says it is the “biofuels industry leader for innovation and efficiency.” It goes on, saying that its new 130 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin is “the largest dry mill corn fractionation facility in the world” which uses 35 percent less energy and 33 percent less water than similar ethanol plants.
That would be impressive but for one fact: Renew Energy just filed for bankruptcy.
The failure of Renew is the latest bankruptcy in the corn ethanol industry, a sector that despite billions of dollars in federal subsidies, hasn’t been able to prove its long-term economic viability. About 9 percent of all the ethanol plants in the US have now filed for bankruptcy and some analysts believe the numbers could go as high as 20 percent.
Even if the 20 percent figure is never reached, it’s readily apparent that billions of investment dollars will be lost on the corn ethanol scam, a darling of farm state legislators. Today, about four years after Congress increased the mandates on the use of corn ethanol in gasoline, the US is nowhere close to the much-promised goal of “energy independence.” Instead, the increasing use of corn to make motor fuel has caused a myriad of problems. Chief among them: increased food prices.
While it’s true that other factors have helped inflate food prices, including rising energy prices and increased grain demand in other countries, it’s also abundantly obvious that the corn ethanol industry has had a major effect on food prices. The reason is obvious: in 2008, some 4.1 billion bushels of corn – fully one-third of the US crop – was used to make motor fuel. And the results are being seen in the supermarket.
“Fuel” is a vital, superbly assembled documentary that presents a
n insightful overview of America’s troubled relationship with oil and how alternative and sustainable energies can reduce our country’s — and the world’s — addictive dependence on fossil fuels.
The film’s structure is built around director-narrator Josh Tickell’s personal journey of enlightenment, which started in childhood after moving with his family from idyllic Australia to murkier Louisiana, where he came to realize the oil-rich environment was being ravaged by the omnipotent petrochemical industry. Later, as a young adult, he spent 11 years crossing the country in his vegetable oil-powered “Veggie Van,” promoting biofuels and compiling footage for what would become this impressively comprehensive film.
by Tom Szaky of TerraCycle, Trenton NJ on 02. 6.09
The recycling industry is in a state of panic, hit by two forces beyond its control.
The first problem is the economy (go figure). Demand for consumer products is down; retailers are focusing on price versus value. China (the manufacturer of the world’s products) is not ordering recycled polymer. Indeed, a large number of factories in China are closing down due to lack of demand. On top of this, as recycling is a commodity industry, the price of plastic is directly related to the price of gas, and gas prices are low.
If you make virgin plastic, your costs are directly dependent on energy costs. However, if you are a recycler, your costs are not in the making of the plastic, but in the collection and sorting of it–and these costs are not as dependent on energy costs. Therefore, recyclers are faced with a problem that may be beyond a solution: They are forced to collect and incur costs (due to their municipal collection contracts) on a material that is worth 50% of what it used to be months ago and they cannot sell it anyway since there is less demand. The result of all of this is predictable: recycling centers are closing at a record pace. My prediction is that if nothing changed in ‘09 the recycling industry could die! (Too bad you can’t short recycling).
Here’s another excellent recipe from Gerry Herrfurth, the former head chef at Organic Connection.
From GreenerDesign.com
New studies have found that bisphenol A lingers in the human body longer than previously expected and that mercury has been found in many common brand name food and drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup.
Researchers at New York’s University of Rochester say that bisphenol A (BPA) – a chemical found commonly in hard plastic bottles, food storage containers and a wide swath of other products – leaves the body about eight times more slowly than expected.
Mercury On The Grocery Store Shelf
Mercury, a chemical that is a proven toxin to humans, is the focus of a study looking at foods with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener replacement for sugar that is used extensively in foods and drinks, and can be found in cereals, drinks, breads, lunch meat, yogurt, soup, condiments and more.
Mercury can make its way into foods due to practices earlier in the supply chain. Caustic soda is one of the ingredients used to separate corn starch from corn kernels. Some industrial chlorine plants that produce caustic soda use mercury in their production, which can result in mercury-contaminated caustic soda and, in turn, mercury-contaminated HFCS.
The growing use of energy that underlies current economic growth puts unsustainable pressure on natural resources and on the environment.
What options do we have for switching to a cleaner and more efficient energy future? How much will it cost? And what policies could achieve this?
