Free energy?
The Christian Science Monitor has two good articles on renewable energy. One on the govenerment's defunding of Geothermal and Hydro and another on the start of Ocean Power.
It's odd, Hydro is abundant throughout the North Americaian continent, but new technologies are making it safer for fish and the environment. Seems like a good area for research. I guess they just think that they can roll over environmentalists.
I've never seen a Geothermal plant that survived. Here in Hawaii, Pele seems to take them out for fun. That said, it seems to have lots of potential, don't understand why it's not funded.
Ocean waves on the other hand seem like a cool technology. They don't disturb fisheries, and may actually create areas where fish can live w/o being fished, and by default, help us restock the fisheries.
I wonder, however, if the Pelamis (the link at top) will be just a steping stone in the process. It's huge, on the surface (semi-submerged). I wonder how Whales will play with them? The 2nd article suggests that they will be installed in Oregon, I'll be following that to see if the Whales will play with them there.
Here on Maui, about 60% of the diesel fuel is used for creating power for the island. There's a bit of wind that gives us about 6%, and some sugar burning that gives us another 5-6%. The rest is diesel. Seems odd to ship oil from Alaska to Honolulu to be refined and then shipped to Maui. All the shipping burning diesel as well.
There is hope however, I attended a talk a few months ago about Pacific Biodiesel's efforts. One project they were trying to make happen was to grow sunflowers here on Maui, convert it to Biodiesel and have MECO (our electric provider) purchase it for the big generators. Seems like a quick and relativly cost efficent way to sustainability. I've always wondered how to motivate entrenched utilities (or any entities) to reinvest before the lifetime of there existing equipment had expired. Here's a way that doesn't require it. Wow! What a great idea – I hope it happens!
It's odd, Hydro is abundant throughout the North Americaian continent, but new technologies are making it safer for fish and the environment. Seems like a good area for research. I guess they just think that they can roll over environmentalists.
I've never seen a Geothermal plant that survived. Here in Hawaii, Pele seems to take them out for fun. That said, it seems to have lots of potential, don't understand why it's not funded.
Ocean waves on the other hand seem like a cool technology. They don't disturb fisheries, and may actually create areas where fish can live w/o being fished, and by default, help us restock the fisheries.
I wonder, however, if the Pelamis (the link at top) will be just a steping stone in the process. It's huge, on the surface (semi-submerged). I wonder how Whales will play with them? The 2nd article suggests that they will be installed in Oregon, I'll be following that to see if the Whales will play with them there.
Here on Maui, about 60% of the diesel fuel is used for creating power for the island. There's a bit of wind that gives us about 6%, and some sugar burning that gives us another 5-6%. The rest is diesel. Seems odd to ship oil from Alaska to Honolulu to be refined and then shipped to Maui. All the shipping burning diesel as well.
There is hope however, I attended a talk a few months ago about Pacific Biodiesel's efforts. One project they were trying to make happen was to grow sunflowers here on Maui, convert it to Biodiesel and have MECO (our electric provider) purchase it for the big generators. Seems like a quick and relativly cost efficent way to sustainability. I've always wondered how to motivate entrenched utilities (or any entities) to reinvest before the lifetime of there existing equipment had expired. Here's a way that doesn't require it. Wow! What a great idea – I hope it happens!
posted by Les at
9:50 AM
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