It is true. Not in my backyard is a syndrome that can be defused but you have to start early and you have to speak often and sincerely. Utility Executives just do not have the right touch and even when they care they hire bright shiny faces that lack any sense of truthfulness.

http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/02/26/new-england-offshore-wind-planning-offers-lessons-for-great-lakes/

New England offshore wind planning offers lessons for Great Lakes

Posted on 02/26/2013 by Dan Ferber

When Scandia, a Norwegian wind company, announced its plans to install 200 turbines in Lake Michigan four miles from the tourist town of Ludington, Michigan, in 2009, they likely didn’t anticipate the controversy that would erupt.

After all, the project would be delivering domestically produced renewable energy to replace planet-warming fossil fuels. It would create local jobs installing and operating the turbines. A nearby pumped-hydro facility for storing backup energy sat in the nearby dunes, complete with substations and high-voltage lines they could use to move electricity from their offshore turbines to the grid.

“The developer thought, We’ll build wind farms out in Lake Michigan, hook up in Ludington, and everyone will be delighted,” recalled Arn Boezaart, director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center at Grand Valley State University.

Instead, “they were basically run out of town,” Boezaart recalled.

Residents of this picturesque town were outraged about the prospects of scores of wind turbines ruining their view. Nobody had consulted them. And Michigan, like every other Great Lakes state, lacks even a rudimentary procedure for regulating offshore wind farms, without which there would be little opportunity for public hearings.

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This is actually happening all around the world. During one day last year the Germans got all the power they used from renewable. All the old bullshit it turning into compost and will be forgotten.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/renewables-cheaper-than-coal-in-australia-a-preview-of-things-to-come/

Renewables cheaper than coal in Australia — a preview of things to come

By:

David Roberts

Energy, politics, and more

I’m morbidly fascinated by the way conventional wisdom lags behind evidence, like the notion that renewable energy is expensive and fossil fuels cheap. In fact, there is a tectonic shift underway. Renewable energy prices are declining as technology improves, economies of scale kick in, financing mechanisms mature, and public policy begins to take some (inadequate) account of the negative externalities of fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, the cost of coal-fired electricity is heading up. It’s getting harder to finance coal plants in the face of competition from clean(er) energy, activist opposition, and the inevitability of some kind of carbon policy. Construction costs are rising. Transportation costs are rising. It’s getting harder to reach the coal that’s left in the ground. Etc.

The two lines — falling renewable energy costs and rising coal costs — are going to cross. It’ll happen everywhere eventually. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysis, it’s already happened down under: “Renewable energy now cheaper than new fossil fuels in Australia.”

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Go there and read. More later.

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First off, HAPPY New Year to everyone who comes here.

Second, some big changes are coming to this Blog. After 6 years of 5 day a week posts we have covered many of the things we set out to cover. Global Warming has been accepted by everyone who does not own stock in a carbon company. Renewable Energy generation is on the rise. Environmentalism is becoming the word of the day. Not that this blog claims to have caused that but we have been a part of it. So, CES has decided to become an intermittent poster. That is when something big happens. So, this is not our final post just posting at a more relaxed pace.

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/ultra-efficient-home-design

Ultra-Efficient Home Design

Ultra-efficient home design combines state-of-the-art, energy-efficient construction, appliances, and lighting with commercially available renewable energy systems, such as solar water heating and solar electricity. By taking advantage of local climate and site conditions, designers can incorporate passive solar heating and cooling and energy-efficient landscaping strategies. The intent is to reduce home energy use as cost-effectively as possible, and then meet the reduced requirements with on-site renewable energy systems. To learn more about the details of designing and building an ultra-efficient home, visit Building America Resources for Energy-Efficient Homes.

Another strategy for achieving an ultra-efficient home is to build or remodel to the rigorous, voluntary Passive House standard. The result is an extremely well insulated, airtight structure with dramatically reduced heating and cooling requirements.

In many parts of the country, homeowners can recoup some of the costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades through rebates and other financial incentives. Visit the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency for a current list of incentives in your area.

Learn More

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We get these claims all of the time, “A wind turbine for your roof”. About the only place that is true is on grain bins on a farm out in the country. I can neither testify that these turbines work or that they do not. What I can say is Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This blog will be closed until next Wednesday.

http://www.getsmartenergy.com/windcube/

 Wind sphere Overview

The Wind Sphere™ relies on its “wind tunnel” effect known in physics as the Bernoulli Principle. While the rest of the wind industry generates energy through the use of free-stream wind, the Wind Sphere™ captures and amplifies the wind, which produces more kilowatt-hours (kWh). As wind encounters the Wind Sphere™ shroud, it becomes concentrated creating increased velocity and in turn, more power. By amplifying the natural wind speed, the Wind Sphere™ is able to produce more power from a smaller footprint. Proportionally, the Wind Sphere™ has the smallest footprint with the largest amount of power output in the industry. Because of these attributes, the Wind Sphere™ is uniquely designed to produce energy in urban, populated areas with space constraints.

Inverter Certification

The inverter is IEEE 1547 compliant and UL 1741 certified.

Worldwide Turbine Certification

The Wind Sphere is currently in the process of the stringent IEC-61400-2 testing, also know as the Standard for Small Wind Turbines testing. Exhaustive field testing will be conducted by a Certified AWEA testing firm to verify performance and real world endurance.

“With the Wind Sphere, building owners everywhere can now consider being a part of the renewable energy picture.”

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Go there and read. More next week.

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These guys cover the globe.

http://www.greenenergycouncil.com/

The International Green Energy Council is an educational and advocacy body. We pride ourselves on educating from kindergarten students all the way up to leaders of nations about energy efficiency, environmental stewardship and renewable energy. We also aid international leaders on creating sound policy and regulatory atmospheres in order to promote expeditious applications for renewable energy and green technologies.

Over the past six years we have worked with 22 Governors in regards to Renewable Portfolio Standards for their states. Furthermore, we are liaison and facilitators with several countries including but not limited to the following: Canada, South Africa, Greece, Senegal, Zambia, Nigeria, Philippines, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, China, Morocco as well as a host of others. The IGEC is also working with many utility company’s around the Globe to meet their Renewable Energy Portfolio mandates. We have chartered chapters in 68 nations around the World.

The GEC is a professional association comprised of individuals and companies that promote sustainable forms of energy production, renewable energy sources, sustainable design practices and advanced thinking in utilizing education and information for the promotion of being better stewards of our environment while providing National Security Energy Plans to nations around the Globe.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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I got my doubts about this. Recreating the circumstances of a tornado can not be easy to control and maintain. I have always dreamed about storing lightening in giant batteries in the ground.

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/12/18/using-tornadoes-for-good-not-evil-green-energy/

Never one to let a good heading get away from me, it’s time to turn the evil power of tornadoes into something good — namely, green energy. And thanks to The Thiel Foundation’s funding program Breakout Labs, a new grant has been awarded to harness the power of atmospheric vortexes.

Tornadoes!

“The power in a tornado is undisputed,” said Louis Michaud, Canadian engineer and designer of the Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE). ”My work has established the principles by which we can control and exploit that power to provide clean energy on an unprecedented scale.

“With the funding from Breakout Labs, we are building a prototype in partnership with Lambton College to demonstrate the feasibility and the safety of the atmospheric vortex engine.”

Michaud’s design sees warm or humid air introduced into a circular station wherein it takes the form of a rising vortex which drives multiple turbines.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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No comment neccesary.

http://www.justenergy.com/?s_clid=7804bf19f3166eb04ed5c04eedc42a69&gclid=CJjW0qm1orQCFao7MgodOhAAdg

Learning Center

In many province and states across North America, you have the right to choose your natural gas and/or electricity supplier. Our Learning Center will help you make an informed decision by providing you with an overview of how energy markets work and your rights as a consumer.

Customer Care Center

At Just Energy, our customers are at the forefront of everything we do. Through our Customer Care Center, you will learn about the many convenient services available to Just Energy customers, our customer bill of rights and answers to some of our frequently asked questions.

Efficiency Center

Find ways to save money, energy and the environment through our Efficiency Centre. Take advantage of tips to cut your household, business and transportation costs. You can also save up to 30% on everyday items for your home and business through our SmartShop.

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But this guy is a good writer and the points are well thought out.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-to-make-illinois-into-a-clean-energy-leader/

David Roberts

Energy, politics, and more

How to make Illinois into a clean-energy leader

Illinois is a big deal where power is concerned: of U.S. states, it’s the sixth largest consumer of electricity and the fourth largest producer. It has more nuclear power plants than any other state and is unusually dense with underutilized transmission lines, which are at a premium these days. It has a thriving wind power industry (though it is a sad 18th in installed solar capacity), and a bustling, green-minded metropolis in Chicago, which boasts nearly 80,000 green jobs.

So it’s too bad the Illinois power system makes the Talmud look like The Da Vinci Code. I’ve been talking to people about it for a week and I feel like my brain got mugged in a back alley.

Nonetheless! States are where it’s at, in terms of clean-energy policy, and significant things are going on in Illinois. I shall attempt to make sense of them for you.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Unfortunately I believe the answer is NO. Americans will never get serious about renewable energy until it is so far behind the rest of the world that it becomes embarrassed. By then it will be too late for us to take advantage of creating our own industries.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_germany_is_getting_to_100_percent_renewable_energy_20121115/

How Germany Is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy

Posted on Nov 15, 2012

By Thomas Hedges, Center for Study of Responsive Law

There is no debate on climate change in Germany. The temperature for the past 10 months has been 3 degrees above average and we’re again on course for the warmest year on record. There’s no dispute among Germans as to whether this change is man-made, or that we contribute to it and need to stop accelerating the process.

Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement Energiewende, which translates to “energy transformation,” estimate that from 80 percent to 100 percent of Germany’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2050.

Germans are baffled that the United States has not taken the same path. Not only is the U.S. the wealthiest nation in the world, but it’s also credited with jump-starting Germany’s green movement 40 years ago.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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