The Web, like the Great Oz himself, knows all and sees all. He can give the Scarecrow a brain:

 http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11580723

Energy

The future of energy

Jun 19th 2008
From The Economist print edition

A fundamental change is coming sooner than you might think

Instead of bullying and scaring people, the prophets of energy technology are attempting to seduce them. They promise a world where, at one level, things will have changed beyond recognition, but at another will have stayed comfortably the same, and may even have got better.

This time it’s serious

Alternative energy sounds like a cop-out. Windmills and solar cells hardly seem like ways of producing enough electricity to power a busy, self-interested world, as furnaces and steam-turbines now do. Battery-powered cars, meanwhile, are slightly comic: more like milk-floats than Maseratis. But the proponents of the new alternatives are serious. Though many are interested in environmental benefits, their main motive is money. They are investing their cash in ideas that they think will make them large amounts more. And for the alternatives to do that, they need to be both as cheap as (or cheaper than) and as easy to use as (or easier than) what they are replacing.

For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. The biofuels or batteries that will power cars in the alternative future should beat petrol at today’s prices. Of course, today’s prices are not tomorrow’s. The price of oil may fall; but so will the price of biofuels, as innovation improves crops, manufacturing processes and fuels.

Electrical energy, meanwhile, will remain cheaper than petrol energy in almost any foreseeable future, and tomorrow’s electric cars will be as easy to fill with juice from a socket as today’s are with petrol from a pump. Unlike cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, of the sort launched by Honda this week, battery cars do not need new pipes to deliver their energy. The existing grid, tweaked and smartened to make better use of its power stations, should be infrastructure enough. What matters is the nature of those power stations.

The price is right

They, too, are more and more likely to be alternative. Wind power is taking on natural gas, which has risen in price in sympathy with oil. Wind is closing in on the price of coal, as well. Solar energy is a few years behind, but the most modern systems already promise wind-like prices. Indeed, both industries are so successful that manufacturers cannot keep up, and supply bottlenecks are forcing prices higher than they otherwise would be. It would help if coal—the cheapest fuel for making electricity—were taxed to pay for the climate-changing effects of the carbon dioxide produced when it burns, but even without such a tax, some ambitious entrepreneurs are already talking of alternatives that are cheaper than coal.

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Please read the rest of the article for the pessimism that I cut out. He can also give the Lion courage:

http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/editorsblog/Coalition-and-Partners-Launch-Rebuilding-America

Coalition and Partners Launch Rebuilding America

Submitted by jana on February 2nd, 2009

The Energy Future Coalition, in concert with a diverse cross-section of partners, recently submitted a plan to Congress to use building retrofit programs to put people back to work while reducing the U.S.’s energy footprint.  The building sector consumes 70% of electricity and emits 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  Implementing energy efficiency retrofits presents an opportunity to create good jobs that not only reduce our environmental impact, but also create long-term energy savings for schools, homes, and businesses.

The plan would target retrofitting 4 million homes over the next two years.  Over the long-term, the plan recommends improving the efficiency of 50 million existing structures by 2020, creating 200,000 jobs. Energy efficiency is much cheaper than building new power plants and should be the first option for meeting energy demand.

Learn more >non

News Clip: Efficiency in Troubled Waters, Grist Magazine

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Please visit their amazing website. I couldn’t post it all. He can give the Tin Man lubricants that do not contain fossil fuels and a big old thumpin heart:

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/future-energy/

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16Feb

Solar Energy “Power Towers” for California

We mostly talk about solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. But we can utilize sunlight by using another technology known as concentrating solar technology. In this technology reflective mirrors are used to concentrate light onto a liquid to make steam. This steam then converts energy into electricity with the help of conventional turbines. Deserts are best places to avail this technology. One important aspect is, its air-cooling process conserves water, an important consideration for desert projects. Concentrating solar technology is to be utilized in California which has a directive to generate 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. 8 Comments

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But can he get Dorothy home to Kansas? I think the answer is yes:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

• Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
• Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

• Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
• Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
• Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
• Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
• A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

• Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
• Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
• Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
• Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
• Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.

itsgettinghotinhere.org

Actually Kansas…..

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