Category Archives: advanced energy structures

I’ve Always Wanted To Get A Buzz ON – But this early in the morning?

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:}This is One of the Cool Sites I visit often. If for no other reason than to check the falling price of Solar Photovoltaics.

Some of the links are active below, if you want to use them but it’s easier to just go there and do that.

http://www.solarbuzz.com/index.asp

 sb50.gif

WORLD SOLAR ENERGY NEWS HEADLINES 


Latest News….


May 5, 2008
Munich, Germany: Centrosolar and Qimonda in Cell Manufacture Joint Venture  May 2, 2008
Boading, China: Yingli Signs Module Contract with Eiko Trading May 2, 2008
Novato, CA, USA: iPower Completes PV System for Flora SpringsMay 2, 2008
Albuquerque, NM, USA: SkyFuel Secures Funding for Solar Thermal Power Technology

voltaic Module Survey Retail Prices   (DEC 2001 – MAY 2008)

 Photovoltaic Module Survey Retail Prices   (DEC 2001 – MAY 2008)

moduleprices08-5.gif 

 Photovoltaic Module Survey Retail Prices   (DEC 2001 – MAY 2008)

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:

NBuzz
 PRICE SURVEY:  MAY 2008
Solar Electricity  21.29 cents per kWh
 UNCHANGED

:

EXPO AT SOLARBUZZ.COM
 Find Solar Companies Worldwide
  SITE NAVIGATION      
 MEDIA
SITE SEARCH

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One Of The Best Articles Ever On Green Automobiles – The ins and outs of biofuels and electric cars

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US News is my hero:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/your-money/2008/01/11/the-pros-and-cons-of-8-green-fuels.html

The Pros and Cons of

8 Green Fuels

Our dossiers detail which fuels

are overrated—and which

could power your next car

By Rick Newman

Posted January 11, 2008


 

After years of talk, rising oil prices—combined with global-warming concerns and a disdain for foreign oil—have finally set the stage for breakthroughs in alternative fuels. To see how the hottest new technologies stack up, click on each fuel for a rundown of its attributes and flaws, or click on the topics on the left to see how various fuels compare:

  • What is it?
  • What’s good about it?
  • What’s bad about it?
  • Where would it be most useful?
  • How much will it cost?
  • When’s it coming?
  • What’s taking so long?
  • Who’s doing it?
  • Could it be a silver bullet?

What is it?

Corn Ethanol
A fuel derived from the sugars in corn and other plants. Pure ethanol is usually blended with gasoline. “E10″—10 percent ethanol—is common today. E85—85 percent ethanol—is the highest practical blend; some gas is still required for combustion in most climates.
Cellulosic Ethanol
A biofuel refined from cellulose, the fibrous material that makes up most of the plant matter in wheat, switch grass, corn stalks, rice straw, and even wood chips.
Biodiesel
A renewable fuel made from vegetable oil or animal fats, including soybeans, canola oil, and even used cooking oil. It’s sometimes mixed with conventional, petroleum-based diesel to help cut down on tailpipe emissions.
Clean Diesels
Diesel is refined from petroleum, like gasoline, but the pollution it produces is harder to control. “Clean diesel” vehicles burn the fuel more efficiently and trap pollutants better. New low-sulfur diesel fuel also pollutes less—much like unleaded gasoline, compared with leaded.
Hybrids
There are several kinds of hybrids. In general, today’s models have a battery-powered electric motor that drives the car at slower speeds and a gas engine that kicks in at higher speeds. The engine also helps recharge the battery, along with energy captured from the rotation of the wheels during deceleration.
Plug-In Hybrids
Same principle as for ordinary hybrids: There’s an electric motor and a gas engine, except that the battery powering the motor would be recharged from an electrical outlet, at home or someplace else. The motor would power the car until battery power waned. Then the gas engine or another secondary power source would kick in.
Electric Vehicles
Any car with a battery-powered motor—including every variety of hybrid—is an electric vehicle to some extent. A pure electric vehicle would be run entirely by the battery-powered motor.
Hydrogen/Fuel Cells
The concept is similar to hybrids: an electric motor would drive the car much of the time. In this case, the motor would be charged by something under the hood called a fuel-cell stack, which converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity that flows to the battery. The on-board fuel would be hydrogen.

Top

Primary sources: Automotive News, Union of Concerned Scientists, dieselforum.org, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, American Automobile Association, Renewable Fuels Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Biodiesel Board, Center for Automotive Research.

 

Please note, I did not include ALL of the article here but each link for the topic should take you to a longer article which takes you through each category list at the top of the article. For the attention challenged please click on the main US News link at the beginning of this post. Each category is laid out in linear bullet fashion. Either way its one hell of a piece.

Wind Electrical Generation In Illinois – #1 in 2007

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We installed the most generation capacity in the nation in 2007! Yahoo

http://www.illinoiswind.org/news/index.asp

wind.gif

News

Section 9006 Program Funds for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements
Posted 3/7/2008 1:56:33 PMThis message is from Molly Hammond, USDA Rural Development- Illinois, April 7,2008USDA published a notice yesterday (4/6/08)in the Federal Register announcing it is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2008 to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements for agriculture producers and rural small businesses in eligible rural areas. Funding will be available in the form of grants, guaranteed loans, and combined guaranteed loans and grant applications. For FY 2008 there is approximately $15.9 million in funding for competitive grants and $205 million in authority for guaranteed loans. Funding for grant and loan combination packages will be funded from the same allocation as loan guarantees.I have attached the Federal Register document to this email. Please read it carefully. Pay particular attention to the mention of the Environmental Assessment. The environmental process should begin right away. Please contact me for information on environmental requirements for specific projects. This year there will be two competitive grant cycles. The first deadline is April 15, 2008. Applications that are not funded in the first competition will automatically be considered under the second competition. Grant applications in the second cycle are due no later than June 16, 2008. Loan applications and grant/loan combination applications will be evaluated on a bi-weekly basis until June 16. These will be funded on a first-come first-serve basis. I would suggest submitting a combination application as soon as possible. Please note that combination applications must score at least 84 points to remain eligible.

Please see the following websites for more information on the program:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill/index.html – Section 9006 website

A copy of the regulation can be found at the above website, but a more reader-friendly version is available at this link: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/regs/regs/pdf/4280b.pdf

Application templates and other useful items can be found at the Environmental Law and Policy Center website. Please note that this is not a USDA Rural Development website.

www.farmenergy.org

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/provider_search.asp – Link to a list of grant writers.

I look forward to working with you, and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Molly K. Hammond
USDA Rural Development – Illinois
Business Cooperative Specialist
Phone: 217-403-6210
Fax: 217-403-6215

But Illinois is not without resistance.

Rail splitter project may

 `

be caught in turbulence

By TIM LANDIS

BUSINESS EDITOR

tim.landis @sj-r.com

One of the nation’s largest developers of wind energy hopes to have 67 turbines churn­ing out electricity by the end of this year along a stretch of interstate highway about 50 miles north of Springfield.

The $175 million to $200 million Rail Split­ter Wind Farm would produce enough power to meet the annual needs of 30,000 homes.

“Assuming we get approval, we hope to begin construction in May and to have the project online by the end of this year,” Bill Whitlock, a project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, said Wednesday.

Whitlock said the company plans to file for a construction permit in Logan County or,-Monday, and already has filed in Tazewell County for the right to build on 11,000 acres of farmland shared by the two counties.

The site is on both sides of Interstate 155 near the community of Delavan, between Lin­coln and Peoria. Whitlock said 38 of the 380-to 390-foot towers — the state Capitol, by com­parison, is 361 feet to the top of the dome — would be in Tazewell County and 29 would be in Logan County.

Whitlock said the company also continues to negotiate leases with farmers whose land is needed and is exploring markets for the power.

Horizon Energy’s first major project in cen­tral Illinois, the 240-turbine Twin Groves Wind Farm near Bloomington, ran into a va­riety of legal challenges, including from landowners, before it began producing elec­tricity last year.  The U.S. Department of Energy r nois at 16 among the top 20 states for wind-energy potential.

But the head of the Illinois Wind Working Group — a consortium of utilities, rural elec­tric cooperatives, farm organizations and eco­nomic development agencies — said Wednes­day he expects commercial wind farms to re­main controversial.

“There are probably going to be lawsuits, and counties really have to be careful to make sure they follow legal procedures,” said David Loomis, who also is an associate professor of economics at Illinois State University in Nor­mal.

Even on a residential scale, wind turbines can be a touchy subject with neighbors, ac­cording to Bill Fabian, owner of Midstate Re­newable Energy Services in Champaign. The home-based business has sold about a dozen residential turbines the past two years.

“You always have the proximity issue with neighbors who may not be as enthused about wind power as you are,” Fabian said.

He said the typical home unit costs $15,000 to $19,000. The tower is usually 60 feet, tall enough to get above most treetops.

“I think it’s going to remain mostly a niche market for residents who can not only afford it, but have the commitment to make it work,” he said.

Officials in Logan County have estimated the Rail Splitter project could generate about $234,000 in tax revenue the first year. The Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals has set three public hearings in April on the pro­posal.

GateHouse News Service contributed to this report. Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.
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But Sangamon County? The leader in all things innovative? Not so much…

Flat ground won’t work

By TIM LANDIS

BUSINESS EDITOR

tim.landis@sj-r.com

It isn’t for a lack of wind. But Sangamon County is considered too flat in most spots when it comes to commercial wind development.

Nearly a year and a half since the county approved rules for wind-tur­bine construction, exactly two per­mits have been approved. Both were for what amounted to do-it-yourself home projects in the wind industry.

“It was for two mini-systems,” said county zoning and building ad­ministrator Randy Armstrong.

The wind rules were approved in the fall of 2006 after a commercial developer approached the county about the possibility of a local wind firm. After the initial inquiry, noth­ing more was heard, Armstrong said.

“They said they were interested, so we thought maybe we’d better get something on the books,” he said.

The director of the Illinois Wind Working Group at Illinois State University explained that potential turbine sites are graded ,m a scale of 1 to 7. The higher the number, the more suitable the area for com­mercial wind development.

“Most of Illinois is a class 3-plus or a 4. Usually, a class 3 or 4 is the minimum they’d consider to be commercially viable,” David Loomis said.

Loomis said Illinois also has the advantage of large population cen­ters that make it financially feasible to build projects at lower wind speeds compared to sparsely popu­lated states such as North Dakota that rank at a “6” or higher.

But he said the suitability of ter­rain varies considerably, even from county to county.

“If you look at McLean County (Bloomington-Normai), you’d say, ‘Gee, it’s as flat as Sangamon County. But in reality, there’s a slow rise upward, and it ends in a ridge on the eastern side of our county,” he said.

The Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, based in Auburn, is waiting for equipment to begin con­struction of a single wind turbine on a reclaimed coal-mine site about 30 miles south of Springfield, along Interstate 55 at Farmersville.

The turbine would supply about 500 homes.

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.

:}

Cars That Kill – How the gasoline powered car has destroyed the planet.

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Most people when considering the Automobile as an environmental plague think mainly of oil and its various impacts. While it’s true that the vast network of oil drilling platforms, the refineries and the gasoline spewed by billions of internal combustion engines from D13 Catepillars to Leaf Blowers has befouled the world. But lets not forget that the refining of oil led to the creation of plastics which now bob up and down all over our oceans. The creation of Rubber Tires led to the enslavement of huge tropical regions of the world. The energy consumed just to make the damn things is incredible. But what about the impact of the world’s population commuting to work?

Suburbs and Bedroom communities have been called the single largest misallocation of resources since the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China. We all know what happened to those folks…..

http://www.howestreet.com/articles/index.php?article_id=6219

In preparation for doing a post on the locals that are competeing in the Progressive Automotice XPriz here is another look at the world ending car:

Originally published here:

http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/

By:

Whiskey and Gunpowder is your source for up to date financial editorial and insight into the effect finance has over the world of commodities.

Together, with Jim Amrhein (personal liberties), Byron King (economics with historic and geologic intertwinings), Dan Amoss (macroeconomic trends and institutional analysis), Adrian Ash and Ed Bugos (gold markets), and Jamie Ellis who covers everything in between. Plus a rotating cast of characters that keep up the standard of excellence in both content and delivery that Whiskey & Gunpowder insists on providing its readers.

Featuring insightful articles that explore a range of topics including commodities, politics, technology, nature, history and anything else our writers could possibly dream up, Whiskey & Gunpowder offers the kind of analysis that the mainstream media will never give

:}

Turn the Curve”By Byron King
April 16, 2008

Every automobile on the roads of the world reflects a long and complex chain of industrial production and energy usage. Yet we live in a world where many of the highest quality resources and energy supplies have already been exploited. And lower quality resources are more expensive to extract and exploit, if they are even available. So the world’s automobile industry is in the midst of a revolution in both resource availability and energy consumption.

Thinking about Basic Materials and Energy

Today the automobile business is vast. It is a global industry that has evolved by leaps and bounds in the 100 years since Henry Ford made his famous remark in 1908 about building “a car for the great multitude.” The worldwide customer base includes at least a billion people — spread over six continents — who have income sufficient to buy a car or small truck. According to figures assembled at the MIT Sloan Automotive Laboratory, there are about 700 million automobiles and light trucks in the world. About 30 percent of those vehicles are in North America.

Every car requires steel, aluminum, copper and lead. Each car requires rubber, plastic, and myriad of other petroleum and natural gas by-products. And there is much else in the long industrial ladder of automobile production. Just think in terms of the energy that goes into processing materials, fabricating parts, building components, assembling a finished product, and all the transportation along the way. In addition to the basic energy and material resources that go into manufacturing an automobile, the sheer number of vehicles reflects a lot of fuel tanks to fill with gasoline and diesel. And this does not even touch on the energy and resources that go into building road systems.

While America dwaddled,

There has been even more progress in the fuel efficiency of diesel engines over the past 25 years. Diesel power trains are no longer the sooty, “knock-knock” devices that they were back in the days of disco. Most cars sold today in the European Union (EU), for example, are powered with clean-burning, fuel efficient, smoothly running diesel engines. In fact, the demand for diesel fuel in Europe is such that EU refineries routinely ship surplus gasoline to sell into the North American market. And in North America the relatively low prices for gasoline throughout the 1980s and 1990s discouraged the use of diesel engines.

So there have been significant improvements in automobile power train efficiencies over the past couple of decades. But have these improvements translated into any overall reduction in demand for fuel? No. In 2007 motor fuel consumption in the U.S. was high as it has ever been. (Although according to the American Petroleum Institute, demand for motor fuel may be at a plateau due to price increases at the pump in 2006 and 2007.) In the past 25 years we’ve seen more people driving more cars for more miles. But compounding the fuel issue, the cars that people are buying and driving tend to weigh more and offer higher performance.

The Future of the Automobile

(sad but true even these folks think there is one)

It helps to view the age of the automobile — and its future — as a systemic whole. And some social critics are out in front of the broad discussion, with a sharp focus on the automobile and what it has brought us as a society. James Kunstler, for example, author of highly regarded books such as The Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency, believes that the car-dependent suburban build-out of the U.S. may be “the greatest misallocation of resources in all of human history.” That is, in an era of expensive energy and scarce resources, a car-dependent culture has no real future and is in fact a hindrance to progress in other directions. That is quite a viewpoint, well-presented by Kunstler in his writing. It’s depressing, but it sure gets your attention.

And criticism of the automobile culture is not confined just to social commentators like Kunstler. Another remarkable indictment comes from no less an automotive insider than Prof. John Heywood, the director of the MIT Sloan Automotive Laboratory. He has stated that “cars may prove to be the worst commodity of all.” According to Prof. Heywood, cars are “responsible for a steady degradation of the ecosystem, from greenhouse emissions to biodiversity loss. What’s worse, even if we improve vehicle efficiency, turn to fuel hybrids or make rapid advances in hydrogen-based fuel technologies, the scale for slowing down the degradation may run to the decades. Turning the curve won’t be easy.”

You can agree or disagree with the broad themes of Jim Kunstler or John Heywood. But there’s no argument with one of Prof. Heywood’s points. Wherever we are going, it will not be easy to “turn the curve.” Looking forward, the oil just is not there to fuel cars in the future in the way that we did it in the past. So a lot of people are going to have to do things differently.

Worldwide, the automobile industry has seen the handwriting on the wall. Fuel is expensive, and is getting more so with each passing year. So the industry has invested tens of billions of dollars in improving engine and power train efficiency. In addition, auto designers are coming up with new ways to eliminate weight and drag. (At higher speeds, up to 70 percent of the energy used to turn the wheels on a car goes just to push the air out of the way of the chassis.) The auto industry is looking towards different sorts of fuels, and moving towards what is called fuel-flexibility.

Hopefully this will lead us to a great new investment in the car of the future.

Until we meet again…
Byron King

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Solar Power Rocks – This is a pretty cool site

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The nice people at Solar Power Rocks asked me to link up with them. AWWWWW somebody else loves CES! Anyway they are going to explain html LINKS to me so I can try to do it.

http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/

In the mean time this is todays post:

Solar power rocks RSS Feed Get our RSS Feed

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    California Bay Area Solar Market Analysis

    Posted on April 16, 2008 by Dan Hahn.
    Categories: Solar Trends.

    Bay Area Solar Map

    We’ve noticed that there’s been quite a bit of chatter and advertising dollars thrown into solar in the bay area over the past year or so. For instance, we were just at a San Francisco Giants game last week and couldn’t help but notice the numerous PGE ads for their solar installation at AT&T park urging homeowners to consider the switch to solar. Glitzy ads from large oil companies (ahem, right right, “energy companies”) also emblazoned large billboards with solar elements. Well, the incentives in California are so good, that we started to wonder how many homeowners out of total in the bay area are already on board. So, it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned data analysis of the Bay Area residential solar market. The figures below were generated from data sourced by one of Dave’s colleagues. See the sources below for more info on their lineage.

    As you can see from the image above, Contra Costa county accounts for just about half of the solar installs in the bay area over the past 3 years. The other counties pale in comparison. However, you can see from the chart below that there is a substantial way to go to penetrate the rest of the bay area market. While Contra Costa county does account for half of those installs, consider that that county is only about 2% saturated!

    Key Assumptions

    1. Size, Installed Price and # of installs numbers based on solar installs from 11/05 -1/08 –See

    http://www.energy.ca.gov/renewables/emergingrenewableslindex.html

    2. Population and Households data based on 2006 ACS Census estimates –See
    http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/     for details

    3. Penetration calculated as % of households with solar.

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    Illinois Environmental Council :} Normally I don’t post on Saturday but…

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    Illinois EnviroBulletinApril 8, 2008
    Global Warming, Lobby Day, 2008 Briefing Book, 2007 Scorecard, Legislation

    NEW COALITION SAYS ILLINOIS CAN REDUCE GLOBAL WARMINGCleaner Cars Will Pave the Way
    The Illinois Climate Action Network — Illinois CAN — a new broad-based coalition of environmental, conservation and faith organizations aimed at combating global warming, debuted April 1 with a Springfield press conference calling for clean cars legislation. The Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB 3424 / SB 2238) would significantly benefit both the environment and the health of the state’s residents. 
    For more information: www.illinoisclimateactionnetwork.org
    Take action: http://illinoisactionproject.org/showalert.asp?aaid=915

    CONCERNED CITIZENS FLOOD SPRINGFIELD TO FIGHT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
    In a show of force not seen in years, about 150 citizen lobbyists converged on the state’s capitol April 2 to speak to their legislators face-to-face about global warming and other environmental concerns.  Organized by the IEC and member groups including Faith in Place, Sierra Club and Environment Illinois, Environment Day at the Capitol revived an old tradition and was a huge success.  
    For more: http://www.ilenviro.org/news/?item=95

    IEC RELEASES 2008 BRIEFING BOOK AND 2007 SCORECARD
    Recently IEC released Priorities for a Healthful Illinois: 2008 Illinois Environmental Briefing Book, laying out the top issues that must be addressed in the coming year if the state is to make a significant difference in the quality of life for its citizens. The 2007 Environmental Scorecard casts a view back over the past year to assess how Illinois legislators responded to the IEC’s previous Briefing Book recommendations, and holds legislators accountable by highlighting how they voted on key issues.
    For more: http://www.ilenviro.org/news/?item=90

    IEC PUSHES PRIORITIES; FIGHTS NEW NUKE PLANTS AND FUND RAIDS
    IEC has been busy working on a number of bills ranging from global warming to mercury to e-waste to recreational liability. At the same time, we’ve been playing defense on a number of issues. The governor’s proposed budget cut general revenue funding to the Department of Natural resources by 38%, cuts open space and land acquisition funds by 40 – 60%. Just last week, a bill surfaced to give the governor virtually unlimited authority to raid dedicated funds, while another bill would lift the moratorium on building new nuclear plants in Illinois until there is a solution to the radioactive waste problem.
    More on the DNR budget: http://www.ilenviro.org/news/?item=92
    More legislative updates: http://www.ilenviro.org/legislation/updates.php
    IEC Bill Tracker: http://www.ilenviro.org/legislation/billtracker.php

    The Illinois EnviroBulletin is a publication of the Illinois Environmental Council and the Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund.



    =======================================

    Jonathan Goldman

    Executive Director

    Illinois Environmental Council

    Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund

    1608 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Suite 511

    Chicago, IL 60647

    Tel: (773) 252-5954

    Fax: (773) 252-5953

    Cell: (312) 388-7358

    In Springfield:

    107 West Cook Street, Suite E

    Springfield, Illinois 62704

    Tel: (217) 544-5954

    Fax: (217) 544-5958


    Spiritism? OK I give up…

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    Spiritism: 15 million

    The problem with the list I have been using to meditate on the relationship between religions and the environment is it is all inclusive…noting religions that have less adherents then the population of New York City. Not that I am making fun of or discounting any of the “smaller” religions…In fact in honor of CES’ web mistress I will post on the Unitarians no matter what BUT Spiritism? I am almost afraid to see what pops out of the search engine. Could it be spooks!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritism

    This article is about Spiritism. For the similar movement prominent from 1830 to 1920 in most English-speaking countries, see Spiritualism.

    Allan Kardec (1804-69),

     

    Allan Kardec (1804-69), “decoder” of Spiritism

    Spiritism is a spiritualist philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.

    Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that could be only attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like Leon Denis, Arthur Conan Doyle, Camille Flammarion, Ernesto Bozzano, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, Johannes Greber[1] and others.

    Spiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and the greatest number of followers.[2]
    :}
    OK where is Houdini when you need him?

    http://www.spiritistdoctrine.com/basicsstart.htm

    *   Spiritism is a lesson of love and everlasting life in a continued pursuit of self-improvement and harmony with all the creation throughout multiple existences.
    *   It is the collection of principles and laws, as revealed by the Superior Spirits, contained in the works of Allan Kardec, which constitute the Codification of Spiritism: The Spirits’ Book, The Mediums’ Book, The Gospel According to Spiritism, Heaven and Hell and The Genesis According to Spiritism.
    *   It is the promised Consoler which came, at the appointed time, to compliment and remind us of what Jesus taught, “reestablishing all things in their true meaning”, so bringing to Humanity the true basis for spiritualization.

    But I forgot about mother earth and the New Agers.

    http://www.crossroad.to/Books/UnderSpell/5-goddess.htm

    Under the Spell of Mother Earth – Chapter 5 

     

    Welcoming the Goddess
     

    Human Sacrifice

    		  

     







    “Pagans at the Harvard Divinity School.  A Goddess-centered ritual at the University of Pennsylvania.  A feminist seder in Silver Spring.  New moon groups at a rabbinical seminary.  Women’s spirituality sessions at Appalachian State University, Wesleyan University, Brown …. What on earth is going on?”  (Judith Weinraub, The Washington Post)1 “In the beginning, there was no God.  There was the Goddess.  She peered into the great void and created the Heav­en and the Earth, and in this new domain women ruled.  The world was peaceful and both sexes worshiped Her.”  (Sonia L. Nazario, The Wall Street Journal)2

     “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

    LINDA, A STUDENT in elementary education at California State University at Sacramento, had to take a course titled “Curriculum and Methods in Elementary School Social Studies.” On the first day of class, her professor drew a large serpent on the chalkboard.  “This will protect you against evil forces,” he explained.  “What kind of a class is this?” wondered Linda.  A few weeks later, she wrote the following message to her mother who sent it on to me:

    I absolutely hate it!  The teacher is wearing a crystal around his neck. If this gives you any idea – here are some of our text titles: When God Was a Woman, Myths to Live By, Return of the Goddess, Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches, The Once and Future Goddess, etc.  If I didn’t have to be here, I would have walked out already.  I’m so amazed that this is our required class.  

    Linda was being trained to teach Goddess spirituality.  As a Christian, she recognized the deception.  But what about her peers?  What kind of social studies will they be teaching their students?  And if the Goddess is spreading her pagan roots through public education, how are her values influ­encing the rest of the nation?

    The Rise of Goddess Spirituality

    under.jpg

    :}

    During the mid-eighties, I searched local bookstores in vain for information on ancient Canaanite idol worship.  I wanted to understand God’s prophecy to Abraham con­cerning the time his descendants would enter the Promised Land.  God promised it would happen after 400 years of captivity, when the “sin of the Amorites” reached “its full measure.”3  As always, His timing would be perfect.  Israel would not be allowed to possess the land until Canaan’s degrading idolatry made it ripe for judgment.

    Suddenly, in early 1990, books about Goddess worship burst into public view with voluptuous illustrations, they described the Babylonian religion that had captivated the Canaanites in earlier days.

    Our most popular local bookstore displayed thirty-one books on the Goddess.  Some titles, like those on Linda’s reading list, express today’s growing fascination with the mythical Earth Mother: The Goddess Returns; The Way of the Goddess – A Manual for Wiccan Initiation; The Serpent and the Goddess – Women, Religions and Power in Celtic Ireland; The Goddess Within, Goddesses in Every Woman, The Sacred Age of the Goddess; The Triple Goddess; The Once and Future Goddess …

    Other titles joined Goddess worship to ecofeminism, fem­inine spirituality, and witchcraft: Priestesses; Kali-The Femi­nine Force; The Great Cosmic Mother – Rediscovering the Religions of the Earth; Myth and Sexuality; Drawing Down the Moon – Witches, Druids, Goddess Worshipers and Other Pagans in America Today; The Great Cosmic Mother,, The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries – Feminist Witchcraft, Goddess Rituals, Spellcasting and other Womanly Arts.

    Why this outpouring of publicity for the ancient God­dess?  Roger Woolger and Jennifer Barker Woolger gave an answer in their article “‘The Wounded Goddesses Within”:

    Throughout the world, but most prominently in West­ernized countries, we are witnessing a reawakening of the feminine, a profound upheaval within the consciousness of women… Radical commentators have called it figuratively a “return of the Goddess,” because it seems to suggest the very antithesis of patriarchal society.4

    The myths and practices that beckon seekers resemble those of Deep Ecology.  But followers of the Goddess express far more anger toward our male-dominated culture. To save the earth, they plan to …

    •  Replace the obsolete patriarchal system of a Father God which, they say, is squeezing our planet dry of resources, with the more compassionate culture of the ancient Mother Goddess.

    •  Revive the ancient myths, images, and rituals of the Goddess.

    •  Reclaim the power and sacredness of eroticism.

    “Ecofeminism develops the connections between ecology and feminism that social ecology needs in order to reach its own avowed goal of creating a free and ecological way of life.”5 (Ynestra King in Healing the Wounds) 

    Ecofeminists envision a world without authority figures or male saviors, “for the saving and sustaining power is in herself.”6 Filled with earth’s psychic energies and wisdom, we would each be free to do

    :}

    http://www.experiencefestival.com/gaia_hypothesis/page/2

    A Wisdom Archive on The Gaia Hypothesis

    Gaia Hypothesis

    The Gaia Hypothesis proposes that our planet functions as a single organism that maintains conditions necessary for its survival. The truly startling component of the Gaia hypothesis is the idea that the Earth is a single living entity with the capacity of self regulation.

    :}

    http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/santmat

    If you want to chat about it you can go to the site above. I don’t think the new agers have groups per se…the very idea of organizations is so OLD World. But they do have festivals:

    http://www.experiencefestival.com/

    OMMMMMMMMMM OHHHMMMMMMMM

    Juche – a simple name for a nasty idea. Kim Il Sungism

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    Jodie Foster, Pregnant Man, Iran, Prince Philip, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, American Idol, Obama, China, Beyonce, Rolling Stones. (sorry for the deception but please read below)

    Normally I wouldn’t bother to cover this but since it’s on the list I felt I needed to “dis” it as much as I could. I even took the time to get Buzzes top searches for the week to punch it up a bit. I even checked every category Energy Tough Love has to publicize this human indignity. The list of “Religions” that I used to start this meditation on the relationship between Religion and the Environment placed Juche well down on the list but with 18 million adherents that still alot of folks. I had never heard of it before and I even asked a couple of people if they had heard of it. Imagine my suprise when I typed it into a search engine and up popped this Prick who claimed he was god:

    www.dictatorofthemonth.com

    kim.jpg

    During his lifetime he forced millions of people in North Korea to worship him. Can you imagine anything more degrading or disgusting then a man who points a loaded gun at your head and demands that you treat him like a god. You must pray to him. Oh most Divine Leader. Makes me want to puke. But then he is followed by this buffoon:

    www.beconfused.com

    jong.jpg

    Now they are “worshiping” something no better than a trained monkey. If they had an ENVIRONMENTAL group in North Korea, I wish them the best of luck but I ain’t gonna publish it. I ain’t even gona type it into a search engine. If anybody ever deserved to get a nuke shoved up his poop shoot. This would be it.

    Jewish Environmental Groups? I thought this could be a lot of fun

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    While I was working on the last 2 posts, a thought came to me. Are there religious based environmental and energy advocacy organizations around the the country or the world?

    http://www.coejl.org/resources/israelorg.php

    And quick as you can say Holly Moelly Batman, I find this site and they got pretty pictures too.

    banner.jpg

    Israeli Environmental Issues and Organizations

    Adam Teva V’Din: The Israel Union for Environmental Defense

    info@iued.org.il
    http://www.iued.org.il
    Protection and restoration of Israel’s environment through research, grassroots organizing, litigation, and political advocacy.

    Alma – Association for Environmental Quality
    A citizens group involved in promoting the use of environmentally-friendly products and organically-grown produce, in encouraging industry to reduce waste, in advancing recycling and in forming an environmental youth movement.

    The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES)
    Email: info@arava.org
    http://www.arava.org/
    AIES offers the foremost environmental studies program in the Middle East. Participants come from The Palestinian Authority, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and a variety of other nations including the US, Canada, Sweden, China, and Australia.

    Council for a Beautiful Israel
    Email: cbi@israel-yafa.org.il
    http://www.israel-yafa.org.il/
    CBI is active in promoting environmental awareness, protecting the natural beauty of Israel, preserving historical sites, promoting the rehabilitation of run-down urban areas and developing public recreation sites and gardens.

    Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME)/EcoPeace
    Email: contact@ecopeace.com
    http://www.ecopeace.com
    A consortium of Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian environmental non-governmental organizations that work jointly to promote sustainable development in the Middle East.

    For Bicycles
    Email: taba@bike.org.il
    http://www.bike.org.il/
    Local associations for the promotion of bicycles as a means of transportation in Israel’s cities.

    Green Action
    Email: info@greenaction.org.il
    http://www.greenaction.org.il/
    An association fighting against environmentally damaging projects by means of colorful demonstrations, attracting media attention to issues.

    Greenpeace Mediterranean
    Email: mmedia@diala.greenpeace.org
    http://www.greenpeacemed.org.mt

    Green Course (Megama Yeruka)
    Email: megama@green.org.il
    http://www.green.org.il/
    Students’ group aimed at promoting environmental issues inside and outside the universities, colleges and other higher education institutes.

    Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership
    Email: heschel@heschelcenter.org
    http://www.heschelcenter.org/about_eng.html
    Integrates environmental ethics into Jewish and Israeli education through seminars, teacher training, curricula development, and research.

    Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI)
    Email: iccijeru@icci.org.il
    “http://www.icci.org.il/
    The ICCI is an umbrella organization of over 70 Jewish, Muslim and Christian institutions actively working towards interreligious and intercultural understanding in Israel and the region.

    Israel Economic Forum for the Environment
    Email: ecoforum@netvision.net.il
    The forum encourages industry, transportation, agriculture and other economic sectors to incorporate environmental concerns into their development planning alongside economic and operational concerns.

    Israeli Green Party
    http://www.green-party.org.il/

    Israeli-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) (Environmental Programs)
    Email: ipcri@ipcri.org
    http://www.ipcri.org

    Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
    Email: jcpa@netvision.net.il
    http://www.jcpa.org/jep.htm
    List of recent Jewish Environmental Publications

    Jewish Global Environmental Network (JGEN)
    Email: jgen@coejl.org
    http://www.jgenisrael.org
    The mission of the JGEN is to develop partnerships and collaborative initiatives through which Jewish environmental leaders in Israel and around the world work together toward a sustainable future for Israel.

    Jewish National Fund
    Email: communications@jnf.org
    http://www.jnf.org/
    Forestry and land reclamation in Israel; education; Israel trips; campus programming.

    Kibbutz Lotan
    Email: lotan-office@lotan.ardom.co.il
    Email: lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il
    http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/
    Kibbutz Lotan offers creative approaches for integrating the study of Liberal/Progressive Judaism, kibbutz, desert ecology, and environmental protection.

    Life and Environment
    Email: sviva@sviva.net
    http://www.sviva.net
    An umbrella organization to coordinate environmental activities among Israel’s non-governmental organizations.

    Ministry of Environment
    www.sviva.gov.il/

    Neot Kedumim
    Email: Gen_Info@Neot-Kedumim.org.il
    http://www.neot-kedumim.org.il
    Nature reserve dedicating to restoring the flora and fauna of biblical Israel; publication of educational materials.

    New Israel Fund
    info@nif.org
    http://www.newisraelfund.org
    New Israel Fund pursues an integrated strategy of grantmaking, technical assistance and coalition building to support national and community-based public interest organizations in Israel.

    Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI)
    Email: international@spni.org.il
    http://www.spni.org.il/e, birthright mission: http://israelnature.com/

    Israel’s largest environmental organization advocates environmental protection and offers a wide variety of educational programs and tours.

    American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (ASPNI)
    email: aspni@aol.com
    http://www.aspni.org/

    Teva Adventure Israel
    Email: info@tevaadventure.org
    http://www.tevaadventure.org
    Teva Adventure is a new not-for-profit informal Jewish educational organization that combines outdoor, environmental & adventure education with Jewish programming.

    SHALOM

    Some Of My Favorite Energy Blogs Are Going Silent

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    Where the Rubber meets the Road
    >

    What Some of My Favorite Blogs are Thinking Today

     thefraserdomain.typepad.com/ 

    The Energy Blog


    The following are the posts that define The Energy Revolution. They describe the causes and solutions as I envision them. I hope that you will find them useful in providing a background for your journeys in exploring The Energy Revolution.

    Consumer technology

    March 18, 2008

    FYI: GE Demonstrates World’s First ”Roll-to-Roll” Manufactured Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs


    Press release – GE Global Research and GE Consumer & Industrial in conjunction with ECD announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible today.  . . .OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance when compared to traditional products.

    GE researchers provided the organic electronics technology and were responsible for developing the roll-to-roll processes, while ECD provided its unique roll-to-roll equipment-building expertise to build the machine that manufactures the OLED devices.

    When commercialized this technology will make possible low cost high, efficieny lighting. Lighting currently comsumes about 22% of the total electricity generated in the U.S. and about 25% of the average homes electric bill.

    Thanks to Tyler at Clean Break for the tip.

    Sadly one of  the only true commenters on CES’ blog has not up date his blog since August. So disappointing to see a commenter to go quiet.

    alt-e.blogspot.com 

    Then there is the ever present and all encompassing:

    www.energyblogs.com 

    1-20 of 348 items listed     

    Most Commented and Most Viewed 03/21/2008 at 05:03 PM   |   Jose Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio – Electricity Without Price Controls Blog   This is a take of a snapshot of today’s EnergyBlogs stat. Most Commented (7 EWPC articles) Response to Professor Banks (46) I… 

    Missing From Gridwise 03/21/2008 at 04:30 PM   |   Jose Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio – Electricity Without Price Controls Blog Missing from the GridWise approach is the need to restructure as soon as possible the power industry to eliminate the barriers imposed by “the … 

    MON DIEU – FRENCH HYPOCRISY 03/21/2008 at 06:48 AM   |   Martin Rosenberg – From the Editor’s Desk Blog With the world shrinking and all, I have made it a policy of keeping an eye on what goes on in Europe. Some of if is fascinating. New technologies are… 

    Again sadness, another one has not been updated since December 2007, but I missed it so here it is:

    www.energyplanet.info/blog 

    Central Florida Homebuilder Goes Solar

    Sebring Builders, a privately owned Builder/Developer is hoping to become a trendsetter. In 2006, Sebring Builders started planning to build Stone Ridge, a private, gated community in the small central Florida town of Sebring. With single family homes starting just under $200,000, they thought this development had everything to offer, great location, clubhouse with many amenities, maintenance fee that included lawn care, wireless internet and cable TV, etc. Then, in early 2007, Florida Solar Innovators contacted owners, Rick Bennett and Randy Bean, about using one of the model homes in Stone Ridge to install a Photovoltaic System and possibly offering this as an option to home buyers. Read more…

    December 12th, 2007

    Last one for today:

    curtrosengren.typepad.com/alternative_energy

    Support from an unlikely source. This place hasn’t been up dated since February. Maybe I need to get some new best friends.

    T. Boone Pickens voices alternative energy support

    In another indication of the momentum building behind alternative energy development, T. Boone Pickens, a man who made his billions in the oil biz, recently voiced his support for alternative energy.

    …Pickens, who heads the $4 billion BP Capital Management hedge fund, also voiced some support for alternative energy development, saying a half-trillion dollars a year is leaving the United States economy to buy oil.

    Pickens said solar power technology is “almost there,” and there could be “corridors” of wind power developed from Texas through the Great Plains and west to California.