Merry Christmas Everyone – Good luck with work on Monday

Yes Yes I know….if you look to the left you will see that it is the 27th and fully 2 days after Christmas. I have all kinds of excuses…My brother from Florida came in on Thursday and wanted to spend the day with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn10FF-FQfs

Then on Friday after wrapping presents all the night before, we got up and drove through a bad snow storm to the hills outside of Mason City to have our first Christmas with Cate’s family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dnrosVyamY&feature=related

Then we went into Mason City and dropped off our presents at my parents house. We had decided with great regret that we could not stay much passed dark because of the weather. Dinner was not until 6, we left at 5:30 :-{

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBPcoI4OE9Y&feature=related

We battled back through the wind, the snow and slick roads and settled in for our Christmas night alone…You would say – well that was perfect time to post BUT we watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which I had gotten for Cate for Christmas…after that we went to bed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY

The next day I thought “shoot” I failed to post but quickly things like calling people I know to wish them a merry Christmas and to find out if anyone had already read the books that I gave as gifts. I was 28 to 1 in that one. I helped set up Cate’s puzzle folding table and she puzzled all day while I did laundry and such. Posting completely slipped my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ5gtrcde2Y&feature=related

So today I woke up (we had to watch the Harry Potter Movie again because it was so confusing) and said “Damn it, I am going to post. So after a hearty breakfast I did. Merry Christmas to all and to all a….well end of the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TFrO8c_kVQ&feature=related

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Yes I know…It IS Jam Band Friday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSgEDKjmT5o

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Energy Tough Love Is On Vacation In Indianapolis and then Chicago

So there will be posts only when I have the time. Today’s post concerns the rumor (and that is all it is) that is being spread by the coal and oil companies that Wind Turbines are not green and are not healthy. It finally has made it to Indiana:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090809/BUSINESS/908090380/1305/ARCHIVE/Blowback++Indiana+s+emerging+wind+farms+whip+up+controversy

Blowback: Indiana’s emerging wind farms whip up controversy

More and more critics say windmills aren’t that green, aren’t a great source of energy — and can be harmful to people’s health

By Jeff Swiatek

Posted: August 9, 2009

The 200- to 300-foot-long blades on industrial windmills look almost whimsical from afar. They appear to turn slowly. People sometimes stop to take pictures. “They look cool,” said Eric Burch, director of policy and outreach for the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

The tips of those giant blades, however, move at speeds approaching 160 mph, creating forces that send low-frequency vibrations through the ground. People three-quarters of a mile away sometimes say they can feel the vibrations in their chests.

Cases of nausea, headaches, insomnia and other ills have become common enough in states with wind farms that they’ve been given a name: “wind turbine syndrome.”

That newfangled illness is just one of a growing list of health effects, inconveniences, risks and cost considerations that have resulted in a backlash against wind farms in other states, even as Indiana is in the midst of a rapid buildout of wind energy.

What’s happening in other states suggests that the warm and fuzzy feeling many Hoosiers have for wind farms could change as the big turbines creep closer to more populated areas near Indianapolis, Lafayette and other cities.

Benton County farmer John Gilbert said several farmland owners he knows refused to lease space for turbines. He can’t quite understand that. He and his family leased ground for four turbines being built by French-owned enXco.

“My thoughts are, they are going to have to look at ’em, so they might as well get paid.”

Wind turbine energy is here. But groups have sprung up nationwide to fight it.

Jon Boone, a retired University of Maryland administrator who helped found the North American Bluebird Society, has become a leading wind-energy critic from his rural Maryland home, where he helped fight a wind farm proposal several years ago. Now he duels with the windmill lobby through his Web site, stopillwind.org.:}

More later..

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Cool April Fools – Jocularity, High Jenks, and Tom Foolery rein

People think I don’t have a sense of humor but I do. It’s just truncated. Viewers be warned this is outright theft BUT the title alone is worth the ride:

http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/american-airlines-launches-zero-emission.php

April 1, 2009

American Airlines Launches

Zero Emissions Zeppelin Service

aa-blimp.jpg

Starting next month, American Airlines will replace jet service on the transatlantic sector with solar powered LZ-2 airships – at zero emissions. The new 100% photovoltaic powered vessels will transport up to 500 people in the lap of luxury, featuring private suites, bars and restaurants, spectacular lounges, and an 18-hole frisbee golf course.

Twenty five years of cooperation between Boeing and the Poof Slinky company reduced even the manufacturing process of the LZ-2 to a zero emissions, zero waste process based on recycled material gathered in the North Pacific Gyre and re-purposed to aircraft specifications.

On a maiden test flight between New York and Helsinki last week, American Airlines CEO Gerard J. Arpey shared champagne with company spokesman Robert Plant remarking:

American Airlines is proud to usher in a new age of travel where humanity can once again relax – free from leg cramps, nonexistent overhead bins, and inedible snak paks.

To which Plant replied, “I believe I’ve lost my frisbee.”

To save additional resources, passengers may disembark over any landmass by ejecting in parachute bound pods  

Below, airship #23 arrives in New York:

blrip-nyc.jpg

Features:

longsec.jpg

1. Rigid Airship Frame with Helium Chambers
2. Photovoltaic Cell Network
3. Retractable Polycarbonate Roof
4. Terraced Deck with Lap pool
5. SkyView Lounge
6. Main Atrium with Climbing Wall
7. EarthView Restaurant & Bar
8. Spa Treatment & Library
9. Private Suites
10. Kitchen & Staff Rooms
11. Captain’s Bridge
12. Gantryway
13. Propulsion
14. Bungee Jumping Platform
:}

But yah know, the more you think about. Please go to the website above and click on more April 1 Fun. The articles are real funny.

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Alternative Energy Blogs And Green Blogs – As we slide towards the softer side of Sears

No offense meant but anybody including yours truely can have a blog. This first Blog was kind of interesting but apparently it died in 2005. What was it about 2005? Everyone thought, “Heh i could have had a Blog”? Then it turned out to be tougher than they thought. People died? What?

http://www.thebrigg.net/

The Greenhouse Effect

Filed under: Energy and Science — Administrator @ 10:14 am

There is a tremendous amount of misinformation about the greenhouse being spread, in large part by PACs (Political Action COmmittees) funded by the oil, coal, and gas industries, such as the “Greening Earth Society” . So, what’s the reality? First, it’s important to understand how it relates to something of increasing concern – hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. The increasing frequency of strong hurricanes is also giving yet another conformation of the models. (more…)

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This Blog is current and while listed as a Green Blog it deals with Energy quite a bit:

http://www.greenr.com/blog/

Google Gets Behind Smart Meters & Monitoring

Posted by davidwfox on 10 Feb 2009 | Tagged as: energy efficiency, my-new-house

Smart meters and energy monitors have been around for years, but Google wants to bring this empowering technology to a much larger audience. Count me in!

Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” and we believe consumers have a right to detailed information about their home electricity use. We’re tackling the challenge on several fronts, from policy advocacy to developing consumer tools, and even investing in smart grid companies.

Continued at The Official Google Blog…

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I guess quitting a Blog and giving it up is not as bad as what happened to this blog…Hope it doesn’t happen to CES.

 http://alteng.blogspot.com/

 

Blog has been removed

Sorry, the blog at alteng.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

Did you expect to see your blog here? See: ‘I can’t find my blog on the Web, where is it?

:}

owch…In the same vane, it’s hard to tell whether this site is alive or dead. The last post on the home page is December 2008.

http://www.thewatt.com/

Recent Podcast

 theWatt Podcast 79

in

 download:

tWP79: Building a Wind Farm (11MB, 28min)

Mike Jablonicky from Canadian Hydro Developers is on the show giving us the inside scoop on building a $410 million, 198MW wind farm.

 :}

There is even a fasinating look at “Conservation Psychology” on their BB..

http://www.thewatt.com/node/191

Conservation psychology – What’s it gonna take?

On the recent Watt podcast panel discussion the group touched on conservation psychology a couple of times. Here is a paper I’m working on relating to conservation psychology and off grid RE systems.

The convergence of peak oil, topsoil depletion, freshwater shortages, and climate change require massive societal change in a short time. Can we make the necessary adjustments to our lifestyles in advance in order to learn to thrive with less but also possibly head off the worst effects of these converging challenges? If we accept that these threats are real then we have less than a decade to drastically cut levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

“…… the global output per head should be reduced to 0.537t by 2050. The UK currently produces 9.6 tonnes per head and the US 23.6t. Reducing these figures to 0.537t means a 94.4% cut in the UK and a 97.7% cut in the US. But the world population will rise in the same period. If we assume a population of 9bn in 2050, the cuts rise to 95.9% in the UK and 98.3% in the US.” (Monbiot 04/12/2007)

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But it is 24 weeks and 5 days (days?) old. It looks like they veered off into Twitter and Podcasts. Maybe the Cutting Edge got them.

http://twitter.com/benkenney

http://www.thewatt.com/node/195

:}

But I am too old for such things so if a Commenter could explain this that would be great. Finally, you could be like this Blogger and post every 6 months or so….what a luxury:

http://www.energyhack.com/

Recycle water from your morning shower

I just came across this Canadian invention that lets you reuse the thermal energy from your shower. The great thing about is that is so simple and it is has no moving parts meaning no energy consumption. The downside is that it has to be build in with your drain. This is on my list for my future house. Check it out at http://www.ecodrain.ca/

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An Environmental Funny – Or never take yourself to seriously

I have spent the last 30 or 40 days since we got back from California going on about dire things happening with the planet, ways to save energy in your house, and the crazy commodity prices that I sometimes forget that you have to laugh. Why be on the planet if you don’t. This was brought home to me by a blog that Dan Piraro just posted.

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/

In that Post he talks about going to a school in Indianapolis and talking to some kids. He made a joke which I thought was pretty funny about being loaded when he was there. First he got hopped by locals who thought putting the kids picture on his blog would endanger them somehow. Then they hopped him for saying he was loaded….That really got to me. Part of it was that I had planned to go see him there and had to cancel for a very important event, my inlaws 60th Wedding Anniversery. Such things are irreplaceable and though many plans for the trip had been made…still your 60th Wedding Anniversery is huge. l I felt bad because here Dan had gone and done a nice thing and probably turned on (every pun intended) some youngsters to Art while volunteering his time. But also Dan will probably not come back to Indianapolis again because of his treatment and that is as close as he usually gets to Springfiel, IL.

It might be because another of my favorite funny guys the Sports Writer Mike Nadel got fired by the GateHouse people to save money. I mean GateHouse is like the Tribune, they are what’s wrong with this country. They took on trillions of $$$s in debt to produce an inferior product. He is still being funny here:

http://thebaldesttruth.blogspot.com/

So please give him a read and if he ever produces anything accidentally about the environment I might post it here. Then I started thinking about all the funny guys I have been missing,

Lewis Grizzard

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Bend-Garden-Granny-Taters/dp/0345419243

Who must be laughing in heaven because his last book came out two years after he died.

Dave Berry (pulizer prize winning Dave Berry I might add)

http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/

who was retired and whom championed the Lawn Rangers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-H9L-B19b4

Gary Larson who kinda retired too:

http://www.thefarside.com/

And Berkley Breathed who kinda retired too (pulitzer prize winning):

http://www.thefarside.com/

The point being that this cartoon has languished in a pile oh stuff for ever, because more serious things had to be posted. As penance I put it up on Sunday (when I normally don’t post) this Dan Piraro gem from early December:

bz-giant-sqyuid-12-05-08-wb.jpg

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Merry Christmas From Everyone at Community Energy Systems

If you think Christmas is about crass comercialism than go here:

http://www.merry-christmas.com/

But if you think Christmas is about lowering your use of fossil fuels, and other scare resources, please try here:

http://www.csecenter.org/

(:=}

While I Was On Vacation Our Server Crashed – Over the next several days I am going to try to replace all 10 posts that were lost.

I will date these posts as I post them. This is Highly unusual but we assumed that the server we use was backed up every day or every week. Not so. The Server is only backed up every 2 weeks. So this could get confusing. The NEW daily posts will not be dated. CES bloggers

Around The World In 80 Days – Well not quite but

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7766249.stm

‘Solar taxi’ goes round the world

A solar-powered car has arrived at the UN climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan after a round-the-world trip covering almost 40 countries.

At the wheel of the “solar taxi” was Swiss teacher Louis Palmer who made the 52,000km (32,000 mile) 17-month trip.

He said the feat proved solar power was a viable alternative to oil-based fuels and could help fight global warming.

But he said the prototype would need serious modification before it could be mass produced.

The small blue-and-white three-wheeler tows a trailer packed with batteries charged by the sun. It can travel for 300km on a single charge and reach speeds of 90km/h (55mph).

“People love this idea of a solar car,” Mr Palmer said outside the venue of the UN climate talks. “I hope that the car industry hears…and makes electric cars in future.”

Mr Palmer, 36, said the car ran “like a Swiss clock,” breaking down only twice during the gruelling trip through 38 nations starting in Lucerne in July 2007.

Instead Of Global Warming It Should Be Called Hot Acid Ocean – Maybe then people would get it..replacement post 11/27/08

Once we kill off the Oceans of the Earth, what shall we do next?

;]

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2008/2008-Nov-13/is-the-ocean-a-victim-of-global-warming-our-intrepid-reporter-travels-thousands-of-miles–from-moss-landing-to-peru-and-chile–to-crack-an-environmental-crime/1/@@index

Posted November 13, 2008 12:00 AM

Liquidity Crisis

Is the ocean a victim of global warming? Our intrepid reporter travels thousands of miles – from Moss Landing to Peru and Chile – to crack an environmental crime.

A cold, salty wind blows from the west. The gray Pacific Ocean – incubator of slimy life, cycler of nutrients, composer of storms – doesn’t seem like itself lately.

The bully they call El Niño seems to be coming around more often, screwing with every fishery he touches. Niño plays games with the world’s weather, flooding dry Peruvian coastal towns while parching lush Indonesia.

Expanding offshore twilight zones of low oxygen turn fish into refugees and kill whatever can’t swim away. Oregon fishermen pull up buckets of dead crabs while jumbo squid pulse poleward, happier than clams in the suffocating layer. Other warm-water species are hanging out in places that used to be too cool for them. Tropical storms are getting meaner; jellyfish are swarming.

Meanwhile, the mad chemist known as pH is tinkering with the ocean’s ions, making California’s coast more acidic than the psychedelic ’60s. Dolphins file noise complaints, the shells of microscopic snails dissolve, and light-reflecting plankton retreat.

The sea’s weird behavior is a tough nut to crack, but some of the world’s sharpest minds are on the case. Their chief suspect is carbon dioxide, code-named CO2: atmospheric loiterer, weather tweaker, planet heater.

;]

For much more see this article or google “acid ocean” and watch the hits grow.

Big 3 Auto Makers And Bush Plan To Screw The Environment Again – Just how wrong does detroit plan to go? replacement post for 11/26/08

Let’s see after the last bailout Lee Iaccoca invented minivans and SUVs. Now they want to take the money dedicated to the creation of efficient engines and throw it down a rat hole. We loan 15billion$$ to companies worth 10billion$$ and they will still build cars that suck. Great News.

;]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AUTO_BAILOUT_LIBERALS_FEUD?SITE=AZMES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Dec 3, 7:13 PM EST

Analysis: Labor-green rift clouds auto aid chances


WASHINGTON (AP) — Watch out for family fights, Mr. President-elect. Though Democrats will control both the new Congress and White House, the battle over a multibillion-dollar auto industry bailout already is pitting two major party constituencies against each other: big labor and environmentalists.

The United Auto Workers, along with Detroit’s Big Three, are pushing for an infusion of emergency loans for the carmakers’ immediate needs – even if that means diverting $25 billion that had been set aside for creating cleaner vehicles. Environmentalists balk at that notion, saying the money is sacrosanct and insisting that any new help be tied to strict requirements for greener cars.

The intramural fight helps explain why President-elect Barack Obama has stayed vague on his views on the details of the bailout and Democratic leaders have seemed uncertain about whether to push one through. It’s also at the heart of the disagreement between Democrats and the Bush administration over how to structure any carmaker rescue.

After rushing Congress back into session last month to consider an emergency auto aid plan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., abruptly reversed course and called off the debate.

They ordered the Big Three to submit elaborate loan applications to Congress before they would even schedule votes on a rescue. The separate blueprints submitted Tuesday by Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. called for up to $34 billion in government aid.