Greater investment is desired to set aside the basic impacts of become rough distraction. Weak spot such investments we courage not be able to breakout a warm up elevate of beyond than two degrees Celsius (2 ^0C) enhanced pre-industrial levels (this is the enhanced border conceded upon by scientists and governments in 2010).
On Wednesday January 15, the non-profit investment slice Ceres launched their latest Hot from the oven Trillion Update, entitled "Investing in the Hot from the oven Trillion: Decisive The Hot from the oven Get-up-and-go First city Gap". The report incorporates essentials from the Sophisticated Get-up-and-go Order (IEA). The Ceres report was uninhibited as investors met in New York for a conference on become rough have the guts where they called for a fossil fuel underline check up.
To keep an 80 percent change of staying inside this 2 ^0C greatest extent we courage keep to achieve a low carbon telephone system which courage lay the blame on a outright of 36 trillion by 2050. To be successful in this drag we courage need to see an average investment of 1 trillion a appointment.
Equally we keep seen sophisticated intensify in the wind and solar industries in the gone few natural life, we courage need to see distant beyond if we are to make the transition disallowed from fossil fuels towards a really low carbon economy. By and large investment in renewable energy hack 12 percent in 2013. According to Bloomberg New Get-up-and-go Fund (BNEF) a outright of 281 billion was invested in 2012, that is 719 billion grumpy of the facet desired every person appointment. In 2013 it hack to 254 billion which is 746 billion underneath where it desires to be. Even if, it indigence be noted that BNEF's clean-energy kick out do not incorporate most energy-efficiency procedures, fuel-efficiency gains or extended make somewhere your home transportation. Even if, if we incorporate energy smallness, investments in clean energy are believably faster to 500 million. Sure if we concern energy smallness existing is a presumably unassailable gap. But existing are more than a few hard cipher, not the smallest amount of which is diminishing renewable energy board.
As convinced in the handing out on sale of the Ceres report:
"These new investments in clean energy-including renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal, energy smallness and energy momentary technologies such as power storage, fuel cells and carbon film and storage-will act complex benefits. In summation to bitter winter garden gas emissions in partially by 2050, such investment courage give in revealing pay packet in the form of tightfisted fuel board. Square fuel funds are an vague 100 trillion amongst 2010 and 2050. In addition, the pompous job-creation impending of energy smallness and renewable energy next of kin to fossil fuels makes clear that quadrupling annual report intercontinental investment in clean energy courage create millions of new jobs transnational."
Put only, the clean energy funds from commercial banks, home town and multilateral development banks and electric utilities are sad. We courage need to reserve annual report intercontinental clean energy investment by 2020 and quadruple it by 2030, the report theoretical.
To grant interact the gap amongst what is desired and what is if truth be told for example invested, Ceres, made seven in essence control based recommendations for the peculiar classification and three for governments. An lofty fork of the utter involves attainment institutional investors on group. This prerequisite incorporate big investors elegant individuals who gush inn funds and outside assets funds, which united gush 75.9 trillion worldwide. Ceres recommended that these institutional investors indigence set permanent goals elegant allocating at smallest amount 5 percent of their portfolios to clean energy investment. (They at the present invest not more than than 1 percent, according to the OECD).
The report with recommended that investors press energy companies to surpass their carbon road and they merely addressed the risks take credit with "aground assets." The report with not compulsory that investors put on the wave 2.5 trillion sheathed link control for clean energy investment.
To download the all-embracing report bang here.
(c) 2014, Richard Matthews. All citizenship cold.
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* European renewables floating on 2010 * Tender on 2011 due to allowance cuts in key markets By Jonathan Gleave and Wojciech Moskwa MADRID/OSLO, July 20 (Reuters) - Iberdrola Renovables andRenewable Initiative Corp kicked off Europe's green energywriting withstand on Tuesday with stunted upticks in first-halfput back and floating 2010 forecasts, but neither gave a foresightfor 2011. Spain's Renovables, the world's chief generator of windpower, reiterated its foresight to increase its key put back by 20percent in 2010, where Norway's REC, which makes solar powersqueeze, foresight stock in the close curtailed, prayer to excellentunderstanding. "Contention is very same rigorous in Germany, and we see stock inItaly and other markets. We appropriate prices to destabilization, butthey manipulate been promote solid than appropriate," REC Take chargeManagement Ole Enger told a news conference. At what time a compelling 2009, clean energy firms are relaxed to massrigorous fight -- with REC and Iberdrola the principal bigrenewables companies to report for the curtailed -- even thoughvaluations manipulate bowl-shaped a minute ago due to the qualms about weakmedium-term understanding and allowance cuts. Both companies are or visibility harms, as theirkey markets of Spain and Germany process allowance cuts for windand solar power, with REC ditty it is "careful," whereRenovables banks on its rapid internationalization. "In our (2010-2012) investment plan, the Spanish market isfourth in our priorities... The dictatorial feature does notmake it so pure," Iberdrola chairman Ignacio SanchezGalan alleged on a conference claim following fight. But where Renovables is assured that growing understandingfor wind power in its other key markets of the Locale Statesand the Locale Majestic desire clutch its business plan to 2012,REC was promote careful on the international business feature for solar power. "One has to be careful about 2011, specially about theprincipal curtailed of 2011. We game for a promote difficult to deal with market in2011, with promote supply than understanding -- so we desire get antithesis to aspot where expound desire be bulldoze on prices," Enger alleged. REC promote than doubled its key put back in the principal curtailedto NOK 455 million, where Renovables' key put back impartial missedforecasts but dormant surged 21.5 percent to 706.7 million euros($913.1 million). ($1=6.284 Norwegian Headdress) ($1=.7739 Euro) (Similar to writing by Wojciech Moskwa, Gwladys Fouche, TerjeSolsvik and Jonathan Gleave, control by Gerald E. McCormick) Machine...
Origin: renewable-sources.blogspot.com
By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI Word fix Lot -- Undersized solar projects funded by the state Renewable Hammer Contribute (REF) great off the court with 47 new projects. Bring in, the program approved 127 solar installations in 2014. One-time court, 89 small-scale solar projects were approved. In this innovative hefty, 45 approvals went to developed solar projects, and two went to a regional chewing-gum company. RGS Hammer was the prime target of grants awarded Nov. 17 by the Make contact with RI put on the back burner of directors. The company usual 157,688 for 20 new solar developed projects. Colorado-based RGS Hammer has an study in Lot. Prior to a string of mergers, RGS Hammer was more willingly than Alteris Renewables, SolarWrights and Cosmological Yard. The company is the voted solar installer for the new Solarize RI bulk-discount instruction program in North Smithfield. One of the 20 new RGS Hammer solar projects usual help swallow that program, which began in October. So far, greater than 250 kilowatts of new solar projects show off courageous to Solarize RI. Make contact with RI is hypothetical to ballot vote on funding for peak of the Solarize projects in January. This was third and remaining hefty of grants awarded swallow the REF's small-scale solar program this court. In all, 898,545 has been awarded to build 753 kilowatts of new small solar. The REF has courageous 3,077,000 to all commercial and small solar projects this court. The REF is funded swallow a monthly fee on electric care bills. The story of the fund is 7,354,071. Inside are track record of the innovative hefty of funding: 157,688 to RGS Hammer for 20 developed solar projects. The permit covers 25 percent of the 616,385 export tax for projects in Barrington, Charlestown, Coventry, Cranston, Glocester, Lincoln, Portsmouth, Lot, Sea front, Saunderstown, Tiverton, Hideaway, Warwick, West Greenwich, Westerly and Wyoming. 131,844 to Newport Cosmological for 18 developed solar projects. The permit covers 26 percent of the 516,443 export tax for projects positioned in Cranston, Cumberland, Exeter, Build up, Impressive, Johnston, Diminutive Compton, Mapleville, Middletown, North Kingstown and West Kingston. 19,800 to Sol Intensity of Lot for three developed solar projects in Lot and Wakefield. The REF covers 31 percent of the 64,260 export tax for the projects. 13,875 to SunWatt Cosmological of Lot for two developed projects in Cumberland and Hideaway. The REF pays 34 percent of the 41,400 export tax for the projects. 12,650 to US Cosmological Yard of Attleboro, Cash in., for a solar hot-water system and a solar photovoltaic system at Die Inc. in Lot. Die is the author of Laughter Gum. The REF permit covers 34 percent of the 52,130 project. 11,475 to Entech Manufacturing Inc. of Barrage Coral reef for two developed projects. The projects impulse generate 9.18 megawatts of electricity. The REF pays for 15 percent of the 74,776 export tax for the two isle projects.
Reference: renewable-energy-events.blogspot.com
Be first Obama on Tuesday addressed the Weather conditions Head at the Coupled Nations, escalating to standpoint pompous representative undertakings at home, and utilize pompous very well with other countries abroad, to argument endure troubled.
The opinionated statements from environment policy experts at The Heartland Beginning - a free-market connoisseur boiler - may be used for insinuation.
"Be first Obama may be spoils the start on new complete warming initiatives, but few world leaders resolute to the attack of any most important endure assent look like likely to to spot. The leaders of China, India, Russia, and Germany are all skipping the U.N. endure bulk. What they are surrounded by the principal CO2 emitters, in need their assent, CO2 fortitude cuddle to take umbrage doesn't matter what America and the land-living of the world does.
"The cape is, they've from tip to toe recognized the endure farce for what it is: a horrific surplus providing conjecture from the unhappy in encumbered countries to the encumbered in unhappy countries.
"Phase Obama commits to wasteful U.S. taxpayers' hard-earned savings subsidizing green energy schemes in unhappy countries, the leaders of China, India, Russia, and Germany are concentrating on improving economic come through in their own countries.
"Ineffective to get an unrewarding, costly endure union plus the Convention, Obama has unmistakably resolute to enthusiast his naive milieu and embed his green legacy with dealings which rational good but fortitude really do symbols to preserve endure troubled and fortitude inescapably dishonest our economy. I best guess that fortitude be the closest president's hit to empathy with."
H. STERLING BURNETT
Survey Fellow, Background & Attempt Rules
The Heartland Beginning
Treatment Editor, Background & Weather conditions Tidings
hburnett@heartland.org
"This is symbols but the different tubby of representative instruct that fortitude overstep Government and in all probability disobey the U.S. Work. Don't pass up that in July 1997, the Coupled States Convention chosen unanimously neighboring the like anything initiatives now premeditated by Be first Obama. Citizens senators included current Obama display case members John Kerry and Throw Hagel.
S. FRED Dancer
Upper Fellow, Background
The Heartland Beginning
Director/Founder
Science and Crude Rules Cover
sepp@his.com
"Be first Obama's endure log book fortitude capture in provision our home featuring in could do with. Frequent of his programs gain needless drinking of tax dollars on renewable energy sources of wind, solar, ethanol from hard skin, other biofuels, etc. that are not aggressive with plentiful, cheap, and logically scattered coal, oil, and natural gas. For a home leave-taking featuring in price about 1.5 billion per day, these intrusions featuring in the souk ditch price to rotate out of focus.
"Present-day is a large stature of trial memo showing improved atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels has a trivial put on complete warming or using Be first Obama's shape up endure troubled.' The limit plain as the nose on your face at this existence is the stop working in complete warming the farther than 17 soul in which increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide is the max out in a millennia. By means of out of the question central processing unit models for complete endure troubled policy shows a keep count want of popular ponder."
JAMES H. Decomposition
Educator of nuclear engineering (Ret.), Georgia Tech
Rules Advisor
The Heartland Beginning
jrust@bellsouth.net
"The resolute specialist benchmark of whether or not improved atmospheric carbon dioxide fortitude ditch deliberate complete warming is the sensitivity of the earth's temperatures to a repetition of carbon dioxide. What 1979, the amount has been 1.5 oC to 4.5 oC -- about 3o to 8oF. U.S. government intelligence amount U.S. expenditures on endure troubled top 165 billion, with higher than 35 billion unconditional to endure science along with 1993 and 2013. Yet, the different report (2013) by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Weather conditions Reworking chairs the sensitivity at 1.5 oC to 4.5 oC, the incredibly as it was 35 soul ago.
"The main condition is that organize has been no warming of the specter for higher than a decade and no warming of the snooze for higher than 15 soul, which government-funded endure science cannot remodel. The thump of the government to encourage specialist understanding provides a clear articulation of the evils in resolute assumptions in the research, as proficiently as how the research is particularized conducted. All the grandiosity of the UN and its endeavors cannot pretense these deficiencies.
"Get stronger drinking on endure troubled is without foundation until these deficiencies are entitlement addressed with a macro opinion of the natural causes of complete warming/climate troubled -- a part which is whole ignored or minimized by government-financed science."
KENNETH HAAPALA
Supervisor Evil Be first
Science and Crude Rules Cover (SEPP)
Ken@Haapala.com
"Be first Obama's have a discussion to the Coupled Nations with reference to endure troubled ignores the condition that the upper classes has symbols to do with the changes that show your face in the Earth's endure and has never played a amount in agonizing or influencing family changes. They are feature of full-size and natural cycles from hospitality to anxiety and bring anew that pass occurred higher than the coop of billions of soul. They are all combined to the cycles of the Sun and are positive by our specter, our load, volcanic simulation, and other factors far elapsed at all the upper classes can alter. What's more, they show your face higher than periods that assume centuries, such as the booth mini-ice age that lasted from 1300 to 1850.
"To predict that the Coupled Nations or any other complete form of control has at all to do with the endure is untruthfulness. This is about stingy competition of their leave go of."
ALAN CARUBA
Creator, The Nationally Worry Core
Rules Advisor, The Heartland Beginning
acaruba@aol.com
"Obama fair offers educational solutions to academic endure troubled in a indistinct distant future as a distraction from the well and rapidly increasing expansive, economic, member and armed forces evils that pass been vanished to rumble lower his imperative."
WALTER STARCK
Rules Advisor, Background and Attempt
The Heartland Beginning
media@heartland.org
The Residential home Union of Categorize Builders (NAHB) in conjunction with the Broad-based Assumption Legislature (ICC) has pungent a new Residential home Dilettante Villa Suitable. This has extremely been approved by the American Residential home Standards Upright (ANSI), which is a first for this unyielding. This new Dilettante Categorize Villa Suitable is resembling to the LEED process for evaluating and certifying homes, but is most likely beneath expensive to dole out. It does rely on self-governing inspections to ensure claims that are prepared. These ethics strength proficient home buyers great detached how green the claims strong point be for any subject home they strong point be past to pocket.
You can detain a lopsidedly at the criteria for this new median, and similar seep with evaluating any noteworthy project, by visiting the NAHB Dilettante Villa Group website. I did this and plugged in history for the earthbag/papercrete home I built in Colorado a decade ago. It took about an hour to do this, and I am glad to report that I garnered a gold bars rating in almost all of the categories.
To emit you a greater idea of what they are evaluating, I'll go nominated firm of the specfics of what they are looking for.
Lot Product. Hip they want to talk into that the building attitude is designate in such a way as to not unjustifiably intrude on the acquaint with environment, or greater, to bring infill rationally than develop virgin land, or similar possibly radiate in the past impassive lot allot or clean up something dripping venom. Points can extremely be gained by paying attention to solar note, storm water course, and water-efficient landscapping.
Resource Density. The spring first criteria here is maintaining a small hunt down, on the contrary I was dissappointed that they don't similar regard a array for building a one-bedroom home! The use of enlightened framing techniques or panelized government is awarded points. Detached sound rise foundations, powerless footings, and demand grading on foundations is driven. Plastic-coated entries and large roof overhangs, termite toughened government and neat waterproofing and alternating are good. The use of hand-me-down, renewable, and idiosyncratic possessions, through with a life-cycle statement for possessions, can all agreeable points.
Move Density. Hip they ruminate the type of heating system used. Faraway appliances, water heaters and lights are evaluated. Any solar heating and passive cooling are awarded points, as is the use renewable sources of electricity.
Water Density. The use of water-efficient appliances, irrigation techniques, drop regular, wastewater reuse and muck toilets are all driven.
Interior Native Spirit. They take pleasure in to see the use of direct-vented gas appliances, air filtration systems, and moisture/condensation bowdlerization. One state where I point toward they missed the yacht here is in not recognizing the high regard of breathable protection systems in maintaining private air facial expression.
Proprietor Instruction. This encourages builders or sellers to bring good register for homeowners in requisites of the use of installed systems and in general maintenance.
Large-scale Concepts. This is primarly knowledgeable with minimizing the use of low VOCs which soil the air.
All in all I would say that this new median for evaluating the "greeness" of buildings is a large grasp in the straightforward authority. Just about all of the original criteria for building green that I regard been advocating for years at www.greenhomebuilding.com regard been time-honored to firm weight.This native blog from which this comes is http://blog.greenhomebuilding.com/
Washington, D.C. - These days researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Nation Lab open "Tracking the Sun II: The Installed Excise of Photovoltaics in the U.S. from 1998-2008." The new report variety that the normal estimate of leaving solar in the U.S. declined by pompous than 30 percent from 1998 to 2008, a government that can be largely official to the feat of market-building policies at the state and family measure. Product also direct that, whilst a three-year plateau, payments decreased by 3.6 percent from 2007 to 2008, marking a chief blind date for the American solar industry.
Astrophysical advocates from the Appointment Astrophysical Perception, the Astrophysical Private club and the Astrophysical Whiz Industries Arrangement issued the resulting statements in rejoinder to the report.
"The starting point fasten together is that tolerable solar is no longer a vision for the fate, it's extremely to a great extent here now, usual to be a sensitive bit of our nation's energy mix," assumed Adam Browning, certified superintendent of the Appointment Astrophysical Perception, a grandeur popular admin resolute on bringing solar energy modish the mainstream. "This all conduit offer has never been a first daylight hours for energy trade to go solar or for our land leaders to invest in abode a new solar economy."
"This report confirms that as a policy investment, solar is one of the ultimate ethics for the American taxpayer," assumed Rhone Resch, business leader and CEO of the Astrophysical Whiz Industries Arrangement, the industry's grandeur supervise association based in Washington, D.C. "This blind date we've otherwise seen solar PV panel prices dribble complementary 17 percent. Congress require prioritize the use of solar in the contemporary energy bill, which guts stimulate early payment investments in built-up and installation of solar squeeze. This in coil guts create good-paying jobs, calculate bringing the estimate of solar in fasten together with prepared sources allowing pompous consumers to go solar now."
"Puncture solar policies are deliberate to nominate self-sustaining, gather markets that skirmish installed payments take in. Berkeley Lab while another time shows that these policies can and do operation. In states worship California and New Jersey that handhold reliable to secondary renewables, solar energy has in loyalty spin pompous accessible for consumers and shaped gather family green economies," assumed Carrie Cullen Hitt, business leader of the Astrophysical Private club, a state-focused organization of the solar industry.
"Tracking in the Sun" is the greatest extent bursting estimate assess of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in the U.S. This pass quickly broadcast analyzes details from pompous than 52,000 urbanized and non-residential PV systems that were installed between 1998 and 2008. In 2008, the U.S. solar conduct competent schedule form, approaching repetition the mass of grid-connected PV installed annually. Key conclusion of "Tracking the Sun II" include:
* Degree installed payments as paid by the system owner before to account of any incentives, declined from 10.80 per watt (W) in 1998 to 7.5/W in 2008, reach to an normal annual report drop of 0.3/W, or 3.6 percent per blind date in true 2008 dollars.
* The foremost driver patronizing that 10-year get older was a drop in non-module payments such as the estimate of toddle, marketing, overhead, inverters, and the equate of systems.
* In put side by side, the pedigree in payments from 7.8/W in 2007 to 7.5/W in 2008 is key attributable to wholesale element payments, which decreased by about 0.5/W patronizing this get older.
* PV installations benefit from sensitive economies of scale, portentous starting point for bulky systems and bulky markets drives take in payments.
* The installed estimate of solar varies extreme by state with low payments variety in Arizona, California, and New Jersey, an commemorate that pompous liable markets driven by gather incentives service hand down the estimate of solar.
* Serious after-tax incentives from central, state and family governments also declined from 2007 to 2008; the decreased incentives outpaced the dribble in installed payments earliest to a rebuke prominence in the net installed estimate of also urbanized and commercial systems.
Little the report easily analyzes trends amid the end of 2008, the continued pedigree of element prices and amplified central incentives for solar energy in 2009 be relevant to offer has never been a first daylight hours for Americans to go solar.
###
Re the Appointment Astrophysical Initiative:
Appointment Astrophysical is a non-profit popular admin in force to be against ride out happening and reassure economic risk by bringing solar energy modish the mainstream. To the same degree 2002 Appointment Astrophysical has engaged in state, family and central advocacy campaigns to remove narrow barriers and implement the key policies considered necessary to delight solar to scale.
Re SEIA:
String in 1974, the Astrophysical Whiz Industries Arrangement is the grandeur supervise association of the solar energy industry. As the escape of the industry, SEIA hide to make solar a mainstream and sensitive energy source by expanding markets, removing conduct barriers, concentration the industry and taming the mutual on the benefits of solar energy. Survey pompous at www.seia.org.
"Yesterday, was a fun digression (unless you actually were one of those with the tomato salmonella ailment) away from energy and the environment. Today, I repeat my first blog summarizing all 12 chapters from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth ("http://SimpleSolutionsBook1.com") and SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity ("http://SimpleSolutionsBook2.com"), with some minor updates."-"-"From "SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR PLANET EARTH":-
PREAMBLE: Not only has petroleum shot past 100/barrel, the current price is nearing 120/barrel ("of course, oil almost hit 140/bbl and seems comfortable in the 135/bbbl range"). You might recall in the 70's when the first and second energy crises catapulted 3/barrel oil all the way up to 12/barrel. At the time of the 1973 crisis we were importing about a third of our oil needs...today, we are in the range of two-thirds. So, we decided to replace gasoline with ethanol. Hmm, the World Bank just reported that global food prices have risen 83% in the last three years, and the primary cause was our decision to convert corn into ethanol, plus surging oil. So what is the SIMPLE SOLUTION? Come to the book signing...read the book.-TAX BLACK ENERGY: YOU WILL PAY FOR GLOBAL WARMING: Coal is the worst fossil fuel for global warming. Incredibly, today, coal is the fastest growing energy source. China uses more coal than the U.S., European Union and Japan combined. Each week or so, a new coal power plant is commissioned in China that would satisfy all the households in Dallas or San Diego. And India is right behind China. In 2030, India is expected to pass the population of China. The USA is scheduled to build a 500 MW coal-fired power plant (to supply electricity to 500,000 homes) ONLY each month for the next 22 years. How, then, can we reduce the use of coal and other fossil fuels? Find a way to invoke a 10 cents / carbon dioxide investment credit (also known as a tax) program. Who will pay this penalty? Ultimately, you, the consumer, of course. We don't, yet, because we don't value our environment enough. This the fatal flaw of our society: we don't do anything much until it is too late.-THE WORLD IS ALREADY SUFFERING FROM 7/GALLON GASOLINE ("NO, MAKE THAT 11/GALLON!"): Even at 4/gallon, gasoline is a bargain in the USA. That is only because our government is kind and does not tax this fuel enough. ("Gasoline in Germany is already more than 11/gallon, and other European countries are not much lower".) The U.S. Department of Energy in one year allocates about a billion dollars to sustainable energy research. We daily spend that amount on gasoline. A simple solution would be to add just 1/gallon to the pump price, call it the smart investment incentive, and apply this fund to develop sustainable fuels for humanity. Some relative costs per gallon:Gasoline in USA
3.50 ("Now above 4/gallon")Gasoline in Hong Kong
7.50 ("Europe now above 10/gallon")Scope Mouthwash
15.00Gallon of Beer in Restaurant
20.00Evian (na"ive backwards)
21.00Brake Fluid (mostly oil)
34.00Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch
160.00Channel #5 Perfume
4000.00Computer printer ink
5000.00-Yes, petroleum shot past 110/barrel, but that is only 2.62/gallon. Energy is expensive, but cheap. ("A convenient rule of thumb is that 126/barrel = 3/gallon".)-GREEN ENERGY WOULD BE COST COMPETITIVE...IF POLLUTERS WERE CHARGED FOR DUMPING CARBON DIOXIDE INTO YOUR ATMOSPHERE: Electricity from coal and nuclear sources costs about 3 to 4 cents / kWh to produce. Under ideal conditions, wind power and geothermal energy electricity is in the range of 4 to 6 cents/kWh. Solar photovoltaic electricity is today more than 20 cents/kWh, and even with the latest Nanosolar thin film development, will exceed 10 cents/kWh, although utility scale facilities show promise. Electricity in Hawaii averages higher than 25 cents/kWh. The Nation is about 10cents/kWh. But there is no charge for polluting the air with carbon dioxide. A 10 cents / pound carbon dioxide tax would make even solar photovoltaic electricity competitive with coal/nuclear power. Well, actually, nuclear power would then become the cheapest, but that is another issue.-THE ANSWER FOR BIOFUELS: METHANOL, NOT ETHANOL, STUPID! The national policy is to produce ethanol from corn. This has doubled the price of corn and tripled the price of wheat. The World Bank has reported that the global food prices have risen 83% during the past three years, and blamed corn ethanol, plus the soaring price of petroleum. Farmers are happy, and their lobbyists will spend 80 million this year to insure for the next 300 billion farm subsidy bill.Ah, but they're thinking, and the next phase will be to ferment the fibrous part of plants to produce more ethanol. However, given biomass, it is cheaper and more convenient to gasify and catalyze this cellulose into methanol. There are other clean liquid fuels, of course, but methanol is the simplest of them all, and that should translate into better economics. Plus, methanol is the only biofuel capable of being directly processed by a fuel cell, the possible next generation automobile "engine." The direct methanol fuel cell iPod will soon replace one powered by a battery.Our Nation will soon be faced with two types of White Elephants: corn to ethanol facilities, where the feedstock will be too expensive, and biomass to ethanol fermentation factories, which taxpayers will continue to subsidize in some way. Within the decade, they will not be able to compete with biomass to methanol processes.-HYDROGEN IS THE SILVER BULLET FOR SUSTAINABILITY: Hydrogen is the simplest molecule and the most abundant element in our Universe. It can be burned to cook food, where water vapor is the by-product. Processed in a fuel cell, electricity can be produced. The future of aviation could be hydrogen powered, for this is the lightest fuel. The sun fuses hydrogen to provide energy to Planet Earth. Yes, nuclear fusion is solar energy. But hydrogen is expensive and the infrastructure will take a generation or two or more to develop. If Peak Oil and Global Warming is as serious a problem as feared, one solution would be to make hydrogen free by, say, the Year 2020, and provide funds to industry to build the infrastructure and make available the fuel. Otherwise, given business as usual, it will take a century to get there, maybe. As such, methanol might well be an ideal bridge to a future hydrogen economy, for the business system is largely already in place, and, amazingly enough, one gallon of methanol has more hydrogen than one gallon of liquid hydrogen. Thus,"Silver Bullet" might well be the operative term when today applied to hydrogen, for that metaphor has negative connotations. Hydrogen seems fated to eventually prevail, but not very soon.-HAWAII CAN LEAD THE COMING BLUE REVOLUTION: One thousand meters below the surface of the ocean is deep cold water at 4 degrees Celsius, which can be combined with the warmer surface water to produce electricity through ocean thermal energy conversion. The resultant effluent is also rich in nutrients to fertilize marine biomass plantations and support next generation fisheries. The Blue Revolution is the concept to produce sustainable energy, food, materials and habitats from the riches of the sea. In the process it is possible that global warming can be remediated and the formation of hurricanes prevented. Hawaii is ideally located to lead the effort.-GLOBAL WARMING: WOULD YOU BELIEVE IF OUR WORLD TEMPERATURE RISES TO 900 ^0F?The increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is projected to raise the atmospheric temperature a few degrees. However, there is another Greenhouse Gas, methane, the major component of natural gas, which can be found in the frozen tundra and bottom of the ocean encased in ice. It is reported that there could be twice the amount of energy in these marine methane hydrates than all the known coal, oil and natural gas. Gas and ice rise to the surface if jostled. Worse, one molecule of methane is at least 20 times worse than a molecule of carbon dioxide in the warming of Earth.Under a worst case scenario, could Planet Earth be transformed to Planet Venus, which is at a temperature of 900 ^0F? Sudden increases in atmospheric temperatures have been experienced in the geologic history of Planet Earth, supposedly caused by higher methane concentrations. Could we be triggering this effect through global warming? So what is the simple solution?-IF A MEGA TSUNAMI DESTROYS SEATTLE, CAN HAWAII BE BLAMED? Should there be a major earthquake in the bottom of the ocean, the highest tsunami possible is only about 10 meters. However, if a good portion of an island falls into the sea quickly and deeply enough, a mega tsunami of 100 meters and higher can be generated. The Nuuanu Landslide of about a million years ago could well have caused a mega tsunami. Looking from Kaneohe towards the Koolaus, that magnificent scene represents the inside of the crater that remained after the other half fell into the ocean. The remnants can still be seen in the deep sea.Hawaii is known to have had the greatest number (17) of such events. Can the Northeast side of the Big Island (which would include Hilo, unfortunately) fall into the sea to cause a mega tsunami six hours later in Seattle? Probably not, but...maybe.
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From "SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR HUMANITY":-PREAMBLE: Book 1 of the SIMPLE SOLUTIONS series focused on energy and the environment. Book 2, for Humanity, provides simple, but extreme, solutions for crime, war, eternal life, education, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and religion, concluding with a suggestion on where might be the place to live. These thoughts are shared to stimulate discussions about what is real and what might be attainable.-THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE DEAD: THIS COULD BE THE SIMPLE SOLUTION TO CRIME: Have you had a car stolen by a criminal who has been convicted 47 times? There are "three strikes and you're out" laws gaining in popularity, but that only results in your taxes paying for more prisons to keep the condemned in air conditioned comfort. What if we had a three strikes and you're dead law? The crime rate will almost surely drop, the judiciary and enforcement agencies will largely become unnecessary and the money saved can go towards education and human welfare. Unfortunately, there will then be fewer lawyers (sorry, had to add this, as most of my advisors seem to be lawyers). Anyway, don't get too carried away, as society is humane.-MAKE DEMOCRACIES, NOT WAR! Professor Rudy Rummel of the University of Hawaii conducted a comprehensive study and found that, over the past 200 years, no two democracies have ever waged a major war. President George Bush's plan to democratize the Middle East might well be a reasonable solution to wars.-ARE WE READY FOR ETERNAL LIFE? Scientists have found the aging gene and are tinkering with immobilizing it or reversing the process. A more immediate option, though, might be to clone yourself, store your memory in a computer (which should become available within the decade) and place your memory into a younger, better looking and smarter new you. We are closer to these prospects than you might think. Society is resisting, as human cloning seems to be universally disparaged.-WE HAVE A TERRIBLE K-12 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM...SO LIVE WITH IT! American students are generally below the world average in math, science, analysis, geography and whatever is worth measuring. Our teachers are not paid well for their responsibility. Is this terrible? Perhaps, but this is what we, apparently, want. Your elected officials-meaning, of course, you and other voters-determine spending priorities. You get what you deserve! However, why, then, is the USA the #1 world power? Is there a method to our madness? Probably, for we spend more for higher education than any other country. Seventeen of the best twenty universities are in the United States. Something like the top 5% to 10% of our society is said to be mostly responsible for creativity, progress and ultimate success. We do a terrific job of insuring for this continued dominance through an exceptional university system. Keep complaining about our poor school system, but you can now do it with less anguish and guilt.-WHAT IF ALIENS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PHONE EARTH? Our solar system is only about 5 billion years old, but the Universe has been around for at least 12 billion years. What if life occurred in some of the billions and billions of galaxies out there, and some life forms are sending signals to us with the cure for cancer, solution to universal peace and the like? NASA is today prohibited by Congress to conduct research on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Is this smart? Why not divert only ten percent the cost of one space shuttle flight (which is around 1 billion) each year to conduct a comprehensive search? Sometimes you need to try something extraordinary to attain the monumental.-THE END OF RELIGION? All religions agree on one or more, but usually different, God; but none can prove an afterlife. Can this basic immorality-promising something without proof-serve to undermine one of mankind's greatest social inventions? As there is no rational reason for pure faith, our educational system surely must by now have sufficiently edified us? Nope! Around 90% of Americans believe in God and an afterlife. This figure is closer to 10% for those in France, Israel and Japan. And why do only 5% of National Science Academy biological scientists believe in an afterlife? How can intelligent Homo Sapiens think so differently? Some say that 9/11 would not have happened if the Muslim terrorists did not believe in an afterlife. Can there be a golden evolution for religion? Can a society continue to progress without religion? Given time-maybe a millennium-most probably.-
WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE? Hawaii! Why? Read the book.
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The price of oil has dipped today just below 135/barrel.
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