10% of US Power from Geothermal?

How underground ‘hot rocks’ could power America’s future from the Christian Science Monitor.

Of course this is a bit worrisome...

Dr. Blackwell says.

The potential for EGS is “vast,” he says. “I think that the MIT report is conservative if we really start to develop it.”

The big unknown is going to be cost. “And until we actually have a number of [EGS] systems operating,” he says, “we don’t know what the cost will be.”

Plug In Hybrids

Squeezing More Miles Out of That Hybrid from the WSJ. Toyota's culture for the most part is very risk adverse, so I understand how they are worried about the liability issue for plug in conversions. Be nice if they did not have to worry, but they are smart to do so.

Heat Exchanger for Houses

This NY Times article mentions a key of this house is a Heat Exchanger. I am curious on what is so special about this, since when I google the term Heat Exchanger I come across a lot. The Energy Challenge: No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’. This has more details on Passive house - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The key seems to be Heat Recovery Ventilation.

Neat stuff which in time will become more and more common. The use of the modeling software is changing how one designs buildings! As the software becomes more environmentally aware (I would use the word advanced, but I hesitate), this will help reduce energy even more.

Gas Tax - Win, Win, Win

Friedman: Win, Win, Win from the NY TImes.

Good article about why a Gas Tax would help in the long term for making the US energy independent. Short term the price of gas is a nice economic benefit, but the US needs to reduce it's importation of energy which will have benefits of lowering the trade deficit and making the world a better place.

Unfortunately, I don't see this happening.

Lower fuel and home prices stall green building

Lower fuel and home prices stall green building from the Associated Press. I am not surprised. It's also an issue there are no real green standards across that nation yet. My suggestion is the need to put it in the building codes. And with the more being built with energy savings, this will also reduce the cost difference. I am more in favor of energy savings in designs, than if recycled material was used or not.

Solar Meets Polar as Winter Curbs Clean Energy

Solar Meets Polar as Winter Curbs Clean Energy from the NY Times.

As I live in usually pretty Sunny Southern California I did not think about.

I wonder what impact winter has in Germany on Solar.

Philips & LED's

Royal Philips Sheds Old Businesses for New Directions - from the NY Times.

My strategy teacher for my MBA did some work on restructuring Philips 10 years ago in Centurion. Unfortunately Centurion was a good start, but did not go far enough. It's hard to move a super tanker in a new direction. The supertanker has also slimmed down and focused on a few key areas, one of these is LED's which I agree with, has a huge amount of potential.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid: 52 mpg and the darkness before dawn

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid: 52 mpg and the darkness before dawn - LA Times.

Better late than never! Now the question is how soon will the price of Oil increase, causing increased demand for this car.

The other problem is $25,000 for the car. You can buy a Corolla for $13,000. So $12,000 difference. Assume 20,000 miles driven per year. The payback period would be over 5 years is my guess (yes I feel a bit lazy). Assume $2/gallon gas and the Corolla gets 30 MPG. Fusion say 50 MPG. So every year the Corolla uses 666.7 Gallons, and the Fusion 400, difference is 266.7. So every year at $2 per gallons about $530 is saved. At $4 per Gallon, it's $1060. Which means a 12 year payback. Now if you compare it to a Camry, a different figure would come out with a shorter payback time.

SUV Plant Closes

It’s the End of the Line for S.U.V.’s from the NY Times. Story about GM closing one of their last SUV plants, now the Big 3 each only have one left. I am curious if the price of gas stays low, will people start buying SUV's in the huge amounts they were before? Another story mentioned it was almost like people needed permission to buy things. It's a strange economy. My opinion is SUV's are fine, as long as they are hybrids with meaningful mileage - so up the requirements for CAFE! I still don't understand why nobody in the US has come out with a hybrid Minivan. Toyota has had one in Japan for years. Of course it's not the whale of a minivan they sell here.

SUV Plant closes

It’s the End of the Line for S.U.V.’s from the NY Times. Story about GM closing one of their last SUV plants, now the Big 3 each only have one left. I am curious if the price of gas stays low, will people start buying SUV's in the huge amounts they were before? Another story mentioned it was almost like people needed permission to buy things. It's a strange economy. My opinion is SUV's are fine, as long as they are hybrids with meaningful mileage - so up the requirements for CAFE! I still don't understand why nobody in the US has come out with a hybrid Minivan. Toyota has had one in Japan for years. Of course it's not the whale of a minivan they sell here.

Analyst warns of 'solar market eclipse' in 2009

Analyst warns of 'solar market eclipse' in 2009 from the EE Times.

Key Points:

• Global Revenue in 2009 is supposed to be down 19%
• Massive oversupply of PV due to a glut.
• 9.6% increase in PV installed.
• New installs will be $2.50 to $2.75 per watt range, down from the current level of $4.20 per watt.

Hmm... I wonder what the point the drop in price will increase demand? This is a 41% decrease in cost. And since half the cost of an install is labor. Hmm... I am not sure the figures add up, unless there is some increase in the efficiency of installs.

Puff Up a Stock - Do Solar

Kaneka Soars on Report Company to Make Solar Cells in Europe - I am sure this is just a coincidence their stock has gone down 42% ytd, and the question is what expertise does a manufacturer of synthetic resin have on making thin film. I wonder if anyone in 6 months will remember the details.

Alternate Energy Funding

I am curious what is going to happen in this area, since the incoming Secretary of Energy questions the cost effectiveness of Ethanol, yet the incoming Secretary of Agriculture is very pro Ethanol. And with the falling prices of oil, it has hurt Ethanol a lot.

L.A.'s solar plan could cost ratepayers

L.A.'s solar plan could cost ratepayers - Interesting article about the proposal for LA City for Solar from the LA Times.

Oil at $32

OPEC's holiday gift to us: Oil at $36 a barrel Los Angeles Times

The question is for how long?

Positives:

• Form of economic aid that will shorten the recession by putting more money into consumers pockets. This is huge! When Oil was near $150 a barrel there were riots in poorer countries because of increases in the price of gas and cooking oil.
  
• Makes the world a nicer places and helps countries that are not oil producers (majority of the world, including the poor such as in India and Pakistan).
• May help the Big 3 by increasing truck sales.
  

Negatives:

• Hurts Oil Producers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia.
• May decrease interest in Hybrids and Electric Vehicles
• May reduce investment in alternate energy R&D.
• May increase use of oil
• May reduce projects to increase oil efficiency.
  

Is Solar Cheaper than Coal? Examiner.com

Is Solar Cheaper than Coal? Examiner.com

Very positive piece. What is interesting is the article mentions that by 2012 their should be grid parity in many areas of the US. Of course what is meant by grid parity? Wholesale or Retail? With the ability to sell back to the utility, and if so, at what price?

Guerilla Lead Testing

Wow! I knew about the guns that can tell the types of metals, they are around $25,000 each. My former work was thinking about buying one since when you are buying scrap, it's often hard to tell what you are buying to it's too late. Now, some consumer watch dog organizations have bought these guns and are using them to test for lead.

Guerrilla Toy Testers Take Aim at Lead from the WSJ

LED Cost vs incandescent

LED bulbs save money, hassle from a local paper in Kentucky. Basically a $40 LED bulb will last forever and save energy and has color like daylight.

But how many people are going $40 on a bulb, when they can get a CFL for under $5 and an incandescent bulb for under a dollar.

I look forward to more cost reductions so the LED option makes more sense. For an application where you need to get on a ladder, such as my parents house outside light on the 2nd story, it makes sense (that light always burned out). For an easily accessible light, probably not at this time.

More businesses see holiday savings from LEDs

More businesses see holiday savings from LEDs from the SF Chronicle is about Christmas Lights, and how you can save over the 6 week Holiday Season $70 for a string of 300 bulbs.

Global PV Market's Center of Gravity Shifting to North America

This is exciting news, if true. My guess is the tax changes for alternative energy along with all the R&D in the US are creating this. Global PV Market's Center of Gravity Shifting to North America MarketWatch

An example, that surprised me, is Dow Corning Takes A Shine To Solar in partnership will invest up to $3 Billion. This is significant in the poor credit market, that Dow is moving ahead in the Solar area.

Solar Issues - Visual

Some neighbors may have visual issues with a solar project, an example: Solar panel project irks Novato homeowners. It would be replacing a beautiful view of some rolling hills.

It will be nice when solar can just replace existing roofs. Or even be a spray on coating. The problem of replacing an existing roof is the maintenance cost, where an installation on the ground is easier to install and maintain.

Impact of Under $2 Gas

Some Guesses:

1. Less demand for hybrids as long as price is low.
   
2. If price is low enough for enough time, increased demand for SUV's
3. Increase in speed driven
4. Increase in miles driven
5. Reduction in alternate energy funding from private sources.
6. Decrease in expenses for consumers.
7. Political issues in countries that are not the friendliest to the US (USSR, Iran, etc).
8. Possible impact on Iraq that may impact the US.
9. Decrease in demand to drill offshore in the US.
10. Decrease in drilling for new oil in the US
    
11. Older fields may no longer be economical
12. Decrease in looking for new fields
13. Decrease in oil sands since no longer economical (break even I believe is $50, oil is around $40 right now).
14. Increased demand for oil.
15. Lowering of supply by Opec to increase price.
    

Oil Increase - More on why

Another explanation from the WSJ for the increase in October oil imports was due to Hurricane Damage in the Gulf that reduced refinery output in the gulf, increasing the demand for oil imports.

Why did Oil imports increase?

Why have all the articles I have seen so far state that oil prices are down, US deficit is up because oil imports have increased in October, and the reason for the increase is?

Oh wait, here is one that explains it. Room for Second Guessing

The higher oil prices led to higher imports, as oil producers tried to take advantage of the price. Hence higher supply than demand, since the economic destruction in the US caused by higher oil prices was not seen.

Tariffs and Renewable Energy Requirements

Despite downturn, is German energy a model for Obama? from Reuters.

Germany is paying more for Solar energy, but the alternative is paying another country for cheaper energy. So there is some advantage on keeping the money in your own country. But, this makes me think of tariffs, and how those used to protect domestic industries. Is requiring a certain amount of power to be produced using renewable energies another form of tariff?

Theoretically, a company would be at a disadvantage by being required to pay higher energy costs because of a renewable requirement. The article does not answer the question is how much has the cost of energy for other users been increased? What are the above market rates?

Hybrids are a great example where if they don't make sense economically - ie high gas prices, most people won't buy them.

My opinion is since power companies in the US, or at least in California are regulated (ie the government decides how they will make a profit, that pushing solar to decrease the amount of money being sent out of the US makes sense in the long term.

I would like to see some analysis on if the increase in German demand for Solar has decreased the price of solar, or will it in the future? It has increased demand, which for a while increased prices, but theoritically this should be correcting itself with an increase in production. And with the increased production, this should have lowered costs due to economies of scale (the more you produce, the better you get at it, lowering the cost).

I found a chart of solar pricing including vs. electricity pricing. Basically in 2020 solar and what a consumer pays will be around the same! Only 12 years to go! Of course wind is pretty competitive now per the Economist Blowin' in the wind

The Afterlife of Cellphones - Cellular Telephone - Waste Materials ...

• Recycling feels good because we imagine it as just this kind of alchemy — which
•  Umicore achieves with impressive environmental controls. ...

Excellent Article on the recycling Industry!  It even mentions Basel!

Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up

Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up from the NY Times.  Basically the current poor economy has reduced the value of recycled material, which is causing problems for recyclers.

Gas - $1.69 last night at Costco

I am just amazed by the drop in Gas, basically 2/3rd's cheaper than just a few months ago when near $5.00. Good news is this is helping people's pocket books. Bad news is it's making that SUV cost less to operate, so people may not put a premium on a fuel efficient car, such as a Prius.

Solar's future doesn't look quite so sunny

Solar's future doesn't look quite so sunny from the MN Star Tribune. One point of view, basically that there will be over supply that will result in lower prices.

My view is with lower prices, that will increase demand resulting in more solar installations. And with the increase in production there will be further cost reductions in manufacturing, that will help lower the cost to the end user. Not to mention how technology keeps on increasing the efficiency. Short term, yes capital headaches due to the freezing of credit, medium and longer term I am very positive.

Toyota delays Lithium Batteries in Prius

The new date seems to be 2010 for Lithium Batteries in the Prius, Toyota is concerned about the reliability. May be the Sony Battery fires put them off.

The Energy Challenge: Energy Goals a Moving Target for States

The Energy Challenge: Energy Goals a Moving Target for States from the NY Times. It brings up a lot of issues based on the experience of states setting targets for renewables (the easy part), and then actually meeting them. The article briefly mentions a major problem, which is the transmission lines. Unfortunately they did not mention the easy solution of DC Power Transmission Lines!

Related Posts:

• Gore Urges Obama to Create US Power
• Grid limits Renewables
• DC Power High Voltage Transmission Advantages

Electric Car Chargers

Hawaii Endorses Plan for Electric Cars from the NY Times, basically the state working with a private company wants to set up recharger stations.

Questions that have not been asked:

1. How long does it take to charge a car?
2. Would most cars be charged a meaningful amount to justify the cost of the charging station?
3. Why not just charge them at home?
4. What is the estimated amount of Electric Cars per year (everyone is doing hybrids currently, plug ins are someday).
5. What is the estimated cost of an electric or plug in car by year?

My 2 cents, if cars are charged at home and they take a while to charge (battery technology unfortunately has not improved that much), what good does a charging station do? Is this the best use of money? Perhaps subsidies for electric cars that can be recharged at home first? Or set up a fleet of rental vehicles that people can use that are electric till the cost decreases?

Solar thermal projects gather steam -- and opposition

Solar thermal projects gather steam -- and opposition from the LA Times. I have a guess the reporter spent a bit of time with the Solar Thermal People, and next to none on Photovoltaics. The prospective of the entire article is pretty pro Solar Thermal.

Interesting...

Solar Panels Proliferate in Brooklyn

Solar Panels Proliferate in Brooklyn - With all the rebates the local home owners it makes a lot of sense, especially since they can sell the Electricity back to the utility (which is currently not possible in California).

Solar cell efficiency boosted

Solar cell efficiency boosted from the EE Times. The claim is a 50% increase in energy is possible theoretically for thin film. That would change everything...