Energy Matters

Eco-Friendly jerks

People break into houses and steal TVs and stuff all the time, but evidently the instances of people climbing onto roofs and stealing solar arrays is on the rise. I guess it makes sense, valuable pieces of equipment that are in high demand seem like they'd attract thieves, but seriously....HOW THE HECK DO YOU STEAL AN ENTIRE $70,000 SOLAR ARRAY AND NO ONE NOTICE?

It takes a solid day for a team of installers to put it up, I'm frankly impressed that people can take it down in a night. Although it is possible that they are just taking a panel or two.

Bike thefts have spiked lately on my campus, maybe that is related to rising gas prices? I wonder if carjackers are also feeling the pinch at the pump and are targeting more fuel efficient models. At any rate energy efficiency and clean energy is gaining popularity as energy prices are rising across the board so it makes sense that they are gaining the attention of robbers.

So when you get your solar array, remember to lock it down tight so people don't steal it....

That really puts a new spin on the idea that solar panels are hot.

The Solar Taxi

Today I got to sit in the Solar Taxi and talk with its creator, Palmer Louis. Palmer decided to  drive around the world (from Switzerland to Australia to the US and back) without a drop of oil. But since the Tesla Roadster and the Chevy Volt are not out yet, he had to make his own electric car to tow his Q-cell solar array. The car is about the size of a smart car, but much shorter so I had a little trouble getting in and out of it, but it was a blast. He said countries around the world are starting to get it, from Thailand to Saudi Arabia, people know that fossil fuels the past and solar is the future. He and his team have done a great job getting the word out and I wish them luck. Check out their website for more information about his trip.

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Of course I can't just blog about electric cars without pointing out the whole issue with the greeness of the grid. The US electrical grid gets 40% of its power from coal so a plug-in electric car in America is hardly green, it produces no emissions but it displaces those emissions to coal plants. Also cars are responsible for hundreds of thousands of traffic deaths each year world wide and they contribute to the paving of our world which exacerbates the urban heat island effect and storm water runoff management issues. So if you want to truly go green, get a bike.

Forbes talks solar, doesn't say much but at least they talk.

I read this piece today on Forbes.com called "How To Heat Up Solar," and that article doesn't really say anything. It says we should all use more solar, but we aren't since it's expensive. One day it will be cheaper with technological progress, but until then we need the gov't to help the industry out.
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In other words it's the bare bones of what a person could know about the solar industry.

What's interesting is what it doesn't say. It talks about India needing to embrace solar and how it is environmentally situated to do it, but it doesn't talk about what India is doing with solar. It doesn't mention the massive electrification programs that take place in India to try to bring electricity to remote villages that are using solar and wind power since it would be crazy expensive to bring the grid out there. It doesn't mention the Light Up the World Foundation or efforts by the Indian government and colleges to bring solar power to remote villages.

The article could have said more, but then again you can always ask that. So I'll be an optimist and be glad that at least they gave solar some positive press.

Earth Hour and Economics

Another Earth Hour has come and gone. Thousand or millions of people around the globe did not use electricity for 1 hour to help protect the Earth and send a message. I believe that it is a fine cause but it reminded me of an issue that's been nagging me for a while.

While solar technologies have advanced so that their costs of production has gone down, the demand for solar has increased so much that the costs per panel have gone up. It's that whole supply and demand thing. Now, if everyone started using wind, solar and other renewables because they become cost competitive with advancements in the technology, the demand for coal, and NG will drop (oil a little bit but since it is mainly used for transportation and not electrical generation it wouldn't be greatly affected). But if the price per ton of coal drops because people are switching away from it, the demand for coal will increase because it is cheaper.

Ignoring government policies (which is a huge assumption) our electrical portfolio should naturally balance at some mix between all energy sources and efficiency. However, that ratio has been out of whack because of subsidies, tax breaks, permit waivers, low interest loans, and and the non-monetary coast of emissions and environmental degradation are not taken into account.

But what if it was an entirely even playing field and the utility rate reflected the true cost of generating that kWh. ( For more info on the "true cost" of things check out storyofstuff.com) As we reach a climate tipping point, the cost per ton of carbon dioxide emissions should be very high, that along with the environmental costs of extraction, and the other emissions coal is probably not cost competitive. But I wonder how the mix would end up? Will we have a RE replace coal and generate 40% of our electricity, or will it be more evenly divided between energy source?

Of course, that is provided that a carbon tax is passed.
 

*GASP* people are putting solar panels on large and flat roofs!

Check out this treehugger article about putting solar arrays on the roofs of big box stores in Califronia to help meet their RPS requirement. Big box stores are stores like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Best Buy that are  in MASSIVE flat, single-level buildings (and don't forget the gigundic parking lot, ahh suburbia). They are away from tall buildings and trees so their roofs are not shaded and they are flat, ideal for putting in a solar array. Another plus is if the array is elevated a little bit from the roof, it shades the roof cooling the building, lowering the AC load.
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You would think this would have been done a lot earlier. You always hear the stats saying that a 100 square mile plot of land in a desert of the southwestern US covered in solar panels would be enough to power the nation. There are lots of reason why that's not such a good idea (security risk, transmission losses) but the idea is there. I am sure we have enough space on all of our strip malls, super markets, warehouses and the like to put up enough panels on them.
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It's not exactly a novel idea for the energy industry, next thing you know they'll announce that they are putting wind turbines offshore.

an Eco-friendly war?

There is an article in the Washington Post today about maintaining security in Fallujah through strong-arm tactics. There are many interesting points (and you should read all of it), but the most relevant to this blog is the line that "...The U.S. military is employing street cleaners, building schools and putting up $9 million worth of solar street lights."

How about that for a solar power ad? "Built Army Tough" or something like that. "When you absolutely need power, go solar." It also makes a lot of sense with the whole unreliable/nonexistent  grid thing.

Reminds me of a line I heard once, probably on the history channel about integrating the military. The line is something like, "When the army does it, it's mainstream."

In other words, solar is now being taken a lot more seriously. Look out world.

Scary China fact for the moment

Currently I am taking a class called "China, energy and the environment". It's a very interesting class and with each reading assignment (of which there are many) I am learning tons of scary China energy facts. I'm not sure if I'll save them up for one post, or post them as I see them, but we'll see.

So, today's scary China fact is (drum roll please)*

From now until 2030, at current energy growth rates, China is projected to add 1312 GW to its generating capacity, which is more than the total current installed capacity in the US
(“IEA World Energy Outlook)
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Imagine if you will, another US energy system...inside another country...on top of what they already have...

And we are going to power that....how? Peak Oil is 2015... coal kills the earth (sure carbon capture and storage will happen someday, right around we get the cold fusion thing to work)...and that many nuclear power plants would be able to make western China glow in the dark (not to mention the whole, we have yet to develop a permanent way of storing the radioactive waste).

Looks like solar, wind, tidal, hydro, geothermal and the rest of the Renewable bunch are going to have to step up to the plate. Makes me wonder why BP is open to the idea of selling its alternative energy division.

China doing the Green and dirty

I just read this article in the Washington Post and you should too. Its about how China's weak pollution laws and generally bad environmental policies are affecting its green sector. Solar panel manufacturing firms in China are dumping toxic byproducts of the manufacturing process (and that's bad). The technology exists to clean up this process and recycle the material they dump, it's just a tad pricey (I know, shocking). And just as it's cheaper to not put scrubbers on its coal plants, Chinese solar panel makers are not recycling these toxins and just dumping them.

Just goes to show that any industry can be polluting, but that they don't have to be (except coal, that's just dirty through and through). So expect this story to be picked up a bit more as it's pretty sensationalist, but just remember, this is only polluting if you cut corners.

And if they can't fix themselves up, we just need to pick one of the lesser of two evils.  We must choose between local or global pollution. Good thing the technology exists that we shouldn't have to make that choice.

Gaza and modern Sieges

So, recently the state of Israel has besieged Gaza strip because of terrorist attacks from Hamas, and has cut off fuel supplies to the main power plant in the region that supplies the are with 40% of it's power.  The parts of the strip that get power via powerlines from Israel and Egypt have not had their power interrupted.

Lets turn our eyes away from the bigger political picture and just look at it this way. One areas fossil fuel resources have been cut off by another nation. The strained relations between the two areas make it unlikely that the supply lines will be reestablished anytime soon. (sounds almost like whats going on with the Ukraine and Russia).

If I were the nation that had my fuel supplies cut off, and if I were freaking out about the inability to import my energy, I think I'd try to become energy independent. The more independent I/a nation am/is the less effective a blockade will be.

So why don't the Palestinians in Gaza, or Hamas, invest in solar panels, wind turbines, and wave power in this strip of land on the Mediterranean coast? They might not have the funds, but other nations who have expressed concerns about a possible humanitarian crisis (the EU) have the money.  Why don't the Germans and Spanish share some of their solar and wind tech with the Palestinians to help avert this potential humanitarian crisis? Why hasn't Hamas or the non-terrorist Palestinian Authority asked for this help?

Japan, Spain, the US and a few other countries are assembling a fund to help poorer nations reduce their GHG emissions, can't the Palestinians get access to some of these funds and put up some solar panels?

I know there could be issues with transparency. But by sending the panels and turbines to Gaza strip along with some third-party installers to get the system up and running, money won't have to change hands. Thus, there can be no fear that this money would go to buying more Qazams.

Regardless where you stand on the Israel/Palestinian issue, removing the need for fuel in Gaza means that there is one less thing to worry about in the negotiations. With that need satisfied, peace-negotiations can go a little bit smoother and a little bit faster.

Isn't that something that ultimately we can all agree on?

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update: Treehugger.com just did an article about the fuel sanctions for the Gaza strip have resulted in Gazans using falafel and other kinds of food waste oil mmm who would have guessed that would happen.

Solar Roadways

I just read a piece on renewableenergyworld.com that the Idaho-based company Solar Roadways has developed an idea to make our roads make electricity. Basically they want to put up very strong solar panels and pave our roads that way.

Now this idea has interested me since I first got into solar energy 5 years ago when a book I was reading mentioned the possibility that solar panels would one day be so cheap and strong that they can be used to pave roads. It said even if they were inefficient, the shear quantity of road space in this country would be enough to generate all the energy we need. Upon reflection, it sounds like the promise of Nano-solar cells.

There are many issues with this idea, a few of them are:
1. roads are often covered with these things called cars which block sunlight
2. energy transmission losses would be huge.
3. costs of installation and maintenance (both financial costs and costs on traffic)
4. highways are inherently wastes of energy, if you want to cut decrease the gap of energy supply and demand, invest in a better national rail system. That takes up less space, uses less fuel and can be powered on by a variety of sources. This "solar roadways" plan is putting lipstick on a pig.

But at least they've embraced clean energy and are trying to think up innovative uses for it.
but if you really want to use solar along highways, how about installing solar highway lights, and putting solar panels on those huge eyesores (billboards).