Former Maine Governor, Angus King recently visited Freeport Maine to talk about wind energy. King co-founded Independence Wind, LLC which consults with companies on wind turbine projects in Maine and New England. King delivered his ideas on the future of wind energy in Maine to a crowded Freeport Community Center as the second speaker in a four part lecture series sponsored by Wolfe’s Neck Farm and USM PIRG. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Energy
Friends Of Lincoln Lakes
I was recently in Freeport Maine for a lecture presented by former Maine Governor Angus King titled, the Future of Wind Power in Maine. During the Q&A session at the end of the lecture, the co-founder of Friends of Lincoln Lakes Brade Blake stood up and made a big to-do about how wind turbines are “sprawling industrial wind sites” in response to the proposed wind farm near his cottage on Lincoln Lake. Lets examine a few reasons why Blake may just be a little off his rocker. Read the rest of this entry »
Swimming Pools
A good friend of mine is always saying to me that he wishes they made an all-in-one alternative energy kit. His Acme alternative energy kit would consist of a large water tank painted black to act as a thermal mass, solar water heaters, solar panels, and a wind turbine.
I’ve been thinking about this model and realized that many people already have this system partially installed. Partially installed because many people have a swimming pool.
A swimming pool could be used as a solar mass collecting heat from the sun and stirring it for those cold winter nights. The pool would work really well with a heat pump and a radiant floor heating system. Most people just cover up their pool with an insulating cover anyways, why not make that an extra thick and rigid cover capable of supporting solar water heaters that would circulate hot water into the pool.
With a solar hot water photovoltaic hybrid system on your pool, you now have hot water, a warm house, and electricity. if you were to add a wind turbine, you would have your Acme alternative energy kit!
Lastly, in the summer time you could use your swimming pool and your water heaters in reverse to radiate heat out of the pool. With a swimming pool full of cold water you’ll enjoy a cool home all day. You would be able use your home to heat your pool for a mid day swim.
Converting Waste Cellulose Into Cheap E85
In my search of all things E85 I wasn’t able to turn up much information on using waste cellulose as a feedstock into Ethanol. There are a few videos and sites who say that by using a few enzymes or chemicals they can break down cellulose like wood chips into simple sugars that can be digested by yeast. I read one site that claimed sulphuric acid was the key and another that said two mystery enzymes where the way to do it. I haven’t been able to find any conclusive evidence and was wondering if anyone knew anything at all about it. I asked a biology professor at my university today if he had any information about the process and he hadn’t heard anything about it. I will be asking around to a few other professors that specialize in biological metabolic pathways and that might lead me down the right road. Please, if you know anything about this, leave some comment action right below.
Chevy Tahoe Hybrid – Thinking From The Center Of The Box
The recent spike in gas prices is not anything to be surprised about. We all knew it was coming. The 1970′s put the writing on the wall. Ask any kinder gardener and they can tell you the difference between a renewable and non-renewable resource. Thats why it kills me to see GM crushing EV1′s when they were years ahead of their time. That event solidifies in my mind the karma ridden demise of the strength of American car companies. They made an accounting profit choice when they should have done what Toyota did, make an economic profit choice. When GM saw the price of gas go up, and California’s tightening emission controls they did two things; 1). They played the green card and started the EV1 project incase the standards were passed, and 2). They lobbied to have the standards removed. When the standards were removed, they no longer justified the EV1 Project and ended it. Toyota on the other hand saw the writing on the wall and continued their investment in hybrid technology. Their decision to do so is the reason why the Prius is one of the best selling cars on the market. Its why Toyota is in the midst of windfall profits making money hand over fist while GM and Ford are cutting production, laying off employees, and looking for government help. I say, let them fail. They didn’t make a good decision for the American public, they made a decision for themselves so why should the American public bail them out now that they are dealing with the consequences of their greed? GM, Ford, and Chevy hardly have half a brain between the three of them. case in point, the all new Chevy Tahoe Hybrid.
I’m sitting in a movie theater and up comes this commercial for the new Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. An employee is driving this monstrocity around town explaining its features. There is no one else in the car, so he is by himself in what amounts to a 16 passenger personal bus, driving down a suburban neighborhood. This commercial exactly represents whats wrong with these companies. They are losing the old game of gas guzzling suv’s because Prius is sockin’ it to them, so what do they do, they keep the SUV, but they make it slightly more fuel effecient! I see this and I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! Chevy is polishing the brass on the Titanic by all measures but they don’t get it so if by the grace of god a Chevy, Ford, or GM employee is reading this, let me spell it out:
Dear American Car Companies,
You can not make an SUV economically fuel efficient. Americans now know that they can’t afford to drive around in a 8 passenger, tank sized, gas guzzling SUV by themselves anymore. Driving a family around is one thing, but the average American can’t afford to drive themselves in a Tahoe, hybrid or not. Go down town, Gas is $4 a gallon and its going to go higher. STOP making SUV’s. START making electric/Flex-Fuel hybrids (100% gas, 100% ethanol, or any mix of the two) CARS (Key word, CARS) before you go bankrupt and ruin America!
E85
For the last few days I have been reading up on all things ethanol. If you’ve read anything else I’ve written below you might be surprised to hear me talking about ethanol after raving on and on about the effeciancy of electric motors. One of my problems (because there are so many) is that I am an idealist. In an ideal world we could make the shift from gas to electric motors overnight. After reading up on E85 however, I realize that its the perfect stepping stone between gasoline and electricity because E85 is less expensive, it’s cleaner than gas, it (ahem) requires no additional modification or costly equipment, and its available today!
Right now there is about a twenty percent difference between the price of gas and E85 if you can find it. Unfortunately I live in the North East and Maine has no E85 equipped stations and Massachusetts has only one in Boston. Once E85 is more readily available, the invisible hand will guide it to popularity because its significantly less expensive. If gas prices continue to rise, the savings will only increase. This model works well in Brazil where gasoline cars can’t be sold because Ethanol is about 40% less expensive than gas at the pump. I heard some where (maybe NPR) that Americans always make the right choice after all wrong choices have been exhausted, this is a case in point. The best way to get people to buy alternative fuels that help the environment, is to make them less expensive. Actually, its the only way.
E85 is also cleaner than gasoline by up to 93%! That means its great for your engine. There is a video on youtube.com (just search for E85 Chevy Tahoe, or E85 in a non-flex fuel car) where they tear down an engine that was allegedly run on E85 for 100,000 miles without any modification. The engine shows significantly less wear because it wasn’t subjected to the particulate matter from gasoline that acts like sandpaper in an engine. Some estimate that engines running on 100% ethanol might last up to three times longer than the same engine run on gasoline. So if you own a Subaru or Nissan, you might never have to buy another one again!
As I said, running E85 requires no additional equipment or modification! I’ve read around an many are warning not to use E85 in a non-flex fuel car. Many say its harmless or even better for your car. The automobile was originally designed to run on ethanol, not gasoline. Its a far superior fuel. There are kits on the internet for the conversion for a few hundred dollars that will tweak your engine for better performance and 100% ethanol use but 100% ethanol isn’t available yet at the pump and from what I’ve been reading its very hard to make on your own (though I’m going to try!). Thats why I’m going to put my car on the line as a test subject. Sometime in the near future I will be making a special trip to Boston to buy 10 gallons of E85 for my 1994 Saturn. I will let you know how it goes but I’m not expecting any trouble. I am interested in seeing how much cooler the engine runs because I’ve heard that cooler running temperatures is one of the main advantages of burning ethanol.
The final reason why I believe that E85 is a great stepping stone is its availability. Don’t get me wrong, I love electric cars, motors, and Teslas, but they are still out of reach. I can’t afford to convert my car to electric, and even if I could, it would cripple my car. The current battery technology limits the range unless you want to spend a pretty penny for lithium ion batteries. Electric cars are the future, gasoline cars are the past, but ethanol is making a great case for the future.
