Happy Earth/Wind/Sun Day

Wind TurbineWind TurbinesIt’s Earth Day, 2009.  What have you done this year to lessen your carbon footprint, save energy, and shop responsibly?  I remain imperfect although I claim to be “green.”  I educate myself, take public transit to work, turn off lights, shop with reusable bags and keep the heat off as much as possible.  Still, is this enough?  I’ve decided it’s important to not get overwhelmed and instead do what you can using the “every vote counts” motto.

For example, a simple way to support renewable energy is a mere few clicks away.  Just recently I learned Boston-area residents have the option to support clean wind power under NSTAR Green. This program makes it easy for consumers to support wind energy by demanding their electricity be provided by wind, not coal.  You have the option of choosing between 50% and 100% wind power.  And no, it’s not that expensive.  So, on this Earth Day, do your part by checking out NSTAR Green and switching from coal-generated electricity to wind.

Prices of Solar and Wind Components Fall

That’s the upside of the NYT story Dark Days for Green Energy, which details slowdowns and layoffs in the alternative energy world brought on by a combination of the credit crisis and the continued price moderation of fossil fuels. We’re trying hard to see the positive side of things here at Warm Home Cool Planet. 

The price of solar panels has fallen by 25 percent in six months, according to Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who said he expected a further drop of 10 percent by midsummer. For homeowners, however, the savings will not be as substantial, partly because panels account for only about 60 percent of total installation costs.

So while congress debates how much of the stimulus package will be spent on tax cuts, and how much will be spent on, well, actual infrastructure spending that stimulates the economy, maybe more of us can take matters into our own hands and start buying up those solar panels.

Of course, just when we thought that the glass was at least half full we read this:

In Massachusetts, for example, the Commonwealth Solar program cut its rebate by $1 per watt on Jan. 1, reducing the overall discount by $3,000 for a 3 kilowatt solar panel system…

So make your calculations carefully, and make sure you get the latest information on the bewildering array of deductions, exemptions, incentives and rebates which make Massachusetts one of the most solar progressive states in the country. This list of goodies is dated 2009, which is nice.

Wind power employs more people than the coal industry? Soon…

One of our favourite energy blogs–Bright Green Blog–featured a story today comparing the number of jobs in  power creation to the number of jobs in the coal industry. Apparently Fortune claims the number of people in the wind power business was greater that entire coal industry (which generates almost 50% of our energy needs). After a torrent of emails, Fortune was forced to correct–the number of people involved in all aspects of wind power is roughly equivalent to the number of coal miners in the US. (85,000 v 81,000).

No it's not a new 12 meter yacht. It's a blade for a wind turbine-manufactured in Windsor. Colorado.

It's not a new 12 m yacht, but a wind turbine blade manufactured at the Vestas factory in Windsor, CO.

No matter what the final numbers, it brings to light an interesting debate-one that will continue as more alternative sources are needed–and become available– to put energy onto our national grid. Like other alternative energies, wind power is a growth industry. Therefore a great deal of capital–financial and human–is now being spent on building infrastructure for the industry. Coal industry employment, after experiencing a large decline in manpower when mining methods and energy generation technology improved throughout the 7os and 80s, has stayed relatively stable over the last 15 years. Until the concept of clean coal technology becomes a reality, it is unlikely the industry will add many jobs in the near future. It’s hard to compare the two industries because they are at such different stages of development.

Our economic recovery, however, is largely dependent on generating new jobs. Many of these jobs will come from the adoption and installation of new energy technologies and infrastructure. It also represents one of the most immediate ways to add high value jobs to our economy.

Until the last couple of years most of the breakthrough technology in alternative energy generation was from outside the US–principally Europe. The wind and solar industries have now reached critical mass in the US. As you can see from the photo above, we now have enough demand to develop and manufacture alternative energy generation technologies in the US.

Also, it should be pointed out that unlike coal and oil–which are commodities with market driven prices–renewable energy sources, like the wind and sun, can’t be ‘owned’. Which explains why they are still free.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Calls for 2,000 MW of wind power by 2020

Massachusetts Governor and Presidential pal Deval Patrick has very quietly become one of wind power’s biggest boosters over the last year or so. And he looks absolutely nothing like, or thinks nothing like wind power’s biggest booster,  T Boone Pickens. Which goes to show you the search for clean renewable energy, just like politics, can make for strange bedfellows.

patrick-obama-2

Patrick-2,000 megawatts of wind power on the grid before 2020

Patrick, who called for an increase in Massachusett’s solar capacity from the current 4MW to 250 MW soon after he was elected in 2006, had this to say about the state’s (soon to be) booming wind power industry.

“With the growing interest in wind turbines we see in communities across the Commonwealth  and the abundant wind resource we have off our coast, wind power is going to be a centerpiece of the clean energy economy we are creating for Massachusetts,”

Massachusetts has also been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for one of just two Wind Technology Testing Centers in the country (Texas also was selected), poising the Commonwealth to become a national center for wind power research and development-and thereby offering the potential economic rewards of technology development, entrepreneurship and jobs.

The folks at Renewable Energy World have the rest of the story.

‘Bird Safe’ Helix Wind Turbine Excites Enthusiasm and Skepticism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9flSPAdOLk

It sure looks cool.

Helixwind’s manufacturer says it works at lower altitudes, is less of an eyesore, and is more bird-friendly than standard turbine designs, but many blog posters are demanding more hard data  before falling in love with the design. We’d suggest some research at  the AWEA site (you didn’t know that stands for the American Wind Energy Association?) before signing any purchase orders. 

The company has recently posted some PDFs containing more detailed specifications.

T. Boone Pickens Explains his Plan

Not since Ross Perot’s quirky 1992 presidential bid have we been as impressed by an elderly Texan billionaire writing on a whiteboard. This video is worth watching for the illustration of the US wind corridor. (For a different map of potential wind resources click here.)

Picken’s company Mesa Power LLP has put it’s money where his mouth is, making the world’s largest order for wind turbines with GE in 2007, scheduled for delivery in 2010 or 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM

For T. Boone Pickens, The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind

Photo of wind turbine in field

Energy independence or bird killing eyesore?

When the Bush administration ignored T. Boone Pickens ambitious Pickens Plan Oil mogul and corporate raider decided he’d just have build support for the massive undertaking himself.

In the video accompanying the PickensPlan.com Web site, Pickens said that getting 20 percent of the U.S.’ electricity from wind and diverting natural gas to transportation could be done in 10 years “if there is the right leadership.”

“I am calling on the next President and Congress to take immediate action in the first 100 days of the new Administration to do whatever is necessary to make this plan a reality. We are asking the American public to get behind this plan and to help us reduce our dangerous dependency on foreign oil. This has to be the number one priority in the country starting today and that’s what this campaign is all about. I am also calling for a monthly report on the reduction in foreign oil imports and a monthly report on progress in the development of natural gas vehicles in this country.”

Picken’s even has a Facebook page for the plan.

Not everyone is overjoyed at some of the specifics of Boone’s proposals. Environmentalists worry that Pickens “Wind Corridor” could be disruptive to migrating birds, many communities in the US have fought wind turbine proposals, referring to the giant towers as eyesores.