Solar Air Heater

UPDATE 11/24/12
Check the video and pictures out HERE

I’m a solar heater junkie. My prototype looks like crap but the science and data makes it a winner when it comes to solar heating. You can find lots of videos on the subject on You Tube regarding soda can solar heaters and such and I have to give the inventors of that theory on gaining free heat from the sun credit for a great idea. I don’t go to meetings for my solar heater addiction but I love the idea of free heat from the sun. My addiction is making the theory better and more accessible to the masses. Thus, I have been working on a box geared more towards the elderly and people on fixed incomes that can move a heating unit from one window in the morning to the next in the afternoon depending on where the sun is coming into their home. Having a fixed unit that just faces south has never been something I have ever been fond of. Permanent installation either. Why not move the unit as the sun moves if you are at home anyway? Why not have a system built into the solar heater that stores the heat longer when cloud cover comes in? Why not build a box that can not only be placed in a window but just moved to a sunny spot of sun that is already coming into your home? Place it by a slider door, on a living room coffee table, wherever the sun is shining into the house. If it is getting full sun then our heater will give free heat! Free Solar powered heat for you home that will supplement your existing heating system.

As Emeril says, can we kick it up a notch? My box is a simple two foot by two foot wooden box with a bunch of systems inside that retain heat and amplify heat when the sun is partly clouded. Testing on my unit and tweeking of the unit have been going on for weeks and it still is in the testing phases but I think it is a marketable solar heater design. I’m trying to keep the cost to consumers below $400 retail but the parts needed to make it totally renewable energy are high with metal pricing fluctuating daily.

Testing today in the early hours between nine AM and eleven AM facing the morning sun (East) resulted in significant results that I am very pleased with. High atmospheric clouds came and went and the unit worked like I thought it would. The backup systems of the solar heater with no moving parts or outside source of energy other than the sun to retain heat cycled in and out was amazing. Results below are after the unit was heated just by the sun for twenty minutes with high atmospheric clouds intermittently.

Testing results for 4/30/2011 Between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM CST

Average ambient air temperature: 65.83 F
Average Air Exhaust Heat after reaching 110F Temperature: 125.99 F
Average Heat Retention System Temperature after Reaching 100 F: 113.6F
Average Heat Gain After reaching 110F ambient air temperature: 60.18F
Maximum heat gain from ambient air to heat exhaust: 70.2F

What does this mean to you? The average temperature of the heated air coming out once the unit is heated is 125.99 degrees F based on today's testing results and that is free heat from a two foot by two foot box that can be moved from room to room. Give the unit one half hour to heat up in full sun and it is pumping out the heat for free.

What I find very interesting is the cycles of the air to heat retention systems cycling plus and minus of one another in opposite directions. One goes up and the other goes down in temperature. New science results with the data for me to experiment with. I’m having a blast with it. The applications beyond just heating air are enormous! Pick a topic that relates to providing heat to a home and it works in a simple little box.

Check back soon to see when we are actually selling my toy. Free heat is good. Email us if you would like more information. Papamoka (at) hotmail (dot)(com).

Legal disclaimer: This unit will not heat your entire home but it is a kick ass supplement to whatever heating system you have when the sun is hitting the unit directly.

Papamoka

Who Owns the Sun

With the rising cost of energy these days there will be an opposite reaction from the public to seek out renewable energy sources for their energy needs. Let the games begin when it comes to garage mechanics coming out with the next best solar powered contraption.

"I'd put my money on solar energy...I hope we don't have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that." Thomas Edison, in conversation
with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, March 1931

What are you thinking about doing?

Papamoka

Renewable Energy Job Creation

Republicans are proposing slashing the DOE budget by two billion, in areas where renewable energy breakthroughs are playing a huge roll in America’s energy independence. As we all know, the republican’s are very concerned with saving money at the federal level as long as it doesn’t touch their pockets or friends with campaign donations pockets. You know the players as big oil, big coal, and mega electric industries with their more than generous checkbook to the GOP political base.

The Continuing Resolution as it stands would slice over two billion dollars from the DOE's budget alone and would have detrimental impacts on the state of American energy innovation. The budget cuts would force the layoffs of scientists and engineers, shrink the capabilities of laboratories and universities to perform the most critical cutting-edge energy research projects, and, by cutting funds for highly-leveraged loan guarantee programs, steer private sector funds away from American entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to demonstrate and deploy their innovative energy technologies on American soil. – WattHead Energy

It’s going to be hard to stop the renewable energy industry now that it is rolling along and the dividends being paid are in long term good paying Green jobs. Jobs are about to pop up in Wyoming that were born from many of the same programs the Republican’s are slashing to the bone regardless.

Gestamp has partnered with Ohio-based Worthington Industries, Inc. to create a joint venture, Gestamp Worthington Wind Steel, LLC. Together, they will produce towers for wind turbines constructed in the North American market. The initial production facility will stand on 30 acres in Cheyenne, and could employ as many as 150 people when fully operational.

The proposed facility will produce utility-scale towers for 2 to 3-MW wind turbines. The partners plan to begin shipments of 80 to 100-ft long tower sections in early 2012. – Windpower Engineering

Holy crap, who’d of thunk that renewable energy funding would have created long term jobs? How can that be possible if it’s renewable energy? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Or as some on the right side of the aisle that don’t believe in science would suggest, it takes more energy to build a solar panel than it creates in its working lifetime. WRONG!

Could it be that the American economy is broken, busted, out of money because it plays favorites with far too many old industries such as oil, coal and electric? Where are the budget cuts for those industries in the Republican money saving plan? They don’t exist is where those cuts are? The DOE budget for administering fossil fuels is cut but the subsidies are not. You know why, I know why, it’s just more of the same pretentious and shamefulness of politics and our government at work.

My good friend, a conservative at heart, is constantly telling me that the government should stay out of business peoples business. I agree to a point. I don’t agree that the monopoly that is our archaic energy system in America should be given a free ride over new technology that is beneficial to our children’s health, energy independence, and future.

Papamoka

Bancroft School Solar Power

Changing the world and how power is used or understood starts with education of the next generation. In Worcester, MA the Bancroft School is taking the lead in New England by going mega solar powered. Installing and powering up enough solar panels to provide 25% of the schools electric energy needs.

You have to give proper respect to the community for grabbing the energy usage bull by the horns and showing the kids how their school can make a difference in the way energy is produced for a common good. Locally, and globally.

On October 8, 2010 at 1 p.m. the Bancroft School community, with local and state officials on hand, will converge at the McDonough Center to celebrate the installation of 462 high-efficiency solar panels at a special dedication ceremony.

The solar electric system will be the largest private installation within the City of Worcester, producing more than 117,000-kilowatt hours of electricity annually or approximately 25% of the building’s energy needs over an entire year.

“Bancroft leads by example in providing our students with the tools and knowledge to be conscientious citizens of the globe,” said Scott R. Reisinger, Head of Bancroft School. “We have a strong record of sustainability and I am proud to see our School join with the greater Worcester community in further expanding our clean energy reach.”

Worcester has already been named by the Commonwealth as one of the first green communities in Massachusetts. The solar electric system capacity is rated at 106.2 kW and will add to the City’s reputation as a stronghold of alternative energy-conscious organizations. - Bancroft School

Bancroft School joins Holy Name High with its wind turbine that can be seen for miles from many of the highways that pass through Worcester as the foundation for going green with energy generation. In both cases it is a huge push toward moving our entire society away from energy sources that burden progress in a world that has to find new and clean ways to feed its energy needs.

The real bonus here and now is the green jobs thanks to the people that helped make it all possible for the school to stand proud.

Future Solar Systems, LLC, of Millbury, MA which designed the solar electric system, coordinated the installation, secured investors, and provided a comprehensive curriculum for solar, wind and energy efficiency for faculty to incorporate into the science and math programs. The solar panels are made by Canadian Solar, with inverters made by Solectria Renewables of Lawrence, MA. The system was financed by a combination of Millbury Credit Union and private investment.

Bancroft School rocks in the green energy school directory. So do the folks working in the new green energy field.

Papamoka

Renewable Energy Update

Down under they are taking the largest step possible when it comes to renewable energy for their nations citizens. Big steps like this are needed to slow the progression of global warming according to many scientists around the world from CO2 spewing power plants.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia plans to build the world's largest solar power station with an output of 1000 megawatts in a A$1.4 billion (US$1.05 billion) investment, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Sunday.

The plant would have three times the generating capacity of the current biggest solar-powered electricity plant, which is in California, Rudd said during a tour of a power station.

Tender details will be announced later in the year, and successful bidders will be named in the first half of 2010. Rudd said the project was aimed at exploiting the country's ample sunshine, which he called "Australia's biggest natural resource."

Good for the Aussies! So what is in the works here in the United States? New York state is installing 100 megawatts of solar power generating units on its public buildings to advance towards its 45-15 goal. (45% renewable energy by 2015)

GE Energy is providing 74 of its 1.5 megawatt wind turbines for a project in LaSalle County, IL.with funds made available by President Obama and his stimulus plan. That will power 30,000 homes.

So. Cal. Edison announced a deal back in February with BrightSource Energy for the eventual construction of seven solar thermal power generating plants adding 1.3 GW of power to its portfolio. - ARS Technica

The Port of LA is working on its impressive 1.15 million square feet of solar power panels on many of its rooftops and structures. Enough solar panels to power 2,500 homes. - Press Telegram

Exelon and SunPower Corp announced the construction of an urban solar field on leased property on the south side of Chicago. 32,800 solar panels are going up to power 1,200 to 1,500 homes or the equivalent of taking 2,500 cars off the road. - Exelon

I think it would be fair to say that the renewable energy industry is smoking hot!

Papamoka

State Workers to Feel the Economic Pain

Downsizing is all across the news reports, and all over America is talk about all of the fifty states having a hard time meeting their budget obligations. Governors are cutting corners where they can and still more cuts are needed. It’s the same scenario in privately run businesses as well. If the customer is cutting back and not visiting your business with paid orders then the only thing to do is cut back where you can save the most money the quickest way possible. Survival of the business aka state government service is the end objective.

That means layoffs and if the private sector is suffering that inevitable choice then the public works, government service, and government agencies must do the same. If taxes are not being paid into the state governments to keep up with the payroll of that state then they can’t pay out for services expected by its citizens. But is layoffs the only choice Governors have? I personally do not think so. Over at MSNBC courtesy of the Associated Press they have this thought on it…

Governors seek sacrifices from public workers
Money-saving measures include pay and benefit cuts, truncated workweeks

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Governors across the nation are seeking significant concessions from public employee unions in hopes of helping to balance their teetering budgets during the economic downturn.

From Maryland to California, Ohio to Hawaii, governors have asked or ordered state workers to accept furloughs, salary reductions, truncated workweeks or benefit cuts. They say the concessions are a better alternative to further job losses in the face of record-breaking unemployment.

Unions argue their members shouldn't be singled out and are even more vital in hard times — securing neighborhoods and prisons, educating children and providing social services to growing numbers of citizens. - MSNBC-AP

I’m personally a huge union workers supporter but I am also a realist that sees that the states can not be paying benefits and providing services when the money is just not their to do so. With the credit markets tightened to the point of a stranglehold on businesses, it isn’t like each state can go to the credit markets and float bonds till things pick up in the economy. Wall Street and the markets just do not work that way. States can also not rely on the federal government to support all of them with a total bailout till the point of if and when the economy starts to recover. That thought process is the way to total economic destruction far beyond the Great Depression of the early 1930’s.

Governors in all states need to look to the budgets they currently have and cut wherever is required. They must also negotiate with not just the unions that are the employees of the state but the suppliers of all items including benefits to the state first and foremost. If they have to combine bargaining power with adjacent states to gain far better rates, then so be it. It’s called demanding better terms from your suppliers. Be it health insurance, paper products, light bulbs, paper clips, or even new equipment for law enforcement. If you have ever known someone that has worked in the private sector in purchasing, its called getting the best terms and rates for your company and it is called competition. If one supplier isn’t willing to negotiate, you move on to another, and another till you get the price you need to maintain your business. Some people call it beating up your vendor but I like to call it the art of negotiation. Each participant knows the value of the deal and each person is looking to find the perfect price where both parties are happy. The purchaser is happy and the seller is happy. AKA, its business 101!

Each state in the union pays millions if not billions for gasoline and diesel per year for the fleets of vehicles they own, millions if not billions to heat or cool state run offices all across each state. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the energy suppliers need your base business to survive. Demand competitition from your current suppliers and then seek out alternative sources for the same products. Wind power, solar power, bio-fuels, and the list goes on.

There are still many investors in the market looking for state bonds that make sense. If a bond was floated from Massachusetts or any state just for the sake of paying salaries and maintaining a payroll the state itself could not maintain it would have little interest in the markets on Wall Street. If the same state came out with a bond based on putting 100,000 or 250,000 solar panels on state run offices that would save the state millions of dollars per month once installed that would never have to be paid to an energy utility for the next thirty plus years it would draw huge attention, and not just here in America on Wall Street, but around the world. The beauty of the “Purchasing Negotiation” is that you could demand that each unit purchased will not be paid for till it is installed and generating power. That should work out to a thirty to sixty day payment deal for the manufacturer if they take the initiative to hire qualified people and install each and every single unit on the state buildings. Something that they could and should take the initiative to outsource to mulitple companies across every single state. More jobs, more state tax income.

Those savings even with repayment of the bond could equal thousands of state jobs and services that are needed elsewhere. It is the initial investment that is needed and we have several Solar Power Panel manufacturers right here in the United States of America that could and would benefit with increasing the workforce to meet the demand of high tech jobs at good wages. Schott Solar of California has a manufacturing facility in Billerica, Ma and Evergreen Solar of Marlborough, MA has a facility in the former Fort Devens military base to name just two.

President Obama is on the right track with his renewable energy initiatives in the current bailout package and the states need to look at the thought processes behind renewable energy and apply the thought process in public buildings all over the nation. If solar panels on the roof are paying 10% to 30% of the energy needs then how many jobs does that save in the public sector? Same thought process goes to private businesses as well. Back in the mid 1980’s I worked in a wire and cable manufacturing facility, the building was about 300,000 square feet full of equipment that was all powered by the local electric utility. The monthly bill at the time for the power was over $30,000 dollars. Then you had to figure the cost to heat such a large facility by gas per month and the bill was even larger than the electric in the winter months.

Even with the current drop of the cost of oil, the largest bill for any business other than raw materials is the energy cost. Cut that cost down by going with multiple renewable energy systems and the probability that you never pay an electric bill or gas bill ever again is within reach! How many jobs is that bill paid to the electric or gas, oil, propane company worth every month to any business or a greater point, how much does that allow you to pass those savings onto your customer and get the business you could never touch before? Our economy is built on competition and innovation, we need to look at the innovations not just in the private sector but in each of our state governments.

Each of our states need to be creative budgetary wise and think long term when it comes to their energy needs. Payroll is not the biggest cost they have but it is the easiest to cut. Demand more long term economic thought process from your state Governor and Legislators!

Papamoka

Solar Farm in my Hometown

Central Mass is putting its feet firmly down in support of green energy. Worcester already has one huge wind turbine at Holy Name High School and another proposal for another wind turbine at College of the Holy Cross in the study phase, Worcester Envelope is also studying a wind turbine power option. Douglas is looking at a proposed mega wind farm on leased land from the state parks. And this list goes on and on in renewable energy projects across Worcester County.

Now a private company is looking at 150 acres in my hometown at Worcester Airport for a solar panel farm. Over at the Worcester Telegram they have this on it…

Friday, January 16, 2009
Company eyes land at airport for solar farm

Up to 150 acres may be used for production of electricity
By Martin Luttrell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
mluttrell@telegram.com

WORCESTER — A solar energy company is in discussions with city officials and Massport to lease up to 150 acres at Worcester Regional Airport to build a solar farm that could produce 33.3 megawatts of power.

Ansar Energy LLC of Scituate is also negotiating with officials in Attleboro and Greenfield for solar power production there, officials in those communities said.

Assistant City Manager Julie A. Jacobson said the talks, which began in December, are preliminary, but the solar farm, if built according to the company’s plans, would be a $250 million investment.

Junaid Yasin, president of Ansar Energy, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment. - Worcester Telegram

Every single one of these projects is great to see when you think about how energy dependent we are on other nations for our electricity. Each one adding to the negative column the number of barrels of oil per year we import. If you happen to work in the construction industry, it means jobs down the road for qualified trades people too. Not to just build them initially but to maintain the systems as well for the long haul.

Mega Watt Kudo’s goes out to Mass Technology Collaborative!

Papamoka

Saudi Arabia and Oil’s Future

Saudi Arabia does not fear the current drop in oil prices, matter of fact it tells them that the business needs to be reevaluated with intense scrutiny. 60 Minutes with Lesley Stahl did a great piece on what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is doing to hedge their bets for the future of oil. According to the report, Saudi Arabia would like the price per barrel to be at $55 in order to support all of its production costs and government obligations.

They are bringing online two oil fields that will be able to supply close to three million barrels a day alone in 2009 with new technology that can find every last drop of oil in a field that would supply oil for the next fifty years. According to the piece, that is more oil per day than most Middle East countries can supply per day today. Lesley was able to get the gentleman in charge of the oil fields to admit that the cost to produce one barrel of oil all across the kingdom is less than $2 per barrel and yet the two fields they are opening up in 2009 they paid cash for at the richly sum of $60 Billion dollars.

Trust me, I am having no pity for the Saudi Oil Kingdom that sat back at the pool while the cost of a barrel of oil hit $147 per barrel. $147 dollars per barrel minus $2 production cost, then subtract say another $10 bucks per barrel for overhead and paying the kingdom heirs off for sucking the go go juice out leaves $135 per barrel pure profit! Multiply that profit by the number of barrels of oil they supply a day to the world and you have a disgusting amount of expendable cash. Or dare I say a savings account to pay for any new technology that serves their purpose and nations future.

I don’t begrudge them the mega gross profit they have received; I frankly admire them for repeating the P.T. Barnum business plan. If there was an American business that could earn that type of profit margin on any product and legally, I say legally for a reason, then all the power to them. What really scares me is the fact that Saudi Arabia is not being stupid with its profits and just spending away like drunken sailors on their first shore leave in six months. No offense to sailors, it was just an expression. Saudi Arabia is looking at wind power and solar power for its future offset when oil declines in use across the world. Saudi Arabia is looking at engineering the greenest fossil fuel engine the world has ever seen. Saudi Arabia is doing now what America should have done immediately after the oil embargo of the 1970’s and I have to applaud them for seeing the future need where most American industries do not.

Oil and gas prices are going to tank for the next few years and that cheap oil will pave the way for the decline in American and world research on expanding solar power technology, wind power technology, and every other alternative source to oil but the Saudi government is still going to toss hundreds of billions of dollars at these technologies every single year. From the spoils of this past energy crisis will go the investment and ability to continue the research that in a couple of decades will pay off enormously for the kingdom. Saudi Arabia in thirty years will be the largest exporter of green energy in the world simply because they invested in the technology today. That is the business plan that they are following and it is a damn good one! Maybe we in America should look at their plan and try to beat them to the moon so to speak.

When the cost of a gallon of gas is just $1.00 then where is the market for an alternative fuel that cost $3 for the same vehicle? When oil fed electric plants can produce a megawatt of power at two thirds the cost of a wind turbine then where is the market for wind power? Same goes for solar power and the list goes on for all the alternative energy initiatives when it comes right down to the cost of energy for the average consumer. It is a little disheartening but it is reality. Or am I wrong?

Papamoka

Oil Price Tank Threatens Green Energy

One of the biggest factors for many industries and people to go with green energy was the high cost of oil. They went solar, they went with wind power, hydro, bio-fuels, hydrogen fleets, electric cars, and the green energy movement was born again. What happens now to that green energy drive when oil is once more affordable? Should it be abandoned or pursued more feverishly?

In my little corner of the world it was great to see one small Catholic high school put up a wind turbine on its campus from their pristine location on a high hill in our city. Seeing that turbine whip around and feed the school all of its electric energy needs is just amazing to behold. I would love to see the seven hills of Worcester, MA look like the Gray Goose about to take off. That would be a Howard Hughes reference to an aircraft that he proposed and the government prosecuted him over that it could never fly. It did fly and so will the green energy mentality.

America has been burned over the last few years with the speculation on oil and we frankly are late on getting on the green energy bandwagon. We never learned from the oil embargo of the 1970’s but we sure as hell will never forget the oil desecration of our financial system once the oil bubble burst.

Over at the Guardian and from Chris Goodall they have this amazing piece on "The Ten Big Energy Myths". I loved it! This is a must read article and you might find yourself amazed at the myths and what the truth actually is…

Myth 1: solar power is too expensive to be of much use
Myth 2: wind power is too unreliable
Myth 3: marine energy is a dead-end
Myth 4: nuclear power is cheaper than other low-carbon sources of electricity
Myth 5: electric cars are slow and ugly
Myth 6: biofuels are always destructive to the environment
Myth 7: climate change means we need more organic agriculture
Myth 8: zero carbon homes are the best way of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions from buildings
Myth 9: the most efficient power stations are big
Myth 10: all proposed solutions to climate change need to be hi-tech

Guardian.co.uk

I’m hoping that we in America will continue the fight for energy independence. We can not prosper as a people when any foreign entity controls our power needs. If we can not supply our nation with the energy we need to continue the fight that is right for human rights then we are dead in the water. If we as a people espouse to be the conscience of the world then we had better be able to feed the energy needs of that mind set. Otherwise, we need to start kissing the butt’s of some of the same folks that reaped the largest financial gains in history from the American people.

Keep up the fight for clean energy and chuck the bird at the people that told us we can not survive as a nation without the product they have to sell us. Thus dragging us collectively as a people into their political wars that have not made any sense for centuries.

Papamoka

McCain Offshore Oil Drilling Hype

I have to say that I’m not to sure that this is such a bad idea given certain conditions. Conditions like our government going nuts in tax breaks for solar research, wind power research, hydrogen and natural gas research as fuels for our nations cars, trucks and busses. If the government focuses as much attention to these energy sources as they have on oil then maybe then we can look at offshore drilling for the time being? At least for the time being while the research is going on and improving the science and network needed to functionally serve these new technologies. Back in the 1970’s we had the first oil crisis where our nation was held hostage by OPEC and in 2008 we have our nation held hostage by energy traders. It’s a known fact that there is not one single answer to changing the source or usage of our energy needs.

One of the biggest gripes against McCain making this trip to an oil rig is the fact that his largest campaign contributors are from most of the big oil companies. Many far more qualified people are saying that even if we start drilling off shore in a large scale it could be ten years before the results drop the cost of oil down even just a few pennies? What about the millions of acres in known oil rich locations on land, in the continental United States that the oil companies already have access too?

Over at the Houston Chronicle they have this story on McCain using an oil platform to back up his thoughts on offshore drilling…

McCain uses oil platform visit to promote more drilling
By PHILIP ELLIOTT Associated Press
Aug. 19, 2008, 2:54PM

ABOARD THE CHEVRON GENESIS — Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited this oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico today to call for increased offshore drilling that he claims would lower the cost of food and heating homes.
McCain traveled 130 miles by helicopter to tour the massive facility, which produces 10,000 gallons of oil each day. He criticized his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, for not supporting such a plan.

"He says it won't solve our problem and that it's, quote, not real. He's wrong and the American people know it," McCain told reporters.

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, called the four-hour excursion nothing more than a stunt. Obama supporter and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack compared McCain's position to the "Beverly Hillbillies" television program where the main character — Jed Clampett — stumbles onto an oil gusher. McCain, he said, has "a Jed Clampett energy policy."

McCain and his aides believe the pocketbook approach can connect with voters — and, in turn, suggest that Obama wants people to pay more for gas, food and heating. - Houston Chronicle

One of the things that keeps coming into my mind is that Senator McCain flew by helicopter 260 miles round trip to an oil platform offshore that is only producing 10,000 gallons of oil per day? That is a quote from the story by the AP. If my calculations are correct then that platform is only producing 182 BARREL’S of oil per day at 55 gallons per barrel? I’m not sure that mega platform is even going to pay for McCain’s helicopter ride with one days production. After refining and what have you, how many gallons of helicopter go-go juice do you get. I’m thinking that the helicopter is burning a hell of a lot more gas than your average Chevy pickup truck. I’m guessing that the AP story has a problem with checking facts and CNN has the rig producing 10,000 barrels a day which is a huge difference in numbers. Even still, go-go juice for any kind of chopper is not cheap and they eat the stuff up like its candy to a baby.

How much would you like to bet that the helicopter trip was free courtesy of Chevron? How much money do you think is going to flow into the McCain campaign coffers for this trip to the offshore oil rig? John McCain’s energy plan is a joke and everyone knows it. He’s even being dishonest with himself for the sake of the almighty dollars rolling into his campaign from big oil companies. John McCain knows that any effort to put offshore oil drilling rigs in the Atlantic will be shot down in the Senate by every single state with a shoreline to the Atlantic. If putting up a wind farm off the coast of my home state in Massachusetts was a battle, you have not seen anything in comparison of battles if there is even one remote possibility that the fishing industry off the Atlantic coast were ever harmed by any form of oil drilling disaster or leak. Hurricane Katrina destroyed 113 offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and the environment and the fishing industry paid the highest price for that natural disaster. Over at the Washington Post they have this to say about offshore oil rig disasters from Katrina…

McCain and the Safety of Offshore Drilling
By Michael D. Shear

In an energy speech recently, McCain said that: "As for offshore drilling, it's safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston."

In fact, Katrina and Hurricane Rita caused damage to oil rigs and storage facilities in the Gulf, according to press reports and government studies.

The hurricanes totally destroyed 113 oil rigs, according to the government's Minerals Management Service, and damaged 457 pipelines. The resulting oil spills were large enough to be seen from space, according to several reports. - Washington Post

Offshore oil drilling is not the only answer to the energy crisis we are facing courtesy of Wall Street investors. Research into many other avenues and looking at the possibilities of new forms of energy is the answer. The top three are Solar Power, Wind Power, and Natural Gas. All of which this nation has an overall abundance of. Does McCain talk about these energy sources? Yes he does but his heart and soul is brought to you courtesy of big oil and free helicopter rides to their offshore oil platforms.

McCain, McSame, McBush, McRove, whoever the hell he is today does not have the answer or even a valid plan for the next couple of decades and our nations energy needs. It is becoming apparent that McCain’s plan is more of the same and screw you. Thank you very much and please donate to the McCain for President campaign. NOT!!!

McCain himself and his actions, statements, and just disregard for the truth are the loudest and clearest reason why people should vote for change and Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

Related Links:
Ocean View Helicopters has info on Helicopter MPG
T. Boone Pickens Plan actually has a plan to break the oil crisis
Think Progress has this on what Katrina did to Oil Rigs

Cross posted at Bring It On!

Papamoka

Technorati Tags:
McCain, Obama, Offshore Oil Drilling, Chevron, Helicopter Ride, Offshore Oil Platform, Energy Crisis, Solar Power, Wind Power, Natural Gas, T Boone Pickens Plan

Renewable Energy and the Military

When it comes to our United States military and their “needs” there is what some would call a demand for results in technology when it comes right down to it. Anyone that has worked with the military in the private sector knows that the contracts go to the people with the best idea for what they “need”. There is no better source of expedience when it comes to the private sector than facing a military contract to supply X at date Y and if they like it then contract Z is awarded. The competition for military contracts in the private sector is intense, extremely intense, and a life or death existence for many companies all across America. Make no mistake about it, the people with the best plan can charge the value they think it is worth.

Maybe it would be a good idea for the Pentagon to put out a call to arms for all of the garage inventors in America to hasten the effort to expand renewable energy sources that could be used in the business end of protecting America? One thing is certain with this article from Reuters is that the end result will be something that will eventually pay it forward in your home down the road…

Military wants to lead U.S. into the green

By Bernie Woodall

FORT IRWIN, California (Reuters) - The U.S. military has a history of fostering change, from racial integration to development of the Internet. Now, Pentagon officials say their green energy efforts will help America fight global warming.

By size alone, the Defense Department can make waves. It accounts for 1.5 percent of U.S. energy consumption.

The military has set a goal that 25 percent of its energy should come from renewable sources by 2025 and aims to create machines and methods to help Main Street America reach similar targets, said Alan Shaffer, a retired Air Force officer who leads the Pentagon's research and engineering arm.

Snip and “Atten Hut!”

Renewable energy is not new to the military. Wind turbines supply much of the power used at the isolated U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and the geothermal power plant at the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station in California has been in operation for two decades.

But urgency to ramp up the program increased in 2006 after Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer said bringing solar and wind power to the battlefront would cut down on casualties.

"Cost matters. Lives matter more," said Shaffer. "Every time we have to send a convoy out to refuel tanks or deploy forward locations, it puts people's lives at risk." -Reuters

Make no mistake about this article from Reuters, the Pentagon is hurting from the price of oil and that money has to come from somewhere else to pay for our troops movements. If the money for energy use comes from somewhere else then programs the military really cares about have to be canceled. This policy of our military will change the imprint that our military and their use of energy has and will funnel down to the bases all over the world and thus onto the economy of America. What I find interesting about this military intervention is the fact that they are not embracing renewable energy because they like the idea but the simple fact that they have no choice in the matter. Something all of us in the private sector have faced for two years now and it is looking like we will all have to adjust our energy use for a long time to come.

In the long run, what the military invests in today for renewable energy will be in our homes in five to ten years at the latest. Be it solar, wind, or even pulling energy out of the air in a Tesla type experiment, the end result is the expenses in research and developed applications of our military today will be in our homes in the not so distant future. I would not be surprised to see solar energy conversion go from 30% to 80% in less than five years. Battery technology breaking new barriers and charges that last for days or weeks. Electric powered cars that can run for a week on just one charge. The possibilities are extreme and it will take the power of the U.S. military budget dollars to make the change in our energy sources and usage possible. They alone have the purchasing power to move renewable energy beyond what it is today as a science.

Papamoka

*****Reuters has picked up this post!!! Thank you!

Finally a Realistic Energy Policy

It only took 32 years for the Congress and the White House to finally realize that the sacrifice American’s need to make is in our energy consumption. All of the SUV’s that are gulping down the Go-go juice will have to change and that is just the beginning of the end of the oil monopoly in the world. President Bush has stated that he will sign the bill into law and frankly I thought he would have vetoed it based on some ridiculous facts. I am frankly and apologetically stating that I was wrong about President Bush and this issue. Stuff that up your back side Haszinski! That is another story from another post.

Through all the arguments in the House and in the Senate over the last few weeks we now have a compromise and an energy policy that just might reverse the madness that is our energy usage. Over at the New York Times they have this coverage on the only real energy policy change in 32 years in America…

House Passes Sweeping Energy Bill

By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: December 18, 2007

WASHINGTON — Legislation that will slowly but fundamentally change the cars Americans drive, the fuel they burn, the way they light their homes and the price they pay for food cleared the House on Tuesday by a large margin. President Bush said he would sign the hard-fought energy bill on Wednesday.

The bill, which passed on a bipartisan vote of 314 to 100, sets higher fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks by law for the first time in 32 years and requires the production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, a nearly fivefold increase from current ethanol production levels.

The measure, known as the Energy Independence and Security Act, also establishes new efficiency requirements for household appliances and government buildings and aims to phase out the incandescent light bulb within 10 years.

Its passage marks one of the largest single steps on energy that the nation has taken since the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970’s. But its full costs will not be known for years.
Critics contend it will make cars and trucks less safe and more expensive, divert farmland to costly production of feedstock for ethanol and other synthetic fuels, and raise the price of food because of competition for corn and grain between fuel refiners and livestock growers. - New York Times

With the strangle hold of the Middle East on our energy consumption needs we need this policy as a starting point. No matter what items were dropped from this piece of legislation it gets us started down the road to freedom and energy independence. Arguments from both sides of the aisle have finished for now and the debate on tweaking it will be up to the next President’s of this nation and for that matter the next generations coming up. What has been started with this legislation we can only hope that it will begin the process of new energy sources from all thoughts possible by the human mind.

There are so many payoffs to our nation with these changes in the future that leads me to a sense of comfort for the first time in my adult life. This is the first time in three plus decades that our nation and our Government has literally chucked the bird at the corporations here at home and around the world when it comes to our energy needs. Our children or future grandchildren will never be obligated or owned by a foreign nation that can dangle our way of life over their heads ever again. Energy sources made in the good old United States of America and not imported can never be a bad thing.

Somewhere at OPEC headquarters it could possibly be heard “Doo-ohhh!” when President Bush signs this into law. That would be similar to Homer Simpson with an Arabic accent but you get the general idea. At $2.00 production cost for Saudi Arabia and the market price flirting at $100 per barrel every couple of weeks the writing is on the wall for this over priced energy source.

The ramifications of American interest and involvement in the Middle East region with its never ending turmoil because of this policy will drop as our nation slowly backs away from their strangle hold on the oil supply. Energy independence will only work if we keep locking horns over it and debating this critical issue for all Americans. This should not have taken 32 years. I think we can do better than that now. Realistically, we do not have a choice other than to do better.

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring IT ON! and Michael Linn Jones

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…

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NASCAR of Solar Power Racing

Picture courtesy of Panasonic World Solar Challenge - Team University of Michigan

Pushing the envelope of solar power teams from around the world will begin competition in the Australian outback today. This isn’t your fathers Buick or Chevy competition but this is the amazing possibilities for solar power advancement in our global community.

If you were thinking that these solar powered cars are puttering around twenty to thirty miles per hour then you need to think again. The winner of the 2005 race, Team Holland’s NUNA III, had an average speed over the 1,863 mile course of 64 MPH. That’s the AVERAGE speed not top speed!

By Dave Mosher
Updated: 8:40 p.m. ET Oct 19, 2007

Tech-savvy teams from across the globe are throttling their sun-fueled engines for the toughest Panasonic World Solar Challenge yet.

The event marks the 20th anniversary of the biannual solar-powered race, and a record number of teams will hurry through 1,863 miles (3,000 kilometers) of the Australian outback this year, organizers said.

The course from Darwin to Adelaide will be the same as in three previous races, but 23 teams this year will compete in a new "Challenge" category. These cars will have 25 percent less solar panel area than the previous 86 square feet (8 square meters) standard. - MSNBC


Granted you won’t see these cars hitting 200 MPH like you would in the average NASCAR race but you will see the possible future of automobile’s. Before you start to think that this is a bunch of corporations tossing millions into one vehicle that could never be built by the average citizen, I’d like to point out to you car number 05 from Leeming Senior High School.

You can see the latest and greatest of the race by visiting Panasonic world solar Challenge.

Or you can follow the University of Michigan Solar Team by clicking on this link.

Participating teams: University of Michigan, Nuon Solar Team, Helios, Leeming Senior High School, Solar Fox, Umicore Solar Team, Heliox Solar Team, FH Bochum Solar Car Team, Apollo, Kormilda College, Adventure, Willeton, Stanford, Houston Solar Car Race Team, HelioDet, Solar Team Twente, University of Waterloo, Aurora Vehicle Association, Solar Fern, Gwawr, Phoenix Solar Car Team , UNSW Solar Racing Team, Esteban, TAFE SA, University of Calgary, Blue Sky Solar Racing, Sunspeed, Ashiya University, Japan Team Sinag, Uni Technology Malaysia, Swisspirit, Techno Energie, University of Malaya , Sunstang, Salesian Polytechnic, Hachinohe Institute of Tech, Aviva Southern Aurora, Queens University, Aurora Vehicle Association , USB Solar, Oregon State University, Uchile-Conecta

Papamoka

Solar Power Education and Marketing

If America and the world for that matter is ever going to be independent of the turmoil that is the Middle East then we all need to belly up to the bar of knowledge on new sources for our energy needs. One such source is Solar Power, a resource for electrical power that has made enormous technical advances over the past ten years alone.

For many home owners there is a fear of dealing with anything electrical once you get past the point of plugging in the blow dryer or hitting the start button on your microwave oven. As long as you pay the electric bill every month and the lights go on when you turn a switch then that is all you want to know.

The world as we know it is getting smaller and the resources to keep those lights on need to change over the long term. If not for political hot points in the world such as Iraq and Iran over oil availability then for green house gas and global warming reasons.

Energy consumption and the education we need to change our perspective on one source of energy are covered in this interesting piece over at the New York Times…

Today’s Topic Is Solar Energy Systems

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH
Published: April 19, 2007

QUICK, true or false: Solar energy systems work only on hot, cloudless days. Rooftop systems come in one configuration — big and ugly. And if you generate more energy than you use, there is no way you can sell it elsewhere.

For the record, the answer to all of those is: false. But last summer the Sharp Electronics Corporation, one of the biggest makers of rooftop solar panels, asked about 1,000 people those questions and was astounded at how many answered wrong.

So Sharp, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sharp Corporation of Japan and RiechesBaird, the ad agency it hired in July, tabled their original plan to push the virtues of Sharp systems among installers, builders and distributors. Instead, they embarked on a six-month campaign to teach homeowners in California — the state with the most generous government incentives for solar energy — how it works.

Their hope is that — to borrow a phrase from Sy Syms, the discount clothing entrepreneur — an educated consumer will eventually be their best customers. – The New York Times

Papamoka

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