admin on February 9th, 2010

Green vs. Green
The setting for this epic confrontation, the Mojave Desert. At one end of the spectrum is the large scale, solar power plant developers. The other end is comprised of the environmentalists wanting to prevent any “overdevelopment” of the desert. Another way of putting it is renewable energy developers(most are climate change advocates) are squaring off with the traditional environmentalists(protectors of the eco-system, wildlife, habitat preservation and pollution control). One group views the desert as a virtually untapped resource while the other group view the desert as untouchable.

President George W. Bush opened up the desert southwest for renewable energy development in 2005. A (solar) land rush started and developers put forward around 2 dozen proposals for solar power plants. Diane Feinstein, a Democrat Senator for California, indicated she favored making a large portion of the Mojave Desert “off limits” for solar farming. Senator Feinstein’s proposed legislation both limits and designates where the solar energy projects can be located. Her proposed legislation scared off several developers and made most remaining developers very cautious.

August 2005, a company called BrightSource Energy, backed by Google, Morgan Stanley and a few oil companies, filed an application to build a 400MW solar power plant, to be located in Ivanpah Valley, which is incidentally outside of Feinstein’s proposed restricted area. After a 2 and 1/2 year study that ended late 2009, it was found that the solar project “would have a major impact to the biological resources of Ivanpah Valley, substantially affecting many sensitive plant and wildlife species and eliminating a broad expanse of relatively undisturbed Mojave Desert habitat”. I obtained the majority of this information from an article by Todd Woody, a veteran environmental and technology journalist based in California.

Do you think it’s a good idea to develop the Mojave Desert for solar power? How much development would you consider appropriate? Let me know your thoughts on this by leaving a question, comment or suggestion by clicking on the “comment” link immediately following this post. Let me know if you have any subjects about alternative energy that you would be interested presenting on this blog. Till next week, May God Watch Over You and Keep You Safe. Tim

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Smart Grid vs. Distributed Generation

The “smart grid” would be a system designed to work with and expand our current grid system. Much of the current grid in the United States would be replaced, updated and overhauled. The “smart grid” would take both alternative energy production and the conventional fossil fuel electricity producing plants as suppliers. It would enable communication between the suppliers and users equipment, allowing the supplier to determine whether to distribute or not based on what they determine the needs of the user to be.

Distributed generation, on the other hand, has the “user” producing and supplying their own electricity on the site where it is used. There are several alternative means(solar, wind, geothermal, biofuel, tidal generators, etc.) or combination of means that may be used. It would not only cut down on the cost of transmission lines, power stations and many other associated expenses, it would take a considerable strain off of the already overworked electrical grid.

As I stated previously, the current electical grid is in much need of updating and overhauling. The current electrical grid is very well established(entrenched) within our society. The costs plus some are borne by us (users). If just a portion of this money would go into rebates, incentives, tax breaks to implement and use alternatives, it seems to me, it would be easy to justify the initial costs of using a distrubuted generation system.

Of course, “grid” supplied electricity would always be available. Some would use it as their “main source” while others could use it as a backup. Do you personally favor “smart grid” or “distributed generation” and why? Let me know your opinions, questions or suggestions on this by clicking the “comments” link immediately following this post. Stop in any time to see any of the comments. Till next week, May God Bless You. Tim

admin on January 26th, 2010

Politics? Alternative Energy? Do They Coincide?

Will the election of Scott Brown of Massachusets have any effect on the outcome of our move to alternative energy? Whether we like it or not, President Obama’s alternative energy agenda does affect our national interests and attitudes conscerning alternative energy advancement and fossil fuel production and use. Renewable/alternative energy is, without dispute, more environmentally friendly than fossil fuel but the fossil fuel advocates are very deeply entrenched and invested in maintaining the status quo. It is up to us to monitor their words and actions and decide if it’s in our best interests.

Most of our “common sense” tells us that we don’t want to deter the progress we’ve made, as far as r&d, implementation, use and the many financial(tax, incentives, etc.) advances. Renewables definitely help to provide a cleaner source of energy. We don’t want to return to more of the same… that brought us to this point. Fossil fuels are a limited resource with some undesirable results, along with their intended use, in obtaining and using them.

In looking at Scott Brown’s track record we find that he both supported and opposed the furtherance of renewables/sustainables. He supported the Massachusets Ocean Management Plan while opposing the Cape Wind Project. He stated that his decisions were based (mainly) on location. He supported the 2008 Green Communities Act but opposed “cap and trade”. He is a big supporter of nuclear energy, with no emmissions.

Where does this indicate his future decisions could lead? Let me know what you think by leaving me a comment. Just click on the “comment” link immediately following this post. Tune in next week for another interesting, controversial discussion on alternative energy. Till then, May God Bless You. Tim

Horizontal Oil Well Drilling in the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin

I recieved a couple of e-mails last week about the worlds largest oil reserve field being found and explored bordering between Wyoming and North Dakota. If the technology we have make it feasable, financially competitive with imported oil and environmentally acceptable, then why should we still import our oil? It appears at this point, “horizontal drilling”, as opposed to “vertical drilling”, would best fill our needs.

Horizontal Well vs. Vertical Well

According to the EIA of the Department of Energy, oil in rock that is considered low permeability and low porosity can best be accessed by horizontal drilling. Basically, when vertical drilling reaches a prescribed depth, high pressure water and sand are shot downhole, creating artificial permeability in tightly structured rock. Traditional oil fields produce oil from rock that is usually permeable and porous, from which the oil flows relatively freely. To access more info go to usgs.gov While researching some of the info on this site, I came accross another site with a good write-up on the Bakken Formation Oilfield. The address to access this site is http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com/bakken-oil.html My question this week “Is this find all it’s hyped to be?” I would appreciate your input. Leave me a question, comment or suggestion by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post. Till next week, May God Bless You. Tim

admin on January 12th, 2010

How Much Do Government Subsidies for Fossil Fuel Tilt the Playing Field?

A report from the Solar Energy Industries Association(SEIA) found that power from the sun could provide 15% of the U.S.’s power needs, in the next decade if subsidies were issued equally, based on production. Go to http://www.solarplaza.com for further reading on this.

A total of $72 billion in Federal subsidies has been issued during the past 6 years, from 2002 through 2008. $2.3 billion went to carbon capture and sequestration and r&d. During the same time period, the solar industry only received about $1 billion. Fossil fuel was the beneficiary of the remainder. Further information can be viewed at http://treehugger.com

Again we’re faced with several possible scenario’s as the outcome of government subsidies being equally distributed. What are some of your thoughts or opinions of subsidy redistribution? Let me know by clicking the “comments” link immediately following this post. We’ll explore another issue about technological breakthroughs and whether they’re sufficient to access our fields, like the Williston Basin, next week.

Till then, may God Bless You and Watch Over You. Tim

admin on January 5th, 2010

What Are They Not Telling Us?

With the majority of the U.S. experiencing “down right” cold temperatures, I’ve decided to take a short hiatus from my “Traveling… interviews. They’re soon to be started again in April, 2010. In the meantime, I would like to discuss some fairly controversial topics.
This weeks topic was brought to my attention by an e-mail from my mother. The e-mail was about “technically recoverable” oil in the Bakken Formation of the U.S. Williston Basin in Wyoming and North Dakota. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s sole science agency, the U.S. Geological Service, the Williston Basin oil discovery is the considered the largest area in the U.S. for “technically recoverable” oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates there are over 503 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation. The Stansberry Report Online states that 1000′ below the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. Estimates are upwards of 2 trillion barrels contained underground. If this is true, then we have a tremendous source of domestic oil (fossil fuel) that could free our country from foreign oil dependance. Where my question comes in, the head of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Secretary Salazar, was a keynote speaker at the UN Conference on Climate Change. The title of his speech was “New Energy Future: The Role of Public Lands in Clean Energy Production and Carbon Capture”. If the U.S. Geologic Service advocates the Bakken Formation as a vast oil reserve for the U.S. and they are the sole scientific agency for the Department of the Interior (DOI), then does Secretary Salizar put his “stamp of approval” on the USGS Williston Basin findings and production of (fossil fuel) oil?
I’m a bit confused, could someone please enlighten me? Leave me a comment, question or suggestion at the “comment” link immediately following this post. The following link is what I viewed info.http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

I look forward to hearing your opinions on this. Next week will be another “controversy”. May God Bless You Tim

admin on December 29th, 2009

Costs vs. Benefits Climate and Energy Policy(as it relates to Agriculture and Forestry)
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This information is about a seminar I attended about the “25X’25 Carbon Work Group”. 25x’25 Carbon Work Group is a national alliance of agriculture, forestry, environmental, conservation and other businesses working together to advance the goals of securing 25% of our nation’s energy needs from renewable resources by the year 2025.

25X'25 seminar

I was late and missed the first two speakers that began with “The Mechanics of Climate and Energy Policy”. They were Read Smith – 25X’25 Steering Committee and Christopher Galik – Nicholas Institute/Duke University. Both speakers had said we were on the path to a low carbon energy future and the best thing we can do is to arm ourselves with facts. The next section of the seminar, at which I was present, was entitled “Renewable Energy Opportunities and Mechanisms to Manage GHG(Green House Gas) Emmissions.

left to right Karen McSpadden, Matthew Pelkki, Jim Wimberly and Terry McCullars

The first to speak in this section of the seminar was Terry McCullers on biofuels. He essentially said that soy beans had become the crop of choice, for many reasons, including favorable economics, ease to grow and rotate and soy bean oil was “very usable” in bio-diesel. He stated that the biofuel industry would be greatly boosted by implementing a $1 per gallon subsidy.(understandably).

question/answer session

The next speaker was Jim Wimberly on biomass energy crops. The first and overiding question that Jim proposed was “What amount of energy crops are used to produce liquid fuels?” He stated that it takes 850,000 acres of cotton to produce 1.28 tons of biomass. Another factor influencing the economic consideration of biomass is the “haul” factor. That is how much fossil fuel is used just to transport to a processing facility. Other factors to be considered included were tons/acre/year, BTU/KWhours, BTU/acres/year and more. The next speaker in line was Matthew Pelkki, who’s expertise was in forestry management. He spoke on the”why?, what?, when?, where? and how much of an effect can we control with forestry management. The final speaker in this section was Karen McSpadden, with Winrock International talking about “offsets”. Under a “cap and trade” system, she discussed how to create a trade “offset”. 1)Identify the carbon reducing opportunity; 2)Form “aggregator”(co-op group) of small entities, to give the small carbon users a viable voice; 3)Establish a standard, such as 1 metric ton of CO2 equivalent or existing standard and 4)Submit the project description. Current market prices reflect between $5-$20 per metric ton.

Respondent Panel Discussion

There were other noteworthy speakers featured and in attendance of the seminar. I’ll make reference to them in future posts. I gained some more knowlege of another aspect of renewable energy but as far as I’m concerned, the “jury is still out” on whether global warming is man-made or in earth’s natural cycles. My common sense leads me to believe that global warming is a combination of both. You can’t spew millions of tons of GHG’s into our atmosphere day after day, year after year and decade after decade without there being some consequence, however the earth’s natural cycles of warming and cooling have been happening for eons, without the interference of mankind. I don’t beleive that any one person, government or even the whole global society have that answer but I believe we can each do our part to help, not harm our environment. My wish for the new year, 2010, is that we can work together to find some answers and solutions for these many questions. You can view more on the 25X’25 initiative at their website – http://www.25X25.org and hopefully gain a more complete and better understanding of their perspective. Wishing you a Happy New Year and God Bless You Tim Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

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admin on December 22nd, 2009

Inner City Sustainability(A Place of Beauty)

My visit to Dunbar Garden, an inner city neighborhood sustainability project in the heart of Little Rock, AR, was educational, informative and well worthwhile. I kept hearing of a functional wind turbine set in an educational environment and when I found out where, I just had to visit. This is a place where the product of teaching sustainability and working in concert with our environment is placed in the hands of 5-12 year old children, teens and adults, giving them all a wise direction to go. John, the director/teacher of this facility, said that this young inquisitive generation give a lot of themselves with ideas that would surprise you. John then took me on a tour of some of the projects he and the students developed at the garden site and the 2.4KW wind turbine.

Dunbar 2.4KW Wind Turbine

The compost making area had a distinct odor and was warm to the touch. That’s the way of good compost. A rainwater collection system was set up utilizing one of the roofs and some 55 gallon plastic barrels. There was an herb garden, vegetable garden, flower garden, earthworm habitat, poultry yard full of chickens, bee keepers box and of course, the windturbine. They eat what they grow, any in excess is sold. Plants were seeded and raised to their first two permanent leaves in the greenhouse and then planted in the outside furrows by some of the students. The greenhouse has its electricity provided by the wind turbine. The wind turbine is grid tied but usually feeds electricity back into the grid as witnessed by its meter. It is mounted on a 50′ pole and has a 12′ blade diameter. The students really like the wind turbine and learn a lot about electrical generation from the wind.

Honey Bee Home

The site reminded me of the Heifer Ranch I had visited just weeks earlier. When I told John this, he said that Heifer was one of their biggest benefactors, that Heifer gave several sustainable agri-projects to Dunbar Garden. Most of the children that live in the neighborhood surrounding Dunbar Garden have never been exposed to gardening/farming. This site instills environmentally friendly concepts and practices, such as the wind turbine supplying electricity, growing vegetables to eat or sell or just using what is available(compost) to fertilize their plants. The setting of this program shows what can be accomplished toward sustainability, even in the middle of a city.

DB 2.4KW wind turbine

Being environmentally friendly can be accomplished where ever man “wants” to. The keyword “wants” is critical to our success stories yet to come. Our future generations will come from a multitude of backgrounds. There will be doers, thinkers, dreamers, achievers, beleivers and sustainable energy users/advocates among them. Now is the time for learning. You can view Dunbar Garden website at www.DunbarGarden.org. and learn more about them. Next week, I’ll post a short article on a seminar I attended last week on bio-mass and bio-fuel as it relates to agriculture. Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy God’s blessing. Tim Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

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admin on December 15th, 2009

A Visit to Pasadena, CA With Diane Tegarden

Diane and I met online several weeks before we tried a Skype video session, which was a “first” for both of us. This was the next best thing for a “Traveling” interview. I enjoyed seeing the person I was talking to “first hand” and getting to know her a little more. Diane is an accomplished book author with her own publishing company, “FireWalkerPublications”. I’ll tell how she came by her company name in a bit but first I want to tell you about Diane’s involvement with alternative energy.

generic installation in CA

generic installation in CA


Diane and her husband, Wade Webb, started a solar energy business in 1995. Their business was born as the result of an earthquake, with it’s epicenter located in Northridge, CA, about 30 miles from Pasadena. The earthquake was the cause of many residents losing electrical power. Using solar energy produced on site could have solved many problems associated with electrical energy. At the time of the earthquake Diane and Wade owned an alarm company and several of the alarm owners were without power. Solar power would definitely fill the needs of many in an environmentally friendly way. They operated their solar business through 2004. Diane told me about solar panels they have on their own roof(I’m waiting for her to take and send me some pics. It was raining the day I asked for them and Diane wanted to wait till the sun was out.) She told me her utility bill for the past two months was only $80, that they have and use a tankless hot water heater, she also hosts her own alternative/renewable energy radio/podcast talk show. It’s on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tuesday of each month. Go to her website at :http://www.firewalkerpublications.com to find out how to listen, a list of guest interviews, the number to call and times and info about her writing publications.
I asked her how she came up with the name “FireWalkerPublications” and she described what event prompted her. Diane and Wade attended an event with Tony Robbins. Immediately following an intense mental preparation, they walked across a bed of glowing hot coals, thus the name “Fire Walker”. Diane told me the “firewalk” gave her a confidence that will be with her all her life. She has an amazing energy and we conversed on “ocean energy recovery”, “wave energy conversion”, “OWC(oscillating water collumn), “desalination” and a variety of other sustainable energy topics. Diane is much more than an author, publisher, talk show host, environmental activist, poet, internet network leader on Ryze and a wife to Wade, she is a dreamer with her feet planted(moving forward) firmly on the ground. I will look forward to listening and contributing(hopefully) to Diane’s radio podcast, that has an alternative energy theme, my passion. I am just beginning to read her book “Anti Vigilante and the Rip In Time”, about a preventable version of the future(using alternative energy sources).
CA Public Utilities Commission - generic picture

CA Public Utilities Commission - generic picture

We all need to be consciously aware of the choices that we have and choose wisely, especially concerning our effect on our environment and how it could affect our future generations. With this thought in mind, I’ll wish you God’s blessing. See you next week when I’ll be visiting a functional, training wind turbine. Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post. Tim

admin on December 8th, 2009

The Geo-thermal Springs of Hot Springs, AR

I have visited Hot Springs, AR on previous travels but not specifically to view the geo-thermal springs. According to Wickepedia, geo-thermal means power from heat stored in the earth. There are 47 protected springs located along the lower slopes of Hot Springs mountain within about a 400 yard area. The water averages 143 degrees F at its source with an average flow rate of 700,000 gallons per day.

Geo-thermal spring

Geo-thermal spring

Due to an amazing plumbing feat the “hot” water is used as a source of heating for the bathhouses during the winter months as well as being cooled to approximately 100 degrees F and used for thermal mineral baths. Though I didn’t indulge in a bath this trip, I did dip my hand into one of the “not so cool” pools, it was “HOT”. I didn’t bring my thermometer and I’m pretty sure it was slightly cooler than 143 degrees but it was definitely a lot hotter than my hot tub. It’s amazing to see this thermal water flowing from the earth. The ambient temperature was in the lower 40’s the day I visited and you could see steam rising in several locations where the water was exposed to the surface. A nickname Hot Springs was christened with is “Valley of Vapors” because of this steam. For many thousands of years, geo-thermal water flowed freely down the lower slopes of, what is now called, Hot Springs mountain. As this water cooled and evaporated, it left behind calcium and silica salts, forming terraces of rock called “Tufa”.
Tufa rock

Tufa rock

Today the streams of geo-thermal water are “channelled” through an intricate plumbing system to several structures to provide heating or bathing water. Hot Springs, AR is not in a volcanic region, the water is heated by another method. Outcroppings of chert and Arkansas novaculite absorb rainfall. The water enters the earth through small fissures or openings. As the water “percolates” down deep into the earth, increasingly warmer rock heats the water around 4 degrees F for every 300 feet. This is the average geo-thermal gradient worldwide. The heating is caused by gravitational compression and the decomposition of radioactive material. The heated water then comes out in streams on the lower slope of the mountain. The radioactive level is not enough to make the water “unhealthy” or harmful. There are several other locations throughout the world that use geo-thermal waters for electrical generation but not here, the waters here are potable(you can safely drink them) and are considered by many to be therapeutic and healing.
Fordyce Bath House circa1915

Fordyce Bath House circa1915

The streams are protected by the Federal Government and are in an area called “Hot Springs National Park”. I’m going to take my wife with me next visit and enjoy a “thermal bath”. Next week, I have a really special guest. Diane Tegarden from Pasadena, CA, an author of print, alternative energy user/expert, new radio talk show host, social network leader/moderator and, with her husband, past owner and operator of an alternative energy company in California. Diane’s debut radio program is December 8 at 10 a.m. PST, 12 noon CST. Listen in and contribute to her interview of Shel Horowitz as they discuss the “ins and outs of green marketing”, by calling 646 721-9960. For more information on her radio show and some of her other endeavors go to her website at – www.firewalkerpublications.com. Till then, May God Bless You. Tim
Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this article.

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