RECENT POSTSA series of companies were issued permits by the British government Friday to develop offshore wind farms that will generate enough power to supply every home in the U.K.
RWE, Statoil and Centrica were among companies granted licenses to participate in Britain's $120 billion energy program. Scottish & Southern Energy, Iberdrola's Scottish Power and Vattenfall will also proceed with development.
The new farms will generate 25GW of energy, enough to power 19 million homes. This is in addition to the 8GW the U.K., the world's largest generator of wind power, already produces.
A number of potential projects in U.K. waters could bring Britain's total offshore wind capacity to more than 40GW.
Nine areas fit the licensing criteria based on water depth, wind levels and location.
The zones include sites in the Irish Sea, English Channel and various locations in Scotland. Construction could begin by 2013.
The expansion of offshore wind energy is part of a $160 billion strategy to boost renewable power and cut greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change.
According to the British government, offshore wind has the potential to meet more than a quarter of the country's electricity needs, provide the U.K. with up to 70,000 new jobs and generate $12 billion a year in revenue.
But it requires a major increase in manufacturing capacity, including greater production of turbines, offshore electrical systems and installation vessels.
There are fears the manufacturing base will be outsourced abroad to meet the increased demand more cheaply.
Ahead of the announcement, Greenpeace's executive director John Sauven urged the government to make sure the jobs created were filled by British workers.
"Train and equip Britain's workforce to ensure that the thousands of jobs that will be created are filled by British workers, and provide the economic certainty investors need to complete these projects on time and on budget," he said.
Steve Remp, chairman of SeaEnergy, one of the companies seeking to develop offshore wind farms, said thousands of turbines the size of the landmark London Eye could soon be supplying as much as 30 percent of Britain's electricity needs.
"It is realistic," he said.
"We are talking about building 9,000 turbines. It is a colossal undertaking. It is another North Sea oil industry in the making."
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/08/wind-farms-power-uk/?test=latestnews
JEFFERSON CITY - Every winter, the Missouri Department of Transportation uses considerable amounts of labor, salt and other chemicals to remove snow and ice from the state's roads and bridges. Now MoDOT will become one of the first agencies in the nation to turn to solar energy in an effort to prevent the buildup of snow and ice on bridge decks.
December 7, 2009 News Release:
MoDOT has entered into a contract with Pave Guard Technologies, Inc., of Lee's Summit to install a "solar warming system" on two bridges on either side of Excelsior Springs in Clay and Ray counties. Both are on Route 10 - one to the east of Excelsior Springs over Route 69 and one to the west over the Fishing River. The two bridges are scheduled for deck replacements in 2010 as part of MoDOT's "Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Program" that is repairing or replacing 802 of the state's worst bridges by the end of 2013.
The warming system developed by Pave Guard's Corey McDonald operates much like radiant heating works in a home's floor. Tubing is installed in the bridge deck, through which a heated solution is pumped to keep the deck from freezing. The energy to heat the solution is provided by solar panels mounted near the bridge site. Excess energy produced by the panels when the heating system is not in use can be sold back to local utilities.
"Water and the chemicals used to melt ice and snow are a bridge's biggest enemies," State Bridge Engineer Dennis Heckman said. "If we can find a cost effective way to keep a bridge clear without using chemicals we can extend its life."
The bridges will be put out for bids in February, with construction scheduled between April-August 2010. The Pave Guard systems are to be operable by November 2010. MoDOT will evaluate the performance of the systems before making a decision on whether to install more of them on other bridges.
Source: http://www.modot.org/newsandinfo/District0News.shtml?action=displaySSI&newsId=43840
Gov. Nixon helps dedicate renewable energy project using landfill gas, waste heat to help meet energy demands of Columbia utility, two state correctional facilities
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon today cut the ribbon on a new renewable energy and waste heat utilization project that will help utility customers in Columbia and reduce energy costs at two state correctional facilities in Jefferson City. Gas naturally produced from the Jefferson City landfill will be captured and piped to a generation facility where it will used to create energy that is purchased by Columbia Water and Light; waste heat generated by the engines at the facility, in turn, will be used to supply steam and hot water for two nearby state correctional facilities.
"This project creates a clean, reliable and consistent source of energy from a naturally occurring byproduct of landfills," Gov. Nixon said. "I commend this innovative partnership for the benefits it will bring our economy, environment and communities."
By using the waste heat generated at the facility for steam and hot water at the nearby Jefferson City Correctional Center and the Algoa Correctional Center, the project will save Missouri taxpayers an estimated $400,000 to $500,000 in energy costs each year, and an additional $670,000 in annual operational costs by closing the boiler plant at Algoa.
The Governor was joined at the dedication ceremony by Missouri Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi, Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman, and by officials from Columbia Water and Light; Ameresco, the owner and operator of the project; Republic Services, the company that owns the landfill; and Northeast Energy Services, the company supplying the technology for the project.
Source: Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's News Release
Gov. Nixon signs legislation encouraging energy efficiency to save utility customers money
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gov. Jay Nixon today signed into law Senate Bill 376, which will encourage energy efficiency, create jobs, and help grow the new energy economy. Known as the Energy Efficient Investment Act, the bill is aimed at meeting increased demand for electric power while protecting the environment and holding costs down for consumers.
Senate Bill 376 sets a goal for Missouri's investor-owned electric utilities to achieve all cost-effective savings possible from energy efficiency programs. It provides the Public Service Commission with the ability to encourage cost-effective energy efficiency by making utility investments in energy efficiency programs for their customers at least as profitable as building new power plants or making capital investments. Energy efficiency programs, which require Commission approval, must be cost-effective or in the public interest, result in energy savings and be beneficial to customers in the customer class in which it is proposed. The bill allows the Commission to develop cost recovery mechanisms for approved programs.
"Energy efficiency saves customers money, creates jobs and is good for our economy," Gov. Nixon said. "Missourians spend approximately $20 billion each year on all of our energy needs and import nearly 95 percent of the primary energy sources we use. By becoming more energy efficient and reducing our expenditures on energy, we keep more of these energy dollars in Missouri's economy and in Missourians' pockets."
Gov. Nixon signed the legislation during a public ceremony following tours of two major energy efficiency projects at customers of KCP&L, an investor-owned electric utility headquartered in Kansas City. As a result of this legislation, KCP&L will have the opportunity to integrate additional energy-efficiency programs into its operations and save consumers millions of dollars each year. Gov. Nixon toured Altec Industries Inc. in St. Joseph, which is working with KCP&L to replace old 400W high-pressure sodium light fixtures with more efficient T5HO fixtures. Once all these replacements are completed, the companies estimate a savings of more than 800,000 kwH of electricity.
"Missouri currently stands at the crossroads of how to best meet our energy needs," said state Sen. Brad Lager of Maryville, the sponsor of Senate Bill 376. "In order to help keep energy costs from continuing to rise dramatically, it is critical that we must become more efficient and effective with our current consumption.
With the passage of this bill and the adoption of energy efficient practices, Missourians can dramatically reduce their energy consumption and benefit immediately from the savings. Now, energy companies can partner with their customers to better utilize the energy they currently consume.
"Energy Efficiency programs are the cleanest, easiest and quickest ways to protect our precious resources and energy efficiency programs are a vital component of any successful comprehensive energy policy," Sen. Lager said. "Senate Bill 376 finally adds this tool to the toolbox."
Gov. Nixon also toured the new Chilled Water Plant at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2007, UMKC began working with Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City-based engineering and design firm, to develop and build energy-saving features for existing and future buildings, such as efficient lighting, better exhaust and lab controls, plumbing that conserves water, and night set-backs for heating and cooling systems. By participating in a rebate program with KCP&L, and because of reductions in energy consumption, these upgrades are paying for themselves; the projects also have resulted in the elimination of more than 11,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
"On behalf of the more than 100 members of the statewide coalition that sponsored and supported Senate Bill 376, I would like to thank Governor Nixon for his leadership in signing this important piece of legislation into law," said Bill Downey, President of KCP&L. "With this legislation, KCP&L has more tools to meet the challenge of managing our region's increasing demand for electricity, keeping costs for that power among the lowest in the nation and protecting our environment now and for future generations."
As demand for electricity has continued to increase in recent years, investor-owned utilities traditionally have had two options for meeting those needs: increasing efficiency to reduce demand, or building new power plants to increase supply. Prior to Senate Bill 376, the costs associated with building new plants could be recovered while costs related to efficiency could not, making increases in efficiency a difficult business option. But with Senate Bill 376 in effect, utilities will now be able to include the costs of qualifying efficiency programs in the package of costs which they may recover, treating energy efficiency as a generation source. Because the cost to implement energy efficiency programs is much less expensive than the capital costs related to building new plants, utility customers will save money.
"This legislation will allow us to expand our energy efficiency efforts and invest more money locally in our customers," said Michael Chesser, Chairman and CEO of KCP&L. "By investing money in our region with companies and institutions that are our partners in efficiency programs, we are investing in Missouri, creating jobs and helping Missouri companies become more competitive. It is a winning combination for our region, for our customers and for our company."
Beyond the efficiency incentives for consumers and producers of energy that are provided in Senate Bill 376, the legislation also has positive environmental impacts. The legislation's focus on efficiency and conservation led to its support by many individuals and organizations seeking to make Missouri's energy infrastructure more "green."
"Encouraging investment in energy efficiency is one of those rare public policy initiatives where everyone wins," said Rebecca Stanfield, senior energy advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Consumers win with less expensive energy, utilities are able to invest in a solid business proposition, and communities win as we move towards a cleaner environment and more sustainable economy. We applaud Governor Nixon for signing this legislation into law."
In addition to support from utilities, environmental groups and consumer advocates, Senate Bill 376 also received bipartisan support in the legislature. The Energy Efficiency Investment Act will take effect on August 28, 2009.
Source: http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2009/Energy_Efficient_Investment_Act
Navy Visual News Service
Photo by Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens
Date: 04.08.2009
Location: GUANTANAMO BAY, CU
SOURCE DVIDS
Recognizes 2008 State Recycling Award Winners
JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt congratulated the Missouri Department of Revenue and state employee Melanie Carden-Jessen who were awarded the 2008 State Recycling Award for their outstanding contributions in the areas of recycling collection, waste reduction, and recycled content procurement.
“I believe strongly that we have a moral responsibility to care for the resources with which our state has been blessed and have worked diligently to ensure the State of Missouri is a careful steward of our environment,” Gov. Blunt said. “I congratulate Melanie Carden-Jessen and the dedicated officials in my administration for their commitment to recycling and limiting the state’s impact on our natural treasures.”
Agency Award
Gov. Blunt recognizes the Missouri Department of Revenue with the Missouri State Recycling Program’s 2008 agency award. Over the past five years the department has recycled more than 3.6 million pounds of paper while ensuring that confidential information is transported and destroyed under strict security. The department’s efforts assured an average of 734,000 lbs. (367 tons) or 18 truckloads each year are recycled instead of thrown away.
The department contracts with a company that ultimately uses recycled paper to manufacture bathroom tissues and paper towels. In this innovative agreement, the company pays the department for the hundreds of thousands of pounds of paper, generating about $10,000 annually for the State Recycling Fund. Recognizing the Department of Revenue’s innovative approach to document destruction services, the Secretary of State’s Records Management Program modeled a contract after the successful program.
The department program safeguards confidential information through several checks and balances. Their staff loads the pallets of confidential records onto a semi trailer and attach a cable sealed lock to the trailer. Security personnel at the paper mill inspect the trailer to make sure the seal is intact upon arrival and that the seal number matches that which is noted on the shipper’s original Bill of Lading. The paper mill keeps the confidential records in a locked and secured location at all times prior to pulping and must pulp all confidential records within 24 hours of receipt of the records. The paper mill then issues a Certificate of Destruction. The pulping process involves rewetting the paper product with a mixture of bleach followed by separation and removal of inks, adhesives, and other contaminants.
Employee Award
Gov. Blunt recognizes Melanie Carden-Jessen with the Missouri State Recycling Program’s 2008 award for her outstanding contributions in the areas of recycling collection, waste reduction, and recycled content procurement.
Ms. Carden-Jessen works for the Missouri Department of Conservation as the education center manager at Twin Pines Conservation Education Center. Recycling programs Ms. Carden-Jessen implemented impact just about every facet of the facility’s operation. Here are some highlights:
Her recycling efforts include using bathroom tissue rolls for bird feeders, plastic milk jugs for hand washing stations, cornstarch ‘packing peanuts’ for craft materials, yogurt containers for fishing worms at kids fishing clinics and old PVC pipe for bird houses and dough rollers, just to name a few.
Ms. Carden-Jessen has been vigilant about purchasing recycled products when ordering supplies. For instance, the snake cages use recycled newspaper pellets, pencils are made from recycled materials, even bright color paper and cardstock which have 30 percent recycled content are chosen from the list of supplies available.
Gov. Blunt has been instrumental in identifying and employing the use of alternative energy sources in Missouri. His proactive solutions to save energy and protect the environment are both reducing energy use and have the potential to save taxpayers nearly $16 million in energy costs. Initiatives include a range of projects from centralizing and monitoring statewide energy consumption to changing laundry operations at prisons.
Most recently, Gov. Blunt signed an executive order that will both protect the environment and promote Missouri tourism. The governor’s order calls for a new program that will recognize and certify hotel and lodging facilities in Missouri that work to protect the environment.
In August Gov. Blunt visited the South Central Correctional Center where new biomass boilers are supplying heat and hot water requirements. The boilers use a renewable fuel as the primary heat source, instead of propane. In addition to improving energy efficiency, the new biomass project will result in an estimated $450,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Late this summer, Gov. Blunt announced Missouri’s application was selected to take part in the Greening the State Capitols Initiative. The national initiative supported an energy audit to help build on the governor’s efforts to save taxpayer dollars and make state government more energy efficient and environmentally-friendly. The audit reviewed energy usage in three state buildings and made recommendations for energy improvements.
Gov. Blunt also called for and signed legislation enacting the “Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday” to encourage Missourians to consider environmentally responsible products and reward their choice by making them sales-tax free for one week every year. Missouri is only the fourth state to enact an environmentally-friendly sales tax holiday joining Connecticut, Florida and Virginia.
Last year the governor announced a partnership to create renewable energy and heat using byproducts from the Jefferson City Landfill. Methane gas from the landfill is converted to electricity, and the heat created by conversion facilities is used to heat water for the state prison. The project uses resources that would otherwise have been wasted while at the same time producing benefits for the environment, the state, the prison and local communities.
Last summer the governor signed the Green Power Initiative. The Initiative has been heralded as the most important environmental legislation passed by the state in more than a decade. It decreases pollution from energy production by encouraging an increase in the use of renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectricity, solar power, hydrogen and biomass. The legislation sets targets for utilities to meet: a four percent renewable energy target by 2012, eight percent by 2015 and 11 percent by 2020. The legislation also requires the Office of Administration to ensure that at least 70 percent of the new vehicles purchased for the state fleet are flex fuel and allows municipal landfills to accept yard waste in order to create bio-reactors which produce methane gas for use in energy production.
Gov. Blunt has been a dedicated supporter of renewable fuels in our state. The governor fulfilled a promise he made to Missourians when he signed legislation in 2006 requiring all gasoline offered for sale in Missouri to contain 10 percent ethanol (E-10). Ethanol is a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum-based gasoline and is more efficient to produce. It contains more oxygen, which results in better combustion and fewer carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carcinogenic emissions.
Missouri is also home to the only state building in the nation with a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today launched a new program to help Missouri families conserve energy and reduce their tax burden with certified home energy audits.
“Certified home energy audits will give Missouri families reliable guidance when it comes to energy use and waste reduction, saving money on overall energy costs as well as offering another tax break,” Gov. Blunt said. “Every effort to conserve energy and make environmentally-friendly choices has a positive impact on our future. As governor, I have worked to ensure that our generation leaves Missouri’s environment in better shape for our children and grandchildren with initiatives that are good for taxpayers and our air, land and water.”
For the first time ever Missourians can now apply for formal certification as a home energy auditor. The certification process is the first step to providing Missouri families access to the new tax break. The Department of Natural Resources recently finalized certification requirements and guidelines and is accepting applications from Missourians who want to be certified as energy auditors under this new program.
Certification of home energy auditors was included in the new law to help ensure that residents receive the most up-to-date advice and recommendations on ways they can reduce their energy consumption.
Missouri taxpayers who enlist the help of certified home energy auditors will be able to qualify for the deduction beginning with the 2009 tax year. The law allows taxpayers to deduct the costs of qualified home energy audits and related recommendations from their federal adjusted gross income.
More information and application forms are available through the Department of Natural Resources, www.dnr.mo.gov/energy/residential/homeenergyaudits.htm.
The law also enacted Gov. Blunt’s Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday, pushing Missouri to the forefront of a national effort to encourage greater energy efficiency. Missouri is just the fourth state after Florida, Connecticut, and Virginia to place this forward-looking legislation into statute. The holiday will start on April 19th and end on April 25th. All sales of Energy-Star washers and dryers, water heaters, trash compactors, dishwashers, conventional ovens, ranges, stoves, air conditioners, furnaces, refrigerators and freezers, up to $1500, will be exempt from state sales tax between April 19th and April 25th.
Gov. Blunt has been instrumental in identifying and employing the use of alternative energy sources in Missouri. Last year the governor announced a partnership to create renewable energy and heat using byproducts from the Jefferson City Landfill. Methane gas from the landfill is converted to electricity, and the heat created by conversion facilities is used to heat water for the state prison. The project uses resources that would otherwise have been wasted while at the same time producing benefits for the environment, the state, the prison and local communities. Gov. Blunt’s support for proactive solutions to save energy and protect the environment once implemented will both reduce energy use and save taxpayers nearly $16 million in energy costs. Initiatives include a range of projects from centralizing and monitoring statewide energy consumption to changing laundry operations at prisons.
Last summer the governor signed the Green Power Initiative. The Initiative has been heralded as the most important environmental legislation passed by the state in more than a decade. It decreases pollution from energy production by encouraging an increase in the use of renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectricity, solar power, hydrogen and biomass. The legislation sets targets for utilities to meet: a four percent renewable energy target by 2012, eight percent by 2015 and 11 percent by 2020. The legislation also requires the Office of Administration to ensure that at least 70 percent of the new vehicles purchased for the state fleet are flex fuel and allows municipal landfills to accept yard waste in order to create bio-reactors which produce methane gas for use in energy production.
Missouri is home to the only state building in the nation with a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Electric co-ops partner with universities to research carbon capture technology for power plants
Contact : Nancy Southworth 417.885.9246
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Missouri’s electric cooperatives and two of the state’s top universities are leading the way to find solutions that may help address global climate change concerns facing the nation.
Associated Electric Cooperative and Central Electric Power Cooperative are sponsoring research to be conducted by Lincoln University of Missouri and the Missouri University of Science and Technology that will use flue gas from power plants to grow algae to reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions. The carbon capture project could produce an effective approach to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change concerns.
The cooperatives and the universities will hold a news conference Friday, Sept. 5, at 1 p.m. at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Conference Center in Jefferson City to announce the project and sign the research agreement. U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Dr. Gale Buchanan will join the sponsors and university officials speaking at the signing ceremony.
The research is being funded by the cooperatives and will be performed in conjunction with two algae-related research projects currently being conducted by both universities and funded by USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the Missouri Life Sciences Research Board.
Principal researchers are Dr. Keesoo Lee, associate professor of biology, Lincoln University; and Dr. Paul Nam, assistant professor of chemistry, Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Using photosynthesis, algae in four large pools of water will use energy from sunlight to feed on CO2 from the power plant’s flue gas, thus capturing the CO2. An additional benefit is that the oil found in algae can be processed into a biodiesel.
The research project will be based at Central Electric’s Chamois Power Plant, located east of Jefferson City on the Missouri River, where staff has been producing green power using biomass materials for more than five years. Central Electric’s staff at Chamois Power Plant has researched using a variety of biomass materials, including corn cobs, walnut shells and old railroad ties, to produce green power for cooperatives. Plant staff is currently experimenting with burning turkey processing sludge with coal to produce electricity.
In addition to green biomass power, Associated Electric Cooperative’s diverse resources include renewable hydropower and wind power, energy efficiency, coal and gas-based resources. AECI partnered in the state’s first utility-scale wind farms located in northwest Missouri. AECI’s commitment to buy all the power from three wind farms in northwest Missouri for 20 years and the co-ops’ vast transmission system made the wind farms possible.
Central Electric Power Cooperative, based in Jefferson City, is a generation and transmission cooperative serving eight local distribution cooperatives in central Missouri.
Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional (included Central Electric Power Cooperative) and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve more than 850,000 customers. AECI’s mission is to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to its members, including the new “Take Control & Save” energy efficiency program, www.TakeControlAndSave.coop. AECI is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V
Missouri University of Science and Technology, founded in 1870 in Rolla as the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, is one of the four campuses in the University of Missouri System. Known for its engineering programs, Missouri S&T enrolls more than 6,000 students and also offers degrees in the sciences, liberal arts, humanities and business. Throughout its history, Missouri S&T has prepared bright, hard-working students to meet society’s challenges and today is committed to addressing some of the nation’s most pressing energy and environmental issues.
Lincoln University was founded in 1866 by the men of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries and their white officers for the special benefit of freed African Americans. Today, Lincoln University’s role in the education of Missourians and others and its service to stakeholders throughout the state, the nation and across the globe is well recognized. Lincoln University continues to serve the needs of its diverse student body through a tradition of offering innovative programs that makes the college experience special.
Source: http://www.aeci.org/NR20080904.aspx
Texas officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.
Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say Thursday's move by the Public Utility Commission will make the Lone Star State a leader in moving energy to the urban areas that consume it.
"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."
The rest of the story is available at the SOURCE
Although power management software has been around for years, there's clearly room for improvement, particularly with rising energy prices and environmental awareness.
Start-up Verdiem on Wednesday released software called Edison that makes it easy for people to schedule when a PC goes into a low power consumption mode at home or at work.
Verdiem's CEO, Kevin Klustner, is scheduled to highlight Edison and PC energy consumption during a conference call with Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, Robert Benard, and Intel's Lorie Wigle, president of the Climate Savers computing industry consortium.
The full exciting story can be found at the SOURCE
"Peak Alert" is a term used by electric companies through radio and television to notify the public when a period of increased electricity usage is predicated (extremely hot or cold days). When you hear the alert it is important that you try to cut back on your electricity usage during these times. Don't wash and dry clothes,don't use the automatic dishwasher, don't take long hot showers, do turn off unnecessary appliances and lights.
Electric companies have to purchase the same amount of electricity 24 hours per day. The amount of electricity the company has to buy is based on the amount of "Peak Demand". When the electric company announces a "Peak Alert" warning it is because the company is approaching the level of electricity they are having to purchase. If the demand goes over what they already have to purchase then the " Demand Load" goes up and they have to purchase a higher amount daily whether it is used or not. This stays in effect for at least 18 months unless the "Demand Load" peaks again and is raised again.
Every time the "Demand Load' goes up it ends up costing you money because the company has to raise its rates to cover the cost of the added electricity.
Long term it is a good idea to pay attention to the "Peak Alerts" and try to conserve electric usage then so the electric company does not have to raise rates. By postponing your washing, showers and conserving your electric usage during the time of a "Peak Alert" until after the "Peak Alert" you are then using the electricity the company has to lose (but pay for) . It is not how much electricity you use but when you use it that has a big impact on price per kilowatt.
I hope I didn't confuse anyone reading this. If you have any questions or comments on this subject please leave a comment and I will try to answer your concerns.
Cheerily
IJK
If found this and thought it would fit. This would be great. Let's hope it gets going. I really like the price and fuel bill not to mention how great it would be for the environment. Too bad it would hurt the oil companies and the Arabs and Venezuela, NOT.
I ran across an interesting article in the Rural Missouri monthly magazine that comes once a month courtesy of my local electric co-op, Se-Ma-No. I read the article and followed the link it provided and it led me to this link to a business that installs systems that provide electricity for private homes and even allows one to sell the excess back to the utility. Go read the interesting story at: PATH.
If you come across things that might fit with the spirit of this blog please send them to me and I will try to include them. This blog is all about "Energy Conservation". That includes alternative forms of energy, ways to cut energy use (gas, diesel, and electricity), building green, and other methods.
Remember as with all blogs, this is a work in progress not just a website that a person builds and then never adds anything to. Come back often as you never know when something new will be added or how it may affect our lives.
Cheerily
IJ
We have been discussing changing our hot water heater at the local VFW with two tankless units. One up by the kitchen to supply the kitchen and two of our bathrooms and another in the back to supply the two bathrooms there. Now we are running hot water a long ways to get hot water to the back two bathrooms and this should create a savings in energy there plus we are only in the building needing hot water one evening a week during bingo. Why are we keeping a standard hot water heater full of hot water all week long? Because we just thought of this idea. I found this video explaining about tankless water heaters and thought maybe I should share it here.
My veterinarian, Dr David Gourley, came on a herd health visit today and was telling me about a website devoted to conserving the soil, using less fertilizer, less tractor work (thus conserving fuel - oil - energy) and actually improving the land. While it may be just a little off base here I think it really ties together with the main theme of this blog.
Holistic Management
IJ
You have the power to affect your energy consumption (in kilowatt-hours and in money) by managing use wisely—reducing the amount spent on the inefficient use of energy.
This energy-efficiency initiative is built on two core ideas:
- 1) Take control of electricity use, and thereby
- 2) save energy.
As cooperative members, we all carry the responsibility to make the best use of our energy resources. While the costs of providing reliable electricity have been rising, your cooperative system has been working with our power supplier, Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., to find the best ways to ease the burden of those costs—for our individual members and for our entire cooperative network.
One of the most important things we can do is slow the growth in energy use. By using electricity wisely, we can optimize our generating capacity in order to postpone building costly new power plants. The good news is that everything you do to reduce your use not only helps
us manage growth, it also helps you manage your energy budget.
To learn more about this exciting new program go to Take Control and Save
Source:
OneWorld.net, February 5, 2006
Title: “Bottled Water: Nectar of the Frauds?”
Author: Abid Aslam
Faculty Evaluator: Liz Close
Student Researchers: Heidi Miller and Sean Hurley
Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief—often mistaken—that it is better for us than what flows from our taps. Worldwide, bottled water consumption surged to 41 billion gallons in 2004, up 57 percent since 1999.
“Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy,” reports Earth Policy Institute researcher Emily Arnold. Although in much of the world, including Europe and the U.S., more regulations govern the quality of tap water than bottled water, bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more. At up to $10 per gallon, bottled water costs more than gasoline in the United States.
“There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is essential to the health of our global community,” Arnold asserts, “But bottled water is not the answer in the developed world, nor does it solve problems for the 1.1 billion people who lack a secure water supply. Improving and expanding existing water treatment and sanitation systems is more likely to provide safe and sustainable sources of water over the long term.” Members of the United Nations have agreed to halve the proportion of people who lack reliable and lasting access to safe drinking water by the year 2015. To meet this goal, they would have to double the $15 billion spent every year on water supply and sanitation. While this amount may seem large, it pales in comparison to the estimated $100 billion spent each year on bottled water.
Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure whereas bottled water is transported long distances—often across national borders—by boat, train, airplane, and truck. This involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels.
For example, in 2004 alone a Helsinki company shipped 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water 2,700 miles to Saudi Arabia. And although 94 percent of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is produced domestically, many Americans import water shipped some 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and other faraway places to satisfy demand for what Arnold terms “chic and exotic bottled water.”
More fossil fuels are used in packaging the water. Most water bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic derived from crude oil. “Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand alone requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year,” Arnold notes.
Once it has been emptied, the bottle must be dumped. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter. Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals tied to a host of human and animal health problems. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year. Of the bottles deposited for recycling in 2004, the U.S. exported roughly 40 percent to destinations as far away as China, requiring yet more fossil fuel.
Meanwhile, communities where the water originates risk their sources running dry. More than fifty Indian villages have complained of water shortages after bottlers began extracting water for sale under the Coca-Cola Corporation’s Dasani label. Similar problems have been reported in Texas and in the Great Lakes region of North America, where farmers, fishers, and others who depend on water for their livelihoods are suffering from concentrated water extraction as water tables drop quickly.
While Americans consume the most bottled water per capita, some of the fastest collective growth in consumption is in the giant populations of Mexico, India, and China. As a whole, India’s consumption of bottled water increased threefold from 1999 to 2004, while China’s more than doubled.
While private companies’ profits rise from selling bottled water of questionable quality at more than $100 billion per year—more efficiently regulated, waste-free municipal systems could be implemented for distribution of safe drinking water for all the peoples of the world—at a small fraction of the price.
UPDATE BY ABID ASLAM
Consumer stories are a staple of the media diet. This article spawned coverage by numerous public broadcasters and appeared to do the rounds in cyberspace. Perhaps what seized imaginations was our affinity for the subject: apparently we and our planet’s surface are made up mostly of water and without it, we would perish. In any case, most of the discussion of the issues raised by the source—a research paper from a Washington, D.C.–based environmental think tank—focused mainly on consumer elements (the price, taste, and consequences for human health of bottled and tap water), as I had anticipated when I decided to storify the Environmental Policy Institute (EPI) paper (in honesty, that is pretty much all I did, adding minimal context and background). However, a good deal of reader attention also focused on the environmental and regulatory aspects.
Further information on these can be obtained from the EPI, a host of environmental and consumer groups, and from the relevant government agencies: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for tap water and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for bottled water.
Differences in the ways these regulators (indeed, regulators in general) operate and are structured and funded deserve a great deal more attention, as does the unequal protection of citizens that results.
Numerous other questions raised in the article deserve further examination. Would improved waste disposal and recycling address the researcher’s concerns about resources being consumed to get rid of empty water bottles? If public water systems can deliver a more reliable product to more people at a lower cost, as the EPI paper says, then what are the obstacles to the necessary investment in the U.S. and in poor countries, and how can citizens here and there overcome those obstacles?
Some of these questions may strike general readers or certain media gatekeepers as esoteric. Then again, we all drink the stuff.
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Even in good years America's family farmers continue to shrink in number and with energy now making up one of the largest costs of farming as well as one of the largest costs consumers face each month and there seems to be very little interest in Washington, Democratic or Republican, to make positive changes.
Before I became a writer I spent 28 years in the trucking industry and throughout most of those 3 million miles I hauled food products with the current food distribution network never making sense to me. For years I hauled frozen Israeli corn from the seaport in Baltimore, Maryland to repackaging plants in Cincinnati, Ohio. And for those who may not know Cincinnati pretty much sits in the middle of a giant corn field.
Then my trailer would be reloaded at the opposite end of the same building with frozen corn placed in smaller packages so that I could haul it to New York City and Baltimore grocery warehouses. On a few occasions I had to wait for the very same corn I hauled in to be repackaged and loaded back onto my trailer.
Now there are some things that make slightly more sense. Take peanuts for example: With the exception of the Southeast, very few places in this country can grow peanuts so if you live in the Northeast or Northwest and want a peanut butter sandwich you're probably going to get it by truck. That said, I have hauled imported peanuts and imported peanut butter to Portsmith, Virginia, the peanut butter capitol of the world.
That's why it's a good thing to seek out local farmers and farmers' markets whenever possible. Not only will you help reduce America's dependence on imported energy and help support your local farmers but you'll also find local products to be safer, fresher and taste better than months old "fresh produce" at the big box grocery store.
I know you'll find it difficult to shop 100% local and while I try I can't always do so myself but the more locally grown food you eat the less fuel you'll be responsible for burning and the better off your area farmers will become.
By the way, I recently got 3 laying hens that I'm allowing to run throughout my fenced-in backyard and after eating fresh eggs laid this morning I may never eat a grocery store egg again.
-Billy
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- A Spanish company is planning to take 3 square miles of desert southwest of Phoenix and turn them into one of the largest solar power plants in the world.
Abengoa Solar, which has plants in Spain, northern Africa and other parts of the U.S., could begin construction as early as next year on the 280-megawatt plant in Gila Bend -- a small, dusty town 50 miles southeast of Phoenix.
The company said Thursday it could be producing solar energy by 2011.
Abengoa would build, own and operate the $1 billion plant, named the Solana Generating Station.
Solana will be enough to supply up to 70,000 homes at full capacity.
Read the full story at the SOURCE