Friday, July 18, 2008

You can produce alcohol for less than $1 a gallon

You can produce alcohol for less than $1 a gallon, using a wide variety of plants and waste products, from algae to stale donuts. It's a much better fuel than gasoline, and you can use it in your car, right now. You can even use alcohol to generate electricity. Alcohol fuel production is ecologically sustainable, revitalizes farms and communities, and creates huge new opportunities for small-scale businesses. Its byproducts are clean and valuable. Alcohol has a proud history and a vital future.

To learn more, watch the Five-Minute Video, read the Two-Minute Summary, and Alcohol Can Be a Gas! book and DVD.

(((Listened to David Blume on Coast-to-Coast Thursday eve (worth listening too). He said an acre of Beets = 1,000 gallons of fuel. He also stated that anyone can get a license from the government to make alcohol legally.)))

Cheaper than gas, alcohol is a superior fuel, as it leaves no carbon behind, engines last longer, and it can free us from foreign dependence, he noted. There are some twenty different crops that can produce alcohol, and many of them, such as sugar beets, yield more alcohol per acre than corn.

Most cars can actually run with up to 50% alcohol in their tanks, without using any kind of conversion device, Blume declared, and kits can be added to vehicles for less than $300. People can get permits to create home distilleries to brew their own alcohol fuel, which enables them to be eligible for tax credits, he said. An advocate for community organizing, Blume said in many locales residents have set up driver owned stations which offer alcohol pumps.

Any natural person, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, association, the State of Wisconsin

Duration:
Alternate fuel license are valid until canceled by the licensee or revoked by the Department.
Fees:
Persons who want a fuel license must hold a Business Tax Registration (BTR) Certificate. The BTR certificate and alternate fuel license are issued by the Registration Unit in Madison, (608) 266-2776. There is no charge for the fuel license. However, there is a one-time $20 charge for the BTR certificate. The certificate is renewable every two years for $10.
Prerequisites:
The Department may require persons who are responsible for paying the alternate fuel tax to have security (e.g., cash, bond) on file. The amount of security cannot exceed three times a licensee's average monthly liability for alternate fuel tax

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Simmons and Co. "Schools Out for Summer" Energy Report Card (Hint: grades D- to F)

Easy A, B, C type SERIOUS reading...(PDF)
Summer Report Card of the Energy Sector
http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/company_clientlist.asp
http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=news
Simmons and Co. International are "Investment Bankers to the Energy Industry" (((They and their clients will make money, but it's going to cost you more $)))

“My grandfather rode on a camel, my father rode in a car,
I ride in a jet, my children will ride
in cars,
my grandchildren will ride on camels.”

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum (1912 –October 7, 1990)
was the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates from 1979 to 1990
and Emir (Ruler) of Dubai. He ruled for 32 years, until his death.
--------breaking-----------
The Associated Press/IHT July 6, 2008
Emirates calls on GCC countries to depeg currencies from US dollar
The GCC members are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. All of their currencies are pegged to the dollar except Kuwait, which depegged its currency, the dinar, from the dollar in May 2007 in favor of a basket of currencies.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Alternative Energy Resource Links...

Photovoltaic Panels and Systems

Solar Water Heating


Organizations

American Wind Energy Association
American Solar Energy Society
Alternative Technology Association
Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association
Climate Change News and discussions
Colorado Renewable Energy Society
Customer Utility Services in the U.K.
Cut Oil Imports.org
U.S. Department of Energy
DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
El Paso Solar Energy Association
Green Home Building
Iowa Renewable Energy Association
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
New Mexico Solar Energy Association
North Carolina Solar Center
Practical Ocean Energy Management Systems, Inc
Rocky Mountain Institute
SolaRoof Open Eco Wiki site

Education

Solar Energy International
Solar Living Institute

Energy Fairs and Conferences


Energy Conferences Worldwide
List of upcoming conferences
Midwest Renewable Energy Fair Wisconsin
Sol West Renewable Energy Fair Oregon
Solar Power 2007 Long Beach, CA
Southern California Renewable Energy Expo
Sustainable Resources 2004 Boulder, CO

Magazines, Books and News

Alternative Energy: News
Alternative Energy Retailer
Backwoods Home Magazine
EnergyPortal.eu News and discussions
Energy Trace Webzine
Home Energy Magazine
Home Power Magazine
Mother Earth News
Solar Today
Adi Solar Electric
Power From the Sun
GreenDream

Repair Services

Inverter Doctor

Humor

The Hazards of Solar Energy

Investments

Biodiesel and Ethanol Investing with news
Clean Power Finance
solar home financing
Greenrock Capital
clean energy investments
Solar Energy Investing
with news
Wind Energy Investing
with news

Solar Circuits

FC's Solar Circuits
Do-it-yourself alternative energy projects
Grid Power Backup Switch
Tim Nolan's Peak Power Tracking Project
Red Rock Energy

Alternative Energy Projects

Self Powered Solar Box Furnace
How to Build a Solar Hot Water System
Wild Water Power
Vela Creations Chispito Wind Generator
Otherpower.com
Pedal Powered Generator
Solar Technology for the Home
ecoZen solar cookers, electric bikes
BioDesign solar projects
The Solar Cooking Archive
Rainwater Harvesting Guide
Build It Solar
Savonius Rotor wind power in Tasmania
Solar Power.org
Scoraig Wind Electric Hugh Piggott's wind projects
Otherpower Experiments Wind generator experiments
ByeByeGas.com solar rickshaws and vehicles

Resources

About My Planet PV and wind articles
Alternative Energy Base renewable energy articles
Green Collar Economy supporting the business of sustainability
US Naval Observatory Sunrise/Sunset data


Source Guides
for renewable energy
Lead Acid Battery Charging Tips
SolarEnergyLive.com solar energy articles
BatterySearch.biz finds batteries on the web
Hydrowatt (in German)
The Negawatt Revolution old but classic Keynote by Amory Lovins
Alternate Energy Sources articles on alternative energy
Alternative energy sources from Science Clarified
clean-energy-ideas.com general advice
Energy Matters energy, fuels and power generation
Home Generators
PV Power Resource Site general information
Solar Flag Pole Lights and residential LED lights
Solar Home Energy general information
wind-power-generator.com wind generator information

Web Logs

EnergyHack.com Henrik Lichtenberg's blog
James' Alternative Energy Blog

Outdoor Solar Lights by Armand

Web Link Sites

Home Power Magazine's Renewable Energy Links
Sol West Renewable Energy Links Page

SolarFest Links Page

Thermo Technologies

Alternative Energy Web Ring

DiscoverSolarEnergy.com

EcoBusinessLinks

Energy Planet

ForceField Renewable Energy Links

guidetobatteries.com

HydrogenAge.com

cgispy Alternative Energy Resources

Renewable-Energy-Links.com

Environmental Building Design and Construction Portal

Going Solar

AEoogle
search for energy

Miscellaneous

Cleantech America LLC solar farms
Green Mountain Solar an off grid house in New Mexico
Our EcoHouse help build a green house in the UK
Solar Reviews product reviews
The Vote Solar Initiative promoting solar friendly policies

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Intro to building with Straw Bales

howtocat.blogspot.com/2008/06/intro-to-building-with-straw-bales

"New" Solar Dish Could Transform Energy Production

(source: FOX NEWS) A new type of solar energy collector concentrates the sun into a beam that could melt steel. Researchers say the device could revolutionize global energy production.

The prototype is a 12-foot-wide mirrored dish was made from a lightweight frame of thin, inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror. It concentrates sunlight by a factor of 1,000 to produce steam.

"This is actually the most efficient solar collector in existence," said Doug Wood, an inventor based in Washington state who patented key parts of the dish's design — the rights to which he has signed over to a team of students at MIT.

To test the prototype this week, MIT mechanical engineering Spencer Ahrens put a plank of wood in the beam and generated an almost instant puff of smoke. Video...



The thing does more than burn wood, of course. At the end of a 12-foot aluminum tube rising from the center of the dish is a black-painted coil of tubing that has water running through it. When the dish is pointing directly at the sun, the water in the coil flashes immediately into steam. Ahrens and his teammates have started a company, RawSolar, to hopefully mass produce the dishes. They could be set up in huge arrays to provide steam for industrial processing, or for heating or cooling buildings, as well as to hook up to steam turbines and generate electricity, according to an MIT statement.

Once in mass production***, such arrays should pay for themselves within two years or so with the energy they produce, the students figure. Wood, the inventor, said the students built the dish and improved on his design. "They really have simplified this and made it user-friendly, so anybody can build it," he said.

Wood said small dishes work best because it requires much less support structure and costs less for a given amount of collection area.

"I've looked for years at a variety of solar approaches, and this is the cheapest I've seen," said MIT Sloan School of Management lecturer David Pelly, in whose class the project first took shape last fall. "And the key thing in scaling it globally is that all of the materials are inexpensive and accessible anywhere in the world."
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of course it "ain't" new; there were parabolic solar furnaces made in the late 1800's and one does not need MIT to figure this out... although, with "digital slide rulers" one can IMPROVE and PERFECT AND use newer, lighter weight materials and "micro" boilers, flash furnaces, trackers, etc. The bottom line is... the concept is still fairly BASIC.

***Why not share (make OPEN SOURCE or sell for $15 to $25 bucks) blueprints NOW! It ain't rocket science. ANYONE with basic mechanical experience CAN build one, anywhere, with junk* parts and aluminum foil. "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." Thomas Edison

http://howtocat.blogspot.com/2008/06/solar-cooker-from-abandoned-satellite.html

Image from 1897 "Solar Furnace" (see the "little guy" near the top?)

solar power plants in the Mojave Desert

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

FIREWOOD I

"It's been said that a long straight row of firewood standing in the yard in springtime is like money in the bank. It is indeed. As it dries in the summer sunshine, you're collecting interest."
What is the best tree species for firewood? While there is always room for debate, we like to suggest that the best species in your area is the one that is most plentiful, easy to split and doesn't cover your hands and clothes with sticky sap.

All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. Traditionally, the favored trees in central North America were oak and maple because they are very dense and produce long-lasting coals. But these are valuable trees and in many areas are not plentiful enough to burn. No problem, just use softer woods like birch or poplar (aspen) or any other tree that is readily available. Keep in mind that people living in the coldest areas of North America have no hardwoods to burn and they get along just fine. Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the hardest wood available. http://www.woodheat.org