Alternative Energy: The Super Friends

So there I was. One last final exam in between me and being done with school forever...and what do I do?

Naturally I spend a solid half hour relating the major forms of alternative energy to the Super Friends.

Procrastination at its finest!

Because alternative energy sources are going to have to work together in order to battle the Legion of Doom coal, I figured that this analogy would actually be relevant, so I'm going to go ahead and run with it.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Batman

• Batman is clearly the strongest candidate for comparison to hydrogen fuel cells. Batman has no real powers and is heavily reliant on advanced technology to get the job done. The same can be said for Hydrogen Fuel Cells, which are heavily reliant on technological breakthroughs to truly make an impact.

Energy Efficiency: Robin

• Robin suffers from being the side-kick to Batman, who is infinitely cooler than Robin could ever be. However, Batman would not have been as successful as he was without Robin. The same can be said for energy efficiency. All of these alternative energy sources are promising, but unless we are more efficient, power supplies will always be an issue.

Solar Energy: Superman

• Obviously Superman is going to be related to solar energy. Without the sun, both Superman as well as solar energy are useless.

Wind: Wonder Woman

• This is a weak comparison, but Wonder Woman had that invisible car, and wind is invisible, so there you go. Also, women are so full of hot air, yappin' on about this and that...am I right fellas?!!!...(*looks around for high-five*)

Tidal: Aquaman

• Tidal is one of the least talked about sources of alternative energy. Probably because it is so boring...like Aquaman. Seriously, what a terrible character.

In any event, this is probably my nerdiest blog post to date, but I've made peace with that because comic book heroes are awesome.  Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go attempt to actually study.

It's Always Solar In Philadelphia

I wrote this article a few days ago, but I refused to post it until after the Bears played the Eagles because I didn't want to jinx Chicago.  As it would turn out, the Bears didn't need my help and made Michael Vick look stupid all Sunday:

Go Bears!

Even though the Eagles couldn't figure out how to stay ahead of the Bears in Sunday's game, Philadelphia has found a way to jump way ahead of the rest of the NFL (as well as many other institutions) by investing heavily in alternative energy:

The Eagles have contracted with Orlando FL-based SolarBlue, a renewable energy and energy conservation company, to install approximately 80 20-foot spiral-shaped wind turbines on the top rim of the stadium, affix 2,500 solar panels on the stadium’s façade, build a 7.6 megawatt onsite dual-fuel cogeneration plant and implement sophisticated monitoring and switching technology to operate the system.

This is an amazing idea for stadiums, and I will not be surprised if we see many other franchises adopting these energy platforms at their own stadiums.

7.6 MW is more than enough to power the entire stadium allowing the Eagles to be free from playing hefty energy costs down the line.  Also, there will be an excess of energy left over that the stadium won't be able to use allowing Philadelphia to sell this energy back into the grid and actually make a profit (they are estimating ~4 MW).

The idea of selling excess energy back into the grid is nothing new.  The reason that Philadelphia's situation is so unique is that during the offseason the Philadelphia Eagles will be using barely any of this energy.  This will allow them to sell almost all of the 7.6 MW back into the grid enabling them to make money all year round off their stadium.

With all the wind that shoots around Soldier Field in Chicago, this seems like an obvious investment that will happen sooner than later.





Go Bears!

China Demonstrates The "Sputnik" Moment

Recently, Steven Chu gave a speech about how alternative energy is this generation's "Sputnik" moment. In short, he is referring to the fact that America is getting left behind in the race to be more advanced in our energy generation, and we can either sit back and watch or get up and fight back.

Echoing this point, Ernst & Young just released a report confirming that Asia is widening the gap in their use of alternative energies compared to the rest of the world.  For those keeping score, the rest of the world does in fact include the United States - a point that sometimes people tend to forget.

Because I don't want to do my own financial analysis of the alternative energy markets, I'm going to do what I do best and just copy and reference the work that others have done.  Take it from here Ernst & Young:

...Ernst & Young publishes a quarterly "country attractiveness" index for investors that ranks nations' renewable energy policies, renewable energy markets, and other factors...

...China's record spending on its wind industry this quarter represented nearly half of all funds invested in new wind projects around the world," the report states. "Figures released for the second quarter of 2010 showed that China invested around $10 billion in wind out of a global total of $20.5 billion...

 As I have stated before, money is the driving force behind any of these changes. Clearly China sees this, and other countries are indeed following their lead. It is only a matter of time before the policies in the US begin to open up more allowing for my investment and development, but it is quickly becoming clear that these things need to happen sooner than later for the US to stay competitive.

Nipping Away At Petroleum: Biodiesel

I'm feeling especially lazy today, especially as I am wrapping up my last semester of school and really turning up the heat on my job search (Editor's Note: A little known fact is that Colin Brownell will work for peanuts*).

However, in keeping with the daily nature of this blog, I wanted to touch briefly on biodiesel and the important role it is going to be playing in the near future.  As I have said before, there is no silver bullet in terms of one alternative energy acting as the sole replacement of petroleum.  However, there will be a collaborative effort with multiple sources (wind, solar, tidal, etc.) that will put a lot of pressure on the petroleum industry.

I will let the New York Times tell you why biodiesel is poised to be even more influential with the opening of the world's largest biodiesel plant being opened in Singapore just yesterday.  Copy & Paste time!

...What is being billed as the largest biodiesel plant in the world started production this week in Singapore. Operated by Neste Oil, the plant has the capacity to produce 800,000 metric tons of fuel per year. The fuel is made from vegetable oils or a combination of oils and waste animal fat sourced from the food industry. [Marketwatch]...

Aw, I don't feel bad.  NY Times stole this from Marketwatch.  Wait, there is more?

...The value of the green building market grew 50 percent from 2008 to 2010, to $71 billion, a new market report finds. The analysis, by the McGraw Hill Construction information service, predicts that the green construction market will grow to $135 billion by 2015. [Sustainable Business]

I think I am getting a hang of this blogging thing.  It seems like everyone just copies one another, and if the NY Times is just going to copy Sustainable Business and get paid for it, I am certainly not above copying them when time is short and I am looking for a job at the same time.

Obviously 800,000 metric tons of fuel is not going to be replacing our oil consumption any time soon.  I don't have the figures in front of me, but I think an American 7 year old burns through 800,000 metric tons of oil every 2 hours...that doesn't sound right.

The point is that while this one plant is not going to be replacing the petroleum industry, people are recognizing the potential of sources like this plant and are willing to invest money to begin the process of slowly replacing the use of oil with a combination of clean technologies and resources.

*Did that editor say peanuts? He meant money...definitely money.

How Large Of An Environmental Footprint Do Renewables Have?

This morning I was sitting on the train and got into a conversation with a completely random person about alternative energy which I know is shocking to hear because it is a rare occasion for me to want to talk about this stuff...wait.

This person was asking me that if we are sacrificing so much land and resources to construct a wind turbine or solar energy field, are we really making a difference or if we are just trading one evil for another.

I can understand where this person was coming from, but I believe that this is a less complicated issue than they were making it out to be.  This is mainly because even though we are dedicating land and certain natural resources to the construction of an alternative energy infrastructure, these are mainly a one time "cost."  When it comes to coal or other non-renewable energy sources, these are ongoing "costs" to the environment through a constant emission of pollution.

The best analogy I can come up with is when you are taking off a bandaid:

• Investing resources towards clean energy is kind of like ripping off a bandaid quickly.  It may 'hurt' in the short run, but in the long run you will feel a lot better.
• Continuing with our current system of energy production is kind of like keeping a dirty bandaid on forever and you develop sepsis.  Yay!!!

In all seriousness, clean energy is clearly the way to go, and when you compare clean energy's costs vs. benefits against coal's costs vs. benefits, it is a no-brainer.

Reader Email: The Clean Coal Compromise

Yesterday in Sustainabili-City's Weekly Review I ended up talking briefly about John Boehner who is a strong proponent for clean coal and nuclear power. Understandably, this is troublesome for people who would like to see truly clean alternative energies begin to make a bigger impact in our electricity production.

However, as one reader points out, this doesn't necessarily mean that alternatives are doomed to a diminished rate of development for the next few years.

Mike says:

In my opinion, Boehner's push for clean coal and nuclear could be good in that it sets up a trade: $$ for that stuff so long as $$ go to renewables. Given the really, really long development time for clean coal and nuclear, the trade may work as renewable will bring more immediate results and people by nature are impatient.

This is a good point, and one of the numerous possibilities of collaboration from both sides of the "energy line" that can occur.

By dividing the funding that goes towards new energy plants, you can please both sides of the political spectrum by supporting the 'coal states' as well as mitigating the carbon footprint of these states with completely clean industries such as wind and solar.

Clearly, this an extremely oversimplified statement of how these policies are developed, funded, and implemented - but as we have seen in the past, strong-arming one-sided policies through our system just doesn't work because our checks and balances do their job wonderfully by allowing the minority side to slam on the breaks and halt all productivity.

Like I have said before and will continue to say in the future, these changes are going to require cooperation and compromises from all sides of the government.

On a sillier note, here is one of my more favorite viral videos about clean coal:

Does Sustainability Mean Sacrificing Aesthetic Value?

One of the shallower complaints about alternative energy, most notably wind energy, is that the structures are not aesthetically pleasing.  These complaints hit a fever pitch during the debates about placing a wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod in the Nantucket Sound when old rich people said that it would ruin the scenery.

The fact is that these wind turbines would have been barely visible from the shoreline, amplified by the fact that most of the people fighting Cape Wind are over 60 with worsening eyesight, really rubs me the wrong way...but that is neither here nor there.

Today I stumbled across some pictures of some gorgeous sustainable architecture that can be found in Miami.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but these are great examples of the unlimited possibilities of green architecture and why we need to keep on challenging ourselves to be more efficient without thinking that we need to sacrifice style.

Estimated completion in 2011.
(http://www.oppenoffice.com/)

View from inside.
(http://www.oppenoffice.com/)

For more information and pictures, go to GreenMuze or Oppenheim.

Tidal Energy Is Making Important Strides

It is quickly becoming clear that big battles are rapidly approaching on the political horizon, and I am going to do my best to cover these events as thoroughly as I possibly can. However, I won’t be getting to those things until tomorrow because I still need time to wrap my head around the numerous issues that are popping up.

Right now I’m going to talk about a notable event in the world of alternative energy. While the alternative energy marketplace is dominated by news about wind and solar developments, today marks the day that a shallow-water tidal energy system in the UK has been successfully tested and proven.

*Yes. I made that comparison just so I could post this picture from one of the best South Park episodes ever.

While the media views tidal energy as the red headed stepchild* of the alternative energy community, it is important that this technology is still being researched and developed. This is because at the end of the day, no matter how well wind and solar are performing, they are subject to their natural limitations:

• Wind
• Produces the most energy at night
• Windiest in remote areas leading to transmission issues
• Subject to pressure systems
• Solar
• Only producing energy during the day
• Subject to cloud cover
• Not as effective in the further Northern and Southern Hemispheres

The point of listing these limitations isn’t to suggest that these technologies are inefficient in addressing our energy needs. Instead, it is to show that it will take a collaborative effort between multiple technologies in order to make clean energy work. This is why the further development of tidal energy is wonderful and necessary because it can help lessen the burden on wind and solar technologies.

Obviously tidal energy is only really useful where there are tides (“Thanks, Professor!”), but when coasts contain some of the most densely populated cities and ports; tidal energy makes sense. By combining tidal energy with offshore wind farms, clean energy stands to make a large dent in the energy consumption of these areas.

Green ($) Technology

There is a great article over at Grist talking about the progress that has been taking place in America at the state level regarding alternative energy and efficiency initiatives.

I encourage everyone to read the entire article here, but the main point of the article is that despite all the positive movement, the clean-energy sector is at risk of being crippled by certain politicians running for governor of their respective states.

I know, I'm shocked as well.

My favorite excerpt is:

"Of the 37 Republicans running for governor this fall, 22 reject the science of climate change..."

I'm going to go ahead and ignore the part of my brain that is screaming at people ignoring simple scientific trends and current events and instead present another argument:  Alternative Energy presents an opportunity to make and save (a lot of) money.

Are you kidding me?!?!?!!

Money is good.  This is something that most people can agree upon no matter what their political views are.  So, even if you don't believe that the climate is going to shift due to our continually increasing carbon emissions (duh*), it would be politically irresponsible to ignore the opportunity to create jobs and make money off of these technologies.

Job creation is one of the biggest issues today and alternative energy has the potential to help mitigate this issue.  To simply dismiss these technologies due to political reasons is short-sighted and backwards.

There are countless examples of alternative energy and sustainable living programs popping up all over the country (many of which I am listing on Sustainabili-city's Twitter page), politicians just need to wake up and realize the money making potential of these programs.

Oh yeah, and while the money is being made and saved, there is a side-effect of making the world a cleaner place...if living in a clean environment is your sort of thing.



*I rarely say 'duh,' which should give you an indicator of how I feel about climate change.

Prelude

Let me be clear.

At this stage of my life I know very little about alternative energy, smart grid technology, and sustainable living.

However, this lack of a thorough understanding doesn’t make me blind to the potential of these fields. Instead, every day I look for an opportunity to talk about these emerging industries. This is for two reasons:

• I believe that the more people hear about these things, the less that they will believe that alternative energy and smart energy-distribution systems are some futuristic dream.

• I like sounding smart.

These two points highlight the purpose of this blog (sarcastic self-indulgence and shameless promotion of clean practices).

By discussing these sustainable advances, I am hoping to make my (millions of) readers and Stumblers more aware of the issues while also furthering my own understanding so that I can continue to (think I) sound smart.

I invite anyone to comment on or criticize anything that I say here, because ultimately we will all be benefit from the conversation in the end…hopefully(maybe?).





Probably.