A small rooftop wind turbine. If the article is correct about the costs and ROI this would be perfect for Lincoln, NE. A 13mph wind is a normal day and 1.1kW is enough to provide most of your home power. The cost of electricity from this device is 3.5 cents per kWh. That's quite low. Although one should consider that without a battery system much of your power will be lost at night.
Still, this is very affordable alternative energy for home installation.
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The IEA Is on the Peak Oil Boat
It looks like the IEA has jumped on the peak oil boat.
Basically the report estimates that our demand will rise at a slightly slower pace and we'll make up most of it using alternative methods. In 2030 they show natural gas and non conventional oil as making up about 25 million barrels per day, or about a quarter of the oil supply. Most of the rest is from currently undeveloped fields, what's left of existing fields and to a smaller extent newly discovered fields.
How much do they estimate it will cost? $200 a barrel in 2030. That means, according to my napkin calculations, $6 a gallon gas here in the midwest.
Typically the IEA forecasts a pretty rosy outlook for oil. I wonder why the sudden turn.
Basically the report estimates that our demand will rise at a slightly slower pace and we'll make up most of it using alternative methods. In 2030 they show natural gas and non conventional oil as making up about 25 million barrels per day, or about a quarter of the oil supply. Most of the rest is from currently undeveloped fields, what's left of existing fields and to a smaller extent newly discovered fields.
How much do they estimate it will cost? $200 a barrel in 2030. That means, according to my napkin calculations, $6 a gallon gas here in the midwest.
Typically the IEA forecasts a pretty rosy outlook for oil. I wonder why the sudden turn.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Pickens Plan
This is on tv a lot. It doesn't entirely sound like a bad idea. The idea is to expand wind energy, massively, and use natural gas to fuel new fleet vehicles (which according to Pickens makes up 38% of our oil needs).
Here's my problem: Where's the conservation? Are we just replacing one finite resource for another in order to keep an unsustainable lifestyle going? That would just hold out death for another generation. Are we just gonna assume we'll have functional cold fusion in one hundred years?
We can't fix this thing with conservation, but we can make the fix cheaper with conservation. This doesn't mean changing everything it really means one thing:
1. Consider the energy costs of the things you do as well as the normal considerations of convenience and cost. So, convenience, cost, and conservation.
There are two things which can bring this about:
1. Patriotism.
2. The market.
You won't like the second option. It's $12 gas and $1000 utility bills. We may never see energy prices that high, but energy prices on that scale will definitely make conservation a top issue in every purchasers mind.
The first option is the real thing. It's making sacrifice for your country. It's not a lapel pin. It's not an offensive and ridiculous $2 plastic flag in the ground that you forgot to grab last night before the sun went down. It's not a flag you'll disgrace when it falls out of the car window.
The sacrifices don't have to be tough, now. There's a lot of little things.
* This site has some, although it's California so it takes water conservation very seriously.
* Want to save gas without spending any money: A less ridiculous form of hypermiling can help. Basically drive defensively and patiently. The game is to put yourself into situations where you will use the brakes less. Don't just "try not to brake." That's dangerous. "Try not to need to brake." The difference is looking ahead and having a plan and if you're not doing it already with respect to safety then you're a bad driver.
* Walk. It's the best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 1.5 miles. Just remember that it takes 20 minute to walk a mile (slightly less actually).
* Bicycle. It's the second best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 8 miles, although the distance expands with more experience (you get faster).
* Buy the model with the smallest available engine. Anything larger is a rip off: They're selling you aluminum at a high price and it's only going to cost you money. (This doesn't apply to folks buying trucks, this is concerned with passenger vehicles).
* Just park in the back, the walk will be good for you and the search for a great spot only wastes time and gas. I know it's hard to resist, I do it too sometimes. Plus, by parking in the back you're reducing your parking lot driving which is accident riddled.
* More square feet means more cost not just "more." Just buy the space you'll need when you buy a house. You might get a house that's a bit too big, don't sweat it. But so many houses going up today are simply gigantic. And it's expensive. It's expensive to heat and cool and the price tag on the house is huge. Do you really want to pay your mortgage for 30 years? Wouldn't you rather retire a little early with the money you save on interest?
* Buy quality stuff and take care of it. Keep in mind that it's not always a cost issue to find quality, but it usually is. You won't find much quality here. They're all about price and volume, and you can increase volume with lower quality.
* Cook.
Most of this stuff isn't even sacrifice. Much of it is actually just being a smart consumer.
Here's my problem: Where's the conservation? Are we just replacing one finite resource for another in order to keep an unsustainable lifestyle going? That would just hold out death for another generation. Are we just gonna assume we'll have functional cold fusion in one hundred years?
We can't fix this thing with conservation, but we can make the fix cheaper with conservation. This doesn't mean changing everything it really means one thing:
1. Consider the energy costs of the things you do as well as the normal considerations of convenience and cost. So, convenience, cost, and conservation.
There are two things which can bring this about:
1. Patriotism.
2. The market.
You won't like the second option. It's $12 gas and $1000 utility bills. We may never see energy prices that high, but energy prices on that scale will definitely make conservation a top issue in every purchasers mind.
The first option is the real thing. It's making sacrifice for your country. It's not a lapel pin. It's not an offensive and ridiculous $2 plastic flag in the ground that you forgot to grab last night before the sun went down. It's not a flag you'll disgrace when it falls out of the car window.
The sacrifices don't have to be tough, now. There's a lot of little things.
* This site has some, although it's California so it takes water conservation very seriously.
* Want to save gas without spending any money: A less ridiculous form of hypermiling can help. Basically drive defensively and patiently. The game is to put yourself into situations where you will use the brakes less. Don't just "try not to brake." That's dangerous. "Try not to need to brake." The difference is looking ahead and having a plan and if you're not doing it already with respect to safety then you're a bad driver.
* Walk. It's the best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 1.5 miles. Just remember that it takes 20 minute to walk a mile (slightly less actually).
* Bicycle. It's the second best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 8 miles, although the distance expands with more experience (you get faster).
* Buy the model with the smallest available engine. Anything larger is a rip off: They're selling you aluminum at a high price and it's only going to cost you money. (This doesn't apply to folks buying trucks, this is concerned with passenger vehicles).
* Just park in the back, the walk will be good for you and the search for a great spot only wastes time and gas. I know it's hard to resist, I do it too sometimes. Plus, by parking in the back you're reducing your parking lot driving which is accident riddled.
* More square feet means more cost not just "more." Just buy the space you'll need when you buy a house. You might get a house that's a bit too big, don't sweat it. But so many houses going up today are simply gigantic. And it's expensive. It's expensive to heat and cool and the price tag on the house is huge. Do you really want to pay your mortgage for 30 years? Wouldn't you rather retire a little early with the money you save on interest?
* Buy quality stuff and take care of it. Keep in mind that it's not always a cost issue to find quality, but it usually is. You won't find much quality here. They're all about price and volume, and you can increase volume with lower quality.
* Cook.
Most of this stuff isn't even sacrifice. Much of it is actually just being a smart consumer.
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