Biofuels have been around as long as cars have.

A biofuel is a fuel that contains energy from geologically recent carbon fixation. These fuels are produced from living organisms.

Generating Electricity from Wing Waves.

Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground, they can take advantage of the faster and less turbulent wind.

Producing electricity from solar energy.

Solar energy is a free, inexhaustible resource, yet harnessing it is a relatively new idea. The ability to use solar power for heat was the first discovery.

Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades.

A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade.

Solar energy may have had great potential

Solar technology advanced to roughly its present design in 1908 when William J. Bailey of the Carnegie Steel Company invented a collector with an insulated box and copper coils.

We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years.

For utility-scale sources of wind energy, a large number of wind turbines are usually built close together to form awind plant.

Biofuels are produced from living organisms.

In order to be considered a biofuel the fuel must contain over 80 percent renewable materials.

Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth.

Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.

Geothermal heat pumps can tap into this resource to heat and cool buildings.

A geothermal heat pump system consists of a heat pump, an air delivery system (ductwork), and a heat exchanger-a system of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the building.

In the future, civilization will be forced to research and develop alternative energy sources.

Possession of surplus energy is, of course, a requisite for any kind of civilization, for if man possesses merely the energy of his own muscles, he must expend all his strength - mental and physical - to obtain the bare necessities of life.

Showing posts with label gasoline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gasoline. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Billions And Trillions Revisited

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Billions And Trillions Revisited
On July 29 I published an article in "THE HUFFINGTON POST" entitled, Billions and Trillions. Let us today re-visit this subject in light of all mega dollars being discussed.-If gasoline costs 2.57/gallon (we used 142 billion gallons in 2007), we spend 1 billion/DAY on this fuel. Up to 4/gallon, the daily cost is a bit more than 1.5 billion/day. The current national average price of gasoline is 3.15/gallon. Of course, crude is now back down to the 80/barrel range (or 1.90/gallon). Of course, Hawaii still pays around 4/gallon, and note the profit margin someone is making from crude oil.-The average annual U.S. Department of Energy renewable energy budget over the past decade has been less than 1 billion/YEAR (Remember, we now spend 500 billion/year on gasoline). In comparison:-a. We pass on to Pakistan 1 billion/year for counter-terrorism activities and they are not even helping much with finding Osama bin Ladin.-b. Each Space Shuttle shot costs 1 billion.-c. Each new Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier costs 4.5 billion. We will have 10 when the H.W. Bush is commissioned early next year. We have no naval threat into the foreseeable future.-d. Is it true that farm subsidies this year will be 25 billion? And farmers are now doing really well. Does the Farm Lobby spend 80 million/year on lobbying? In these good times for them and bad times for energy, why don't we shift just half of this sum for renewable energy Rcolor:#cc0000;">The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 77 to 9310. As predicted yesterday, the Japan Nikkei jumped 14% today and European exchanges generally gained. Crude slumped down to 78.74/barrel, and the Dated Brent Spot actually dropped below 75/bbl. -Tropical Depression Nana in the mid-Atlantic is soon to become a remnant. Tropical Storm Omar should head from a position south of Haiti in the northeast direction, somewhat of a surprise, as most of these storms generally go west or northwest. It will become a hurricane before the day is over and could approach 100 MPH in three days. There doesn't appear to be any threat to the U.S. A tropical depression formed off the coast of Honduras, but is not expected to become a hurricane. All quiet in the Pacific.-

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