Earn Some Green While Going Green

There are several envrionmental benefits that accompany using alternative engery. However, what some people fail to realize is that there are also numerous economic benefits that "going green" promotes.

In an article titled, "Everything's Gone Green" published in Business and Finance this issue is further explored. High fuel prices, crisis in the Middle East, and political insecurity have recently caused the United States economy to spiral out of control. As Americans across the country pull into gas stations to filll up, it is becoming increasingly obvious that gas prices are reaching record highs.

Investment banking groups are not letting this energy switch go unnoticed. Groups such as JP Morgan and Citigroup are establishing investing task forces in an effort to invest in alternative engery. These companies are seizing the chance to capitalize on the current "green" trends. Investment firms are jumping at the chance to get a piece of the financial pie as new energy sources such as wind-power turbines, hydro-electricity, and biofuels become more commonly used.

The CFO of Ecosecurities, Jack MacDonald commented on this occurance when he stated, ""With costs of energy going up dramatically, renewable energy is becoming more cost-effective than fossil fuel and is driving the development of renewable projects globally. Also, with climate change in the background, companies are increasingly focusing on alternative energy to reduce their carbon emissions footprint. The biggest investments being made are in sectors such as wind power, hydro projects, biomass, energy efficiency and the solar industry."

Making Light of a Heavy Subject

The Clean Air Energy: Nuclear Power

Despite some drawbacks when referring to the safety of disposal and maintenance of radioactive waste due to the long half-life of many byproducts, nuclear energy is one of the most promising technologies to help the human species reduce our carbon footprint.







According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, "nuclear plants are the lowest-cost producer of baseload electricity. The average production cost of 1.72 cents per kilowatt-hour includes the costs of operating and maintaining the plant, purchasing fuel and paying for the management of used fuel."




This graph clearly compares the production cost of several various forms of energy. Clearly, petroleum, which accounts for a high percentage of usage, has the highest production cost while the production cost of nuclear energy is much lower per kilowatt-hour.

Nuclear power plants aid compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1970, which sets standards to improve the nation's air quality. Because nuclear power plants generate heat from fission rather than from burning fuel, they produce no greenhouse gases or emissions associated with acid rain or urban smog.

Additionally, nuclear energy keeps American business growth competitive, as well as provides local job growth in places where plants are built.

While nuclear energy should not be considered as the only source of alternative energy, allowing the construction of new plants and increasing the productivity of old ones would serve the environment and the economy positively.

It's time to pay attention:

Maybe it is time for America to step up and take action!!!

Solar Airplane Concepts

There has recently been an anouncement of the production of a portable solar charger for airplane avionics. Scientists and architects are looking into the possibility of airplanes being powered by solar energy. according to this renewable energy website I found, there are several different solar airplane concepts that are currently being considered and explored.

The Helios Prototype solar-electric flying wing was one of several remotely piloted aircraft, also known as uninhabited aerial vehicles or UAVs, that were developed as technology demonstrators under the now-concluded Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. Prior to its loss in an in-flight mishap in June 2003, the Helios Prototype set a world altitude record for propeller-driven aircraft of almost 97,000 feet.

Pathfinder was first developed for a now-cancelled classified government program in the early 1980’s to develop a high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft for surveillance purposes. Known as the HALSOL (for High-Altitude SOLar) aircraft, its eight electric motors — later reduced to six — were first powered by batteries.

The Centurion is a lightweight, solar-powered, remotely piloted flying wing aircraft that is demonstrating the technology of applying solar power for long-duration, high-altitude flight. It is considered to be a prototype technology demonstrator for a future fleet of solar-powered aircraft that could stay airborne for weeks or months on scientific sampling and imaging missions or while serving as telecommunications relay platforms. It also has a wingspan of 206 feet.

The “Hy-Bird” project plans to fly around the world with a 100% clean electric airplane powered only by renewable energies: solar energy and hydrogen. The goal is to design an airplane, which will use only renewable energies with no greenhouse gas emission.

Here is a link to see more of the solar airplane ideas and also videos of each:

http://http//www.alternative-energy-news.info/10-best-solar-airplane-concepts/

Why I don't buy a hybrid...

A poll featured in Daily Fuel Economy Tip asked “What’s stopping you from buying a hybrid car?” Among the various responses were the following:

-49% of respondents stated that hybrid cars are too expensive
-29% of respondents stated that they were waiting for plug-in hybrid vehicles ( a vehicle combining the benefits of an electric car and a hybrid car)
-11% of respondents stated that they just are not interested in buying a hybrid vehicle
-9% of respondents stated that hybrid cars are too small

My response to "What's stopping you from buying a hybrid car?"... I think they are ugly. If we look at society today we see that society values materialistic as well as nice looking things. Take that coal commercial for example, viewers enjoyed the commercial because of its sex appeal, not because of their concern with using coal as a source of energy. People choose to drive Hummers because they believe they are what they drive. If you want to command a room and come off as powerful, than a Hummer is the way to go, not a hybrid. What can I say, Americans have good taste and expect to own nice things. I firmly believe that if car companies started to make fuel efficient cars that were more stylish and similar to the favorites we have now, people in general would be more willing to help the environment by buying one.

Is ethanol production increasing food prices?

There has been much speculation about this very question for quite some time. Recently, a group of 23 GOP Senators have asked the EPA to roll back requirements on an energy bill that stipulates the increased produciton of biofuel/ethanol five fold by 2022. You can read the article here.

But, is that the real source of corn prices going up? The answer is complicated. Though ethanol has increased corn prices marginally, the impact is very little.

There are many different factors that go into the production of products that contain corn. The most widely used example of this is the cereal Corn Flakes. According to Ephraim Liebtag in his article "Corn prices near record high, but what about food costs?" states that in a box of Corn Flakes, the amount of corn in price is equal to about 3.3 cents after taking into consideration the price per bushel and corn used for the flakes. The rest is transportation, packaging, advertising etc. The then increase in corn of 49 cents a bushel, only pushes the cost up 1.6 cents. A negligible difference.

In addition to that, the USDA had predicted correctly for last year that 2007 would yield the largest corn crop ever seen. A 10.6% increase to 13.1 billion bushels from the previous record in 2004 of 11.8 billion bushels. More corn in the supply would dictate that even if demand increases, prices would stay relatively constant.

I am going to say that the reason food prices are increasing is because it is more expensive to bring the food to us. Oil is used to transport the food, make the packing and sometimes even cool the food in the fridge (We do, after all, use electricity). Soaring oil prices are the culprit for our woes. Ethanol, though not a permanent energy solution, is a nice first step. It has seen no real impact on the edible corn grown for humans.