First of all, we need to know what the problem is. It is Peak Oil.
Alternate Fuels
Ethanol made from Corn is a terrible choice as a renewable energy source. Corn is a food product. We eat corn, and we also eat things that eat corn, like cows and pigs.
We use corn to make a wide variety of products. Why condone ethanol made from a product that is already serving a purpose to make a fuel that we need millions of gallons of EVERY DAY?
Soon we would have to eat $5.00 per ear corn on the cob and $20 per pound hamburgers. I think we could instead produce Cellulosic Ethanol, made from Cedar, switchgrass, and other plant materials that are growing wild.
In 2007, I jokingly told some friends that we should find a way to make ethanol out of Cedar, because there is a lot of Cedar
here in the San Antonio area. Cedar creates Cedar Pollen, and it makes people miserable. Cedar also sucks a lot of water out
of the ground. Cedar is not a desireable plant, so it would be a FREE source of raw material for ethanol.
So, someone from Houston writes me and tells me that Cedar is an excellent raw material for making Butanol, and Butonol was used to
power a car on a trip across the USA. So I did some research, and my joke turns out to be a fairly feasable concept.
Acres USA Interview with Michael Hudson, PhD about our Debtor Nation
Please Read this article from Knowledge News about the consumption of Oil by the U.S.
Wind Power
The cost of the freight for coal that San Antonio pays to haul in their coal for the Braunig lake plant costs more than the coal. What will be the cost of that freight in 2038?
Wouldn't it eventually be much cheaper to build a nearby windfarm, which would have no fuel or shipping costs, and require a minimum of labor to maintain it?
And you don't want to hear me say how much I hate the "myth of hydrogen".
Some links to get you up to speed.
This company makes a horizontal axis wind turbine. Maybe we could make it an "Urban Turbine".
Loving the wind. Slide show on the Renewable Energy boom in Roscoe, Texas.
Why do electric companies feel that going green should cost more? Does it Cost more ?
Solar Power
Finally, someone is producing an affordable Solar panel. A high-power, high-current panel, the Nanosolar Utility Panel(tm)
features proprietary cell and panel design innovations that enable our panel product to have an entire factor more power and to carry 5-10
times more current than typical thin-film panels.
If you haven't seen the NOVA (PBS) show "Saved by the Sun" please take the time to view it.
Battery Technology
New Battery technology may be perfect fit for HEV and PHEV applications.
The Battery Dilemma. Deciding on what type of battery to use with a spreadsheet.