The Last Frost

Not the traditional solar panel technology, but a thermal solar concentration facility. Using mirrors to concentrate solar energy on a single point to generate steam which then powers traditional turbines. This technology can produce the energy equivalent of a barrel of oil for roughly $50USD. Today the price of oil is above $72USD.  

A powerplant of this sort has been running in the Mohave desert in California since the 1980's, see pic above. In 2004 this one facility produced the majority of our country's solar electricity according the Dept. of Energy. These solar plants are still being perfected, but the existing technology already results in energy cheaper than traditional alernatives. A plant being planned on a 1000 acre site in Israel will incorporate technological improvements on the same design that should make the plants even 15% more efficient. Why haven't these plants caught on?

New solar power much cheaper than oil, says report » [IOL]

Sweet looking car isn't it. It goes zero to 60 in 4 seconds, has a range of 250 miles, it's engine runs at 13,500 rpm and runs off of nothing but electricity. Tesla Motors is a car company you have probably never heard of but I think you'll be hearing a lot more about them soon. The company is backed by several very successful silicon valley executives including the founders of Google. The Roadster is slated to go on sale next year and the cost is well, who knows but my guess is that it'll be somewhere in the 1/2 million range, $100,000 range.

For more info on the car visit: TeslaMotors.com  

Tesla Roadster: Redefining the Electric Car » [AutoBlog.com]

This is a great ad by Greenpeace that just slightly exagerates the way most people view city dwelling SUV owners. Unlike other ads by Greenpeace, at least this one has a sense of humor.

Video: New Anti-Guzzler Greenpeace Ad » [TreeHugger.com]

Popular Mechanics produced a great article on the pros and cons of many alternative fuels. They break down the facts on Ethanol, Methanol, Natural Gas, Biodiesel, Electricity, Hydrogen, and of course fryer oil.

Crunching the numbers on alternative fuels » [Popular Mechanics]

Ford has begun mass producing V-10 hydrogen powered engines for use in their shuttle buses. They are the first auto company worldwide to mass produce hydrogen powered engines.

Ford's hydrogen engine in production » [Times.co.nz]

The Governor of New York George Pataki, has announced plans to open an E85 fueling station on the New York State Thruway. This adds another fueling option to the more than 200,000 flex-fuel vehicles registered in the state. The location of the new fueling station is indicated on the map above by the green arrow. Although ethanol is certainly not the answer to the problem of global warming, it is a better option than gasoline and may help in the meantime. The plan is to make E85 available at all fueling stations along the highway. 

E85 on NYS Thruway » [Star-Gazette.COM]

Here are some not-so-global-warming-related facts about light bulbs to get you thinking about their overall lack of efficiency.

Light bulb facts » [This is Money]

A wind farm has recently gone into service on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Consisting to 20 turbines, the farm produces roughly 9% of the islands power needs. This means the island which is reliant on pretty much everything being shipped in, now has to import roughly a quarter million barrels less oil every year. It's also the first wind farm in the nation to go into service with a habitat protection plan that's been approved by the Federal Government. The plan involves taking extra precautions to protect several species of animals living in the area.

Shell Oil is planning a separate wind farm on the island and is now in the process of assessing the amount of wind on their potential site. If their farm is built, 1/5th of the island's energy needs will be supplied by the wind.

Maui's first wind farm goes into service » [The Honolulu Advertiser]

Although there may be benefits from global climate change, this article completely misses the point. Global climate change is beyond human control. Like a huge boulder on a hill, we may be able to push it off the hill and set the rock rolling, but we have little if any control of where it goes after that.

I'm not arguing that global warming may bring many beneficial side effects to the people of this world along side the detrimental ones. But to argue that global warming is something to look forward to is naive at best. My favorite part of the article is when they mention this regarding the melting of Greenland's glaciers:

"..global sea levels would rise by 40 feet, submerging lower Manhattan, the Netherlands and much of California. But to many of the people who live here in Greenland, the warming trend is a boon, not a threat." [MongaBay.com]

and then later:

"many climate scientists argue that any local benefits of the warming trend are more than offset by the global costs."[MongaBay.com]

So it's good to know that the flooding of lower Manhattan, the Netherlands, and much of California, will be offset by the local benefits climate change has on Greenland. That doesn't even take into account the flooding of Florida, parts of China, London, and the countless other areas across the globe succeptable to sea level rises.

Of course the metling of Greenland is only a small slice of the global pie. What happens when Antarctica which contains a lot more water than Greenland begins to melt? According to a JPL/NASA study in 2002, if Greenland and Antartica were to melt, sea levels would rise by 230 feet or 70 meters. Let's see Greenland offset the cost of flooding at that magnitude.

Greenlanders looking forward to global warming » [MongaBay.com]

It would be almost too easy to blame this on Global Warming, so I won't. Afterall it is July, but the above image struck me as somewhat powerful.