Interest in alternative energy has cooled down as oil prices have dropped more than half from a summertime high of $143. I wouldn’t get too comfortable though, with OPEC controlling oil production, you never know when the next spike will be. They recently announced that they were cutting production to stabilize prices. It doesn’t look like this first production cut has made much of an impact on prices since the demand for oil is lower globally, but the last two years has showed us that it can bounce right back up at anytime. Ideally, OPEC would like oil prices to be between $80 - $100 per barrel, and that doesn’t include the spikes that will happen during shortages or other global events.

“The one thing that is certain about energy prices is that they are volatile,” said Ralph Cavanagh, head of the energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They bounce crazily around. And Californians know this better than anyone - you don’t want to be a victim of the next bad bounce.”

So, now more than ever, we have to remember the pain that we’ve had to go through the last couple of years of high oil prices and try to prevent that same pain in the future.

If we don’t do more now with alternative energy research and development, we WILL just repeat history and go through the whole energy crisis again.

NozzleRage.com recently put out their second video to bring awareness to how much money we send to foreign nations, how it can effect our economy, and to promote alternative fuels for our vehicles. Even though I don’t think that this video is as funny as the first one, I like how they’re pushing our independence of foreign oil through humor that we all can relate to and what we can do about it.

It’s always flattering when your website or blog makes it on a list with other notable people and organizations. I got an email the other day that this blog made it on the The Top 100 Environmentalists Blogs.

Check out the list, there is quite a collection of great blogs on there to read. A couple great ones that I’ve never heard of, but will begin to follow.

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Google as come out with an energy plan that would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by 2030. Google wants their Clean Energy 2030 proposal to “stimulate debate” so we can have a real conversation about how we are going to solve our energy needs for the future.

The Wall Street Journal says:

While requiring $4.4 trillion in expenditures, Google estimates that the plan would return a net savings of $1.0 trillion over its 22-year duration and create many new jobs. Work on the report was led by Jeffery Greenblatt, climate and energy technology manager for Google.org, the company’s nonprofit arm.

And the highlight of the plan is:

Greenblatt wrote that the “Clean Energy 2030″ plan would involve heavy investments in transmission capacity for wind and solar power in the “Great Plains and desert Southwest” to help cut 88% of fossil fuel use and 95% of carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030.

The Clean Energy 2030 plan covers these issues:

1. Reduce demand by doing more with less
2. Develop renewable energy that is cheaper than coal
3. Electrify transportation and re-invent our electric grid

It doesn’t surprise me that businesses and other prominent people are putting together energy plans. From the Pickens Plan, Google’s energy solution, and a number of other energy plans have been brought forth.

As I have said before, in today’s world it’s corporations and private companies, not government, that drive many big social changes. There is no time to wait on government plans because they would take too long and be inefficient. However, businesses with money on the line will find ways for clean energy to be profitable and available to everyone.

What are your thoughts on Google’s Clean Energy 2030 plan?

Google recently pledged $10 million to fund good ideas. It’s called Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced “ten to the one hundredth) and anyone can submit their ideas and you can enter as many ideas as you like.

The deadline for submissions is Oct. 20th and you can submit your idea by clicking here. Google will then pick the 100 best ideas. Beginning January 27th Google is going to allow the people to vote on the 100 ideas to choose twenty semi-finalists. Then an advisory board will select up to five final ideas.

Even though I’ve submitted about a dozen different ideas related to alternative energy, you can submit an idea for any of these categories:

So, if you’ve been thinking about that one great idea that you believe could change the world, here’s your chance to do it!