A project that I’m currently working on is the Alternative Energy Wiki. This is awesome because it has the same business plan of Wikipedia, where anyone and everyone can contribute to the website creating a knowledge database on all things related to alternative energy.
Wiki - a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.
Even in the midst of the financial markets, there is still strong support for clean tech and alternative energy project funding. These projects need funding so they can bring the technologies to market that will generate energy from alternative sources and reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Green Energy Marketing is one such funding source that has access to investment banks that have funded over $12 Billion Dollars of energy projects and companies. They have solid management and a team of advisers that will position your company for funding. They have recently set up their green energy blog to discuss issues and ideas that are facing the industry today.
Kimo Storke, the managing partner of KAS consulting, is a personal friend of mine and if your company is looking for a trusted source for financing, I would advise you contact him.
It is essential that these types of projects get funded so we can all live in a cleaner world.
I wrote a breakdown of energy policy that both Obama and McCain proposed if they were to be president. Now that Obama has won the presidential election, it’s important to go back and review his proposals more closely to see what he wants to do during his term in office.
Barack Obama’s energy plan calls for investing $150 billion in renewable energies that will generate 5 million jobs in America.
You can read more details into Barack Obama’s energy plan on his factsheet for New Energy for America.
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.
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.
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:
Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.
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!
Last week I ran a very unscientific energy survey to get your opinion on which alternative energy you were most excited about.
Thank you to everyone that made a selection and left comments, here are the results:
The solar and wind energy responses were as expected. Many people are excited about solar and wind because they get a lot of press and the advances in those two technologies have been dramatic. I didn’t think that tidal energy would have fallen in third place. It was interesting that the closer someone lived to a large river or the ocean were more likely to chose tidal energy for their selection.
There are quite a few advantages to tidal energy, but the applications thus far haven’t been nearly as publicized as biofuels and geothermal energy.
I just completely forgot to include nuclear energy in the options. I will be sure to include it next year when I run this poll again to see how opinions have changed and the reasons behind it.
As the energy revolution continues and we look for a more comprehensive energy plan, I am absolutely positive that all of these alternative energies will have their own role in our alternative energy options.
A lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it.
-Jacques Yves Cousteau
Tidal energy is more predictable than solar energy and wind energy because we already know that cycles of high and low tides are twice a day. We all just might begin to love the sea as it helps in producing alternative energy.
A tidal energy generator is installed to capture the energy of the tide coming in and the tide going using turbines. These large underwater turbines use the force of millions of gallons of water coming in and out to produce electricity.
Advantages of tidal power
*Abundant, clean, and safe
*Tides are very reliable
Although the energy supply is reliable and plentiful, converting it into useful electrical power is not easy.
Disadvantages of tidal power
*Not commercially viable at present
*Shipping could be disrupt
*Turbines may be hazardous to marine life
Even with these disadvantages, tidal energy is becoming more popular. As the technology of the turbines increase and they become more efficient, areas previously deemed to have too slow of a current are becoming viable spots to place tidal energy generators.
I haven’t seen a plan that incorporates tidal energy into the overall energy solution, but as we move forward to a more comprehensive strategy of incorporating all types of alternative energies, I am absolutely positive that tidal power will be included.
Geothermal energy uses the heat from the center of the earth’s core to produce electricity. As the heat from the Earth’s core rises to the crust of the earth, the heat is captured and absorbed by geothermal power plants. Momentum is gaining to use geothermal energy as a more prominent source of alternative energy.
Geothermal energy is a continuous source of energy since the heat is trapped inside the earth, without depleting. This places geothermal energy above sporadic wind and solar energy, which tends to have a capacity factor of only 20-35%; geothermal capacity is more than 70%.
Although global energy use from geothermal sources today only amounts to less than 1%, geothermal projects now exist in around 20 countries around the world.
Advantages of geothermal energy:
5. You can have one in your backyard
4. Maintenance costs are low
3. The amount of land needed is low
2. Energy output is unaffected by changing weather conditions
1. It’s renewable
Disadvantages of geothermal energy:
1. Produces greenhouse gases during production and maintenance
2. They could affect their surrounding environment
3. If a system is too large for its site, the energy could dry up
I wrote a 
