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.
KAS Consulting 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. (more…)
Since the price of natural gas has decreased under $7 per million Btu, it would be more expensive to to produce energy from wind farms. Pickens says that natural gas prices would have to be over $9 per million Btu for wind energy to be advantageous.
This is another sign of how the low oil and natural gas prices have slowed down alternative energy. With the lower prices, people have been losing interest in alternative energy technologies. Once prices rise again, there will be a renewed push for alternative energy resources where businesses can make money from alternative energy sources.
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 took a big move forward as Google announced it was investing $10.25 million dollars in an energy technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS).
The funding will also go towards geothermal resource mapping, information tools, and a geothermal energy policy agenda according to CleanTechnica
A report by MIT says that geothermal energy can provide more than 2,500 the annual energy use of the United States. As the technology advances, it will be interesting to see how an infrastructure is set up to use the energy for our everyday needs.
Crude oil has been the center of the economy for the past 5 years with no immediate end in site. The battle over the control of oil has pushed the world into a state of “oil shock” as prices have risen worldwide.
Oil rich countries such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran are using their control of oil to push their power around the rest of the world.
America will need to develop it’s own home-grown alternative fuel to become independent of these foreign nations and become the energy leader by example to countries around the world. The next president of the United States will need to develop and plan and execute their plan for this to succeed. I’ve already mentioned the two presidential candidates plans for energy. Both of the plans has pros and cons, but each of them will need to be revised for either one to succeed.
This plan will need to incorporate oil as a short term solution until the technologies of alternative energy are cost efficient and can be used by everyone which could still be 5-10 years down the road. We are at a critical point in the worlds history and unless the leaders take action, there will be an all out war against oil producing nations that will make the last 5 years of conflict seem like a children’s playground.
I believe we can do it! It will take effective leadership, strategic execution of an alternative energy plan, and a desire to change the future for the better.
Alternative energy is not about saving the planet, it is about saving ourselves. As George Carlin once said “The planet will be fine, it’s the people that are *&$#“. The planet has been around for billions of years, while humans have only been around for a hundred thousand years (give or take a couple thousand years). If we destroy ourselves, the planet will continue on without us, just like it always did before us.
World War III – The Energy War
Bill O’Reilly from Fox News wraps up some thoughts on his Talking Points:
Whether you like her or not, you have to appreciate the humor in the Paris Hilton Presidential Campaign’s video at FunnyOrDie.com. Even though she didn’t write the script, I have to agree (while I’m biting my lip) with what she says about energy.
We need to drill for new oil offshore while developing hybrid and electric cars. This would be included in the plan for a short term and a long term solution.
I love the satire in this video on how many people feel at the pump:
A common argument you will here from people against us blaming Saudi Arabia, Iraq, or a number of other countries for the high price of oil is that we import most of our oil from Canada. Yes, that is true, we do get most of our oil from Canada, here’s the chart that illustrates that:
However, what those same people fail to mention is that we get the majority of our oil from OPEC. OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is a group of twelve states made up of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela and Ecuador.
OPEC takes up 7 spots in the top 10 countries that we import oil from. Even though we import most of our oil from Canada, we import 5.2 million barrels of oil per day from OPEC. The total from the top 10 is 8.4 million barrels of oil a day.
According to this chart, the U.S. imports 12.2 million barrels of oil a day, so that means just under half of our oil comes from OPEC.
This is exactly the reason why people blame OPEC for the rising costs of oil. They’ve had a monopoly on the market for the last 30 years, and as the world demands more, OPEC has a direct effect on the cost of oil.
This is just the reason why we need to end our dependence on foreign oil and develop alternative energy technologies to fuel our energy consumption.
This video can be found at NozzleRage.com, and you can sign up to receive further videos that they produce.
