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Tag Archives: energy independence

Average Americans Display PHEV Spirit

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Today is Good News Tuesday.  After weeks and weeks of political squabbling about our current energy crisis, regular Americans are showing why our country is great.  American ingenuity and work ethic will drive our nation toward alternative energy sources and the goal of US energy independence, regardless of how hard the politicians try to get in the way. 

The Spirit of DC is a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle that is currently travelling all around America.  Called PHEV3A (PHEV All Around America), the goal of their country-wide tour is to show the nation that plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are truly practical and are possible now, we do not need to wait for new technology to be developed.   The converted 2005 Toyota Prius has a battery pack that was added to the rear of the vehicle, allowing it to be charged from a regular electrical outlet.  This allows the Prius to run on all-electric power for a greater percentage of time, resulting in 100+ MPG. 

Imagine what a fleet of PHEV’s getting 100+MPG would do to our dependence on foreign oil.  Urge your elected officials to support tax credits for PHEV ownership, and ask them to help encourage our auto companies to quickly bring new PHEV’s to market.   Ask them to spend some of the existing $35 Billion in taxes that ExxonMobile paid last quarter on supporting alternative energy sources.  Toyota and Honda currently lead the field in electric hybrids, and if our auto industry truly does not want to become irrelevant, they need to quickly bring more hybrids and PHEVs into production immediately.

If you think you might be a potential sponsor you can contact PHEV3A’s Co-Chairs, Joseph Lado, at the virtual PHEV3A operations Center (Poc) by emailing joelado@yahoo.comand “on the Road” PHEV3A driver “EVJerry” Asher at EVisionA2Z@usa.net.  You can keep up to date on their progress at their blog.

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Electrifying Hoedown Spurs Shocking Powers

Monday, August 4, 2008

This September a human-powered sustainable dance club, called Club Watt by its owners, opens its doors in Rotterdam, Netherlands.  Club Watt proposes to power the club through human power.  This ultra-green dance club is deadly serious about taking themselves off-grid.

They create their energy through a high-tech floor that captures the movements of the dancers above and produces electricity down below.  Heavy duty coils and magnets provide the means of turning the moving floor into power.  The electricity is than stored in heavy-duty batteries and used as needed to power the Clubs’s sound system, lights, etc.  However, even with the high-tech floor, human power will only provide ~30% of the Club’s required energy.  The shortfall will be made up with solar power and a wind turbine.

What the company’s press release does not explain is that the average human only generates about one kilowatt-hour (kWh) per day.  At that rate, tapping into human energy to generate power proves to not be very efficient.  In the US, one kWH costs about a Quarter.  Obviously human energy will not be the US’s long-term solution for energy independence.

Human Power turns out be a great marketing tool for trendy companies that want to appear to look green, but in economic terms, it really does not make any sense.

If you think that this is shocking, read this.

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Weekend with Nancy

Monday, July 28, 2008
Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi

Our Congressional leaders sure wanted us to know that they were working hard this weekend.   In scanning just some of the headlines in various publications, they kept using the phrase, “the Senate in a rare weekend session”.  Are they trying to make us think they are actually working hard for us?  Or do they feel sorry for themselves?

It all reminds me of co-workers who send email messages to the CEO at 2AM to “impress” him with how hard they work.  Give me a break…  Our elected representatives need to be working harder for us, they need to spend less time worrying about getting re-elected, and more time worrying about our nation’s problems.  And in my opinion, the issue everyone should be focused on is energy independence.

So what was Nancy Pelosi working on this weekend?  Uh, making sure that Congress does NOT vote… Instead of dealing with the issue of offshore drilling, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a staunch opponent of well, everything, has simply decreed that she will not allow an offshore drilling vote to take place on the House floor.   So, why will she not allow a simple vote?

“What the president would like to do is to have validation for his failed policy,” said Nancy yesterday when asked that very question. “What we’re saying is, ‘Exhaust other remedies, Mr. President.’ . . .

We can debate if offshore drilling will solve our issues, but at least bring the topic up for vote.  Ignoring the problem, and hoping that other remedies just show up, is short-sighted, and anti-democratic.

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