Marquiss Wind Power raises $1,500,000
Marquiss Wind Power Inc. raises $1.5M to deploy up to 10 rooftop turbines. The Marquiss turbine looks a bit like a huge box fan, with a propeller mounted inside a steel box 17 feet on a side and not quite 3 feet deep. Steel flaps along the edge of the box automatically orient the rotor blades into the wind. The fan blades spin a turbine that generates electricity.
Sourse: Marquiss Wind Power raises $1,500,000
The darker side of wind power
If, as the experts say, the pursuit of energy in the face of dwindling fossil fuels will be our nation’s most pressing issue in the coming years, then a drive through the southern plains is a revealing glimpse of our energy future.
There’s an energy boom going on in the “oil patch” region of Oklahoma and […]
Sourse: The darker side of wind power
January 2008 - Check your wallet at the pump
Hi all, Colin White here. As I write this in January 2008, the temperature outside my drafty, 100+ year-old home is below freezing. Oil is flirting with $100 a barrel, and the ‘high-efficiency’ oil furnace we installed just two years ago is burning it up at the rate of about $500 a month so far this winter. Gasoline and heating oil are both over $3 a gallon and rising. Whether the price of oil will stay that high, or go up or down, who can say? One thing I do know, there never has been more interest in renewable energy technology.
Solar-powered gadgets have been a casual interest of mine for some time. But recently I have started to delve deeper into the pros and cons of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and geothermal energy. In this website and blog, I will post my observations and reviews of solar and other renewable energy technologies. I hope you find the information useful, and feel free to drop me a line any time with comments and observations of your own.
Sourse: January 2008 - Check your wallet at the pump
What do we do?
I get it. Coal-power plants are bad. Nuclear power is bad. Windmills are bad.
But one thing I don’t get. What do we generate electricity with?
Or are we all to become this guy?
Sourse: What do we do?
Premier, Dalton McGuinty Talks About Renewable Energy For Ontario
Editor:
I would like to thank Lynne, for sending me the Hansard below. Just what is Premier, Dalton McGuinty up to.
According to our Premier, Dalton McGuinty
Ontario Hansard - 19-April2006
“I think the member opposite knows that when it comes to natural gas, prices there tend to be volatile, and it remains a significant contributor to global warming. Wind turbines: We are investing heavily in those, but again, those are an expensive form of electricity and they’re not reliable, because sometimes obviously the wind does not blow. When it comes to solar, those tend to be expensive as well.”
So Mr. Premiere, instead of building a cost effective reliable electrical system for Ont., you have decided to do the exact opposite. Why?
You say, “natural gas, prices there tend to be volatile, and it remains a significant contributor to global warming”.
Building thousands of megawatts of gas plants, will result in a significant, unnecessary cost, with little or no benefit to the environment. Installing the scrubbers on the coal plants would have brought down the emissions very close to that of the, to be built gas plants, at a fraction of the cost. In fact, by not installing the scrubbers on the coal plants you have put the health of the people of Ont. at risk.
You go on to say
Ontario Hansard - 19-April2006
“But we’re not just sitting on our hands as we weigh these important issues before us. Let me tell you about some of the exciting news that we have by way of creating new wind farms in Ontario. We’ve announced three new wind farms in the last month alone. At Erie Shores, there’s a new wind farm with 66 turbines producing 99 megawatts of power for 25,000 homes. The first phase of a new wind farm outside Goderich is now up. That’s 22 turbines producing enough power for 12,000 homes. And the first phase of a new wind farm is now up outside Shelburne, Ontario: 45 turbines producing 67.5 megawatts. That’s enough to power 18,000 homes”.
Your statement above sounds good, but it’s not exactly honest. According to the Independent Electricity System Operator — “For capacity planning purposes, wind generation has a dependable capacity contribution of 10% of the listed figures.”
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
Monday 10 April 2006
According to you, the wind farms listed above, produce enough energy to power 55,000 homes, but the IESO says they have a real capacity to power only 5,500 homes. You call wind energy, “expensive and not reliable”. Why are you building them?
A new report predicts that energy costs could rise as much as 70 per cent if natural gas generation replaces the four coal plants. But McGuinty said that’s the cost of cleaner air.
“The single greatest contributor to greenhouse gases in the province of Ontario is coal-fired generation so we’re going to do something about that,” he said.
You also said, “natural gas, prices there tend to be volatile, and it remains a significant contributor to global warming”
I had the opportunity to talk with one of your energy advisors about a year ago. He says that the gas plants are more dangerous to health than coal plants with scrubbers installed. Apparently the particulate from the gas plants is much finer and harder for the body to deal with. I was also told gas plants are great emitters of ground level ozone, which is very hard on people with asthma or other breathing problems.
Our manufacturers in Ont. are losing jobs because of the high dollar, while at the same time, Mr. McGuinty, you are doing everything in your power to drive up the cost of electricity. Any significant rise in the cost of power will drive industry out of Ont., and they won’t likely return.
Mr. McGuinty, you recently went to Ottawa looking for Federal Govt. aid to help the manufacturing sector in Ont., while at the same time you are building an electrical system that is sure to drive industry out of the Province or into bankruptcy.
Who are you working for anyway? The people of Ont. or the Maurice Strong agenda. So far, it looks like Strong has your attention. You are obviously not listening to your own energy advisors.
“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the
industrialized civilizations collapse?
Isn’t it our responsiblity to bring that about?”
- Maurice Strong, former Secretary General of UNEP
Further reading material
T h e E 8 r e c o mm e n d a t i o n s
Mr. McGuinty, you already know the devastating affect your “Green” polices are having on people and their property values, and you seem convinced, by your own words, that your energy polices are badly flawed, “expensive and unreliable”.
Yet, you continue down this path of destruction for the Ont. economy. Why?
Sourse: Premier, Dalton McGuinty Talks About Renewable Energy For Ontario
China’s first White Paper.
To those who read this blog, I will be away and so writing from afar for the next two weeks but I hope to continue posting regularly.
Returning to global environmental issues, I was interested to read China’s first energy white paper. Coal remains China’s main energy source but it targets “vigorously developing renewable energy” as its main objective for the future. It will focus on “developing hydropower, biomass energy, wind power and solar power in the future, according to a medium and long-term plan for renewable energy.” The paper points out that the NDRC has already listed the area as a development priority in its revised industry catalogue for foreign investment.
In addition China has set itself target of 10% energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2010 and 15% by 2020. This is still below the Bali Conference objective of 20% by 2020 but it does show that it is seriously tackling the possibilities. As the globe’s manufacturing engine it is vital that China be examining its energy policies and practices.
The complexity of the problem of emissions growth was emphasized by a report in The China Daily today that trade surpluses are leading to emission growth by the consumption of embodied energy. It pointed to the fact that
“net export of embodied energy in international trade from China has grown in recent years because of the country’s trade surplus, according to a study released yesterday. Embodied energy refers to that required for raw material procurement, manufacture, transport, construction, maintenance and repair.”
Pan Jiahua, deputy director of the Research Center for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is cited as showing in studies that “in 2002, the net export of embodied energy in international trade from China was about 240 million tons of coal equivalent, accounting for 16 percent of the world’s total primary energy consumption. In 2006, that figure became 630 million tons of coal equivalent, accounting for 25.7 percent of primary energy consumption.”
The report concluded that the rapid increase in China’s emission is not only driven by domestic demands, but also by international trade because of China’s position as the world’s processing factory.
The world community as a whole has a vital interest is challenging the emerging giants like China and India pursue environmentally responsible practices and policies and this shows that even areas like international trade have their role to play.
Sourse: China’s first White Paper.
Canadian Arctic tries Wind Power
Globe and Mail:Territories hope Arctic winds pack power
Tuktoyaktuk tries to implement a wind based solution to replace diesel power generators.
Sourse: Canadian Arctic tries Wind Power
Savoy residents take steps toward wind power
Savoy has leapt closer to welcoming wind turbine development on its ridgelines.
Voters who attended last night’s special town meeting decided by secret ballot 155-56 to adopt a turbine-regulating bylaw in an approval that satisfied the required two-thirds majority.
“Congratulations to us all,” Harold “Butch” Malloy said, beaming as neighbors congratulated him on his efforts to pass […]
Sourse: Savoy residents take steps toward wind power
Wind Power & Battery System
This is a great, cheap system for making your own wind power and battery system.
It’s called a Poor Man’s Guide to Wind Power & Battery Systems.
It’s easy to make a 1,000 watt wind turbine for less than $150 , including the tower.
The report now includes 3,000 watt wind turbine plans as well as a DC Motor Analyzer program.
Forklift batteries can be simply refurbished for no cost at all with an easy to make desulfator kit.
Renewable energy (RE) is incredibly important nowadays. There are only a few books out there right now that talk about renewable energy (RE) and none of them talk about how to do it on the cheap and still keep it simple. There are several excellent wind turbine do it yourself books which talk about hand carving blades out of wood and how to make your own generator from scratch. This includes even winding your own coils, welding and so on. But still, this is cheap but not very simple.
Without doubt, there is too much waste in the world right now. So, some people love the concept of taking something labeled as “junk” and making it new again. They hate to see batteries go to scrap when it is easy to get some more life out of them. Imagine all that lead and sulfuric acid that has to go somewhere and be afraid that it will impact the environment or the water supply.
This wind power and battery system book is designed for the thrifty person and the “recycler”. Someone who wants to get started into renewable energy and not break the bank in the process. Someone who hates to see scrap sit around and go to waste. Someone who wants to become independent from the grid and help the environment. Some people even buy this book so they can refurbish forklift batteries as a business. Imagine getting a free forklift battery that normally costs $4000 new. Recondition it in 30 days and sell it locally for $1500. And you don’t even need a truck to do it. This shows how to have the batteries dropped off and picked up.
This wind power and battery system e-book is full of pictures and diagrams to explain the concepts.
how to make free windmill blades and it will only take about an hour to finish a set of 3.
a page full of equations and examples of how to use them to figure out power, rpm, tsr, windspeed etc. (units are in miles per hour and feet)
how to find free fork lift batteries and how to make them as good as new
making a homemade de-sulfator so you can “pulse” any battery back into new condition
what kind of generator to look for and how to get the best prices
how to make a simple “furling” system to protect the windmill in high winds
how to charge several banks of batteries all at once while pulsing them back to health
How to make a 1,000 watt wind turbine for less than $150 (including tower)
How to make a 3,000 watt wind turbine for about $220
Download includes the DC Motor Analyzer software
Click here for much more about wind power and battery systems.
Sourse: Wind Power & Battery System
wind updates from 2007
Cool announcement from Windustry - their Community Wind Toolbox is operational. Also, their recent newsletter highlighted a new report out from Farmers Legal Action Group - a Farmer’s Guide to Wind Energy: Legal Issues in Farming the Wind. I’ll stick these resources on the CEP website’s Wind page also.
The Guide is downloadable in multi-section .pdfs, which if you don’t have access to broadband (and that’s most of us out here) is extremely helpful. You can also order a print copy. I haven’t read it it yet, but I bet you shouldn’t sign ANYTHING until you at least review this information… and speaking of, folks know, right, that Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association also has a helpful .pdf - Guidelines for Landowners in Negotiating Wind Energy Leases - on their website, too?
If anyone else knows of other good legal resources for folks interested in signing wind leases or developing their wind resources, just let me know.
And now Texas. I know, I know, they do their own thing down there. (Bless their hearts.) However, at times it is definitely worth paying attention to how they do it - such as how they are going about installing wind power and preparing for climate change (NPR). Since TX emits more CO2 than any other state in the union, I for one am grateful. They’re doing wind on a pretty big scale, too (surprise! Texas, big?) but always remember, wind power can work on small and community scales as well. No need to always go mega. Aren’t the KS tourism folks always telling us KS is “as big as we think”? 
Bad joke. Anyway. Another Texas energy concept that we here at CEP find intriguing - the creation of Renewable Energy Zones. These zones designate certain parts of the state for renewable energy development, so then transmission developers and planners know where to focus their efforts in building new transmission lines. The idea also translates well to regional renewable energy development efforts.
Sourse: wind updates from 2007
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