Photo: FuelCell Energy
Remember when we were all sweltering in July, cranking up the A/C and worrying about blackouts as we sweatedthrough a statewide heat wave? An interesting insight from Dan Brdar, CEO of FuelCell Energy, a company that makes hydrogen fuel cells (pictured at left): It’s not just?that the state doesn’t have enough sources of energy; it’s that?the grid - California’s system for transmitting the power from power plants to places where it is needed - is old and worn out.
According to Brdar, that’s also one reason hydrogen fuel cells like the giant one that provides energy to Santa Rita Jail in Pleasanton are useful. These fuel cells are installed right where they are being put to use - “onsite,” as the energy cognescenti put it.No transmission system is needed.
Posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006
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Photo: www.severavto.ru
Although sales are off 37 percent?this year and indicators point to a further decline, a new version of Ford’s full-sized Expedition SUV is now hitting showrooms, Brandweek reported.
“There could be a better time to launch a product with this capability,” Mark Kaufman, SUV marketing manager at Ford, acknowledged to Brandweek. Ford research shows only 3% of people now in the market for a new vehicle are looking for a full-size SUV, down from 6% just three years ago, the magazine reported.
Posted on Thursday, September 28th, 2006
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Photo: jzl.us/Arnold.jpg
Ever eager to uncover the latest news in California’s gubernatorial re-election campaign, your Energy Blogger probed behind the scenes to find Incumbent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new campaign jingle based on his eagerness to endorse clean energy initiatives such as his Million Solar Roofs Bill. It is sung to the tune of the Pussycat Dolls’ “Dont Cha.”
Dont cha want a governor who’s green like me
Dont cha want a governor who’s buff like me
Dont cha, dont cha
Dont cha want a governor who’s bullet-proof like me
Dont cha want a governor with solar roofs like me
Dont cha
I know the voters
I’ll do their will
That’s why whenever I get the chance I sign Democratic bills
I know they want it
It’s easy to see
So I got on the bandwagon
for alternative energy
Posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
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Photo: www.richard-seaman.com
Proposition 87 is a November ballot measure that would establish an oil severance tax on every barrel of crude oil from California wells. Doubtless you’ve seen the TV commercials for and against, which started out decorating our TV sceens with windmills and promises of resources for the research and development of cleaner energy funded by the initiative. This quickly escalated to opponents’ messages that Proposition 87 would raise gas prices and contradictions from the other side. The interesting thing about this proposition is that it supposedly self-destructs after $4 billion is raised to promote alternative energy, as in: no more tax.
I guess I’m just a cynical, pixel-stained wretch, but I can’t help but wonder: is this for real? Would it really go away? What do you think?
Posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
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Photo from PG&E
In a previous blog entry, I posted about a light bulb that has supposedly been burning for 104 years, according to the Livermore Lightbulb Centennial Committee, and whined about how short-lived light bulbs are, icky to change, yadda yadda. Behold, in my very latest PG&E bill cometh an insert (yeah, I know, PG&E bills are rife with inserts, but this is special). The insert shows six of the goofiest-looking lightbulbs you’ve ever seen (I mean this in a good way) and says they use one-quarter of the energy of regular bulbs, last up to ten times longer and reduce power plant energy output and greenhouse gas emissions. (Whether or not they’re ending the war in Iraq remains to be seen.)
To find out where to buy them, go towww.pge.com/res/rebates or call (800) 933-9555.
Posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
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Photo: www.aperfectworld.org
Have you noticed how certain phrases become popular, by which I mean everybody is mouthing the same dang thing, then fade away once again into only incidental use? This fall’s word appears to be “trump,” as in “the irritating and sheeplike use of the word ‘trump’ trumps the endless repetition of the word ‘passionate.’” Let’s all conserve our personal energy and avoid it, eh? Thanks very much in advance.
Posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
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Photo: www.fuelcells.org.au
Gentlemen, start your engines! General Motors will be placing more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles with customers in fall 2007, GM said last week. Those customers will be able to tool around town in hydrogen-fueled vehicles and fuel up with hydrogen, testing the vehicles for the company. The lucky test drivers will be in California, the New York metropolitan area and Washington, D.C. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
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Photo: www.spc.org.uk
An ongoing debate is raging over whether it’s a good idea to buy a hybrid, and that lovable duo, Click and Clack, aka car experts Tom and Ray Magliozzi, weighed in on the issue Saturday. A reader said, “I’m curious why we have to pay an extra $5,000 to $10,000 for hybrid technology to get the same mileage a good old-fashioned, gas-only car was able to achieve 20 years ago,” referring to cars like the VW Rabbit diesel that got 45 mpg in the 1980s and 1990s.
The brothers said today’s economy cars are safer and more comfortable, and cars are bigger these days. Then the brothers listed cheap cars meeting the reader’s criteria:
The Honday Fit, 109 hp, 38 mpg highway; Toyota Yaris, 106 hp, 40 mpg highway; Nissan Versa, 122 hp, 35 mpg highway; Chevy Aveo, 103 hp, 35 mpg highway; Scion xA, 103 hp, 38 mpg highway, Hyundai Accent, 110 hp, 36 mpg highway, and Kia Rio, 110 hp, 36 mpg highway.
Posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006
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Photo: MediaNews
Alt-pop group Guster puts its money, not to mention its energy, where its mouth is. The band’s fifth album, “Ganging Up On The Sun,” promotes socially aware themes including alternative energy. Touring behind “Sun,” the quartet is riding in a biodiesel-fueled bus with “an entire eco-village at every show, with displays about alternative energy like wind power and biodiesel,” percussionist Brian Rosenworcel told MediaNews.
Posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006
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Photo: www.pool-table-rules.com/
A Concord man started waving a pool cue at a group of motorcyclists while he was driving down the highway Thursday, the California Highway Patrol told the Contra Costa Times. Since this clearly wasn’t moronic enough, the guy, identified by CHP officers as Richard Brooks, 50, of Concord, parked his car on the side of the road and got out to approach the motorcyclists, who had parked on the shoulder, CHP officers said. When he did so, he left his car in reverse and it backed into him, knocking him into traffic and then crossing backward across traffic lanes before stopping in the center divide, officers said. Amazingly, he survived with cuts and scrapes, according to officers, and was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence. Gosh, you think?
The lesson: In the interests of saving gas and hence energy, plan your trips carefully and be sure not to leave your car in reverse when you park. (And thanks to Capricious Commuter Erik Nelson for tipping me off about this story.)
Posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006
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