War against the Oil Cartels of the Planet Earth

[carlb23]

here is a link to a picture of the back of our house with the wind turbine and 7kw of solar on  the main roof.  Since this picture we have added 3kw to the garage roof and a 100 sq/ft solar hot air collector to the lower portion of the second floor just under the windows running across the entire width of the house.

Carl

http://www.skystreamenergy.com/images/photos/20-baldino_1.jpg

[AdeV73]

See, there's your problem - the reflections from the solar panels are so bright they've caused the turbine blades to bend...

[Stan]

Yup, looks like them suckers just got too hot and bent like plastic steer horns on a hot pickup hood on a scorching Texas day!  Yeee haw!
Stan

[LowGear]

Gosh,

I thought they were reacting to the particulates in the New Jersey wind and were just sweep back by pure friction.

Hey Stan,

Have you compared BTUs per nickel for one KWH against one nickels worth of natural gas?  That’s a space heater on medium for an hour.

Do climate warming warners consider hydroelectric energy to be renewable?

I do the maintenance on an apartment building in Seattle.  I just changed out the hot water boiler for this 2500 square foot multiplex and the oil bill dropped by almost 25%.  We changed out the 1943 single pane windows to double pane on the house next door and the oil bill hasn’t dropped enough to notice.  Oh, we stuck another 4 inches of insulation in the ceiling as well.  This year we’re going after infiltration.

Casey

[oliver90owner]

Do climate warming warners consider hydroelectric energy to be renewable?

Of course.  It is simply solar energy, so is renewable.  It is indirect solar, but that is still the source.  Unless it is pumped storage, of course.

Solar thermal + wind (indirect solar)>>>>evaporation, transpiration/evaporation>>>>>precipitation>>>>catchment=====Gravitational Potential Energy>>>>kinetic energy to turn the turbine to drive the generator as required.

Regards, RAB

[Stan]

RAB is not completely correct, but mostly.  It takes a tremendous amount of carbon in the form of concrete production to build a dam.  There's some natural offgassing due to vegetation rotting on the bottoms of reservoirs, and silting makes the life of a dam something between 100 and 150 years.  In Turkey for example, they built 12 huge dams that they expected to last for over 100 years, but because they have raped all the mountain sides of their trees, the erosion was waaaay more than expected and some of their dams will be useless in 25 to 50 years now.

So it depends. We've got a rabid neo-con party in charge of BC right now and they are considering building another dam on the Peace River in some of the most productive farmland in the area.  Hopefully the Indians will put a stop to it as some of the land is owned by them.  We don't need any more power as BC is a net exporter to the US, and the govt is only wanting to sell more so they can reward their rich benefactors.  We are actually being run by a group called the "Fraser Institute" who's mission statement reads "Redirecting of public attention to the role of competative markets in providing for the will being of Canadians health and education".  Which means "give my rich buddies all the business of "for profit health" and "for profit education".  People like Conrad Black, Tom Flanigan, the Weston family, Karl Rove etc are or were recently on the board of directors of this bunch of neo-cons. 

They are all the chief advisors of our premier, you know, the one charged and found guilty of drunk driving in Hawaii 4 or 5 years ago! 
Stan

[LowGear]

OK, enough fan based support for the ruling class.  I hope you don’t pay as high a price as we did for the free-basing marketers that parade about as newly defined conservatives.  I just got an email soliciting signatures to put the rascals on trial.

But Wait!  Weren't we talking about how the use and price of power (electrical) varies around the world?  I sure wish some of our Australian and South African members would share their experience with us.  How is their power generated?  How much does it cost and how much do they use?  And is it purchased from/through the government or is there a somewhat independent private company marketing their utilities?

Casey

[oliver90owner]

Stan,

I agree with your comments about dams.  But one must remember that not all hydro is from dammed lakes, resevoirs or what have you.  Some can be 'run of river' - obviously a very low head there!  Some can be simple penstock from the supply before a waterfall - some serious power from the high flow high head pelton wheels.  Of course, like you indicated, removal of forestation can cause serious soil erosion problems up-stream and some areas are more prone to heavily laden waters with suspended sediment at certain times of the year.

A lot of the concrete used in modern  large abuttments is a fly-ash (waste material) derived product - less cracking due to thermal heat produced while curing per unit time.  But never mind the structure of the dam - consider the change to the environment as well, ecological changes.  They may have put in a Severn barrage (tidal system, not 'hydro' in it's accepted sense) many years ago (when it was a cheaper project, relatively) but the problems were, among others, how the backwaters would build up with raw sewage effluent, which was still being disposed directly into the river, and the associated hazards.

Hydro is still renewable.  Can make some more tomorrow and the days after with no further 'energy' cost.  Nearly all installations hydro, wind, solar thermal or PV etc. have a capital cost.

Regards, RAB

[Stan]

Our BC Premier has figured another way to reward his buddies in industry on the advice of the Fraser Institute.  He has ordered our "crown corporation" quasi gov't body, called BC Hydro to cease any further hydro development in the province.  In return he has "let" private, for profit corporations have the rights to partially dam over 100 creeks and rivers and to construct "run of the river" hydro installations, many of which are already completed and more planned.

All this would be a good thing if the average guy could get in on it and sell the power harvested to BC Hydro at a competitive rate. (BC Hydro power costs less than 5 cents/kwh to produce).  However if you didn't get in on this at the beginning, (and it was secret) and you are not a huge corporation that has close political ties to our neo-con leader, you didn't stand a chance.

There are 2 killers in this whole scenario. The first is that by law (recently passed) BC Hydro MUST buy the power from these projects at a fixed rate of 24 cents/kwh (thereby setting the stage to bankrupt BC Hydro).  The second is that under NAFTA, if any of these companies (many of them american) sell even 1 kwh of power to the US, the americans will then "own" all rights to that stream or river, including the right to take any or all of the water and ship it to the US via pipeline.

Lots of intelligent people here in BC are quite ticked off at this whole scam.
Stan

[LowGear]

Stanly,

The KMA NAFTA would never read The United States of America but rather "exportee".  It's much like the carcinogenetic gas additives that are used in California imported from Canada and were sued by the Canadian suppliers under the rules and laws of NAFTA that California’s public health laws were subordinate to their right to import poisons preventing California stopping their importation. 

This 24 cent KWH sounds much like our corporate energy supplier here in Hawaii that defends not buying local non polluting power over running diesel generators because they have to pay the same price for all energy sources.  Of course under this law the 24 cents wouldn’t hold water as the 5 cents is the market retail rate for power.

KMA – Kiss My Donkey (is that worse sounding than Ass?)

Casey

[Stan]

Jens...Rafe Mair writes a weekly article in "The Tyee" and has railed against this "Run of the River" crap for months now.  If you are as old as I am, you'll remember Rafe was a Socred Minister, and as such can in no way be construed as a rabid socialist!  Duh......He came up to Cranbrook and gave a lecture on the dangers of this stunt of Gordo's and stated several times that under NAFTA, any useage or sale of water, or water products can be construed as an entry into the existing NAFTA agreement in perpetuity.  I don't pretend to understand all the permutations and complications of nafta but a guy like Rafe undoubtedly does.

If you google Tyee, you'll find its an electronic magazine and I'm sure they have back issues of Rafe's columns.
Stan

[mobile_bob]

nothing a few dozen more nuclear plants won't fix



bob g

[LowGear]

Nuclear Plants.  The tool that keeps on giving.  One half life after another.

Incidently, where are we getting our fuel from these days?

Casey

[Stan]

Canada.
Stan