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The Green Energy Initiative

bhphcarlots — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:45:02 +0000

The so called green energy initiative that the U.S. government has promoted recently has not gained any steam. It may look good to see this president or some state governor at a factory that produces solar panels extolling the virtues of energy independence through clean renewable energy, but is this a realistic solution to our energy demands? Is it just pie-in-the-sky optimism with no basis in reality.? Green energy has been promoted by our government for over 40 years. Through various administrations, tax breaks were given to companies doing research and development into “green energy“. General Electric immediately comes to mind here. G.E. has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in government grants and tax breaks over the last 40 years, however they have produced very little in practical green energy that can be applied to the world as we know it. Oftentimes, we see windmills and solar panels touted in television commercials as the answer to all our future energy needs. These commercials have been sending the same positive message for decades, but, in reality, these energy alternatives are not real solutions. Windmills, solar panels, and battery powered cars are not the answer to our energy demands. I submit, that if these were viable solutions, someone would have harnessed them are started marketing them. We live in a society that rewards innovation.

The United States has some of the best business minds in the world looking at this green energy initiative. I have to believe if there was a profit to be made applying green energy to the marketplace, it already would have been done. The truth is that green energy is expensive and ineffective. The new battery powered Chevrolet Volt for example, only has a range of less than 40 miles before recharging is needed. The cost is over $40,000 and the supply of this limited. Is this the best we can do? Oil and coal and natural gas are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, when compared to windmills, solar panels, and batteries. Obama has maintained that the people in this country will have to suffer through high prices for gas and oil before any change can be effected in our energy consumption. I other words, the people of this country will be force fed green energy whether they like it or not. He advocates higher prices for existing energy sources as the only real incentive to get people thinking green. That’s a pretty harsh way of making the changeover. He just might succeed in destroying our economy during the process, and then the changeover to green energy would become a moot point.

Italy solves its gas crisis

bhphcarlots — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:07:41 +0000

Necessity is the mother of invention” is an axiom that especially holds true for Italians, when it comes to coping with the high cost of fuel. Because they have no natural fuel sources, Italy is forced to import all of its energy to meet its demands. Gas prices hover around $8-$10 per gallon. Actually in Italy gas is sold by the lit re. On a recent trip to Italy, I was taken by Italian solutions to high fuel prices. Many use public transportation like buses and high speed rail travel is very well advanced in Italy. This is much more economical than piling the tribe into a huge SUV like we do in the United States and filling it up 3 or 4 times on trips. Many Italians chose to motor the streets via motorcycles. They are fuel efficient and can be easily parked in cramped and bustling areas of major cities like Milan and Rome. When Italians do purchase automobiles, they tend to acquire the fuel efficient kind, like the Fiat 500. The average Italian car is small, compact, and fuel efficient. They are practical and are not necessarily an extension of who is driving them like in the U.S. Pragmatism, forced by economics, is the order of the day in that country. Substance over style.

Many Italian cars are equipped to run on natural gas. In fact, many of the taxis that I hired ran on that as its fuel source. Also many Italian autos, even the larger ones like Mercedes, are standard shift vehicles, which further increases fuel efficiency. Many Italian cars also are hybrids and run on a combination of gas and battery power.

In the U.S., we subscribe to the notion that bigger is better. We could afford that because of our domestic oil production. That “love affair” with size is fast coming to a halt here. We can take our cue from Italy they seem to be coping quite well.

The Green Energy Myth

bhphcarlots — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:28:38 +0000

Much of what is considered “green energy”, i.e. battery operated cars, windmill power, solar panels, are either unreliable or too costly to be effectively used on a broad base throughout the United States. The only clean energy that has been effective for nation-wide use is nuclear power, and that is deemed too dangerous. The recent tragedy in Japan can testify to that. Simply put, green energy, doesn’t make sense for this country. We all want to breathe clean air, and we all want to be energy independent, but the reality of the matter is that, until this so-called green energy gets easier to sell and cheaper to acquire, it will never be developed. The current administration in Washington, as well as previous administrations, have provided huge incentives for companies like General Electric in the form of subsidies to develop green energy. Our government has spent billions of our tax dollars over the last 20-30 years and nothing effective has come out of these efforts that relates to widespread energy efficiency. The only beneficial application that these tax dollars provided was profit to the companies that received them This is another black hole of government expenditure that has given very little and has taken so much of our national wealth.

We have some of the most brilliant financial minds and crafty entrepreneurs in the world in this country. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Ebay, Yahoo, Cisco, Amazon, Oracle, are all examples of America’s innovative might. Look how these companies have changed the world! I’m sure that, if this green energy could be developed for profit, it would have already taken hold here. Some bright, hard working, innovative, American entrepreneur would have put his nose to the grindstone and figured this green energy thing out. No one has succeeded yet! Clearly put, oil and coal, while maybe dirty, are still the best way to power this nation. We cannot afford to continue this pie-in-the-sky approach to our energy needs, while countries like India, China, and Russia, leave us to breathe their fumes while they look and laugh at us in their rear-view mirror.