Pickens Plan District Group PA-04

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Comment by J Jay Pirko on August 16, 2011 at 9:55pm

Energy for economic growth

August 16, 2011

By JJ PIRKO , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com

How about some job-creating sustainable energy projects to revitalize our region and reduce our dependence on foreign oil? After four decades of economic disaster and decline, triggered by the rising cost of energy since the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, we are emerging as a hotbed for developing new sustainable energy industries.

Here on the "Tech-Belt" Ohio-Pennsylvania border, we are turning "garbage gas" and "sewage sludge" into electricity. We are building wind, solar and geothermal energy projects, and training our people to work with this technology. Energy for transportation fuels and public utilities can be produced locally to bring down prices by increasing the supply. An algae biofuel plant is planned where a steel mill once stood. In Columbiana County, Baard is still attempting to convert coal into aircraft and diesel fuel. Another company is preparing to de-polymerize recycled plastic into oil, and the list keeps building.

For almost three years, I have been promoting our region's achievements and potential through the Pickens Plan organization, a network of entrepreneurs, inventors and activists. When I met with T. Boone Pickens in September, he was aware of the sustainable energy progress in our region, including the V&M Star steel mill designed to produce the drilling pipe needed in the Marcellus/Utica shale gas fields.

We already have the technology to convert trucks, buses and cars to run on methane (natural gas) that is a proven, practical alternative for petroleum-based motor vehicle fuels. The trucks serving the Port of Los Angeles and many major metropolitan bus fleets have converted to natural gas, because it reduces air pollution in smog-filled cities.

One of my Pickens Plan associates is quoted: "Using U.S. DoE data (Edition 28 - Transport Energy Book), the energy content of natural gas is 960 BTU/CF LHV while the energy content of diesel is 128,700 BTU/gallon LHV. Therefore one MCF of natural gas works out to 7.46 gallons of diesel." At $4 per gallon for diesel, that would cost almost $30, compared to 1 MCF of natural gas costing about $4 wholesale. The savings are about $174 every time we do not have to fill a 50-gallon tank with diesel fuel. The capital cost of converting vehicles to natural gas would soon be repaid with fuel-cost savings and reduced engine maintenance costs from this cleaner-burning fuel.

Production and distribution capacity must be built in lock-step with the growth of demand for natural gas vehicle fuel. Start with "closed-loop" transportation systems, like buses and local delivery trucks, which drive their routes and return to a central maintenance and refueling station. The NAT GAS Act (HR 1830) would create tax incentives for businesses to convert their vehicles to natural gas. This bill has been co-sponsored by Tim Ryan, D-Niles, Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, and Jason Altmire, D-4th, but has not made its way onto the floor of Congress. Post office trucks, school buses, mass transit, and city / county / township truck fleets are another good place to start, saving taxpayers from the rising cost of imported oil.

Natural gas is also produced from sewage treatment sludge, agricultural waste and landfills naturally fermenting garbage. The Carbon Limestone Landfill produces enough electricity (13-14 megawatts) from "garbage gas" to power a small city. Struthers has a biodigester designed to power a pair of 375-kilowatt electrical generators.

Sewage treatment plants, old landfills and industrial brownfields are also ideal sites for shale gas horizontal drilling sites, drawing gas from more than a mile from the wellhead. These tend to be secure locations that are already environmentally damaged, and are usually distant from homes, schools, shopping centers and other populated areas. These facilities can serve as community gas and electric suppliers, reducing utility costs and providing non-tax revenue to support municipal governments. Utility costs, especially electricity, are a major factor when attracting companies.

Energy runs our economy, and we are developing it here.

Pirko is a Weathersfield resident. Email him at editorial@tribtoday.com.

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Comment by mike on November 17, 2010 at 12:01pm

Indie Film “Haynesville” Will Premiere November 23rd On CNBC

“Haynesville” will premiere on Tuesday, November 23rd at 9pm on CNBC. The one hour documentary will repeat that evening at 10pm, 12am and 1am.

The show will also air on:

Sunday, November 28th at 10pm.

“Haynesville”

When the people in rural Northern Louisiana learn they are sitting on a fortune, they struggle to weigh their big dreams against the safety of their community. Some will take the money and run while others learn to negotiate with the big energy companies who are looking to drill into the trillion-dollar natural gas reservoir that lies deep beneath their homes. Will this be easy money or the fight of their lives, in what some are calling the “new gold rush”?

http://www.theindechannel.com/movies/indie-film-haynesville-will-pr...

Please watch and tell your friends!



film, natural gas, shale, indie, pickens plan, Haynesville, fracking, energy

Comment by J Jay Pirko on November 7, 2010 at 5:10pm

To Our Region's Business and Political Leadership:

Our region is emerging as a hotbed for developing new sustainable energy industries, with "all of the tools in the toolbox."

For more than two years I have been promoting our region's achievements and potential through the Pickens Plan organization, a network of entrepreneurs, inventors, and activists.

When I met with T Boone Pickens on September 27th, he was very aware of our region, and the Marcellus shale gas fields.

Natural gas is also produced from sewage treatment sludge, agricultural waste, and landfills' naturally fermenting garbage. We are already doing this here, with local engineering know-how. Waste Water Treatment Plants, old landfills, and industrial brownfields are ideal sites for shale gas horizontal drilling wellhead sites, drawing gas from as far as three miles away from the wellhead. Because they are already environmentally damaged, these sites make the use of "green field" sites unnecessary. They are usually distant from homes, schools, shopping centers, and other populated areas, providing better security and protecting the public from nuisances.

Natural gas has been proven to be a practical alternative for petroleum-based motor vehicle fuels. The NAT GAS Act (HR 1835) would create tax incentives for the replacement of foreign oil with our nation's natural gas resources. Our region lost three Congressional co-sponsors for this common sense legislation on November 2nd: John Boccieri, Charlie Wilson, and Kathy Dahlkemper, all Democrats.

We can dig ourselves out of the economic pit caused by foreign oil imports, but we can now expect as little help from Capital Hill as we have gotten from Wall Street. It is up to us, working in our communities with our local resources, to rebuild our economy with a sustainable energy industry.

James Jay (Jim) Pirko
Pickens Plan District Leader (OH-17)

Comment by J Jay Pirko on September 26, 2010 at 1:31pm

T. Boone Pickens in Ohio & Other Events:

Monday, September 27, 2010 the Pickens Plan will have a big day in northeast Ohio:

10:00 am Radio WKBN AM-570 in Youngstown will feature our Pickens Plan District Leaders from the OH-17, OH-06, and PA-04 discussing local energy economic development projects and the Marcellus Shale Gas Region.

6:00pm T. Boone Pickens will speak at a Town Hall at the Ohio Theater, 1501 Euclid Av, Cleveland, OH 44115. For ticket information, go to http://www.townhallofcleveland.org/ or call (216) 241-1919.

Tuesday, September 28 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Saving & Making Electricity at ETI
Electrical Trades Institute (ETI)
4550 Research Parkway, NW
Champion, Ohio

Join GEO for a Free meeting and tour of the Electrical Trades Institute. Training Director, Eric Davis, and Green Energy Instructor, Steve Fife, will provide a behind the scenes tour of their facility and discuss energy savings techniques and renewable energy technologies on the premise (geothermal, solar electric and wind energy systems). An exterior tour of the building will be conducted between 6:30 - 7:00 PM. A formal presentation and guided tour of the interior of the buidling will be conducted between 7:00 - 8:30 PM. The ETI Buidling will be showcased on October 2nd during the Ohio Solar Tour. More info about the ETI building and training programs can be found at www.warrenjatc.org.

For more information, contact Dave Ambrose by email at ambrose@infohio.org or (330) 647-3666.

Together we can rebuild our economy with a sustainable energy industry.

James Jay (Jim) Pirko
Pickens Plan District Leader (OH-17)

Comment by J Jay Pirko on August 26, 2010 at 9:47pm

More great news from this "hotbed" of sustainable, USA-based energy technology and industry, from the Youngstown Business Journal:

* Biofuels Energy Project $2.5 million startup would convert algae.

* Youngstown's top development official updates viewers on job-creation initiatives.

If you are need working energy business models, or a place to build your new energy businesses, you should look at the Youngstown, Ohio region. We are already building it here with every tool in the tool box, including waste-to-energy, solar, wind, coal-to-aircraft fuel, and everything needed for Marcellus shale gas exploration.

We have unprecedented teamwork including our Regional Chamber of Commerce, universities, and government officials who understand and are committed to building our economy by eliminating our dependence on foreign oil.

James Jay (Jim) Pirko
Pickens Plan District Leader (OH-17)

Comment by J Jay Pirko on July 26, 2010 at 11:52pm

Today I participated in an interesting meeting of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments' General Policy Board in Youngstown. The speaker (Fred Abousleman, Executive Director of the National Association of Regional Councils) mentioned that the US Department of Energy has $40 Billion in unallocated Stimulus money and they do not have any plans to use it.

How about some job-creating sustainable energy projects to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? We already have the technology to convert trucks, busses, and cars to run on methane, aka natural gas. We can produce methane from sewage sludge and organic garbage at all of our waste water treatment plants. Struthers, Ohio has one of these biodigesters under construction to power a pair of 375-kilowatt electrical generators.

We can drill Marcellus shale gas wells at every sewage treatment plant and landfill for an additional constant supply of natural gas, to keep electrical generators running at peak efficiency. Landfills produce methane, and the technology exists to capture it before it escapes into the atmosphere to become a "greenhouse gas."

These types of capital expenditures will produce an immediate and long-term cash flow return on investment for our cities, counties, and property owners Increasing energy supplies decreases costs and makes our industries more competitive, so they can produce more productive jobs.
- J J Pirko, Pickens Plan OH-17 Dist Leader

Comment by J Jay Pirko on July 10, 2010 at 7:50pm

Green Energy Ohio Events:

Going Solar: Environmental & Financial Benefits
Tuesday, July 27th from 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Kent State University - Trumbull Campus
Technology Building, #117
4314 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren

Do you have an interest in becoming more energy independent? Would you like to increase your home's value while helping the environment? If so, join GEO at the July Clean Energy Network Meeting with featured speaker, Brad Yocum. Brad is the Division Director at Astrum Solar (www.astrumsolar.com). Brad will provide an overview of the technology, costs, incentives, and both economic and environmental benefits.

The event is FREE and open to the public. REGISTER HERE.

For more information, contact Dave Ambrose by email at ambrose@infohio.org or phone at 330-647-3666.

Earth's Greatest Resource - Solar Electric 101
Thursday, July 29th from 6:15 - 7:30 PM
Warren Roofing & Insulating Company
7015 Krick Road, Walton Hills, 44146

Join Green Energy Ohio this month as we explore Earth’s Greatest Resource and how it can be harnessed to produce electricity. The meeting and tour will be held at Warren Roofing & Insulating Company where a solar-ready, green roof and 18.3 kW solar electric system were installed in the Spring of 2010. Attendees will hear from staff at Warren Roofing, as well as representatives from Mariner Energy Systems, Lewin & Associates, Mason Steel and Lake Erie Electric that were all involved in the project. The project has been recognized in the June Issue of Property Magazine and Builders Exchange Magazine, and underpins how ripe the time is for businesses to invest in solar...READ MORE and REGISTER

Comment by J Jay Pirko on July 2, 2010 at 4:12pm

To the Pickens Plan Army:

More good news from this hotbed of energy independence technology:

Read the following link to this news story "Trumbull gets funds for solar energy" in Youngstown Vindicator.

The "Green Energy Business Incubator" project is also included in this news article.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/30/trumbull-gets-funds-for-solar...


James Jay (Jim) Pirko
Pickens Plan District Leader (OH-17)

Full Story from Vindy.com:

Trumbull gets funds for solar energy
By Ed Runyan

Wednesday, June 30, 2010



The Vindicator

This is the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services building on North Park Avenue just north of Courthouse Square, Warren, where officials plan to mount solar-energy collection panels sometime late this year or early next year with $300,000 in federal stimulus money.

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Sometime late this year or early next year, Trumbull County is likely to become the first government body in the Mahoning Valley with a solar-energy collection system.

Trumbull County commissioners learned Tuesday that the county’s application for $300,000 in federal-stimulus money to buy and install the system on the county’s Department of Job and Family Services building downtown has been formally approved.

Trish Nuskievicz, assistant director of the county’s planning commission, said she doesn’t know how much electricity the solar panels will generate or how much money these will save the county, but the benefits are not only financial.

Nuskievicz said she is hopeful that the local electrical workers union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which also has installed solar panels at its facility on Research Parkway in Champion, will be able to participate in the installation of the panels so that its members can obtain a solar-power certification.

The experience of installing the system, being able to demonstrate it to other governments and businesses and the connection to the green- energy incubator planned for downtown Warren hopefully will help solar power “catch on,” Nuskievicz said.

It also could help encourage green-energy companies to locate in some of the vacant buildings in the Warren area, she said.

“We’ve always promoted renewable energy in the county, but it’s always been cost-prohibitive,” Nuskievicz said. “Once people can see the cost savings, it can catch on.”

If the system is able to collect more energy than the building uses at a given time, the excess energy goes back into the “power grid,” and the county will get credits for power that can be used at another time, she said.

A few more steps are required before the county can put the project out to bid, but Nuskievicz hopes it can occur sometime late this year. The project has a deadline for completion of summer 2011.

The Job and Family Services building was chosen for the project because it has a new roof. The county acquired and renovated the building on North Park Avenue just north of Courthouse Square several years ago.

The system being installed will generate between 42 and 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which Nuskievicz says is likely to be enough to power four average homes or 349 computers.

Comment by J Jay Pirko on May 16, 2010 at 3:31pm

Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-17) Newsletter Reported:

NORTHEAST OHIO IS RIPE FOR 'GREEN GROWTH'
In a Vindy article from Monday, Team NEO, a Cleveland-based nonprofit that promotes business development and attraction, released its quarterly economic report. The report focuses on the future of “clean-tech” industries in the 16 counties that make up Northeastern Ohio. Major Northeastern Ohio manufacturing sectors that make up the clean-tech supply chain include fabricated metals, plastics, machinery, iron and steel mills and structural metals.

These industries contribute $12.5 billion to the regional economy and make up 35 percent of manufacturing in the area. The industries are expected to grow more than 20 percent by 2015, according to the Team NEO report. The report points out that U.S. Department of Labor has identified occupations expected to see increased demand from the growing clean-tech sector, including computer-controlled machine tool operators, machine setters, materials scientists and industrial production managers.

SELECTED TO POWERFUL DEFENSE SUBCOMMITTEE
Earlier this week, I announced my selection to the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives. I am humbled and honored to fill the vacancy caused by the untimely death of Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania.

The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Department of Defense – Military, Departments of Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, Office of Secretary of Defense, certain Defense Agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Intelligence Community Staff.

This appointment is a huge win for the 17th District. The Defense budget is the largest of all the budgets in the United States government. Having the opportunity to steer federal defense dollars to our district will accelerate the economic progress of our region and further promote the Tech Belt initiative. I will make sure everyone doing business with the Pentagon knows what a great place Northeast Ohio is to do business.

I have been given a very serious responsibility and a tremendous opportunity to serve on the subcommittee that provides direction and funding for our national security. I will work extremely hard to make sure the men and women who serve our great country have all of the resources they need. This seat on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee will have a significant impact on our military facilities at the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site and the Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Wing and its 910 Airlift Wing, as well as the manufacturers and contractors in our region that provide equipment and services to the military.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the Defense Appropriations subcommittee appropriated more than $625.9 billion for Defense-related activities including operations and training, health care for uniformed and civilian personnel, the maintenance of arms, equipment and facilities, and the development and purchase of new equipment.

I also joined the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and retained his seat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO TRAVEL TO YOUNGSTOWN
I'm proud to announce that President Obama will be visiting Youngstown on Tuesday, May 18. The President will tour the V&M Star facility and address the current economy, and efforts to retain and create jobs in Northeastern Ohio and across the country.

I have been urging President Obama to visit the Mahoning Valley, and look forward to showing him first-hand the exciting progress that we are making here. National and international publications have recognized the positive economic news coming from our community. Our progress has now caught the attention of the President of the United States.

It is evident that our local economic development strategy is bearing fruit; residents, businesses, and local governments throughout the Valley and the District stand to reap long-term benefits from a number of recent positive investments in our economy – V&M Star, GM Lordstown, Revere Data, and Severstal Steel are just the beginning. These significant investments send a clear message that Ohio's 17th District has a world-class workforce and is home to a globally-competitive business climate.

TAA ASSISTANCE FOR FORMER MAHONING GLASS EMPLOYEES
Yesterday, I announced that workers of Mahoning Glass Plant in Niles, OH were certified to receive important job training and placement assistance from the U. S. Department of Labor.

According to the report issued by the Department of Labor:

"All workers of Mahoning Glass Plant, GE Appliances and Lighting Division, a subsidiary of General Electric Co., Inc., Niles, Ohio, who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after March 29, 2010, through two years from the date of certification, and all workers in the group threatened with total or partial separation from employment on the date of certification through two years from the date of certification, are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under Chapter 2 of Title II of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended."

I will continue to urge the Obama Administration to provide TAA benefits for all constituents in the 17th District who have lost their jobs. The advantages provided by training and job placement assistance will position the former employees of Mahoning Glass Plant for success in a new economy.

* Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) help trade-affected workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports or shifts in production out of the United States. Certified individuals may be eligible to receive one or more program benefits and services depending on what is needed to return them to employment. (Source: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/benefits.cfm)

Comment by J Jay Pirko on May 16, 2010 at 1:57pm

R EVs, HEVs 4 U?
Is an Electric or Hybrid Vehicle in Your Future?
Tuesday, May 25 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Kent State University - Trumbull Campus
Technology Building #117
4314 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren

Interested in learning about alternative energy vehicles? Want to know about practical considerations before purchasing one, or the total vehicle cost? What about hearing about updates on the vehicles key technology: energy storage? And how 'green' are these cars? Featured speaker, Brian Shar, Lead Engineer of the Core Technology Group at Stoneridge Electronics NA will provide a detailed overview and answer many of your questions related to alternative energy vehicles.
Learn more about our speaker and this Free program!

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