We want to Invest in the Pickens Plan

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Comment by Paul on May 27, 2009 at 7:44pm

Hey Kat,

$900 in 2030... $17.30/week in 21 years... you'll forgive me for laughing out loud. It's more that the Obama tax cut ($13/wk), but not much ROFLMOA

What I don't believe you realize is the colossal damage the it will do in the mean time. The short term rise in energy prices will cripple the economy. Ah well it might not matter the administration is doing enough damage on so many fronts there might not be an American economy left to feel the pain of skyrocketing energy prices.

Comment by Kat on May 27, 2009 at 5:25pm

Think reining in global warming pollution will destroy our economy? Think again.
$900: The net amount of money the average U.S. household would save in 2030 on their energy bills—including $580 on transportation costs and $320 on electricity, natural gas, and heating oil—if Congress enacts the smart climate policies UCS recommends.
With your support we can reach Congress, the public, and the media with the facts:
Taking action to stop global warming can help jumpstart our economy—If Congress enacts the smart climate policies UCS recommends.
$255 billion: The amount of money businesses and consumers could save in 2030 on electricity, natural gas, home heating oil, and transportation costs—if Congress enacts the smart climate policies that UCS recommends.
$1.7 trillion: The amount of money the United States would save from 2010 to 2030—if Congress enacts comprehensive climate policy that includes a cap on heat-trapping carbon emissions as well as a package of energy and transportation policies.

Comment by TheEarthisNotFlat on May 3, 2009 at 10:42am

Amnesty America podcast is now live

Comment by Martin on April 23, 2009 at 1:23pm

Former Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Nolan has been rubbishing TBP and the PP on his blog here: http://theeagle939.com/?p=847#comment-2436

Comment by JD Polk on April 23, 2009 at 6:57am

ENERGY MATTERS
Renewable energy. Energy-efficient homes. Green vehicles. It’s all about energy.
Making Solar Electricity Affordable
2/24/2009 12:36:38 PM
By Dan Chiras
Tags: energy efficiency, solar panels, Dan Chiras
Many people who are contemplating installing solar electric systems on their homes struggle with the high initial costs.
To pay for a system, they either have to dip into their savings or take out a loan.
A 3- to 5-kW grid-connected solar system, suitable for most homes, can run $30,000 to $50,000.
Even with recent legislation that provides a 30 percent tax credit for solar and wind systems for homes and businesses,
the cost of such as system will still cost $21,000 to $30,000, which is a substantial piece of change.
Isn’t there some way to reduce this cost?
There is. It's called efficiency.
Richard Perez, founder of Home Power magazine, ran the numbers.
He found that every dollar invested in energy efficiency could reduce the cost of a photovoltaic (PV) system by $3 to $5.
How?
By reducing the size of a system one must install to meet his or her needs.
The economic savings from efficiency are quite substantial. For instance,
a $2,000 investment in home energy efficiency — for example, weatherization, insulation and energy-efficient compact fluorescent or
LED light bulbs — will reduce the demand for electricity. This, in turn, will reduce the size of the PV system required to meet one’s needs.
It could easily save $6,000 to $10,000 on the cost of the system of a 3- to 5-kW PV system before tax incentives.
Taking into account the 30% federal tax credit, the savings would be $4,200 to $7,000.
Spend a little more on efficiency and the cost of the system drops even more. If you invested $4,000 in efficiency,
the total system cost would decline by $12,000 to $20,000.
Taking into account the federal tax credits once again and the decrease in initial cost would be $8,400 to $14,000.
That’s not a bad return on an investment in efficiency.
Instead of spending $21,000 to $30,000 for a system, you’d pay $12,600 to $16,000.
So, if you're thinking about installing a PV system, think efficiency first. It’s a gift you give yourself and the planet.
It will reduce energy demand, reduce pollution, and reduce the cost of a system substantially.
Moreover, the savings will provide dividends for the life of the house.

Comment by William Engwer on April 12, 2009 at 7:58am

Arno, maybe not much new in these posts, but not much has actually been done to further the use of CNG, rather than whining about what's not, and letting the FuelMaker die on the vine for lack of aggressive marketing that would make it look like something desirable. People have to be led to do the right, logical thing, and they're much more likely to do something when "everybody else" is doing it.

I propose an idea, a challenge in the event the FuelMaker concept goes away completely. I've put this up on other groups. If someone will send me an old FuelMaker machine, I'll reverse engineer it, navigate around the existing patents, secure the new intellectual property rights, build a working and de-bugged prototype with a stylish and attractive housing, production-engineer it so it can come in reasonably priced even in small numbers, and secure vendors for parts. I'll do all this for $35.00 / hour of my time, and make it a full time job, for a living wage. I think it's achievable in 6 months to a year, not of course counting the time the patent office takes to make rulings. I have a machine shop and a composite materials shop. I've done similar work for diverse clients, and have much experience with mission-critical mechanical parts and assemblies for aircraft and racing cars. At completion, the backer and I will each own 50% of it. Anybody want to step up? Wiliam Engwer

Comment by Arno Lundin on April 11, 2009 at 8:51pm

Happy Easter !
Not much new in theses posts.

Comment by William Engwer on April 11, 2009 at 9:21am

Bonnie, I respect your opinion about the FuelMaker, but it's not really fair to call an idea "dumb" just because you don't happen to agree with it, and I have to strongly disagree. At the time I discovered the unit, the "green" vehicle movement was all atwitter about the advantages of plug-in electrics. Two of the big advantages were reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and the CONVENIENCE of overnight, hassle free refueling (recharging). These advantages exist equally logically with the implementation of home-based CNG refueling, and I think it makes a lot of sense. In my market, suburban Atlanta, there is no CNG fueling station down the street, and there are fewer now than there were in 1996. But if a home refueling pump was available for lets say a few hundred dollars, I'd absolutely be using CNG exclusively. I've already converted one of my older vehicles to propane, and CNG would be much more convenient, even though propane is relatively easily available.

Maybe there SHOULD be a station selling CNG down the street, but in fact there's not, and the costs and risks would be high to develop that particular infrastructure with so limited a market, and "good business sense" militates against building or refitting stations UNTIL there's a market. However, the infrastructure to support home refueling with CNG already exists in many locations, with the exception of a pump and hookup at the end of the line. Easy availability of CNG as a vehicle fuel, made possible by an "affordable" (say $500? ) home unit, without having to wait for "someone else" to risk large amounts of capital providing fueling stations could spur the limited demand for CNG vehicles, and bootstrap CNG into the mainstream. People won't buy a car they cant get fuel for, and fuel providers wont provide fuel there's no market for. A home refueling option neatly solves the "catch 22" situation inherent in deploying CNG on a large enough scale to be meaningful.

I also have some thoughts about how CNG fueling appliances could provide an enhanced revenue stream to existing natural gas providers, in the form of equipment leases or sales to end users much like they used to sell stoves, water heaters, etc. For more information, see one of my groups under the search word "FuelMaker", or access the group by looking for the little blue-and-white car photo next to the group on my home page. I agree entirely with you that the technology to enter this market is relatively simple, and some of my other posts support that idea in more detail. William Engwer

Comment by William Engwer on April 10, 2009 at 6:01am

Read the community guidelines. There's a link at the bottom of the page. It says you may NOT post the sort of thing that Michael Simmers has posted below, and you may NOT use this venue for sending out spam, which Mr. Simmers has also done. This site has cost Pickens a bundle to put up. Let the people who want to make a buck spend their OWN money for marketing, not sponge off of this, which is in fact an attempt to create a better, more rational world.

Comment by speedycat on April 10, 2009 at 2:40am

I am torn. On one hand we are trying to lobby for T Boone to get free money. On the other hand why shouldn't someone else try to make a buck?

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