Good ole ingenuity will eventually lift the world economy. It's the same entrepreneurial spirit that will also advance the work being done to diversify transportation fuels.
Any material that contains the critical chemical compounds can be converted to motor fuel. The technologies are promising and can use agricultural, municipal or industrial waste as well as coal or natural gas. But the key unknowns are what the actual costs of such endeavors will be along with where commodity prices will head over time.
by Elizabeth Shaw | The Flint Journal
Tuesday November 11, 2008
GENESEE TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- There are lots of toxic hazards to guard against in the stuff that ends up at recycling centers and landfills.
Until this past summer, a radioactive cheese grater wasn't one of them.
According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, the common kitchen utensil with an uncommon past set off the alarms at Genesee Recycling in August, sending ripples all the way to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency.
"We know it was manufactured in China but at this point we are still unsure what the source of the material is or was, or where it possibly entered the system," said Thor Strong, the state DEQ's chief of radiological protection.
While T. Boone Pickens has garnered much attention in recent months with his well-publicized plan to create a massive infrastructure for wind energy production in America's heartland, offshore wind energy is getting more attention in the heavily populated Northeast.
For its part, the Pickens Plan would require billions in transmission lines needed to bring electricity from the wind-rich regions of the central United States to population centers nearer to the coasts. As for offshore wind -- while by no means cheap -- it would eliminate the need to build transmission lines over hundreds, if not thousands of miles inland.
Exelon Corp. is eyeing NRG Energy. But NRG is playing hard to get and may be waiting for a more attractive suitor. Exelon, though, is determined and now says that it will take its $6.2 billion directly to the merchant power generator's shareholders, adding that it will sue NRG's management because it allegedly did not give the bid proper consideration.
A down economy generally leads to greater consolidation across the business spectrum. The utility industry is no different. During such times, those with the financial resources are well-positioned to make strategic acquisitions. Chicago-based Exelon, however, has been jilted before. Essentially, it likes Princeton, N.J.-based NRG because it owns a fleet of productive and unregulated generation assets that it says can immediately add shareholder value -- in a way that can avert a jaundiced look from state regulators.
Liquefied natural gas is now taking a back seat to other fuels, and especially since the global credit crisis has taken hold. But over the next decade and as the demand for power resumes, it could assume a notable role in the country's overall energy plan.
Despite growing energy demand from the four corners of the world, the United States will be able to attract LNG supplies from foreign suppliers. Even though other nations will pay higher prices for such natural gas in the near term, this nation will become a lucrative market for LNG providers because of its sustained energy demand, its strong infrastructure and its reliability as a partner.
Council OKs $89,000 to install wind turbine, solar panels at petting facility; energy costs could fall 40%.
TAYLOR, MI -- It may be small-scale, but within weeks, this Downriver city will become the first to harness the wind.
Taylor's City Council gave the go-ahead last week to launch an $89,000 hybrid energy project at Heritage Park Petting Farm on Pardee near Northline.
The initiative includes the installation of a 45-foot-tall wind turbine and 21 solar panels -- a combination that makes the project the first of its kind in the state and is expected to accelerate other alternative energy projects Downriver.
Fuel cell makers are in overdrive trying to deliver efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. If their enterprises are to succeed, they must illustrate clearly that their ideas are practical and will "change the world."
But economic doldrums are dampening energy demand and affecting the level of investment in emerging technologies. In due course, however, that will change. As the demand for power resumes, regulatory bodies around the globe will insist on greater efficiencies and less pollution. And therein lay the possibilities for fuel cells, which have matured and may soon be ready for prime time.
Supporters of wind power are whipping up support for new transmission. Without a notable increase in the capacity to carry such energy, the optimistic forecasts for more renewable power will never happen.
While the number of transmission miles is projected to rise in the United States over the next 10 years, the expansion will not occur at a sufficient pace to handle the anticipated growth in wind capacity. The expected congestion will assuredly impede utilities as they try to work more renewable energy into their portfolios. Such power facilities are often based in remote locations, requiring high-voltage transmission systems to ensure their energy supplies make it to population centers.
Below are a few letters we received on topics that appeared in the past few weeks. They capture the essence of how many readers say they feel.
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The Commercial Building Tax Deduction (CBTD) has been extended for five years, through December 31, 2013. The extension was enacted through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which became Public Law No. 110-343 when President Bush signed it on October 3, 2008.
According to the National Lighting Bureau, the CBTD encourages specification of high-efficiency lighting by giving owners an accelerated-depreciation benefit equal to the cost of the lighting system or lighting-system improvement, or $0.60/square foot, whichever is less. The benefit applies to discrete systems within a building; i.e., not all lighting in a building must meet the efficiency criteria for some of the lighting to be eligible for favorable tax treatment. Lighting systems that do not meet the efficiency required to earn the maximum deduction may be eligible for a smaller deduction.
