Green Tech Girl

If you’ve been watching cable news at all lately, you’ve probably seen the T. Boone Pickens ads for the “Pickens Plan” promoting wind power and natural gas as a way to American energy independence.

The way the ads were running, it seemed like Mr. Pickens was running for office. But he’s not. Who is this guy? Well, according to Wikipedia (which, we know, isn’t always 100% accurate but it’s a good place to start), Pickens is a Republican who made his fortune with oil.

I don’t really care which party someone comes from if they are making sense. While I may not agree with everything Pickens suggests, at least the guy is putting his money where his mouth is. For far too long our leadership has done nothing on the issue of oil dependency. (more…)

A theme at the Republican convention was offshore drilling. “Drill, Baby, Drill” was the mantra. I’m not a fan of drilling, but I have some mixed feelings on it. I don’t think it’s fair for environmentalists to expect the average American household to suck up $10/gallon gas in the name of protecting the environment. When people have a choice between spotted owls and putting food on the table, they’ll choose food first. So I believe the Democrats will also end up drilling too, simply because the outcry from average American will be too strong if gas goes up anymore.

Is there a way to minimize the environmental impacts of drilling? I think environmentalists need to find a way to compromise on this issue.

One positive note: At least both parties are discussing energy independence and alternate fuels.

Interesting article from BBC News about America’s oil addiction, quite critical of the American way of life, and yet strangely optimistic. “We will be recharging our car batteries much as we recharge our phone batteries” - I hope so.

Biofuels are a “crime against humanity,” according to one United Nations adviser who was quoted in a BBC article on biofuels and poverty. It seems that biofuels are raising food prices so much that upwards of 30 million people have been “dragged into poverty.” While I’m not a huge fan of biofuels, I do feel that some of the non-food based ones are going to be important to our future.

A total world economic collapse due to a lack of fuel is certainly not going to help ease poverty in the long run. So I hope that people can try to take a more measured view of things, rather than making blanket statements likening biofuels to a holocaust. Food prices will also go up if food can’t be transported cheaply. And that’s a direction correlation to our dimishing fuel supplies.  We cannot just stop making biofuels and rely on oil - that’s a recipe for total disaster. We’re going to experience pain either way, but I think the pain will be worse if we have no fuel whatsoever.

Poor biofuel. It’s just not getting any good press lately. Biofuel is now up to $6/gallon and it’s getting blamed for rising food prices.

My submission to FUH2.com: A tricked out Hummer seen at the Culver City car show on May 10, 2008. There was a noticeable lack of green vehicles at the event.

Who woulda thought: Grease is now such a hot commodity as biofuel that it is being stolen…

Grease bandits strike as biofuel demand rises

From the Associated Press: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically

Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth.

The report, a collaboration between the Energy Department research labs and industry, concludes wind energy could generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030, about the same share now produced by nuclear reactors.

I’m of the mind that if we can convert sunlight into energy there should be no reason why we need to burn crops to get fuel. Some feel that the trend of using cropland for fuel will cause food shortages and more…

CNN is reporting about the pain at the pump; will gas prices ever come back down or are we finally seeing the rampant cost of fuel run up as predicted by the peak oil people?

One commenter really struck me:

I waste gas every day. Because even though i could just as easily do my job from home, I am required by my employer to drive into the office every day. My 17 mile commute takes 40 minutes in stop-and-go traffic. I would LOVE to not have to drive in every day. Can someone (eg Congress) please start penalizing businesses that don’t allow people to telecommute where possible??

And I have to say, I am seeing a decided lack of leadership on this issue. Why aren’t we calling for more telecommuting? Why aren’t we encouraging more use of public transit? Why is our government so silent on this issue? Are we just going to sit around and whine or do something about all this?

Telecommuting is cheap and easy to do, and the only reason it is not done more is that bosses are too prone to want to micromanage and control people. With a webcam, the boss could conceivably be looking at you all day at any rate…shades of Big Brother, for sure, but it would solve some of those management fears that instead of working at home, the employees are out partying.

We need to start making some serious changes, NOW. The worst case scenario: If these prices continue to rise so dramatically, it will be too much too soon and our economy could collapse. So let’s start being more proactive, please!

*end of rant*