Keith's Comments

All of the above comments are extremely important. Nuclear technology is and has negatives and positives. France realizes this. Powerlines will have to be used unless we all have our backyards filled with solar or windmills for our personal energy source. The fight on the left also is fighting with the left. Environmentalists are fighting against the lefts wish for alternative fuels. The industrial complex is waiting for the fight to be decided before they come in or for the people to say look the other way by the environmentalists. Many points of technology is going to be the answer. No one technology for alternative energy sources seems viable due to national security reasons and environmental reasons. Different industry sources need to develop their own industry infrastrure and this being accomplished by the local inhabitants desires. Work together and this problem will be solved. Don't work together and it will take two or three times as long.

I cannot believe how the author is being slammed. Everyone one of the above comments are based upon sound political and especially micro and macro economics. And what about the new source of oil/gas in South Dakota. What about the natural gas which is still to be discoverd in Ocean Shores in Washington State. What about some comments above Oil Arctic Tip exploration. The Ice Cap is down so this would be a great time to see if Oil is at the top of the world.

I have corresponded with Congressman Dave Reichert and this sounds like Apollo Energy Act (H.R. 6385). He is in support of this bill. 30% tax credit for solar installation and 30% for solar water heater tax credit with a maximum of $2000 for each credit for a $4000 tax credit from the solar.
And if anyone comes up with it a 50% Tax Credit for the purchase of a 100 MPG vehicle.
I did find some mistakes in the bill. It does not offer any credits for the production of butanol but only for the production of ethanol.

But the point missed here is that installation needs to be from a sprinters viewpoint. The Cross Country racer approach is nice but when in a sprint we need a financial sprint and not a cross country racing program. I really just need to send my sprinters idea to all of the Congrssmen in Washington, D.C. But any stimulus is a good stimulus. Go for it.

In the mid to late 1800s the power line was the railroad track. Every prospective town was demanding the railroad stop at their town. That was the lifeline of the city. If restrictions on the "lifeline" are imposed then we are strangling our economic growth. The Macah Indian Tribe is experimenting with ocean power. They are located off the Northwest tip of Washington State on the Pacific Ocean. The initial stage is for 1 MW of power. This will be enough to sustain 150 households with power. Further development would be hampered if a powerline is not installed for the grand scheme. The railroad must be built before the train can go on the track.

Another usage for this could be with farming.
The heat of the day is really not a good time to harvest but the cost of lighting an entire area would be costly. Another way to do this is have transportable solar trees so harvesting can be done in the evening. Also, can the solar panels heat up an area. In the apple industry in Washington State the temperature can get below freezing and ruin the buds and this destroys the future crop. No flowers no apples. So this could possible act as a double product one as heat and the other as light.

I am going to wait for the stomach enzymes in termites to breakdown trees fiber.
Everyone of you are missing the point. MIT researchers have come up with a new battery which is 10 times more efficient than present day batteries for Hybrids. Then when this gets into production Boeing will have a mirror and someone from San Diego will combine this will a backyard pool which as a byproduct is hydrogen eventhough the main purpose of the devise is to heat the residents house. Then this will be modified and create water for more farming in the Arizona desert. Think future not present.

This article sounds electrifying even for the City of Seattle with its cloudy days.
But can the cloud cover of 30 or 60 or 90 days be overcome. If yes, then this could be something which the City Council should look at.
If an artistic piece of equipment can save 10% of our electricity consumption then this could be the alusive alterntive energy source which is needed.

Paul

I am cureous. If you are paying a 50% premium then is this for energy used during the daytime when most of the wind power would be generated. Of course the wind can come at any time but it usually comes during the day. Can you switch from green to coal depending on what is not at peak. A very interesting supply/demand model. Can the energy production sources trade off to other locals. Those numbers of near future wind power indicate how naked we as a country still are when it comes to alternative energy power source construction and use. But doubling the capacity in a year sounds aggressive and necessary.

It seems as though all of the wind power turbines are being located on Grand Coulee Dam reclaimed land.  Water was the spring of agriculture and now wind power.  Why are there no wind power turbines being located in the other non-used half of the Grand Coulee Dam project which cannot have any sustainable agricultural water on it.  It seems as though the winds of the Cascade Mountain Range is being used here for this windfarm.  Coolness coming off of the Mountains into the Valley is what will be creating the constant wind source.  Or is the reason for the project in Washington State the no state income tax and the $25MM loan at 2% established by the state legislature two sessions ago which I believe they could have taken advantage of for this type of a project.

That should make three windfarms in Eastern Washington.  There are other places the wind blows strongly in Eastern Washington which are not being used as of yet also.  Who is going to build the next project.  Maybe a windfarm by the Tacoma Narrows with the Galloping Gerdy narrow area.  Can a Windfarm be on the underbelly of the Tacoma Narrows which also will allow Ocean liners to pass by.  The wind is relatively constant there also.

From two legislatures ago the law directs Washington State to purchase as much as possible of the Anaerobic devices as possible.  Maybe this is a step in the right direction.  The one big problem with this law is that businesses are thus considered as second rate bidders in the acquisition of these devices.  However I do not have any data on whether the bureaucratic departments are following the law.  Then I do not know if the law and the budget for the State of Washington has the cash for this.  Maybe a research project for your writer/journalists.

Getting the cost side down sometimes is an achievement better put on trying to stimulate the demand side of the equation. I have always advocated that someone should take from their IRA or ROTH-IRA funds to build a solar panel or wind generator in their backyard. The govenment could make this a legitimate withdrawal of funds. However a $20,000 limitation may be needed. Or make a corporation and it buys back the electricity at the going rate. All of this being from the backyard. Pay yourself first. I would think this structure would be better suited to a ROTH-IRA than a traditional IRA. Excess electricity equals retirement money. If you have rental or commerical property this also would be a way to accumulate wealth by having in affect a ROTH-IRA or retirement plan for a rental property.

 

But given the rhetoric which is circling around about alternative energy sources one can see why political interjections can be on the tip of ones tongue.

In the Seattle Puget Sound basin we have the Tacoma Narrows which could be an extreme source of underwater or sea-wind power.  However, even with the State Legislature giving of a $20 million grant for alternative sources in a 2% loan no action has come forth.  With most of our U.S. Representative (Inslee) and Senators constantly touting for alternative energy sources nothing has been done.  Washington State is I believe number two or three center for land wind power and the Palouse region (Southeastern Washington) is benefitting from the new economy.

One investment at a time.  It seems like Washington State is taking care of itself.  The rest of the states citizens need to kick it up a notch.  Phoenix Arizona should have solar and a device from Boeing would help with this endeavor.  You can use it in your backyard.

New alternative sources of energy are still in the discovery stage.  If you have been reading these reports you will realize a company in San Diego is looking at the enzymes from termites to discover if an alternative source of energy can be develeped from this little insect.  Small discoveries like this could make the European market in a few years look dismall.  Don't give up on the U.S. power of innovation and discover.  The next steps in the alternative energy markets have not even been developed as of yet.  Save the money until the real alternative energy sources can be implemented.  I am excited about this.  Running the Europeans off of the economic map through discovery once again will be happiness rediscovered.  All of us in the U.S. will be soon smiling again no matter what political affilition you are in.

Rather than a tax credit I have always believed the alternative energy industry should almost virtually reflect the taxing system of the oil industry.  The little guy got into the oil industy by government economic push. 

When drilling for an oil well the oil investor can write off about 85% of the cost to the prior tax year if drilling starts by Febraury 15th of the current year.  The other 15% is written off by amortization. 

From what I am reading the current alternative fuel industry is controlled by big utilities and big industry.  Small investors rarely get an investment opportunity unless through a stock purchase. 

Encapsulate the industry in tax incentives and not tax credits and the smaller investors will congregate at the alternative oil trough.

In a prior issue an article mentioned the wind industry is 1% of our energy consumption in the U.S. 

A tax write-off post 2000 helped the economy.

The oil industry tax incentives generated cash for oil barons.  Let's create the alternative oil barons of tomorrow with the exact same carrot.

 

If Donald Pier was saying you need to use the largest gut then findo out exactly what the reaction would be from a whale or a dolphin.  These two have large guts and they also are mammals with a oxygen bood system.  Maybe there guts are enzyme efficient.

Also, the government throws money away on an experimental basis.  Look at the huge bird Howard Hughes made and only flew once at government expense.  It did advance the technology and if WWII had not of ended then his plan would have been put into production probably.

 

But if the actual burning of hydrogen happens from this process then the oil hydrocarbons will be reduced. No more expensive tankers transporting from the middle east. Then terrorists will have hydrocarbons to fight with and not guns and bullet. There economy will stumble. Big oil will hen be changed. Thomas Jefferson always wanted the U.S. economy to be agriculturally based. Finally his prayers will be fulfilled if this comes about.