February 12, 2006
SkySails: What Will the Anti-Wind Folks Say About This?
"The SkySails system consists of a fully automated towing kite propulsion and a wind-optimised routing system. It is used offshore, additionally to the propulsion of the ship's engine, if the wind conditions allow."
Just when you thought the skies might be safe from new technologies aimed at harnessing the wind...
A tip of the hat to Treehugger for this story.
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travel, transportation, technology, wind, wind power, kite, sail, sailing, wind propulsion, clean power, hybrid
Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2006
Hybrid Cars - Tax Deductions & Credits on Hybrid Car Purchases
Hybrid Cars - Tax Deductions & Credits on Hybrid Car Purchases:
Offering tax credits and incentives for manufacturing and selling hybrid vehicles is critical to forward progress on conservation. Either we are serious about promoting hybrid technologies and working toward change, or we are just paying it lip service.
The most recent energy bill signed into law by President Bush is a classic example of the split personality our country is suffering when it comes to our conservation efforts. By putting Toyota at a disadvantage (limiting tax credits to the first 60,000 vehicles, or approximately four months of sales for them) the bill has effectively penalized a major hybrid vehicle manufacturer. The intention may have been to allow American vehicle manufactures to get their foot in the door and boost their own hybrid vehicle production, but the effect may very well be the opposite. What is the incentive to manufacture more, when the benefit to the manufacturers has been capped?
It was also announced today that Toyota is being sued by an American company (Solomon Technologies, FL). This suit could effectively put a stop to the sale of Toyota's hybrids here in the United States.
We really seem to be making progress here.
Posted by capecodcyclist at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2006
Debunking Wind Energy Proponent Stereotypes
Cape Cod is currently at the center of what has become the frontline battle for this country's progress on clean power. The debate over a proposed offshore wind farm here, in the shallows of Nantucket Sound, has exposed several serious misconceptions that apparently exist about wind farm supporters. I think it is worth debunking several of the common myths that have been tossed about.
1. Wind farm supporters do not care about animals.
This is a myth being perpetuated by fanatical animal rights activists. In reality, like their fellow wildlife loving accusers, most wind farm supporters are not only pro-environment, many have also dedicated much of their lives to the protection of our wildlife. Most wind power/wildlife concerns are related to birds flying into the blades of wind turbines. Improper siting of early wind farms in Spain and the United States has been the cause of major bird kills, but this should not be cause for carrying the resulting fears to such extremes.
If you do some research on this subject, it becomes apparent that these fears are primarily the result of old school wind technologies and poor placement. With modern wind turbines, the only issue should be selecting and analyzing their proper siting. Wind technologies have the support of hundreds of longtime, respected organizations dedicated to wildlife advocacy. Most telling of these, is the wind technology promotion of such bird friendly organizations as the Audubon Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (just to name a couple). Proper siting of wind farms has proven to have little or no effect on surrounding wildlife, and the many benefits of clean power, to both humans and animals, are proven by both common sense and solid research.
Unfortunately, birds fly into things... especially man made things. I can attest to this from my own experiences as a cyclist (birds very often fly into cars and trucks, and are a common sight on the roadside). I have also personally aided in the rehabilitation of injured birds that have collided with vehicles, windows, or have been otherwise injured by man made constructions or some form of our destruction. If it seems that I have gone off on a tangent about this particular stereotype, that is probably because it is the one I am most offended by. There are no agreed upon plans that I know of for us all to give up our modern lifestyles and return to our cave dwelling ways. We humans are here to stay. Whether or not this fact is unfortunate for wildlife is a matter of personal perspective. I believe that a big part of earning our rights as humans is taking responsibility for the protection of nature and the environment. I do not care if a person is a hunter or a naturalist, their ultimate responsibility should be to preserve and protect all that they come in contact with. I also believe both of these are capable of this, and have a right to claim that they are good environmental stewards. Regardless, wind farm supporters can be much more accurately compared to responsible naturalists, than the irresponsible hunters which opponents of wind farms are attempting to portray them as.
Wind farm supporters love wildlife too (and I'm not talking about parties).
2. Wind farm supporters are ignoring real conservation efforts and other technologies in their quest for a “quick fix” solution.
Show me a dedicated wind farm supporter, and I will show you a staunch conservationist and a supporter of ALL clean power technologies (unless they just get a kick out of watching things spin). Why aren't we promoting conservation? Short answer: we are. However, we are also realists. We recognize that none of these efforts alone are enough. Wind power is pointless if we abandon conservation efforts. Conservation efforts are useless without researching, constructing and utilizing clean power technologies. For most of us, our personal conservation efforts are second nature, are exemplary, and being common sense, should require no promotion. To suggest that wind farm supporters are looking for a quick fix, is to presume that we think there is such a thing. We know there is no quick fix, and that there will most likely be no major environmental differences resulting from these efforts during our lifetimes. For most of us, this is about the future... not ours, but our children's and generations' to follow. We are not willing to accept the defeatist attitude that there is nothing we can do about the current path we are on, or that the future is hopeless.
3. Wind farm supporters are looking to curb global warming.
Okay, this one might not be so much a myth as it is an attempt by the opposition to attack what some would debate is a weakness in one of the arguments for clean energy. It is also an attempt to limit clean energy's importance to this issue alone. Wind power supporters understand that dirty power producers are harmful to the environment in many ways. Power plant emmissions pollute everything from the air shared by all living things, to the rain that falls in our ponds, lakes, oceans, rivers and streams. Most wind farm supporters also understand that the production of electricity and our reliance on foreign fuel supplies are critical issues to our national security. Wind farm supporters readily acknowledge the reality of our future energy requirements, and would prefer to see these needs met with as many renewable resources as possible. Global warming or global cooling, man made or natural climate changes, wind farm supporters are united behind a vision for the future that is less reliant on carbon-based fuels. Opponents of wind power can pick on the global warming alarmists all they want, because we aren't trying to sell something by sharing in their concerns. Regardless of agreement with their conclusions, we are simply hoping their fears will never have to be realized.
4. Wind farm supporters (on Cape Cod in particular) are in this for profit or some other evil ambition. Other ridiculous personal attacks on Cape Cod's wind farm proponents have painted them as knuckle-dragging Bush supporters with horns growing out of their heads.
I can only speak for myself, but my concern for the environment has been lifelong. I require no payment for my efforts, but the satisfaction of knowing that I have lived by and stuck to my principles. This particular supporter has no interest in the financial workings of clean power production, although lower electric bills might someday be a bonus. Just as a side note, I also feel that the companies providing clean energy should receive benefits on a scale with other power companies, and should have to adhere to the same rules and regulations as other utilities. If there are any ulterior motives back of my own interests in clean power, they may be the self-serving hopes I have for reasonable electric rates, the future of my children, and the quality of life for future generations.
It is obvious that we will be debating these misconceptions about wind power and other related technologies for some time to come, but attacking the supporters themselves should be exposed for the misguided, desperate tactic that it is. The question remaining for clean power supporters is how to maintain forward momentum without getting sidetracked by the petty squabbles, finger-pointing and foot dragging that have been, and always will be, inherent to such potential for change. Also important, is to answer the question of how to win back the hearts and minds of these smart, caring individuals who seem to have latched onto and run with such negative ideas. The 1841 classic, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," by Charles McKay might make for a fine, related read. Perhaps we might discover some answers in this work. Unfortunate that it appears to have been written by a prominent, white male. What innocent, level-headed solutions could a prominent, white male possibly have been pursuing after all?
The future of clean power in this country hangs in the balance. Years down the road, when the rest of the world is far ahead of us in their efforts to utilize alternative forms of energy, these wind farm opponents will be looking back, complaining that we sat back and did nothing. Of course, no one will remember this debate, or how hard we tried. Instead of making a beginning right here, today, in our back yards, we were blockaded by those who would prefer we build our solutions in someone else's.
Posted by capecodcyclist at 05:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 26, 2005
Countering Irrational Opposition to Wind Technologies
NEWS FLASH -- A recent report* urged officials to take a more active role in weighing the impact of power transmission lines, radio towers, TV towers, lighthouses, cooling towers, windows, buildings, airport ceilometers, and domestic cats on bird and bat deaths, saying wind farm opponents are far too caught up in fighting wind power to focus on real, present dangers.
AGAINST THE WIND: “Wind turbines are awfully attractive since they are prominent 'symbols' of an attempt to do just that [push toward renewable energy], are paid for mostly by private enterprise and subsidized by the consumers.”
Where are those who would make such statements about modern wind technology coming from? If your answer to that question was that I don't get it, then you are right... I don't get it. To reduce wind turbines to the status of “prominent symbols” of renewable energy efforts is just thick skulled ignorance. Although there obviously are and will be arguments about the exact siting of such projects, it is impossible, by any stretch of the imagination, to deny wind power's critical importance to current renewable energy efforts.
First, wind turbines are the single most viable, renewable energy technology available. The U.S. Department of Energy, many scientists, most environmental advocates, many countries, and uncountable numbers of concerned citizens have come to terms with the importance of lessening our reliance on carbon-based fuels, and reducing our production of greenhouse gas emissions. There is nothing “symbolic” about wind technology's ability to reduce both of these. Every kilowatt produced by a wind turbine, is a kilowatt that was not produced by a dirty, fuel burning, power plant.
Second, the claim that wind farms are “subsidized by the consumers” is bogus. A subsidy is government financial assistance given to people or a group that is considered to be in the public interest. Tax credits or incentives are not subsidies. If I receive a tax credit for purchasing a Toyota Prius (a hybrid vehicle), are you subsidizing my purchase? No, you are not. If I receive a tax credit, I am simply keeping money that was mine to begin with. Would you deny that by giving people tax credits, the government is encouraging them to invest, save or spend it? By offering a 1.9-cent per kilowatt hour tax credit for eligible technologies during their first 10 years of production, the government is creating an incentive to invest in clean power technologies that would otherwise be rejected for more cost effective carbon based fuels. We are not paying for it as consumers. The investments are being made through private enterprise, and the wind farms will be constructed by private companies, as they very well should be.
Wind technologies have come a long way in the last twenty-something years. Previously justifiable fears brought on by earlier, 80's vintage wind farms should be confronted. The only way to fight such lingering fear is to learn the facts, escape the past, and embrace positive change. In debates about wind power and other current issues, it has become apparent that many of us are slowly becoming the victims of lazy, modern, American habits. We are fast becoming shallow, one-dimensional human beings. It seems we are so caught up in the whirlwind of our daily lives, that we have become too exhausted to think for ourselves. Our leisure time is increasingly filled with television, disconnected, meaningless chatter, and the mindless parroting of borrowed opinions. Even our fears can no longer be claimed as our own.
A recent post in Against the Wind said, “It makes no sense to destroy the planet while attempting to save it.” I wholeheartedly agree, as most rational, concerned citizens would. To suggest that viable technologies, produced, studied and created for the sole purpose of protecting the environment, will somehow “destroy the planet” is scaremongering at best. Proposing that technologies which could potentially help save the planet would be doing the opposite is interesting logic indeed. We should carefully consider why such technologies are necessary in the first place. Clearly, we should acknowledge that clean power technologies are intended for the purpose of reducing our reliance on carbon-based fuels and reducing dirty power plant emissions. Without these technologies, wind power being the most viable of these, our environmental problems will undoubtedly increase and cause more harm.
*report does not exist (but it should)
Posted by capecodcyclist at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 23, 2005
Economy of Simplicity
A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. First introduced in 19th-century Europe, it evolved quickly into the familiar current design. With over one billion in the world today, bicycles provide the principal means of transportation in many regions and a popular form of recreation and transport in others. -From Wikipedia
Does anyone keep track of their fuel economy these days? For the past several months, I have been plugging my mileage and fuel purchases into a handy online calculator at www.fueleconomy.gov. This simple task has helped me keep tabs on the depressing rise in fuel costs. It also alerted me to a sudden drop in my fuel economy of 1 mile per gallon this month. I am interested to find out if there is suddenly something wrong with my well-maintained vehicle or if the fuel has recently changed. I am not leaping to conclusions of some conspiracy, but I am concerned about this unexplained decrease. The bicycles grow more attractive by the day.
The bicycle, which I credit for simplifying my once complicated life, is regaining its status as a sensible form of transportation these days. Unfortunately, I must confess that my personal use of motorized transport has increased in recent months. Last year I received a 5% insurance discount due to the low mileage I put on my vehicle while cycling. This year, between moving and numerous home improvement related trips, I don't expect I will be eligible. My affection for bicycles has not been reduced, however household duties have often trumped cycling. Years of standing on concrete floors all day has also caused my knees to protest simple motions (including hard pedaling). Cycling is touted as one of the easiest exercises on the knees, but mine sometimes disagree.
Last month, when helping clean out my grandfather's house, I was given the care of two antique bicycles in need of some TLC. The simple act of bringing these dust collectors back from the dead is worth every ounce of effort. Unlike much in our disposable society, for some of us, bicycles hold their value. This value may not necessarily be monetary, but their utility endures. As a child this value was recreational. I remember hours spent playing on bicycles, circling the driveway, and later the neighborhood. There was also a measure of exercise, yet to be appreciated. As the years passed, the bicycle became a means of escape- the transport that got me downtown. Today, bicycles offer me all of these. They get me outside in a world often missed behind rolled up windows. The bicycle offers inexpensive transport, and exercises an aging body that requires more effort than when I was younger. Working on bicycles and keeping them tuned can bring home the satisfaction of an effort with purpose, and can also be great therapy. We Cape Codders have always appreciated our solitude, but in modern times that escape does not often accompany our industry. We all need to find serenity somewhere. I find mine in books, nature and bicycles.
Here in America, we are consumers. Many of us waste away our days envious of the “haves” and consider ourselves and others as suffering the plight of the “have nots.” Despite this perception, we must be dragged, kicking and screaming into giving up the selfish pleasures we so often enjoy, and are often too stubborn to change our ways, even in the wake of restrictions placed on us by the harsh realities of life (i.e. natural disasters, economic conditions, etc.). The simplicity and joy I have discovered in bicycles and cycling is just one example of the many simple things available to us in life that we so often ignore. Solutions to our every day problems are often right in front of our eyes waiting to be discovered. Rather than blame real and imagined forces for our troubles, it is more fruitful to examine where we are impeding progress ourselves. The temptations and indulgences of life often blind us from simple solutions that must start individually and locally before there will ever be possibility for widespread change. This is as true of politics, energy and finances in my life, to God, country, education or peace in yours. It all starts with us- at home, and right in our back yard.
Posted by capecodcyclist at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack