Hi friends,
I just finished and posted our latest video, ORN#10 Biomimicry. You
can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPXYMBWjIks
This is one of my favorite interviews that we did, at the Biomimicry
Institute in Missoula, Montana. Biomimicry is a design approach of
looking at nature for solutions when designing new products. Genius.
Why reinvent the wheel when there is already a design solution found
somewhere in nature? Engineering meets biology. During the interview
Carrick learned about many examples of biomimicry and saw some
first-hand, like the waterproof, stainproof fabric that mimics the
microscopic structure of a leaf!
We initially interviewed Janine Benyus, the biomimicry guru, in Boston
before we began our cross-country journey but unfortunately the video
camera we were using went on the fritz about 5 minutes into the
interview. We didn’t get enough footage to use for our video but I
decided to edit together what we did get into a bonus video, which you
can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYzj4XcOHSs
I’m now officially part of the green workforce! I was hired full-time
several months ago to do weatherization work in homes and am now in
training to start as a home energy auditor in September. I’ve been
interested in becoming a home energy auditor for several years now,
and our cross-country eco-video project has really helped to inspire
me to make it happen. I’ll be helping people to make their homes more
energy-efficient, while saving them money – it’s hard to argue with
that! Massachusetts has one of the best utility-sponsored programs in
the country to weatherize homes. So now I’ll be working as an energy
auditor and still tuning pianos on the side.
I’m definitely behind on getting these videos out, but I’m plugging
along. We still have many more in the queue so stay tuned!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
ORN#9 Hydropower at Hoover Dam
Hi friends,
Our latest video, ORN#9 Hydropower at Hoover Dam, is now online and ready for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NvyAlSeZFc
We visited Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada (pronounced Nev-aaaa-da) to get an up-close example of big hydroelectric power. Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydropower dams in the U.S. and a national landmark…plus it was on the way.
I didn’t want to just show up with a video camera and try to interview someone there, so I called ahead to set up something official. The contact I spoke with told me about the filming fee for Hoover Dam, which was…significant to say the least. That wasn’t going to work. Fortunately, I contacted several different people and got a reply from someone else there who gave us the in, and we interviewed one of the tour guides for Hoover Dam which worked out great! We got to tag along on the tour and film inside the dam, which is a rare treat.
Hydroelectric dams produce most of the renewable electricity in the U.S., and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that we could easily double the hydropower in this country by replacing older inefficient turbines and adding new capacity to existing dams. In fact, only 3% of the country’s 80,000 dams produce electricity – most are used for irrigation, flood control, and water treatment.
Hoover Dam produces 2,080 megawatts of electricity every year – that’s an incredible amount of power. That’s three times more power than the world’s largest wind farm we visited in Roscoe, Texas, and it’s a constant base-load source of electricity. It’s enough to supply 1.3 million homes with power!
There are very real environmental impacts for hydroelectric dams. Dams can greatly affect the ecology of a river system. Some dams build up lakes as storage behind the dams and others are run-of-river dams that let the water flow through. While flooding areas to become lakes behind the dams dramatically changes the ecosystem, some people argue that harnessing and controlling the river flow offsets the damage that comes from seasonal flooding. Of course, that’s a natural cycle too. There are lively debates on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams.
I included an internet-only video extra that is just for a bit of fun, ORN Extra: Bodies in Hoover Dam. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4teeOCLqxs)
While on the tour, the guide addressed the old rumor that there are bodies buried in Hoover Dam. There were, in fact, 96 men who died on-site during the construction of the dam between 1931 and 1936, but beyond that I’ll let the video give you the answer. This video extra is not going to be included in the DVD to distribute to schools – it’s a bit dark and off-topic for that. I included it online because it’s an interesting snippet about the dam, and it may be the kind of short video that gets passed around and generates a lot of hits - we’ll see.
Be well,
Colin
Our latest video, ORN#9 Hydropower at Hoover Dam, is now online and ready for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NvyAlSeZFc
We visited Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada (pronounced Nev-aaaa-da) to get an up-close example of big hydroelectric power. Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydropower dams in the U.S. and a national landmark…plus it was on the way.
I didn’t want to just show up with a video camera and try to interview someone there, so I called ahead to set up something official. The contact I spoke with told me about the filming fee for Hoover Dam, which was…significant to say the least. That wasn’t going to work. Fortunately, I contacted several different people and got a reply from someone else there who gave us the in, and we interviewed one of the tour guides for Hoover Dam which worked out great! We got to tag along on the tour and film inside the dam, which is a rare treat.
Hydroelectric dams produce most of the renewable electricity in the U.S., and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that we could easily double the hydropower in this country by replacing older inefficient turbines and adding new capacity to existing dams. In fact, only 3% of the country’s 80,000 dams produce electricity – most are used for irrigation, flood control, and water treatment.
Hoover Dam produces 2,080 megawatts of electricity every year – that’s an incredible amount of power. That’s three times more power than the world’s largest wind farm we visited in Roscoe, Texas, and it’s a constant base-load source of electricity. It’s enough to supply 1.3 million homes with power!
There are very real environmental impacts for hydroelectric dams. Dams can greatly affect the ecology of a river system. Some dams build up lakes as storage behind the dams and others are run-of-river dams that let the water flow through. While flooding areas to become lakes behind the dams dramatically changes the ecosystem, some people argue that harnessing and controlling the river flow offsets the damage that comes from seasonal flooding. Of course, that’s a natural cycle too. There are lively debates on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams.
I included an internet-only video extra that is just for a bit of fun, ORN Extra: Bodies in Hoover Dam. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4teeOCLqxs)
While on the tour, the guide addressed the old rumor that there are bodies buried in Hoover Dam. There were, in fact, 96 men who died on-site during the construction of the dam between 1931 and 1936, but beyond that I’ll let the video give you the answer. This video extra is not going to be included in the DVD to distribute to schools – it’s a bit dark and off-topic for that. I included it online because it’s an interesting snippet about the dam, and it may be the kind of short video that gets passed around and generates a lot of hits - we’ll see.
Be well,
Colin
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Hi friends,
We just released our latest video, ORN#7 Vertical Axis Wind Turbines,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp522phTgBc
While coming through Detroit we stopped in to visit Enviro-Energies, a
company that makes a very different kind of wind turbine. Vertical
axis wind turbines are more commonly mounted on rooftops and spin,
well, vertically instead of horiztonally. Think about a
merry-go-round with sails, and that’s a lot like what we saw on our
visit. Nothing like what we’re used to a wind turbine looking like.
Carrick chatted with Ken Johnson, President of Enviro-Energies about
vertical axis wind turbines, or VAWTs.
So why use a VAWT instead of the traditional propeller-type wind
turbine? WARNING: long answer to follow. From how I see it, they are
different products for different applications. Traditional horizontal
wind turbines are mounted on towers or poles – generally, the higher
you place the turbine the more consistent wind speed you’ll see.
They’re not meant to mount on a rooftop, not only because of the lower
elevation but also because the sloping roofs produce a lot of
turbulence in the airflow. The Enviro-Energies turbine actually
takes advantage of air turbulence from sloped roofs and is better able
to handle shifting wind direction.
For homeowners, putting up a wind turbine can be a tricky situation.
In our town in Massachusetts, the policy states that any pole or tower
would have to fall on my property in ANY direction, so if I have a
75-foot tower I’d better have a good amount of land. I don’t have
many acres of land so that wouldn’t work for me. Because VAWTs are
roof-mounted, this isn’t a problem for getting town approval.
VAWTs are marketed touting a number of benefits, some of which I will
take issue with. They are sold as being silent and harmless to birds
(suggesting those are problems with traditional propeller-types).
These claims play to many people’s mistaken impressions that wind
turbines are loud and a big threat to birds, which I and many other
people spend a lot of time refuting. In my experience, small
residential wind turbines do make noise when they’re really moving,
and larger commercial-sized wind turbines (newer ones anyway) do not.
The Enviro-Energies turbines they are silent at any size and speed.
Wind studies have shown that on average, wind turbines kill 2 birds
per year – again, cats, windshields, plate glass windows, etc., are
responsible for more birds killed annually than wind turbines.
What is really intriguing about the Enviro-Energies wind turbine is
that they have developed large-scale turbines that could be put on
tall buildings in cities. This is an application where traditional
horizontal turbines would not work. Usually wind power is generated
in rural areas with transmission to cities, but designs like this
could bring wind power to the cities themselves. The largest model
they can produce at Enviro-Energies is 200 feet wide, with bladders
filled with helium to significantly reduce the weight of the turbine.
Now, Enviro-Energies is not the only company out there making vertical
axis wind turbines. Actually, if you mention VAWTs to most wind
energy enthusiasts they will usually groan and roll their eyes. VAWTs
are relatively new to the game and there are a lot of new companies
making wind turbines that look neat, but haven’t been thoroughly
tested and usually produce much less energy than they are marketed
for. Just do a search online for vertical axis wind turbines and you
will see an amazing variety of designs, and a lot of amazing claims
with how much electricity they can produce at lower wind speeds.
During the interview, Ken talked about their approach to design and
how much the sails of the Enviro-Energies turbine catch wind more
efficiently at low wind speeds.
Another interesting feature of the Enviro-Energies turbines is that
they use magnetic levitation, which greatly reduces the friction while
turning. In the video you can see Carrick very easily turning a
20-foot turbine. That’s one way to get Carrick to burn off some
energy! Also, Ken mentioned that company logos and advertisements can
be added to the sails which make large and unique billboard, while
sending a green message.
So check out the video and enjoy – this visit was definitely one of
the best examples of being able to visit and report on something that
most people have never seen or heard of. I’m grateful that we had the
opportunity!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We just released our latest video, ORN#7 Vertical Axis Wind Turbines,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp522phTgBc
While coming through Detroit we stopped in to visit Enviro-Energies, a
company that makes a very different kind of wind turbine. Vertical
axis wind turbines are more commonly mounted on rooftops and spin,
well, vertically instead of horiztonally. Think about a
merry-go-round with sails, and that’s a lot like what we saw on our
visit. Nothing like what we’re used to a wind turbine looking like.
Carrick chatted with Ken Johnson, President of Enviro-Energies about
vertical axis wind turbines, or VAWTs.
So why use a VAWT instead of the traditional propeller-type wind
turbine? WARNING: long answer to follow. From how I see it, they are
different products for different applications. Traditional horizontal
wind turbines are mounted on towers or poles – generally, the higher
you place the turbine the more consistent wind speed you’ll see.
They’re not meant to mount on a rooftop, not only because of the lower
elevation but also because the sloping roofs produce a lot of
turbulence in the airflow. The Enviro-Energies turbine actually
takes advantage of air turbulence from sloped roofs and is better able
to handle shifting wind direction.
For homeowners, putting up a wind turbine can be a tricky situation.
In our town in Massachusetts, the policy states that any pole or tower
would have to fall on my property in ANY direction, so if I have a
75-foot tower I’d better have a good amount of land. I don’t have
many acres of land so that wouldn’t work for me. Because VAWTs are
roof-mounted, this isn’t a problem for getting town approval.
VAWTs are marketed touting a number of benefits, some of which I will
take issue with. They are sold as being silent and harmless to birds
(suggesting those are problems with traditional propeller-types).
These claims play to many people’s mistaken impressions that wind
turbines are loud and a big threat to birds, which I and many other
people spend a lot of time refuting. In my experience, small
residential wind turbines do make noise when they’re really moving,
and larger commercial-sized wind turbines (newer ones anyway) do not.
The Enviro-Energies turbines they are silent at any size and speed.
Wind studies have shown that on average, wind turbines kill 2 birds
per year – again, cats, windshields, plate glass windows, etc., are
responsible for more birds killed annually than wind turbines.
What is really intriguing about the Enviro-Energies wind turbine is
that they have developed large-scale turbines that could be put on
tall buildings in cities. This is an application where traditional
horizontal turbines would not work. Usually wind power is generated
in rural areas with transmission to cities, but designs like this
could bring wind power to the cities themselves. The largest model
they can produce at Enviro-Energies is 200 feet wide, with bladders
filled with helium to significantly reduce the weight of the turbine.
Now, Enviro-Energies is not the only company out there making vertical
axis wind turbines. Actually, if you mention VAWTs to most wind
energy enthusiasts they will usually groan and roll their eyes. VAWTs
are relatively new to the game and there are a lot of new companies
making wind turbines that look neat, but haven’t been thoroughly
tested and usually produce much less energy than they are marketed
for. Just do a search online for vertical axis wind turbines and you
will see an amazing variety of designs, and a lot of amazing claims
with how much electricity they can produce at lower wind speeds.
During the interview, Ken talked about their approach to design and
how much the sails of the Enviro-Energies turbine catch wind more
efficiently at low wind speeds.
Another interesting feature of the Enviro-Energies turbines is that
they use magnetic levitation, which greatly reduces the friction while
turning. In the video you can see Carrick very easily turning a
20-foot turbine. That’s one way to get Carrick to burn off some
energy! Also, Ken mentioned that company logos and advertisements can
be added to the sails which make large and unique billboard, while
sending a green message.
So check out the video and enjoy – this visit was definitely one of
the best examples of being able to visit and report on something that
most people have never seen or heard of. I’m grateful that we had the
opportunity!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Friday, May 28, 2010
ORN#7 GM and the Chevy Volt
Hi friends,
I just posted our latest video, ORN#7 GM and the Chevy Volt.
GM has been developing a variety of alternative fuel vehicles, seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to the future of gasoline. They are working on developing hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, E-85 ethanol, and plug-in hybrids like the upcoming Chevy Volt. Our video features Carrick’s interview with Beth Lowery, Vice President of the Environment, Energy and Safety at GM, plus a tour of their battery development lab where they are testing the battery system for the Volt.
Getting into GM was an unlikely opportunity, to say the least. Months before we left on our cross-country journey, I had been, er…plugging away at trying to get an interview there about the Volt. I didn’t figure it was a good idea to just show up with a camera ala Michael Moore, so I researched the contacts there and tried everything I could but didn’t get anywhere. While we were interviewing Chelsea Sexton in Los Angeles I mentioned that I didn’t have any luck and sure enough, she had the connections to get us in. There is great irony there if you’ve seen the documentary, ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?’. So, as we were coming through Detroit on the way back home we got the red carpet treatment at GM and were fortunate enough to get the interviews we needed for a video about the Volt.
The Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid car that is very different technology that what we’re seen so far. The car has a 40-mile range on electric-only, then instead of a motor an on-board gasoline-powered generator produces the electricity to provide power. Unlike a combustion engine that is constantly under different demands for power, i.e. going up hills, changing speed, etc., the generator runs at a single, optimum speed for better fuel economy. The average commute to work and back is about 40 miles, so for many people the Volt would have enough range to get around without using any gasoline, but has the extended range with the generator if people need to drive further. The Volt is due out this November and I can assure you there will be great publicity and fanfare when that time comes!
Carrick’s interview with VP Beth Lowery was in downtown Detroit at GM’s Renaissance Center, which is the big skyscraper with the GM logo. The lobby of the building is a showcase of GM vehicles – it’s a busy, noisy place as you’ll see. One part that I did not include in the video is where Carrick tells Beth that when he grows up his first car is going to be a Tesla Roadster – she was a good sport and had a big smile at that one. Way to tell the vice president of one of the world’s largest automakers that you want to buy a competitor’s car….It was great to hear about the variety of alt fuel technologies they are working on, giving people a lot of choices in the future about how they want to power their cars.
We then traveled over to the battery development lab that is working on testing the battery system for the Chevy Volt. Carrick interviewed Doug Drauch, lead developer at the lab, about the technology that goes into the battery pack on the Volt. Outside the lab we also got to see GM’s earlier electric car, the EV1 (we actually saw the first EV1 made). The EV1’s were leased but never sold to customers, and that program certainly came to a controversial end about a decade ago. The Chevy Volt, however, will be for sale and they are projecting 10,000 vehicles off the line in the first year.
In the past, we’ve had our bit of fun with GM but it has all been in fun. Back in 2007 Carrick and I made a video about the Volt called ‘Darth Vader and the Chevy Volt’ which took some pokes but ultimately was a fun way to spread the word about the Volt.
My guess is GM probably hadn’t seen that one before they agreed to let us in. Considering their previous history with electric cars I think they deserve some ribbing, but beyond that I think what they’re doing with the Chevy Volt is great and I hope they are successful. GM is very much in the public about their strong commitment to the Volt. You can keep updated on their progress at the Volt website, www.ChevroletVoltage.com.
Be well,
Colin
I just posted our latest video, ORN#7 GM and the Chevy Volt.
GM has been developing a variety of alternative fuel vehicles, seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to the future of gasoline. They are working on developing hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, E-85 ethanol, and plug-in hybrids like the upcoming Chevy Volt. Our video features Carrick’s interview with Beth Lowery, Vice President of the Environment, Energy and Safety at GM, plus a tour of their battery development lab where they are testing the battery system for the Volt.
Getting into GM was an unlikely opportunity, to say the least. Months before we left on our cross-country journey, I had been, er…plugging away at trying to get an interview there about the Volt. I didn’t figure it was a good idea to just show up with a camera ala Michael Moore, so I researched the contacts there and tried everything I could but didn’t get anywhere. While we were interviewing Chelsea Sexton in Los Angeles I mentioned that I didn’t have any luck and sure enough, she had the connections to get us in. There is great irony there if you’ve seen the documentary, ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?’. So, as we were coming through Detroit on the way back home we got the red carpet treatment at GM and were fortunate enough to get the interviews we needed for a video about the Volt.
The Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid car that is very different technology that what we’re seen so far. The car has a 40-mile range on electric-only, then instead of a motor an on-board gasoline-powered generator produces the electricity to provide power. Unlike a combustion engine that is constantly under different demands for power, i.e. going up hills, changing speed, etc., the generator runs at a single, optimum speed for better fuel economy. The average commute to work and back is about 40 miles, so for many people the Volt would have enough range to get around without using any gasoline, but has the extended range with the generator if people need to drive further. The Volt is due out this November and I can assure you there will be great publicity and fanfare when that time comes!
Carrick’s interview with VP Beth Lowery was in downtown Detroit at GM’s Renaissance Center, which is the big skyscraper with the GM logo. The lobby of the building is a showcase of GM vehicles – it’s a busy, noisy place as you’ll see. One part that I did not include in the video is where Carrick tells Beth that when he grows up his first car is going to be a Tesla Roadster – she was a good sport and had a big smile at that one. Way to tell the vice president of one of the world’s largest automakers that you want to buy a competitor’s car….It was great to hear about the variety of alt fuel technologies they are working on, giving people a lot of choices in the future about how they want to power their cars.
We then traveled over to the battery development lab that is working on testing the battery system for the Chevy Volt. Carrick interviewed Doug Drauch, lead developer at the lab, about the technology that goes into the battery pack on the Volt. Outside the lab we also got to see GM’s earlier electric car, the EV1 (we actually saw the first EV1 made). The EV1’s were leased but never sold to customers, and that program certainly came to a controversial end about a decade ago. The Chevy Volt, however, will be for sale and they are projecting 10,000 vehicles off the line in the first year.
In the past, we’ve had our bit of fun with GM but it has all been in fun. Back in 2007 Carrick and I made a video about the Volt called ‘Darth Vader and the Chevy Volt’ which took some pokes but ultimately was a fun way to spread the word about the Volt.
My guess is GM probably hadn’t seen that one before they agreed to let us in. Considering their previous history with electric cars I think they deserve some ribbing, but beyond that I think what they’re doing with the Chevy Volt is great and I hope they are successful. GM is very much in the public about their strong commitment to the Volt. You can keep updated on their progress at the Volt website, www.ChevroletVoltage.com.
Be well,
Colin
Monday, April 19, 2010
ORN#6 World's Largest Wind Farm
This is one of my favorite interviews from our cross-country eco-video
project, when we met Cliff Etheridge in Roscoe, Texas, home of the
world’s largest wind farm.
The way Cliff explained, the rural town of Roscoe was dying out, and
once the Dairy Queen left town they knew they were in trouble. Cliff
had just retired as a cotton farmer and knew about the wind farms in
nearby Abilene and Sweetwater, and was interested to find out if
Roscoe could have a wind farm too. There is both plenty of wind and
plenty of open space in Roscoe. He brought in wind experts to assess
whether or not a wind farm would work there, and then got the support
of the townspeople for the idea.
A few years later, the world’s largest wind farm now stands in Roscoe,
Texas with 631 wind turbines producing enough electricity for 250,000
homes. Farmers and landowners are paid by the company who owns the
wind turbines for leasing their land, and they continue to farm around
the turbines. In a rural farming community, that extra money really
helps keep the local economy going. As we saw in so many places,
there are a variety of reasons to support renewable energy: the
environment, the economy, national security, etc. In fact, the week
before we arrived in Roscoe, Cliff won ‘Environmentalist of the Year’
from the state of Texas!
Standing in a field of 631 massive wind turbines was an amazing
experience. It was actually very quiet - just the noise of the wind
blowing. It made me wish that everyone who opposes wind farms could
stand where I was to experience it for themselves. They are quite
majestic, in my opinion. Our local newspaper just featured an article
on building wind turbines here in central Massachusetts, speaking of
the several that have been built in the last two years, and others
that are on the way. I read the online version of the article and it
was of course followed by comments on the website about how wind
turbines are noisy, kill birds, are a bad investment, etc. People may
not like how they look, and that's their opinion of course. I've
heard some complaints about wind turbines being noisy but I've never
experienced that myself with the turbines I've been close to. I know
the smaller residential wind turbines are are noisier. Many studies
have been done about bird mortality with wind turbines and it's
generally found that wind turbines kill about 2 birds per year. Cats,
windshields, and plate glass windows are a far greater menace to bird
populations than wind turbines. As far as wind turbines being a bad
investment, our first video in the ORN series features the wind
turbine at Holy Name High School which has a 7-year payback and then
free heat/electricity for years afterward. The Roscoe wind farm was a
business decision, to boost the economy of a rural town that was
dying. People can argue the numbers all day but in the meantime that
doesn't stop people from investing in renewable energy and
experiencing the very real benefits. If you hear or see these
arguments I encourage you to help counter them and try to correct some
of the misinformation out there.
Enjoy!
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
project, when we met Cliff Etheridge in Roscoe, Texas, home of the
world’s largest wind farm.
The way Cliff explained, the rural town of Roscoe was dying out, and
once the Dairy Queen left town they knew they were in trouble. Cliff
had just retired as a cotton farmer and knew about the wind farms in
nearby Abilene and Sweetwater, and was interested to find out if
Roscoe could have a wind farm too. There is both plenty of wind and
plenty of open space in Roscoe. He brought in wind experts to assess
whether or not a wind farm would work there, and then got the support
of the townspeople for the idea.
A few years later, the world’s largest wind farm now stands in Roscoe,
Texas with 631 wind turbines producing enough electricity for 250,000
homes. Farmers and landowners are paid by the company who owns the
wind turbines for leasing their land, and they continue to farm around
the turbines. In a rural farming community, that extra money really
helps keep the local economy going. As we saw in so many places,
there are a variety of reasons to support renewable energy: the
environment, the economy, national security, etc. In fact, the week
before we arrived in Roscoe, Cliff won ‘Environmentalist of the Year’
from the state of Texas!
Standing in a field of 631 massive wind turbines was an amazing
experience. It was actually very quiet - just the noise of the wind
blowing. It made me wish that everyone who opposes wind farms could
stand where I was to experience it for themselves. They are quite
majestic, in my opinion. Our local newspaper just featured an article
on building wind turbines here in central Massachusetts, speaking of
the several that have been built in the last two years, and others
that are on the way. I read the online version of the article and it
was of course followed by comments on the website about how wind
turbines are noisy, kill birds, are a bad investment, etc. People may
not like how they look, and that's their opinion of course. I've
heard some complaints about wind turbines being noisy but I've never
experienced that myself with the turbines I've been close to. I know
the smaller residential wind turbines are are noisier. Many studies
have been done about bird mortality with wind turbines and it's
generally found that wind turbines kill about 2 birds per year. Cats,
windshields, and plate glass windows are a far greater menace to bird
populations than wind turbines. As far as wind turbines being a bad
investment, our first video in the ORN series features the wind
turbine at Holy Name High School which has a 7-year payback and then
free heat/electricity for years afterward. The Roscoe wind farm was a
business decision, to boost the economy of a rural town that was
dying. People can argue the numbers all day but in the meantime that
doesn't stop people from investing in renewable energy and
experiencing the very real benefits. If you hear or see these
arguments I encourage you to help counter them and try to correct some
of the misinformation out there.
Enjoy!
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Friday, April 9, 2010
ORN#5 Cellulosic Ethanol
Hi friends,
Before I get to the newest video, I want to say thanks for the ratings and reviews on ITunes! If you haven’t yet, please check us out on ITunes and leave a rating and/or review, which helps us get notice in a very large ITunes world. Just do a search for Our Renewable Nation in the ITunes store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nHLctl761k
Our latest video, ORN# 5 Cellulsoic Ethanol, is Carrick’s tour of Verenium’s demonstration plant in Jennings, Louisiana. Verenium has been developing a process of using high-energy crops and native plants to make cellulosic ethanol to fuel cars and trucks.
Ethanol has been a controversial alternative fuel to gasoline, with a lot of headlines and politics involved for the last several years. Much of the gasoline now sold in the U.S. has a blend of 10% ethanol, which is being made from corn. Making ethanol from corn really gets into a whole host of issues, like growing food crops for fuel. Corn is an energy-intensive crop to grow and farmers end up using a lot more energy to grow and harvest the corn than we get from using the ethanol in our cars. Then there’s the problem of rising food prices because the corn is being used for fuel instead of food, and corn is in A LOT of food we buy (watch the movie King Corn or read the book ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ by Michael Pollan for more on that). Plus, even planting every acre of land available in the U.S. with corn to make ethanol wouldn’t get us anywhere near what we use for transportation fuel in this country.
Cellulosic ethanol can be made from native plants and grasses that need very little help to grow abundantly, and from crops that are able to produce many times more ethanol per acre than corn. One of the big challenges with producing cellulosic ethanol is breaking down the cell walls to get at the sugars trapped in these plants materials. Verenium has developed a process of conditioning and pressurizing the plant materials then adding enzymes to break down the cell walls, making it possible to yield a much greater amount of ethanol from plants than the process of producing corn ethanol.
On our cross-country journey we were given a rare opportunity to visit and tour Verenium’s cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Louisiana. This is not a place that is open to the public. In fact, no kid has ever walked through the facility before Carrick. There is a lot of money invested in developing this process and a handful of other companies are in the race to perfect the secrets to making cellulosic ethanol. Naturally, they are selective about how many people they bring through, so we were very lucky!
You may notice this is a short video, shorter than normal. During our tour of Verenium I couldn’t imagine how we were going to take a subject as complex as cellulosic ethanol and make a 5-minute video for a broad audience including kids. There was so much to show and tell, and so many issues involved that in the end I decided to keep it short and not overload it with information. There is a lot of discussion and debate about ethanol on the internet, so our video serves as a “taste of” and anyone interested can do more poking around on their own.
We use SO MUCH gasoline in this country for transportation that it’s hard to imagine any one source of fuel that we can produce to take its place. That’s not to say it can’t be done, it’s just to highlight the tremendous challenge any alternative fuel faces. Making vehicles more fuel-efficient is one way to help meet that challenge. Also, the idea of a Chevy Volt-style hybrid with a fuel-driven range extender would dramatically lower our use of fuel by letting us drive on electricity most of the time and only use fuel when driving farther than 50 miles.
Before I close this out I want to mention the upcoming sustainability fair in Hull, Massachusetts by our friends at Sustainable South Shore, who helped sponsor our project. We went last year and it was great – here’s more info:
7th Annual Earth Day Sustainable Living Expo
Sat., April 17, 2010 at the DCR Mary Jeanette Murray
Bathhouse, 204 Nantasket Ave., Hull, MA 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
FREE. See website: www.sustainablesouthshore.org
for details about last year's Festival vendors and organizations
plus updated information for the 2010 Sustainable Living Expo.
40 Table spaces, inside and outside, of sustainable living related
companies and organizations. Sponsored by Sustainable South
Shore Inc. (18 So. Shore Towns), a Chapter of MCAN,
www.massclimateaction.net.
Info.: 781-925-9066 nancy@sustainablesouthshore.org
Hull Wind 1 Turbine tours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Before I get to the newest video, I want to say thanks for the ratings and reviews on ITunes! If you haven’t yet, please check us out on ITunes and leave a rating and/or review, which helps us get notice in a very large ITunes world. Just do a search for Our Renewable Nation in the ITunes store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nHLctl761k
Our latest video, ORN# 5 Cellulsoic Ethanol, is Carrick’s tour of Verenium’s demonstration plant in Jennings, Louisiana. Verenium has been developing a process of using high-energy crops and native plants to make cellulosic ethanol to fuel cars and trucks.
Ethanol has been a controversial alternative fuel to gasoline, with a lot of headlines and politics involved for the last several years. Much of the gasoline now sold in the U.S. has a blend of 10% ethanol, which is being made from corn. Making ethanol from corn really gets into a whole host of issues, like growing food crops for fuel. Corn is an energy-intensive crop to grow and farmers end up using a lot more energy to grow and harvest the corn than we get from using the ethanol in our cars. Then there’s the problem of rising food prices because the corn is being used for fuel instead of food, and corn is in A LOT of food we buy (watch the movie King Corn or read the book ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ by Michael Pollan for more on that). Plus, even planting every acre of land available in the U.S. with corn to make ethanol wouldn’t get us anywhere near what we use for transportation fuel in this country.
Cellulosic ethanol can be made from native plants and grasses that need very little help to grow abundantly, and from crops that are able to produce many times more ethanol per acre than corn. One of the big challenges with producing cellulosic ethanol is breaking down the cell walls to get at the sugars trapped in these plants materials. Verenium has developed a process of conditioning and pressurizing the plant materials then adding enzymes to break down the cell walls, making it possible to yield a much greater amount of ethanol from plants than the process of producing corn ethanol.
On our cross-country journey we were given a rare opportunity to visit and tour Verenium’s cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Louisiana. This is not a place that is open to the public. In fact, no kid has ever walked through the facility before Carrick. There is a lot of money invested in developing this process and a handful of other companies are in the race to perfect the secrets to making cellulosic ethanol. Naturally, they are selective about how many people they bring through, so we were very lucky!
You may notice this is a short video, shorter than normal. During our tour of Verenium I couldn’t imagine how we were going to take a subject as complex as cellulosic ethanol and make a 5-minute video for a broad audience including kids. There was so much to show and tell, and so many issues involved that in the end I decided to keep it short and not overload it with information. There is a lot of discussion and debate about ethanol on the internet, so our video serves as a “taste of” and anyone interested can do more poking around on their own.
We use SO MUCH gasoline in this country for transportation that it’s hard to imagine any one source of fuel that we can produce to take its place. That’s not to say it can’t be done, it’s just to highlight the tremendous challenge any alternative fuel faces. Making vehicles more fuel-efficient is one way to help meet that challenge. Also, the idea of a Chevy Volt-style hybrid with a fuel-driven range extender would dramatically lower our use of fuel by letting us drive on electricity most of the time and only use fuel when driving farther than 50 miles.
Before I close this out I want to mention the upcoming sustainability fair in Hull, Massachusetts by our friends at Sustainable South Shore, who helped sponsor our project. We went last year and it was great – here’s more info:
7th Annual Earth Day Sustainable Living Expo
Sat., April 17, 2010 at the DCR Mary Jeanette Murray
Bathhouse, 204 Nantasket Ave., Hull, MA 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
FREE. See website: www.sustainablesouthshore.org
for details about last year's Festival vendors and organizations
plus updated information for the 2010 Sustainable Living Expo.
40 Table spaces, inside and outside, of sustainable living related
companies and organizations. Sponsored by Sustainable South
Shore Inc. (18 So. Shore Towns), a Chapter of MCAN,
www.massclimateaction.net.
Info.: 781-925-9066 nancy@sustainablesouthshore.org
Hull Wind 1 Turbine tours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Special Announcement and Our Newest Video
Hi friends,
We just finished and uploaded our latest eco-video, but first I have a big announcement and a request for a little help!
I have set up our eco-video series, Our Renewable Nation, as a video podcast on ITunes. ITunes is the premier online music store and directory for podcasts, so being listed as a podcast there is a BIG DEAL and exposes our videos to a much wider audience, potentially. On ITunes, people can subscribe to our videos to play on their IPods, IPhones, or on their computers, updated as soon as each video is online. There are very few environmental video podcasts listed on ITunes, so we don’t have much competition.
ITunes can give a podcast a lot of publicity by listing it as a featured podcast, but in order for them to notice it the podcast needs to have a lot of good ratings and reviews. If you use ITunes, could you help give us a boost? Do a search in the ITunes store for Our Renewable Nation, and our podcast will come up. A quick rating and/or some comments about the videos would be a big help! If you don’t already use ITunes, you can download it free from www.Apple.com – I very highly recommend browsing through the available podcasts, all free and an endless source of brain food. Really, my IPod was one of the best purchases I ever made; I listen to podcasts for hours every day and learn so much.
OK, now our newest video, ORN#4 Solar Decathlon 2009. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVyrGeSMLM) We visited the Solar Decathlon in October down in Washington DC; it’s a competition of homes from universities all over the world that are completely powered by the sun. The homes are assembled on the National Mall for 2 weeks and are open to the public to show just what’s possible. When built specifically with renewable energy and energy efficiency in the design, there are amazing possibilities for zero energy homes. For example:
-Team Germany’s house is almost completely covered in solar panels, both traditional PV and new thin-film panels on the siding of the house, which generates several times more electricity than the house uses (selling the rest back to the electric company!).
-The University of Illinois house is so energy efficient that it could be heated with a single hair dryer.
-Team Spain’s house features the first-of-it’s-kind tracking solar roof that follows the sun throughout the day.
-Team California’s house has computerized lighting, heating, and cooling controls that can all be changed on-the-go using an IPhone.
As you’ll see in the video, these are very high-tech houses featuring solar technology for electricity and heating, super-insulation, passive solar heating with south-facing windows, etc. The Solar Decathlon houses stand in strong contrast to the very low-tech zero-energy homes we visited in Taos, New Mexico, called Earthships. Very different approaches to building! Stay tuned for our upcoming video about Earthships!
There were 20 houses at the Solar Decathlon and we filmed each one, but in this video we covered 5 of the most interesting and high-scoring houses. I want to put together a few more videos that cover the other houses but that would take weeks, and I want to move on to the other exciting videos that are next in line. Maybe once the video series is finished I’ll return to these remaining Solar Decathlon houses and make some ORN web extras. In the meantime, you can visit the Decathlon website, www.SolarDecathlon.org, which has plenty of information about all 20 houses, plus lots of pictures and videos of the competition.
In the 2009 Solar Decathlon, there was a focus on how much it would cost to build these houses. For example, Team Germany’s house cost roughly $750,000 to build (it features some very cutting-edge technologies). Some things to consider about the costs though:
1. 1. You’d never have an electric bill or heating bill again.
2. 2. You could get paid for the excess electricity you produce.
3. 3. State and federal credits can make solar technology much more affordable.
4. 4. These are prototype homes; if they were mass-produced the cost would be much lower.
We hope you enjoy our latest video! As always, feel free to leave comments on YouTube and rate the videos.
Thank you everyone for your support!
Be well,
Colin & Carrick--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We just finished and uploaded our latest eco-video, but first I have a big announcement and a request for a little help!
I have set up our eco-video series, Our Renewable Nation, as a video podcast on ITunes. ITunes is the premier online music store and directory for podcasts, so being listed as a podcast there is a BIG DEAL and exposes our videos to a much wider audience, potentially. On ITunes, people can subscribe to our videos to play on their IPods, IPhones, or on their computers, updated as soon as each video is online. There are very few environmental video podcasts listed on ITunes, so we don’t have much competition.
ITunes can give a podcast a lot of publicity by listing it as a featured podcast, but in order for them to notice it the podcast needs to have a lot of good ratings and reviews. If you use ITunes, could you help give us a boost? Do a search in the ITunes store for Our Renewable Nation, and our podcast will come up. A quick rating and/or some comments about the videos would be a big help! If you don’t already use ITunes, you can download it free from www.Apple.com – I very highly recommend browsing through the available podcasts, all free and an endless source of brain food. Really, my IPod was one of the best purchases I ever made; I listen to podcasts for hours every day and learn so much.
OK, now our newest video, ORN#4 Solar Decathlon 2009. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVyrGeSMLM) We visited the Solar Decathlon in October down in Washington DC; it’s a competition of homes from universities all over the world that are completely powered by the sun. The homes are assembled on the National Mall for 2 weeks and are open to the public to show just what’s possible. When built specifically with renewable energy and energy efficiency in the design, there are amazing possibilities for zero energy homes. For example:
-Team Germany’s house is almost completely covered in solar panels, both traditional PV and new thin-film panels on the siding of the house, which generates several times more electricity than the house uses (selling the rest back to the electric company!).
-The University of Illinois house is so energy efficient that it could be heated with a single hair dryer.
-Team Spain’s house features the first-of-it’s-kind tracking solar roof that follows the sun throughout the day.
-Team California’s house has computerized lighting, heating, and cooling controls that can all be changed on-the-go using an IPhone.
As you’ll see in the video, these are very high-tech houses featuring solar technology for electricity and heating, super-insulation, passive solar heating with south-facing windows, etc. The Solar Decathlon houses stand in strong contrast to the very low-tech zero-energy homes we visited in Taos, New Mexico, called Earthships. Very different approaches to building! Stay tuned for our upcoming video about Earthships!
There were 20 houses at the Solar Decathlon and we filmed each one, but in this video we covered 5 of the most interesting and high-scoring houses. I want to put together a few more videos that cover the other houses but that would take weeks, and I want to move on to the other exciting videos that are next in line. Maybe once the video series is finished I’ll return to these remaining Solar Decathlon houses and make some ORN web extras. In the meantime, you can visit the Decathlon website, www.SolarDecathlon.org, which has plenty of information about all 20 houses, plus lots of pictures and videos of the competition.
In the 2009 Solar Decathlon, there was a focus on how much it would cost to build these houses. For example, Team Germany’s house cost roughly $750,000 to build (it features some very cutting-edge technologies). Some things to consider about the costs though:
1. 1. You’d never have an electric bill or heating bill again.
2. 2. You could get paid for the excess electricity you produce.
3. 3. State and federal credits can make solar technology much more affordable.
4. 4. These are prototype homes; if they were mass-produced the cost would be much lower.
We hope you enjoy our latest video! As always, feel free to leave comments on YouTube and rate the videos.
Thank you everyone for your support!
Be well,
Colin & Carrick--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
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