Newer Technologies

Biomass. Biomass is the burning of organic matter – typically agricultural crops and grasses – to produce heat or electricity. Biomass, unlike solar and wind, does produce significant carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions, however, can be balanced out by planting new crops, which take up carbon dioxide as they grow. The carbon emission to carbon uptake ratio, the location of the two processes, and the effects on local soil and water quality, are important issues that must be considered in determining what forms of biomass are sustainable. For biomass to be a significant source of non–carbon emitting renewable energy, crops must be grown with little cultivation and fertilizer, be transported only over short distances, and be grown and harvested in a way that does not degrade the land. Grasses – such as switch grass and big blue stem – are low impact possibilities for biomass. If produced and used correctly, biomass could possibly contribute to U.S. distributed energy needs. According to a recent NREL study, biomass could produce 17–28% of U.S. electricity by 2020.

However, the logistics and costs of handling vast quantities of this type of fuel are often underestimated. The impact of trucking hundreds of loads each day, the fuel those trucks consume and the GHG consequences are material offsets to prospective "benefits". Pollution of groundwater by leachate from storage piles of the material and risk of fire to such piles either by lightning or spontaneous combustion are largely un–controllable.

Bio Fuels. In spite of the exhortation of the government for oil companies to increase the amount of ethanol mixed with gasoline, even if all our corn output went for ethanol, it would cut petroleum consumption just 10%–12%.

Moreover, distillation cannot remove the water from ethanol which can cause major damage to automobile engines not specifically designed to burn ethanol. Because the water content of ethanol also risks pipeline corrosion it must be shipped by the more expensive means of truck, rail car or barge, as opposed to using pipelines. It takes more than one gallon of fossil fuel to produce one gallon of ethanol. Ethanol is 20% to 30% less efficient than gasoline, making it more expensive per highway mile. It takes enough corn to feed one person for a year (450 pounds of corn) to produce the ethanol to fill one SUV tank. The corn must be grown, fertilized, harvested and trucked to ethanol producers, all of which adds fuel costs and carbon emissions. In addition, environmentally, 1,700 gallons of water are consumed to produce one gallon of ethanol.

Ethanol is so costly that Congress has enacted major ethanol subsidies, about $1.05 to $1.38 a gallon, which is no less than a tax on consumers. A second tax is levied in the form of taxpayer handouts to corn farmers )to the tune of $9.5 billion in 2005 alone). Ethanol production has driven up the prices of corn–fed livestock — and thus prices of beef, chicken and dairy products — as well as prices of products made from corn, such as cereals. As a result of higher demand for corn, other grain prices, such as soybean and wheat, have risen dramatically. The U.S., as the world's largest grain producer and exporter, passes these higher grain prices on in the worldwide market.

At best, the policy of using biofuels to replace gasoline is a questionable knee–jerk. The millions of gasoline consumers, who fund the benefits through higher fuel and food prices, as well as taxes, are relatively uninformed and have little clout. Moreover, the demand for fuel crop space is leading to the burning off of tropical forest areas to clear land for fuel crops, which inceases GHG generation by both the burning and denying the forests their traditional role of absorbing carbon and reducing GHG emissions into the atmosphere.

Fuel Cells. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water and heat as its by–product. As long as fuel is supplied, the fuel cell will continue to generate power. Since the conversion of the fuel to energy takes place via an electrochemical process without combustion (electrolysis), the process is clean, quiet and efficient – two to three times more efficient than fossil fuel burning.

No other energy generation technology offers the combination of benefits that fuel cells do. In addition to low or zero emissions and fuel portability, benefits include high efficiency and reliability, multi–fuel capability, citing flexibility, durability, scalability and ease of maintenance. Fuel cells operate silently, so they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and the waste heat from a fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or business.

There are many uses for fuel cells – right now, all of the major automakers are working to commercialize a fuel cell car. Fuel cells are powering buses, boats, trains, planes, scooters, forklifts, even bicycles. There are fuel cell–powered vending machines, vacuum cleaners and highway road signs. Miniature fuel cells for cellular phones, laptop computers and portable electronics are on their way to market. Hospitals, credit card centers, police stations, and banks are all using fuel cells to provide power to their facilities. Wastewater treatment plants and landfills are using fuel cells to convert the methane gas they produce into electricity. Telecommunications companies are installing fuel cells at cell phone, radio and 911 towers. The possibilities are apparently endless with hydrogen in abundant supply and process technologies becoming more efficient as time passes.

Hydrogen is potentially the most abundant and inexaustable energy source available. However it cannot be harvested or mined or pumped from the ground. To isolate it as the energy carrier that it is, one has to break the bonds to other elements to which it is attached in nature. Unlike electricity which does not "keep", hydrogen can be stored or moved from place to place for use for work as a compressed gas. or as a superchilled liquid or in suspension with metal hydrides. Remember that hydrogen is the basis of all the so-called hydrocarbon fuels we depend upon today. Hydrogen burns easily. Isolating hydrogen requires the application of energy to sever the bonds. The inherent value of hydrogen as fuel lies in extending the lifetime and versatility of electricity.

Hybrids. Hybrid traction is when a prime combustion or electric motor meld with each other to operate in a manner enhancing fuel efficiency for a given type of journey. Most vehicle manufacturers have models on the market or in advanced development. The interaction between the motors is computer controlled to allow efficiencies to be controlled for safety and comfort.

Buildings. Energy efficient building designs allow for energy capture from the environment – the sun, air and rain water – such that energy may be stored for later use when not immediately consumed in the function of the building. These features exist together with efficient peripheral insulation above, under and around the building which also are normally connected with utility services. Charges are made by the utility service providers making supply to the building, and can give credit when excess energy generated in a building is taken by the utility service for use elsewhere for their operations.

Choices for cooling, heating and equipment power distribution are usually computer automated according to internal and external ambient conditions and as intrinsic demands are experienced. Wind, Solar, and fuel cell technology can be employed within such buildings.

The building surrounds are designed to take advantage of xeriscaping native plant species and hydroponic techniques to conserve energy and be more easily maintained.