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6.18.2010

Microsoft and Home Energy, "The Hohm Score"

Microsoft makes Hohm Scores available to 60 million homes in the U.S.


Redmond, Wash., May 26, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the Hohm Score, an estimate of a home's energy efficiency, offered as part of the company's free online home energy management tool, Microsoft Hohm.

By typing in an address at http://www.microsoft-hohm.com, anyone can see the Hohm Score for almost any home in the U.S.

Hohm Scores are calculated by comparing a home's actual and potential energy efficiency, and is grounded with advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and statistical data from the Department of Energy. In addition to individual scores, Hohm Scores are available by ZIP code, city and state so anyone can compare a home's score with others around the country.

The national average Microsoft Hohm Score comes in at 61, with Hawaii topping the list as having the highest average Hohm Score and with Texas coming in last.

"The Hohm Score is the first step in helping us all make smarter decisions about our home energy use," Batterberry said. "If each of the 60 million households improved their Hohm Score by five points, collectively that would equal an estimated $8 billion in savings a year."

Available today for free to all U.S. residential energy consumers, Hohm is working to help everyone save energy and money by offering insight into home energy usage and by providing personalized recommendations.

Hohm has established partnerships with utilities and the Ford Motor Co., and is actively working with these partners to realize a long-term vision of connecting just about anything that uses energy to help automate and optimize energy use for consumers.



--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

SmartGrid Intelligence, Look to the Sky

Looking to the Sky for SmartGrid Intelligence


Bernie Nelson, Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Critical to the level of intelligence that can be achieved in making the grid smarter is its backbone—the network and communications infrastructure. The requirements of the communications network are demanding, encompassing issues such as scalable bandwidths, robust security, high network reliability and availability, and cost–effectiveness. Many in the industry have concluded that the most cost-effective approach to meet these requirements is to leverage the range of transport technologies available, while relying on common open standards, such as IP, to integrate into a single overall network. This article presents the value that advanced, satellite-based networks can deliver as part of the smart grid communications infrastructure, across areas ranging from substation automation (SA) and distribution automation (DA) to AMI collectors.

 

Not Your Father's Satellite

 

Unknown to some, satellite networks have evolved at a similar or faster pace than other networking technologies, making huge strides in improving performance, reliability and cost. Some of the highest availability networks in the enterprise market, such as for lotteries and emergency preparedness and recovery, are based on satellite and its fundamental advantage: ubiquitous coverage. And now, when combined with high-performance IP and other standards-based capabilities, satellite networks deliver high-quality, private broadband connectivity.

Very high network availability, in excess of 99.99 percent, can be achieved through innovative dual frequency, dual access solutions by using Ku-/Ka-band satellite service in conjunction with L-band satellite service as backup. Smart grid network elements such as remote substations and distribution elements can be connected using satellite without compromising on the expected benefits driving the smart grid.

In addition, new satellite technology can cost-effectively deliver benefits such as on-the-move vehicle connectivity, allowing those out in the field to connect directly with headquarters and eliminate costly trips to the office to get information. Satellite holds the potential to facilitate distribution automation, meaning utility companies can proactively monitor their distribution elements for outages and service demands. Utility managers and technology decision-makers should take into account the benefits satellite technology can deliver for these applications and the benefits they can deliver to smart grid efforts.

 

Substation Connectivity

 

Satellite connectivity has been used for years to provide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications for remote locations in the oil and gas industries and other energy exploration areas. The data requirements are generally low in volume but regular in frequency or periodicity. Private satellite networks have served this need well by delivering secure, custom network bandwidth profiles and ubiquitous coverage. The solution has worked well technically and economically for hard-to-reach SCADA and SCADA-like requirements in these industries.

This still holds true. Satellite is a great fit for these types of applications and is in use to support SCADA and other applications at substations. The performance of the applications is consistent and effective. With the increasing goal of achieving near 100 percent uptime, however, conventional Ku- and Ka-band satellite solutions fall short. A typical commercial satellite connection is generally engineered to deliver 99.7 to 99.9 percent link availability, which means that on average, 0.1 to 0.3 percent of the time, a satellite connection will be lost. That percentage coincides with a certain intensity of precipitation. When it rains or snows to a certain degree of intensity, the satellite connection will drop for the period of that critical intensity. Substation connectivity is most critical during storms where electricity outages increase, thus making a conventional satellite solution not optimal to achieve near 100 percent availability, until now.

With any type of connectivity solution, it is difficult to achieve 99.99 or 99.999 percent availability with a single-thread connection. To address this problem, many utility companies employ a backup connection that can increase the availability of any connectivity to nearly 100 percent. So how can this availability be achieved with a satellite-only solution? The answer is with an L-band-based service that backs up the primary Ku- or Ka-band satellite connection. L-band is in the 1-2 GHz range and is not susceptible to degradation during precipitation. When the primary Ku- or Ka-band satellite service fades during rain, the backup path, L-band, will be available to pass traffic. The L-band service is usage-based and can be expensive with heavy usage. Because it will be used as the exception and not the primary connection, however, it only will be used a small percentage of the time to pass low-volume traffic, and, therefore, costs will be kept to a minimum. A commensurate terrestrial solution might cost three times or more for the same level of availability.

By combining L-band with Ku- or Ka-band satellite technology as a high-availability solution, a satellite solution can deliver the performance that has always been delivered for SCADA-like applications, but with near 100 percent availability that is required for substation connectivity. In addition, satellite still provides its inherent advantage—100 percent nationwide coverage. There are no dark spots. Furthermore, satellite supports broadband applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video surveillance. Network bandwidth can be tailored to specific requirements, and the solution is completely private, meaning no traffic crosses the public Internet. L-band and Ku-band satellite technology has been available for some time but until now has not been combined in this manner to provide a single solution. A certain set of requirements exists such that the traffic profile, the remote locations and the need for very high availability make this an ideal solution for the utility industry.

 

Distribution Automation

 

Similar data requirements, as those in substation connectivity, exist to support monitoring elements along distribution lines. The attributes of private satellite connectivity to enable distribution automation are similar to those for substation connectivity. A dual path, high-availability solution, however, may not be cost justified. A single, high-availability connection at an access point fed by distribution devices might be a better solution for monitoring and control.

There are a couple of options. One is to use the L-band solution. It has a small form factor, is hardened, can be mounted anywhere, and is easy to install. Again, the downside is usage costs. Depending on the volume of traffic, it might be cost prohibitive to use the L-band solution at all locations. Locations in more densely populated areas likely are better served with an alternative licensed or unlicensed wireless solution. In rural, less dense areas, however, the same wireless technologies might be more costly and in these areas, the slight premium that might be incurred by using an L-band solution might be justified.

The second alternative is to use advanced antenna technology for fixed Ku- or Ka-band satellite service. Emerging advanced antenna designs offer a small form factor, are easily installed and pointed, and have fixed operating costs. In most cases, availability can be designed to approximately 99.9 percent.

 

AMI Backhaul

 

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) requires communication between a smart meter at a customer's location and the data center. To achieve this end-to-end connectivity, various technologies can be considered, including deployment of licensed and unlicensed wireless solutions between the home and a collection point further upstream, with subsequent communication to a data center. Common practice in deployments and pilots is to use carrier cellular solutions from the collection point onward to serve the wide area network (WAN) needs in the AMI end-to-end solution. Utilities must consider challenges and considerations with the cellular service, however, such as congestion, loss of coverage during disaster and limited range.

Satellite technology presents a high-quality, low-cost alternative. Enterprise satellite solutions provide ubiquitous, continentwide coverage and because they are private networks, they are not susceptible to public usage because they do not traverse the Internet or other public network. Furthermore, advanced antenna designs allow for easier installation to accommodate mounting on pole tops. Privacy, scalability, flexible bandwidth, ease of deployment and reach are all significant benefits satellite provides as a comprehensive end-to-end AMI solution or at the least as a fill-in for the dark spots of a cellular network solution. In the U.S. it is estimated that 2 percent or more of coverage areas have this dark spot problem, for which last-mile satellite connectivity is a viable, cost-effective alternative to a local wireless solution.

In the midst of all the new and exciting options available to utility providers, communications infrastructure remains one of the most important decisions companies must make when implementing smart grid initiatives. To that end, satellite networking technology has developed rapidly and delivers the combination of high performance, availability and security that can aid smart grid efforts for the utility industry. Substation connectivity, distribution automation and AMI are key areas in which a satellite solution can provide the most cost-effective communications solution. Satellite solutions are an essential part of the multitechnology approach required by the utility industry to achieve an end-to-end, smart grid communications infrastructure—one that is reliable, fast, secure and cost-efficient.

Bernie Nelson is director of service development for utility, energy and transportation with Hughes Network Systems LLC. Nelson has been in the satellite and data networking industry more than 16 years. Reach him at at bernie.nelson@hughes.com.



--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

$60 million in Recovery Act funding for energy efficiency efforts

More than $60 million in Recovery Act funding for energy efficiency efforts


Washington, D.C., June 14, 2010 — The Department of Energy announced today that 20 communities for more than $60 million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will reduce energy use by American homes, vehicles and businesses.

Local governments, nonprofit organizations and quasi-governmental organizations are among the recipients for the competitive grants, administered under the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.

"These projects will stimulate the economy and create jobs on the main streets of local communities across the nation through innovative investments in energy conservation, efficiency and renewable power generation," said Under Secretary of Energy Kristina Johnson. "We already have proven technologies to reduce energy use at home and at work. These projects will provide access to those tools for more Americans, saving money for thousands of families and businesses."

These awards were open to local communities that were not eligible to receive the initial, population-based formula grants under the EECBG program.

The funding supports projects that deliver energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings and establish financing programs for energy efficiency improvements.

Other activities will include transportation programs that conserve energy through trip reduction strategies and alternative transportation options, projects to increase recycling and reduce the energy demands of delivering and supplying clean water through water efficiency and conservation measures, the installation of energy efficient street lights, and the integrated deployment of renewable energy systems in conjunction with energy efficiency retrofits to existing buildings.

The award recipients were selected through a competitive review process that took into account the expected energy savings and reduced emissions impacts of the projects, leveraged investments from other non-federal sources, and whether the project could be replicated and expanded to contribute to a sustainable market for energy efficiency nationally.

Projects that proposed innovative approaches and identified and addressed ways to overcome institutional, regulatory, or market barriers were also favored.

As part of the accountability requirements under the Recovery Act, all grant recipients are required to submit quarterly reports on the number of jobs created or saved under the project, the energy saved, the renewable energy capacity installed, the greenhouse gas emissions reduced, and the funds leveraged.

The following communities have been selected for awards under the competitive EECBG program:

1. City of Tanana - Tanana, Alaska ($1,500,000)

2. Central Basin Municipal Water District - Commerce, California ($2,000,000)

3. County of Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara County, California ($2,401,309)

4. Eagle County - Eagle County, Colorado ($4,916,126)

5. Connecticut Innovations, Inc. - Rocky Hill, Connecticut ($4,171,124)

6. St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners - St. Lucie County, Florida ($2,941,500)

7. Indiana Municipal Power Agency - Carmel, Indiana ($5,000,000)

8. City of West Union - West Union, Iowa ($1,000,000)

9. Riley County - Riley County, Kansas ($3,000,000)

10. Town of University Park - University Park, Maryland ($1,425,000)

11. City of Wyandotte - Wyandotte, Michigan ($3,807,000)

12. Minnesota Municipal Power Agency - Minneapolis, Minnesota ($3,398,252)

13. Mid-America Regional Council - Kansas City, Missouri ($4,063,994)

14. New Mexico Recycling Coalition - Santa Fe, New Mexico ($2,795,261)

15. The Bedford-Northern Westchester Energy Action Coalition (Bedford-NWEAC) - Town of Bedford, New York ($1,267,874)

16. Columbia County - Columbia County, Oregon ($3,461,319)

17. Fayette County - Fayette County, Pennsylvania ($4,100,018)

18. Rutland West Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. - West Rutland, Vermont ($4,487,588)

19. Thurston Regional Planning Council - Olympia, Washington ($2,159,021)

20. Conservation Services Group, Inc. - City of Bainbridge Island and City of Bremerton, Washington ($4,884,614)



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Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
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http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
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scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Disaster & Senate Democratic Caucus

 

Dear Scotty,

This afternoon, the Senate Democratic Caucus will decide how our country will respond to the Gulf Coast oil disaster.

Will they seize the moment and support a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill? Will they be bold enough to create millions of jobs, strengthen our national security, end our addiction to fossil fuels and help solve the climate crisis?

Or will they settle for a band-aid solution that will please the special interests and do nothing to change the status quo?

The outcome of this meeting will have profound consequences for our movement and our nation's future. Demand that your Senator take bold action on climate and clean energy today!
Call your Senator Now:

Senator McCaskill:
202-224-6154

Report your call here.

Once connected tell him or her:
  • You are a constituent.
  • We must take a bold stand in the wake of the Deepwater Oil Disaster.
  • Only a bill that caps carbon will end our reliance on dangerous, dirty energy.
  • Please, support a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill at today's caucus meeting.
On this crucial decision day, you can be the voice that inspires your Senator to take a stand in support of the bold path our nation so desperately needs.

Please ask your Senator to support comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation today.

Report your call here.

Today, America's clean energy and climate future will be written. Good luck to all of us.

Thanks,

Dave Boundy
Campaign Manager
The Climate Protection Action Fund's Repower America campaign


--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

Stand with us to show that the American people support holding BP accountable -- and we won't apologize for doing so.

Organizing for America


When BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before Congress this morning, many expected to hear him apologize for the disaster his company has caused. Instead, GOP Congressman Joe Barton was the one saying he was sorry -- to BP.

In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."

Other Republicans are echoing his call. Sen. John Cornyn said he "shares" Barton's concern. Rep. Michele Bachmann said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rush Limbaugh called it a "bailout." The Republican Study Committee, with its 114 members in the House, called it a "shakedown."

Let's be clear. This fund is a major victory for the people of the Gulf. It's a key step toward making them whole again. BP has a responsibility to those whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the disaster. And BP oil executives don't deserve an apology -- the people of the Gulf do.

Stand with us to show that the American people support holding BP accountable -- and we won't apologize for doing so.

We support holding BP accountable. And we won't apologize for doing so. Add your name.

Rep. Barton and Republicans like him don't understand that the real tragedy is what's happening to the people in the Gulf Coast. They're the ones who deserve his apology -- not BP.

But big oil knows exactly who its allies are. And if Republicans win control of the House, Rep. Barton could be chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- overseeing regulation of the oil and gas industry.

Notably, companies like Halliburton -- the folks responsible for cementing the Deepwater Horizon rig -- are directing their political committees to deliver thousands of dollars to GOP candidates this cycle. Barton himself has received more than $100,000 from the oil and gas industry this election cycle.

Barton should apologize to the people of the Gulf and he should step down as the highest-ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Adding your name to our open letter is one of the best ways you can show him and other Republicans that they weren't elected to defend big oil.

Sign the open letter today:

http://my.barackobama.com/NoApologies

Thanks,

David Plouffe




Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.


--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

6.17.2010

Ethan Oil Gas Emissions

Analysis: Finds POET Cellulosic Ethanol Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 111 Percent

Ethanol produced by Project LIBERTY, POET's first planned commercial cellulosic ethanol plant, will reduce carbon emissions by 111 percent over gasoline, an independent lifecycle analysis shows.

This means POET's cellulosic ethanol actually has negative emissions; it will offset more greenhouse gas emissions than it produces.

"Not only is cellulosic ethanol a clean and safe alternative fuel, in cases such as Project LIBERTY, it can literally reverse some of the effects of our nation's dependence on fossil energy such as oil," POET CEO Jeff Broin said. "By expanding the number of sources for ethanol production, the entire nation can contribute to helping our nation's economy, security and environment through alternative fuel production."

Broin presented the results to reporters today at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in St. Louis, Mo. A lifecycle analysis tracks the emissions of ethanol production from "field to tank." It includes emissions from planting and harvest, feedstock transportation, conversion to ethanol, waste products, co-products and transportation of the ethanol. It also includes Environmental Protection Agency calculations for changes in land use and effects on agriculture inputs.

The analysis, compiled by Air Improvement Resource, Inc. out of Novi, Mich., highlights a number of characteristics of POET's process that lead to this large emissions reduction.

  • Project LIBERTY produces ethanol from agriculture waste. Because it uses a waste product from an existing crop, there are no additional inputs for planting and growing the feedstock.
  • The disputed theory of Indirect Land Use Change, which creates an emissions penalty for grain-based ethanol, does not have any penalty associated with POET's cellulosic ethanol.
  • The waste stream from POET's process is fed into two anaerobic digesters to create biogas. Enough biogas is produced to completely power both Project LIBERTY and the adjacent grain-based ethanol plant. The natural gas that is displaced in this process is credited to the cellulosic ethanol plant.


"The production of biogas as a co-product is an exciting aspect of this process," Broin said. "We will use renewable energy to produce renewable energy."

The analysis found that all the inputs into Project LIBERTY will emit 41.8 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent units per megajoule of energy produced. The biogas exported as a co-product will offset 49.8 gCO2eq/MJ. EPA estimates for land use and agriculture changes offset an additional 1.7 gCO2eq/MJ, bringing Project LIBERTY's total emissions to -9.7 gCO2eq/MJ.

EPA's standard for gasoline emissions is 92.9 gCO2eq/MJ.

The Project LIBERTY lifecycle analysis was conducted using the most current design elements available. However, POET will continue to learn from laboratory work and its pilot cellulosic ethanol plant currently operating in Scotland, S.D. As changes occur, the analysis will be updated.

Air Improvement Resource, Inc. lifecycle analysis of Project LIBERTY - Executive Summary
--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

Oil Spill and America's Future

The Debate That Will Define America's Future

Published: May 28, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, the Massey, West Virginia coal mine accident, the Tennessee coal ash disaster in 2008, the BP oil refinery disaster in Texas in 2006, and countless other fossil fuel disasters are finally having an effect on public opinion. And the sting of record prices from 2008 is still in the recent memory of American consumers. Fully 2/3 of Americans believe Congress needs to make our country's energy needs a top priority.

Recent polls have found, however, that a shrinking portion of America believes that climate change is a human-caused problem or that we need to take serious action to mitigate climate change. A May, 2010, poll by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that only 32% of Americans thought that climate change should be a "top priority" for Congress  (see chart, below).

This is the debate, revolving around energy and climate change, that will define America's future. It is not the only debate that will do so, but I believe it is the most important debate we will have over the coming decades.

I've written frequently on peak oil and climate change. It is because of my fears about peak oil that I am heartened to see a solid two-thirds of Americans agree with me that addressing our energy needs should be a top congressional priority. This is a bipartisan area of agreement, with 75% of Democrats, 64% of Independents and 61% of Republicans agreeing that it should be a top priority.

No wonder then that the Kerry/Lieberman Senate bill introduced on May 12 is called the "American Power Act" and does not mention "climate change" in its title. However, this bill is very much an energy and climate change bill. The debate about its merits is complex and my early reaction is that it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. But it's a start and it may actually have a chance of passing in 2010 — albeit a slim chance as we go into major mid-term elections.

So why do I think the debate about energy and climate change is the debate that will define America's future? It's because the peak oil situation is actually more dire now than when energy prices were sky-high back in 2008. Prices are relatively low because of the ongoing global recession. Oil prices were rebounding steadily this year, up to almost $90/barrel before the euro crisis knocked them back down to about $70 (prices were as high as $147/barrel, leading to $5/gallon gasoline, in the middle of 2008 before the recession hit hard).

But there is now a growing consensus among energy economists and analysts that as soon as the global recovery gets under way in a serious way that prices will once again skyrocket. The situation is more dire now than before the recession, when prices were much higher, because the recession is leading to cancellation of many projects that would otherwise have gone forward. This means that we're looking at major shortfalls in oil supplies as the global economy gains steam.

While I'm not a supporter of oil as an ongoing source of energy, due to the obvious problems of major spills — with the Gulf of Mexico tragedy as a stark reminder of this ever-present danger — air pollution, energy security and climate change, among other problems, I recognize that we can't transition overnight to alternatives to oil. It is the largest source of our energy and the overwhelmingly dominant fuel source for transportation. It will take decades for a smooth transition to non-petroleum energy sources for transportation, as described in a major report commissioned in 2005 by the Department of Energy from Robert Hirsch and his associates.

As Hirsch writes, if we don't get serious about the transition at least 20 years ahead of a peak in global oil production we are likely to see major problems emerge in the U.S. and abroad.

We are, however, probably at or near the peak now, at least for conventional oil supplies, which are the large majority of our current global production. 2005 was the peak year for conventional oil production thus far. July, 2008, was the peak month, right as the global recession hit (see figure, below). We won't know for some time if these are all-time highs, but they may well be. And if not now, it's likely to be not too far off, as a growing number of analysts are warning.

But haven't people been predicting an impending peak in oil production for decades — and always been proven wrong? Well, some predictions have indeed been proven wrong. This time around, however, we have the major "official" organizations warning stridently of issues with energy security and supplies, which was not previously the case. The International Energy Agency, formed after the oil crises of the 1970s to ensure that that similar crises would never afflict the western nations (OECD), stated in their 2008  World Energy Outlook:

The world's energy system is at a crossroads. Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable — environmentally, economically, socially. But that can — and must — be altered; there's still time to change the road we're on. It is not an exaggeration to claim that the future of human prosperity depends on how successfully we tackle the two central energy challenges facing us today: securing the supply of reliable and affordable energy; and effecting a rapid transformation to a low-carbon, efficient and environmentally benign system of energy supply. What is needed is nothing short of an energy revolution.

The IEA concluded:

Securing energy supplies and speeding up the transition to a low-carbon energy system both call for radical action by governments — at national and local levels.

In August of 2009, the IEA was even more strident in its warnings. The UK's Independent newspaper reported:

The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.

Higher oil prices brought on by a rapid increase in demand and a stagnation, or even decline, in supply could blow any recovery off course, said Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries.

Later in 2009, two IEA whistleblowers went public and claimed that the situation was even worse than the IEA was stating publicly. The UK's Guardian newspaper reported in November: "A … senior IEA source, who has now left but was … unwilling to give his name, said a key rule at the organization was that it was 'imperative not to anger the Americans' but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as has been admitted. 'We have (already) entered the 'peak oil' zone. I think that the situation is really bad,' he added."

So what do we do?

I had the pleasure recently of attending the Heartland Institute's 4th International Conference on Climate Change. This year's topic was "reconsidering the science and economics." This conference is well-known as the "skeptics' conference" on climate change. And indeed it is, with very few speakers or attendees hewing to the mainstream scientific view that climate change is a very serious human-caused problem. I attended, however, because I am a firm believer in dialogue. (In the spirit of full disclosure I was provided a small honorarium to attend). Whether it's international relations, family issues or energy and climate change policy, there is always room for dialogue.

Those now in the scientific mainstream on climate change fought for decades to achieve their mainstream status. And like many mainstream thought trends, there is a reluctance by today's mainstream climate scientists or policymakers to debate issues that they feel have been debated to death and have been resolved sufficiently well to allow for policy choices to be made.

What is clear, however, is that while there is a large majority of scientists and scientific bodies (like the National Academy of Sciences, World Meteorological Association, etc.) that believe that human-caused climate change is a major problem, there is no such consensus with the American public. In fact, the number of Americans who agree that climate change is a major problem has been going backwards in the last couple of years. So to pretend that a majority of the American public agrees with the mainstream scientific views on climate change, and thus to ignore the skeptics is, in my view, highly counter-productive. It is partly this attitude that has led to an erosion of support among the American public for making climate change mitigation a priority in Congress.

I spoke on "Renewable energy and the transformation of America" at the Heartland Institute conference in Chicago. I was not pressured or harassed in any way with respect to my presentation or its contents. I received many good questions after my presentation. My key point in this presentation and in every public presentation I've given over the last five years on these issues has been this: a rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable energy is desirable and necessary for a number of reasons. Climate change is one of those reasons but we could entirely ignore the climate change debate and still have about ten compelling reasons to make this transition.

I focused on wind power as a good example because it is growing very fast in the U.S. and is currently the most cost-effective renewable energy technology. Wind power has grown over 30% each year in the US in the past decade and about the same globally. I discussed what I call law "Moore's Law in renewable energy" and how we are in the middle of a quiet revolution right now. This is the case because with 30-40% growth rates the installed capacity of wind and solar doubles every two years. It doesn't take long for this doubling effect to yield transformational change. I calculate that at even half this rate of growth through 2030 fully half of all electricity in the U.S. will come from wind and solar power, up from about 3% today.

My final point in Chicago was this: IEA and many others are calling for a revolution in energy to mitigate energy supply and climate change issues. We are in the middle of such a revolution right now and as long as we can "simply" continue the current growth rates of wind, solar, energy efficiency and other renewables we will have a good chance of transitioning away from oil without major problems.

I will end this rather long op-ed on this hopeful note and look forward to further productive dialogue in the future, whatever it holds.

Tam Hunt, J.D., is President of Community Renewable Solutions LLC, a company that develops medium-scale wind, solar and biomass projects. He is also a Lecturer in climate change law and policy at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara.

The information and views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on its Web site and other publications.

--
Scott's Contracting
314-243-1953
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

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