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To: Gary105 who wrote (17766)	3/31/2003 9:27:06 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42834

I am all for alternative energy. I've even designed and built a passive solar hot tub heater ($100 in materials). I tried to bring it to market, but nobody is too excited about saving energy in Calif despite the noise bankrupt PG&E makes or how much money Gov. Blackout Davis spends to buy more power. So, my home energy bill is 23% lower 6 months a year while the ecconuts make noise tilting at windmills and the rich give speeches about how you and I need to drive expensive hybrid cars while they fly in private jets. REAL SOLUTIONS are you give everyone in the World "Energy Credits". Energy credits per nation would be proportional to land mass. Some World organization would decide just how many ERGs of energy the World could burn each year and divide it up. If the rich want to jet from here to there to save time, then they would buy the extra energy credits from the poor who take the bus, mule or even walk. There are so many hidden energy costs... How much is used to ship your favorite fruit from Brazil to Chicago? A hybrid might make sense for some, but I might burn less gasoline each year than you for far lower cost. I have an older 'vette ('94) and a Ford Van ('90) that might be worth $20K in total. Since I only drive 6,000 miles a year (3,000 each), I probably burn far few ERGs than 95% of people in the SF Bay Area. Many retired folks are in the same boat. Why spend $20K on a small hybrid when their old clunker gets them to the grocery store and they don't take long trips? My point is it is not simple. We will NEVER be independent of Middle East oil as long as we have a free market. It has about the lowest cost to produce so they can always under cut other suppliers on price. About the ONLY way to be ME oil independent is to switch to nuclear power for 100% of our energy needs including using the nuclear power to generate electricity which we then use to make hydrogen for fuel cells. Last I heard the eco-nuts will protest this and electric utilities gave up trying to build nuclear plants due to the hassles. BTW, in 1975 I went to UC Berkeley with a double major in nuclear engineering and computer science with the idealistic goal of solving the World's energy problems. I switched from nuclear engineering to electrical engineering (electronics) because there was near zero interest in developing nuclear fusion and fission was a dead end according to the writing on the wall. Sadly, nothing has changed other than ME oil is even cheaper to get out of the ground. Kirk

To: Gary105 who wrote (17766)	3/31/2003 7:47:05 PM
From: Gary105	Respond to of 42834

Last line should have said that we need not wait 10 years for fuel cells - hybrids are as efficient (considering entire energy chain) and available today. Will continue discussion on this issue on the thread: Subject 53686 Background: Was at MIT when Howard and Hottel authored first version of New Energy Technologies in the 1970s right before oil embargo (worked as TA for Howard and took course from Hottel earning graduate degree in chem engrg), helped developed Clean Coal Technologies (FGD and low NOx technology) contributing to 2 fold increase in coal based power generation with 30% less emissions, etc.