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To: RetiredNow who wrote (339073)	6/1/2007 11:20:17 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1577194

Message 23590293

To: RetiredNow who wrote (339073)	6/5/2007 9:44:12 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1577194

Wind to make 20 percent of power by 2030: advocates By Bernie Woodall 58 minutes ago The U.S. wind power industry will see half a trillion dollars of investment by 2030 to take the renewable source up to 20 percent of U.S. electricity generation, an industry conference heard on Monday. This would be a lofty rise from wind's use for less than one percent of U.S. power today, but many advocates at the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) annual conference this week were bullish as the United States develops green energy alternatives. Many aim to catch money blowing in the air that Ric O'Connell of engineering and consulting firm Black & Veatch says will total $500 billion in wind energy development in the next 25 years. "It can be bigger than the entire dot-com revolution," said wind energy advocate and former South Dakota Democratic Senator Tom Daschle. "This can have the same economic impact." President George W. Bush said last year that 20 percent of the nation's power needs can be met by wind. Since Bush's remarks, the AWEA and other wind energy advocates have worked to map out how to get to that target. That would mean by 2030 there will have to be 325 gigawatts of installed wind turbines in the United States, said Michael Robinson of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Current wind turbines can make between 1.5 and 3 megawatts per tower. A large natural gas or coal-fired power unit is often 400 megawatts and larger, while only five U.S. wind farms now have more than 260 megawatts of installed capacity. Wind power in the United States grew by 20 percent in 2006 to about 11,600 megawatts, enough to power about 3 million U.S. homes. It is expected to grow that much again this year, the AWEA says. "From this vantage point, it looks almost impossible," said Robert Lukefahr, president of BP Alternative Energy North America. "But you have to remember that we've made big leaps before." Lukefahr said over the next 15 years wind power is the least costly and easiest to develop alternative to coal and natural gas. Beyond that, Lukefahr said he could not be sure what will be in store for alternative energy. By then, nuclear power may have finally undergone its long-awaited U.S. renaissance and alternatives that use natural gas and coal like carbon capture and storage may be affordable and viable enough for wide scale use, he said. Vic Abate, vice president for renewable energy at GE Energy, which has twice the number of installed U.S. turbines than its nearest competitor, says to cut climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions the U.S. will have to use a diverse mix of alternatives, including solar and nuclear in addition to wind. The AWEA's gathering of the wind industry attracted 7,000 participants this week, up from 5,000 a year ago and 1,000 in 2001.

To: RetiredNow who wrote (339073)	6/6/2007 1:19:09 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1577194

Green Malls are The Latest Trend What’s the latest trend at the mall? Green malls. Not the color so much as malls that conserve energy and encourage their shoppers to do the same. The first one is being built by developers in Chicago and it’s called “The Green Exchange.” We read about it in Newsweek magazine and here’s how it’s different from the typical mall. Hybrid cars get priority parking. Similar to spaces for the handicapped, people with hybrids will be able to park closer to the entrance and escalators. Speaking of escalators, the ones being installed at the “Green Exchange” can sense whether anyone is riding on them and slow down automatically, conserving energy. In the bathrooms, there will be low-flow faucets and toilets. There will also be courtesy showers specifically for customers who rode to the mall on their bicycles. And bike riders also have prime parking spaces inside the mall – so they don’t have to have their bikes sitting out in bad weather. Inside the mall there will be a specialty bike shop that promotes fitness and energy conservation. The customers who drove to the mall in their electric cars can charge up for free while they shop. And if shoppers are hungry, they can grab a bite at the Garden Café – an organic restaurant that will only serve vegetables grown in the rooftop sky garden at the mall. Other businesses you’ll find at the first green mall: a sustainable furniture store, a green building supply company, an eco-friendly printer, an environmentally-friendly clothing company, and a car-sharing service. And if any other businesses are interested in having their shops at the Green Exchange – they must be green business – ones whose products and services benefit the earth and are socially responsible. The Green Exchange will open in early 2008. tesh.com

To: RetiredNow who wrote (339073)	6/19/2007 7:14:44 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577194

Editorial Crunch Time on Energy The Senate will tell us this week whether it really wants to do something about oil dependency and global warming or if it is just fooling around. The first week of debate on an energy bill, which the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, says he is determined to finish before the Fourth of July recess, produced a few satisfying moments — mainly involving bad ideas that were made to disappear. The days ahead will be more combative. Here are important points of contention and some thoughts about how they should be resolved in a way that moves this country toward a cleaner, more sustainable energy future: ¶ Fuel Economy. The most effective energy efficiency policy ever adopted by the federal government is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirement of 1975. CAFE has saved billions of barrels of oil, but it has not been improved for decades. The bill before the Senate would bring fleetwide averages from roughly 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, hardly an impossible target. This proposal should be approved, and a weaker compromise offered by industry allies should be defeated. ¶ Renewable Electricity. A provision championed by Senator Jeff Bingaman, the leading Democratic spokesman on energy issues, would require utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from wind, solar, biomass and other clean-energy sources by 2020 — reducing demand for fossil fuels as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Senior Republicans, complaining about the one-size-fits-all approach, are threatening a filibuster. Here again, though, the requirement does not seem insanely onerous. The Senate approved a 10 percent requirement two years ago, and the House is talking about 20 percent. ¶Coal-to-Liquids. A coalition of coal interests has been lobbying furiously for subsidies to build a new generation of coal-to-liquid power plants to produce diesel fuel. This could reduce our dependence on foreign oil, although marginally and at great cost. It would also be a disaster in terms of global warming unless ways are found to capture and store the carbon dioxide emissions from the refining process. Without such safeguards, coal-to-liquid plants cannot be allowed to proceed. ¶Renewable Fuels. Biofuels offer a far cleaner and more promising approach to oil dependency than coal-to-liquids. The bill would quintuple production, chiefly ethanol from sources other than corn. This is a generally popular provision that must be amended to make sure that the rush to ethanol does not destroy valuable forest and conservation lands. Waiting in the wings is a tax bill that will eventually be married to the energy bill. On the whole, the tax bill favors renewable and other clean energy sources over the oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear interests that received top billing in the 2005 plan. In fact, the entire energy discussion this year is more forward-looking than it has been for some time. It will be up to the leadership to keep it that way. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company