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To: KyrosL who wrote (68937)	4/29/2008 7:56:09 PM
From: marcos	Respond to of 74559

Biofuel from cellulose is something we think about here, being surrounded by wood that grows at several cubic metres per hectare per year, and in the interior of the province much that is dead on the stump, killed by bugs that don't get knocked off anymore with forty-below weather ... the technology will come along eventually, there are enzymes and whatnot to make the conversion, a private company called Iogen is working on it, among others, mixed success so far and nothing proven scalable to the point of getting financed Ultimately we'll have many sources of energy, site-specific, area-specific, depending on what's to hand ... on this wet coast of BC we tend to think of things other than solar about nine months a year -g- ... run-of-river small hydro sounds like a winner ... the big solar tower in Spain is interesting, should work, and once in place will have low operating cost ... there are plenty of ways, geothermal, solar-thermal, wind, tide - lots of tidal potential in BC All energy we use with the exception of nuclear is really solar - oil/coal the result of chlorophyll doing the conversion eons ago, hydro the result of the hydrologic cycle, etc ... no wait, tidal would be lunar power wouldn't it I'd like an electric pickup, got a rough configuration for it worked out, ready for whoever wants to make it and sell it to me at a reasonable price ... 120km or so range on batteries, probably lithim-ion, and with a small detachable diesel generator, genset would weigh no more than say 30kg and its tank the same, easily detachable by hand, where the engine is in the hood of my current Ford ... carbon fibre chassis, sealed to the point of being amphibious, independent suspension and little locomotive motors on all four wheels, which are placed low enough on L-struts to give half-metre clearance ... good sound enduring electronics to control it all, i'm offering fifty grand if you hear of anybody interested -g-

To: KyrosL who wrote (68937)	4/30/2008 1:25:15 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Kyros it's lots of years ago that I was involved with BP Oil and considering BP Solar's photovoltaic prospects. Those prospects had improved a lot about 10 years ago when I last had a look. Oil then was in the $20s range to $30s. Photovoltaics were uneconomic other than for remote requirements. Now, with oil at $120 a barrel, photovoltaics must be economic for a LOT of applications, competing directly with peak usage thermal and nuclear power stations. Not to mention on the roof of houses where people pay premium electricity price on after tax income, after essential costs like food and rent. Storage of electricity is the key to success in a big way. Lots of us now depend on cyberspace for revenue, let alone communications and information. Increasingly, it is NOT a reasonable idea to have the grid go down and no electricity available. Photovoltaics and electricity storage for lighting and a few high value appliances such as breathing equipment and cyberspace must make economic sense for a LOT of people now [in sunny places if not London and the like]. I'd say there is a huge business opportunity for a package deal for photovoltaics, wires, batteries, transformers and maybe feedback into the grid if that's allowed by the supplier. That must apply to swarms of businesses as well. The cost these days of cyberspace going down is large to a lot of people. Barrycourt, a motel in Auckland, has their own diesel generators and during occasional power cuts, they have been a beacon of hope. They have Zenbu Wi-Fi available there, so they will be a focal point when the electricity goes down. Mostly, generators are not as pleasant or as economical to have around as photovoltaics, transformers and batteries [I guess though I admit I haven't added up the costs]. In some places, such as hospitals where bulk electricity is needed, diesel generators would make more sense. Mqurice PS: Ban ElMatador from his own stream here: Message 24542928