My Latest Rant

Excuse my frustrating diatribe, but this issue goes to the heart of my deep concern for the future of this country.  This writing is in response to an ongoing dialogue I have with a friend up north:

I don’t know why I’m wasting my time writing all this because I know you won’t read it or even begin to comprehend what I am saying.  I realize that it is totally useless to try and have an intelligent and logical argument or debate about our opposing views. 

You obviously did not read the article I sent you that started this latest round

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/23/MN261O78QA.DTL

because your response has absolutely nothing to do with what it says; and what you did come back with is really the crux of the big problem…with you, and with the whole “Fox Effect” that is prevalent today in any kind of political discussion in this country.

Did you even read the article you threw back at me?  Or did you just look at the headline and make your assumptions…or did Hannity tell you what to think about this issue?

So here is the “real story” from that left wing media CNN

http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/10/news/economy/refineries-gas-prices/index.htm

Yes, 50% of the refining capacity has been shut down in the Northeast.  Why? 

“The refineries are losing money because they are old and cannot process the cheaper, heavier types of oil that are increasingly in supply from Canada's oil sands, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and elsewhere.”  Old refineries have not been upgraded to deal with the new types of oil that are entering the global market.  (Now I can make an assumption here…not supported by the facts, that the oil industry has made billions in profits and not poured money back into new or upgraded refineries and infrastructure.) You make the assumption that it is Obama (and the wacko enviros) that have shut them down due to excessive environmental regulation.  Neither side is supported by what is said in the article.  We would both be wrong…and just stating our biases.  Read…and if you can, and try to comprehend!

Needless to say, the article goes on with “East Coast gasoline shortages are a real possibility -- but not because there isn't enough gasoline in the United States. The real problem lies in transporting that gasoline to the Northeast.”  Hence support for my original article that there is a glut of oil and gasoline in the US, and the industry is exporting product to other places in the world.

Nowhere does the article make any reference to $6 a gallon as you say….”So gas in New York is over $6 a gallon and rising.”  Actually, the current price is $4.11 today (cheaper than in Arcata), and is coming down.  http://www.newyorkgasprices.com/index.aspx?&area=COOPER&area=MANHATTAN&area=NEW+YORK&area=NYC&area=New+York+City

So in my opinion, what you are saying is just pure bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, what is my "fixation" on Fox, Kocks, Ailes, Rove, et.al.?  I have emailed you my concerns over the years, but obviously you've never read them.  You are mirrored in their media ideology of mis-statements, lies, and distortion…all in the name of news.  Say what you want (whether it's true or not), say it often enough, and it becomes infixed in the brains of the mindless.  Pavlov was a great inspiration for Hitler, Mao, Jong, etc.  Create a menu of headlines, broadcast your interpretation of what the actual articles say, and hope no one actually reads them…and if they did, they’re probably too stupid to understand it and form their own opinion.  You did that exact thing on that article you sent me a while back with the headline claiming manmade global warming is a hoax.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/06/458651/fox-news-again-turns-to-tabloid-for-climate-science/  You obviously did not read the article because it had no reference to “man-made influences;” and when I sent you the piece in which the actual scientist argued that he was misquoted and misrepresented by the reporter, and that his research had nothing to do with current climate change…you stood by your argument claiming you believed the “renown scientist.”  You believed the mis-statement of the facts by the reporter…not the scientist! 

Need I say more?   

Very scary…a terrorist threat to this country far greater than Al Queda, the federal deficit, health insurance, or Secret Service parties.  Integrity, morality, honesty, accountability...whatever...the best democracy money can buy!

And as to what I read… I try to look at a wide range of points of view.  Yes, every day I look at Huffington, Think Progress, Politico, Media Matters, Daily Kos…left wing stuff; but I also look at Fox News, Drudge Report, Breitbart. Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, as well as NY Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, LA Times, SF Chronicle, St. Petersburg Times, and I scan Yahoo and MSN news service.  I also have several "collectors" that glean energy articles (no bias) and of course, a big focus on nuclear stuff (again, both sides.)  We don’t really watch TV…no Fox, MSNBC, CNN…although I cruise a few of those channels in between innings of the Giants games!

I guess I pride myself for trying to understand what is going on…sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong (or left); sometimes I agree; sometimes I disagree.  I'm constantly open to learning something, and I try to make up my own mind, rather than have someone else tell me what to think. Try it sometime!

Yes, I am a conservative...I care about the rights of all human beings and the environment we all live in, which is under attack from the greed and corruption of the few.

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Here are the emails exchanges that led to this final discussion!!!!

 EMAIL #4

Gee.................maybe this is not to be believed, as CNN is probably a right winger................

 http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/10/news/economy/refineries-gas-prices/index.htm

 I like your !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’s...............

What’s with your fixation on fox, kock, etc???           Brainwash works both ways you know......................Huff and Puff................

And, you bet..........I am a conservative...............and I am sure you are too..............

EMAIL #3 Subject: Re: drill baby drill

 READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a glut of oil and gasoline...we are exporting gasoline product!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DUHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep listening to the FOX, Kock, Rove, Adelson, etc million dollar bullshit.  You are such a good brainwashed fiscal conservative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EMAIL #2 Subject: Re: drill baby drill

I am sure you are aware that about 50% of the refineries on the east coast have shut down..........due to excessive EPA regulations, thanks to Obama................

So gas in New Youk is over $6 a gallon and rising................I think it is wonderful…..let them feel the pain…..

EMAIL #1 Subject: drill baby drill

 The US has a huge glut of oil...so much that a tanker carrying Alaskan oil returned to port with about a quarter of its cargo because there was no place to put it!  Yet the price of gasoline is, and is staying at an almost all time high.  Obama's fault...you bet, if you listen to Faux News.

 What is the cause...very complex stuff; but the bottom line is "the power of the world market."  So, we can drill, drill, drill, drill all we want in our National Parks, offshore, in the Arctic, wherever....Romney can personally build the Keystone Pipeline...it would all be like pissing in the ocean, except we'd be dribbling some down our pants!

 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/23/MN261O78QA.DTL

Slide Show on HBNPP Decommissioning

Here is a glimpse of what is going on at the Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning as of April, 2012.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b32ec3aaa6ec96e7#cid=B32EC3AAA6EC96E7&id=B32EC3AAA6EC96E7!1243

My Utilty Bill

For the past 30+ years, I have been monitoring my energy bill here at home, and with the advent of the internet, I’ve been able to track personal and statewide data on energy costs. I did this mainly for the classes I was teaching, making students aware of the energy they use, how they use it, what it costs, and what it meant to use energy more efficiently. As some of you know, I live in an old farmhouse built around 1885; and I have done reasonable upgrades to make it more energy efficient…ie. ceiling, floor, and some wall insulation, double pane windows, cfc light bulbs, etc. We live comfortably with all the amenities we need…computers, TV’s, stereos, microwave, dishwasher, hot tub, and so forth, and over the last two cold winter months, our electricity use averaged 450KWH/month, well below the national averages.

We pay PG&E 13 cents/kwh…a price that has not really changed over the past twenty years. Out of this charge:

30% goes to electricity generation (the wholesale price today was about 2 cents/kwh here in the west; this price does fluctuate depending on the season, etc.

44% goes to transmission and distribution…the cost to keep power lines up and running

12% goes to public purpose…education programs, low-income help, community stuff

1% goes to nuclear decommissioning…for both Humboldt Bay and Diablo Canyon

13% goes to pay off the deregulation boondoggle of 2000…more later

Very reasonable…$50-60/month for the comforts of flicking a switch…actually our biggest expense is probably the electrically heated hot tub and the fridge to cool the beer!

As for natural gas, we use it for our cooktop, heating water, and our forced air heater. We have a wood stove which we use a lot when we are home, but we are spoiled to click that heater switch first thing in the morning, and Susan does like the house a bit warmer than I do. PG&E charges us $1.16/therm…the wholesale price today is 21 cents/therm. Even though natural gas is the cheapest it’s been in 30 years, I guess PG&E has to make up the costs associated with their flawed gas pipeline program over the past 50 years!

The big mystery is how does the energy industry come up with the “price” that is put out on the market. The wholesale cost that the California ISO purchases and resells to the utilities is an “average” of all generation costs offered for sale. Old hydro plants might produce electricity at less than 1 cent/kwh; while the Diablo Canyon nuke might be putting out its kilowatt/hours at 14 cents (which it did back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.) So more expensive solar, wind, and nuclear are balanced out by cheaper natural gas and hydro. There is also the consideration as to how these generating plants operate. Today, California is expected to use 28,000MW of electricity at it’s peak usage time of 9pm. Around 5pm, this demand is going to be around 25,000MW. There is another 10,000+MW available as standby, just in case everyone decides to flip switchs at the same time. Back in 2000, the standby was 53,000MW. These peak power plants sit idle 90% of the time, and only come on when the high demand is there…hence their cost is very expensive. The whole power plant equation has changed dramatically in California in the past 10 years, primarily due to efficiency in supply and demand, and the use of renewables which tend to generate electricity during peak demand. So, even though solar is in itself expensive (why? Will be discussed later), it is still the best buy today outside of natural gas (the price of which is at the mercy of the free market and the gas companies, and can change anytime.)

This summer looks to be interesting in southern California, due to the fact that unit 1 of the San Onofre nuke will probably not me restarted. That’s 1000MW of baseload, that will have to be made up some other way…a Chinese company is looking to build a huge solar plant in south Nevada to sell renewable electricity to California!

The economics of energy are very complex (especially the price of gasoline, oil, etc) and I’ll post more later.

http://www.caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/

http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/ (look at the ticker at the bottom)

The PV-Fuel Cell Connection

What I've been saying all along...using solar 24/7 down the road.

Apple is building a 20MW solar system in North Carolina. As of now, it will sell the electricity it produces to Duke Energy. However, they also just announced a plan to build a 4.8MW fuel cell facility that will generate electricity from hydrogen that is converted from purchased natural gas. Other options include buying natural gas from a landfill, or some other biogas producer.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120404/BIZ/704049934

There will eventually be one more link in this system down the road, and that is the technology to produce hydrogen from water using electrolysis (or some other new process) from electricity. If their Data Center only uses 4.8MW of electricity, they could use the other 15.2MW of solar to produce hydrogen to run the fuel cells at night . Then, they could be totally self-sufficient 24/7 in electricity for their facility.

We (Humboldt State) did this in 1991. We built a 7kw solar PV system, a part of which provided power for aeration pumps at our Marine Lab. The largest amount of electricity produced during the day went into an electrolyser, which produced Hydrogen and Oxygen (basic 1st chemistry lab experiment in high school), and stored the hydrogen to be used a night...or basically when the sun isn't shining. Our students developed this and installed all the equipment. The first fuel cell purchased from Teledyne Corporation (I don't know if they are still around) cost $78,000 and was a total failure, so our students designed and built their own! Things have been upgraded over the years, and a lot has been learned. This is still an educational tool and a continuing learning process for over 20 years! The technology has come a long way in efficiency, and most of all, it has come down in cost.

http://www.schatzlab.org/projects/real_world/schatz_solar.html

So...where is Bechtel, Martin-Marietta, Lockheed, Duke Energy, Boeing, United Technologies, etc???

The big boys (government included) aren't doing anything because the "super rich" fossil fuel players have/are doing everything in their power (excuse the pun) to keep the renewables from advancing. That's really the bottom line! So it is going to take the "non-players"...Apple, Google, Microsoft (even though they are going down the wrong nuclear path), and other investors who have the vision to see not only the "green" benefit from this, but also the eventual huge amounts of money that can be made.

Georgia Power is sucking $8.5 billion of federal subsidies to build a $24 billion nuclear complex just south of Apple's project.

http://www.georgiapower.com/environment/renewable.asp?nav=top_ee_renew

They boast about having a 28kw solar demonstration project on their corporate rooftop, to study the feasibility of solar energy! Smart. My students started doing this type of research in 1982, resulting in CCAT going off grid a few years later.

http://www.ccathsu.com/

So things are moving along...very slowly...but moving along. If this nation were to seriously put forward an energy policy based on renewables, the technological and economic might and the real brainpower we have available to us could speed things up significantly, creating jobs, sustainable and local energy, and a cleaner environment. But as of now, we have to deal with all the lies, ignorance, propaganda, and downright greed that is holding us back.
Instead of paying wind power producers to not generate electricity when it is not needed, those turbines could produce hydrogen, which can be stored, and used in fuel cells when the electricity demand calls for it.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/wind-power-companies-paid-to-not-produce/?test=latestnews
There are so many options and choices.

Energy Update for March

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything of significance on nuclear power, renewables, and the impacts of fossil fuels; but that does not mean nothing has been going on. Here is a (hopefully) brief update of my views. I will put most of my website references down below if you want further reading.

The nuclear dinosaur industry trudges along. The Feds gave approval to the construction of two reactors in Georgia, with an $8.5 billion public subsidy/loan guarantee. We’ll now see if the estimated $14 billion project is completed by 2016, and if it comes in on budget. I have a steak dinner riding on this.

Meanwhile, the other participants in the “nuclear renaissance of 2006” are falling by the wayside. In Florida, where they are already charging customers for construction of two plants that will never get built (isn’t this a tax?…where’s Norquist?), the estimated cost has gone from $5 billion to $22.4 billion…even Progress Energy says this will never be built. Here is a link to the best article in recent time on the cost issues with nuclear.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/cost-of-nuclear-plants-raises-doubts-on-progress-energys-levy-county-plan/1221840

As for the waste issues, nothing new other than the fact that the Blue Ribbon Commission has started that there is NO solution to the radioactive waste problem. Proponents of reprocessing/recycling are being struck a vital blow with the continued problems at Hanford’s vitrification plant, of which we would have to build 5, 10, 20? if were to seriously do reprocessing. This plant is half complete, has huge technical problems, and so far is up to $12 billion. This was to cost $1 billion and was to start operating in 1998.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017819435_hanford23m.html

One year down the road for Fukushima, and things don’t bode well there. It seems the 4 reactors have been somewhat stabilized, but there are huge technical challenges as to what to do next. It will be years before they can even begin to do any kind of cleanup, and that may never happen. Meanwhile, some 100,000 people have been driven from their land, homes, and livelihood, and the economy has taken its toll. I’m surprised that with 53/54 nuclear plants shut down, the Japanese are not living in caves in the dark and eating uncooked food…oops! We’ll never know the health significance of the disaster, since lies, cover-ups, and incompetence prevailed during and after in this highly organized and technical society. Of course the industry continues to spread the propaganda that it wasn’t so bad, and everything is ok now; it can never happen in the US.

The renewable energy industry continues to struggle against all the might that is being thrown at it by the fossil fuel industries. However, despite political and economic setbacks, the deployment of wind and solar is slowly growing and slowly adding to the amount of electricity in our grid; and in spite of the global economic downturn, is doing quite well in other parts of the world. Solar is slowly reaching the point where it doesn’t need subsidies in Germany and Spain. It’s interesting that the big problem seems to be that the production costs are GOING DOWN…creates all kinds of havoc in the manufacturing industry…we didn’t seem to have this problem with the rapid decrease in costs that the computer/chip industry went through back in the ‘90’s and on.

But then, this is all closely linked to the Climate Change issue, so we see huge amounts of money and effort by the Koch brothers and their Heartland Institute and their Cato Institute, Karl Rove and his Crossroads GPS, and all the other big energy players really doing a number on America. The whole Solyndra bankruptcy appears to have been an intentional setup, and it’s interesting that the all-knowing Imhoff from Oklahoma recently said he once believed in climate change, until the money talked to him…God did too!

So in these hilarious times, we can sit back and watch the clowns spend their money and spout their lies…meanwhile the sun still shines, and the wind still blows.

Some interesting reads:

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/17/428111/exposed-the-19-public-corporations-funding-the-climate-denier-think-tank-heartland-institute/

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Solar+power+station+Spain+works+night/6320158/story.html

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/03/german-policy-could-make-solar-in-america-wunderbar

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/wind-power-companies-paid-to-not-produce/?test=latestnews

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/u-s-was-net-oil-product-exporter-in-2011.html

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Japan-s-radiation-cleanup-is-trial-and-error-3381585.php

Nuclear Waste Disposal

After several years of work, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (a highly respected group of nuclear professionals, legislators, and community experts) has released its report on the future of High Level (Spent Fuel) Waste disposal in the US.

In spite of the fact that $15 billion has already been spent on Yucca Mountain and the temporary storage of these wastes since 1998, the group concurs that "America's nuclear waste management program is an impasse." This is due mainly to enormous technical problems, inadequate geologic conditions, and many political issues. Regardless of our wants, wishes, dreams, and promises, the long-term storage of nuclear wastes has eluded scientists since the '40's, and will continue to do so far into the future. Buried on page 100 of the report is a most powerful statement: "…no currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments—including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies—have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer."

Setting aside the issues of human safety, environmental impact, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and geopolitics, I raise the more current ethical and moral question of economics, and what we are passing on to our children and to many, many future generations.

http://brc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/brc_finalreport_jan2012.pdf

Energy Glut

It’s not just the solar industry…it’s everywhere! Lie, cheat, steal, scam…it’s prevalent in human nature, and needs some kind of social system to regulate and keep it in check. It’s called laws and dutiful enforcement.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53385458-90/blue-castle-company-decision.html.csp

Natural gas glut…wholesale prices down to the lowest they’ve been in almost 20 years…no impact on what I’m paying PG&E to keep my house warm this winter…same price per therm I’ve been paying for the last 5 or so years.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=114481

Oil glut in America? Ship it out…add value to it by refining it and then exporting it. Price of gasoline here is $3.89…down about 10 cents from a year ago. Produce more American oil…just means more profits on the global market for the big companies. Pure economics…human nature.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/11/exports-driving-record-us-refinery-production.html

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/01/api-reports-oil-production-up-product-demand-down-in-2011.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-earnings-20120126,0,3577969.story

So if you really think that “drill, baby, drill” or the Keystone pipeline is going to have any significant impact on the price of gasoline or our home heating gas in light of the global control that the multinationals have…well…..

Renewables…no exploration, no guessing how much is there, and where….

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-25/u-s-cuts-estimate-for-marcellus-shale-gas-reserves-by-66-.html

These are the thoughts going through my head this morning. I know you think I’m stupid or naïve, or whatever. It seem like common sense to me. The world is not perfect and will never be. The economy drives us…the questions I have are what, who, where, and why. As a business owner for 30 years, I am all for the free enterprise system, making money, less regulation, more opportunity for creativity; but what governs the “spiritual and moral” integrity of commerce? I guess our “values” are very different. My father was an immigrant, no education, could hardly speak decent English…he worked very hard and was an extremely honest and sincere man, and made his fortune. I think of him often, and know he would be proud of my beliefs and values.