Public Opinion seems to be oil and gas’ game

Last night I received an email from a friend asking my opinion of a graph that purportedly demonstrated that renewable energy is not worth the investment. This is not the first time that something like that has been sent to me. Why are so many people taking the time to produce such graphs and to rotate them around the net? What a waste of energy. Or is it?

It was a confusing graph with many curves and comments and made no sense whatsoever. But nevertheless, it was sure to make the over credulous think about keeping the status quo. However, the time for energy conversion is here and it is only a matter of time before we make the change. But it will take some work on our part. Sure we could make graphs that contend that renewable energy will make your hair grow back and that it will make the price of college education go down, but that is not necessary.

The tide has turned already. In watching the republican debates, it is refreshing to see the candidates speak about drilling, but staying away from falsehoods about renewable energy. They must know that tide of public opinion has turned in favor of renewable energy and to speak against would mean sudden political death.

Look around and you will see the change is happening. Spray insulation, low wattage bulbs such as LED, energy saving appliances and passive house standards are just a few of the things that are being implemented by those who want to be ahead of the curve. You have to believe that the cost of energy will always go up because historically that has been the way. Those who do not transition to renewable energy and electric transportation now will be the ones who feel the squeeze later.

That is the important message we should be giving to those who say renewable energy is not worth the investment.

Turn on the TV today and you get a confusing collage of clean natural gas, coal and gasoline efficient vehicles while some of the same companies are touting turbines and electric cars. The change is here and all of us should embrace it together and now.

Mitsubishi is beginning to promote their electric cars as is represented in the following video, joining the ranks of the LEAF and the VOLT. They will soon be joined by BMW, FORD and others, the future is here, don’t stay in the past.

 by George Lopez

Bullish on Renewables

Imaging a world dominated by renewable energy and clean transportation. It surely seems to be coming a reality. More and more our world is being dominated by clean energy.

Sunday when I visited PV America and discovered that even with the cancellation of last year’s event, the show had grown. I ran into so many of the folks that were there in 2009 and met some new ones. It was awesome to see how upbeat everyone is on renewable and all the different strategies being discussed.

Wednesday evening I visited a Greendrinks location in Philly and met with Mike Ditizio who runs the Standard Tap group, a great local eatery and bar that had no televisions, conversation was the only entertainment, and the place was lively with discussions about politics, the environment and just about everything. Mike introduced me to William Toffey a Sustainability Strategist from Effluential Synergies, Alex Fuller-Young the Outreach Coordinator for Center E3 an advocacy group in Pennsylvania. I met with Nic Darling of Post Green a green contractor in Philly. I first read about Nic on a train trip, Arrive magazine had a large article about a young company that builds green sustainable homes for about 100,000 dollars. They want to take affordability out of the equation.

Check out the following stories that were in the news this past week.

Solar Costs May Already Rival Coal, Spurring Boom in Panel Installations as reported by Bloomberg

Solar panel installations may surge in the next two years as the cost of generating electricity from the sun rivals coal-fueled plants, industry executives and analysts said. Read the rest of the story

BP Wind Energy begins construction of 150MW Texas wind farm as reported in New energy World Network

BP Wind Energy has begun construction of the Sherbino 2 Wind Farm in the US state of Texas, which will have a generating capacity of 150MW. Read the rest of the story.

GE sees the new U.S. solar plant running by 2013

General Electric Co aims to have its new U.S. solar-panel plant up and running by 2013, the head of the largest U.S. conglomerate's renewable energy unit said in an interview. The plant would be the largest in America. Read the rest of the story.

GM Says Electric Car Goes 1,000 Miles Between Fill-ups as reported in Bloomberg

General Motors Co. (GM), the biggest U.S. automaker, said drivers of its Volt electric cars were traveling 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) before they need to fill up, enough to make the vehicles more practical for daily use. Read the rest of the story here.

Things continue to get more and more exciting. Let's help make it happen.

Visit http://www.thesolarandwindexpo.com/