Open letter to the Economist

I was rather disappointed after reading your article on The Future of Energy in the June 2008 issue. I am an electrical engineer working in power distribution and generation, I deal mainly with commercial and industrial clients and therefore am well versed in the scale of power consumption that is required to maintain our economy.

After discussing the various options for generating clean, renewable energy, you briefly mention that we cannot conserve our way out of this problem, I strongly agree that we cannot simply just reduce what we use and expect that it is a viable and relevant solution, however you eluded that conserving energy is not worth much of the attention the energy sector receives. The article neglects to discuss the large benefits of reducing our current demand on existing generating capacity, the economics are surely worth studying, even for the Economist.

The best course of action still remains to be a reduction in current demand, this reduction does not have to come at the expense of the public's quality of life, many experts in the industry strongly agree with this idea. The cheapest power available still remains to be that which we do not use, approximately 0.5 cents per kWh, which means negawatts are the cheapest energy solution we have at our disposal. We can increase the resilience and productivity of our economy while creating new markets by investing in technologies that allow us to perform the tasks we perform today while saving vast amounts of electricity, many improvements are already available to us. The concept that we can do what we already do while using less electricity is very different from that of conservation, do more with less.

If we reduce our current demand on existing generating infrastructure we free up that capacity for growth in other ares of our economy. Instead of building new infrastructure power companies can realize increased profit margins by selling capacity that has been freed up through increased efficiency, to new clients at higher rates than it was previously available for. This represents the most profitable scenario for the power companies as the generating sites do not require additional financing which means any increase in revenue goes straight to the bottom line. If you think that freeing up power is difficult to achieve you are seriously mistaken, we are very inefficient users of electrical power and there are many opportunities to reduce consumption without altering our productivity.

Numbers behind the problem

When talking about our looming energy crisis people often bring up numbers. The problem with the numbers people bring up is that they often only represent a fraction of what exists, ie they encompass a very small portion of what we are dealing with. Even worse, many numbers are false and misleading.

Tree Hugger just posted an article that contains a paper that addresses the numbers behind our little problem. Free for download, David MacKay, a professor at the University of Cambridge, has published an online paper "Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air". Download the article here. It is 400 pages long, I have not had to review it thoroughly but I think it is from a reputable source.

Too Much Information out there, I am doing some traveling for work over the next few weeks, maybe I can do some writing then.

Greening up industries

Many companies make money in a manner which is inherently bad for the environment. Slowly these industries are realizing that not only is it good PR to go green but it makes cents ($) as well. Any money that companies save on their overhead goes straight to the bottom line (profit) so the return on investment can be very quick. Once the initial investment has been paid off, sometimes in as little as two years, the savings are all gravy.

A good example of this is UPS.

Thin Film Solar

Solar power is good in the fact that it produces power when we need it, that is, when we are all at work running about doing what ever it is that we are driven to do (the reason for which is open to debate). The problems associated with traditional solar production has been that it is bulky, expensive, and difficult to produce in large quantities. Nanosolar has a breakthrough process that may help us realize our goal of deploying solar generation throughout the world quickly and at very low cost.

Read this National Post article and watch this video for more details.

Here is some news on the Biofuels front.

Segway!?

Too many of our cars are only carrying one person. The amount of energy that goes into actually moving the driver is very little, less than 1% of the energy is used to carry the driver (wish I could find the source), which means, 99% of the energy going into our fuel tanks goes into:

• heat production
• friction with the road
• friction in the transmission
• friction in the engine
• air resistance
• force to move the weight of the car

If you can get past the lame image of the Segway and think about it's merits, it makes sense that it really could change how we get to the office, store, park, coffee shop. Definitely worth purchasing one for personal urban transportation.

"Segway sighting, Mexico City!!"

Biofuels

I am thinking that if I update my blog more frequently with smaller posts, and with information I come across during my internet surfing, it may help to give it direction. At the least I will be able to let others know of things I find most interesting. Once and a while I may feel the urge to rant on something and focus a little more. However most of my reading is generally related to energy.

I am a big fan of Google Alerts, they are a great way to stay current on whatever it is that you are interested in, I highly recommend the service. The amount of content being sent to your inbox through Goolge Alerts does not get overwhelming. However, be sure to enter your query in such a way as to eliminate receiving updates that are not what you are looking for. For example instead of typing alternative energy, type "alternative energy".

My goolge alerts at the moment are:

• "alternative energy"
• "hydraulic hybrid"
• "energy savings"
• "energy storage"
  

Biofuels are receiving a lot of attention these days, politicians, the media, and the few who profit from their production all claim that they are going to help us solve our energy woes. If you look into it, turns out that biofuels are not that great a solution at the moment.

However, Valcent Products Inc. has a promising technology for the production of algae (VIDEO) for use in biofuels. Current ethanol and biodiesel production has very poor net energy yield and biodiesel production through algae may drastically increase that energy yield.

The spread of the use biofuels has resulted in increasing food costs, which means the worlds poorest are starving so the worlds richest can find an alternative fuel for their gas tank; and make a lot of money at the same time! A tremendous amount of fertilizer, water, land, energy, and machinery are all required to turn a crop into something we can get at the pump. The amazon is being cleared to support the growing demand for biodiesel. Get this, we are destroying one of the largest carbon sinks on earth so we can continue to drive virtually everywhere.

Valcent also has other products that have a lot of potential to help out in the agriculture sector. Their vertical growth system has potential to save cities like Phoenix and Tuscon from imminent failure, currently they are amongst the least sustainable cities in the world.

Why are we heavily subsidizing a fuel that does not make environmental sense? Our governments have yet to show leadership on our energy supply problems. This is a time when we require bold action and innovative leadership. Be skeptical when you see politicians giving biofuels a lot of attention.

Calgary & oil

As I write I am flying over the Rocky Mountains. I just left Calgary, where I worked on a modular substation for Shell Canada, and I am feeling inspired. It is 9:30 PM mountain time and the sun is casting silhouettes throughout the mountain ranges and valleys below. I have not written down my thoughts in this manner since Alayna’s and my trip to Mexico this winter. Now that I am back to work I feel that if I wish to keep tabs on my personal development and career goals this will be a useful tool. The trip though Mexico gave me practice with this process, it was a good way to spend some of our many hours.

The amount of work currently happening in Calgary is astounding. The industrial sector on the east side of the city is running at an exhausting pace. Trucks, and a lot of them, are transporting materials, men, equipment, and products from place to place, most of which is destined for the oil sands in Fort McMurray. Calgary started constructing buildings of all kinds to be sent up to the oil patch because the market in Edmonton could not keep up to the pace of development. It is an amazing sight for someone accustomed to Victoria.


Although I am not a supporter of the development happening in the oil sands I must pay my bills and therefore I willingly except the responsibility of being part of this relentless “machine”; a necessary evil. Now as I head back to the Victoria I pull up a PDF (paperless) copy of the publication Winning the Oil End Game (WOEG). The US Pentagon sponsored the paper. Written by top energy scientists and experts it is a guide for getting our economy off oil. It is a peer-reviewed publication and is free to download.

Website: www.winningtheoilendgame.com

Video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/51

I am passionate about the need for the world’s economies to drastically reduce, or even better completely eliminate the need for oil as a source of energy. The cost of a barrel of oil has more than doubled within a year, as we all know. As sources of oil become scarcer, more difficult to extract, more dangerous to secure and ultimately more expensive to supply, societies of the world will be forced to adapt like never before in history.

I find it astounding the majority of the population is not aware that there are a tremendous number of opportunities to reduce the need for energy in all forms. On any level, in every capacity, with any industry there are technologies, which are available today, and make economic sense, that have not been widely implemented. The main reason for this procrastination has likely been the fact that it is just too easy and cheap up front to do nothing; something to do with quarterly reports? No doubt, the ignorance of people who have the ability to implement such technologies has hindered development in this area.

Speaking at a round table external on the role of public support for environmental protection on Tuesday (27 May), Andrea Benassi, UEAPME's secretary general, said "increasing awareness of energy saving opportunities must be the first step of a successful strategy" to reduce energy consumption". However, "this will not happen without public support," he stressed. Source.

Just a couple of technologies worth installing right now:

• Waterless urinals
• Solar assisted hot water
• Solar thermal collection
• Heat pumps
• High efficiency street lighting
• Variable speed drives for motors

The development of these markets may prove to be one of the largest humanitarian efforts in history. I truly feel that our energy policies are humanitarian in nature. For interesting information on the development of immature markets read up on the William J. Clinton Foundation.

There are a multitude of opportunities available. An enormous market is in the midst of being realized, finally. Our future depends on our ability to adapt to the current energy crisis. It truly is an energy crisis. If we are not passionate, aware, attentive, and willing we will suffer in the long run. The only thing left is to make the majority of the population conscious of this problem and aware of the opportunities.

We are making our final descent into Victoria. I am excited for the future, however, am concerned that we will do too little too late. Thus concludes my first blog entry!

☺