Wood Power

"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible." Jonathan Swift

Seems like wood is making a come back in Europe where it is being used either in combination with or substituting for coal. There are even a number of European companies building facilities that make wood pellets in the United States. All of this in order to reduce their CO2 emissions and avoid the cost of other fuels.

There are even cooperatives being setup which help farmers increase their income by up to 15%. But think about it; why not add municipalities to these corporative or whoever it is that halls away yard waste.

There is another reason for these co-ops being formed between farmers and municipalities. How much ‘unused’ land is along our roadsides, especially where there are divided highways? What would it mean to the production of wood pellets if these lands were used to grow fast growing trees? By combining the farmers with local municipalities they would be able to share the cost of building these plants.

Converting oil burning furnaces to wood pellet would decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Getting coal burning plants in America to use wood pellets would decrease their carbon footprint as well as reduce acid rain which would be helpful to those downwind of the plants, while creating jobs within this country.

"It seems to me that it's actually harder to invent excuses than it is to be successful."span> Jeffrey Gitomer

Wind Power

"Lost time is never found again." Benjamin Franklin

Well if you can not come up with a solar power ceiling fan or want a different way of providing power to you ceiling fans would be wind power. These fans may or may not have to have a battery when the wind is not blowing enough to provide sufficient power for your fans, but I would think that something like that would be easy enough to come up with.

We often see giant wind turbines along the crests of hills and may or may not see them off the coast of Cape Cod, all of which depends on the “not in my back yard” syndrome. Why not have small systems for homes, systems that do not have to stick hundreds of feet above your home.

There has to be a way to have a small system that can be integrated into your home and look like it belongs there. What about the tops of barns or buildings in the cities. Can they be integrated into these taller structures which give them a better access to the wind? What about homes along the coasts providing their own power taking them off of the grid? Again, these systems do not have to provide the total power requirements of the facility they are attached to, but rather provide a sufficient percentage of the power to help pay for the system.

I know that if a “home” system can be developed that would provide heat for my home in the cooler months, which sometimes range from September to May in sunny Syracuse what would that mean for reduction of our carbon footprint, reliance on foreign oil and more money in my pocket.

”Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.” Hyman Rickover

Ceiling Fans

"You are a potential genius; there is no problem you cannot solve, and no answer you cannot find somewhere." Brian Tracy

One of the best things I ever did for my house was to install ceiling fans in each of the four bedrooms as well as the family room. With these fans we are usually able to avoid running the air conditioning, saving us a boat load of money; you can save approximately 14% of your cooling costs with a ceiling fan. With solar powered attic fans, does anyone know of a company which sells solar powered ceiling fans?

I realize that these fans would have to have batteries to run at night when the sun goes down, but I would think that something like that would be easy enough to come up with. But even if these fans only ran during the day time they would be great for people that stay at home or for small businesses.

The next thing would be to have these fans with their motors outside of the living area. No matter your ceiling fans run on the motor creates heat when it is running so you should not run them when you are not in the room. So then why doesn’t a company come up with ceiling fans that have their motors outside of the living area? By placing the motor in the attic I would not be adding heat to the house keeping it cooler as well as not adding an additional heat source when the air conditioning is on. All of which would mean a reduction of our carbon footprint, reliance on foreign oil and more money in my pocket.

“The only thing that keeps a man going is energy. And what is energy but liking life?” Louis Auchincloss

Solar Power; not the next blockbuster

"I used to say, 'Things cost too much.' Then my teacher straightened me out on that by saying, 'The problem isn't that things cost too much. The problem is that you can't afford it.' That's when I finally understood that the problem wasn't 'it' - the problem was 'me.’” Jim Rohn

Does Solar Energy have to be a blockbuster? I do not think that it does, what it needs to do is to work at a level consistent with the demands of the individual. Maybe in order to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce dependency on foreign oil, or simply reduce our utility bills we need smaller projects. Where are the people or companies who will come up with “solar kits” that are easy to install and have the ability to be added to?

A simple kit that would provide enough power supply all of the electric power for our homes when no one is home, thus freeing up energy for other uses. They already make solar powered attic fans so why not solar powered ceiling fans? What about a solar power kit that would charge an electric lawn mower?

The benefit of smaller solar electric systems is endless and since they would be cheaper than a total solar power system more people could afford them.

“Action conquers fear.” Peter N. Zarlenga

Working Together for Solar Power

"A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying." John Burroughs

I just finished reading an article by Jeffery Combs, “Time: Your Most Valuable Commodity” and he talked about the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) and expanded on that paradigm to “Return On Time, Action, and Energy” (ROTAE).

With all of the stress on teamwork in this country as a way to be competitive on a global sense, we should think about it on a local basis. I talked about providing schools and/or a homeless shelter with solar panels to provide not only utilities to these facilities, but also much needed revenue.

So what could this team consist of? You have the facilities themselves, the schools and charitable facilities in your area. Then add to that people that support these schools, whether it is the PTA, PTO or booster clubs. The utilities that provide these buildings with their power, instead of building new generating facilities, use the massive space that makes up the coverings of these buildings to generate their own power as well as power for the utilities.

Environmental groups should join the effort, instead of suing municipalities they can work with them to provide clean, pollution free energy. Charities should find support from these groups to not only provide solar power to these facilities, but also ways to improve their energy use.

Working together we can lessen our dependence on foreign energy sources, reduce the impact of these facilities on global warming. Working together to meet our individual and organizational goals not only can we make this a better world, but do so sooner than later.

"What I am doing today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. -Unknown