Top 10 Energy Stories Of 2008
Posted by Sonja Ebron
From where I sit, it’s very difficult to distinguish energy from foreign policy, especially when your country uses more energy than any other country. So here, in no particular order, are my picks for the most significant energy-related stories this year:
- Iran’s proposal for an OPEC-like consortium of the major natural gas producers
- Russia’s threat to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline during its short war with Georgia
- The 10-week scramble for gasoline in the southeast following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
- The massive increase in disconnections of utility services in deregulated areas
- The $100 swing in oil prices, with gasoline dropping from $4.00 to $1.50 in six months
- The promise of Barack Obama’s Green Team and some new thinking on energy
- Mass awareness — but no real debate — of T. Boone Pickens’ plan to sell lots of natural gas
- Iraqi journalist throws shoes at outgoing U.S. president Bush
- U.S. failure to find African host country for AfriCom
- Expulsion of U.S. diplomats from energy-rich Venezuela and Bolivia
There’s only one thing left to say –> Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays From blackEnergy
Posted by Sonja Ebron
It’s said you learn the most during challenging times. If so, blackEnergy earned a PhD this year. We owe our survival to the prayers of well-wishers, including our staff, our advisers, our nonprofit partners, our patient suppliers and vendors. Most of all, we are grateful for our customers — the lifeblood of any business — who send us money, good will and good cheer throughout the year.
Just this week, we received a call from a customer who’d purchased several bulbs from us for his solar shower. He wanted to know if we carried a part that would allow them to work on a 12-volt system. (We didn’t but referred him to another vendor.) He thanked us for the assistance and indicated he had two more questions:
Customer: Your answer to the first will determine the second one. You ready?
Agent: Yes, sir, go ahead.
Customer: First question - Are you married?
Agent: Yes, sir, I am.
Customer: Second question - What is the difference between an in-law and an outlaw?
Agent: There’s not a bit of difference, sir. You can’t squeeze a ray of light between them.
Customer: Wrong! You wanna know the difference?
Agent: Yes, sir?
Customer: The outlaw is wanted. You all have a Merry Christmas!
That’s the kind of love that keeps us going. Happy holidays from blackEnergy.
Low-Cost Solar Heater Made From Soda Cans
Posted by Sonja Ebron
The green economy is here, and those seeking to profit from it must keep an ear to the ground for new business ideas. As a sign that green thinking has reached the grassroots, I recently found a Daily Kos diary describing how to heat your home with soda cans. The materials are easy to find at most hardware stores, and the process is relatively simple. This could be a great money-maker for an industrious entrepreneur with a little mechanical skill.
Here’s what you do:
- remove the ends of 240 soda cans,
- glue 16 cans together with caulk to make a column,
- repeat step (2) until you have 15 columns and let them dry for 2-3 days,
- drill 15 circular holes into two 2 x 6’s to make column manifolds,
- fit the soda can columns between the two manifolds,
- make a rectangular box with a plywood base and line with aluminum foil,
- place the cans and the manifolds inside the box,
- cover the box with Lexan sheeting and seal the edges,
- connect the columns with flex duct on the top and bottom of the box,
- attach some piping, an in-line fan, a thermostat and other accessories.
Despite all the high- tech research on new products to save energy and the environment, these are the proven, low-tech, low-cost concepts that will see most of us through.
Jim Powell for Georgia PSC
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Georgians heading to the polls on December 2nd should be sure to vote in the race for Georgia Public Service Commission. Since we lost David Burgess in 2006, there have been no progressive or pro-consumer voices on the PSC, save for Angela Spier, a Republican who chose not to run for reelection this year. Her seat is sought by Jim Powell, a career U.S. Department of Energy executive and Democrat, and Bubba McDonald, a former commissioner who paid far too little attention to consumer rights during his tenure. Angela Spier crossed party lines to endorse Powell because of his commitment to fight for both consumers and for renewable energy sources. “I think it’s time to move Georgia out of the dark ages and into the 21st century,” Powell recently told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We need to have a long-term plan, take a hard look at how we generate electricity 20 to 30 years out.” For an energy regulator in a coal-hungry southern state, you can’t get more progressive than that. Vote Jim Powell on December 2nd!