The New Green Meets Tuesday Tech

Yesterday was Green Monday in my blog world. Sorry, I didn’t forget to post anything, I just decided to wait and give you a two for on Tuesday this week.

Have you heard of this guy, Nikola Tesla? Even if you haven’t you’re using one of his inventions in one of 972 ways this very moment. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but this guy was pretty smart; he took electricity and brought to the world things like alternating current, remote control, spark plugs, fluorescent lights, a death ray, and dabbled in frequency resonation.

Because of his inventions and study of electricity we have at our disposal more technologies harnessing energy and physics for the lifestyle we currently expect. One of those technologies has been strapped into a new company, still very small, out on the west coast-Tesla Motors.

Tesla Motors was founded on the idea that a car could be made to run completely electric. There is no hybrid deal here, just a straight plug and high capacity storage capacitors. The vehicle, a roadster for now, is not a prototype or concept car, it’s a reality. Production numbers are low, and there are many reasons for that, but it is a fully produced vehicle capable of 244 miles on a single charge with a moderate 0-60 speed in 3.9 seconds. A sedan is in the works and should be available soon.

I know what you’re saying, “But it costs $110,000 and only has two seats!” True. It’s not a family vehicle, nor my future vehicle, but look beyond the initial price at what lies underneath the badge. Look at what is possible in this application and see that the vehicle will travel 33 miles per 100 kilowatt hours. In other words, if you have ever left a 100 watt light bulb on for 10 hours, you’ve burned through 1 kilowatt hour.

After a phone call to Duke Energy, in our region of Clifton, the cost to ‘fill the tank’ for this vehicle to run the complete 244 miles, would be approximately $37 (based on $0.05 per kilowatt hour).

Over the summer I put $58 worth of gas in my Honda Civic. What was the highest you paid for gas over the driving season?

So about that price tag… It’s a bit steep for the average consumer. There have been some fairly major issues surrounding Tesla’s leadership which places some blame on the user price, but the technology is still pretty outrageous. I mean, does anyone remember how much a DVD player cost when it was first introduced to the market? Now look at them, you can get money back when purchasing them. The higher the drive to make these mass marketed, the lower the price.

But, they are experiencing the same crunches as the Big 3 from Detroit. They need some working capital in the face of our economic condition. I believe we should let the gluttonous corporations fail and allow the new innovators pave the way. It will bring new players to the table, show our committment to ending dependency on foreign oil, develop the technologies to become cheaper, and make the environment a little happier. Seems like a win-win to me.

Didn’t you hear?

Mondays are now Green.

I heard an interesting story over the weekend, one that was produced by BBC World Service, discussing ways in which we have the ability to harness Solar Energy. And ultimately, this is the energy we are using to power all other renewables.

Solar energy creates wind and photosynthesis. While geothermal is debateable on that front, it still is made efficient by the weather patterns of our planet. And all weather is a byproduct of unequal solar heating of the surface. I won’t bore you here on the details of that, but if you would like to know more about weather I think I do a pretty good job of teaching the basic principles.

Anyway, the discussion is geared toward creating plants in the world’s desert regions to convert the high amount of solar energy into electricity. Specifically, using 1/8 of the Sahara Desert to power all of Northern Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, with the possibility of creating an electrical grid with a capacity of transporting the energy all the way to Scandanavia.

Currently, solar power is used in global communities and cities to power homes and business during the day. This energy is used to power the coffee pot and television set, but more importantly it is used as a source of energy to heat water. The efficiency of installing a solar power unit to aide in the heating of your water can amount to saving 50-80%of your energy costs in the home. Plus, George W (holy mess, he might have done something good afterall!) signed an extension of the tax credit to individuals who install and use renewable energies. Check it out! I’m going to install a wind turbine and flat plate collector with my solar panels!

While we are probably still a long way from creating some ’supergrid’ of transferring energy across contintents, this is a technology we can implement on a consumer level to make a large impact in the fight for energy independence. It’s becoming increasingly affordable, is (rightly so) supported by our government, and shows a deeper commitment for the conservation of our planet.

What will it take to convince the average consumer to adopt a mindset favoring options that will cut pollution, cut out of pocket expenses, and model planetary stewardship to future generations?