Sunday, October 31, 2010
Cotton Gin Tour
Folks, if you missed T.S. Designs' tour of the Rolling Hills Cotton Gin yesterday, you really blew it! I can't imagine a more informative and productive way to spend a Saturday! Fortunately, T.S. Designs is likely to schedule another one, so if you have an interest, let Eric or Tom know, so that they are made aware. Contact information is: eric@tsdesigns.com or tom@tsdesigns.com.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Free CFLs from Duke Energy
Duke Energy is offering its customers 15 free compact florescent light bulbs. (Yes, you must be a Duke customer.) Call Duke Energy at 1-800-943-7585, press option 1, and follow the prompts. You will be asked to supply your account number or your SSN. Based on my wife's experience, the process takes less than a minute. I don't know how long the offer is in effect.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Local Energy in the Context of Community Design
On Saturday, November 13, Guilford Energy Resources will be offering the last presentation in its “Local Energy” series. The title: “Energy Efficiency in Urban Living and Working.” The presenter: Michiel VanderSommen.
Cities and their residents are looking for ways to cut energy costs while at the same time improving livability. Michiel will talk about ways to achieve this double objective. He will “connect the dots” across multiple sub-topics such as overall city layout, non-auto transportation orientations, mixed-use building, and self-sufficient sub-communities. The concept of “district energy” will be featured, showing how this approach to local energy makes sense (and cents) in a well-planned city. And because proper city planning involves the development of self-sufficient sub-communities, the very concept of community is emphasized and the development of a sense of community is promoted. Finally, it will become clear how all of this promotes job-creation, an important by-product for a struggling economy. In short, we can at the same time lower costs, save energy, improve livability, build a sense of community, and increase employment. Be aware that this requires a willingness to think differently about cities and their neighborhoods. But, as Albert Einstein once said; “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used to create them”.
Michiel VanderSommen brings to his analysis a broad educational and practical background. He is a mechanical engineer, has studied architecture, was educated in Europe, and has lived and worked and studied in several modern cities. This broad background has prepared him for this long overdue presentation, one which promises to fill the gaps within and across many of the presentations we have offered in the past.
What: Energy Efficiency in Urban Living and Working
When: Saturday, November 13, 2010, 10:00 AM
Where: Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library, 1420 Price Park Rd., Greensboro
Cost: Free
Cities and their residents are looking for ways to cut energy costs while at the same time improving livability. Michiel will talk about ways to achieve this double objective. He will “connect the dots” across multiple sub-topics such as overall city layout, non-auto transportation orientations, mixed-use building, and self-sufficient sub-communities. The concept of “district energy” will be featured, showing how this approach to local energy makes sense (and cents) in a well-planned city. And because proper city planning involves the development of self-sufficient sub-communities, the very concept of community is emphasized and the development of a sense of community is promoted. Finally, it will become clear how all of this promotes job-creation, an important by-product for a struggling economy. In short, we can at the same time lower costs, save energy, improve livability, build a sense of community, and increase employment. Be aware that this requires a willingness to think differently about cities and their neighborhoods. But, as Albert Einstein once said; “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used to create them”.
Michiel VanderSommen brings to his analysis a broad educational and practical background. He is a mechanical engineer, has studied architecture, was educated in Europe, and has lived and worked and studied in several modern cities. This broad background has prepared him for this long overdue presentation, one which promises to fill the gaps within and across many of the presentations we have offered in the past.
What: Energy Efficiency in Urban Living and Working
When: Saturday, November 13, 2010, 10:00 AM
Where: Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library, 1420 Price Park Rd., Greensboro
Cost: Free
Monday, October 4, 2010
Assault on Wind and Solar
In the prior post, I re-published an article I had presented 5 years ago, on research that had been carried out by Robert Hirsch and his associates. That research raised serious questions about the future availability of oil at the production rates necessary for the continuation of society as we know it. His report then attempted an analysis of the most promising mitigation strategies for avoiding the otherwise dire consequences. Hirsch and these same associates have very recently published a book entitled The Impending World Energy Mess. Some of the content of the book represents an update to the work done 5 years ago. Most of its content is, in one way or another, focused on the availability of liquid fuels going forward. Indeed, the book can be taken as both an introduction to, and summary of, the issue of "peak oil." But there is also a section on electrical energy and electricity generation options. This section is nothing short of an attack on the notion that wind- and solar-generated electricity can address our need for an economically viable substitute for conventional -- that is, fossil-fuel based, hydro, and nuclear -- electric power generation. The attack is so thoroughgoing that the pro-wind and pro-solar communities will, I think, be compelled to respond to this challenge. There are several on-line forums in which this discussion is likely to take place. One of them is the Energy Bulletin, and I am suggesting that those who have an interest in this topic might want to visit the site on a fairly regular basis. The site can be found at: http://www.energybulletin.net/.
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