If you are in favor of renewable, clean, or solar energy, please sign this petition for FIT/CLEAN Program, accessible at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065Thank you very much.
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Dear Readers,
On this day of Thanksgiving, thank you very much for all the encouraging words. I have been temporarily out of commission for many reasons: physical recovery after being under the weather, consideration of expansion of Sun Is The Future (with much to learn), pondering and listening to the dynamic voices for change throughout the country and the planet earth. I believe that people are waking up and are discussing the essentials of democracy. U.S. is a noisy and diverse country with tremendous amount of dynamic energy and potential for improvement. I especially liked what former President Bill Clinton commented on “Late Show With David Letterman” about his views on the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The former president repeatedly said the demonstrators must focus on solutions that could boost the country’s economy, rather than simply protesting against Wall Street and economic disparity.
“I think that, on balance, this can be a positive thing, but they’re going to have to transfer their energies at some point to making some specific suggestions or bringing in people who know more to try to put the country back to work,” he said.
Clinton said the demonstrators — who are now in their fourth week on the streets of New York City and have spread to other cities across the country — are upset because they have “made no contributions to the financial meltdown that caused their current distress.”
I agree with former President Clinton: it is not enough to be against something, you/we also need to do something positive, to be for something. This is true in dealing with conflicts between spouses in small domestic affairs to wars among nations. It is important to seek out the positive path in resolving any situation. I believe, we are all looking for the path of coming together of conservative in a real sense of the word in Latin, conservare, meaning to keep, to conserve, to preserve, to hold, to save, to cherish, and to treasure. In a real sense, we are all looking for the positive path to preserve and cherish our planet earth and our democracy. I understand that there are many issues that need to be addressed and resolved, but in my little corner of Sun Is The Future, I am offering the positive path of effective Feed-In-Tariff as part of the solution to increase local job creations, economic prosperity, energy needs, climate change, and pollution. So, please consider signing the petition at this site (above) to show your support for renewable and solar energy and effective Feed-In-Tariff (discussions, editorials, and video clips are also available in posts from May 8-Aug. 4, 2011, Nov. 11, 2011 at Sun Is The Future of http://sunisthefuture.net .) More discussions on possible solutions for positive path will be in the next post.
~have a bright and sunny day~
written and posted by sunisthefurure-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
I am a mathematician, so numbers are very important to me….11/11/11 contains such a unique combination that I should not let the day pass without posting something significant and meaningful, on this day.
I desperately want and need to share these words of Hermann Scheer, member of the German Parliament who was responsible for implementing the German Renewable Energy Act (equivalent of effective Feed-In-Tariff) and also known as the Hero of the Green Century, spoken before his passing. From his life experience with politics, he sees the necessity in the shift into distributed renewable (particularly solar) energy in order to keep human society’s democratic human values. It is an Ethical Must! He warned and compared our current status of energy dependency to that of feudal regime. America is not independent and neither is European democratic system. Self-determination would vanish if the life fluid of all activities would have to come from another. He also wrote, “a solar based economy would overcome global economic disparaty” (two of his books:Energy Autonomy: The Economic, Social and Technological Case for Renewable Energy, The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future). Finally, in his words of hope and encouragement, do not wait for others but mobilize for our own renewable energy change/shift. “Only then, movement comes…” I would like to invite you to finish viewing this series of three videos of interview with Hermann Scheer below,
followed by my article on Why and How We Should Power Planet Earth With Sun-Water-Wind Quickly, below:
Why and How We Should Power Planet Earth With Sun-Water-Wind Quickly(written and published by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, parts also published at http://sunisthefuture.net)
It is an exciting time to be alive. We earthlings may have many problems to deal with, but we are also equipped with many tools, terrific minds, and fantastic ways of communications. My thirst for solutions for earth’s energy problem combined with my online teaching jobs permitted me to travel to various places from time to time to search for answer…to seek lessons learned and wisdom gathered….Yes, I’ve attended many lectures by many scholars who have studied the energy issue. Today, I want to share with you a talk by Mark Z. Jacobson, Director of the Atmosphere/EnergyProgram and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, available at http://sunisthefuture.net, July 31, 2011 post. Professor Jacobson started the talk by explaining what the problem we earthlings are facing today and why is there such an urgency in needing to deal with it quickly:
• temperatures are rising quickly
• Arctic sea ice area is decreasing quickly
• air pollution mortality is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and highertemperature contributes to deaths
• higher population and growing energy demand will lead to worsening air pollution andclimate problems over time
This part of the talk helped me to realize that black carbon (main component of the soot particles) is also a very important factor for causing global warming, in addition to CO2 emission. Annual premature earthlings’ deaths due to particulates is about 2.5-3 million (in U.S. that is translated into 50,000-100,000 and in Europe, 300,000-350,000 annual premature deaths due to air pollution).As any good engineer/scholar would approach a problem, Professor Jacobson did not just alarm uswith problems but also evaluated possible solutions both with and without cost considerations. From reviewing and ranking major proposed energy-related solutions to global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy security, his talk also considered various impacts of the proposed solutions such as water supply, land use, resource availability, reliability, wildlife, and risk of cancer and nuclear proliferation. Some data I was not aware of in the past was presented, such as the dramatic increase of organic gases (formaldehyde, 200% and acetaldehyde, 4500%) and increased ozone generated from using ethanol. In the final analysis, with consideration of materials, transmission infrastructure, costs,and politics, Professor Jacobson concludes that the best way to power the world is with Wind,Water, and Solar (WWS) technologies.By 2030, the cost of using fossil fuel (13.5c/kWh) will be higher than using WWS (8-13 c/kWh)technologies. Using WWS technologies will also eliminate 2.5-3 million air pollution prematuredeaths/year and global warming and provides energy stability. Furthermore, converting to WWSand electricity/H2 will reduce global power demand by 30%. The greatest concern regarding use of WWS is its variability;this is also addressed by Jacobson’s study by: ( 1.) interconnecting geographically-dispersed WWS;(2.) bundling WWS and using hydro to fill in gaps;(3.) demand response(provide incentive to discourage use during peak/high demand period);(4.) oversizing peak capacity and producing hydrogen with excess for industry, vehicles;(5.)on-site storage;(6.)better forecasting.The study concludes that the best way to power planet earth in the future is with Wind, Water, and Solar(WWS) technologies. It is feasible both technically and economically. Its potential barriers are upfrontcosts, transmission needs, lobbying, and politics.
Dear Readers, this is exactly why I have written the series on effective Feed-In-Tariff, in Sun Is TheFuture, available at http://sunisthefuture.net trying to urge all of our local and federal governments(not just the Floridians or residents of USA, but residents of planet earth) to give all of us the incentive to participate in our move toward the Renewable WWS age. We, as individual home or business owners, may not be spending multiple millions of dollars for lobbying, but we are just as concerned with the future of energy use and welfare of our planet earth as any large utility companies. We earthlings are all connected. The particulate matters from China or India or radiation material fromFukushima will impact all of us earthlings. So, as individual earthlings, let’s start by calling attentionand action for our immediate communities. I, here in Florida, will try my very best in asking my community and local government to consider effective Feed-In-Tariff (discussions, articles, and videoclips available by going to the search box at upper right hand corner of http://sunisthefuture.net and type in “feed in tariff”). Effective Feed-In-Tariff, now rebranded as CLEAN program, may be utilizedby individual home owners, small businesses, organizations such as schools, Y’s, hospitals, libraries,local McDonald’s, WalMart, police stations, and large power/utility companies/plant (refer to the pieceI wrote on July 13, 2011, Answer For The Future Is In Hybrid Marriage-Solar And Fossil Fuel at http://sunisthefuture.net) alike. We need incentive for individual home owners, small businesses, organizations such as schools, Y’s,hospitals, etc. with rooftops and surface areas, that would provide us with sufficient economic incentiveto move into the renewable age. Here is an example (in the video of July 27 post at http://sunisthefuture.net, with data provided by World Future Council) of another country,Germany, with far less sunshine and insolation than we have here in Florida, but with the help of Feed-In-Tariff (key features listed below):
• Gives RE (renewable energy) priority access to the grid
• Obliges grid operators to purchase electricity from RES
• Sets the price for RE electricity for fixed periods
• Sets no limit to amount of RE feeding into the grid
Fundamentally, with an effective Feed-In-Tariff incentive program, any one who produces excess renewable energy may be able to sell the power he/she generates back to the power/utility company.Feed-In-Tariffs have been so successful in Germany and many other countries because of the long termplanning security it provides by having 12-20 year contracts ( this is crucial to investors);it givestechnology-specific incentives (this is crucial for driving new technologies into the market);it adapts totechnological development (this fosters innovation). Germany was able to create more than a quarter million jobs in renewable energy sector in less than five years, economic impact of new industrydevelopment with total turnover from renewable energy sources of approximately 25 billion Euros in2007, and saved about 150 tons of CO2 emissions…all due to the help of Feed-In-Tariff. Most importantly, Feed-In-Tariff have made Germany the world leader in solar power. Another important lesson to take away from the presentation of World Future Council video clip of July 27 post in sunisthefuture.net is the fact that majority (more than 80% in Germany & or 90% in Florida) of the market share is from residential rather than the utility scaled facility (about 10%). That means, we, the individuals, will have far more combined impact on the industry and would benefit from the industry of renewable energy via Feed-In-Tariff. Please do view these discussions and video clips on Feed-In-Tariff, accessible at sunisthefuture.net, beginning from May 8 through Aug. 11 of 2011, at sunisthefuture.net. If you’d get to my May 8th post on Incentive For Solar (8)-Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), at http://sunisthefuture.net, there is a very informative discussion by a panel of scientists and policy makers and even our very own Floridian Ed Regan, you would also see in my August 11 post that:the first form of feed-in-tariff was actually implemented in US in 1978, under President Jimmy Carter’s administration, telling Americans that the energy crisis was a “clear and present dangerto our nation” and drew out a plan to address it.The problem with the federal mandated feed-in-tariff rate from 1978 is that: the federal governmenthad given individual states the authority to set its own FIT rate as long as it meets the minimal level ofavoided cost. So, we ended up getting a lot of states simply setting its FIT rate at the avoided cost (for FL, this avoided cost is much lower than the cost of producing solar energy, therefore, there is no incentive for any one trying to produce extra energy). It simply would not be economically feasible.You can also find this discussion in my June 8th post and video with Craig Lewis of CleanCoalition, at http://sunisthefuture.net I have another issue with this avoided cost FIT rate: that is, itis set at a fixed rate without the consideration of what time in the day when the energy is produced. The value of energy changes throughout the day because energy is in greater demand during the day time and when sun is up (esp. in FL when it is on a hot summer day, when AC is in huge demand). The current fixed avoided cost FIT rate ends up favoring the wind energy producers and very unfavorable for the solar energy producers (solar energy is produced when demand is highest and therefore during the time when the energy is/should be more valuable.) But this can all be modified/monitored with current technologies and smart meters. So, what we need from the state government is an effective Feed-In-Tariff rate that would provide incentive (economically feasible) for every/any one who wants to participate in production of renewable energy (solar, water, wind, etc.) to do so feasibly. Some of you may argue to wait until the cost of producing renewable (esp. solar in FL) energy to be much lower and continue the status quo for now. But I (and many others) feel that we cannot afford to wait any longer because it takes time to educate, implement, and assist the general public to make the transition into a new world of renewable energy. If we want a smooth transition, without too much societal disruption, nor increased unemployment or dramatic lowering of standard of living, the most effective strategy is by implementing effective Feed-In-Tariff/CLEAN Program (as indicated in World FutureCouncil http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/feed_in_tariffs_in_us.html) ASAP. We have seen how effectively implemented Feed-In-Tariff had already benefited our neighbor Gainesville, FL community(and at least 65 other nations and territories):
We would simply like to ask our state legislators to consider re-examining the issue of Feed-In-Tariff and come up with a plan for an effective Feed-In-Tariff/CLEAN Program that may be inclusive of all,the small users, medium users, and large users (even utility companies). For we are all in this together. I am sure that the power/utility companies are well aware of the fact that it is much better to serve acommunity of economic prosperity, because 10% of a smaller number is still larger than 100% of zero,(such would be the case if/when the power company has to cater to the needs of a lot of unemployed users.) To insure a win-win situation for all, it would be feasible to consider working out an agreeable percentage of the net profit (resulting from renewable energy produced from effective Feed-In-Tariff) going toward the power companies for the use of the power grid.I hope you, the readers, in addition to talking to your friends, family, neighbors, and your legislators about effective Feed-In-Tariff, I urge you to sign the petition page available at http://sunisthefuture.net and tell as many people about this web site and petition drive as possible. To encourage you all to think positively about our renewable/solar energy future, I have also written and posted various topics at http://sunisthefuture.net for your perusal. Simply type these topics in thes earch box at upper right hand corner of http://sunisthefuture.net and see/hear….about….
Feed-In-Tariff
Incentive For Solar
Solar Impulse Solar Plane
Cars Of The Future
Solar High Speed Trains
Solar Shingles
Solar Hot Water Heater
What Is Solar Cell
BIPV
Why Solar
Solar Decathlon
Veolia World Solar Challenge
etc.
Please feel free to email me at sunisthefuture@gmail.com if you have any suggestions, questions or comments. Any of your input will be welcomed.
Written and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
If you are in favor of renewable, clean, or solar energy, please sign this petition for FIT/CLEAN Program, accessible at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065Thank you very much.
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Dear Readers,
If any of you will have the opportunity to travel to the Southern Hemisphere in 2013 during month of October, check out the Veolia World Solar Challenge (world solar car race) between Darwin and Adelaide of Australia ! More information about its future occurrence will be found at http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/ As one of the readers of Sun Is The Future had described it affectionately as the Olympics For the Nerds…I would go one step further and call it the Olympics For Enthusiasts For Life! We have seen futuristic solar cars built by both engineers and non-engineers, solar car drivers of both female and male having driven through different ecosystems (from deserts to temperate forests and tropical climates) and experienced unexpected wind, rain, and fire, and participants and observers from all age groups and walks of life. Veolia World Solar Challenge brought out our fervor for life and hope and optimism for our future with solar and renewable energy. It even provided us with further intrigues in the very end with protest and recalculations of the results. Perfect demonstration of an exciting time we’re living in, in a time when our planet earth is ready to evolve/transition into the next stage of human history,with new perspective and appreciation for renewable/solar energy, for gender equality (true appreciation for working cooperatively together rather than wasting energy in any ancient battle of the sexes), and willingness to ask/entertain change or improvement. As long as we are all focused on “we’re all in this together”, here on planet earth, working for the common goal of a better planet for the future generations.
During the reporting of this event, I came across many human interest stories;three of which particularly reflect the point above. I’d like to share with you, below, three people all having the common dream of working for a better future involving education and building of solar cars:
1. The first one concerns a father from Sydney, Australia area by the name of Garrick Everett. Mr. Everett had been in the field of education for many years.
Garrick Everett at Victoria Square, Adelaide, Australia, at the Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011
After observing the Veolia World Solar Challenge, he would love to be able to build a solar car with his teenage son. He also dreams about the possibility of starting a museum for/of solar energy. So, if you have any positive suggestions, comments, funding, items, or time that you’d like to share with Mr. Everett, please contact him via ever777@hotmail.comMr. Everett and his children are fortunate enough to have such common interests and they will create wonderful memories together for many decades to come.
2. Secondly, is the volunteer at education outreach of Aurora World Solar Car ataurorasolarcar.com, Martin Brook. Mr. Brook is a model solar car enthusiast who had been dreaming about rebuilding the model solar car race ofAustralian National Final of Model Solar Car Race. youtube video clip below
So, let’s help him, however we can, to fulfill his dream and perhaps even expanding his dream to be that of a Model World Solar Car Race/Challenge. Any of you model car, model solar car race enthusiasts, car manufacturers, toy companies, battery companies, solar cell companies, educational resource centers, etc. may be interested in getting in touch with Martin Brook about potential future Model World Solar Car Race. I would also encourage many teachers for K-12 out there to consider getting involved/starting activities/projects that may help to stimulate your students’ interests in solar energy, math, science, and engineering via model solar car race mentioned by Martin Brook.
3. Thirdly, it was wonderful to have met people from so many different countries right at the Victoria Square of Adelaide (the ceremonial finish line for the World Solar Challenge 2011), Australia. I met several teachers who were able to bring their students all the way from Colombia to watch Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011 as a result of having won a contest. I talked to one of the teachers,Mauricio Lozano,
Mauricio Lozano (farthest right), with his three students at left and colleague
who is also the Director of Discience Foundation. He is trying to stimulate his students’ interests in math, science, and engineering by bringing these students to observe and consider participating/building a solar car in the future. Those of you from Colombia (or elsewhere) who would like to find out more about or to help support Discience Foundation, please feel free to get in touch with Mr. Mauricio Lozano via mauricio@discience.org (web site for Discience Foundation is www.discience.org).
I even saw some of the solar car enthusiasts deeply engrossed in confirming some calculations about some aspect of the solar car race, photo included….perhaps this would be the appropriate image to have in mind when we think about the Olympics For The Nerds/Enthusiasts For Life……it’s all a matter of overcoming the hurdles of the minds….
Participants/Observers of Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011
written & posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
For those of you interested in the final results, after re-examination of the solar kilometers actually traveled, and the issue of protest, I am posting the exact quotes (bold print) from www.worldsolarchallenge.org for your perusal, followed by two links (one is of the pre-examination results and one is of the post-examination).
Teams not able to maintain a reasonable minimum speed are invited to maximise their experience in the event by running their solarcar for a few hours each day before moving their car forward in their truck or on their trailer. The rules surrounding this exercise allow a great deal of flexibility in their application to enable the particular circumstances and the conditions to be taken into consideration.
The finalisation of the results was delayed mostly by the contention of one team who, so desperate to show their sponsors a clean finish, demanded recognition of a place the number of irregularities involved denied them.
A small number of teams questioned the number of solar kilometres attributed to them so the decision was taken to audit all the log books where these are recorded in the team log by the Observer (which the team manager should sign at the end of each day) and transmitted to Mission Control for incorporation into the overall results.
Interesting errors such as trailered Km being substituted for Solar Km, and solar credits being given to Control Points instead of actual distance covered were discovered and the complications of this event outlined earlier led to some interesting arithmetic from some Observers! Some gained from the exercise, others not. The figures have now been checked and cross checked with the result that we are now able to verify the Official Record and present the final results.
Please note that there are some changes in rankings and km/solar distance traveled for various teams after the 7th position.
Again, I would like to implore you all to refer/read my post of Nov. 3, 2011, http://sunisthefuture.net/?m=20111103 and let’s remind ourselves the spirit of World Solar Challenge is that of discovery and learning from our experiences/lessons.
Human interest and lessons learned will follow….
~have a bright & sunny day~
written & posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Homepage: http://sunisthefuture.net
Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
If you are in favor of renewable, clean, or solar energy, please sign this petition for FIT/CLEAN Program, accessible at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065Thank you very much.
I have not yet received any official notice of any modifications to Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011 results. The most I’ve discovered was an alleged issue involving discrepancy between the actual solar distance traveled vs. distance recorded by one of the teams. To combat this issue, it’d be a good idea to have at least two time/record keepers at each segment traveled (to guard against potential human errors). Of course, resources available (be it in terms of man or monetary power) may be a constraint. I will be sure to post any changes ASAP upon notice. In the meantime, I am searching for more details of the Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011, hoping to find more information about the protest of the provisional results from any participating teams. During the search, I came across this wonderful post by some one, Lucy Fielding, who was on the Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) Endeavor 2009 design team. Ms. Fielding reminds us the intended focus and spirit of this event and I implore you all to take few minutes to truly absorb/share the emotion and intensity level of Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011 at: http://www.cuer.co.uk/blog/wsc/2011/11/03/lucys-race-report-2/
And Daniel Chambers, head of the electrical team of the CUER Endeavor 2011, with details on various working components for the solar cars. This is also a post well worth the read, especially for those who may be thinking of participating in the World Solar Challenge in the future:
I have learned from both Ms. Fielding and Mr. Chambers that tremendous amount of pre-planning is necessary for all participating teams at Veolia World Solar Challenge and it is the experience of a lifetime for those participated.
More will follow….
written & posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Here is a quick note reporting on the fact that Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011 Result is being challenged: we will report/update on the final results of the Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011 by the end of the day. Apparently, there was some issue regarding the number of kilometers actually traveled by certain team and Veolia World Solar Challenge team is re-examining all steps and numbers in order to carefully insure the integrity of the Veolia World Solar Challenge. Mr. Chris Selwood, the leader and rightful owner of Veolia World Solar Challenge, wants to remind every one involved that the goal and focus of Veolia World Solar Challenge is to increase greater awareness and education for our future generations in application of solar energy in cars and to stimulate greater interest in math, science, and engineering. He hopes that every one involved will not lose sight of this focus.
While awaiting the final results, I am providing two links that may be of interest to you all, below:
1. General Regulations of the Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011:
2. Provisional Results, subject to protest from one of the teams and “such cannot remain provisional until the outcome of the protest is determined” (according to www.worldsolarchallenge.org):
