Year Changes, Not the Need for More Energy

As the sun rises on 2011, think back on 2010 as the Year of the Solar Panel. After years of stalling and procrastinating, those black panels that turn sunlight into electricity are blossoming like dandelions. Everyone with an unobstructed expanse and a large roof seems to have cashed in on turning the sunshine to green.
It was the year when the county Technical School provided its first class of solar panel installation, and linked it with an innovative project at the Wetlands Institute to generate electricity for the aquarium.
Atlantic Cape Community College plans to have a solar panel “farm” over its parking lot by the Cape May County campus on Court House-South Dennis Road. The only thing standing between many people installing them on their homes is the price, which is still rather steep, and the okay from the electric company to connect.
There remain some misconceptions about “going green.” Consider the media blitz surrounding the Chevrolet Volt as being America’s first electric hybrid. You’d think anybody with $40,000 or so to plunk on the desk would be lining up at his or her local Chevrolet dealer to put one in the driveway. But it takes a bit more than just a burning desire to drive an electric car to make it happen.
By plugging in, we’re led to believe there will be a reduction in emissions. On the car, yes, but how about the electrical generation plant?
According to Chevy’s website:
“Just plug it in to charge the battery, and most people can commute gas, and tailpipe emissions-free for about $1.50 per day.
• A small, quiet on-board gas generator creates electricity that powers Volt as you drive for up to 375 miles on battery and gas power.
• Lithiumion cells outperform nickel metal hydride cells (found in today’s hybrids) in terms of life cycle.
• A liquid thermal cooling and heating system keeps the battery at a comfortable temperature, as it’s being charged and discharged.
More advantages:
• Can be set to charge during off-peak hours for greater savings
• Volt will be fully charged in about 10 hours, depending on climate, with standard 120-volt line, or as little as four hours using a dedicated 240-volt line.
How much will the installation of that 240-volt line cost?
The car is supposed to permit a 37-mile commute on electric before the gas engine kicks in. I’m not here to sell or not sell cars, but rather to offer that it’s not all-pure green that will save green.
As we sail into the first year of the next decade, there is still great reluctance to embrace “windmills,” also known as wind turbines in neighborhoods. Neighbors cast a wary eye upward if the folks next-door want to “go green” and erect a turbine to get off the grid.
Turbines seem to make perfect sense, but then, so did nuclear power. Then, all of a sudden, turbines became killers of migratory birds. When placed offshore, they drew ire from some anglers and environmentalists.
People love to hate them offshore because they will “spoil the view.” Still, I marvel that Atlantic County Utility Authority is generating power with those massive structures, proving they work, and can help us cut dependence on foreign oil.
As we launch into 2011, I do not foresee many willing to unplug their electrical gadgets in order to trim demand for current. I can see only more demand, so we ought to be ready to step up and make sure the energy is there from available sources.
This is just the early stage of both solar and wind power.
What we see on rooftops today may well be replaced with thinner, cheaper and more efficient panels in the future. Perhaps roofing shingles of the future will hook to the home’s power supply. Remember those first cell phones? They weighed about two pounds and looked like something from a comic strip. Look at the cell phones of today, how far have we come? We’ve come a long way, and that’s the way it will be with the green energy that is produced and used locally.
I was flabbergasted to learn that, in last year’s vast power outage from the blizzard, an owner in South Dennis whose turbine was working, had no power, because the turbine was tied into “the grid.” That’s something that ought to change in the future.
While we look to the sun and wind for generating electric, we absolutely refuse to allow more offshore drilling for oil, for which we have shown a gargantuan appetite.
Tell me why, in 2011, as gasoline prices bubble upward and over $3 a gallon, we turn thumbs down on drilling. Why are the cars we lust to drive getting 17 miles per gallon or less? Why are compact cars, made mostly of plastic and aluminum, not capable of getting 50 miles per gallon or more?
You mean to tell me, in the last three or four decades, the mavens of Detroit and Tokyo, Stuttgart and Pusan have not come up with an engine that squeeze that many miles from a gallon of gasoline?
Maybe all this will change by the time next year’s 52nd edition is getting ready to go to press, but I wouldn’t bet on it.