Japan's Nuclear Problems Are Just Starting

Hey folks hope your doing well today. I am a bit conflicted as I really wanted to continue my segment on Thailand solar power, however it would be a bit irresponsible of me to ignore the horrible nuclear disaster that is happening in Japan. So stay tuned for further posts about Thailand’s emerging solar power industry.

I feel for the Japanese, I really do, but nuclear travety’s have happened before with 3-mile island and Chernobyl, and it was just a matter of time till it happened again. Nuclear has and will play a huge role in moving the human race into this modern era, nobody is contesting that, however their have always been warning’s and fear that revolve around nuclear energy generation and for good reasons. Radioactive waste that is created from the energy generation will be around for a long, long time. This radio active waste remains so hot that if not treated properly it will burn straight into the earth. A meltdown itself is a loose term that pretty much means that the nuclear reactors core has partially or completely collapsed from one or more nuclear fuels element exceeding it’s melting point.

This is what we are witnessing now in Japan, the cooling systems have been compromised and the pools where spent nuclear fuels are kept in order to keep their temperature at below melting point are drying up because of the intense heat that is being put by the spent rods, this is why you may have seen on the news that the Japanese have been trying to flood the reactors with salt water from helicopters and the US have brought in gigantic water pumps.

Even if these extremely brave men and women, who have pretty much signed a death contract as they will die from radiation poison, are able to save the reactors from complete melt down the effects of nuclear radiation have already passed into the soil, water, animals, and sea. The devastation of this incident will be felt for generations to come.

So what really annoys me about this whole situation is the stance that America is taking on defending nuclear power. Look after everything we’ve been through in the nuclear age, nobody in their right mind would be able to say nuclear energy generation is safe, that would be purely absurd, right? Well that’s what we’re being told at this very moment. Look nuclear energy is important as we turn to the future, but when it comes down to it, it’s all about the cost of solar power, and rich men in the nuclear industry that want to continue stuffing their pockets by misleading the general public. Alternative sources of energy are a burgeoning new frontier for the human race, it should be embraced for what it is, not shunned for what it isn’t. And, folks lets be honest at the moment it is not cheap. Solar power costs a lot more at the moment than traditional forms of energy generation. But with continued research and development, alternative energies will become more effective and cost exponentially less. In fact clean forms of power generation will be the catalyst that will vault us into the next age of our evolution, and perhaps even better it won’t kill us or poison our home while it does it.

Technorati Tags: Alternative Sources Of Energy, cost of solar power, japan, nuclear energy generation, solar power costs

This House Could Easily Take Advantage of Solar Power

Alright, if any of you have been following solarpowercost.org, you will know that I am in sunny Thailand, soaking up some rays. I will be writing several articles about solar power initiatives that are being implemented while I am here, so stay tuned for more.

Today I am feeling extremely fortunate as I am back in Thailand from a 5 day stint in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and it’s surrounding ruins. Lets just say you either love Cambodia, or hate it. Unfortunately for me, I belong to the later. However Angkor itself is definitely worth a trip to this cesspool, at least once in a lifetime, as it is truly a wonder of the world.

But as I have said I am back to my beloved Thailand and today I would like to talk about the largest by far project that is under development.

In late December Kyocera Group, a Japanese based company that specialize in ceramics, information technologies, and electronics, announced plans on a massive solar installation in North Eastern Thailand. The solar installations will consist of 6MW solar farms to be built at 34 sites. This is a win win situation for Thailand as for anyone who has visited before will know that the North East of Thailand is considered Isarn (pronounced Esan). This is by far the hottest area of Thailand (also the sunniest, and best suited for solar based alternative energies), as well as the most impoverished. I am extremely lucky to call many an Isarn good friends. They are the rice farmers, truly the backbone of Thai civilization, yet are treated unfortunately a lot of times as second class citizens. They have their own language, cuisine, looks, and culture. In fact many consider Isarn to be a totally different country within the borders of Thailand.

So why the cultural lesson? Why is this important, and why am I not talking about Thai solar power? Well lets get to the advantages of this ambitious project.

1. If you watched the news last year (April, 2010), you undoubtedly saw stories about mass protests in Bangkok, where to the horror of the kingdoms people, many of the protesters were slaughtered in attempts to disperse the crowds from the richest tourist areas of Bangkok. As the back story to this is extremely long and convoluted I will not attempt to explain it here. However what you should know is the protesters mainly consisted of poor rice farmers from the Isarn region. It is plain to see that this type of civil unrest is due to the thankless and extremely hard life these people deal with on a daily basis, while of course the rich get richer on their blood and sweat. Yeah, alright this is basically the same in every nation, well, if you actually were to see these farms, and talk to the Isarn about what they actually make per year, I am sure you would see the difference in quality of life the Isarn “enjoy”. So whats my point?

1. A project like this will be able to grant many people from this region with decent paying jobs. Not only that, it will also grant these people technology jobs, where hopefully, schooling will be provided to employees. The region will be looked upon in a different light from the rest of the country, as it will be providing clean and cheap energy to the rest of the kingdom. It will also give the people of Isarn something to be proud of.

2. The solar farms and their roughly one million solar modules will contribute 204-megawatts of clean alternative energy to a country that is listed as the 23rd largest energy consuming nation in the world, as well as ranking in the top 25 countries for largest carbon emissions. The energies generated from just this project is enough power to supply 170,000 Thai households.

3. Thailand has adopted a plan to have 20% of there annual power consumption to be generated by clean alternative energies by 2022. Will they be able to do this? I really cannot say, as I believe at the moment 1% of energy is generated from solar power installations as we speak. However the Thai people are an industrious, and efficient people. If the Kyocera solar farm project is any indicator of the future for solar power in Thailand, they very well may be able to reach their goal.

Technorati Tags: Kyocera solar farm, solar power in Thailand, solar power initiatives, Thai solar power

Yes that’s right, while all my friends are suffering in the cold and snow back home in Minnesota, I am on my annual trip to Thailand. Sorry guys, hope the furnaces are working well. But today I am not here just to gloat, but to talk a little bit about the progress Thailand is having with their solar power initiatives.

If any of you have been to Thailand before then you will most likely agree with me on the fact that this country does not sleep. As the sweltering days turn to dusk the lights, oh my god, the lights turn on. A feast for the eyes, and as I consume delectable street food, the countries energy needs in turn consume the massive amounts of energy needed to sustain this very special way of life the Thai’s have developed.

So where is all this energy coming from anyways? Well at the moment 70% of energy consumed is generated from natural gas. Less than 5% is coming from alternative energies such as hydro, or solar based power. This is bad for a number of reasons. For one, to have that much energy dependence upon a single source is very risky, as there is a large cost to considered from importing natural gas from Laos, China, and other surrounding countries, not to mention the amount of energy needed to transport natural gas. Also Thailand is lovely, the people friendly, but the air…. well the air quality is definitely not the best in the world to say the least. Motorbikes zooming past at high speed, and the traffic, LA your rush hour got nothing on Bangkok, not to mention the sickening slash and burn farming techniques the government employs in the north. When the very poor air quality in a city of nearly 12 million people is 3 times cleaner then out in the middle of nowhere high up in the mountains near the golden triangle, well you know slash and burn techniques are risky and dangerous to say the least. While natural gas is admittedly less of a pollution emitter than coal, it is still adding to the massive carbon footprint that is Thailand.

Thailand is not the 3rd world country a lot of people think it is back in the states. In fact it is establishing itself as one of the worlds new economic powerhouses. Baht, the Thai currency is the strongest in the world right now, right alongside the Japanese yen. Thailand is no longer the hippy hangout is was 20 years ago. Bangkok itself holds many technological innovations and is revamping itself as an ultra modern city with new skyscrapers being erected daily. Seriously, the cityscape changes with the blink of an eye. An interesting city, yet the Thai are smart, they know with more economic power comes greater responsibility, and this next month I will be talking about the massive solar power installations that are being incorporated into the country as we speak. What the Thai want for the future of their country, and how they mean to achieve this. And how alternative sources of energy are being implemented at both public and private levels.

So stay tuned for my next post, it should be quite interesting, as for me, well, like I said I’m on vacation. I think I’ll go and eat some Som Tum (Thai Papaya Salad). See you soon!

Technorati Tags: alternative energies, Alternative Sources Of Energy, solar power

Look here’s the deal, is solar the cheapest energy generation out their at the moment? No, of course not, now why not ask yourself why? Here’s a big part of the reason. The more technology improves the cheaper solar power will be, the more solar power projects going on throughout the world the faster the technology is developed, the faster the technology is developed the cheaper solar power will be, not to mention the solar energy efficiency it will create. This is a cyclic event that takes place in any burgeoning and new technical industry.

Taking money away from the solar and wind energy industry is not going to do anyone any good, we have a lot of work ahead of us to make solar the viable vision it can and will be. Solar is an abundant form of renewable energy, it is clean, ever present, and it can create huge amounts of green jobs and revenue in the world market.

China’s solar industry has just made major profits, so why are we not, because China was smart enough to see the trend starting and leaped at the chance to start with there solar industry, they are ahead of us and a world leader, this is where America needs to be, I remember when our industry’s were the best, and our schools were the best. We should not be accepting of second or third prize we need to grab the bull by the horns and get back to what made this country great. Research and development, and the guts to go ahead with the plan. We need solar energy, it’s easy to see, yes we have made strides with several large scale projects. But in order to remain the world leader that we are and have been we need to go full throttle into the age of energy.

Technorati Tags: solar and wind energy, solar energy efficiency, solar energy funding

So Why Do We Need Alternative Sources of Energy Anyways.... Really?

So this is really a valid question, and I think it’s something we should be thinking about. Everyday there is something new about emerging alternative sources of energy. We all know it’s important, but that’s really because we are told it’s important by the mass media and by other people. But what is really the major reasons? Why is alternative energy important is what I’d really like to get down to. Is it because of monetary issues? Environment? Social responsibility? All of these are major reasons and we’ll be getting into these, but the fact that these are not the most important might surprise you. Read on to learn the #1 reason why we have to switch to alternative sources of energy, or our lives as we know them will simply cease to exist. So lets start with monetary issues.

Alternative Energy vs Traditional Energy

Are alternative energies cheaper than traditional power generation through the means of fossil fuels? Well, not at the moment. Really it’s not, as far as buying solar or wind energy from your local power company. Now I know what you’re saying right now, “what about Solar Power Cost installations,” okay, yes these in the long run will end up saving you quite a bit, but as far as buying energy as opposed to creating it, at the moment it is more expensive. This gap is closing at an exponential rate however, because of,

1. Better alternative energy technology.
2. Cheaper production methods.
3. Larger alternative energy project installation’s.
4. Drastic increases in the prices for fossil fuel due to scarcity, and the difficulty of obtaining it. I.e. the BP disaster.

So because of these reasons among others alternative sources of energy will be in the very near future, monetarily viable.

Next lets take a look at the environment. Anybody who tells you not to worry about traditional energy generation and that alternative sources of energy are unneeded is blowing smoke up your a$$. The dollar signs are there for more than one reason, THEY ARE LYING TO YOU TO LINE THEIR OWN POCKET. Either that or they are misinformed by propaganda from the the billionaire’s that are selling them their product. C’mon, really, you want to try to tell me that burning coal has no effect on the environment, or drilling for oil doesn’t totally f$$$ up our coasts. Really, do I need to even write about this? Fossil fuels are horrible for the environment, not just utilizing them for energy, but in the collection and manufacturing processes as well. Alternative sources of energy are clean, renewable, and safe. Fossil fuels are not! When it comes to alternative energy vs traditional energy there’s no contest to what’s better for the environment. It’s as simple as that. Now don’t get me wrong, I use fossil fuels, albeit a lot less than the average American. I enjoy my cushy live with all my entertainment, and comforts. However if there are better and safer ways to create my creature comforts I want that, don’t you?

So now lets take a look at social responsibility. Is there any? Are we as “individual, intelligent people” living on earth responsible for our actions? Well, who’s to say really. That’s part of being an individual with intelligence. We make our own choices, the government, your religion, your kids, your best friend, your parents can tell you how to act and whats right or wrong. But in the end it’s up to you, really it is. So what do I think? Hell yeah we’re responsible for our “own” actions, it’s the ripple effect. Everything you do has cause and effect. This is not only the way I was brought up, it’s also the philosophy I live by. My parents instilled this in me, however it was me who made the decision to accept this as part of my life, and to hold myself responsible for my own actions. What do you think? Are you socially responsible to demand whats right, by standing up and saying “hey, we need alternative energies!” because it’s right!

Alright, we have now come to the number one reason why we need to find and cultivate alternative sources of energy. It’s simple really, we’re running out of fossil fuels, fast. Do you know how long it takes for mother nature to make oil, or coal? A really long long time. Like, longer than humans have walked the earth. Since we have started using fossil fuels for energy, which has not been long mind you. We have devastated the earths supply. Some experts think we have “burned” through half of the earths fossil fuels since we started using them!

So lets take a logical look at this,

Fossil fuels take millions of years to make
Humans use all of them in 300 years give or take
What does this equal?

We are screwed if we do not do switch to Solar Power Cost fast. That’s all there is to it. Our society, our way of life, is energy. We are consumers of energy just like every organism on earth. However we use it, need it, not just to survive but to thrive as a modern species, and there is no reason why we cannot adapt to new ways to support our energy needs. We just need to stop pushing this under the carpet thinking somebody else will fix it, and accept that we have a problem. We all have a part in this drama, a responsibility to help out where we can. Can we do it? Of course we can. Will we do it? It’s not like we really have a choice do we.

Technorati Tags: alternative energies, alternative energy project, alternative energy systems, alternative energy technology, Alternative Energy vs Traditional Energy, alternative home energy, Alternative Sources Of Energy, Why is alternative energy important