| Is there a major development planned for your community? Here's one way to approach it at Savannah River Landing | New! Feb20-2012We hear a lot about the term Green Jobs - but what does that actually mean? As part of a promotion to help pass Georgia Senate Bill SB401, that, among other provisions, authorizes power purchase agreements, I put together a list of Green Jobs, drawn fron Internet Job Listings. You can see and download it here green-jobs.pdf. I hope that makes people realize just how poweful a job creator this sector of the economy is. New! Oct. 1, 2011 -- I've uploaded a revised version of Transforming the Megasite into a Regional
Magnet for Renewable Energy Companies click here New! April 2, 2011-- Making a building Solar Ready simply means deciding where the solar modules will be placed and then installing the required wiring or tubing in the structure. This is very inexpensive when a building is under construction or renovation and reduces subsequent installation costs when the building owner decides to add solar power at a later date. I have prepared a two-page .pdf Solar Ready Construction -- Georgia/South Carolina available for download: New! Feb 1, 2009 -- I have added a page that lists categories of Sources of Energy and their implication in a short essay on The Coming Energy Revolution. NEW! Nov. 09, 2008 (where has all the time gone??) Following is a comment I posted on the NYT referencing the proposal by Al Gore that we build huge transmission lines from SW US and Midwest. I'll be expanding on this soon As an advocate for solar and fuel-free energy production I find myself at odds with the strategies proposed by both Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens even though I support major solar development in the Southwest and wind power in the Texas to Canada corridor. Our initial emphasis should be on distributed generation to: 1) reduce demand created by the built environment, 2) develop mini solar farms in close proximity to urban areas, 3) upgrade key infrastructure in the electric transmission grid to prevent cascading power failure, 4) build offshore wind farms near regions of high demand. Some quick examples: the new Bank of America tower, the 8-acre solar installation at the Denver airport, the potential of converting over 2-million acres of brownfields (land made toxic by industrial and other waste) to urban solar farms, and millions of square feet of retail store and warehouse rooftops ripe for solar development. Case histories of best practice are already available from the Clinton Climate Initiative, U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, and regional Governors Associations. Use the solar power potential of the Southwestern desert to provide electricity to the states in that region and wind power to supply the cities of the Midwest, while developing an energy storage infrastructure, which, to date, does not exist. The Department of Energy already has the mechanism to provide outright grants, matching funds, and low interest loans; and many municipal and state projects are ready to go. It makes sense to funnel $20-billion of the bail-out package to grow these green-collar jobs. ------------------------------------ Aug. 27, 2007 I have posted a Solar Workshop on the Green Pages I edit on http://www.savannahbest.com Please check it out and tell your friends. Thanks. Breaking News! - I've gone Video! When he said green was not green, I saw red. In an article, that is receiving international play, in the current issue of an academic journal the author proclaims nuclear power as green. Then he claims renewable sources of energy were not green and would cause serious environmental The full version is available on Google Video: And I also broke it down into segments for YouTube. The first segment is: The journal author's argument is based on a measurement tool of his own making -- the amount of power generated per square meter. On this shaky foundation he builds improbable scenarios where biomass, wind, solar and hydro power would take up vast amounts of land and prove ruinous to the nation. What's worse, he implicitly rejects future conservation efforts as well as the The appropriate response to future energy needs is to reduce energy demand and to incorporate a blend of commercially viable, local, renewable energy sources, This site reflects a personal mission to help those who recognize the inexhaustable power of the sun and the need to move rapidly to incorporate solar installations in urban planning, new construction, sustainable rennovations, and decentralized generation of electric power, and (sooner rather than later) local production of hydrogen fuel. To start, I will be using a draft proposal that I prepared to goad local stakeholders to start thinking solar. Part 1 describes the concept of a Solar City, identfies the stakeholders, shows some of the examples of turning a city solar. Part 2 is an Action Plan that lists all of the major stakeholders and identifies specific ways in which they can get involved. [I am currently (Apr. 30) turning] UPDATE May 8 -- I have modified the Savannah proposal into a model for a document template that others can use to suit their local situation. To use the template, simply highlight the text and copy it then paste it into Word. Then modify as necessary to suit your own local requirements. Within a couple of hours you will have a 12-14 page document that you can circulate to major stakeholders. Please include my copyright and email address in the document. Please email me and let me know how this works out for you. I will incorporate your suggestions, comments, critiques, etc. in future updates. Jack Star |
