A Colorado developer, Alpine Energy Group, plans to spend $440 million to build 49 MW of waste-to-energy capacity on St. Croix and St. Thomas that could eventually lead to the closure of landfills.

Alpine plans to begin construction in May 2010 in St. Thomas and St. Croix, with expected completion in the fourth quarter of 2012. The 33-megawatt plant in Long Point, St. Thomas, is expected to serve residents of that island as well as St. John. St. Croix is expected to have a dedicated 16-MW plant in the Anguilla area near the Krause Lagoon.

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As many people in my life wear glasses and a lot of my research is on technology related sources, this popped up. Take a peek at these very high tech focus adjustable prescription glasses.

Sony has some new technology in the battery category that looks like it will be making its way into our hands soon. Due to its use of an olivine-type lithium iron phosphate for the cathode material, the battery's overall lifespan is about four times that of conventional lithium ion batteries, not to mention provide an 80% capacity retention after 2,000 charge-discharge cycles and perhaps most impressively, a promised 99% recharge in just 30 minutes.

This is a real improvement in battery technology. This type of fast recharge and power retention helps with renewable energy systems that rely on sources that vary day to day like wind. Wind power is the most environmentally friendly and gives the largest yield over the entire lifespan of the equipment compared to other renewable sources. However, not having a good way to store the energy is a road block for many small scale situations, preventing them from using wind as a power source.

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How in the heck is this figure calculated. MPG used to be simple, our vehicles used 1 type of fuel and you simply averaged the range you could go on a given amount. Now, in the case of a hybrid, we have two types of fuel and one of them is often used to replenish the other!

The article at CNN explains the process pretty well:

"...let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg."

It is probably reasonable to assume most people do not drive much more than 40 miles in a day, this is how the 230 MPG is calculated. However, I think it would be easy enough to have a hybrid specific rating system, electric range 40 miles and 50 MPG thereafter could be simply -

40ER + 50MPG

This simple 2 part rating would help consumers understand what they are actually getting and how it will fit into their driving needs.

If you like this idea, spread it around. Just remember who suggested it first. : )

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This may be a cost effective and reasonable way to put a big band aid on our climate issue. This would not be a solution, but could help significantly for the immediate situation.

As these boats would inject salty water vapor into the atmosphere, the brilliant white color of the formed cloud would greatly reduce the local atmospheric temperature. Enough of these systems working together could help reduce global warming. This is a band aid, not a long term solution.

I like this particular approach because it does not involve putting chemicals or large man made machines into the atmosphere, salty clouds are not too different from naturally forming clouds. The water would eventually precipitate and return to the ecosystem. This is also good, we do not need a massive clean up operation to later remove man made materials. In other words, we don't postpone one problem by creating another.

This is a reasonable approach allowing more time to get at the source of the global warming problem.

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