Wednesday
Jun012011
Song: Green Energy Blues
Original Song - Wind Power Blues
Don't infer from this clip that we're lovers of carbon pollution; there are no easy energy solutions (outside of cold fusion), and wind farms are not without their problems, as demonstrated cogently in the above clip.
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This is an absolute must see...
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Further reading (includes excellent Al Gore cartoons)...
h/t to john for sending this clip our way...
Jun 1, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Reader Comments (277)
@mark mchugh...the cold fusion comment was meant for you...i agree with your point stated in another thread...some federal research dollars couldn't hurt...let's try to replicate the cold fusion success...it probably won't work out but it's worth a shot...
"Throughout space there is energy. ... it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature."
~Nikola Tesla
Hell, we haven't even mastered fire yet.
Cold fusion (if feasible) promises to empower the individual, and that is the reason I believe it is ignored. So it's not about cold fusion per se. No energy technology that would truly empower the individual gets money for development. Solar's ok if you've got lots of space, but we need to do better.
Mark is correct, any technology that can free the individual will not only be ignored, but generally must be destroyed. Nothing can exist that will enable the masses a way out of the highly structured debt/ slave class of organized poverty that they are seeking to create to control the people.
Ever think you would see the day that poverty would be the new profit frontier?
You are already beginning to post stories on it, there is big money and big control mechanisms at play in a world where poverty will be the new norm.
http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/LonchamptGreproducti.pdf
http://timeforchange.org/different-energy-source-hemp
The news this morning says GOP corporate contributions are skyrocketing, what the massa wants, the massa gets.
http://www.hempusa.org/hmps/articles/hemp-uses.html
The new prosperity will be poverty, François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier would be so proud of our elected servants of the pushers of a third world America.
And the light finally goes on. I always wondered why people were so against socialism. I don't think very many even know why themselves, they only know 'socialism = bad, free market = good' When an estimated (only study i've ever heard so nothing else to go by) 5% of social assistance recipients abuse the system, WTF is wrong with helping elderly, poor children and handicapped people with tax contributions? But it isn't so is it? Socialism is about control and capitalism is about profit and rich people don't make money off each other. Fuck. lol. You've given me lots to think about Gompers.
Benito Mussolini
Corporatocracy or Corpocracy is a form of government where a corporation, a group of corporations, or government entities with private components, control the direction and governance of a country.
Concept
Corporatocracy is that type of politics,wherein a country is run by a corporation or a group of corporations or government entities with privatisation. This is sometimes considered to be a form of fascism.This belief is reinforced by two factors. First, corporations give to competing political parties and major political party candidates. This is seen as a corporation hedging their bets on the outcome of an election, and trying to get on the good side of whichever candidate is elected into office. Some say[who?] this is one of the hallmarks of a corporatocracy.
Second, in many cases former corporate executives serve as powerful decision makers within government institutions often charged with the regulation of their former employers. Meanwhile, former government employees often accept high ranking positions within corporations thereby providing their new employers with access to governmental decision makers. This serves to create the appearance of a revolving door between corporations and the institutions established to regulate their behavior; and can lead to regulatory capture.
@ Sage - You're description is right on!
And like I said before, we'll build atom smashers berfore we'll fund tabletop research (or look into the potential of hemp).
I know Gomp heats with wood. Anyone who has ever wittnessed how much energy can be produced by efficiently burned wood knows that we should be able to do better with all our resources.
http://vimeo.com/18956998
This will not work. How much grant money was spent on this joke?
It is also a sustainable fuel, We only cut damaged or dead trees, it is carbon neutral, and the ash and coals (biochar) sweetens the soil for the garden. We cook with it, and I smoke with it as well. The key is Mark, they do not want you to do better with the resources, they want you to remain hooked on Sheik Alli Babba.
Energy, food, water, and an alleged fiat system are all control mechanism's. Most are already bent over the energy and fiat barrels, and they are attacking food and water rights as we speak.
They must have absolute control.
"Fuel is not synonymous with petroleum and coal. Biomass energy systems can supply a sustainable source of fuel and will create millions of new clean jobs. Hemp biomass derived fuels and oils can replace every type of fossil fuel energy product.
During transpiration, the growing hemp plants "breathe in" CO2 (carbon dioxide) to build cell structure; the leftover oxygen is breathed out, replenishing Earth's air supply. Then when the carbon rich hemp biomass is burned for energy the CO2 is released back into the air. The CO2 cycle comes close to ecological balance when the new fuel crop is grown the next year. Growing trees keeps 10 times the carbon dioxide in the Earth by keeping the infrastructure of the microbes, insects, plants, fungi, etc. alive for each tree. The older and bigger the tree, the more carbon dioxide is kept out of the atmosphere.
(Not all of the biomass crop gets converted into fuels. Some leaves, stalk stubble and all of the roots remain in the field as crop residues. This carbon rich organic matter adds to the soil fertility, and with each passing season a little more carbon dioxide from the air enters to soil, so the biomass fuel crops slowly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide from our polluted atmosphere.)
Biomass conversion through pyrolysis (applying high heat to organic material in the absence of air or in reduced air) produces clean burning charcoal to replace coal. Sulfur emitted from coal fired boiler smokestacks is the primary cause of acid rain. Measuring acidity on the pH scale, the rainfall in New England often falls between household vinegar and lemon juice. This is bad for every cell membrane the rain comes in contact with, doing the most harm to the simplest life forms. Charcoal contains no sulfur, so when it is burned for industry no sulfur is emitted from the process.
The biomass "cracking" process also produces non-sulfur fuel oils capable of replacing fossil fuel oils such as diesel oil. And the net atmospheric CO2 doesn't rise when biomass derived fuel oils are burned.
Pyrolysis uses the same "cracking" technology employed by the petroleum industry in processing fossil fuels. The gasses that remain after the charcoal and fuel oils are extracted from hemp can be used for driving electric power co-generators, too!
This biomass conversion process can be adjusted to produce charcoal, methanol and fuel oils to process steam, as well as chemicals important to industry: acetone, ethyl acetate, tar, pitch and creosote.
The Ford Moto Co. successfully operated a biomass "cracking" plant in the 1930s at Iron Mountain, Michigan, using trees for cellulose fuels." (Hemp is at least four times as efficient as trees for fuel, and is sustainable.)
"Progress in Biomass Conversion" Vol. 1, Sarkanen & Tillman, editors; Energy Farming in America, Osburn, Lynn, Access Unlimited.
Hemp seed contains 30% (by volume) oil. This oil has been used to make high-grade diesel fuel oil and aircraft engine and precision machine oil. Throughout history, hemp seed oil was used for lighting in oil lamps. Legend says the genie's lamp burned hemp seed oil, as did Abraham the prophet's. In Abraham Lincoln's time only whale oil came near hemp seed oil in popularity for fuel.
The United States Goobermint pays (your tax dollars) for farmers to refrain from growing on approximately 90 million acres of farmland each year, called the "soil bank." And 10-90 million acres of hemp or other woody annual biomass planted on this restricted, un planted fallow farmland (our Soil Bank) would make energy a whole new ball game. There are another 500 million marginal un planted acres of farmland in America.
Each acre of hemp would yield 1,000 gallons of methanol. Fuels from hemp, along with the recycling of paper, etc., would be enough to begin weaning ourselves from the dependence they desire for us.
But then, that would be ridiculous to actually do the right thing for America's future.
Much better to stay weak and dependent.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-117344919147932597#
Over utilization of arable farmland, higher food costs and waste of precious resources for the benefit of a few. We can no longer afford to waste money on ill conceived concepts.
/rant lol
I have worked in and out of the industry as well, from chemical, gas, and ethanol refining, as well as a few others. Couple of questions;
!. What were you using as feed stock?
2. Were you using a traditional distilling process? (sounds like it)
3. If the cost of electricity and heat required for fermentation and distillation exceeded $2.00 a gallon, then how did you come up with that figure in your cost analysis?
I agree with your synopsis about a good idea, but as I stated it is a step in the direction of weaning ourselves from dependence. Just so everyone knows, different feed stocks will produce varying outputs depending on the inherent characteristics of the feed stock.
There are other methods of production besides distillation, another approach will involve conversion of cellulose to ethanol, which can be done in several ways including gasification. One approach would be acid hydrolysis and a technology utilizing engineered enzymes to convert cellulose to glucose, which is then fermented to make alcohol. Another approach would be using enzymes to convert cellulose directly to alcohol, which leads to substantial process cost savings.
Costs associated with these conversion processes were about $1.37 per gallon of fuel produced in 2006, plus the cost of the feedstock. Of this $1.37, enzyme costs are about $0.50 per gallon; current research efforts are directed toward reduction of this amount to $0.05 per gallon. There is a Federal tax credit and a number of other various incentives available. Conversion rates range from a low of 25-30 gallons per ton of biomass to 100 gallons per ton using the latest technology.
Production of biodiesel, can be made from any oil or fat, including hemp seed oil. The reaction requires only oil, an alcohol (usually methanol) and a catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide [NaOH, or drain cleaner]). The reaction produces only biodiesel and a smaller amount of glycerol or glycerin.
The costs of materials needed for the reaction are the costs associated with production of hemp seed oil, the cost of methanol and the NaOH. In the instances where waste vegetable oil, or WVO, is used, the cost for oil is of course, free. Typically methanol costs about $2 per gallon and NaOH costs about $5 per 500g or about $0.01 per gram. For a typical 17 gallon batch of biodiesel, you'd start with 14 gallons of hemp seed oil; add to that 15% by volume of alcohol (or 2.1 gallons) and about 500g of NaOH. The process takes about 2 hours to complete and requires about 2000 watts of energy. That works out to about 2kw/hr or about $0.10 of energy (assuming $0.05 per kw/hr). So the total cost per gallon of biodiesel is $? (oil) + 2.1 x $2 (methanol) + $5 (NaOH) + $0.10 (energy) / 14 gallons = $0.66 per gallon, plus the cost of the oil.
A friend of mine is making this in his garage and drives on it everyday in his diesel truck.
"Over utilization of arable farmland, higher food costs and waste of precious resources for the benefit of a few. We can no longer afford to waste money on ill conceived concepts."
I am referring to using land that is currently having the owners of paid by the government not to farm, and 90% of those subsidies go to 10% of the big agriproducers (corporate welfare). Crop rotation is a long standing method used to prevent burning up the soil. I never said use land currently being used to produce food John, I said use fallow land that a rich man is sucking your tax dollars out of your pocket and into his own to sit on his fat ass and do nothing at your expense.
Or we could continue the corporate welfare in agribusiness not to produce anything, and continue selling good arable land to foreigners to produce crops for their own countries instead of America, it is the American peoples call on that one. That John is the reality behind the food riots in Africa.
We create our own shackles John, some peoples shackles are just more elaborate than others.
I would not expect to ever see gasoline below $2.50 a gallon ever again, so that drastically changes your production analysis from 12 years ago.
Or we could do absolutely nothing, America thanks to her corporate sponsors has always been good at that.
Henry Ford demonstrated that cars can be made of, and run on, hemp. Evidence suggests a special-interest group that included the DuPont petrochemical company, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon (Dupont's major financial backer), and the newspaper man William Randolph Hearst mounted a yellow journalism campaign against hemp. DuPont and Hearst were heavily invested in timber and petroleum resources, and saw hemp as a threat to their empires. Petroleum companies also knew that petroleum emitted, toxic byproducts when incompletely burned, as in an auto engine. Pollution was important to Rudolph Diesel and he saw his engine as a solution to the inefficient, highly polluting engines of his time. In 1937 DuPont, Mellen and Hearst were able to push a "marijuana" prohibition bill through Congress in less than three months, which destroyed the domestic hemp industry. Only to return again long enough for the war effort, hmmmm.
"Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country."
Thomas Jefferson
"Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere."
President George Washington
By the way, in case you have missed it, I come from a long line of agricultural people and happen to suffer from an engineering background.
They bitch about groceries too while living on multiple acre lots and do not even grow a garden. It would take away from them watching FOX news.
1. waste potatoes (cost to transport plus labor @$7/hr).
2. 400 gallons of water per batch (town water at first then relocated using well water and electric pump.
3. 11 bbl potatoes. (3/4 hp electric motor to grind)
4. cost of enzymes etc used. alpha amylayse and hitempase.
5. 5 HP electric motor used on agitator. @.25 cent/kwh (agitator run time per batch about 24 hours)
6. water and electric pump used for cooling on distillation columns
7. heat for process provided from waste wood from saw mill. (cost to transport plus labor costs).
8. Total time for start to finish of each batch: 3-4 days. (8 hours prep time, 3 hours monitoring time and 10 hours distillation time.
9. Result was about 5 gallons of 180 proof and the rest was lower proof (about 10 gallons) which would need to re-distilled or run through a molecular sieve.
10. We further attempted to incorporate corn into the process with a failing result. I suspected that the corn was a GE variety with a protein, CRY-9-C that makes the corn resistant to heat and digestion, screwing up the entire process. I am somewhat familiar with the processes you mention. however, back then they were unavailable.
Note: GE crops gives the patent holders leverage on those attempting projects such as this.
Project ended.
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/pesticides-give-rise-to-mutant-bed-bugs.html
Here is a bit about the protein I mentioned earlier.
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/StarLink-ASTA-USDA-Testing.htm
The corn we got was used for animal feed in late 2000. I hope this answers some of your questions.
Crops such as switchgrass, hybrid poplars (cottonwoods), hybrid willows and sugarcane are being studied by for their ability to serve as energy crops for fuel. One of their great advantages is that they are short rotation crops; they re-grow after each harvest, allowing multiple harvests without having to re-plant. Corn and sorghum serve a dual purpose as they can be grown for fuel, with the leftover by-products being used for other purposes, including food.
Federal funds have been allocated for research on energy crops of hybrid willow trees and hybrid poplar trees (cottonwoods), which are ideal candidates for cellulosic ethanol processing. The poplar's extraordinarily rapid growth, and its relatively compact genome size of 480 million nucleotide units (40 times smaller than the genome of pine), are among the many features that led researchers to target poplar as a model crop for biomass energy production.
Canola was once termed a Cinderella crop, canola is now gaining recognition as a biodiesel fuel, valued for its high oil content, increased lubricity for engines, better fuel pump response, excellent diesel engine wear protection, and low levels of saturated fats which means improved performance in cold climates.
Sorghum, or milo, grows well and is drought resistant and a "water-sipping" crop, requiring less intensive irrigation. A prolific producer, sorghum is a short rotation crop, meaning that it can can be harvested multiple times throughout the year.
As a fast growing energy crop, or closed loop biomass, switchgrass yields over 1,000 gallons per acre, more than 3 times the yield of corn. Switchgrass and sorghum are from the same family; both are short term crops and produce prolifically with limited water, insecticides or fertilizer needs. Switchgrass prevents soil erosion as it restores vital organic nutrients to the soil, so that it can be cultivated repeatedly in the same enriched soil.
And then of course there is hemp, which we have already discussed. Work has also been going on with sugar beets as well which is proving to be interesting.
But there are as you can see, much better choices than corn and potato's for full scale production. Save those for Whiskey and Vodka ;-)
I learn something every time Gomps post on DB's site. And I get to call him my friend too...........................! & Gomps is right. They will neaver give us a break. The only way we could be free is to take out Washington, and give the power back to the States them selfs.
In 1937 the Marihuana Tax Act prohibited production of hemp in the United States. The campaign against hemp had been led by Harry Anslinger, head of the Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics (predecessor to today's Drug Enforcement Agency—DEA). Incidentally, this was at the time when J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was prancing around in cocktail dresses and high-heeled shoes. During the zenith of this orchestrated smear campaign, films such as Reefer Madness were made, marketed and distributed to further fan the panic flames.
It was not a coincidence that Anslinger's uncle-in-law got him his job. Nor that that uncle-in-law, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, was the primary financial mover behind the DuPont company's multimillion dollar project with newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. The project? Use DuPont's new chemical pulping process to cheaply produce pulp in Hearst-owned pulp mills from trees in Hearst-owned forests to create newsprint and other paper much more cheaply than the newsprint that Hearst's newspaper competitors could buy. (DuPont was also worried about competitors who were beginning to use hemp to create products heretofore made from petroleum.)
Hemp was allowed to be grown again for a few years during World War II, when the U.S. government exhorted farmers and schoolchildren to grow hemp so that its fibers could be used for the war effort, other than that, the cultivation of hemp has remained illegal in the United States.
When congress passed this marijuana act, it did not intend for it to include hemp. However, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics "conveniently" lumped industrial hemp with marijuana and the Bureau's successor, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), does to this day. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, coupled with the DEA's conflation of hemp with marijuana, rendered the profitable cultivation of industrial hemp impossible.
There are two reasons why hemp was lumped in with marijuana;
1. Making hemp effectively illegal was done in order to benefit people and institutions that would gain financially from its prohibition.
2. History has shown that private corporations and greedy individuals will do whatever it takes to promote their own interests above the public's interest.
Both sides of the political arena are under constant monetary control to maintain status quo and protection of the personal fiefdoms of the contributors at large to suppress any technological advancement that is not of their own making.
And politicians are only too eager to comply…
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/08/both_mccain_oba.html
The hell with hemp .Im going for the real deal.
Roll me a big Zepplin and hunker down.LOL
The hell with hemp .Im going for the real deal.
Roll me a big Zepplin and hunker down.LOL
If the goverment can use it after Hr. so can we. You could buy it at the drug store up till the 30's. Same time they took the Coke, out of the Coke-a-cola. In the Ozarks just about everyone uses it.
If a cop busts ya for having a little pot, he will take 2/3 of it from ya and hope you have more on ya next time. I will be forced to use it in 2 yr. My HD Pain pills arnt cutting it anymore, "Altram"........................the Lyme & CFS is getting the best of me. I'll go over and bust some shit up with WS Pro 2........................................!
http://nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.7260
Now who is UPC Wind?
http://www.pr-inside.com/upc-wind-announces-name-change-to-r567280.htm
who are these guys?
http://bjdurk.newsvine.com/_news/2010/02/23/3941508-who-are-these-guys-cape-wind-emi-upc-first-wind-ivpc
http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/01/30/politics/energy-program-shut-down-after-questions-raised-about-politics-effectiveness/
[snip]
A program funded by a $3 million government grant to market home energy retrofits in Maine abruptly shut down its operation late last week.
Records show that almost six months into its first year of the no-bid contract under the grant, the Maine Green Energy Alliance had signed up only 50 households for energy retrofits, but had promised in its contract to have 1,000 signed up in 12 months.
With respect to Sen. Kerrys comment, please read my 7:41 post and think about what Evergreen Solar did to Massachusetts, or what First Wind did and is doing in Maine (Evergreen Wind)...
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/stetson-and-mars-hill-real
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/07/uk-climate-jobs-idUKTRE71601320110207
[snip]
Current, co-founded in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore, is now revamping its little-seen schedule. The addition of Olbermann could raise its profile among viewers.
In my honest, professional opinion the blackouts were intentional and a result of emission rules that are aimed at promoting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in that region.
http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelman/2011/02/03/rolling-blackouts-force-texas-to-import-power-from-mexico/
There were questions posed about why the Northeast did not have rolling blackouts during the same time period and I will try to explain why. The RGGI is a regional carbon credits auction where credits are sold to utilities to offset their emissions. Numerous wind plants were built in the northeast and the plants sell credits for Nameplate Capacity and NOT what they produce. The production appears to be about 11% of what the plants are rated for. In some instances the credits are sold before any plant is built. These credits were used to offset emissions from natural gas/ coal/ and other plants subject to emissions regulations in the Northeast RGGI. Here is a bit about the RGGI and a lawsuit that was filed.
http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2011/01/09/1620/
Texas' electric deregulation cost is tallied in study
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/15/108745/texas-electric-deregulation-cost.html#storylink=omni_popular
[snip]
A report released Monday concludes that electric deregulation has cost Texas residential consumers more than $11 billion in higher rates and that the operator of the state's major power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, has been poorly managed and industry-dominated.
Comment..... The sale of electricity from Mexico during the rolling blackouts is key regarding my feb 14 post...... The rules are different and this situation is similar to what wind energy providers in Maine have done by transmitting electricity into Canada then back to the US (the rules are vastly different). I strongly suspect that the situation in the southwest was market manipulation similar to what enron did in california.
Such has always been the case when they deregulate, costs go up, service goes down, bonuses and accolades abound.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/144397-house-science-chairman-seeks-to-block-new-climate-service
[snip]
Hall’s amendment is among several House GOP efforts to block the Obama administration’s climate change efforts. The underlying spending bill would prohibit funding for EPA’s climate regulations, while several proposed amendments also address global warming.
For instance, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) has floated an amendment that would prohibit any federal funding for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which studies climate science but has come under attack from skeptics.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Northern+Brunswick+wind+turbines+frozen+solid/4287063/story.html
[snip]
“Although there may be periods when production is down from what would be expected, there are also periods when production is above what would be expected,” she says.
“We only pay for the energy that actually goes on our transmission system.”
But with energy market prices changing constantly, she says there’s no way to know if NB Power is paying more or less for replacement power.
Ok, then how much did SUEZ get during the last RGGI auction, how much was actually produced and who bought those credits?
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/144737-house-slashes-funding-for-epa-greenhouse-gas-registry
[snip]
The House voted Wednesday night to sharply cut funding for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that collects data on industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
In a 239-185 vote, the House approved Rep. Mike Pompeo’s (R-Kan.) amendment cutting more than $8.4 million from the program. The cut would leave funding for the registry at $3.2 million, his office said.
http://blacklistednews.com/Big-Oil%27s-Tree-Huggers/12785/0/5/5/Y/M.html
[snip]
Named after Robert Belfer of the Belco Petroleum Corporation and later, director of the failed Enron Corporation, the Belfer Center describes itself as being "the hub of the Harvard Kennedy School's research, teaching, and training in international security affairs, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy." Robert Belfer still sits in as an International Council Member, begging one to wonder what sort of "research" is going on within the halls of a center named after a man synonymous with big oil and big fraud.
Comment: Larry Summers just got a job at Harvards JFK school of Gov't.
http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2011/02/20/new-york-releases-2000-rggi-emails-new-jersey-still-claims-records-are-confidential/
[snip]
■New York delivered 2,621 emails and attachments. DEC officials say none of the records were redacted or edited for any reason.
■New Jersey has not released any of the requested documents. NJDEP claims the emails and correspondence contain unspecified “trade secrets and/or propriety commercial/financial” information that could supposedly cause “potential harm to the performance of (RGGI) auctions” – plus confidential communications involving “deliberative” process and “attorney-client privilege.”
■New York provided electronic copies of its documents at no charge, except shipping.
■New Jersey is demanding $11,250 from New Jersey Watchdog – including a $5,625 advance deposit – for state lawyers to try to determine what information it can keep from the public.
RGGI is a non-profit corporation created and funded by 10 states to manage the nation’s only mandatory carbon dioxide cap-and-trade system. At its auctions, New Jersey, New York and the other states have sold a total of $777 million in CO-2 pollution permits.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/deepwater-wind-power-given-boost-from-report_2011-02-22.html
(check out the comments)
who are these guys...
http://dwwind.com/about/board-of-directors
notice that enron, de shaw, jp morgan and bp keep showing up.
furthermore...
http://blacklistednews.com/Big-Oil%27s-Tree-Huggers/12785/0/5/5/Y/M.html
[snip]
Named after Robert Belfer of the Belco Petroleum Corporation and later, director of the failed Enron Corporation, the Belfer Center describes itself as being "the hub of the Harvard Kennedy School's research, teaching, and training in international security affairs, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy." Robert Belfer still sits in as an International Council Member, begging one to wonder what sort of "research" is going on within the halls of a center named after a man synonymous with big oil and big fraud.
[snip]
Other questionable characters befouling the halls of this nefarious nexus include Belfer alumnus, Goldman Sachs creature, globalist pusher, CFR member, and now World Bank president Robert Zoellick. Sitting on the board of directors is CFR member and former Goldman Sachs consultant, Ashton Carter. There is also former director of Citigroup and Raytheon, former Director of Central Intelligence and CFR member John Deutch, who required a pardon by Clinton to avoid prosecution over a breach of security while fumbling his duties at the CIA. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Rothschild of Atticus Capital and RIT Capital Partners, Paul Volcker of the Federal Reserve, and former DHS top-goon Michael Chertoff all serve as Belfer Center's "advisers."
Note: Al Gore and Google are heavily involved in this mess too.
B. We have public funding through federal grant to First Wind for a wind project featuring wind turbines under a Trade Secret. In a document marked "Confidential", an overview is provided of root cause analysis undertaken by Clipper regarding the "blade skin crack, an update of the resolution relating to gearbox timing, structural blade remediation of Clipper's Liberty turbine".
Nixon Peabody law firm Trade Secret request regarding Clipper Wind Liberty wind turbines to be used in Hawaii by First Wind with public funding:
"...This information is not publicly available,
and would, if disclosed, cause Clipper substantial competitive injury. As a result,
we would ask that this information be treated as a trade secret or information
which, if disclosed, could cause injury to Clipper's competitive position pursuant to
Public Officer's Law Sections 87.2(d) and 89(5) and 16 NYCRR Section 6-1..."
http://documents.dps.state.ny.us/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId=%7B33FA561C-ACE8-4F21-BEB3-D6DBF37F4892%7D
"...Kahuku Wind Power, a subsidiary of First Wind, plans to build and operate the wind farm near the site of a previous wind farm built in the 1980s. First Wind expects to begin construction in 2010. Plans call for the wind farm to consist of 12 Clipper Liberty wind turbines each having 2.5-MW capacity..."
http://www.hawaiisenergyfuture.com/articles/Wind_Energy.html
Larry Summers and D.E. Shaw
Thursday May 4, 2006
BOSTON, May 4, 2006 – (BUSINESSWIRE)—UPC Wind Partners, LLC (“UPC Wind”) announced today that a member of the D. E. Shaw group and an affiliate of Madison Dearborn Partners have each made a significant investment in the Newton, Massachusetts-based wind energy company. UPC Wind’s original investors have retained a substantial stake in the company, and the management team at UPC Wind will remain unchanged.
http://www.upc-asia.com/news-050406.php
"…Another about $115 million of the $503 million went to a company called First Wind, whose owners include the Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners and a member of the D.E. Shaw group. This Bloomberg article quotes President Obama's White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a congressman at the time the article was published, as saying of Madison Dearborn, "They've been not only supporters of mine, they're friends of mine." The Bloomberg article says, "Employees of Madison Dearborn have donated $77,500 to Emanuel's re-election committee since 2001, collectively emerging as the top contributor to his campaigns in his congressional career, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics." D.E. Shaw is the firm at which Mr. Obama's chief of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, held a $5.2 million a year, one-day-a-week job. The Energy Department did not respond to a query from FutureOfCapitalism.com about whether Messrs. Emanuel or Summers had been involved in the decision to award the grant. The Journal did say that "Government officials said there was no cap on the program and that every qualifying application would be funded," though, as CIT could tell you, what constitutes a "qualifying" application is often the billion-dollar question in Washington. One company official, however, described the process of applying for the grants as "nondiscretionary," explaining that all firms whose applications met the terms of the law would receive funding."
http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2009/09/clean-energy
Wind turbines cause radar interference specific to air traffic, Doppler and navigational radars. Pentagon officials moved to deny the Oregon developer of Shephard's Flats due to concerns about the project's impact on Air Force radar.
Larry Summers demonstrated he has more clout than the Pentagon in matters of public safety. This next Washington Post article reveals political pressure applied by Larry Summers to the Pentagon, backed by threats made by Senator Jeff Merkley D-Ore. to put a hold on nomination of Sharon Berk to the Defense Department unless objections to the Shepherds Flat wind farm near Arlington, Ore were waived. By the end of April 2009, the heavy political fire had worked, and the Pentagon dropped its opposition, according to The Oregonian.
Pentagon objections hold up Oregon wind farm
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2010; 9:09 PM
Excerpts:
Pentagon officials moved to deny the developer its final Federal Aviation Administration permit.
We're extremely disappointed that the concerns raised by the Air Force at the 25th hour threatens to crater literally billions of dollars of renewable energy in the United States and tens of thousands of jobs in renewable energy," Ain said.
Several proponents of the project -- including Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), as well as Caithness and GE officials -- have lobbied the White House on the matter. Wyden has indicated that he will put a hold on the nomination of Sharon Burke, who is in line to direct the Defense Department's Operational Energy Plans and Programs, until the two sides can reach agreement.
Pentagon officials have met with aides to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers and White House energy and climate change adviser Carol Browner in an effort to resolve the impasse. Merkley was awaiting a call from Emanuel on Thursday afternoon and said if he didn't receive it that day, "he'll hear back from me."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041503120.html
More Stimulus shenanigans
"...First Wind, received a total of $61.8 million in stimulus grants on Sept. 1, 2009, when the administration began rolling out money for the program. But FAA records indicate both were completed at least 15 months earlier -- by May 20, 2008..."
http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/wind-energy-funds-going-overseas/story/wind-farms-built-before-stimulus/
But...
“Placed in Service” Requirement
• Generally, project must be placed in service in
calendar year 2009 or 2010" page 11: http://www.stoel.com/files/Webinar_StimulusBill_TreasuryGrantQA_Nov2009.pdf
http://www.masterresource.org/about/
Take some time to read a bit of what is offered and try searching this site. You will not be disappointed.
http://www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/WH-loan-guarantee.pdf