American Wind Projects

The U.S. wind industry is on its way to charting another record-shattering year of
growth. That capacity will generate over 60 billion kWh of electricity in 2009,
enough to serve over 5.5 million American homes and eliminating the burning of

* 30.4 million short tons of coal (enough to fill two 1,000-mile-long coal trains),
* 91 million barrels of oil per year, or
* 560 Bcf of natural gas (about 9% of the natural gas used for electricity generation)

Hull, Massachusetts – Offshore Wind Turbines
This resort town, population 11,000, plans to moor four 260-foot-tall turbines a (more…)

Smart Water

A standalone desalinator needs 17 gallons of diesel fuel and 66.5 kilowatts of
electricity to make 1,000 gallons of freshwater, but now, the Solar Cube, (made
by Spectra Watermakers in California), churns out 1,500 gallons of drinking water
on just 22 kilowatts of its own solar and wind power. The innovation is a pump
that triples efficiency by recapturing hydraulic pressure during the filtering
process. Solar Cubes are now bringing freshwater to remote regions and places
short on infrastructure and electricity without paying the CO2 price – way cool. (more…)

If you do not think that there is a movement beginning, you are wrong!

A little town very close to me here in deep East Texas, Lindale, has decided
they need to develop some opportunities to grow the city.  They are now working
with Decker Energy International, Inc., a Florida based privately held company,
to assist them in building a 35-50 megawatt wood-fired biomass power plant.
This plant will have 25 full time jobs.  Along with more jobs to build it. Yeah!

The proposed site is 43 acres that is currently owned by the Lindale Economic
Development Corporation (LEDC) which will also be part of the Lindale
Industrial Park.  This project will cost the city about $130 million. (more…)

Up until the middle of the twentieth century, people utilized root cellars
to keep food supplies cool and avoid spoilage in the summer and prevent
freezing in the winter. Not just root crops like potatoes, turnips, carrots,
and beets, root cellars stored the autumn harvest of families vegetable
gardens and seeds for the spring plantings. Along with the canned/pickled/
preserved vegetables, meats, and fruit, also the salt preserved fish and
meats, and last but not least the alcoholic beverages.

It was used on a daily basis for milk, butter, cream and bread to allow these
items to be used more than once. Before the dawn of electricity, it was quite
literally the home’s food pantry and refrigerator. (more…)

The chief advantages of tankless water heaters are a continuous flow of hot
water and energy savings. Tankless water heaters heat water directly without
the use of a storage tank. Therefore, they avoid the standby heat losses
associated with storage water heaters. When a hot water tap is turned on,
cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. In an electric tankless
water heater an electric element heats the water. In a gas-fired tankless
water heater a gas burner heats the water. As a result, tankless water
heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water.

Adults generally prefer shower temperatures of 105–120 °F (40–49 °C),
requiring the incoming cold water temperature to be raised about 55 °F
(30 °C) or more, if the hot water is later mixed with cold water. (more…)

By using the technological equivalent of the power of lightning, a company called
Plasco, has a goal to turn our garbage problem into a profitable energy solution.

Plasmagasification is the process of turning waste into electricity.  Plasma is
sometimes called the 4th state of matter. The first state is solid, add heat to a
solid and it becomes the second state, liquid.  Add heat to a liquid and it is (more…)

New project

The free sunshine that we are given everyday causes
us a wee bit of a problem. It causes the rv to heat
up very quickly…and stay that way from mid April thru
September. The poor little rv air conditioner starts
panting and foaming at the mouth around the 1st of June.

So, we have decided the rv needs a cover. What to use?
chop down some trees or do something unique. We chose
unique. Even tho we live in a rural area, on a dirt road, deep in
east Texas, we do NOT like the rustic look!

We decided on a curved top with round pvc pipes. Instead of the
typical ‘A’ frame top with the typical 4×4 square post. The top
will be 26 gauge steel 3′ x 17′ with a natural curve that works
to our advantage. Total overall length will be 40′.

Have you ever heard of a RV cover using pvc pipe for poles and
making trusses out of pvc? Well, apparently NOBODY else has either.
Because when we were first mulling over this idea, we approached
construction / carpenter types about this concept. Once the
convulsive laughter dies down and the “have you lost your
cotton-pickin’ minds?”, “can’t wait to see a 40 ft. kite!”,
or “it’s all gonna fall down and kill ya’ll!” comments
started flying, we shut up.

But, decided to do it anyway.

Having no guidelines to go by, the initial plans we drew have
changed during the build. For instance, with a pole height of 16 ft we
originally called for 8ft. of 3″ into 8 ft of 1 1\2″ pvc (thick wall).
But for the past 3 weeks we have had sustained winds of 20 – 25+ mph.
All that free energy, gone with the wind – pardon the pun.
So now, the vertical poles are 13′ of 3″ into 3′ of 1 1/2″ pvc.

We are painting the pipes for uv protection and the appeal. It’s
advisable to get some pvc cleaner to remove the lettering on the
pipes as it does tend to bleed through.

We researched long and hard for the cheapest and best paint for pvc.
All that research resulted in only one, Krylon Fusion. It’s not cheap,
and it only comes in spray cans but, it’s good.

Let’s end it here for today so I can gather some of my comparison data
between pvc and wood for yall.

Later