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Keystone XL continued
Refineries in Houston and along the Texas Gulf Coast can handle heavy crude such as that extracted from Canadian tar sands - the type of oil that would flow through the Keystone XL pipeline.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said he doesn't believe the Keystone XL is a dead project. He said the Obama administration did not have enough time to review the project, given the Republican-imposed timeline.
"I don't believe this is the end of the story," Conrad told The Associated Press. "My personal view is that it should be constructed. It's clear Canada is going to develop this resource, and I believe it is better for our country to have it go here rather than Asian markets."
Bill McKibben, an environmental activist who led opposition to the pipeline, praised Obama's decision to stand up to what he called a "naked political threat from Big Oil." Jack Gerard, the oil industry's top lobbyist, had said last week that Obama faced "huge political consequences" if he rejected the pipeline.
"It's not only the right thing, it's a very brave thing to do," McKibben said. "That's the Barack Obama I think people thought they were electing back in 2008."
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Associated Press writers Dina Cappiello, Laurie Kellman and Sam Hananel in Washington, Shannon McCaffrey in Warrenville, S.C., Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston and James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., contributed to this report.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said he doesn't believe the Keystone XL is a dead project. He said the Obama administration did not have enough time to review the project, given the Republican-imposed timeline.
"I don't believe this is the end of the story," Conrad told The Associated Press. "My personal view is that it should be constructed. It's clear Canada is going to develop this resource, and I believe it is better for our country to have it go here rather than Asian markets."
Bill McKibben, an environmental activist who led opposition to the pipeline, praised Obama's decision to stand up to what he called a "naked political threat from Big Oil." Jack Gerard, the oil industry's top lobbyist, had said last week that Obama faced "huge political consequences" if he rejected the pipeline.
"It's not only the right thing, it's a very brave thing to do," McKibben said. "That's the Barack Obama I think people thought they were electing back in 2008."
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Associated Press writers Dina Cappiello, Laurie Kellman and Sam Hananel in Washington, Shannon McCaffrey in Warrenville, S.C., Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston and James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., contributed to this report.
In today's paper, I read that Obama has announced that he is putting the southern part of this project on the fast track to complete. I'm happy about this (I think).
Deep charge lead/acid batteries are basically maintained (and recycled) the way a car's battery is. You pop the caps and add distilled water if needed. Maybe once a month if you're careful not to overtax them.
Do you know what the maintenance is for the batteries? Or how they are disposed of when they are no longer any good? Unfortunate that there's no a way to share power, but I can see that proximity would be a stumbling block. It's very interesting to learn what others in the country are doing to become less reliant on fuel.
orphanedhawk - there may some people in the mid west that are powering entire farms, though I don't know of any in the area we came from. Most farms I'm familiar with used a windmill only for pumping water, other electricity was purchased from the power company, but I guess that would depend on the area. The area we come from now has entire windmill "farms", on which multiple wind turbines are installed in the open fields. Some of these windmills are 300-400' tall. Very majestic looking. I think some of the problems between the wind farms and the power companies have been worked out, but it hasn't been smooth sailing, and I suspect it won't be for a long time, since the power companies don't seem to want to give up the use of fossil fuel.
orphanedhawk - there may some people in the mid west that are powering entire farms, though I don't know of any in the area we came from. Most farms I'm familiar with used a windmill only for pumping water, other electricity was purchased from the power company, but I guess that would depend on the area. The area we come from now has entire windmill "farms", on which multiple wind turbines are installed in the open fields. Some of these windmills are 300-400' tall. Very majestic looking. I think some of the problems between the wind farms and the power companies have been worked out, but it hasn't been smooth sailing, and I suspect it won't be for a long time, since the power companies don't seem to want to give up the use of fossil fuel.
The system I'm most familiar with is in the home where I sometimes housesit. No connection to the electric grid, large soar panel, deep charge lead/acid batteries (that need to be checked, maintained, not over-taxed), and an inverter that allows the house to be wired for normal 120 AC. Phone connection only outside link. Propane tank to run a propane refrigerator (a flame about the size of a pilot light) and back up heat. Mostly passive solar, stuccoed straw bale walls.
I'm also helping a friend constuct a large, papercrete adobe style house that will be dual wired for both 12/24 volt DC and also inverter powered AC with back up by power company power.
Most homes are too far distant out here for power sharing to be practical. I've heard that some homes that have excess power sell it back to the power company - basically your meter runs backwards - but I've no practical experience with this.
I'm also helping a friend constuct a large, papercrete adobe style house that will be dual wired for both 12/24 volt DC and also inverter powered AC with back up by power company power.
Most homes are too far distant out here for power sharing to be practical. I've heard that some homes that have excess power sell it back to the power company - basically your meter runs backwards - but I've no practical experience with this.
A few things pertaining to the subject, this morning. One... does anyone here ever go to stumbleupon.com? It's an interesting site that generates points of interest particularly to your points of interest. (I suggest taking a look.) Anyhow, I stumbled upon "earth ships" Basically it is custom homes built into earth berms and using recycled materials. Some are pretty basic but others are completely over the top elaborate. From solar/wind powered homes, elaborate water collecting systems, grey water re-usage... all incredible ideas!
Solar panels.... a solar panel manufacturing company in Las Vegas, NV just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after receiving $5.7 million in stimulus money... With solar panels, battery back ups and electric cars and their batteries, there are all kinds of debates about how the mining of the necessary minerals to produce these batteries is having a bigger adverse affect on the environment than the benefits of having the batteries. The batteries aren't perpetual and do have a shelf life, and arguments abound on proper disposal of said batteries. So there are a few questions that we can not answer yet pertaining to the actual benefits of these batteries. Kind of typical for us as a people though. We tend to do some things that look great when they come in this new shiny wrapping paper, then come to realize that what we thought was a wonderful thing is not as wonderful as promised. (Think nuclear power and its by products.) Also think of the batteries in these hybrid vehicles... looks great when we are saving hundreds of dollars at the gas pumps annually, but what is the actual cost/usage of fossil fuels used in mining the minerals for these batteries?
Adgal, you're completely right in to what we hear. At any given time you can hear any number of pro's and con's for any alternative, but it depends on whom you are getting the information from. It all makes me think of that analogy that comes from the physics field.... "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".
Solar panels.... a solar panel manufacturing company in Las Vegas, NV just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after receiving $5.7 million in stimulus money... With solar panels, battery back ups and electric cars and their batteries, there are all kinds of debates about how the mining of the necessary minerals to produce these batteries is having a bigger adverse affect on the environment than the benefits of having the batteries. The batteries aren't perpetual and do have a shelf life, and arguments abound on proper disposal of said batteries. So there are a few questions that we can not answer yet pertaining to the actual benefits of these batteries. Kind of typical for us as a people though. We tend to do some things that look great when they come in this new shiny wrapping paper, then come to realize that what we thought was a wonderful thing is not as wonderful as promised. (Think nuclear power and its by products.) Also think of the batteries in these hybrid vehicles... looks great when we are saving hundreds of dollars at the gas pumps annually, but what is the actual cost/usage of fossil fuels used in mining the minerals for these batteries?
Adgal, you're completely right in to what we hear. At any given time you can hear any number of pro's and con's for any alternative, but it depends on whom you are getting the information from. It all makes me think of that analogy that comes from the physics field.... "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".
You want to increase confusion, do what I am doing and watch this issue debated on Canadian TV and then US TV. Here it is obviously considered a really good thing as, well, it would be good for our economy (especially for those of us in Alberta like me). So our media is pushing for it hard. They are pushing for our Prime Minister to take that hard nose stance. We do have those against, but the media doesn't seem to play much on them (big shock..not).
I watch the issue debated on US TV and it gets more confusing depending on what channel you watch.
So I have watched on 3 different stations transmitting from 2 different countries, and pretty much have 3 completely different stories. Same goes for newspapers, on line articles, etc. I can honestly say I have absolutely NO idea anymore if this is good for you folks. Economically, it sure is good for us though, so I guess I have to stand by my original stance that I want to see it happen...I think. Who knows anymore. It sure would be nice to see the facts, and just the facts reported. But I give up on that. The media here isn't quite as sensationalized as it is on your side of the border, but it's sure not to far behind.
I watch the issue debated on US TV and it gets more confusing depending on what channel you watch.
So I have watched on 3 different stations transmitting from 2 different countries, and pretty much have 3 completely different stories. Same goes for newspapers, on line articles, etc. I can honestly say I have absolutely NO idea anymore if this is good for you folks. Economically, it sure is good for us though, so I guess I have to stand by my original stance that I want to see it happen...I think. Who knows anymore. It sure would be nice to see the facts, and just the facts reported. But I give up on that. The media here isn't quite as sensationalized as it is on your side of the border, but it's sure not to far behind.
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