From: gon2top2 <james.r.hall5@...>
Subject: [apollokauai] Renewable Energy Ramblings
To: apollokauai@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 3:12 PM

Thanks to those who responded to my previous posting!

Background: I'm an electrical (electronic) engineer with 45 years
experience. I consult part-time at Boeing in the area of very
reliable computer chips for use in satellites.
My wife, Kathleen, is a Psychologist with many years experience
doing research and teaching at a state university.

I designed and built my own solar hot water system in 1983. I was
amazed at how it was able to supply our hot water needs most of the
time. (even on cloudy days!)

In my spare time I've done many hours of research on various aspects
of renewable energy, much of it focused on the "why-nots". If I
were to summarize my findings in one sentence, it would be: "nothing
is perfect, but some things are very good." For each argument for
or against a technology there is usually an equally strong argument
for the opposing point of view. Usually the difference in points of
view is because the details being considered are different.

My point is that we need to look less at "why not" and concentrate
on "how".

For example: I believe there are many opportunities for Kauai to
obtain grants from various government agencies to do the things that
need to be done for Kauai to be much less dependent on oil. They
would love the opportunity to showcase Kauai's success as part of
their own agency's accomplishments. Kathleen's experience includes
obtaining grants to do research on drug abuse. It's not that
difficult to do the the work required to get the grants.

How about teaching classes in the local high school and community
college? The class would enable students to evaluate various
technologies and would include building a photovoltaic electric
system and a small wind system and - - -. Part of the course would
teach the students how to assess the performance of each
technology. We could grow a new generation of environmentally
conscious citizens!

FYI: My current opinions of various technologies for Kauai are:
Solar hot water: a must-do
Hydropower: a must-do
Biomass: Not sure it's really practical. I need to know more.
Coal: Maybe. There are some very clean coal-burning boiler systems.
Natural Gas: The United States has a 150 year supply. It should be
considered.
Nuclear: I really like the technology, but it's probably not
practical for a small system like Kauai would need. I need to know
more.
Large wind farms: a must-do, seems to have a difficult time getting
off the ground in Kauai. Pun intended.
Small wind turbines: Probably good, needs to be tried and decisions
made based on the results.

What do you think?