Go ahead, do the Time Warp in the Tower

Cast of the Rocky Horror Show.

Winter forces people indoors, for better or worse.

Imagine being stuck in the same house as the two old but likable biddies in Frank Capra's 1944 "Arsenic and Old Lace." Not so bad if you're a woman, or Cary Grant. At one point in the film, in which the women kill elderly bachelors with poison-laced elderberry wine, Grant famously says, "This is developing into a very bad habit."



Maybe Elton John's "Elderberry Wine" song had metaphorical depth. Regardless, quaffing it from two murderers might not be such a good idea.

Rocky, what have you done?

In the wrong-place, wrong-time vein, perhaps a thunderstorm strands you in the middle of nowhere and your names are Janet and Brad. Perhaps you've passed a mansion some miles back after a tire has blown on your car. There is no cell phone reception, and the niceties of society appear unattainable without a 2-mile hike back to that spooky mansion.

Of course, the next step is doing the Time Warp ... again.



Things could be worse. Definitely. My wife took me to the live production of the obscurely aforementioned play in Fresno's Tower District. And it was mind-blowing. Like a lot of my generation, I saw the Tim Curry movie version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in theaters. It was one of those midnight events in Anchorage when the outdoor temperatures made doing anything inside preferable to sitting in a frozen car.

I loved it. At the time, the concept provided a natural segue from my obsession with Kiss records.

The doctor is in

Daniel Chavez Jr. directs the Fresno version of the "Rocky Horror Show" at the California Arts Academy's Severance Theater in Fresno's artsy Tower District. He also choreographs, designs the costumes and plays the role of Frank-N-Furter. With the platform heels, he stands a head taller than most of the cast.

Sustainable driving: 3 options from the car show

Ford Fusion hybrid with DB5 overtones.

Options for the green-minded once were limited to small under-powered cars.

While that's still true to some degree, consumers now have an interesting dilemma. Choose the hybrid, clean diesel, electric or really small?

Depends. Even the bigger vehicles now support increasingly efficient technologies such that the differences are less than the similarities. This is true for design and efficiency.

At the Central California Motor Trend Auto Show in downtown Fresno, Calif. in November 2012, nearly all manufacturers showed their latest. Gleaming and with doors open to the general public, these vehicles offered the best opportunity for Joe Motorist to ask the question: "What if this was mine?"

I asked it while sitting in a number of cars. One was the Dodge Challenger, a throwback muscle car that delivers 375 horsepower with the 5.7 liter Hemi. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's www.fueleconomy.gov site rates the Challenger SRT8 at a combined 17 city/highway miles per gallon. Not bad compared to my old Jeep Grand Wagoneer (10-12 mpg) but no good if you want to stay away from the corner Shell station.

I avoided reviewing any of the Toyota Prius family on purpose. If you like them, buy them. I can't stand the user unfriendly interface. Makes me want to take a sledgehammer to the dash. The design also  leaves me wanting something else.

Ford Fusion

This year Ford designers took a nod from James Bond 007 and crafted their Fusion with a grill reminiscent of an Austin Martin DB5. My friend calls the Fusion a shameless ripoff using less-kind language, but I like it. Muy macho.

The DB5 originally appeared in "Goldfinger" (1964) but makes a reappearance and heart-breaking exit in the latest Bond film "Skyfall." The baddy, played with strangely crazy vulnerability by Javier Bardem, unleashes on the car (but probably a cheap facsimile) with a 50 caliber from a helicopter.

Zombie training for the apocalypse, running from the Dead

"Walking Dead's" Michonne kills the undead.

Katana in hand, Michonne shears body parts from a half dozen shambling zombies in the "The Walking Dead."

She gives a slight smile when the mayhem's complete in "Say the Word" Episode 5. Reid Kerr of examiner.com says it's her first grin on the wildly popular cable show on AMC. He predicts more in the episode ahead when the creepy Governor, who leads a protected community, hunts her down and she digs in with a bit of defense.

The show is the latest in the zombie-apocalypse genre that began so convincingly with George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968. Romero was the first to use zombies, or "ghouls," as metaphor. Elliot Stein of the Village Voice says Night's "gorefest" had the look and feel of a documentary. He says its Pennsylvania farmhouse location showed Middle America at war, and "the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in Vietnam."

Cataclysmic metaphor

"The Walking Dead" updates the theme and adds multiple story lines. The product intrigues enough people that the network justifies a talk show dubbed "Talking Dead," which appears after the airing of an original episode. Even Kerr's Episode 5 Examiner story is a character play-by-play of who did what and what's expected.

The power of the Walking Dead, at least for me, was series star Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln. He's a small-town sheriff who rallies a small band of survivors. Great stuff, especially the characters who, like Michonne, don't let adversity get in the way.

Flash Gordon didn't bother with fossil fuels

Buster Crabbe played the iconic Flash Gordon like a man obsessed, giving the legendary movie serial its high-octane action and frenetic speed.

He didn't wait around for help when faced with certain death, and leaped into action. Somehow rescue always came after the cliff-hanger that ended each episode.

Likewise, the creators of the then high-cost production didn't mess around to make sure all scientific details matched reality or potential possibilities of space-time theory. They created staged sets complemented with electricity arcs, surreal noise and big machines with concentric circles of blinking lights. They fuzzed over details when it came to power sources, transportation and various high-flying technologies. The bird men's floating city comes to mind.

Doctor Zarkov in his introduction to the dungeon-like palace laboratory immediately figured out the nuclear energy source that enabled Ming the Merciless to rule over all of Mongo and threaten the hapless planet Earth. Things that make you go, "Hmmmm," to quote Arsenio Hall found no answers in the script.

Society could use such enthusiasm and blind faith about now. The debate over climate change has dropped out of the presidential campaign. And energy independence is coming to mean relying on burning coal and natural gas. But sordid, particulate-filled air will soon be determined to be the most costly disaster in the history of mankind.

We could use a hero.

Mongo and climate change

Eugene Robinson with the Washington Post calls out the president and his challenger on climate change, saying "neither has mentioned the subject in the debates."

Economy got you down? 4 ways it could get (way) worse

Milla Jovavich dealing with a collapsed economy.

The way I see it, there are four main ways for society to come crashing down.

I'm actually pretty optimistic. It's just that a post-apocalyptic world appears to be gaining interest amongst the geek set yet again. My first brush with this mindset began with the off-grid moves inspired by early 1970s works like the "Last Whole Earth Catalog," evolving to the fiscal depression that accompanied the decade's end and the first of the real resurgence of zombies with "Dawn of the Dead."

Don't grok that? Sky-high interest rates and crap job prospects. Remember Foghat?

For the record, I have nothing against Foghat, or Foreigner for that matter. And the Sonics won the NBA championship so it wasn't all bad.

But back to the topic at hand. Dealing with all forms of the societal destruction I have in mind would require talents of survivalists, off-grid enthusiasts and teachings of pioneers from the past who created all they needed with a Bowie knife, some twine and spit.

Of course, my premise is heavily influenced by the devolving political global landscape, spiraling ecological devastation and science fiction with a good dose of Hollywood suspension of disbelief.

Scenario No. 1: Trickle-down. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the cyberpunk culture foreseen by writer William Gibson, specifically in his Bridge Series. In the third and final book, "All Tomorrow's Parties," he paints a society where the Golden Gate Bridge has become shanty housing and various corporations control everything except cardboard chic.

Scenario No. 2: Climate change. The never-ending pursuit of profits pushes the planet over the edge. Oceans rise, island nations disappear and hordes of refugees from low-lying coastal communities pour into higher ground, triggering economic disaster.

Space-based clean energy could alter the future

Harry Harrison at his best.

Clean and cheap energy has been percolating in innovators' minds for centuries.

Far longer ago, alchemists and wizards sought the source of ultimate power somewhat differently, calling it magic.

The economic consequences of cheap clean energy would be tremendous. Imagine energizing rural Africa or infusing India's poorest neighborhoods with uninterrupted inexpensive power. All that brain power just waiting for an opportunity to connect with a money-making idea could make substantial changes in technological development, not to mention economic might.

So far, however, that pursuit remains unrealized. Recall cold fusion? How about the mythic magnetic power generator, a device that purports to produce "free" electricity.

Alas, it's a crock. So far, anyway.

Pursuing clean energy

That doesn't stop the pursuit of some nearly free energy source. Or the daydreaming. Or the bona fide research bringing existing clean energy technologies more in line with the cost of conventional carbon-creating fuels.

Writers regularly take on the challenge, imagining star travel as the likely result of conquering energy. Isaac Asimov's universes were fueled by atomic power. Even Albert Einstein and Otto Stern envisioned a hidden source of power in all things. They called it Nullpunktsenergie, which was later translated to zero-point energy. Imaging that is one thing. Tapping it is another.

The key to pollution reduction may be to restore more vintage cars

A well tuned engine produces less pollutants.

I spent most of the Labor Day weekend working on my VW.

Certainly not the pursuit many would choose. But getting the thing back on the road one of my over-riding goals. The next one is cracking that novel. Can't do one without finishing the other. At least, that's the way my mind works.

The engine's back in. The wiring harness is replaced. The engine-insulating tarboard is installed. Rust has been painstakingly removed from the floorboards and Por-15, the rust-murdering paint, applied. The interior heater hoses have been replaced (finally figured out how to source them). I figure the 1974 Super Beetle has several more major weekends before I can haul it off to somebody to put the final touches on the electrical and I can hear it roar to life.

Then it's off to my friend, another class of 1979, in downtown Fresno, Calif. for fresh paint.

All said, this will be a three- or four-year project. But we car guys do what we do. We love this stuff. I'd enjoy nothing better than pulling my bug into the Madera VW show and rubbing shoulders with more aging air-cooled enthusiasts.

Truly, this car is more sculpture than gas-burner. The NOx and related pollutants coming from its dual exhausts have been curtailed significantly.

Yet, that's exactly where many of our current vehicles are headed.  And that may be a good thing for the environment. Economics and regulations will be removing most of the older vehicles on the road that don't have support from nostalgic collectors like myself to restore and repurpose them as spares or show cars.

Reducing emissions

It's hard to imagine the discontinued Ford Excursion finding many such fans. Or the AMC Pacer. At one point, I day dreamed of taking a rocket launcher to that particular model. But the Edsel will remain. So will the 1955-57 Chevy and a host of others.

How ripping off my roof put me on the fence about solar

Back in spring 2010, my wife said it was time: Rip off the roof and put on a new one.

Simple right?

Hardly. It took four months.

But it got me thinking: With a fresh, new 30-year composition shingles, what would it cost to put a solar system on the roof? Hmmm... So I called Julie at Solar City. I told her some of the details of my house -- that it's 1,278 square feet, that my kWh consumption according to my PG&E bill never exceeded 900 per month and that I was only looking to pick her brain for information.

Not a great way to get information, but at least I was straightforward. Julie told me a number of things I missed but did say I'd be spending between $20,000 and $25,000 for a system and that I could get a 30 percent tax incentive. One thing I would have that she said was important: a new roof.

Roof quality a must

Or at least I will have a new roof. Some day. Anybody ever watch an asphalt shingle melt in your hands? Not a pleasant experience. That means, when it's hot, don't roof.

That's -- mostly -- another story.

Solar could unlock path to clean energy; the sooner the better

The man with gnarled hands was a legend in Skagit County.

Many in the Washington state farming region said he could find water in a desert. The man's name eludes me and I'm sure he passed from this world, but he developed a reputation for finding the shortest route to tap fresh ground water. He charged nothing, and people from all walks swore by his skills.

I feel like asking that old water witcher for his advice now. But rather than water, I'd ask him to work his magic on the clean energy industry. Maybe take that fresh-cut Y-shaped branch and point to the shortest route for unlocking thousands of jobs in the promising sector.

Kind of a wise man (or woman) on the mountain thing.

After several years of hype, the clean energy industry appears on the verge. Solar's finally looking like it's got the chops to compete. Biofuel breakthroughs may propel relatively cheap new sources of U.S.-made fuel into the domestic pipeline. And wind continues to kick up dust, not to mention a bubbly hillbilly cousin, geothermal.

Cool new fuel: Scientist leads innovation that could spur biofuel revolution

James Liao may be one of the most important people in the nation's energy sector.

And while his name may be unfamiliar to just about everybody not intimately involved with biofuel innovation, that could quickly change.

He leads a team that has developed a microbe capable of turning cellulosic material, or grassy and woody matter, into isobutanol, a fuel with huge potential. Just how huge, we'll likely find out in coming months. But suffice to say it's important, especially with gas prices pushing $4 per gallon.

This fuel is a far bigger deal than ethanol, which is made in this country from corn. Liao's team's feat is the first time isobutanol has been coaxed directly from cellulose.

Hidden costs of fossil fuels amplify case for clean energy

Hidden costs lurk everywhere.

Buy a car on credit and pay double the sticker price. Same with a house. For instance, adjustable mortgages and balloon payments contributed mightily to the real estate meltdown. And taxes take a big bite. Just ask any small businessperson.

Maybe that's why we Americans like our energy costs low, or at least relatively.

But there are hidden costs there, too. Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment released a study that pegged the estimated hidden yearly cost of coal-generated electricity at a high of $538 billion, or an additional 18 cents per kilowatt hour. Peswiki.com listed the commercial cost of coal power at 4.8 to 5.5 cents per kWh.

For some perspective, solar costs between 15 to 30 cents per kWh and wind 4 to 6 cents.

Heavy burden

"Coal carries a heavy burden," the "Mining Coal, Mounting Costs" report said. The Harvard study factored in health costs (11,000 deaths annually from lung cancer, heart, respiratory and kidney disease) and environmental impacts of fly ash spills (53 from 1974 to 2008) and mountaintop removal (500 removed and 1.4 million acres transformed).

Rooftop solar & decentralized generation can save California

Rooftops may not be the final frontier, but they do provide ample fields for cultivating solar panels.

So says Al Weinrub, who has penned "Community Power: Decentralized Renewable Energy in California." Weinrub is a member of the Sierra Club California Energy-Climate Committee and serves on the Steering Committee of the Bay Area’s Local Clean Energy Alliance. He said he relied extensively on work from both.

"Decentralized generation means that local residences, businesses, and communities become electric power producers," he writes. "Businesses with large rooftops or parking lots can become small power companies that feed electricity into the grid."

The beauty is that these buildings are already connected to the electrical grid and have an existing footprint, benefits that a remote solar installation doesn't always have. Industrial solar on empty land requires extensive permitting, studies and review of environmental impact, especially if its federal. Those panels definitely can change a picturesque landscape.

Algae biofuel develops momentum; could we see $30 bbl fuel?

Algae keeps nosing around clean energy news.

It doesn't have the sunny cache of solar or the exotic qualities of wind, tidal and geothermal power. But the potential of algae fuel's reported advances are hard to ignore. At least for this former reporter.

In my backyard at the University of California, Merced, researchers received a grant to "perform a comprehensive life cycle analysis study of algae biofuels." The money, a modest $142,747, is part of about $3.5 million issued by the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research program.

Algae takes a back seat in the grant to other projects that include improving grid reliability, energy efficiency and automobile fuel economy. But, hey, it's algae. Pond scum. This is the stuff that may be grown in wastewater settling ponds, harvested and turned into diesel fuel. Or food additives, you never know.

It's not cold fusion
 
The important thing is algae wasn't left out. It's not cold fusion. This stuff shows true promise as an alternative energy source.

Algae fuel and solar could use a little entrepreneurial True Grit

Developments in solar and biofuels lead me to believe that the sunny San Joaquin Valley could indeed become a leader in the emerging clean energy industry.

My friend Sandy Nax has called the Valley a Petri dish for alternative energy development because it has so many of the necessary attributes: available land, scorching sun and/or clear days a majority of the year, wind in the mountains and scads of agricultural resources for biofuel or biogas.

Sandy has often said, "Clean energy could be a game changer." He was referring to the economy.

Sandy and I discuss the attributes of the sorry state of economic affairs that have devastated the region's real estate, toppled government tax revenues and put many of our neighbors out of work.

Changing the world
 
We used to work in the newspaper business, which hasn't fared well these past several years. As part of our jobs writing and editing business stories, we spent years analyzing trends and making sense of them.

This clean energy trend has been fascinating to watch. I still have no idea where it's going and what particular component will be the first to fuel jobs, but indicators have been extremely positive.

Here comes fat algae; research unveils potential commercial fuel production

Less so now but until recently every couple of weeks appeared to bring an algae fuel technological breakthrough, study or news of a pilot venture to bring the process from the laboratory to your corner fuel station.

Granted, fueling up with algae products is likely many years away. But it's being taken seriously. Right here in the San Joaquin Valley, experts at the University of California, Merced have been awarded a grant to analyze emerging algae biofuels technologies.

And the U.S. Department of Energy has recently announced that it will be accepting applications for $12 million in grants over the next three to four years for about five "laboratory or small pilot-scale projects that support the development of advanced biofuels." Technologies like cellusic ethanol or fuel-tank-ready butanol may be first to the gate, but algae research has a strong shot.

Algae breakthrough

For instance, John Sheehan, who coordinates research on biofuels at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, just produced a 34-page study about a algae-to-fuel breakthrough discovered by scientists researching cancer treatments. The study was developed on behalf of VG Energy, a subsidiary of San Marino, Calif.-based. Viral Genetics Inc.

Those researchers found that molecules which disrupt the burning of fats, or lipids, in tumor cells "also encourage microscopic plant cells like algae to accumulate and even secrete fats," Sheehan wrote.

Even the Sub-Mariner can't stop the rising sea

Back during the Golden Age of comics, Bill Everett in 1939 conceived of the under-sea superhero Namor, the Sub-Mariner, as a scourge against evil.

His target, initially, was the Nazis.

"He is a rare hybrid endowed with great strength, power over the undersea world, the ability to breathe both in and out of water, and the gift of flight," writes blogger and Sub-Mariner expert J. Chivian at chivian.com. "He fought valiantly with the Allies in both the Atlantic and Pacific during World War II. He has been King of Atlantis."

Namor left the comic scene in 1955 but returned in the 1960s, or Silver Age as it's known to fans. But this time around, he was furious not with the Axis powers but with earth-dwellers in general for fouling his oceans with leaky barrels of nuclear waste and assorted garbage and for exterminating sea life with nets and pollution.

Prince of seas was right to worry
 
He's likely less pleased today (although I stopped buying the Marvel books in the early 1980s and know nothing of his present-day adventures). A two-page release issued sometime back by the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research Program said that rising sea levels will have significant impacts, causing coastal flooding and erosion.

"Melting of the land-based ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, as well as the thermal expansion of warming seawater, has contributed to a rise of global sea level at an average rate of approximately 3 millimeters per year from 1993 to 2010," the release said.

Clean energy is bigger than birthdays: Hello solar valley

I turned 50 and marked the occasion as I normally would.

"Oy vey."

Now I'm facing 52, and it's no different.

Yet, such landmarks are memorable for a number of reasons. A co-worker got honored with both barrels with a combination of family members and fellow employees decorating his cubicle with RIP messages. In my case, it means I'm the age Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon made fun of as Sally O'Malley in quite a few high-kicking bits.

But the achievement, the coming new year and the birth of my second grandchild has gotten me to think even more about the big picture, the grand scheme. And not so much my role in it but how everything shakes out. 

Real existential, almost Kierkegaardian?

Tiny homes gain followers as energy prices climb

The tiny house movement has gained steam since the late 1960s and early 1970s when counter-culture types with no money made due with what they could and built homes out of whatever they could find.

In fact, it's almost mainstream. For instance, students at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. have come up with a home design not much larger than an extended cab-over camper mounted to the old Ford F-250 pickup. Their "tiny house" measures 8 feet wide and 12 feet long and cost a paltry $1,927, school officials said.

"The $20 per square foot cost is pretty low compared to the $80-$200 per square foot cost of new construction," said senior Todd Sirak of Poultney, in a statement.

Indeed.

Kyosho jutaku
 
Although still not on every block, this small home trend is getting increased interest as energy efficiency and living with less gain mainstream attention. Elaborate micro homes have even become chic in Japan where even postage-stamp parcels of land cost a premium.

In Japan, it's referred to as kyosho jutaku, or ultra-small homes. In a recent piece, NPR reporter Lucy Craft said the homes "conserve space by dumping conventional elements like entranceways, hallways, inner walls and closets."

Is filling up your car with algae fuel a decade away?

The prospect of tapping pond scum for fuel may not be so far off.

While significant hurdles remain -- algae-produced fats aren't as readily transformed into energy as, say, the Beverly Hillbillies' Texas tea -- many have joined the pursuit of commercialization and a recent study says plants could come on line in the next four to six years producing product competitive with conventional fuels.

Imagine driving down to the corner quick-rip grocer and filling it up with a little homegrown green.

A decade from now that might be possible.

Boulder, Colo.-based Pike Research reports that by 2020, "production of biofuels derived from crude algae oil will reach 61 million gallons per year." Writers of the Pike Research report, industry analyst Mackinnon Lawrence and Pike President Clint Wheelock acknowledged the amount was "barely a drop in the bucket for biofuels" but said the potential production would represent a market value of $1.3 billion.

Algae research taps electricity, fuel and saving the world

Algae is more than just pond scum.

It's a potential power source. The green glop that forms in fetid pools and in nutrient soaked ground fed by overflowing septic systems increasingly is being investigated for properties beyond the "ugh" factor.

At Stanford University, a team of scientists has figured a way to extract a tiny portion of electrical current from algae cells. Gwyneth Dickey at the Stanford News Service wrote that the team was "able to draw from each cell just one picoampere, an amount of electricity so tiny that they would need a trillion cells photosynthesizing for one hour just to equal the amount of energy stored in a AA battery."

The power comes from photosynthesis, the process through which a plant converts sunlight to energy.

Dickey quoted WonHyoung Ryu, the lead author of the paper published in the March issue of Nano Letters, as saying he believes the Stanford team is the first to extract electrons from living plant cells. However, Ryu said there is a long way to go to put such power generation to any commercial use. "We're still in the scientific stages," he said.

However, in Nano Letters, he offered a more effusive account: "This result may represent an initial step in generating 'high efficiency' bioelectricity by directly harvesting high energy photosynthetic electrons."

Electric vehicle range anxiety: How will Joe Consumer spell relief?

The scarcity of electric cars on U.S. roadways is expected to change in coming months as two major automakers begin selling models geared to Joe Consumer.

But recharging remains an issue. Very few fast-recharge stations have been installed along Interstate 5, although a number are planned. That lack of recharge availability could result in something I'll call electric-charge anxiety:

"Will I make it, or will I run out of juice?"

Tow truck operators are ready. Believe me, I know. Owning a 74 Super Beetle as a daily driver meant I required wrecker services frequently.

Pike Research, a clean energy research consultant based in Boulder, Colo., has forecast that 4.7 million charging stations will be built in the next five years. However, there's a caveat in the wording of the Pike report summary.

Free electricity: Is it fact or myth?

References continue to surface about the mythic magnetic power generator, a device that purports to produce "free" electricity.

The concept is fascinating. Proponents say these devices could create enough power to run the average home or business. Should that prove true, implementing the technology at homes and businesses across the United States could cast aside reliance on Middle East energy producers.

One reference comes from a tweet posted by Mike Stewart also known as @greenwind. Stewart gave heads up to a post by Tyler Thomas on articlebase.com that says, "Due to suppression of this idea from the big corporations, the plans for building a free energy generator which could change the world have never been out on the open."

That's not altogether true, at least from what I've been able to find in a rather unscientific search on the Web. There's a lot out there, most of it very grassroots, about the subject for and against it. Some deride the concept, while others hail it as the second coming and offer instructions on how to create a device.

Lutec Australia PTY Ltd. has been trying to get a product to market for years and at one point in a video posted to youtube.com said its magnetic generators would be available in 2008. That apparently never took place, and the company's one-time site, lutec.com.au, now shows nothing more than a picture of its latest prototype.

Scrambling across the Web for more references to this product will produce all sorts of hits. A circle of my friends and I from East High in Anchorage stay in touch via group emails and turn up this sort of thing frequently. A number of us are into clean energy and wild ideas.

The king of magnetic power has to be Joseph Newman, who appeared on the Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and multiple other programs with his free energy device decades ago. Newman lapsed into obscurity after his efforts to patent his device were rejected by the U.S. Patent Office and his creation was labeled a perpetual motion machine, according to wikipedia.org.

Who knows where the concept will go? I suspect a lot of static.

But I liked this quote from the narrator of a Lutec video post: "Come help us green up, and clean up, our planet."

Photo: Lutec Australia PTY Ltd. prototype.

Wrap yourself in sun power to run cell phones, computers

Sci-fi writer Phillip Jose Farmer wrapped his best stories in fascinating and mind-boggling concepts.

In his Riverworld novels, everybody who died since the beginning of the human race reappeared suddenly on another planet to live without dying. In the Dayworld trilogy, man is allowed only to live one day a week because of overpopulation, spending the other six days in stasis.

Such concept story-telling aptly describes a technology under development by a team at the University of Southern California that eventually could mean solar T-shirts at the Gap.

"Imagine people powering their cellular phone or music/video device while jogging in the sun," Gomez De Arco, a team member, told alternative-energy-news.info.

Researchers combined organic photovoltaic cells, which use organic polymers to absorb light and convert it energy, with transparent graphene films to create the flexible power-producing material. "Graphene solar cells demonstrated outstanding capability to operate under bending conditions," according to a paper the team published in science journal ACS Nano. "Our work indicates the great potential of CVD graphene films for flexible photovoltaic applications."

Definitely cool. Apply a coating to Iron Man's suit of armor and all he has to do after battling a superfoe is fly into the sun to recharge. Or slap a layer of the stuff all over my 1974 Super Beetle and I'll never have a dead battery. Plus it might keep the paint from oxidizing further.

The USC team includes Chongwu Zhou, Cody W. Schlenker, Koungmin Rye, Mark E. Thompson, Yi Zhang and De Arco.

Alternative Energy wrote while the graphene-organic photovoltaics don't produce electricity nearly as efficiently as standard silicon panels, they make up for that lack with "low cost, conductivity, stability, electrode/organic film compatibility, and easy availability along with flexibility."

Farmer in his heyday could have worked with the possibilities and taken solar on graphene to even greater heights. Then again, 3M may do the same thing in a couple of years.

Who knows?

Photo: Worldchanging.com
Graphic: ACS Nano

Airship company seeks quiet domination of the skies

Airships haven't really had much going for them on a grand commercial scale since the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.

But people are making a go of it. An airship can be seen gliding over San Francisco.

Airship Ventures offers tours in California's Bay Area. Co-founder Alexandra Hall says she got into the airship business because of her husband. Brian Hall flew one while on a business trip in Cologne, Germany and was hooked.

The company says it works sports events and aids scientific missions. It plans to expand its fleet of airships to "support East Coast operations and expanded support of air shows, special events and scientific research missions" and intends to further develop its flight training and education capacities."

Mike Lawson, onetime chief executive of E-Green Technologies, was another player.

As reported by Alternative Energy news a few years ago, Lawson test-inflated an airship dubbed the Bullet 580 at Garret Coliseum in Alabama and says the 235-foot long, 65-foot diameter vessel "will usher in the return of inflatable giant airships."

Scandanavian company produces power from pumped water

A Norwegian company has created a device that produces electricity from piped water under pressure.

It's an accomplishment that could win Zeropex a number of customers, especially amongst cities, counties and water districts that pay gobs of money for electricity to pump water. For instance, about 20 percent of the energy used in California is spent moving water around.

"Our energy efficient solutions are cutting your carbon footprint whilst improving your bottom line," the company says.

Zeropex explained the process this way: The micro generator "is a pressure-reducing system generating pure power from the pressure drop in fluids. It combines the pressure control from chokes and electricity generation from hydroturbines. DIFGEN is a cost effective replacement of pressure chokes in all types of systems where pressure control is vital."

In a Thursday post, greentechmedia.com said Rentricity and a few other companies have been trying to market the technology for some time but have faced difficulty because of cost, technology and finding a customer base.

But that may change. In his story, Michael Kanellos quoted Zeropex CEO Tor Ersdal as saying production cost is coming down and Michael Russell, a Cabinet Secretary in Scotland, as saying that his country is investing in micro hydro. Scottish Water plans to generate green electricity by fitting turbines in water mains and aims to launch a pilot project in Fife later this year, according to the Sunday London Times. "The device will generate enough electricity to power about 50 homes," wrote reporter Mark Home.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization has worked with quite a few cities that plan to spend a portion of their Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant allocations on pump replacement. Just installing variable frequency drive pumps can reduce energy costs by a third or more. The payback can be as brief as several years.

Stockton company unveils 'hydrogen boiler' clean-energy producer

Hydrogen Technologies Inc. has something proponents say could make a dent in U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.

The Modesto-based company has patented what it calls "a revolutionary method for burning hydrogen and oxygen in a vacuum chamber to create heat and steam with no greenhouse gases." The only byproduct is water.

"It's something that's going to change the world," said Frank Ferral, program and public policy director of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, energy efficiency guru and San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization board member. An official from the company plans to meet with the chamber's Green Team.

Here's how it works according to the company: "Combustion takes place in a closed ‘dynamic’ vessel that can either be a vacuum or pressurized depending on the application. Hydrogen Technologies has a patent pending and tested a model of the combustion chamber. The ‘dynamic’ vessel may be large enough to service a power plant or very small so as to fit under the hood of a car."

Other companies are working on bringing hydrogen to the market but have made little headway. Automobile manufacturers also are working to develop cost-effective hydrogen-powered cars but have the problem of availability for roadside refills.

Burnaby, British Columbia-based Ballard Power Systems Inc. brought hydrogen power to this year's Winter Olympics, proving the fuel can be used efficiently. The company showed off its various technologies, including hydrogen-powered buses.

Expect to see more in this realm, especially when wind and/or solar is teamed with hydrogen-producing technology to make a fully operational clean energy production line that isn't at the mercy of Mother Nature.

Cambrigdge, Mass. company produces energy audit software

One of the chief components of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant application through the state was the energy audit. Cities and counties were required to find energy efficiency opportunities to spend the Stimulus money. This meant targeting outdated lighting, air conditioning and electrical motors in pumps, among other things.

Engineers went building to building in most of the 33 cities and three counties in the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Partnership and took stock of lighting wattage, AC tonnage and pump horsepower. Then they calculated the savings retrofits would provide.

Cambridge, Mass.-based kWhOURS Inc. hopes to simplify that process with energy audit software it is due to release in the next several days.

"We firmly believe that a skilled energy auditor should focus on the engineering challenges that require his/her expertise, rather than attending to time-sinking and repetitive data migration and calculation tasks," the company said on its Web site.

kWhOURS describes the product as an easy-to-navigate program that "organizes your work as you go, making it simpler to collect and analyze data." The company said the software offers guidance throughout the auditing process and allows the user to improvise.

"kWhOURS' potential customers are interested in its technology because of the lengthy, expensive and archaic process through which most energy audits are currently conducted," wrote Yoni Cohen of Greentechmedia.com. Cohen said a number of companies, most notably San Francisco-based Recurve, which focuses on residential audits, are developing similar products.

Tiny Maricopa, Calif. has energy cred and a massive oil spill in its past

Maricopa and nearby Taft, members of the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Partnership, boast a long history in the energy sector.

Both sit on the eastern border of the Carrizo Plain National Monument and in what was once a bustling oil patch. This time of year, minus the rusting remnants of oil field activity, winter rains have colored the flat lands and accompanying rolling hills to look quite a bit like the southern portion of Denali Park. Likewise, the region has a sleepy feel. But no ambling brown bears.

A Sominex scenario wasn't always the case. Maricopa once had a gusher spewing oil uncontrolled for about two years. The well was capped in 1911 after creating a massive lake. Lakeview No. 1 spewed an estimated 9 million barrels, only 4 million of which were recovered.

Maricopa has some newer wells and active pumps, but few associate the town today with black gold or Texas tea. That may change. There have been reports of interest in drilling in or near the monument, but the company has encountered stiff opposition.

A bronze plaque memorializes the site. Bill Rintoul, late columnist for the Bakersfield Californian, wrote: "a short side trip off Highway 33 just north of Maricopa, along the old Taft-Maricopa Highway, leads to the oil-hardened, sand-bagged crater that marks the Lakeview gusher. The Trout Stream has long since dried."

Photo: Courtesy U.C. Berkeley Archives

Tool allows building owners to track energy savings

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that an average of 30 percent of energy used in commercial buildings goes to waste.

Officials believe reducing those losses represents the best opportunity for "immediate and cost-effective reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions." The EPA's Portfolio Manager is an available tool building owners can use to monitor energy use in buildings and savings should they install energy efficiency retrofits, such as lighting, variable frequency drives and other measures.

Its compare and contrast features allow the performance comparison of similar structures and the ability to set baselines and establish goals. Progress can be tracked over time. The tool enables the building manager to document reductions in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use and costs in a single building or entire portfolio.

Straw-bale homes provide super-insulated option

Straw bale homes, long on the energy-efficiency fringe, may be receiving more attention as cost-effective and energy-saving construction methods gain prominence.

I stumbled across a significant reference to the time-honored building method while reading through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency site and decided to follow some of the links provided. An article posted to BuildingGreen.com, explains the merits of the practice: high R-value, simplicity of construction and ample supply of material.

As a reporter in Washington state's Skagit Valley, I chronicled the construction of a straw-bale house on a hillside overlooking verdant farm fields and forest. It was more high-end custom than practical, but intriguing. I wonder if any have been built in the San Joaquin Valley. The photo is of a house under construction from Autonomie Project Inc.

Developers fight headwinds to build offshore wind, wave energy

Offshore gales beckon kilowatts and profit.

However, building wind turbines or wave energy devices in an environment where weather regularly whips white caps to a frenzy and drives commercial fishermen to safe harbor brings higher development costs and technological challenges.

Those are not expected to dissuade a new generation of clean energy prospectors that is projected to install between 58 and 71 gigawatts of generation capacity, representing $52.2 billion to $78.6 billion in power production, by 2017 worldwide, according to a new study by Boulder, Colo.-based Pike Research. A gigawatt equals 1,000 megawatts or enough to power about 330,000 homes.

On another promising but more technologically uncertain front, Pennington, N.J.-based Ocean Power Technologies Inc. plans to install a specially designed buoy to extract energy from waves off Reedsport, Ore., reported Ocean Power Magazine (no relation). The company is awarding four contracts to Oregon companies in connection with the manufacture and deployment of its PB150 PowerBuoy.

The magazine reported that the new contracts brings the investment by the company into the local economy to more than $6 million, "creating or saving up to 100 manufacturing and marine services jobs at the four companies and their suppliers."

In offshore wind, most of the development will take place in Europe with the United States accounting for between 2.9 and 6.2 gigawatts, said study authors Peter Asmus, Pike senior analyst, and Brittany Gibson, Pike research associate.

"The United Kingdom is projected to lead the world with $12 billion by 2017," they wrote. Asia won't be far behind.

Washington embraces clean energy; vows to break its coal addiction

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has inked a deal to get her state off coal.

The connection has long roots and the dependency remains strong, so breaking the hold and getting the Evergreen state off the stuff will take years. About 14 when all is said and done, officials said.

That's a long time to break an addiction. But sometimes treatment programs -- to be effective -- must be lengthy to avoid backsliding. I can just see the state sneaking off for a smoke in the boy's room, listening to some Motley Crue.

The idea is to phase out coal generated energy at the TransAlta power plant in Centralia, near Kurt Cobain's early pre-Seattle grunge stomping grounds. The plant has two boilers. Under the agreement, Senate Bill 5769, one would close in 2020, the other in 2025.

"The result is a cleaner energy future," said Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, in a statement.

Rockefeller and others pointed out the reason for the long recovery period: jobs. Big deal in a down economy. TransAlta will work to shift the load to cleaner options, or not.

But the writing's on the wall. Washington follows a lead set by California. On April 11, 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a measure that would require utilities to supply 33 percent of their energy from renewable sources.

Los Angeles Times reporter Patrick McGreevy quoted Brown at the signing as saying, "Its about California leading the country. It's America potentially leading the world."

Yeah, that's it. Now Washington. Can Oregon be far behind?

Top electric & hybrid cars, and 1 that blows my mind

I saw my first Tesla.

Up close, and personal. My first impression: This car is teeny. Would I be able to fold in my 6-foot 2-inch frame? Heck yes!

Tesla Roadster
With 3.7 seconds to 60 mph, this baby would fly. The possibility of me expanding my horizons with speeding tickets would increase exponentially if I were allowed access.

The Tesla Roadster was one of the key attractions at Fresno Earth Day celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fresno. Accompanying the little black electric powered ball of fury were a Nissan Leaf, a Chevy Volt, a solar-powered Toyota Prius, a hybrid Honda Insight and several other vehicles of interest.

The festivities included other attractions. Those included 75 participants for a crowd-pleasing variety that included live music, food, workshops, tours, exhibits, free e-waste recycling, solar cooking & bio-fuel making demonstrations, xeriscaping and more. The church itself is worth checking out as it is LEED certified and makes use of energy efficient materials, low-flow plumbing and landscaping that needs very little water.

But I was there to see the cars. For me, the experience proved valuable even if it was self-indulgent. My wife, Peggy, tagged along for the experience. I promised her it would be brief and that I would avoid engaging in any long-winded discussions about cars.

Clean cookstoves movement gets hand from Julia Roberts

Actress Julie Roberts is teaming with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to bring inexpensive solar or propane cookstoves to ill-equipped kitchens in the developing world.

The campaign is meant to help reduce the near 2 million deaths a year attributed to cooking over unsafe or inefficient stoves that burn charcoal, wood or other material and send toxic smoke into the lungs of whomever is near. According to cookingshouldntkill.org, indoor air pollution is the fifth leading cause of death in the developing world.

“I am proud to stand with Secretary Clinton to work to reduce the senseless and preventable deaths," Roberts said in a statement. Most of those killed are women and children, she said.

Solar cookstoves were one of the main attractions at the at Fresno Earth Day celebration April 30 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fresno. Demonstrators baked cookies (I ate one) and cooked other dishes. Thermometers showed temperatures as hot as any gas or electric oven. Very interesting.

Roberts said she first learned of the issue while interviewing Clinton for a program, “Extraordinary Moms,” to air on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Roberts joins the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves as Global Ambassador.

The alliance says it is technology and fuel neutral and promotes "solutions that are as clean and efficient as possible." Some of those stoves are simple solar cookers that capture the sun to cook food. Others use propane, kerosene or other fuels but don't vent the CO2 and smoke into the home.

Tips on installing (semi) big solar, pro and con

Cities and counties in California's San Joaquin Valley want relief from crippling energy bills.

Like the rest of the nation, they’ve been hit hard by a sinking economy and increasing electric rates. At least the tornadoes, flooding and general havoc from winter storms left them alone.

An option looking increasingly bright is solar. But it’s a complex decision and not one that should be made without learning as much as possible.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization has a draft plan to explain solar options to cities, counties and school districts and help them save the most energy and money. The concept is one I've been thinking about for several months.

Of course, it's something on the drawing board. We're a small nonprofit without the ability to launch such ambitious project without funding. Tracking down some money will be my next step.

My thought is the utilities may like the idea since they need to draw a third of their energy from renewable resources by 2020. And solar companies may also like the idea. Perhaps we could put a consortium together and offer discounts for packaged projects.

Who knows?

Electric car bulletin: Tesla posts losses, Ford & Fisker prepare EV debut

Electric cars have been on the road a measly few months and they're already dominating automotive news.

Tesla posted first-quarter losses nearly double those of a year earlier. Ford plans to begin production of its electric Focus late this year. And Fisker stands to be the second major independent automaker to launch commercial production and sales of an electric car.

Expect more to come. The sector once was only a partially forgotten memory relived by people who had seen the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

But now it promises to get increasingly active as the year rolls on and buyers appear. Utilities are talking about recharging centers and retailers are planning to stock home-charging devices as more and more of the vehicles enter the commuting landscape.

Detroit automaker Ford plans to join Nissan, Chevy and sports car builder Tesla with commercial-scale production of electric vehicles in the United States. But it looks to be beaten to the punch by Fisker Automotive, which intends to deliver its long-delayed 403-horsepower Karma to showrooms in June or July, according to a story by Katie Fehrenbacher at earth2tech.com.

Ford advertises the EV Focus as guilt-free.

Rural communities could be ground zero for clean energy

California's San Joaquin Valley is courting the renewable energy industry with all the finesse of hillbilly Lil Abner trying to entice a partner at an upscale waltz.

He's got the chops, but those combat boots.

Firebaugh may prove to be the Valley's Love Potion No. 9. The tiny west-side community of 7,000 hasn't let its rural character and farm field sentiments get in its way as it seeks to attract its share of perhaps the biggest potential energy development prize of the coming decade.

So far, it's got two sectors -- solar and biofuel -- in the wings and is pursuing sustainability and a regional clean energy leadership with vigor and, more importantly, real finesse.

Littleton, Colo.-based SolarGenUSA has leased a 52-acre parcel from the city for a 5 megawatt solar installation. The company's web site says the project has been permitted.

In addition, there's talk of a Seattle-based company looking to contract for 40,000 to 60,000 acres so it can plant an obscure but desert-loving plant that's part of the mustard family. The crop, camelina, may be emerging as a front-runner in the effort to develop a viable source of biofuel, writes Harry Cline of Western Farm Press.

This and enterprise on the part of its leaders makes Firebaugh potential ground zero for clean energy.

And the drive for clean energy is on its way. Make no mistake. While it appears to be taking its time, the push for more diverse sources of energy -- that don't add to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere -- has begun. And the San Joaquin Valley is attracting attention from solar, wind, biofuel and even geothermal.

Clean energy may provide college graduates with jobs in 4 years

Watching my oldest son and his classmates get ready to head off to college has given me some insight into the next generation's dreams and desires.

Their views of the future haven't yet been clouded with the jaded, cynical perspectives of their parents.

Of course there was the exception of my son Calvin. When his goals were read during a presentation honoring the top graduates of his high school, he said he hopes machines don't take over the world.

Most of his classmates in the top tier scholastically and athletically painted a more idealistic and optimistic view of their futures. They wanted to be doctors, lawyers, CIA agents. And they wanted to change the world.

But what exactly will they face once they get out? The economic picture is not pretty, even for college graduates with top scores and vivid intentions of success.

Personally, I'd like to see the clean energy industry expand exponentially in the region and offer opportunity within its various sectors. That would jump start the rest of the economy.

US consumers trying to shake skepticism of green cars

Consumers in the United Kingdom like cars that get great mileage.

In fact, according to a recent study by Motoring.co.uk, Toyota Prius sales in Great Britain are up 51.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 and Nissan's Leaf looks like another big hit.

Meanwhile, across the pond, U.S. consumers are less excited by green automobiles, a category that includes hybrids and electric. Sure, small car sales are up and Chevy's done great business with its revamped automotive lineup that includes the electric/gas Volt.

But automotive consultant JD Power and Associates in its inaugural 2011 U.S. Green Automotive Study says, "Automakers will be fighting over the relatively few consumers who are willing to drive green."

It could be the price of fuel. Petroprices.com reported an average UK cost to the equivalent of about $8.33 per gallon. That compares with a California average of about $4.12 as of May 23, according to AAA.

Big motivator. Americans are used to towing, hauling and packing in the number of passengers we want. Need help with that horse trailer? How about grabbing a tow bar and dragging that piece of junk Oldsmobile to the nonprofit junk car fundraiser?

Sure, we say. No problem. That's what that 460-cubic-inch monster in the pickup out back is for. Step on the gas pedal and watch the little red needle on the fuel gauge drop. It's a matter of pride with a lot of us.

19 tips to save energy and keep cool every summer

Summer's here in the San Joaquin Valley that means one thing.

It's hot. And it definitely means people will be looking to cool off by turning up their air conditioning systems. That costs money. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers this little fact: The average home spends almost 20 percent of its utility bill on cooling.

We've collected some tips on how to keep cool without paying a fortune in increased energy bills.

Here is the EPA's annual list of ideas to cut energy and cooling costs:

1) Change out incandescent light bulbs. Energy Star lighting uses less energy and produces about 75 percent less heat than incandescent, reducing cooling bills, too.

2) Install a programmable thermostat and set it to work around your family’s summer schedule -- a few degrees higher, say 78 or 80 degrees, when no one is home, so your cooling system isn’t cooling an empty house.

3) Run your ceiling fan to create a cool breeze. If you raise your thermostat by only two degrees and use your ceiling fan, you can lower cooling costs by up to 14 percent. But don't run them if you're not in the room.

How to reduce your office’s carbon footprint

By Kieron Casey

For many a green minded individual the time they spend at work and the time they spend at home could not be more different.

Whilst this can, of course, refer to the level of relaxation and comfort available it can also refer to their implementation of green practices and policies. At home many an eco-conscious individual will spend a far amount of time making sure all their waste is recycled in the proper fashion and that all unneeded electrical equipment is redeployed or given to a new home.

At work, however, many individuals find themselves in an environment where green measures take low priority. Recycling and sustainability are not often seen by business decision makers as high priority or a general mood of ambivalence surrounds this issue at the workplace. However, it is possible, with just a few small actions, to implement widespread changes.

Like most strategies the best area to begin trying to implement change is right at the top of this business in the hope good practices will become standards throughout the company and will trickle down.