EEVC NEWSLETTER Published by the Eastern Electric Vehicle Club Peter Cleaveland, Editor Vol 27 No 9 Club Address: P.O. Box 134, Valley Forge, PA 19481-0134 SEPTEMBER, 2007 email: [email protected]. Web site: www.eevc.info President: Oliver Perry, 5 Old Stagecoach Turn Shamong, NJ 08088, (609) 268-0944 Copyright © 2007, Eastern Electric Vehicle Club, all rights reserved Now affiliated with EAA SO WHAT'S REALLY BEEN GOING ON? "Jiminy Peak!" Oliver Perry The spectacular “blade lift” in the $3.9 mil- yacht carrying wind-farm critic Robert lion, 1.5 megawatt Jiminy Peak, Vermont Kennedy Jr. displaying a sign that read, wind turbine, finally took place Thursday “Bobby you are on the wrong boat.” Green- afternoon, July 12th. The wind turbine, called peace activists advocate “The Cape Wind “Zephyr,” is the biggest construction project Project” that wants to place 130 wind genera- at the mountain since it was opened as a tors on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound resort in 1948 and is the only wind generator to “gracefully harness the wind.” According in North America built by a ski resort to pro- to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal for duce its own power. It is also the first wind Aug 8, 07, the well to do residents around turbine in the megawatt class to be purchased Cape Cod are again facing off against Green- in the U.S. by a private company. The turbine peace over the purposed wind farm to be is predicted to produce 33% of the energy placed in the middle of their privileged view. needed by the ski resort. The WSJ article stated that although costs Zephyr has three blades each 122 feet for wind energy electricity have come down long, as long as a 12 story building is high. to 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour from 6.1 cents Each blade has GE’s patented adjusting tech- in 1999, the technology is still not cost effec- nology to maximize electrical output. The tive for some areas. Recent wind projects in tower supporting the blades is 260 feet tall. Long Island and in Texas have been scrapped Raising the blades, connected at the common over cost considerations. Wind energy, hub, to the top of the tower was no easy task. according to the article will never be a large Special boom crane configurations were player in the overall energy equation, but it needed. does serve to offer a “virtuous” solution to global warming, unless, that is, it spoils Meanwhile in Senator Kennedy’s Back- somebody’s view. yard, “Environmental Phoniness?” Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy’s How about those gas prices? family compound gazes out over the pristine Last Spring, April 21st, when everyone waters around Cape Cod. Two summers ago was predicting gas prices to approach $4.00 a Greenpeace activists cruised around a sailing gallon by mid summer, I read a prediction by Russell Gold in the Wall Street Journal that makers and consumers will lose, not save, gasoline prices, at that point $2.88 a gallon, contrary to the study put forth by CAFE pro- would drop and average $2.81 a gallon for the ponents. summer season. Not too many people at the “Ask any economist and he’ll tell you that time of the article were expecting the gas estimating the private costs and private bene- prices to go down. fits of increasing fuel economy is a fool’s Labor Day has come and gone. Prices at the errand!” If there was a fuel savings technolo- pump on route 206 a few miles from my house gy out there that cost $1000 but generated are $2.45 for regular. Gold’s prediction was $2500 in fuel savings over the life of the based upon knowledge of what really sets the vehicle carmakers would surely embrace that price at the pump, not on speculative technology without CAFE standards being (unfounded but loved) conspiracy theory. imposed. Both consumer and manufacturer Some people have access to real data and could split the savings. According to the esti- understand the economic factors at play in the mates of Crandall and Singer, every new GM energy business. I suggest we lean more on customer would incur a net loss of several their expertise when it comes to predicting the hundred dollars under the newly proposed future cost of energy than our limited under- CAFE standard. Their analysis indicates that standing, which often better suits our philoso- the cost of meeting the new standards will phy than reality. outweigh the savings in fuel. And they add David Bird, writing a recent article for a that no country can expand its wealth by Wall Street Journal commodities report, states, employing people in activities that entail “Retail gasoline prices, on average are slightly more costs than benefits. below year ago levels for the first time since Crandall and Singer argue that the free 2001.” However, he reports that in North market should dictate mpg standards not the Dakota gas prices average over $3.12 per gal- government. News from another WSJ article lon because mid west gasoline supplies have titled “GM Crossover Trio Lures Drivers been shorter than usual. North Dakota Gover- Away From Asian-Brand Vehicles” supports nor John Hoeven last week asked the US EPA their position. “General Motors Corp is strug- for an exemption from pollution rules to allow gling to halt declining U.S. sales, but it has a the state to use winter-grade gasoline from bright spot in the three large crossover vehi- Canada rather than to find summer grade cles it launched in the past year.” “The Buick gasoline. Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook each have three rows of seats and look like Gas prices, CAFE, GM, and alternative big SUVs but are lighter, have a smoother fuel? ride, and get better gas mileage than SUVs.” Several bills are working their way “More importantly, the trio is doing some- through Congress that would increase the thing that few other Detroit vehicles can corporate average fuel economy standard achieve these days — they are pulling drivers (CAFE) for cars and light trucks by 4% per from import brands.” year, reaching a target of 35 mpg by 2018. “Dealers say they can’t get enough Aca- According to Robert W. Crandall and Hal J. dias and Enclaves.” “We’re selling them as Singer, writing for the WSJ, Sept 6, 07, to soon as they come off the truck.” bolster support for these new rules CAFE Those in the battery and alternative fuel proponents have issued two studies that pur- business of course know that the bottom line port to show that by increasing the CAFE in sales is cost effectiveness. We still cannot standard to 35 mpg car owners would reap offer cost savings to purchasers of electric savings in excess of the increased cost of the and hybrid cars. If my purpose is to save more fuel efficient and technically advanced money, not the environment, then I can still vehicle. The studies indicate that car manu- save more cash by purchasing a conventional facturers would also reap increased profits. economy car. Have the increased CAFE stan- But in their article Crandall and Singer state dards really helped advance alternative fuel that unfortunately elementary economic prin- cars? (CAFE should not be confused with ciples require one to conclude that both car- CARB standards which deal with emissions.) 2 Oil, no end to new discoveries! eventually this “hard to reach” oil will pay for The moment we run out of oil alternative the investment. Right now, one theory goes, energy transportation schemes will really be some energy investors are not too anxious to big. But it still appears as if we are not going see Caspian Sea petroleum on the market just to run out of oil in the near future. The latest yet. They want to continue to profit from interesting discovery that I happened upon in tighter supplies and higher prices. the August 28th edition of the WSJ pertains to activities in the Caspian Sea region, “hub of Global Warming: anything new? the world’s largest oil development project.” Our September 6th local newspaper fea- The rewards of conquering the Kashagan, tured an interesting letter to the editor written in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea, are by a Leon Czartoryski, from Florence, New potentially huge. The discovery in 2000 was, Jersey, entitled “Assigning blame for global according to the article, the world’s largest oil warming.” According to Leon the major caus- find in thirty years. Production from this new es of global warming are biomass burning and field is expected to produce 1.5 million barrels atmospheric brown clouds, both of which are of crude per day by 2019. not man made. He then goes on to state that However, oil in the Kashagan field is poten- coal mine fires from all over the world (that tially lethal, with high concentrations of cannot be quenched) are the number one sin- hydrogen sulfide gas. Workers in the explo- gle cause. (I personally do not see how Leon ration process carry oxygen tanks and have concludes that such fires are unrelated to regular evacuation drills. High tech boats stand man’s activity.) ready to whisk them to safety. “One breath Then, I have been recently informed by sev- will kill you!” eral knowledgeable friends, there have been The oil is 2.5 miles beneath the seabed numerous reports of people who believe that under pressures 500 times that at sea level. extending daylight savings time has contribut- The sea is frozen over five months of the year.