This new method developed by MIT of splitting water molecules mimics the way photosynthesis works in plants.

“You’ve made your house into a fuel station,” Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT said. “I’ve gotten rid of all the goddamn grids.”

My guess is that we’ll figure out the scalability issues of these imaginative efforts sooner than most can possibly conceive.

Look for cooler heads to prevail as breakthroughs like this continue to cheapen today’s best alternative energy sources.

Is there really a need to rush to “large-scale investments” in current, inefficient technologies?

Now that we’re focused on the solutions and working the problem can we be safe knowing that our efforts will bear fruit sooner than expected? If we ‘re able to get to the Moon in the sixties could we have breakthroughs of this magnitude in the next five years?

Will every windmill we build need to be taken down? This problem is obvious at South Point. The old wind farm remains long after the new wind farm goes into production.

Every single battery we use to store energy will also need to be recycled. Locally, there are two times a year when battery recycling is offered. Throwing your batteries in the landfill is illegal.

“Within two years, you’ll start seeing module designs,” Nocera said. “A lot of my MIT colleagues are raring to go and work on this and they are all engineers and they’re pretty damn good.”

[display_podcast]

Additional Reading

MIT researchers attain solar ‘nirvana’

Cheap Catalyst Could Turn Sunlight, Water Into Fuel

Photo at top by defrost.ca

We have provided testimony and urge you to contact both House and Senate conferees:
House Conferees
Co-Chair Kyle Yamashita  repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov
Co-Chair Marcus Oshiro    repmoshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu    repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov
Rep. Glenn Wakai              repwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov
Rep. Barbara Marumoto    repmarumoto@capitol.hawaii.gov

Senate Conferees
Co-Chair Carol Fukunaga   senfukunaga@capitol.hawaii.gov
Co-Chair Roz Baker           senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sen. Gary Hooser               senhooser@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sen Susanne Chun Oakland  senchunoakland@capitol.hawaii.gov

Here’s some text to cut and paste into an email to send to the above addresses.
Mahalo for taking action.

TITLE:
Testimony In Strong Opposition to SB2829 SD2 HD2

Body:
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee:
I/We strongly opposes
this bill that proposes to automatically repeal numerous tax exemptions
and credits BEFORE they are reviewed by the Department of
Taxation. This bill creates unnecessary uncertainty for businesses and
reinforces the perception that Hawaii is a bad place to do business. It
is being proposed at a time when our state and national economies are
extremely vulnerable.  When the prior HD1 of this bill was
first proposed by the House EDB Committee, it created such concern that
over 100 testimonies were submitted in overwhelming opposition, with
only two testimonies submitted in support.
Credits and Exemptions repealed by this bill that would hurt Hawaii's emerging tech sector include:
·        Renewable energy (e.g., solar and wind) tax credits;
·        Act 88 film, TV and digital media credit
·        Ethanol Facility Tax Credit;
·        General Excise Tax Exemption for federal scientific research contracts.
Other credits, exemptions and exclusions repealed by this bill include:
·        Tax credits to promote the purchase of child passenger restraint systems;
·        General excise tax for aircraft service and maintenance;
·        Low income housing;
·        Credit for school repair and maintenance;
·        The exemption for contracting or services exported out of state.

Given the broad spectrum of credits,
exemptions and exclusions  “on the chopping block” the negative effects
of this measure will substantially raise taxes and will hurt the
pocketbooks of struggling workers in our state and local businesses.

Mahalo

There’s a few stories out there on the Energy Bubble. Is solarpulling the bubble higher?

Energy Bubble Searches at Google

and in the news…

Read some pros and cons here:
Almost: Big Belly Solar Powered Trash Can