Al Gore spoke at the Democratic National Convention and he made several references to the environment and clean renewable energy.
He made reference to the fact that the current regime (and I must call it a 'regime') has not made even a small effort to move forward in time and start looking for alternatives to fossil fuel.
This is not something we should pursue, it is something we must pursue for our sakes and our children's sake.
Our sitting president is an oil man, from an oil family.
He is putting his own fortunes ahead of our futures.
We, the taxpayers of the United States are subsidizing the fossil fuel industry at a rate of over two hundred billion dollars per year.
The fossil fuel subsidies could pay for a new beginning with regard to the use of renewable energy.
Fossil fuel subsidies have no place in our current society.
We must use those funds to provide renewable sources of energy, clean and safe energy.
I'm speaking about solar, wind and water power.
We are subsidizing global warming, pollution and violent weather changes.
As long ago as 1991 we had enough harnessable wind energy in three states to satisfy national electricity needs.
(the three states are North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas) Imagine with the advances in technology what that means today in the year 2008.
This is no longer a 'dream', it is a reality.
We have to give alternative energy the opportunity to work.
If we don' t we are doomed to failure, fossil fuels are not renewable, they are not clean, and they are not cheap.
Read further to see what can and is being done on one or two fronts in this battle.
Recently GE Energy Financial services, a unit of GE (NYSE GE)announced that it is partnering with ACCIONA, a wind farm developer to invest in the Tatanka Wind Farm.
It will be located on the North Dakota, South Dakota border.
The farm will produce enough power to avoid more than 550,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions, when compared to fossil fuel generating facilities.
It will be similar to taking 90,000 cars off the road.
We could get a head start on reducing global warming.
North Dakota has resources available to produce 1,210 billion kilowatt hours annually.
That is the same as 40 percent of United States electricity needs.
North Dakota is the number one state for wind energy potential, South Dakota with 1,030 billion kilowatt hours annually is number four.
Since the Dakotas' has such high wind energy potential and low populations, they could provide wind power for the rest of the midwest.
ACCIONA has a goal of reducing the world's CO2 emissions by 220 million tons in the next 23 years.
ACCIONA Energy has wind farms with over 5,403 megawatts installed across 13 countries.
They built their first American wind turbine production plant in Iowa in January, 2008 to supply their North American development pipeline.
In July, 2008 an issue of Science reported that a new solar concentrator had been created.
The technology involved collecting light over a large area (window pane or other glass opening) and gathering or concentrating it at the edges.
So instead of having a series of solar panels on a roof, the cells needed only to be around the edges of a flat glass panel.
The focused light increases the amount of electrical power from each solar cell by a factor of 40 or more.
The system is not difficult to manufacture, therefore the design team (mostly MIT engineers, professors and graduate students sponsored by the U.
S.
Department of Energy's Office of Science) believes that it could be implemented inside of 3 years.
Dr.
Aravinda Kini, program manager in the Office of Basic Energy Sciences in the U.
S.
Department of Energy, more or less stated that the work proved the importance of innovative basic research to bring about advances in solar energy utilization in a cost effective manner.
The leader of the project Marc A.
Baldo, an associate professor of electrical engineering indicated that solar concentrators currently track the sun to generate high optical intensities, by using large mobile mirrors that are expensive to use and maintain.
The solar cells at the focal point of the mirrors have to be cooled, and the assembly wastes space around the perimeter to avoid shadowing neighboring concentrators.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation as well as the Department of Energy's office mentioned above.
The project has provided a way to use windows in a building not only to provide a clear view and to light rooms, but to also use the sunlight to help power the building they are a part of.
The source of the scientific evidence for this material was University of Missouri Extension and Verimarkets Inc.