Solarcarandtractor.com is about exploring the promise and limitations of a solar electric future for supplying two huge energy requirements, transportation and agriculture, now provided for almost entirely by oil and all forms of petrofuel derivatives. Energy, in all its forms, supports all life on Earth. Except for nuclear, tidal, and geothermal, our primary energy source has been, and will always be, from incoming solar radiation. Will this be enough to power our cars and tractors?
PORTLAND, Maine—Maine should streamline its regulatory review process for wind power projects while protecting important scenic areas from the visual impacts of wind farms, according to a draft report on wind power’s future in Maine.
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The Gov.’s Task Force on Wind Power plans to deliver the final version of its report to Gov. John Baldacci this week. It hopes to have the Legislature put the plan into law before the current legislative session ends in April.
The report aims to serve a road map on where in the state wind farms should be encouraged and how they should be regulated.
AUGUSTA (NEWS CENTER) — Some Maine lawmakers say it’s time for the state to take control of rising energy costs. But they say that can’t happen as long as Maine remains in its energy agreement with other New England states.
Business leaders and a bi-partisan group of state lawmakers gathered at the Statehouse Tuesday to say Maine is getting a bad deal by being part of the ISO New England Regional Energy Compact.
They say Maine generates more power than it uses and should be reaping the benefits.
Instead, ISO is raising its rates for Maine in order to pay for infrastructure and energy generation in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Tuesday’s hearing opened on several bills that set the groundwork for the state to break away from ISO, or at least give it more bargaining power to get a better deal.
There is a growing sense of urgency to this issue. Maine’s agreement with ISO expires next year, at which time the state can break free or renew the deal.
WCSH6.com
SACO, Maine—A 100-foot wind turbine has been hoisted into place in Saco, where it will provide power to a new train station the city is building.
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The windmill will generate 90 kilowatt hours per year and is billed as the first mid-size turbine to be erected in Maine.
Saco City Councilor Eric Cote said the turbine cost $200,000 and should pay for itself in about 12 years. The city plans to install another wind turbine this year at the middle school.
The new train station for the Downeaster passenger train is expected to be open later this year.
Boston.com
CALAIS, Maine — A group of developers looking to build a liquefied natural gas facility on a stretch of Calais shoreline spent the past week promoting the project, though it remains in the planning stages.
Rep. Ian Emery, R-Cutler, has partnered with Arthur Gelber, a Houston-based LNG consultant, and Carl Myers, a retired utility executive from Pennsylvania, to form Calais LNG Project Co.
Gelber and Emery said in an interview Tuesday that they want to build Calais LNG in order to expand the natural gas market in Maine, especially at a time when fuel prices are so high.
BDN Article here
January 18, 2008 — On January 15, Terry Moran interviewed President Bush in Saudi Arabia on ABC’s Nightline. When asked what he might say to the King of Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, George Bush responded, “If they don’t have a lot of additional oil to put on the market, it is hard to ask somebody to do something they may not be able to do.” Nightline Presidential Interview
According to Gail Tverberg, writing as Gail the Actuary of TheOilDrum.com, “If Saudi Arabia doesn’t have that much additional oil to put on the market, the veracity of what Saudi Arabia has been saying about extra capacity is brought into question.” More importantly, it starts raising questions about Saudi Arabia’s true long-term oil production capability. Can Saudi Arabia really ramp up oil production in the future? Are the high reserves posted by Saudi Arabia and other Middle-Eastern countries really indicative of high future production capability?
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine land use regulators voted unanimously to approve TransCanada’s wind-power project in western Maine, but rejected a second poject by another group that had been scaled back after being turned down a year ago.
The Land Use Regulation Commission voted to allow a 44-turbine project near the Canadian border in Franklin County, saying TransCanada Maine Wind Development’s application answered its concerns that roads would be built properly, and birds and bats would be protected.
Commissioners also said the developer’s project would not present the same kind of intrusion on the highlands scenery as the project proposed by Maine Mountain Power, whose 18-turbine project south of TransCanada’s was turned down by a 4-2 vote earlier in the day.
“It doesn’t rise to the same level of uniqueness,” said Commissioner Gwen Hilton. “The (TransCanada) wind farm fits better with the landscape,” which she said features rolling hills that are lower than those where Maine Mountain wanted to put its windmills.
How To
Get 100 Gallons Of Heating Oil For Free
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants to give you 100 gallons of free heating oil to help survive the cold cruel capitalist winter. The hogshead of liquid warmth is available to anyone enduring a financial hardship who fills out a handy online form.
Eligibility is determined with two questions: First, do you live in one of these 16 states?
Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, Alaska, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana.
Second, do you need the oil? Need is relative, but if you have a family and make less than $40,000, you probably qualify. Citizens Energy, which administers the program, evaluates each application on a case-by-case basis and issues eligible applicants a voucher redeemable for 100 gallons of CITGO heating oil.
It’s almost sweet of our communist friends to shove the inequalities and harsh realities of capitalism in our faces with a program that actually helps people pay for an increasingly unwieldy cost of living expense.
For more information, call Citizens Energy at: (877) 563-4645
“A new electrical transmission line linking eastern Maine and Canada is up and running, and it could be the next step in creating an energy partnership between the state and its neighbor to the north.
The 145-mile Northeast Reliability Interconnect line links a Bangor Hydro-Electrical Co. substation in Orrington with a New Brunswick Power nuclear power plant in Point Lepreau, N.B., and is Maine’s second cross-border transmission corridor”
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ A leading Maine economist says a recession appears likely for the state and the country this year.
At his annual economic forecast, Charles Colgan told Portland-area business leaders on Wednesday that Maine’s economy is on “thin ice” because of high energy prices, the housing slump, rising unemployment, and the mortgage crisis.
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