Masters Of Reality...
In a tidal wave of surrealism gone wild,
The Masters of reality have imploded,
Proven beyond a shadow of a doubt their fallacies are waste,
Wanton lot they eat their own children,
Biting the hand that feeds them until the fingers fall off,
As they starve in their feeding frenzy,
Only cake is left,
Full of air and chemical nothingness.
Creatures with huge ears and pointed teeth,
Carrying gilded canes and dressed in,
Fool's gold foil suits,
Rents and tears in their façade scream open,
As the world sees the empires with no clothes,
Delusional and not even realizing their own suicide.
Wisps of false gold smoke drift lazily into the sky,
But the rest of us have already left the dream,
Only awaiting a new vision to replace it with.
Their sky may be falling and their ground fallow,
For us it's still the blue above and naked earth below,
We must breathe life back into it,
The sweat of our brows falling into the still-wounded seas,
As we clean up the dreck and wrack of their plutocratic eewtopia,
Becoming human,
Becoming light itself,
Shining brightly upon all the failing shadows.
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 02/18/2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Intergarden - hooking people with garden space & no time up with people who have time but no garden space
I thought you might want to check this out - http://intergarden.ning.com
The idea is to have local persons that are unemployed, underemployed, or retired, or who just want to garden (and have no garden space) hook up with people who have garden space but are too busy working or don't know enough about gardening up with each other. (WOW, is that a long sentence.)
The idea is that the two parties would split the produce 50/50 in exchange for using each other's time/space/skills.
This site is BRAND SPANKING NEW, less than a week, and it is completely free to join. I'm doing this strictly as a community service. (Ning.com will probably get advertising revenue from it, but I personally get nothing but a sense of accomplishment.)
I hope to get the word out in a big way BEFORE the growing season starts.
This is great for busy home owners with sunny back yard space because they can eat fresh organic produce and supplement their grocery budget just by sharing - and be as local food as you can get.
This is great for the impoverished and underemployed because it can increase their food security through their own individual effort - and provide good skills.
This is great for expert vegetable gardeners because they can help pass on their knowledge for the future and do a great service to the community.
If there's any way you can help spread the word about Intergarden, please do so. People are going to need to start some seedlings as early as March, and given the economic climate, this could really help a lot of people.
With gratitude and respect,
Rev. Dan Stafford
Intergarden concept originator
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
Putting the positive back in my posts...
The idea is to have local persons that are unemployed, underemployed, or retired, or who just want to garden (and have no garden space) hook up with people who have garden space but are too busy working or don't know enough about gardening up with each other. (WOW, is that a long sentence.)
The idea is that the two parties would split the produce 50/50 in exchange for using each other's time/space/skills.
This site is BRAND SPANKING NEW, less than a week, and it is completely free to join. I'm doing this strictly as a community service. (Ning.com will probably get advertising revenue from it, but I personally get nothing but a sense of accomplishment.)
I hope to get the word out in a big way BEFORE the growing season starts.
This is great for busy home owners with sunny back yard space because they can eat fresh organic produce and supplement their grocery budget just by sharing - and be as local food as you can get.
This is great for the impoverished and underemployed because it can increase their food security through their own individual effort - and provide good skills.
This is great for expert vegetable gardeners because they can help pass on their knowledge for the future and do a great service to the community.
If there's any way you can help spread the word about Intergarden, please do so. People are going to need to start some seedlings as early as March, and given the economic climate, this could really help a lot of people.
With gratitude and respect,
Rev. Dan Stafford
Intergarden concept originator
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
Putting the positive back in my posts...
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Greed Cult
Too long. It's far too long that the Ivy League "business schools" have been putting monsters in charge of our collective insanity.
There is more on this Earth than all of us could ever need if we lived simply.
There are more resources on rocks circling the sun than we could ever run out of if responsible leadership were leading us out of the cradle instead of into fear-based wars.
Millions of dollars are spent to avoid the slightest contamination of dead, sterile worlds while trillions are spent contaminating the only living world we know.
The cult of greed known as "capitalism" is an even greater and far deadlier failure than its rival, Communism. Neither system works except for a select few, and even for them it will fail if Earth dies.
We need something altogether new. A system of directing human effort that values and sustains and fulfils every human life.
There MUST be something better than just another death cult of greed.
Rev. Dan
There is more on this Earth than all of us could ever need if we lived simply.
There are more resources on rocks circling the sun than we could ever run out of if responsible leadership were leading us out of the cradle instead of into fear-based wars.
Millions of dollars are spent to avoid the slightest contamination of dead, sterile worlds while trillions are spent contaminating the only living world we know.
The cult of greed known as "capitalism" is an even greater and far deadlier failure than its rival, Communism. Neither system works except for a select few, and even for them it will fail if Earth dies.
We need something altogether new. A system of directing human effort that values and sustains and fulfils every human life.
There MUST be something better than just another death cult of greed.
Rev. Dan
Saturday, January 17, 2009
A Little Fun With Technorati.com
I tried to claim this blog with my profile at www.technorati.com , but it appears to have been flagged as a spam blog.
Let me give a huge sarcastic "thank you" to the e-vile Freebie Spammers. They are the demons and trolls of the Blogosphere.
I have requested an Admin review of the First Church from Technorati Support. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon.
Regards,
Rev. Dan
Words are the mind's bridge - its connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - its connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Bringing Community Gardens To Bear On The Global Economic Crisis
Community gardening has a long history all over the globe, dating back earlier than even Roman times. There is an extensive history of community gardening in the USA also.
From the late 1800's through WW-II including the Great Depression, people have relied on gardens in yards and empty lots to feed the hungry and provide useful work for the unemployed. I have seen statistics that stated 44% of all fresh vegetable production in the USA during World war II was produced by over 20 million Victory Gardens.
It is time to consider the use of these techniques as part of the domestic Social Welfare programs, as a supplement and support of the Food Stamp program.
In the Depression-era in California, some interesting local economics occurred. Two organizations called the UCRO and the UXA employed millions in a "credit-for-hours-worked" form of local economies. Additional information can be found here: http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1464 . Coupled with Relief Gardening and the Obama economic platform, there is a good possibility of starting something refreshing and less prone to ggreed and fraud in the US and elsewhere.
Historically, however, the business and political classes have wotked to undermine such efforts through economic policy of the State. This needs to be guarded against and prevented. The use of such programs, integrated with Federal programs to rebuild infrastructure, could well spell a faster and more secure economic recovery in the U.S. - which could then lead to a global recovery.
Some of the opportunities present in today's environment that were lacking during the Depression are the advent of the Internet, complete with wide-open and fast-reaching social media. Public discourse and information-dissemination is no longer one-way, far from it.
It may be possible to create an entirely new global economy that values innovation and labor while limiting incentives to get greedy and take more than a given party needs.
Dan
From the late 1800's through WW-II including the Great Depression, people have relied on gardens in yards and empty lots to feed the hungry and provide useful work for the unemployed. I have seen statistics that stated 44% of all fresh vegetable production in the USA during World war II was produced by over 20 million Victory Gardens.
It is time to consider the use of these techniques as part of the domestic Social Welfare programs, as a supplement and support of the Food Stamp program.
In the Depression-era in California, some interesting local economics occurred. Two organizations called the UCRO and the UXA employed millions in a "credit-for-hours-worked" form of local economies. Additional information can be found here: http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1464 . Coupled with Relief Gardening and the Obama economic platform, there is a good possibility of starting something refreshing and less prone to ggreed and fraud in the US and elsewhere.
Historically, however, the business and political classes have wotked to undermine such efforts through economic policy of the State. This needs to be guarded against and prevented. The use of such programs, integrated with Federal programs to rebuild infrastructure, could well spell a faster and more secure economic recovery in the U.S. - which could then lead to a global recovery.
Some of the opportunities present in today's environment that were lacking during the Depression are the advent of the Internet, complete with wide-open and fast-reaching social media. Public discourse and information-dissemination is no longer one-way, far from it.
It may be possible to create an entirely new global economy that values innovation and labor while limiting incentives to get greedy and take more than a given party needs.
Dan
Sunday, January 04, 2009
My favorite spiritual magazine...
...is Sacred Hoop Magazine.
This magazine is British, published in the UK. It has the utterly wonderful quality of keeping its articles cohesive from start to finish, instead of scattering parts of the article all through the magazine in a vain attempt to force readers to view ads. In fact, I think I look at more of the ads, because I'm not frustrated trying to find the continuation of an article I'm enjoying while not losing the place in the magazine where the article left off and the next one begins.
The subject matter is:
SHAMANISM - HEALING - DREAMING - MYTHS - CEREMONIES - SACRED LIVING
This is a wonderful Earth-based spirituality of a gentle nature, respecting the interconnectedness of all life on Eart, and indeed, throughout the multi-verse.
This magazine is British, published in the UK. It has the utterly wonderful quality of keeping its articles cohesive from start to finish, instead of scattering parts of the article all through the magazine in a vain attempt to force readers to view ads. In fact, I think I look at more of the ads, because I'm not frustrated trying to find the continuation of an article I'm enjoying while not losing the place in the magazine where the article left off and the next one begins.
The subject matter is:
SHAMANISM - HEALING - DREAMING - MYTHS - CEREMONIES - SACRED LIVING
This is a wonderful Earth-based spirituality of a gentle nature, respecting the interconnectedness of all life on Eart, and indeed, throughout the multi-verse.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Lots of spam lately...
...so I've changed the blog e-mail settings here.
Happy Holidays to all.
Rev. Dan
Christmas is coming near again, and a new year will soon arrive. Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and joyful holidays no matter which you celebrate. Let's hope for a new year filled with peace, prosperity, joy, and compassion in 2008.
Happy Holidays to all.
Rev. Dan
Happy Holidays...
Christmas is coming near again, and a new year will soon arrive. Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and joyful holidays no matter which you celebrate. Let's hope for a new year filled with peace, prosperity, joy, and compassion in 2008.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My new sax blog...
... is called "66 Sax" after my 1966 Selmer Bundy tenor sax, "Bello." (Serial number 411559 - and the name is a play on the English word for making a loud noise or yell, and the the Italian word for "handsome.")
You can check it out here: http://66sax.blogspot.com/ - including my healing Earth song, "Pacha Mama Prayer."
Regards and have fun,
Rev. Dan
Saturday, November 15, 2008
What I like about what Pres-elect Obama is saying...
...is that we must meet the challenges that face us TOGETHER.
For too long has the spirit of scarcity-based competition been fostered between our fellow citizens by partisan hacks and bloviators.
When's the last time we paid attention to what is written on the back of every quarter in our pockets; E PLURIBUS UNUM. This means literally, "United we stand."
Then he goes on to make the long-term success of this effort based in cleaning up our energy sources and modernizing them. That is the beating heart of the monster currently poisoning our biosphere.
I like what he says, and I am hoping to match it to what we all DO.
Rev. Dan
For too long has the spirit of scarcity-based competition been fostered between our fellow citizens by partisan hacks and bloviators.
When's the last time we paid attention to what is written on the back of every quarter in our pockets; E PLURIBUS UNUM. This means literally, "United we stand."
Then he goes on to make the long-term success of this effort based in cleaning up our energy sources and modernizing them. That is the beating heart of the monster currently poisoning our biosphere.
I like what he says, and I am hoping to match it to what we all DO.
Rev. Dan
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I am going to actively seek those who believe...
...that it is our spiritual imperative to care for the Earth and act as responsible stewards on Her behalf.
I do not say worship the Earth, I say care for Her.
One of the rather more beautiful events that I attended recently was an inter-faith prayer for peace ceremony at the national headquarters for the Theosophical Society in America.
My wife and I live within an hour's drive of their national headquarters in Wheaton, IL and we were pleased to attend the event.
Each of the attendees was invited to speak on an example of how they'd found peace at some moment in their lives, and to say a prayer for peace from a prayer book filled with prayers from numerous spiritual paths from around the world. I chose a Native American prayer for peace to recite.
We closed the ceremony with a hand-holding circle and a chanted prayer that came to me during my trip to the Cahokia Mounds last year. "Heal the Earth, heal Mankind, in perfect ways, in perfect time." repeated five times.
We also on several occasions have been graced to walk the Labyrinth at the national headquarters in Summer and Winter solstice light ceremonies.
For a poem describing that visit, and the incredible experience I had there, visit HERE.
Blessings and light,
Rev. Dan
I do not say worship the Earth, I say care for Her.
One of the rather more beautiful events that I attended recently was an inter-faith prayer for peace ceremony at the national headquarters for the Theosophical Society in America.
My wife and I live within an hour's drive of their national headquarters in Wheaton, IL and we were pleased to attend the event.
Each of the attendees was invited to speak on an example of how they'd found peace at some moment in their lives, and to say a prayer for peace from a prayer book filled with prayers from numerous spiritual paths from around the world. I chose a Native American prayer for peace to recite.
We closed the ceremony with a hand-holding circle and a chanted prayer that came to me during my trip to the Cahokia Mounds last year. "Heal the Earth, heal Mankind, in perfect ways, in perfect time." repeated five times.
We also on several occasions have been graced to walk the Labyrinth at the national headquarters in Summer and Winter solstice light ceremonies.
For a poem describing that visit, and the incredible experience I had there, visit HERE.
Blessings and light,
Rev. Dan
I See The Spammers Have Been Busy Here Too...
The "Join My Freebie Group" posts via my hacked send-to-post e-mail address have been deleted. I'll try to get more on top of things here as I'm able. It will probably be a little easier now that election season is over, and with such hopeful results.
Let's all pray that we get some concrete action on clean energy, which is at the heart of almost everything that ails us these days.
We indeed live in interesting times. I hope they are kinder than such usually are.
Rev. Dan
Let's all pray that we get some concrete action on clean energy, which is at the heart of almost everything that ails us these days.
We indeed live in interesting times. I hope they are kinder than such usually are.
Rev. Dan
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Opportunities in Midwestern Renewable Energy
Learn how to get the inside track in the race to develop renewable energy in the Midwest
Receive detailed briefings on:
· Renewable initiatives in the Midwest — identifying the opportunities
· Impacts of RPS and other initiatives on project development in the Midwest
· Dealing with transmission issues in the Midwest
· Purchasing and developing renewable energy in the Midwest
· Assessing the financing market for renewable energy projects in the Midwest
Don't Miss the Pre-Summit Workshop:
"Renewable Energy Development & Finance Issues in the Midwest"-- This pre-summit workshop will address specific issues and development "wrinkles" that renewable energy projects are likely to encounter in the Midwest.
EVENT SCHEDULE:
Workshop: Renewable Energy Development & Finance Issues in the Midwest
Monday, October 6, 2008, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Summit: Opportunities in Midwestern Renewable Energy
Tuesday, October 7, 2008, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 9:00 am to 11:45 am
WHERE
Doubletree Hotel Minneapolis Park Place 1500 Park Place Blvd Minneapolis, MN 55416
FEE View Tuition Details
More Event Information
For Want Of A Windmill...
For Want Of A Windmill...
In the 1860's a Jesuit Priest fashioned a whirligig dream,
Grew a business most successful,
'Till the days after WW II spinning water out of the ground,
All started in a little Wisconsin town.
Spin and whirl,
Pretty as a pearl,
Ornate wood or polished steel,
Pretty painted colors the life of many a farmer.
A Chicago company saw the light,
Bought the rights and moved North,
Fairbanks Morse landed in Beloit,
All was well that pumped the well.
In the 1920's an immigrant from Italy,
One Tuscan gentleman of little fame,
Landed and landed a job,
There by the river at Fairbanks Morse.
He found a wife and adopted a baby girl,
My own mother and grandmother,
So Noni cooked and Nono ground metal,
And my Mother married my Dad.
Spin and whirl,
Pretty as a pearl,
Ornate wood or polished steel,
Pretty painted colors the life of many a farmer.
Four children born there on the Rock,
Myself and my siblings all alive,
In the year 2000 I turned to poetry,
And fancied windmills could save the Earth.
I wrote poems of the graceful things,
Took my son to see them,
Blogged of the light and right,
And tilted at windmills for all I was worth.
Only just yesterday I find I'd have never been born nor they,
For want of a windmill in 1867,
The Poet who loves windmills exists because of a windmill,
Simply named Eclipse.
AquarianM
By Daniel A. Stafford
© 09/02/2008
http://www.spearman.org/Eclipsehistory.html
http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html
My Grandfather worked for 44 years at Fairbanks Morse, which would never have located in Beloit, WI if not for the Eclipse windmill. The Eclipse windmill line was arguably the most successful water-pumping windmill in American history, and also served in many locations overseas. My Grandfather very likely would have ended up somewhere else if the Eclipse windmill wasn't invented and made in Beloit - and I and all my brothers and sisters would never have been. How ironic that I have been a promoter of windmills as a large part of the solution to climate crisis these past eight years.Tilting at windmills quite simply suits me.
In the 1860's a Jesuit Priest fashioned a whirligig dream,
Grew a business most successful,
'Till the days after WW II spinning water out of the ground,
All started in a little Wisconsin town.
Spin and whirl,
Pretty as a pearl,
Ornate wood or polished steel,
Pretty painted colors the life of many a farmer.
A Chicago company saw the light,
Bought the rights and moved North,
Fairbanks Morse landed in Beloit,
All was well that pumped the well.
In the 1920's an immigrant from Italy,
One Tuscan gentleman of little fame,
Landed and landed a job,
There by the river at Fairbanks Morse.
He found a wife and adopted a baby girl,
My own mother and grandmother,
So Noni cooked and Nono ground metal,
And my Mother married my Dad.
Spin and whirl,
Pretty as a pearl,
Ornate wood or polished steel,
Pretty painted colors the life of many a farmer.
Four children born there on the Rock,
Myself and my siblings all alive,
In the year 2000 I turned to poetry,
And fancied windmills could save the Earth.
I wrote poems of the graceful things,
Took my son to see them,
Blogged of the light and right,
And tilted at windmills for all I was worth.
Only just yesterday I find I'd have never been born nor they,
For want of a windmill in 1867,
The Poet who loves windmills exists because of a windmill,
Simply named Eclipse.
AquarianM
By Daniel A. Stafford
© 09/02/2008
http://www.spearman.org/Eclipsehistory.html
http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html
My Grandfather worked for 44 years at Fairbanks Morse, which would never have located in Beloit, WI if not for the Eclipse windmill. The Eclipse windmill line was arguably the most successful water-pumping windmill in American history, and also served in many locations overseas. My Grandfather very likely would have ended up somewhere else if the Eclipse windmill wasn't invented and made in Beloit - and I and all my brothers and sisters would never have been. How ironic that I have been a promoter of windmills as a large part of the solution to climate crisis these past eight years.Tilting at windmills quite simply suits me.
Monday, September 01, 2008
What to do about polar bear drownings and arctic sea solar radiation absorption
8 Polar Bears Trying To Swim 400 Miles To Nearest Ice:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1050659/The-heartbreaking-picture-polar-bears-400-miles-swim-nearest-ice.html
DS:
We should be creating artificial "ice islands" by making chains of white floating platforms that can be anchored in place to create open shipping lanes while giving the polar bears places to rest and hunt from. Such platforms could also reflect solar radiation back into space instead of letting it be absorbed into the seawater. This could literally help slow or mitigate many of the impacts of global warming. Such platforms could be inflatable, yet made of tough material the polar bears could climb on. They should be made of a material that will break down naturally in the ocean environment over time rather than traditional plastics, so that they wouldn't contribute to the plastic waste pollution problems in our oceans.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1050659/The-heartbreaking-picture-polar-bears-400-miles-swim-nearest-ice.html
DS:
We should be creating artificial "ice islands" by making chains of white floating platforms that can be anchored in place to create open shipping lanes while giving the polar bears places to rest and hunt from. Such platforms could also reflect solar radiation back into space instead of letting it be absorbed into the seawater. This could literally help slow or mitigate many of the impacts of global warming. Such platforms could be inflatable, yet made of tough material the polar bears could climb on. They should be made of a material that will break down naturally in the ocean environment over time rather than traditional plastics, so that they wouldn't contribute to the plastic waste pollution problems in our oceans.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Gulf Coast Prayers...
Gulf Coast Prayers...
Reading, hearing seeing, dreading.
The weak among us are running for their lives,
The live scattered and broken for three years,
Faded for many of us,
Ignored by the seemingly strongest of us.
The monster Gustav comes howling and all you can do is beg.
Beg the sky to be gentle,
Beg the sea to forgive and rock softly,
Beg God to forgive our errors and protect our brothers and sisters.
This is why many never went back home.
This comes before we're even close to cleaning up the last one.
If we could reach out and pull them North we would.
Pray, pray, pray - for mercy.
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
08/31/2008 - copyright donated to public domain.
Reading, hearing seeing, dreading.
The weak among us are running for their lives,
The live scattered and broken for three years,
Faded for many of us,
Ignored by the seemingly strongest of us.
The monster Gustav comes howling and all you can do is beg.
Beg the sky to be gentle,
Beg the sea to forgive and rock softly,
Beg God to forgive our errors and protect our brothers and sisters.
This is why many never went back home.
This comes before we're even close to cleaning up the last one.
If we could reach out and pull them North we would.
Pray, pray, pray - for mercy.
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
08/31/2008 - copyright donated to public domain.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Ideal Bite: (Heritage) Animal Farm
(Heritage) Animal Farm
Aug 13, 2008
BANG FOR THE BITE
More diverse flavors aside, making space for heritage food on your plate helps keep diverse animal species around - but since they're rare, these meats are tougher to find and can cost a bit more too.
COCKTAIL FACT
The CIA purchased the movie rights to Animal Farm from George Orwell's widow and covertly funded the 1954 animated version as anti-Communist propaganda.
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The Heirloom Seeds Tip
The SF Heritage Turkey Tip
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Will Narragansett turkeys survive, Orwell they go extinct?
The Bite
The Benefits
If we start a heritage foods revolution by eating 'em, they'll stick around (sounds crazy, but by creating a higher demand, it gives farmers more motivation to raise them). Go for meat from farms raising these select heritage breeds instead of conventional 'stock, and you'll help keep biodiversity alive. By, um...George, we think they've got it.
- Benefits that aren't just allegorical fiction. Preserving heritage animals preserves biodiversity - and they may have beneficial genetics (disease resistance, climate adaptability) that more common breeds may not.
- Saving species from total(itarian) extinction. Most livestock originate from just a few breeds. Example: Right now 75% of U.S. pigs come from three main species; about ten others are close to dying out.
- More variety than your 10th-grade required reading. With heritage foods, you'll taste flavors you're not gonna find with conventional meats, which are bred for uniformity.
Personally Speaking
Wanna Try?
Thanks to the rich, almost ducklike flavor of the heritage turkey he bought for Thanksgiving last year, SF Local Bite Editor Mike had the best Thanksgiving leftover-turkey sandwiches ever.
- Schmancier grocery stores (such as Whole Foods) often let you know via signage whether a meat is heritage or not - or try asking your butcher.
- Heritage Foods USA - order select heritage foods online (prices vary).
- American Livestock Breeds Conservancy - find out which species are at risk.
- Slow Food USA - nonprof dedicated to preserving biodiversity in our food.
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Earth Policy News - Raising Energy Efficiency in a New Materials Economy - Part II
Earth Policy Institute Plan B 3.0 Book Byte For Immediate Release August 5, 2008 RAISING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN A NEW MATERIALS ECONOMY - Part II* http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Seg/PB3ch11_ss6b.htm Lester R. Brown There is a vast worldwide potential for cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by reducing the use of materials. This begins with the major metals--steel, aluminum, and copper--where recycling requires only a fraction of the energy needed to produce these metals from virgin ore, and with the recycling and composting of most household garbage. It continues with designing cars, appliances, and other products so they are easily disassembled into their component parts for reuse or recycling. Germany and, more recently, Japan are requiring that products such as automobiles, household appliances, and office equipment be designed for easy disassembly and recycling. In May 1998, the Japanese Diet enacted a tough appliance recycling law, one that prohibits discarding household appliances, such as washing machines, TV sets, or air conditioners. With consumers bearing the cost of disassembling appliances in the form of a disposal fee to recycling firms, which can come to $60 for a refrigerator or $35 for a washing machine, the pressure to design appliances so they can be more easily and cheaply disassembled is strong. Closely related to this concept is that of remanufacturing. Within the heavy industry sector, Caterpillar has emerged as a leader. At a plant in Corinth, Mississippi, it recycles some 17 truckloads of diesel engines a day. These engines, retrieved from Caterpillar’s clients, are disassembled by hand by workers who do not throw away a single component, not even a bolt or screw. Once the engine is disassembled, it is then reassembled with all worn parts repaired. The resulting engine is as good as new. Caterpillar’s remanufacturing division is racking up $1 billion a year in sales and growing at 15 percent annually, contributing impressively to the company’s bottom line. Another emerging industry is airliner recycling. Boeing and Airbus, which have been building jetliners in competition for nearly 40 years, are now vying to see who can dismantle them most efficiently. The first step is to strip the plane of its marketable components, such as engines, landing gear, galley ovens, and hundreds of other items. For a jumbo jet, these key components can collectively sell for up to $4 million. Then comes the final dismantling and recycling of aluminum, copper, plastic, and other materials. The next time around the aluminum may show up in cars, bicycles, or another jetliner. The goal is to recycle 90 percent of the plane, and perhaps one day 95 percent or more. With more than 3,000 airliners already put out to pasture and many more to come, this retired fleet has become the equivalent of an aluminum mine. With computers becoming obsolete every few years as technology advances, the need to be able to quickly disassemble and recycle them is a paramount challenge in building an eco-economy. In Europe, information technology (IT) firms are going into the reuse of computer components big-time. Because European law requires that manufacturers pay for the collection, disassembly and recycling of toxic materials in IT equipment, manufacturers have begun to focus on how to disassemble everything from computers to cell phones. Nokia, for example, has designed a cell phone that will virtually disassemble itself. Patagonia, an outdoor gear retailer, has launched a clothing recycling program beginning with its polyester fiber garments. Patagonia is now recycling not only the polyester garments it sells but also those sold by its competitors. Patagonia estimates that a garment made from recycled polyester, which is indistinguishable from the initial polyester made from petroleum, uses less than one fourth as much energy. With this success behind it, Patagonia is beginning to work on nylon garments and plans also to recycle cotton and wool clothing. In addition to measures that encourage the recycling of materials, there are those that encourage the reuse of products such as beverage containers. Finland, for example, has banned the use of one-way soft drink containers. Canada’s Prince Edward Island has adopted a similar ban on all nonrefillable beverage containers. The result in both cases is a sharply reduced flow of garbage to landfills. A refillable glass bottle used over and over requires about 10 percent as much energy per use as an aluminum can that is recycled. Cleaning, sterilizing, and re-labeling a used bottle requires little energy compared with recycling cans made from aluminum, which has a melting point of 660 degrees Celsius (1,220 degrees Fahrenheit). Banning nonrefillables is a quintuple win option--cutting material use, carbon emissions, air pollution, water pollution, and garbage flow to landfills. There are also substantial transport fuel savings, since the refillable containers are simply back-hauled by delivery trucks to the original bottling plants or breweries for refilling. Another increasingly attractive option for cutting CO2 emissions is to discourage energy-intensive but, to use a World War II term, nonessential industries. The gold and bottled water industries are prime examples. The annual global production of 2,500 tons of gold requires the processing of 500 million tons of ore, more than one third the amount of virgin ore used to produce steel each year. One ton of steel requires the processing of two tons of ore. For one ton of gold, in stark contrast, the figure is 200,000 tons of ore. Processing 500 million tons of ore consumes a huge amount of energy--and emits as much CO2 as 5.5 million cars. >From a climate point of view, it is very difficult to justify bottling water, often tap water to begin with, hauling it long distance and selling it for outlandish prices. Clever marketing, designed to undermine public confidence in the safety and quality of municipal water supplies, has convinced many consumers that bottled water is safer and healthier than what they can get from their faucets. However, in the United States and Europe there are more standards regulating the quality of tap water than of bottled water. For people in developing countries where water is unsafe, it is far cheaper to boil or filter water than to buy it in bottles. Manufacturing the nearly 28 billion plastic bottles used to package water in the United States alone requires 17 million barrels of oil. Including the energy for hauling 1 billion bottles of water every two weeks from bottling plants to supermarkets or convenience stores for sale, sometimes covering hundreds of kilometers, and the energy needed for refrigeration, the U.S. bottled water industry consumes roughly 50 million barrels of oil per year. The good news is that people are beginning to see how climate-disruptive this industry is. Mayors of U.S. cities are realizing that they are spending millions of taxpayer dollars to buy bottled water for their employees--water that costs 1,000 times as much as the readily available tap water. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has banned the use of city funds to purchase bottled water in city buildings, on city property, and at any events sponsored by the city. Cities following a similar strategy include Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and St. Louis. (See additional examples at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2007/Update68_data.htm.) Raising energy efficiency to offset projected growth in energy demand is an essential component of the Plan B blueprint to cut net CO2 emissions 80 percent by 2020, thus halting the rise in atmospheric CO2 and helping keep future temperature rise to a minimum. (See blueprint at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/80by2020.htm.) Reducing materials use through the measures outlined here will help us attain this goal, moving the world closer to temperature stability. * Go to http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Seg/PB3ch11_ss6a.htm to read Part I of Raising Energy Efficiency in a New Materials Economy. # # # Adapted from Chapter 11, “Raising Energy Efficiency,” in Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), available for free downloading and purchase at www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm For information contact: Media Contact: Reah Janise Kauffman Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 12 E-mail: rjk (at) earthpolicy.org Research Contact: Janet Larsen Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 14 E-mail: jlarsen (at) earthpolicy.org Earth Policy Institute 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 403 Washington, DC 20036 Web: www.earthpolicy.org
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Earth Policy News - Solar Thermal Power Coming to a Boil
Earth Policy Institute Plan B Update For Immediate Release July 22, 2008 SOLAR THERMAL POWER COMING TO A BOIL http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update73.htm Jonathan G. Dorn After emerging in 2006 from 15 years of hibernation, the solar thermal power industry experienced a surge in 2007, with 100 megawatts of new capacity coming online worldwide. During the 1990s, cheap fossil fuels, combined with a loss of state and federal incentives, put a damper on solar thermal power development. However, recent increases in energy prices, escalating concerns about global climate change, and fresh economic incentives are renewing interest in this technology. Considering that the energy in sunlight reaching the earth in just 70 minutes is equivalent to annual global energy consumption, the potential for solar power is virtually unlimited. With concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) capacity expected to double every 16 months over the next five years, worldwide installed CSP capacity will reach 6,400 megawatts in 2012--14 times the current capacity. (See data at http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update73_data.htm#table1.) Unlike solar photovoltaics (PVs), which use semiconductors to convert sunlight directly into electricity, CSP plants generate electricity using heat. Much like a magnifying glass, reflectors focus sunlight onto a fluid-filled vessel. The heat absorbed by the fluid is used to generate steam that drives a turbine to produce electricity. Power generation after sunset is possible by storing excess heat in large, insulated tanks filled with molten salt. Since CSP plants require high levels of direct solar radiation to operate efficiently, deserts make ideal locations. Two big advantages of CSP over conventional power plants are that the electricity generation is clean and carbon-free and, since the sun is the energy source, there are no fuel costs. Energy storage in the form of heat is also significantly cheaper than battery storage of electricity, providing CSP with an economical means to overcome intermittency and deliver dispatchable power. The United States and Spain are leading the world in the development of solar thermal power, with a combined total of over 5,600 megawatts of new capacity expected to come online by 2012. Representing over 90 percent of the projected new capacity by 2012, the output from these plants would be enough to meet the electrical needs of more than 1.7 million homes. The largest solar thermal power complex in operation today is the Solar Electricity Generating Station in the Mojave Desert in California. Coming online between 1985 and 1991, the 354-megawatt complex has been producing enough power for 100,000 homes for almost two decades. In June 2007, the 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One plant became the first multi-megawatt commercial CSP plant to come online in the United States in 16 years. Today, more than a dozen new CSP plants are being planned in the United States, with some 3,100 megawatts expected to come online by 2012. (See data at http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update73.htm#table6.) Some impressive CSP projects in the planning stages include the 553-megawatt Mojave Solar Park in California, the 500-megawatt Solar One and 300-megawatt Solar Two projects in California, a 300-megawatt facility in Florida, and the 280-megawatt Solana plant in Arizona. In Spain, the first commercial-scale CSP plant to begin operation outside the United States since the mid-1980s came online in 2007: the 11-megawatt PS10 tower. The tower is part of the 300-megawatt Solúcar Platform, which, when completed in 2013, will contain ten CSP plants and produce enough electricity to supply 153,000 homes while preventing 185,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. All told, more than 60 plants are in the pipeline in Spain, with 2,570 megawatts expected to come online by 2012. Economic and policy incentives are partly responsible for the renewed interest in CSP. The incentives in the United States include a 30-percent federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar through the end of 2008, which has good prospects for being extended, and Renewable Portfolio Standards in 26 states. California requires that utilities get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and Nevada requires 20 percent by 2015, with at least 5 percent from solar power. The primary incentive in Spain is a feed-in tariff that guarantees that utilities will pay power producers €0.26 (40¢) per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by CSP plants for 25 years. In the southwestern United States, the cost of electricity from CSP plants (including the federal ITC) is roughly 13–17¢ per kilowatt-hour, meaning that CSP with thermal storage is competitive today with simple-cycle natural gas-fired power plants. The U.S. Department of Energy aims to reduce CSP costs to 7–10¢ per kilowatt-hour by 2015 and to 5–7¢ per kilowatt-hour by 2020, making CSP competitive with fossil-fuel-based power sources. Outside the United States and Spain, regulatory incentives in France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal are expected to stimulate the installation of 3,200 megawatts of CSP capacity by 2020. China anticipates building 1,000 megawatts by that time. Other countries developing CSP include Australia, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. (See map at http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update73_data.htm#fig7.) Using CSP plants to power electric vehicles could further reduce CO2 emissions and provide strategic advantages by relaxing dependence on oil. In Israel, a tender issued by the Ministry for National Infrastructures for the construction of CSP plants and a 19.4¢ per kilowatt-hour feed-in tariff for solar power systems are sparking interest in developing up to 250 megawatts of CSP in the Negev Desert. This would produce enough electricity to run the 100,000 electric cars that Project Better Place, a company focused on building an electric personal transportation system, is planning to put on Israeli roads by the end of 2010. A study by Ausra, a solar energy company based in California, indicates that over 90 percent of fossil fuel–generated electricity in the United States and the majority of U.S. oil usage for transportation could be eliminated using solar thermal power plants--and for less than it would cost to continue importing oil. The land requirement for the CSP plants would be roughly 15,000 square miles (38,850 square kilometers, the equivalent of 15 percent of the land area of Nevada). While this may sound like a large tract, CSP plants use less land per equivalent electrical output than large hydroelectric dams when flooded land is included, or than coal plants when factoring in land used for coal mining. Another study, published in Scientific American in January 2008, proposes using CSP and PV plants to produce 69 percent of U.S. electricity and 35 percent of total U.S. energy, including transportation, by 2050. CSP plants on less than 0.3 percent of the desert areas of North Africa and the Middle East could generate enough electricity to meet the needs of these two regions plus the European Union. Realizing this, the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation--an initiative of The Club of Rome, the Hamburg Climate Protection Foundation, and the National Energy Research Center of Jordan--conceived the DESERTEC Concept in 2003. This plan to develop a renewable energy network to transmit power to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa calls for 100,000 megawatts of CSP to be built throughout the Middle East and North Africa by 2050. Electricity delivery to Europe would occur via direct current transmission cables across the Mediterranean. Taking the lead in making the concept a reality, Algeria plans to build a 3,000-kilometer cable between the Algerian town of Adrar and the German city of Aachen to export 6,000 megawatts of solar thermal power by 2020. If the projected annual growth rate of CSP through 2012 is maintained to 2020, global installed CSP capacity would exceed 200,000 megawatts--equivalent to 135 coal-fired power plants. With billions of dollars beginning to flow into the CSP industry and U.S. restrictions on carbon emissions imminent, CSP is primed to reach such capacity. # # # For more information on Earth Policy Institute’s goal of 200,000 MW of CSP worldwide, part of a plan to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2020, see Chapters 11-13 in Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, available at www.earthpolicy.org for free downloading. For information contact: Media Contact: Reah Janise Kauffman Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 12 E-mail: rjk (at) earthpolicy.org Research Contact: Janet Larsen Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 14 E-mail: jlarsen (at) earthpolicy.org Earth Policy Institute 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 403 Washington, DC 20036 Web: www.earthpolicy.org
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