In 1908, this Model-T automobile cost $850. It is fascinating to learn the cost of items years ago, in what looked like the good-old-days to us. Economic historians help us compare yesteryears cost to today’s value through use of an online calculator at MeasuringWorth.com.   Those who could afford this new invention in mobility were the wealthiest consumers, spending today’s equivalent of $20,000 for this first and only luxury vehicle.  That same vehicle was exponentially out of reach for the unskilled wage-earners who must work harder & longer to earn the equivalent value of $89,000. In 1925, with the perfection of the assembly line and increased supply, Ford was able to lower the sales price to $290, making the automobile truly affordable, then.

Striving to become energy self-sufficient includes consideration for mobility – how will we get around? Fortunately, purchasing a vehicle for $850 is still available, as quality risks are accepted.  There are other externalities to vehicle ownership that tilt today’s percentage of income spent far beyond that of the good-old-days.  

Cost estimates are conservative in the following table. Still, a large portion of income is consumed by fuel.

Before security measures, road taxes, and other regulations, the 1925 model consumed 15% of the average income. Today’s model requires considerably more. What would be the effect on vehicle ownership for the unskilled wage-earners? We used to know these employees as teenagers who work in the service industry. Increasingly, these are becoming the middle-aged, career-transitioned employees with families. Making the choice not to spend on luxury – any vehicle, becomes easier.

Can we expect to be living like people did back in the old days, when a car in the family meant fairly significant wealth and was only used for special occasions?

Last night I got a “crash course” in our energy, economic and environmental crises.   At the end was a preparedness sheet that was supposedly designed to help me be “ready” for the madness and mayhem that is most assuredly going to be a reality in the near term.   Having cut my teeth in my professional career doing failure modes and effects criticality analyses on complex military systems,  I was more than a little taken aback by this supposed well intentioned soul’s messages.   It felt more like crying FIRE in a crowded theater.   The “crash course” was long on analysis and very short on reasonable action that we can and should be taking ANYHOW to make sure we are prepared for anything.

Lets take a look at some of the elements of the preparedness sheet:

1. Basic living supplies - YES - we all should have a stock pile of food at the ready in the event of ANY disaster.    Six months suffices to get you to a growing season where you can replenish your supplies.   Don’t have the skills to grow your own?   Believe me, you’ll develop those skills FAST if you need them.   I went on a kick to become food self-sufficient - it took me less than one growing season.  And I had a brown thumb before I started.

2. Financial Liquidity - having gone through three banking crises in the past 12 months, I can speak with some authority on this one.  Just what is financial liquidity and how much of it do you really need?  Make sure you have several hundred dollars cash on hand - enough to cover groceries and gas until you can get at your money.   My main bank went under when I was in Hawaii.  They were shut down on a Friday and I had no access to my funds until Monday.  This meant I could not return my rental car as I had no way of paying for it.  It also meant that I could not pay for anything else.   They shut down with no warning so I did not even take out any cash ahead of time.   Luckily I was with friends who’s bank had not gone under.  And luckily I had developed good enough rapport with my friends that they covered my expenses for the weekend until we could clear up matters on Monday.   NOW, I never leave home without several hundred dollars of emergency cash on me, at least $3000 in travelers check, a pre-paid debit card with at least a $5000 balance, and have three banks where I keep at least $10,000 in cash reserves.    If you want to get precious metals, I know folks who install fire proof safes in the floors in their garages where they then park a car over.   If you are going to go the precious metal route as a way to increase your financial liquidity - make sure that you purchase a silver as well as gold coins.  And make sure YOU are the one who takes posession of the coins - NOT a third party broker.  ALSO, it is far better to store the coins in your own safe than in a safety deposit box at the bank.  You are after all procuring the precious metals for this reason in the event there is a systemic banking failure and the banks go under.   Why keep the coins at place where you won’t be able to access them precisely when you most need them?

3. Becoming friends with people within one mile of your house.   This is a good idea for a number of reasons that have more to do with just survival - it can increase the quality of your life to have good friends in your day to day life.   But just how do you go about making friends with the people who live within one mile of your house?   DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.   Yes, a lot of people run small local operations.  For example, if one of your neighbors runs a small grocery store.  Think about shopping exclusively at their store - EVEN if they charge a bit more than the super store a few miles more down the road.   This is pretty basic stuff.   Get to know what they do and how you can support their efforts (and get the help and supplies you need for your basic living).  It’s far better to be generous with your time and money when it comes to making friends with the people within closest proximity to where you live.

4.  Energy rationing - Create your own energy where it makes sense for you to do this.  Have back up transportation plans that you can use if your preferred mode of transportation is not available.   Decide where you want to spend your money.  For example, right now with gas at $3 per gallon, and a car that gets 21 miles to the gallon, you can drive 7 miles for a buck.   That seems pretty darn good.  What is within 7 miles from your house?  How often do you need to go there?   You could walk there in less than two hours, ride your bike there in under an hour, or jump in your car and be there in less than 15 minutes.    How much would gas have to go up for you to seriously consider the walking or the biking option to a place within 7 miles of your house?

Be smart, not scared.  If you feel scared by something you read on someone’s website or see on the news - consider why the person who wrote it is trying to scare you?  What are they attempting to do with their message?    Stop and think about what you could do if the worst case scenario they are proposing did in fact happen.   Then go collect your own data to access what the actual chances are of the worst case scenario happening to you in your situation.

“Energy is a national security issue !” Now, there is a commercial to help deliver real impact in energy self-sufficiency awareness.

The message has to be heard many times before it grabs attention and action. Though we never grow weary of heralding forth this message through demonstration and training, this commercial delivers a concise sound bite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM469pTUGq4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQcICyynEgo

This is a good 2-minute measure of information for any audience. Click to view: Cheetah Power Offers An Energy Independence Course!

Energy Independence SWOT Analysis

1. Most of us are “The Doobees.” We diligently follow the old plan of scrimping and saving to afford a less stressful and fulfilling retirement. However, the economic crisis of 2008 taught us the Weakness of building a nest egg of money.

2. Doobees face economic Threats such as stock market instability and job loss. We also hope you see that our dependence on energy threatens our national security: wars, oil prices, struggle over declining resources, even anxiety at supermarkets when power outages occur.

a. Feeling threatened causes a system of reactions, not the least of which is the clamor for gainful employment to sustain ourselves. Therefore, Cheetahs express gratitude to all greeters at big box stores! But, we know most people do not make that job a goal in their overall career plan; those jobs are limited.

b. Taking the bus, or any public transportation might actually be the preferred mode of travel if you live in an area that has a reliable and convenient public transportation system.   Most people do not and rely on their cars to get them from point A to point B.    As the price of gas goes up, using your own individual car to get you from point A to point B becomes more expensive.   People will have to made tradeoffs with where they choose to live and affordable access to employment and services.   Many people don’t want to live in or near cities where public transportation is a viable option.     Becoming energy self-sufficient means you choose the lifestyle that is right for you rather than having a lifestyle choice forced on you for economic reasons due to lack of planning.

3.     Cheetahs want you to share our vision and become “The Jones.” They scrimped and saved for their golden years, too. Intuitively, they could see the weakening value of money and began researching Opportunities. It occurred to them that they could be investing in something today that would be more valuable to them than money, later.

4. Learning is Strength! Find out how to add power to your power.  View Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQcICyynEgo

Alaska Electric Light and Power recorded a drop in electricity usage of nearly 40 percent between mid-April, when the avalanche took place, and the end of May.

What is our motivation to better use electricity? Answer: absolute necessity. Have you considered why many European cities are more advanced than the US in this sustainability movement? Again, absolute necessity as many European countries charge by the peak demand.  Europeans have to select how much electrical power they will use.  The rates increase dramatically going from 3kw to 5kw peak demand.  Considering most dryers use 5kw, it’s no wonder Europeans prefer the solar dryer (the clothesline).  We can see some similarities in the Alaskan lifestyle.

While living within the breathtaking landscape, South East Alaskan citizens are encouraged to use innovative technologies and make adjustment to their own energy behavior to help the region live within the capabilities of their existing hydroelectric power plant capacities or risk paying exorbitantly high electrical rates from electricity created by diesel power generators.

Juneau, Alaska got a wake up call regarding just how crucial it’s inexpensive hydroelectric power was when an avalanche rendered it unavailable in April 2008.   Overnight, Juneau’s 30,000 residents saw their electrical bills increase by a factor of 5 as the town had to rely on it’s back up diesel generator’s to create the power that it needed.  This scene is replayed throughout communities in Southeast Alaska every winter as electrical power companies have to supplement the power to their customers.  The hydroelectric plants lose some capability because of freezing water flow just at the time when the residents need for electricity increases due to the much shorter daylight hours.

It was amazing that Juneau’s 30,000 residents were able to decrease their energy consumption by 40% in just two weeks (http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2008/06/18/powering-down-in-juneau/).  And there was nothing “virtuous” about their actions.  It was all economics.   Many of Southeast Alaska residents make the lionshare of their income from May to September and primarily live off their earnings the remainder of the year.  Come April, their bank accounts are pretty lean.   They certainly felt a 5x increase in their electric bills far more acutely than they would have had it happened another time of the year.   They were able to decrease their electrical use by things we have all been admonished to do - but most of us just never really take it that seriously.  When an electric bill most often represents less than 5% of an average wage earner’s  monthly take home pay, and that is with no conservation measures, where is the incentive to really save?   Jump that to 25% of a person’s monthly take home pay, and there are plenty of reasons to conserve.

And conserve they did - Juneau was able to reduce it’s electrical usage by 40%.  They took the standard measures of unplugging electronics when not in use, converting to compact fluorescent bulbs, better insulating their hot water heaters and using less hot water.   But the town also realized that they were wasting a tremendous amount of electricity in the pumps to move water - for purification, delivery, sewage treatment.   By encouraging people to conserve water, they actually made substantial reductions in the town electricity required.

This was not a public service announcement campaign.  Each and every citizen of Juneau was incentivized to use less energy because the cost of creating it had become more than what they were willing to pay.   Basic supply and demand economics at work.

I am doing my first presentation on what I’ve been doing with Cheetah Power tomorrow night (Dec. 14, 2009) at the Puget Sound PMI Chapter meeting. The presentation starts at 7:45 PM at the Bellevue Hyatt.

I have been working the alternative energy scenarios on my Connecticut property this past year.  When I started, the State of Connecticut was no longer doing the individual incentives for solar power.  While I was in the process of installing a 6kw solar system, they reinstated their program.   I put my project on hold, applied for the rebate and was awarded a $9071 rebate for my 6KW system based on the amount of energy it’s going to generate (which is pretty close to 9071 KWH per year).

To increase the amount of power my panels were going to create and get the maximum rebate possible, I had to chop down one tree (in a stand of about ten other trees).  Small price to pay.

I reran my payback analysis figures based on today’s scenario.  It came out that they system would pay for itself in 15 years.  The expected system life is 25 years.  I will keep the house until the market goes back up within the next 20 years (it’s bound to happen - CT has experienced two real estate “corrections” of this magnitude in the past 30 years).   This is still the best place to park my money for creating a retirement nest egg.

It is going to cost me a little over $28k to install the 6kw solar system.   Based on what else I could be doing with that money, this will generate a 4.5 x better return over 20 years than anything else I could be doing with my money right now.   Even the safest place to park your money - US Treasuries adjusted to keep up with inflation - the solar panels still generate a 2.3 x better investment.

This is a resource link to the large Wind Farms in the U.S. Amazing how many there are now!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_farms_in_the_United_States

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

Wind Power in Rural Alaska

I have been doing a wind feasibility study on a property in Alaska since April for a small 5kw wind mill I want to install for basic home use.   I have another piece of property that could be a potential location for small community wind farm.   After studying what else is going on in Alaska and talking with folks in the power industry up here, it appears the largest impediment to these small rural Alaskan wind farms is not the funding as the state has already approved $50 million in funding per year, but it is the land that needs to be set aside to create the wind farm.  Well that problem is solved in my location, because I own it.   So, now it’s onto evaluating the feasibility of that location for wind power.  

Here are some links I’ve been studying to get smarter on a community wind farm in rural alaska:

1. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Economics of Wind Power Report - Feb. 2005

2.  The Annual Report on US Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends, 2006. 

It doesn’t appear there has been another “annual” report issued by the Department of Energy. 

3.  State of Alaska calls for more rural wind farms - Jan. 28, 2009 - Anchorage Daily News

Some key points:

• AK plans to spend $100 million on wind farms to bring down rural electric rates that are being driven up by the price of diesel for diesel generators.  
• Reduction in the price of electricity is 15% from the wind energy projects.
• Alaska Energy Authority is slated to spend $50 million per year in renewable energy projects around the state. 
• Getting permission to use the land and the building permits appears to hold up the process for many of these rural wind farms.
• The existing wind farms have reduced the use of diesel generated electricity by up to 50,000 gallons per year.

I’ve been extremely busy both implementing my own energy independence projects and creating a course to teach others how to do the same (the reason for the lack of blog posts over the past couple of months).   My Connecticut solar energy project is well under way with the site location marked out.   It is on delay for about a month for a VERY GOOD reason - the state of Connecticut has reinstituted it’s rebate program and we have to wait until July 1 to apply.   It reduces the cost of the install by almost $8000 - a SIGNIFICANT savings.   Our wind energy project in Alaska is right on track to install a 5kw Helix Wind Turbine.   We have done the site analysis, selected and prepared the location, ordered the windmill and scheduled training for the installation.   The Nevada sites are doing well  - one location is complete on the energy reduction implementation and the other one that is employs a passive solar design is still in the construction stage - a great place to be to input the systems right from the get go.

The Project Energy Indpendence course stemmed out of what I have learned on my journey to become Energy Independent.    I combined Cheetah’s award winning accelerated learning principles and project management methodology to get people successfully up and running with their  own energy independence projects in 35 hours.  The 35 hour online instructor led, Project Energy Independence course is based on four learning objectives:

1. Learn how to accurately assess current energy usage patterns.

2. Determine how to align energy use with actual needs.

3. Develop options for powering your life (includes a complete assessment of the wide assortment of energy alternatives).

4. Learn how to effectively and efficiently implement your energy independence projects.

The Project Energy Independence course is designed for both people who are new to the idea of becoming energy independent AND for people who have to help others become energy independent as it creates a very simple format to walk people through all the steps on becoming energy independent.

For people reviewing this course on the blog, use the promotion code IndependenceNOW - and get $100 off the price of the course.   The promotion code is good until July 31, 2009.

Back Yard Micro Refueling Station for Ethanol - 350 gallons of Sugar create 35 gallons of fuel per week.

E-Fuel Corporation, a Silicon Valley startup, has created a backyard refueling station that looks about as difficult as making beer. Okay - maybe easier than making beer as it doesn’t require all the vessel transfers. It uses water, sugar, and yeast to create ethanol. It takes ten gallons of sugar (unusual measurement for a dry product) to create one gallon of ethanol. Over a week, the system can create 35 gallons of fuel. This means you’d have to have 350 gallons of sugar on hand on a weekly basis to create the ethanol. Where do you store all that sugar? What I do really like about this though is that this is set up for the individual to create their own fuel. They are selling these now, but delivery is not until fourth quarter this year. For just $9995 you can have your own ethanol back yard refueling station.

I love the name of this one - the Freedom Fueler. It’s the home biodiesel maker. You just need to collect waste oil from your local fry house. They have several different models - the entry level one is $3495 and can produce 40 gallons of fuel with just 30 minutes of effort. With 80 gallons of waste oil and 22 gallons of methanol, you produce 80 gallons of biodiesel with a by product of 22 gallons of glycerin. Glycerin is used in hand lotions, and in creating nitroglycerin (the explosive). Additionally, biodiesel has a high clouding temperature and is not suitable for use in cold climates without putting in a winterizing additive or blending it with diesel oil.

My ideal is to have an algae biofuel system that can create 35 gallons per day of algae biofuel from a small back yard system. In my ideal system, you grow your own algae and have the compressor set up to automatically create the fuel. Considering algae doubles in size every day, you’d have to get the right strain that would grow the best for your area. The ability to do this is much further away than fourth quarter this year so I might go with this micro fuel system first while the algae biofuel technology becomes more developed.   There are varying levels of success so far with algae biodiesel, yet tremendous research is happening on this front - Ames Laboratory is testing out an idea that would produce 10,000 gallons of algae biodiesel per year on just 1 acre of land.  If they are successful, a smaller scale back yard operation producing the amount of fuel a small family needs to heat their home and fuel their vehicles is possible.