Energy independence for Maine
Maine has the potential to become energy independent. We have large areas of wood, great wind and much hydro potential. We can power our homes and businesses with in state energy supplies, creating new businesses and jobs for our citizens and stopping the export of our wealth to foreign countries.
While I watch the political debate about offshore drilling, I am simply disappointed with both candidates and the citizenry that seems to be supporting this line of politics. Despite what anyone says, we cannot drill our way back to cheap energy, and any new domestic offshore supply will have no effect on current requirements and only very minimal effect on any future needs. This doesn't mean that the drilling shouldn't occur, only that it will have no effect on supply or pricing.
We MUST develop alternate energy sources for our future needs. Oil will certainly be an important part of our future but it cannot remain the dominant fuel of choice that it currently is.
Here in Maine, we have the ability to heat our homes with wood and electric. Wood pellets and regular firewood supplies both need to be expanded and can provide a tremendous business opportunity for many Mainers. Land use policies need to be reconsidered to preserve woodland for our energy needs. Our current zoning in many areas encourages sprawl where many large lots are cut into 5 acre or smaller parcels effectively taking it out of commercial wood harvest. Cluster development would preserve large areas of land for both wood and agriculture and also allow a central pick up spot for public transport which will be occurring in the future.
Maine has abundant potential for wind power which is only just beginning to be realized. I have recently read that the US has become the #1 country in the world for wind generation. Germany has a greater installed capacity but a higher average wind speed in the US provides a greater total output. Much of this power is located in Texas and the southwest but Maine can certainly supply our own power. The new power distribution system being proposed by CMP and others is vital to this potential being realized. Without the ability to get this power to market, the investment in generation will not occur. A wind mill must be installed where there is wind and not just where there is a power line. Many of the best wind sites in the state are in remote areas without adequate power lines. This investment must happen for Maine to become energy independent.
Hydro power in Maine has a vast potential and is always there even when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. Many hydro projects of the past have been dismantled to provide passage for fish and simply because of old age and general decline of the dams and equipment. New sites must be developed in such a manner that the fish can be protected and the energy become available for the state.
Gasoline for our cars is one of the few areas where we cannot really provide replacement product but electric cars are on the horizon which will meet many of the needs for commuting and business use. I attended the Maine Boat and Home show in Rockland this weekend and there were a couple of electric cars from Miles Electric Vehicles which show the potential of electric cars. The two on display were a low speed car for in town use and a utility truck also low speed for in town use. Miles is currently developing a highway speed car called the Miles XS500 which will seat 4 and travel 100+ miles at up to 80 MPH. This car looks like many other basic family 4 door cars and would meet the needs of many for their daily commute. The XS500 should become available in 2009 and sell for mid 30's. There is also an electric car from Th!nk coming in 2009 which will go more than 100 miles at up to 65 MPH and sell for under 25,000.
These are exciting times in Maine and the US. People need to be proactive in changing for the future. Those who sit and wait for the change to wash over them will have the hardest time staying afloat. Plan for the future and do what you can when you can to meet it head on.
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Fenn's oh' so right:
What he missed in an otherwise neat post is the fact that the oil industry has no intention of drilling offshore in the near future. It already has the federal permits needed for off-shore work and sufficient exploration data to make it worthwhile. And, there will always be a market for oil, all it can produce.
The gimmick is that they're trying to assure permits for future drilling, long after a sympathetic administration leaves office and new power technology preempts the market.
Drilling attempts right now can't extract significant crude for five to ten years according to the feds,long after the present shortages are replaced by new sources and even if it becomes available. There's the forgotten issue of processing to deal with. Big oil is currently producing oil-based products like gasoline and industrial chemicals in rickety old plants with aged technology.
There hasn't been a new refinery built in this country for almost 50 years. The present ones are firetraps, at least one to two significant blazes within months of each other year round. Many still operate with antiquated cracking towers that can't be pushed any further and aren't replaced despite the fact that refineries are amongst the most poisonous and profitable threats to the environment in the world. New facilities are just too expensive and take too long to permit and build. The oil companies are already making obscene amounts of money with the supplies of crudes, the markets and the equipment they already have.
With an industry-wide future assured by high demand,increasingly limited stock and a worldwide shortage of offshore drilling equipment the industry already has a windfall at hand, enough to mollify greedy stockholders with a preference for cash in lieu of expansion. Big oil is in the catbird seat and primarily interested in assuring its future --the present and the public be damned.
By the time new offshore oil becomes available alternative technology for new energy sources should be cranking out power, admittedly by a hodge-podge of sources. That's if the public will permit.
If our citizenry will accept offshore and land-based wind farms, switch to the oil industry's newest cash cow of natural gas where available and catch up with the rest of the world's lead in solar and geothermal development we just might make it through the oncoming crunch without exhuming the nuclear program that left us with eons of poisonous trash.
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August 11, 2008 08:32 AM
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