Showing posts with label green revolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green revolution. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

If 30% of Cars will be Electric over the next Decade

Jus' thinkin' aloud again.....such a temptation for a blogger.

Volkswagon has announced that they are developing 30 NEW MODELS of 100% electric vehicles, to be rolled out over the next decade.
 What does this mean for us? What does this mean for investors?

First of all, what would this mean for our electrical grid. If, let's play pretend, that
30% of Canadian cars are electric by 2026, that would put a HUGE sucking on our hydro grid.
Would our grid be able to hold up? Would my province stop selling electricity to the USA in order to keep our electric cars humming? Or would the humble consumer be stuck with outrageously jacked up electricity prices? Would the 30% charge their cars mostly at their homes via their home garage outlets?
Would there be localized "electric refueling stations" around every corner?

I know that Suncor is already developing their next strategy in how they serve the public in the new era of
multi-fueled vehicles. Does every typical gas retailer really WANT to start selling electricity to locals or tourists? Secondly, from the looks of it, it can take a pretty long chunk of time to re-charge a car battery for an electric vehicle. Do we really want to leave our cars for several hours at a re-fueling station? Is that feasible?
Is that affordable? Will re-fuelling electric stations charge tourists for parking fees as well as the electricity they use to "refill" their tanks?

Well, when it comes to investing, should we all start funneling our investments out of oil and gas stocks and into the electrical grid? But then again, did you know that as of 2014 data,
  8.7% of Ontario's electricity was produced by Oil and Natural Gas?

So maybe we have to step back and try to get at the big picture. Going ALL ELECTRIC is not going to eliminate our dependence on oil and gas. It just will change the process.

I definitely don't have all the answers....but we sure do need to think this through.")

Peacefully and Thinkfully yours,
Carla



Sunday, January 25, 2015

Another Possible Reason for the Recent Low Low Gas Prices

Just thinking aloud once again....no need to overeact...in fact by about now you should be getting used to my random musings.

But ok, this is the first time, I have ever experienced a really radical low descent of publicly available gas prices. Therefore, it has been refreshing, as I mentioned some days ago, that market forces are actually directly affecting the end user prices for us "lowly" consumers. I had almost given up hope that market capitalism could ever actually work in our favor, but then BAM! a beautiful gift of low priced gas for Christmas was just what the doctor ordered.

Ok, so onto my point for today. We all know that the "green tech revolution" is building up steam worldwide. Some countries use so many sustainable and renewable energies that their dependence on fossil fuels has decreased by over 50% in the past 10 years. It is a revolution indeed.

But remember, my friends, that the world is not just run, on fuel, but on funding. Oil and gas money has propped up economies for so many decades that many of the "old rich" can not imagine relying on any other industry to continue to deliver them and their families wealth into their retirement years and beyond.

So, with the incredible monetary pressure of the oil and gas industry at stake, do you think perhaps that these low gas prices have orchestrated so that we won't jump ship on fossil fuels just yet?
Remember, when the price of gas was really high and seemed to climb another ten cents every couple of months, the sound of wind/solar/bio-desiel and other renewable energies started sounding really good, because frankly the pricing strategy of gas was getting to hard to swallow.

Sooooo, perhaps the oil and gas industry has orchestrated this massive "gas" discount sale, in order to convince the court of public opinion that ordinary fossil fuels are still the "only" preferable way to fuel our cars and heat our homes. Let me put it another blunt way......if you knew that fueling your car on regular gas would cost 10 times less than fueling it with bio-desiel, which would you choose?
Let's face it, most of us are still bargain hunters, but we do have good intentions. We want a green revolution, but only if it doesn't hurt our pocket books.

Any thoughts? Any comments? Do tell....



Thursday, May 2, 2013

Bio Fuels here we come!

Since I was a wee  one, I've had an interest in sources of energy. My highschool had me touring a nuclear plant....yes, a real one. It was most compelling and educational.
Now, I take it upon myself to learn about the new forms of sustainable energy that are being created at a heightened speed.
I just recently learned about Jatropha oil. It is a large plant that will grow easily in even poor soil, and it produces very large seeds that contain up to 40% oil! That large oil percentage is what can be readily turned into bio-diesel and mixed half and half with regular diesel can be utilized  easily in a high perfomance diesel engine.
Then, there is the interesting new technique of taking discarded fallen coconuts from the ground of a tropical zone  and expelling oil from the coconut's to produce environmentally friendly coconut oil. It is a beautiful sight to see. I recommend an introductory entry level documentary entitled
 "Green MATTERS, what in the world is going on? BIO FUELS" created  by www.filmideas.com

Then there are the modern mavericks who rig up an old bus that has a diesel engine and travel across North America using only recycled restaurant grease to power their bus. They mastered the technique of purifying
a variety of  "used" cooking oils such as Soy, fish oil, and palm oil and simply pour the filtered oils into their bus's diesel tank.

How wonderful. Wouldn't it be great if some day we will drive up to our local fueling center, and similar to a drive-thru, be able to choose our "favorite" fuel flavor for the day as easily as choosing our favorite ice cream cone?

Then there is the idea of hydrogen fuel cells that have zero emissions and can create fuel out of simply air and water. Biomass is also a compelling idea, with the availability of using almost any waste product as a fuel source with which to produce electricity for the masses.

It is truly an awesome time and season to be alive. Inventors and scientists, I salute you, and encourage you.... we are soooo close to a radical paradigm shift in the society of modern man.