Meeting Today 2/22 3pm @ Progress Cafe

Greetings Everyone,

It is time again for another Renewable Energy Students Association
(RESA) meeting. This month we are meeting at the Progress Cafe located
at 500 San Marcos @ E 5th St. This great meeting place was suggested
because of their support for green energy. Their new development in
will be almost completely sustainable
(check out the article here in the austin chronicle:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A613615)

Some things we will be discussing are:

Reports back from:
City Council Meeting where solar project was delayed.
ACT Lobby Day
Texas Energy Future Conference

RESA as a non-profit
Future of solar in Texas/Austin and how you can make an impact
ReEnergize Texas Conference
and more….

We do not have a speaker confirmed for this meeting so we will have to
talk to each other and figure it for now. I hope to see you there
as this is a very exciting and critical time to be involved in
creating our Clean Energy future.

Also if you have not listened to Fred Morse on TUC Radio giving a
short interview on SUN ENGINES AND CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER (CSP) I
cannot recommend it enough. We must educate ourselves if we are to be
effective. This technology is not new and has been viable for longer
than you think. Did you know solar was on the White House? Did you
know it got taken down and never returned? Did you know there was a
branch of the Department of Energy dedicated to Solar? I would like to
talk about this with yall as well.

listen here:
http://www.tucradio.org/090204_MORSE.mp3

“A brief history of a carbon free technology that could produce enough
electricity to replace coal. CSP was pioneered by US engineers in the
late 19th century and lost out to oil and coal.

President Nixon asked Fred Morse whether solar energy made sense for
America. His answer was “definitely yes”. Fred Morse went on to manage
solar energy in the Department of Energy for Presidents Carter and
Reagan until 1989 when the programs were dismantled. Today Morse is
the senior adviser for US operations for the Spanish firm Abengoa.
They operate in over 70 countries and specialize in solar and bio-
energy. Abengoa is trying to build the world’s largest CSP plant near
Phoenix, AZ.

http://www.abengoasolar.com/sites/solar/en/our_projects/usa/arizona/
index.html

Coal and nuclear are lobbying hard to retain the lion’s share of loan
guarantees in the new stimulus package. ( The interview with Morse was
recorded on 2008-08-26 in San Francisco/
Washington DC by phone.)”

See you soon.
Matthew Kresha

SUN ENGINES AND CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER (CSP)

A great program, TUC Radio has excellent topics covered with a totally fresh perspective! It is only 30 mins and gives a great short history of solar and talks about the much underutilized and underestimated solar thermal. Read on, then listen!

Fred Morse
SUN ENGINES AND CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER (CSP)
A brief history of a carbon free technology that could produce enough electricity to replace coal. CSP was pioneered by US engineers in the late 19th century and lost out to oil and coal.

President Nixon asked Fred Morse whether solar energy made sense for America. His answer was “definitely yes”. Fred Morse went on to manage solar energy in the Department of Energy for Presidents Carter and Reagan until 1989 when the programs were dismantled. Today Morse is the senior adviser for US operations for the Spanish firm Abengoa. They operate in over 70 countries and specialize in solar and bio-energy. Abengoa is trying to build the world’s largest CSP plant near Phoenix, AZ. <http://www.abengoasolar.com/sites/solar/en/our_projects/usa/arizona/index.html> Coal and nuclear are lobbying hard to retain the lion’s share of loan guarantees in the new stimulus package. ( The interview with Morse was recorded on 2008-08-26 in San Francisco/ Washington DC by phone.)

NOTES:
Our foremost climatologist, NASA’s James Hansen, has demonstrated that our only hope of getting our atmosphere back to a safe level – below 350 parts per million CO2 – lies in stopping the use of coal to generate electricity.

Hansen points out that policy devices such as emissions reduction targets and cap-and-trade schemes simply will not work because there is already too much CO2 in the air. Much of the carbon dioxide given off by Robert Stephenson’s “Rocket” locomotive in 1829 is still in the atmosphere. Around 20% will still be present in thousands of years. If carbon dioxide continues to be released, even at the reduced rates now proposed, the amounts that remain will continue to build up. With present-day levels already posing real dangers, today’s policies of emissions reduction and carbon trading represent merely a slightly slower road to climate apocalypse. The lesson, Hansen argues, is that the bulk of the Earth’s remaining fossil fuels must be left untouched.

Thanks to Ken Butti and John Perlin whose book: A Golden Thread describes 2500 years of solar architecture and technology. Also to my friend Alex Carlin who first made me aware of CSP – a technology that has been made to lose out against oil and coal for decades – and that now needs it’s day in the sun.
For a broadcast quality 29 minute self contained mp3 version click HERE

Hooray! Now back to work…

	Congress just passed the FINAL version of the economic recovery bill. And guess what? $500 million for green jobs training is included in the package! This is a huge victory. And together, we’ve been fighting for it for more than a year. The Green Jobs Act was signed into law in December 2007. Since then, we’ve fought time and again to secure federal funding for green jobs training. In September, tens of thousands of us rallied across the country for Green Jobs Now. And in the past few months, you all made more than 300 phone calls and sent more than 30,000 emails to Congress. So, tonight – celebrate! Feel the love on Saturday. Get some rest on Sunday. And when our President Barack Obama picks up his pen on Monday, know that your action shaped what he signs: the biggest federal investment in our economy since World War II. Thanks to our collective efforts, this recovery package will make a significant investment in people and the planet. What’s next? Now, we make sure this $500 million gets spent the right way. Our job is to make this legislative victory translate into real change in our communities. And we’ll work closely with you to get the job done. Next week: On Tuesday, Green For All is co-hosting a call on Race and Jobs, with the Applied Research Center. Julian McQueen, our Field Organizer, will explain some of the green aspects of the recovery bill. He will discuss what they will mean for communities of color and low-income communities. Please join the call if you can: Tuesday, February 17th, at 1pm Pacific. We just created a forum on Greenforall.org, to gather the best ideas on how to create green jobs and healthy communities with the recovery funding. Share your thoughts, wisdom, and questions with us – and each other. But first, let’s celebrate! Thank you for all you’ve done to get $500 million for green job training into this historic legislation! Van Jones P.S., Green For All is an advocacy organization, not a training organization. Therefore, we won’t get a penny of this money for ourselves. Instead, we’re going to work to ensure that worthy community programs across the country get every dime and every dollar that they need. Please help us fulfill our mission.

Fight Against Nuclear & For Solar @ City Council this Thursday, Feb 12, 10 AM

From: mjohnson@citizen.org: Time to show your support for solar, and your opposition to new nuclear power! On Thursday, Austin City Council will take up the issues of nuclear energy and solar energy. We can’t think of a better picture to illustrate the fork in the road we face when it comes to Austin ’s energy future. Item 3 on the agenda: Austin Energy will appropriately recommend, again, that the City of Austin not invest in expansion of the South Texas Project. Austin Energy hired the pro-nuclear consulting firm Worley Parsons to examine the proposal, which concluded that Austin ’s share of the proposed 3rd & 4th reactors would cost around $2 billion (that’s only 16% of the total). Our solid credit rating would likely decline due to the large amount of debt the city would have to issue coupled with the high risk of cost overruns and schedule delays typically associated with nuclear power plants. Furthermore, the addition of 432 megawatts of baseload nuclear power does not fit with Austin ’s projected electric demand forecast. This deal didn’t make sense in 2007 or 2008. It makes even less sense in 2009. New nuclear power economics are frightening (numerous studies show the cost range from $12.5-17.5 billion and up), and it’s a down right nasty way to make electric power. Uranium mine sites plague groundwater sources, there is no plan in place to deal with the waste, and Texas can ill-afford to devote its precious water resources to running a radioactive water boiler. We don’t need to go down the nuclear path again. We’ve learned from the mistakes of previous councils. Better options exist. Come out and voice your opposition to new nuclear power. Item 16 on the agenda: Austin Energy will recommend that Council approve a plan to invest in 30 megawatts of solar power from the proposed solar plant near Webberville. This project is a good start down the path toward a renewable energy future for Austin . The 25 year $250 million contract with California-based Gemini Solar Development Company will provide Austinites clean, renewable power from one of the largest photovoltaic arrays in the world. Solar beats new nuclear power on cost, environment and meeting peak demand. Solar power may seem expensive, but compared to what it costs to run natural gas plants to cover the same peak period and it’s associated environmental impacts, it’s a winner. Some have raised objection to the fact that the solar panels are not local. Buying local is always preferable, but it’s not always feasible. There are no Texas companies that can currently manufacture panels for this sized plant. And while a California company has gotten the first contract because of California ’s commitment to solar, local contractors and products can be used to construct and maintain the facility. Austin will still own the land too. We hope that with more plants like this one, solar companies will get the message that Texas is open for business. We expect a large pro-nuclear/anti-solar turnout, so it is critical you come out to City Council this Thursday, Feb 12, and sign up to speak. Voice your support for solar power. Tell City Council you want more! Council convenes at 10 AM. Learn more about the agenda items: CoA background material on nuclear agenda item: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council_meetings/item_attachments.cfm?meetingid=162&itemid=9616&item=3 IEER cost estimate comparison study: http://www.nukefreetexas.org/downloads/pr_032408.pdf CoA background material on solar agenda item: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council_meetings/item_attachments.cfm?meetingid=162&itemid=9647&item=16 Matthew Johnson Public Citizen Texas Office 1303 San Antonio St Austin, TX 78701 P: 512-477-1155 F: 512-479-8302 Email: mjohnson@citizen.org ——- ALSO: Councilmember Mike Martinez just asked for a delay of the solar plant because of the economy. Here is the quote from KXAN: +++++ City Council Member Mike Martinez said he is concerned the city is going forward with a costly project during a down economy. He also said he is concerned for large companies that use a lot of electricity. “If we add to their utility cost, do we weaken them more causing them to layoff more and reduce their workforce more for a few hundred green jobs,” said Martinez….The city council was set to vote on the project two weeks ago, but delayed a vote to address some of those concerns of the major power users. Martinez said he is going to ask the city council to postpone the proposal again at this week’s council meeting.” +++++ Reporters are also speculating that mayoral candidate Carol Strayhorn (who pushed thru the STNP project when she was mayor) is likely to make a big show in favor of the nuke, because of the economy. It is urgent that supporters of the solar array show their support–in calls , polite emails and their presence at the meeting.

Solar Ovens

From the super easy (recycled pizza box):

http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm

To something more sturdy:

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/offthegrid/solaroven.shtml

To more solar oven designs than you can shake a stick at!

http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/