U.S. Action Alone Will Not Impact World CO2 Levels

When questioned by Senator Inhofe (R-Okla) during a meeting of the Environmental and Public Works Committee....Energy Secretary Chu and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson had their own comments about climate change. Administrator Jackson testifies that "U.S. action alone will not impact world CO2 levels."

China passed the U.S. in 2006 to become the largest CO2 emitter, and India will soon overtake Russia to become the third largest emitter. China is now responsible for 21% of the world’s emissions according to Climate Research News in October 2008. The United States runs a very tight 2nd to China.

On July 8, 2009, the G8 agreed to try to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, but it failed to persuade China and India to join a bid to halve world emissions. (Reuters; July 8, 2009)

Even if a worldwide agreement made sense, an agreement without China, India and other developing countries can be counterproductive. It could actually mean more, not less, carbon-dioxide emissions. With massive increases in energy costs for the United States, Europe and Japan, energy-intensive manufacturing will move to countries without limits. (Washington Times; July 10 2009)

Read Senator Inhofe's white paper entitled "Global Warming 'Concensus' in FreeFall".

Analysis of Cap and Trade by NRECA

WARNING! WARNING!

Imagine my surprise one evening, while surfing away, a program suddenly announced that I had 61 Trojans and they were causing great damage to my computer. Did I want to fix them now? Well, duh. (You thought I was going to talk about cap and trade, didn’t you?) There were two buttons to choose: “Remove Virus” or “Cancel.” The notification looked like the one I typically get from my virus protection software. In the background an active scan was being conducted and the problems inside my computer were doubling indicated by red numbers. Instinctively I moved my mouse to “Remove Virus”. I hesitated only long enough to ask myself “Why didn’t my virus program advise me when the first Trojan hit instead of waiting till I had 61?”

I consider myself to be a very savvy computer user. In fact, co-workers and friends often consult me on computer stuff or I’m asked to “fix” a computer problem. I’m online frequently whether at work or at home. Most computer users do not do the suggested maintenance on their computers; but I do. Not backing up computer files or keeping definition files updated for virus protection is a very common problem. Something wasn’t right here.

I chose “Cancel” instead and decided to run a manual scan of my computer. Instead of shutting down, the program popped up with another dialogue box that said “Are you sure? You will be putting your computer at serious risk by not removing viruses NOW.” This wasn’t my program’s typical response.

A deeper look at the screen showed the URL from some website I’d never heard of yet it strongly resembled my virus protection program. Had I not hesitated, I may have opened up my computer to a REAL problem. Whether this was a virus in disguise, or a software company using horrible measures to sell their product, something was not right. I tried to use the X in the upper left hand corner and the program wouldn’t close down. Every time I clicked “Cancel” it had another doom-and-gloom forecast for my files.

I can see how easy it would be to react to this type of announcement. No one wants a virus invasion so the most natural thing would be to select “Remove Virus.” I almost did, my husband would have, and so might you. If you know you have updated virus protection, don’t REACT….just close down the program and do a manual scan. If the program refuses to close, dump your temporary internet files, and then shut your computer completely down. You can boot it back up and should be free and clear of the invading malware. Don't be fooled!

Happy Computing!

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District

A Cap-And-Trade Con?

Well, I was going to write about cap and trade again...but I think Bill O'Reilly really brings the definition down to a level we all can understand.... (please excuse the GOP advertisement at the end of the broadcast...I couldn't remove it....)



Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District

PEE POWER! (Are you kidding?)

Yellow is the new green, apparently. I found this farfetched but researching it was ‘ap-pee-ling’. The University of Ohio has been working on alternative energy options and has identified urine as a good source for hydrogen molecules.

Using a nickel-based electrode, the scientists can create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in fuel cells. “One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses,” said Geradine Botte, a professor at Ohio University developing the technology. “Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel.”

By attaching hydrogen to another element, nitrogen, Botte and her colleagues realized that they can store hydrogen without the exotic environmental conditions, and then release it with less electricity, 0.037 Volts instead of the 1.23 Volts needed for water.

Botte's current prototype measures 3x3x1 inch and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power. However, Botte and her colleagues are actively trying to commercialize several larger versions of the technology.

For livestock farmers who are required by law to pool their animals' waste, large scale prototypes could turn that urine into power within six months.

Now, lest you think this type of power is way off into the future, think again. Batteries using this technology are on the shelves in AA and AAA sizes in Japan. It can be recharged with a variety of liquids including urine and other precious bodily fluids, is supposed to last 10 years, and pumps out 500 milliamp-hours (mAh), which is equivalent to zinc-carbon batteries but a third of what an alkaline does.

I sure hope a user of this battery recharges them in the privacy of their bathroom.

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District

Sources: Treehugger.com and MSNBC’s Technology news.

Electric Linemen Make A Difference

In this short film, we hear directly from the linemen that have traveled near and far to rebuild electric lines and lives with the NRECA International Foundation. In their own words, we hear what it has meant to them personally to have been able to bring back lights and hope to thousands of people living in rural, developing countries.



These are heroes we seldom hear or read about.

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District

Big Brother and Electricity

After HR2454 passed the House floor, I was watching various interviews about the intent of the bill as well as the ramifications of passing this legislation.

I was very surprised to hear a couple of reporters talk about the implementation of smart grid services as a way to monitor and control individual customer usage. The comments indicated electric utilities would become “big brother” and if you used too much electricity, we would contact you and caution you about your energy usage (turning us into the electricity police).

I’ve been in the utility industry for over 30 years. There will never be a time that I can foresee in which we will tell a customer that we’re intently watching them. Granted, we spend a lot of effort asking customers to improve energy efficiency, but those instructions are designed to help them save money on their bill.

I don’t know of any other industry in which the product provider actually wants the customer to BUY LESS. There’s a method to our madness. We only have to pay for the power we buy from the wholesaler based on how much electricity our collective customer base needs. Think of it as demand on inventory and our shelves are purposely kept empty. The infrastructure we have in place (poles, lines and meters), allows instant transport. Our linemen fix the shelves or build new shelves and that accounts for a significant part of our operational expense. Again, the only time you pay operational expenses is when you use electricity.

Let’s go back to that ‘big brother’ theory. Honestly, I can hardly track my own electric usage much less use my 8 hour work day to track yours. There isn’t anyone in our office who is remotely interested in how much electricity you (individual residential) use or don’t use. The only exception is irrigation customers and those customers choose whether or not they want to be controlled based on financial incentives.

The whole idea of monitoring usage is for YOU to control what you use. All we want to do is provide affordable electricity in the safest manner possible.

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District