So much for a Nissan Leaf!

[Redneck in training]

Most people don't know it but street light were sold to public for improving safety on streets. The real reason was to provide night load for the boilers. Many boilers that run on low quality coal have small turndown ratio. If they need to at less than about 80-90% they have to use "stabilization" by oil or gas to keep the boiler from flame out.
What this country needs is high efficiency primary transmission network capable transferring energy long distances. There are several proposals in design and planning for DC lines. There are several in operation. Some already for about past 50 years. They are cheaper to build because they have only two wires. They can carry large amperage because they don't suffer skin effect. They have no capacitive or inductive losses. The biggest hurdle is converting DC to high voltage for transmission and back to low voltage for distribution to users.
If transmission and storage issues are solved then wind and solar could generate more than 30% of our power consumption. Then we could have large number of electric cars and have power for them.
Another thing about in example solar is that large portion of the investment is made by small investors by installing the equipment on their property. The problem for the utility is that they can't charge for the energy but pay for it. That is why they loobby hard to stop or limit PV. They would rather spend tax payer money and build another generating plant.

 

[Scooby074]

Big hydro companies and big oil are scared crapless of people taking the initiative and generating their own power or even improving their efficiency. It cuts into their bottom line. Why do you think theyve come up with all these taxes and fees to be applied to homeowners who generate their own power?

Follow the money Lebowski

 

[94BULLITT]

I was thinking about all these people with small EV's. I wonder how many could get by with something like a Honda Metropolitan? They get an EPA estimated 117MPG.

 

[two_bit_score]

2 different Leafs, different colors, different days, barely holding 35 mph on a 5% grade. Today, outside temp was about 45 degrees, the car had headlights on, probably heater, too, draining the battery even more. It's 30+ miles to Portland. A recent report said that at 20 degrees a Leaf loses 43% of it's range. Today's driver probably went to Portland, maybe some errands and found himself barely making it home. Can't just pull over and pour in a gallon of electricity.

My humble opinion is that an all electric car is a stupid idea, except maybe if you live a lifestyle that keeps you within a few miles of home.

OTOH, Toyota is set to introduce a fuel cell powered car later this year. Zero pollution, no coal fired power plants needed to charge your car while kidding yourself about saving the world. Just need to pour in hydrogen and emit water vapor. The problem with a fuel cell powered car is getting the hydrogen, but that was a similar problem with gasoline in 1900. Once a network of stations exists, fuel cell power will be good! Gotta wait awhile, though.

Kinda like those E-Cigs? Water vapor? And what all else?

I'm all for CNG fueled vehicles. That's what we need to be going to.

 

[Redneck in training]

Big hydro companies and big oil are scared crapless of people taking the initiative and generating their own power or even improving their efficiency. It cuts into their bottom line. Why do you think theyve come up with all these taxes and fees to be applied to homeowners who generate their own power?

Follow the money Lebowski

If you look at past history of the United States when settlers were moving west. They got land to claim as their own. It was the real birth of American democracy and American prosperity. Self-sufficiency and independence was the key.
Then look at other colonized countries where land was held by well-connected landowners. They are in Sh__t till today.
This is a second round of the fight. Now it is energy independence. I mean on personal scale.

You want to be a hostage of energy company be it electric power, oil or gas? I am hoping the technology will allow to separate myself from them before I hit the bucket.

 

[dave1949]

Big hydro companies and big oil are scared crapless of people taking the initiative and generating their own power or even improving their efficiency. It cuts into their bottom line. Why do you think theyve come up with all these taxes and fees to be applied to homeowners who generate their own power?

Follow the money Lebowski

True.

Right now Central Maine Power, the electric distributor in much of Maine, has a request before the state PUC to raise their monthly base rate for service from $9.36 to $24, PLUS an additional charge for grid-tied customers because "it costs more to service them." LOL The raised base rate would be offset by lower usage rates for the distribution service. These rates are separate from the the rate paid to the generator/supplier, they cover just the lines, pole, xformers, etc.

The net effect is they will squeeze money out of customers whether they actually use power or not, and the more they use, the cheaper it will be. In other words, punish self-generators like solar pv. Central Maine Power is owned by Iberdola of Spain.

The scum at ALEC (right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council) have a lie PR campaign going that paints solar pv grid-tied users as "free-loaders on the grid."

 

[bandaidmd]

They just installed one of the EV charging stations at our nearby outlet center( were pretty rural and don't have a shopping mall). Looks like you have to belong to a network or use a credit card , Its located along the route from balt/wash to the beaches so i guess thats some of the reason for the placement.

 

[bandaidmd]

I was thinking about all these people with small EV's. I wonder how many could get by with something like a Honda Metropolitan? They get an EPA estimated 117MPG.

those new elios get 68 mpg.

Elio Motors: Ultra High Mileage Vehicle

 

[3930dave]

True.

Right now Central Maine Power, the electric distributor in much of Maine, has a request before the state PUC to raise their monthly base rate for service from $9.36 to $24, PLUS an additional charge for grid-tied customers because "it costs more to service them." LOL The raised base rate would be offset by lower usage rates for the distribution service. These rates are separate from the the rate paid to the generator/supplier, they cover just the lines, pole, xformers, etc.

The net effect is they will squeeze money out of customers whether they actually use power or not, and the more they use, the cheaper it will be. In other words, punish self-generators like solar pv. Central Maine Power is owned by Iberdola of Spain.

The scum at ALEC (right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council) have a lie PR campaign going that paints solar pv grid-tied users as "free-loaders on the grid."

The way I look at it, they are just supplying more reasons for people to go totally off-grid.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

those new elios get 68 mpg.

Elio Motors: Ultra High Mileage Vehicle

I really hope Elio makes a go of it - the Can/USA market is overdue for an offering like this. More discussion on it in this thread below:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/trailers-transportation/290493-elio-has-anybody-driven-one.html

Rgds, D.