Plug-in hybrids: The key to both biofuels and the grid?
Should plug-ins be an integral part of energy policy?Blackouts. Every summer, at least once, I come home to a defrosted freezer thanks to a blackout. But, what if a number of Americans drove plug-in hybrids? On days when electric loads were getting too high, the grid could tap into numerous plug-in batteries and avert a blackout, and give me a fat paycheck - helping to offset the costs of my battery. Smart legislation could make that happen.
Likewise, the world now knows that ethanol is not going to end foreign oil dependency, but cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels still have potential, but limited potential. However, a bio-fueled plug-in hybrid would need very little liquid fuel on a day-to-day basis. Thus, smarter biofuels coupled with plug-in hybrid technology could be perfectly complimentary.
Plug-in hybrids can help radically change America's energy paradigm, but such a task will require a new, comprehensive energy policy. Sure it might be expensive, but isn't national security and a technologically-advanced economy worth the costs? Isn't it time to DEMAND this from our well-financed politicians?
posted by Dahcredyns at
6:20 AM
3 Comments:
a manhattan-style project to end foreign oil dependency and kick start the economy with the kinds of technologies that the world will desperately need in another decade?
that just makes too much sense for Congress.
there simply aren't enough altruistic lobbyists out there to bribe Congress to do something positive. ethanol proves that we can expect nothing but bad, pork-fed ideas from congress.
Thank goodness for CAFE. I'm pretty sure that will solve both foreign oil dependency and our economic woes. NOT!
You know, the same concept applies to home owner which install solar panels with battery back-ups on their homes. If their batteries are all charged up, the extra energy produced by their solar panels would be sent back into the grid, and actually getting money, or funds back from "XYZ Electric Company." But do you REALLY believe that electric companies want consumers to not rely or get money back from the electric co's??! OF COURSE NOT! They want people to consume as much energy as possible, and charge those outrageous electric bills!
If the electric companies pushed and advertised solar panel discounts or incentives to consumers, more and more people would install solar panels on their homes! Even if one solar panel wasn't enough to run an entire home, even if it only produced a small percent of energy, it would still help the grid! If an entire neighborhood of homes had solar panels installed, I think their combined efforts would definitely help the bigger cause!
Now, in the future, if you purchase a Volt, or the like, you'll get an even bigger chunk of change!!!
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