Energy Flashes

 

By the Mother Earth News editors

May/June 1975

A COMPREHENSIVE BOOKLET entitled Wind Power: An Information and Planning Manual for Wind-Driven Electric Power Systems might prove to be a working primer for folks seeking the right way to convert backyard breezes into useful household current. The little bookwritten by Charles D. Syverson and John G. Symons-is available for $3.00 from Wind Power, P.O. Box 233, Mankato, Minn. 56001.

UP TO 15% OF HOME HEATING AND COOLING COSTS can be saved-according to independent tests conducted at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago-by simply using conventional window shades year-round. The study showed those "curtains on a roller" prevent from 24 to 31 percent of the thermal energy loss through glass during winter, and-in the summertime-admit 44 to 54 percent less total heat than does an unshaded window!

THE AMERICAN WIND TURBINE COMPANY'S revolutionary new spoked-wheel wind-catching device is described by the firm as "a complete departure from anything previously built". Their prototype 15-foot-diameter wheel offers extreme strength, exceptionally high starting torque, weighs only seventy pounds, and is said to utilize more than 50% of the wind's energy. No product is available at this time . . . but you can get on the mailing list to receive further announcements by writing American Wind Turbine Company, P.O. Box 446, St. Cloud, Fla. 32769.

UNITED STATES COAL DEPOSITS CONTAIN 260 TRILLION CUBIC FEET OF METHANE. . . enough to satisfy this country's gas needs for the next twelve years, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The study points out that there's sure to be methane wherever there's coal and that the gas is usually found at an accessible depth of 3,000 feet. Many companies are beginning to favor the easily tapped methane as an alternative to increasingly expensive-and often unproductive-drilling operations for dwindling supplies of natural gas.

WOOD MAY SUPPLY ONE-THIRD OF VERMONT'S ELECTRICAL NEEDS if a proposed test by the Green Mountain Power Corporation succeeds. To conduct the study, the company is seeking a $500,000 federal grant to convert an old coal-consuming generating plant to a 4,000-kilowatt wood-burner. A spokesman for the corporation says only surplus and non-commercial timber will be used . . . and that the resulting ash could be sold as fertilizer.

INDIANA STATE SENATOR ROBERT GARTON authored a bill-now passed into state law-which allows reductions in property taxes for folks who convert to-or equip new homes with-solar heating and/or cooling units. Under the new statute, $2,000 or the cost of the system (whichever is less) can be subtracted from the taxable assessed value of the property . . . and the deduction can be claimed year after year!

BIG NEWS ON THE SALTER RD-7000 WIND TURBINE! Edmund L. Salter's Wind Power Systems, Inc., has completed a licensing agreement with Up-Right, Inc., of Fresno, California. As a result, the radically different RD-7000 wind turbine (page 104, MOTHER NO. 32) may be phased into production by 1976! Also: All questions regarding the new machine are being answered by way of a newsletter . . . for a year's subscription, send a check or money order for $3.60 ($5.40 outside the U.S.) to Wind Power Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 17323, San Diego, Calif. 92117.

WIND GENERATORS ARE NOTHING NEW TO JOHN LORENZEN. . . the 65-year-old Iowan has had three such devices operating on his 100-acre farm for decades, and says he's never paid the power company a nickel for electricity. Lorenzen's generators provide enough energy to run his fully equipped tool shop (drills, presses, lathes, welders, motors, grinders, a forge, and an air compressor) as well as nearly all conveniences-including a TV-for his modern home. The farmer's 175 storage batteries hold up to ten days' worth of current, and apparently last just about forever: "You may have to add a little potash," Lorenzen grins, "about every ten to fifteen years."

WATER-POWERED INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES? Two French inventors-working independently-each claim to have developed engines for which water is the primary power source. In both cases, H 2 0 is broken down into its component elements . . . and the resulting ignitable hydrogen gas provides the engines-it is said-with efficient, clean-burning fuel!

ENVIRONMENT ENERGY CONTENTS MONTHLY is a new periodical publishing tables of contents from over four hundred domestic and foreign journals that carry articles on energy and environmental subjects. Cost of a one-year (twelve issues) subscription is $16.00. Additional information is available from Environment Energy Institute, P.O. Box 1450, Portland, Ore. 97207.

RENT-A-SUN? Well, in a manner of speaking. The Florida Power and Light Company is now looking into the possibility of renting solar-powered water heaters to customers. A spokesman for the utility firm reportedly said-in a statement which seems to leave a lot to be read between the lines-that FP&L was searching for a means to conserve conventional electricity without sacrificing revenue to the company.

"UNCONFIRMED REPORT" CONFIRMED! That source for small Pelton-type impulse turbine water wheels (reported in "Energy Flashes", MOTHER NO. 30) does exist. Small Hydroelectric Systems-formerly called Stateline Alternative Power Systems-sells 21" diameter cast-steel models . . . as well as ready-to-install generating systems, plans and drawings, and technical sheets for figuring water pressures, flows, velocities, heads, and more. Write to SHS at P.O. Box 124, Custer, Wash. 98240 for further information . . . but be warned in advance that we still have no firsthand reports about the quality of SHS's wheels or the reputation of the company.

. . . AND ANOTHER UNCONFIRMED REPORT TO TAKE ITS PLACE! This one's for alternator voltage regulators designed specifically for wind- and water-powered systems. A brief note signed "Buffalo Bill" says the units seem to be quite efficient, and that you can get more information by sending 25 cents to Earle Engineering, P.O. Box 850, Alpine, Calif. 92001. Once again, we're not absolutely sure of this source . . . so proceed at your own risk.