Base Load

No this isn't about baseball, this is about energy options to power future generations.

A term that we need to understand before talking about viable energy sources for the future is called base load. It essentially is defined as the minimum power needed to supply the reasonable consumer demand. This can help us gauge what we use on average, although differences exist depending on season and location.

Starting with the basics we look at all energy sources today, classified into 3 main groups:

1. Fossil fuels---coal, petroleum, and natural gas
2. Renewable forms of energy---hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind
3. Nuclear power

Now looking at the graph above and focusing only on the Residential front, our base load hovers right around 20 Quadrillion Btu.

What then is Needed:For a more accurate example we can look at the Census Bureau's stats on 119,117,000 homes in the census for 2001. Using the average number of 923kWh used per household per month we would then need nearly 110 Million MW/month (equating to roughly 4.5 Quadrillion Btu)...and that is just residential.

What is the Solution/Options: Looking to alternative renewable measures we need to consider what their output is and if it can maintain a base load to meet our demands (or be more conscious of over consumption...but that would be a miracle).

1. Hydroelectric: If Hoover Dam had all 17 generators running at full capacity it would produce 2080 megawatts of power (7.1 Billion Btu or .000007 Quadrillion Btu)
2. Wind Turbines: According to the AWEA the largest wind farm located in Horse Hollow, TX outputs 736MW (2.5 Billion Btu). A total of 16,818MW (.000057 Quadrillion Btu) are generated in the US.
3. Solar: The Nevada Solar One produces a maximum capacity of 75MW (256 Million Btu).

You can see by these three examples that it is difficult to attain a base load using renewable energy today, which is why renewable energy only accounts for 18% of our global energy source (majority in large hydro-power) ...BUT that is no reason to sit by the wayside and use up our fossil fuels. If anything we need to create more renewable energy options, which in turn creates jobs, fuels more money into the US economy (keeping it away from our enemies, all while still keeping in mind that we can't use it as our sole source of energy...at least not for some time. So as glamorous as it sounds to use ONLY green energy, according to educated scientists, environmentalists, economists (proponents and opposition) we do need to fund an option that will help to keep our base load where it needs to be and prolong the exhaustion of our fossil fuels.
Note: If you read my blog you'll find I'm about as green as a leprechaun, but I am also a realist and know that in order to talk this great idea we need a realistic plan too.

Accountability has many names...

See if you recognize my top 3 socially irresponsible individuals associated with the recent financial debacles on Wall Street:

1. James A. Johnson
2. Phil Gramm
3. Franklin Raines

So what if I told you there was a common thread that tied Countrywide Financial Corporation, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, and AIG together...surprised? You shouldn't be too much because in the world of finance they "were" all big players. But, what if you could tie a name(s) to all that, thus holding someone and not just a company accountable...justice right? Well not so fast, but James A. Johnson made my list at #1.

James A. Johnson currently works for the merchant bank and private equity fund management company called Perseus LLC, which also employs Richard C. Holbrooke who has ties with AIG. Prior to this Jim held numerous executive positions at Fannie Mae, and prior to that Lehman Bros. So what right...coincidences that all this is happening now and perhaps was unavoidable considering the downward spiral of our economy. Not exactly...through severe mismanagement, manipulation, excessive sub-prime lending, and an "estimated $16 Billion in misstated earnings" left Freddie and Fannie is disarray, yet still monopolizing the housing industry (Investors Daily). That's how it affected you, but you can always get a good judge of character by looking at their personal life, and for this we look at his ties with Countrywide;

Through a group internally known as "Friends of Angelo", a reference to Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo (who also made my top 10 list), Jim cashed in on some serious mortgage deals. To date records indicate he received some $7 million in loans under market value for homes in Washington's Dupont Circle, Palm Desert, Idaho, and some personal home equity loans. This trend was continued with #3 on my list; Franklin Raines, who also managed to take full advantage of his professional role at Fannie Mae by securing even better interest rates and more money up. That is until his forced resignation in 2004 from Fannie Mae after "its regulator found it had violated accounting rules in an effort to conceal fluctuations in profit and hadn't maintained adequate risk controls" (Simpson&Hagerty). He's only #3 and not higher on the list because he followed suite from Jim's lead, and there's a better #2 out there...his name is Phil Gramm.

Senator of Texas, Phil Gramm, has been credited with leading "the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law" (Lerer). This lack of regulating credit derivatives was etched in stone through the "Commodities Future Modernization Act of 2000, which specifically exempted new derivative markets from government oversight" (Leonard). In short, it would "protect financial institutions from over regulation"(Corn). The bottom line though is that through these steps to deregulate it ended up lining his pockets directly (his role with UBS), or indirectly (his wife working for Enron).

Do you see the root of the problem through all these details...GREED. Regardless that James Johnson and Franklin Raines have strong ties to the Democrats, or Sen. Phil Gramm's ties to the Republicans...they are all greedy scum! So where do we go from here if everyone in power is getting free handouts and leaving you on the back burner to bail out problems they leave behind????