Obama keeps talking about “fixing what ails America,” by building alternative power projects.
To seemingly prove it…
On April 11, 2009 DOE announced a whopping $38.5 Billion dollars in loan guarantees to “encourages the development of new energy technologies and is an important step in paving the way for clean energy projects.” All a start-up company has to do is fill out reams of paperwork and submit it along with their justification of why they need the money and their $75,000 non-refundable application fee.
Let me repeat that last part: “… and their $75,000 non-refundable application fee.”
These projects include solar, wind, hydro, ethanol, and even algae fueled remedies. And, there are a lot of them out there. Some of them even make sense, but…
At the NSF (National Science Foundation) bio-energy research projects are being declined and disqualified right and left, by Government-backed reviewers who throw crap on the progress, by using “verbal vinegar” like this:
“To base the proposal on the theory that there will be a variety of low-value feed stocks available is, in the opinion of this reviewer and many other industry observers, a faulty premise. Biomass is cheap right now because no one wants it.
However, as demand increases, it will become more expensive. Further the laws of supply and demand mean that replacing a significant amount of gasoline with biofuels would drastically lower the demand for gas. This would, in turn, cause the price of gas to plunge, making biofuels less competitive.”
Bull! I could use that very same argument to reject the use of margarine, or ammunition, or even car tires. The same argument could be made to reject solar and wind energy research — or any alternative energy, for that matter — by trying to make the case that an overwhelming public adoption of solar power or wind energy products would cause the price of coal to plunge… well… because that might make solar and wind energy less competitive!
Would too! I know it’s true, because I’ve even heard politicians say it!
And we all know that politicians NEVER lie. 😉
“Margarine is baaaad! We Must Stop This!”… before it makes COWS obsolete.
And heaven knows, the increase in American Horse Breeding may adversely impact the price of cars! It must be stopped! I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna start shooting horses, before civilization as we know it comes to an end…
You think I’m kidding? I’m not. Say goodbye to the Majestic Wild Mustang, kids… They only place you’re gonna see them regularly is on Disney Cartoons. BLM actually kills wild horses, rather than provide for them. Don’t even get me started…
So why do reviewers say things like I just quoted?
Because they are paid to DISQUALIFY projects. First, that $75,000 dollar application fee is non-refundable, remember? Second, that way, those jug-headed politicians in Washington DC can claim that they’ve put help in the pipe, even if NOBODY can possibly qualify for it.
Oh, I almost forgot; It takes 15 months to find out that you’ve been cheated out of your $75 grand…
… if the half-wits in the “processing department” at the DOE can get the process streamlined down to 15 months, as “promised”.
BTW:
Here’s what independent reviewers with credentials in their field, said about that bio-energy project request;
Reviewer #A: “This is a well thought out proposal supported by a well qualified team.”
Reviewer#B: “This is a well written proposal with good technical foundation to carry out the project. Project team collectively has good qualification and sound experience to advance the scientific work in a professional manner.”
Reviewer #C: “The proposed plan is sound and improved results are likely with further research.”
So…
Stop buying margarine! Stop riding horses! Stop building windmills! Stop shooting your firearms! Stop buying car tires! You’re killing America! You whiny un-patriotic, self-serving, greedy, capitalistic bastards! 🙂
Stay Tuned.
Okay, you all know what’s going on with my family, so I’m not going to beat you up with that…
If this blog has helped you, educated you, amused you, or even just made you shake your head and wonder why I’m not locked up in some room clad with rubber tiles…
Please know that this site has required a great deal of money, time and effort to develop & maintain. If it’s been useful to you at all, and you can afford to… you can help my family and support this site by making a small donation by hitting that Paypal button up there on the right. Paypal is the BEST “secure” way to donate to any cause… like ours. This will help keep us alive while we try to remedy our own situation, and empower me to carry on writing, maintaining, providing countless hours of hard work, and including any updates or topics that you might suggest.
And… No anatomical impossibilities, huh? I’m not as young as I used to be…
Stumble It!
The Life and Times of a "Renaissance Ronin" 
Personally I remain sceptical about the promise of biofuels: it seems to be an attempt to keep the happy motoring world alive when we need to be working on alternatives.
However seventy five grand just to apply? That’s even worse than the Student Visa regulations…
Andy,
I’m right there with you… You’re preaching to the choir.
Nations need to be thinking about rebuilding archaic infrastructures, and bringing their citizens out of the stone age.
That includes beefing up power grids, to allow expansion into areas like “automotive recharging stations” on a much wider scale. We already know that these power rechargers can be dependably built like parking lots, with PV’s grabbing electricity from the sun. I suspect the problem is in how to make enough profit out of it, to get the interests of those greedy, whining, blue-blooded, elitist, … um…er… never mind. 😦
And… we need a good set of batteries… 🙂
I agree up to a point. I think Electric cars are another futile attempt to keep the status quo -but then we’ve disagreed on that before. (and we remain on speaking terms -isn’t that against the rules of internet debate?) 😉
One area biofuels are used succesfully here is powering trains. I know of one local German rail company that uses biofuels for rural passenger services, and buys the stuff from local farmers, but rail is vastly more effecient than road, so it works differently.
Is ‘effecient’ spelled correctly? something looks wrong there.
Anyway, I was wondering- if biofuels projects are considered to be beyond the pale by the people running this contest, surely they could save people time and money by just saying that up front, as in:
“encourages the development of new energy technologies and is an important step in paving the way for clean energy projects. But no biofuels, because we think they’re a waste of time. Thanks…”
But wait… that’d mean they don’t get US$75000 times pi from hopeful people, and another fifteen months to loaf about and spend it all.
Aww.. ya mean I have to come up with a $75,000 application fee to SEE if I qualify for a loan to build my Wind Farm?
Um…
Why wouldn’t I just take my $75,000 and just start BUILDING one (yah I know $75,000 is nothing compared to what I would need – but it is a hellalotta money and I can make it STRETCH reeeeally far…) Any REAL offer pushes money TO YOU without taking money FROM YOU. This is a scam, and a sorry ass one at that. I wonder how many home-bodged wind turbines I could get away with setting up before the DOE shows up with the “Hey Hey Hey there lil’ lady …. you can’t be doin all that without our say-so…”