China - Energy Black Hole?

Perhaps most of you have heard of the solar panel shortage that is occuring. Four areas of the world are to blame for this shortage, unfortunately the US is not one of them.

Japan has always been a large user of solar electricity. They have also been a large producer. Their demand for solar panels is not slowing down. It is constantly increasing, far outpacing the U.S.

Africa has long needed the blessings of solar in villages and communities that are distant from the electrical grid (near large cities). Africa is finally turning the corner and using far more solar panels and other solar devices to power lights and communications in small villages.

Currently the biggest user of the world's supply of solar panels is Germany. Here in Las Vegas we get credited 11 cents per KWH for any electricity generated by solar panels on our roofs (and nothing if we happen to generate more than we use). The lucky folks in Germany receive from .65 cents to $1.00 per KWH for all of the solar electricity they manage to generate! This means that the solar panels on their roofs actually becomes money making enterprises. Each household figures out how to use the least amount of power, then sell the remainder of electricity they generate back to the utility, at huge profits. Wow, no wonder they are trying to buy every available solar panel in the world!

Then there's China. Where do we start? Well, we better keep an eye on this one, because I got a feeling that the good ole American Dream could be altered considerably by the events currently unfolding in China.

The Chinese people are a rapidly advancing society that produces all sorts of goods at an alarming rate. We've all seen the lower priced merchandise that is found in almost every retail establishment in America. The problem is, China makes all this stuff in large factories that have to rely on their own power systems, and they mostly use diesel generators. Factories use in-house power plants, because the national electric grid is too old and frail to support the energy demands of these huge production facilities.

With China's growing energy needs they have recently become a large player in absorbing larger portions of the world's solar panels. It is my belief that China is destined to be the largest user, and manufacturer, of solar electric panels in the world.

Well, I don't worry about them being the largest producer of solar panels. Heck, they produce uncountable containers of merchandise every day anyway. But, it doesn't take too much imagination to see the certain need that China will have for more solar panels than the world could possibly produce. It's a "supply-and-demand" world, so the solar industry will just have to crank up their panel production to try and fill the demand.

But, there is one looming energy demand of China that we can do little about.... oil.

We hear every day how the US is the largest guzzler of oil, but what about the day after tomorrow? What will the oil demands of China do to the world's oil supply? I think it is entirely likely that China will be the largest consumer of oil in the history of the world, with absolutely no end in sight! There's only so much oil, and China's demand for oil and gasoline will be more than what producers can pump out of the ground! This bottomless pit could turn into a black-hole that sucks up every drop of the world's oil.

All I can say is, we had better wake up. Our (US) government has snubbed it's nose at Kyoto and the thousands of scientists who are sounding the alarm about global warming. We may live to regret our arrogance, but what in the heck are we going to do about the looming oil demand of China? We can't go in there with guns and bombs to force the billions of Chinese back into a pre-industrialized society. What are we going to do if this enormously populated country sticks their nose up at the world environmental conscience? What steps can we possibly take when China's smokestacks spit out the kind of pollution that makes ours seem like a backfire of a lawnmower? What are we going to do when the gasoline we put into our SUV's goes to China instead of American gas stations? Are we going to build a nuclear power plant in every neighborhood?

We haven't even discussed India in this post. That's a topic that should be addressed in any world energy or solar discussion.

I don't have any answers, but I think that it is a warning to us all to get ready for a life-style change unlike anything we could ever prepare for!

Sorry for being so negative. Have a good day. Mike

Related Stories:
Earthtoys.com - Enormous Growth of Chinese PV Industry
ENN - China Warns Officials against Covering up Pollution
Blog - China to Spend Billions on Alternative Energy

New LED Light Bulbs in Stock

LED's (light emitting diodes) have been very expensive during their technological development but now they are finally starting to get less expensive.

Recently we ordered several types of LED bulbs (lamps) in 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC configurations for testing purposes. We limited our order to bright white bulbs for general lighting. They come in a variety of colors and the bright white LED's are slightly more expensive because the technology to make them is more recent than yellow or red, for example.

The "white" light is not really white. It has a little blue in it that is more pronounced than a regular fluorescent lamp. We were not real impressed with the light. If you look directly at the bulb it is very bright, similar to looking at the new LED stop lights that are everywhere. But, when you use it for general lighting it has some real drawbacks. Unless you get one with 30 or more tiny LED lights in the bulb, reading is very hard. The color is not natural and very irritating to some. They are OK for general lighting, accent lighting or over a work area where detail (reading) is not needed.

Drawbacks aside, there should be some real advantages for those off the grid who need some light that draws next to nothing in the way of wattage. Each small LED in a bulb draws typically .1 watt. That means an LED bulb with 10 little LED lights in it draws a total of 1 watt!

We now have a couple of 110 type bulbs with the standard Edison base.
We also have a few varieties for 12 volt applications that will fit the standard Edison base and others that fit the 1156 or 1141 socket. The 1141 socket is typical in most incandescent RV light fixtures. This bulb is a great way to save energy and still get a little lighting. I am sure the technology will get better, and like everything else, in the future the prices are sure to come down.

We will publish prices and sizes in our solar catalog pages at vegastrailer.com soon.

Have a "bright" day! Mike

Dig out those old Y2k books

Hey, no one wants to hear about y2k anymore. Five or six years ago we heard it all, and we don't want to hear more. OK, OK, but there was a lot of good that came out of that scare.

For some it was a wake-up call.
For years many people had wanted to get their families better prepared for emergencies and just put it off. I was one of them. Then the over-rated scare hit us and pure fear set many gears in motion. As a result, a lot more people are better prepared for emergencies by stocking dried food and grains. Our pantries got a little bigger.

Some learned new skills.
A lot of my friends and I learned more about self-sustainability. I learned more about the fun of Dutch oven cooking and I learned how to grind my own wheat and make nutritious and inexpensive bread. These skills have grown and improved over the years since, and I have valued every minute of it!

Ideas were presented in volumes.
Books, magazines and pamphlets were printed by the thousands on a myriad of topics. What if transportation shut down? What if electricity or other basic utilities were unavailable? How will I interact with my neighbors? How will we work together to survive the prophesied social unrest? (Heck, we all saw what happened with the Rodney King thing.) A thousand forgotten skills of old-timers were now suddenly great ideas. Many sought these old techniques to achieve a higher degree of safety for themselves, their families, and their neighbors.

These forgotten basic skills are timeless, not just for yesteryear or y2k. They could be valuable to us now.

Unfortunately for the publishers and authors, anyone who mentioned y2k in their books or publications, suddenly became out of "style" and prices for these self-help book plummeted.
This turn of popularity is fortunate for the person who wants to glean ideas on self-sufficiency and home-production because these books are now a dime a dozen.

I recently went to amazon.com and did a search on books that mentioned y2k, and a lot of them that went for $15 to $25 are now from one cent to 50 cents each. Of course there is shipping added on that will make them around three or four bucks each. Well I dug out one that I had in our solar living library at Vegas Trailer Supply and checked out a few topics in the book. Wow, I found a lot of information that I forgot was in there! I did have a natural distaste in my mouth any time I read the word "y2k", but when I got past that dislike, I found a lot of valuable reading.

If you are concerned about preparedness or want to learn more about self-sufficiency you may want to take advantage of the super discount prices available on the web, or just dig out those old books (if you haven't thrown them away) for some great ideas to help your family become safer in these times.

Oh, and stay tuned to this blog because we will be adding a lot more tips.

Have a safe day my friend.

Michael

PS: Heres a link to some of these books:

Old Y2k Discounted Books