The growing trend of folks refusing to wait for big-car manufacturers to deliver mainstream electric vehicles is starting to get some press. From DIY tinkerers in Atlanta trying to keep money from going overseas (or simply from leaving their wallets) to a guy in Oregon building an open source Civic conversion kit, Americans are taking energy policy in their own grease-stained hands.

I hate to be a downer, but the amount of power solar cells provide is a couple orders of magnitude off from what you need to power a vehicle. Think charging your iPod, not your Prius.

A bit of envelope math...

So a good days' charge will provide you with a little less than 8 minutes' worth of freeway travel. Much less if you're not using cruise control @ the speed limit.

I haven't checked into it, but I think a car needs more than 10 horsepower to maintain a highway speed.

In less than 7 years, Mercedes-Benz plans to ditch petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. Focusing on electric, fuel cell, and biofuels, the company is revving up research in alternative fuel sources and efficiency.

Ambitious and I'm all for it, though I wonder if infrastructure can keep up with change that big that fast.

Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

Lets stop chasing oil and use something else.

In February the House passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act, or H.R. 5351, which would repeal the $18 billion in tax breaks for multinational oil companies. The bill would create tax breaks for producers of renewable energy, fuel, and electricity. The bill needs Senate approval.

During a speech while the House debated the bill, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) said, "We're wrapped around the axle of oil because of these tax subsidies. It's time to change course. We're ready to launch a rocket of clean-energy innovation in this country, but opponents of these clean-energy investments are putting a hold on the countdown. We're about two seconds away from having a burst of economic growth in this county. If they allow these tax breaks to expire, it'll strangle the birth of new industries."

...

"With oil prices and oil company profits breaking records, the big five oil companies-BP plc, Chevron Corp, ConoccoPhillips Inc, ExxonMobil Corp., and Royal Dutch Shell Group-could easily afford to give up this tax loophole. It is a paltry amount compared to the $123 billion in profits they made last year-nearly $230,000 in profits per minute. And when oil is over $100 per barrel, they shouldn't need any incentives to drill for more," Daniel Weiss declared in an article for the Center for American Progress.

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In 1999 the government created guaranteed loans of up to $10 million for eligible oil and gas producers. The loans are financed through private banking and investment institutions, but are guaranteed by federal taxes, "making liable for up to $500 million should the companies default," according to the SEC report, and "that number jumps to $600 million if the administrative costs associated with the program are included.

Over $400 million of overseas refinery taxes are subsidized by federal taxes "which increases refinery capacity overseas rather than within our own borders," the SEC report stated.

Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is sinking billions of dollars into a new wind farm in Texas. It is likely to become the biggest in the world, producing enough power for the equivalent of 1.3 million homes. CNN's Ali Velshi asked the oil legend why he thinks wind could be the answer to this country's energy problems...

That lead time was an opportunity to make changes. Some would have been painful and some merely sensible, but it would prevent huge numbers of honest Americans get caught with their pants down. Instead we blew it out the tailpipe of cars that average 15 MPG. Now, instead of a planned transition, we get to see what happens when stubborn denial meets inescapable change. It’s simply unsustainable to live in suburban car country with a negative equity on the house, $6-7 gas (wait until you see what that does to property values in outlying suburbs) and expensive SUVs that nobody wants. The saddest thing for me was that most who will get fucked the worst had no idea this was coming.

I've always thought that there may be an issue looming on the horizon, but taking the steps to avoid it cost more than it costs to just stay the course, so the decision is made to stay the course for a postive short term, but a negative long term. A tradeoff is made, smooth sailing for now in exchange for trouble later. The issue is, the problem is going to arrive anyhow, and putting it off until the last possible minute is only going to make things worse. A planned transition would have beeb best, but we're just going to be stuck with a last minute effort to fix a problem that has been staring us in the face for years. And on top of it, it's going to be a poor solution not chosen based upon merit, but politics.

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke listed three wishes on his 90th birthday Sunday: for the world to embrace cleaner energy resources, for a lasting peace in his adopted home, Sri Lanka, and for evidence of extraterrestrial beings.