Ultra-Simple Wind and Solar Mapping:

It’s one thing to decide to go solar…it’s quite another to figure out if it will be economical for you. We hear a lot about how cheap wind and solar can be, but if there’s no sun or wind where you live, it’s never gonna work out.

Which is why it is extremely vital that we have a detailed understanding of where in the world is sunny and windy. Well, to completely eliminate all confusion on that front, we have 3tier’s Firstlook service.

The map basically plots a gigantic set of data on wind and solar, and then averages the points between that data set. As such, you can figure out exactly how much solar and wind you can get out of any spot in America (averaged yearly.)

A seriously cool cyber toy for energy geeks.

It probably has some sort of practical application, too.

The one odd omission is data for the areas over the Great Lakes. Some other wind resource maps I’ve seen include those areas, which have astonishing amounts of wind just waiting to be tapped.

Shell: Conventional oil peaks within 7 years:

The oil company with the best strategic planning says the day of reckoning is nigh:

World demand for oil and gas will outstrip supply within seven years, according to Royal Dutch Shell.

The oil multinational is predicting that conventional supplies will not keep pace with soaring population growth and the rapid pace of economic development.

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chief executive, said in an e-mail to the company’s staff this week that output of conventional oil and gas was close to peaking. He wrote: “Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.”

Oh boy. Here we go again.

As I said on Joe Romm’s site, which is the source for the above quote:

So, if supply keeps rising but demand rises by a larger amount, then we’ve still hit peak oil?

Uh, no, we haven’t. Peak oil is the point of global rate of oil production, literally the all-time maximum supply. In terms of defining the date of peak oil, a much narrower view than we should be taking, obviously, supply not meeting demand isn’t an issue.

And besides, Chris Skrebowski is right–the actual production peak will come in 2011 +/- 1 year.

Wal-Mart: We’re in Charge Now, Let Us Fix Things:

[CEO Lee Scott] went even further to say that Wal-Mart is working with major car companies on electric vehicle initiatives, hinting that they may someday have wind turbines in parking lots so that people can charge their EVs renewably. OK…yeah…that would be pretty cool.

…

Read more at the NYTimes and see the speech from Wal-Mart

I’ve also seen reports that Wal-Mart is talking with Chinese car companies about having them build EV’s they can sell in their US stores.

OK, now that your head has stopped spinning, let’s think about this for a second.

EV’s will, in general, move vehicles much closer to being a consumer electronics item than they’ve ever been before. No engine, no transmission, no fuel or exhaust systems, all replaced by a big honkin’ battery and one or more electric motors. Such simplified vehicles–imagine a 21st century version of the original VW Bug–would be a nearly perfect fit for Wal-Mart or any other large retail chain that’s suddenly decided it’s on a mission from God to save the planet.

So, what’s not to like? Well, for starters this is Wal-Mart we’re talking about, a company that has created more enemies with their labor practices than you can count, so I’m very wary of anything that ruthless a company does in the energy area until I see results. I do give them credit for their efforts to push CFL’s and reduce energy consumption and packaging in their products, but selling EV’s? That one gives me a pre-emptive case of the heebie jeebies (to use a technical economics term).

Hawaii Plans Big Solar Power Arrays at Airports, Harbors:

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has unveiled a plan to develop large solar power arrays at 12 locations around the sunny state, highlighting what she calls “her administration’s commitment to developing renewable energy in Hawaii.”

Under the plan, the state Department of Transportation, DOT, Airports Division is soliciting proposals from private companies to develop photovoltaic systems that could generate as much as 34 megawatts of electricity at 11 DOT sites, as well as the Hawaii Foreign-Trade Zone in downtown Honolulu.

All 12 systems are scheduled to be completed and operational within the next 24 months.

We are pleased.