Something to like from the $700B TARP abomination

Well, it will do nothing to solve the credit crisis (as this week is already showing), but the alternative energy investment tax credits got extended for 8 years. Hopefully people will have enough money to install lots of solar systems in the next 8 years!

Solar power, far less economically viable than wind turbines, had the most to gain from the bill. The expiring incentives allowed homeowners to claim an investment tax credit for 30% of the cost of a new solar installation, but capped it at $2,000. The new law, written into the financial rescue bill, extends the 30% credit for eight years and, more importantly, eliminates the cap. That means that on a $27,000 residential solar system of 3.2 kw, a homeowner could take nearly $9,000 off his taxes the first year.

In a market with average electric rates of 11 cents per kwh that would reduce the payback on a solar system from 12 years to seven years. (By contrast, for wind power the bill merely extends by one year the existing 2 cents per kwh production tax credit.)

And near the end of the article was this tidbit. This should be a part of every solar companies PR campaign!

All of Standard Renewable’s solar installations on Galveston Island withstood Hurricane Ike, and they were some of the only power generators up and running in the days afterward. Ike knocked out power to 93% of Centerpoint Energy’s (nyse: CNP – news – people ) 2.2 million customers around Houston. More than two weeks after the storm, some customers are still without power, and repairs will cost as much as $500 million.

Toshiba new Li-ion battery

The new battery, dubbed SCiB, will be used in an electric bike from Schwinn. Seems more resistant to fast charging than many other Li based batteries. Too bad the energy density is closer to NiMH batteries – I don’t think a Tesla can be powered by these.

The safety characteristics of SCiB allow recharge with a current as large as 50A, allowing the SCiB Cell and SCiB Standard Module to recharge to 90% of full capacity in only five minutes, according to Toshiba. Toshiba is developing a 3.0 Ah high-power version of the SCiB cell specifically for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications.

Mitsu to test the i-MiEV in europe

Sounds like a fun car to drive. I want to test drive one!

The i-MiEV, based on Mitsubishi’s “i” gasoline-engine minicar sold only in Japan, has a cruising distance of 144 km (89.5 miles) measured by European standards on a full battery and a top speed of 130 km (80 miles) an hour. Charging takes about seven hours using a 200-Volt outlet, but with quick-charger stations that could be reduced to less than an hour.

Environmental damage from Ike

Thankfully, Ike turned out to be less severe than expected when it came on shore. Some places like the Bolivar peninsula still got slammed, but it could have been far worse for Galveston, where hundreds did not evacuate, even when told they faced “certain death” if they remained in single story homes. Even in the Gulf, the damage appears far less than Katrina:

The Minerals Management Service, which oversees oil production in federal waters offshore, said the storm destroyed at least 52 oil platforms of roughly 3,800 in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-two more were severely damaged. But there was only one confirmed report of an oil spill — a leak of 8,400 gallons that officials said left no trace because it dissipated with the winds and currents.

Still, a large amount of oil and gas production remains shut in in the GOM. However, the impact of this storm could have been far worse. Got lucky on this one!

Edit: I don’t want to sound too callous about those who lost their life during the storm. While many could have evacuated ahead of the storm, many could not. Here is a story about some who perished.

The New Homeless

With all of the foreclosure activity going on, a question that pops up is: Where are all these people going? Moving in with relatives? Apartments? Well, some are living in their cars. And Santa Barbara is making some interesting accommodations:

In a car park across the street from luxury mansions, the evening brings a strange sight.

A few cars arrive and take up spaces in different corners. In each car, a woman, perhaps a few pets, bags of possessions and bedding.

Across the street from homes with bedrooms to spare, these are Santa Barbara’s car sleepers

California and the Credit Crunch

California legislators finally passed a budget for the fiscal year that started on July 1. Now it appears that the delay may be more costly than anyone thought. To tide the state over until tax receipts begin coming in at the start of the new year, usually short term loans are taken out. But with the credit crunch now virtually evaporating all sources of loans, the state is fast running out of funds.

The warning comes as California is close to running out of cash to fund day-to-day government operations and is unable to access routine short-term loans that it typically relies on to remain solvent.

Ahhrrrrneeeeeeee sent a letter to the Feds to ask for a large loan, and I guess it could fall under the auspices of TARP (what doesn’t?), so this might be the solution to the problem. We’ll have to wait and see.

Water news

A bunch of articles related to water. First up, too much.

The island nation of Tuvalu is sinking beneath the waves and trying to plan for an eventual total evacuation of the islands.

In a twist with far-reaching implications, Tuvalu Government officials and community elders are hoping in a worse-case scenario Australia will accept the entire population of about 10000 and allow them to continue to function as a sovereign nation, in the hope of one day returning to their island home.

An article about too little water, related mostly to industry:

“Everyone shares this water model where it’s cheap, cheap, cheap—then unavailable,” says Scott Noesen, director of sustainability and business integration at Dow Water Solutions. For Dow, water has become a major strategic issue. “It’s huge because we’re trying to grow around the world, and where we want to grow often has issues of fresh water,” Noesen says.

And finally an article about just the right amount (not selling water rights):

Great Lakes water cannot be diverted to thirsty areas elsewhere in the United States and abroad under an agreement approved Friday by President Bush.

I hope north Florida does something like this and decides not to sell St. John’s river water to central and south Florida.