We often hear that solar thermal is quite cost effective, but if a person looks into the situation, it appears that solar thermal's primary use is for heating swimming pools and hot tubs. A recent publication by the EIA shows this chart:

In the chart above, the low-temperature solar heating units (140 degrees F or lower) are primarily used to heat swimming pools. Medium temperature solar thermal units (140 to 180 degrees F) are primarily used for heating hot water. High temperature collectors (over 180 degrees F) are primarily used to generate electricity for the grid.

In this Campfire post, we will talk about solar thermal hot water heating--the major part of the little blue bars in the above chart. Sales of solar hot water heaters have been growing since a tax credit for home installation became available in the USA in 2006. I will share some of what I found on the Internet, and ask what your experiences have been.

Domestic Biodiesel Production Plummets

One of my Top 10 Energy Stories of 2009 involved the actions taken by the EU against U.S. biodiesel producers. U.S. tax dollars had been generously subsidizing biodiesel that was being exported out of the U.S. European producers couldn't compete against the subsidized imports, so the EU effectively cut off the imports by imposing five-year tariffs on U.S. biodiesel.

This was a big blow to U.S. biodiesel producers, and was one of the factors leading to a disastrous 2009 for U.S. biodiesel production. But there were other factors as well, which I will describe in this post.

As Copenhaguen ended, unsurprisingly, in confusion, I have the opportunity to give you a more positive tale, and show you it is possible for people - including even bankers amongst them - to work towards a more sustainable future without necessarily endangering our way of life.

The Vader Piet 30MW wind farm on the island of Aruba.

In this case, it involves the construction of a windfarm in a place where it will directly replace fuel-oil-burning power plants. As you'll be able to see below, this wind farm is quite remarkable in a number of ways which means that this experience will not be replicable as easily everywhere, but it shows that there are many places and energy systems which it is possible to materially improve under almost all criterai using renewable energy.

(part of the wind power series)
Full disclosure: As indicated below, I financed the project discussed in this post last year.

I have been asked to submit a video question on ethanol policy that will be potentially answered in a video blog by someone who is very well-known in the energy business. I will keep the details quiet for now, including the question I did submit.

I really had to brainstorm on exactly which question I would ask. I made a short list, and finally honed it down to one that I think is fair, but tough. But I had a number that I decided not to ask, either because I already knew how it would be answered (even if I disgreed with the expected answer) or the questions/answer to the question was so complex that it couldn't be answered in a short video clip.