Sierrans and Friends: Another good day for energy LTEs in Iowa! See below 4 energy LTEs plus one for fun concerning the recent blackout, from today's DMR. Lyle R. Krewson Sierra Club Conservation Organizer ***** Letters to the Editor By Register Editorial Board 09/02/2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ #1 No magic bullets, or free lunches, on energy The writer of the Aug. 23 editorial, "So Who Needs a Power Grid?" apparently not only believes in miracles but also relies on them. Generating electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen is a beautiful thought and might solve a lot of the world's problems. But where are we going to get the elements to be combined? How are we going to move them from here to there? In words of one cylinder, from whence comes the free lunch? Donald Dory, West Des Moines. ***** #2 The Register's editorial "So Who Needs a Power Grid?" painted a rosy future of hydrogen powered . . . well everything. The article propagated a growing misconception that there is a lot of "free" hydrogen (H2) out there just waiting for us to use. There is not, and a lot of energy is needed to get at what little there is. Put most of our energy investment money toward first upgrading our power grid and replacing old coal and oil power plants with renewable energy sources like wind farms or small scale hydroelectric (very much an economically viable reality right now), then it may make sense to take the next step toward hydrogen-powered vehicles. Jeff TeGrotenhuis, Des Moines. ***** #3 The editorial is calling for replacing a system of large electrical plants and an electric grid with a system of large hydrogen plants and a hydrogen grid. Brilliant! The lunacy of the proposal is called into focus by the content of the other editorial in that column, which reports on the likely record size of the ozone hole. One of the environmental risks of hydrogen-based energy supply is that hydrogen released from the system can damage the ozone layer. I don't intend to bad-mouth hydrogen in general. As we run out of fossil fuels, hydrogen is a likely contender as a replacement fuel for transportation. This is because hydrogen can be produced using electricity generated from renewable sources, like wind and solar, and hydrogen is a portable and energy-dense fuel. Curtis Clifton, Boone. ***** #4 The Register has jumped into the blackout fray by advocating fuel cells, but as with many advocates, blindly ignores the major problem - what is the source of all this hydrogen? Natural gas is the most common fuel source used today to make the hydrogen that is consumed by fuel cells to produce electricity. Moreover, some say that the amount of energy used to make hydrogen is more than the amount of power produced by fuel cells. Therefore, we really haven't solved the problem, and in the process will spend billions creating a fuel-cell infrastructure. The better solution is to also focus our resources on renewable energy, which can be used for both generation of electricity and creating hydrogen for fuel cells. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells will not be a magic bullet that solves the world's energy and environmental problems in the near term. Curt Gause, Pleasant Hill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ #5 A darkened city but a bright sky During the recent electrical outage in the Northeast, young children in New York City got to see that there are stars in the night sky. Light pollution normally keeps them from being able to see most of the stars at night. Mars is closer to Earth right now than it has been in 60,000 years. It is the brightest object in the southern sky. How lucky those children were who got to see it when the lights were turned off. Paul Woodard, Urbandale. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lyle R. Krewson Sierra Club Conservation Organizer 6403 Aurora Avenue #3 Des Moines, IA 50322-2862 515/276-8947 515/238-7113 - cel [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Make your voice heard! Find out how to get Take Action Alerts and other important Sierra Club messages by email at: http://www.sierraclub.org/email