The Alternative Energy Bubble

Such a bubble may exist if it turns out that oxidizing, at once, large quantities of carbon stored in the earths crust does not seriously mess with our environment, or if the need for energy worldwide drops drastically.

Blowing bubbles? You would be the wacko here. Tuning in way too much talk radio.

Of course there is a green bubble. In our current economic climate any investment field that that shows the remotest possibility of earning a return will soon become inundated with a flood of Bush's tax break money. The traditional places for parking wealth (property, stocks, and banks) aren't very attractive these days. Right now the big money seems to be pouring into energy as the best investment (particularly oil futures speculation), and so the alternatives are also getting a share.

Some of the alternatives are panning out, and surely others will become competitive with R&D funded by the influx of cash. Like the dot com bubble, when the big money arrives on the scene, the bad ideas with slick promotions will be as well funded as the few good ones.

20/20 pre-site. Hear, hear. With out the bubbles, or risk of them, there would be no bubbledelerium (irrational exuberance). Thats us, right in the middle of it. True bubbles need not much convincing to burst. It has happened ever since. Don't panic. It's just normal evolution. Alchemy at its best. Ignorance will never rule. Ky.

That reminds me of a song by Stan Freeburg: The Bubble Machine.

Song Lyrics: Note LW is Lawrence Welk, -L is a Lemmon sister,

<"....

LS is the Lemmon Sisters, LL is Larry Looper,
SS is Stoney Stonedwell, AL is Alice Lean,
SM is sailor matey, SC is sailor captain


Note LW is done in a parody of Lawrence Welk's accent.
I will spell this phonetically in a few places
where it is important, but if I did it consistently,
LW would be unintelligible.

LW Thank you, thank you and good evening friends.
We're coming to you once again from the beautiful
Aragon Ballroom on Lick Pier at beautiful Santa
Monica Beach, California. We've been getting lots
of cards and letters from you folks out there in
television lant and we surely do thank you for...ah...
for...ah...for all the cards and letters from you
folks out there in television lant. Starting us off
tonight is our trio the Lemmon Sisters and
girls what are you going to sing?
-L We're going to sing Thank You For All Those Cards
and Letters You Folks Out There in Television Land.
LW Lant!
-L Lant
LW And now an appropriate number. A-wun and a-too and a-
LS Thank you for all those cards and letters
You folks in television lant
We wonder where this television lant is
Could it be a couple of miles from where Dinney Lant is
Oh, well never the less you guys and gals in

LW What is that noise there?
LS - bunch of palsy-walsies -

LW Oh, its the bubble machine. Turn off...just a moment...
I...hold it just a moment please...turn off the bubble
machine...please turn off the bubble. Thank you, Lemmon Sisters for that lovely number. Wunerful, wunerful. And now on with the show. Here's that man with the deep, deep voice,
Larry Looper. Larry, What are you going to sing for us, Larry?
LL I'm going to sing Thank You For All Those Cards and Letters.
LW I'm sorry, that number has been taken.
LL Well. Ill sing The Funny Old Hills then.
LW Good. A-wun and a-too and a-
LL I-
LW Hold it just a moment. The bubbles don't come till the end
of the program. Turn off the bubbles. Thank you Lar- thank you
Larry Looper, for that wunerful number. Now I would like to
play a short instrumental medley based on the names of girls.
A-wun and a-too...no...no, thats not it...thank you so very much. And now, here's that young man about town from the brass section, Stoney Stonedwell, to sing Please.
SS Please. Lend your little ears to my plea -
LW What is the matter with that machine. Here, hit it with your
horn...hit it...here...stick your mouthpiece in it there.
Wunerful, wunerful. And now on with the show. Here's our
champagne lady Alice Lean. Alice is going to sing
Moonlight and Shadows. A-wun and a-too and a-
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in twenty-five years
my popping finger is caught in my cheek. Will you give me a hand there, Alice...here, pull my arm...no, the other arm...just pull it...
pull it...thats it.
AL Moonlight and shadows and you in my arms
And the melody in the bamboo tree, my sweet
Even in shadows
LW Hold it, somebody stop the bubble machine. The whole ballroom is lathering up with bubbles. And now I can't see the cameras. Here, let me set that accordion down on the stage and I'll try to fix that. Bear with us, folks just a moment please. Gee, the time is running out and we haven't even played the polka. Wait a minute, boys, I didn't mean...hold it, Alice, don't polka on my accordion.
Gee, Dad, it was a Wurlitzer. Hit the theme, boys. And so its
goodnight from all the champagne... wheres the cameras...theres so many bubbles I can't...and so, friends, we...help, the whole ballroom is shoving off to sea...
SM Sure is a clear night, ain't it, Captain?
SC Yup, matey, these are the kind of nights when the sea plays
tricks on ye.
SM Yeah, I recollect one night off Singapore...
SC Tricks, I say, like that mirage off the port bow, now.
SM What?
SC See it there, kinda bubbly looking in the moonlight?

SM Oh, yeah. Gee, if I didn't know better, I'd s ()

....">

Kind Regards....

Yeh..so what..

The amount of money involved is probably miniscule compared to the obscene profits made by the oil companies. It will probably do less harm that the bunch of idiots who lent billions in mortgages to people who could never repay them...

Maybe some good will come of it...sure as hell we won't develop new energy sources without research.

Yeah and BTW wheres my funding for the solar hot water panels I made???

Del

(PS why does the spell chucker not recognise 'miniscule' ???)

Wot?!? You haven't got that cheque YET? It's in the mail, it was posted _{mumble, mumble} weeks ago! Shoulda been there...look, had any thefts of pension cheques reported lately in your area? Could be stuck in a Royal Mail depot up near Liverpool, too... Check from your end, I'll check from mine, we'll get to the end of this thing!

_{(did I mention that one of the idiots who lent billions back in the mortgage and loan shakeout was our Prez's brother?)}

And the smell chuckler doesn't recognize "miniscule" because that word isn't programmed into its dictionary. No worries, it's spelt properly w/o chucking it.

Good answer (so voted)! It may be possible to apply statisics to politics. But to expect sociopolitical systems to obey anything even vaguely resembling mathematical or physical laws is blowing bubbles of another sort. I don't think I'd care to live in a political system where that was not so.

And Del is right that without financial input, there will be scant possibility for prompt development of alternative sources of energy. This is not likely to become another Teapot Dome energy scandal, and hopefully the example of Enron will keep most players, if not smart, at least honest.

Speaking of boom bust Enron http://www.mcclatchydc.com/justice/story/46368.html

Seems the Justice Dept. Pronounced JUST US is accepting fines from corporations instead of prison for guilty parties. We (the Public) lose money and the justice Dept. profits. What is wrong with that picture.

But Boss if we get caught we pay the justice dept their cut and all is good.

More perverse incentives for big business. Corruption or incompetence?

Brad

Isnt this whole oil economy a big bubble? Arent there going to be massive problems in 35 years when we have no oil to use? [/facepalm] (or less then 30 years when people realize they have to pay 10$ - 20$ a gallon for their car and not to mention everything else we use that comes from oil)

Sorry mate, but the oil bubble has envelopped the alternative boulder for too long. After all, oil is just solar power gone all moldy and junk. We need the fresh stuff, right from the source, you know... that big bright thing in the sky.

Stop provoking all of these anti-everything contributors. I refuse to be provoked into commenting and responding to all of the minds that think business do everything for selfish self interest and only they (the commentors) are pure and selfless. The fact is that the bubbles are usually caused by the government trying to meddle in the free market. Energy is just the latest example and the same thing will happen that happened to the housing bubble. The government will end up bailing the speculators out and sticking it to the taxpayer. The energy crisis is a direct result of the Congress artificially limiting energy supply by preventing exploration in response to enviornmentalists and anti nuclear lobbies and anti coal lobbies. Those lobbies are no less self interest groups than any other lobbyist, except they are sure they are "right" and therefore it's OK. It's become a "religion", and we know how much logic and reason is involved in religion. ( I'm not anti-religious, just a realist.)

The "alternate energy" everyone seeks will materialize, probably out of a laboratory mistake. It will be only by chance, perhaps from one of these government programs.

Let us all hope. I'd suggest that any of us, or those of you who can afford it do their part. I'd like a Hybrid or an electric but I'm not going to pay $10,000 extra for 2 more MPG. Cheer up. Thihs too will pass.

Go ahead and distort the facts. All previous "bubbles" were caused by deregulation and just about everyone knows it.

Now that global warming has been challenged by many thousands of scientists and the smoking gun that CO2 follows solar warming has been demonstrated by polar drillings, extremist green may just be ready for a collapse. We all want green, just not extreme.

Anyone with even an elementary understanding of free markets will realize that the bubble is our friend. Market bubbles are the result of speculative exuberance; investors, entrepreneurs and capital markets betting on the come and taking greater and greater risks.

When demand collapses because the investors and or bankers withdraw the support from the industry there is a shakeout leaving only the most adaptive companies. These events however keep the industry healthy and competitive; it is why America is so productive in spite of its high labor costs as compared to the rest of the world. When government gets involved, bailing out (for example predatory lenders) it makes thing worse and yet more risky.

Likewise, when government gets involved in subsidy it is also a catastrophe, like when a fickle majority withdrew its support and voted for the politicians who let the subsidies expire. Put the blame where it belongs – us – the fickle majority that keep electing the same crooks even after they get caught with 90 grand in the freezer. We are the culprits.

No, I say let government stay out of it. Let the bubbles, shakeouts and crunches work like they are supposed to work. "Sustainable" products must stand on their own like any other product and compete in free markets. Only then can they claim they are truly "sustainable."

Those of us who are involved in sustainable research know that the work on solar, especially concentrated solar was severely injured when support was removed. I think it would have been better for entrepreneurs. If the subsidy were never there, after thirty years of research we may be further along.

Right now, solar products are without exception lame with short lives and lethargic performance. The public knows it. That must change and that will not happen with subsidies. It will happen when the product is viable, powerful, maintenance-free and endurable. Nevertheless, I think it can be done. To make this happen we need a better battery.

I think that McCain's idea of offering a one time reward for a better battery is the only way government should get involved in non defense related industry. I think it shows a sophisticated view of just what is our problem in this industry – storage.

Respectfully,

Cornelius

Nonsense.

Please, Liberal Media,

Like Eienstien said, "keep it simple, but not any simpler". Go to "Pickens Plan.com" and see te reality of "inexpensive and almost free" Alternative Energy info.

No Bubbles, no smoke ,no mirrors. My four AE (thermal and PV Solar) systems work whenever the sun shines, and I am sitting in the light of my awesome 5W-12VDC battery powered fluorescent light. I do not use "clean-coal (what a joke) energy, because I have a "stand-alone-clean air" PV system. I do not use "grid power", and I do not get a bill from PNM any more.

"go to" Pickens Plan in the EE section if you want juicy technological topics. Enter "pickens plan" in the "Search this blog" box on this page. It is all about, "Stop buying $700B of foreign oil" to finance terrorist Arabs. Hey, this spilling of American GI blood all over Iraq is sensless, especially when IUD's are financed with money going out our tailpipes.

Photon Phreak