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1.144 million people now have documented jobs in Europe's renewable energy sector.
The boost in activity in 2010 represented about $166 billion in economic value, a 15 percent increase over 2009. These figures only include renewable fuels, heat and electricity. They do not include jobs in mass transportation, recycling, and green building design. They show a very healthy diversity in Europe’s renewable energy sector. According to the 2010 figures, the top three sectors for employment were biomass (273,000), solar PV (268,110), and wind (253,145). The next largest were biogas (52,810) and solar thermal (49,845). Behind those sectors were ground source heat pumps, waste-to-energy, small hydro, and geothermal. Here in the U.S. we are at a fraction of these jobs...will we allow other areas of the world to create millions more while we sit and watch? The U.S is a leader...lets get back in the race and win!
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"...the Iceni will run to 230 mph, accelerate from 0-60 mph in under four seconds, and deliver 70 mpg at a constant 70 mph and up to 100 mpg at 55 mph. It will also have 100,000 mile service intervals..."
Lets scale this muscle car down and use its technology to offer a fun high mpg vehicle. What truck lover wouldn't love to have a powerful full size truck that gets 50 mpg with heart pounding acceleration and stump pulling power? Or the high mileage commuter car that gets 200 mpg for those daily long commutes? The technology is here today and has been around for quite some time. While in Ireland back in 2006 I rented a 7 series BMW with an automatic transmission (nice sized car). The onboard computer said the car was getting 40+ mpg...i didn't believe it. I reset the computer while in Dublin and drove to Galway which is on the opposite side of Ireland. Again I didn't believe the computer as it was in the upper 40 mpgs. This car was a blast to drive. It had exhilarating accelerationtion and would pin my head back in the head rest...I would actually get dizzy during acceleration. On the freeway I kicked down the acceleratorator and counted as I went from 60 mph to 90 mph in 3 seconds...WOW. Again, I could not believe that a car that was this much fun could get that kind of mpgs. I reset the computer in Galway and would manually record the mpgs at the end of the trip to compare the mpg computer's accuracy. Anyone that has driven in Ireland knows of the narrow roads and heavily congested towns when traveling across this country. I did not baby this car as my early Camaro sports car driving habits were making themselves known many times. I arrived close to the Dublin airport and filled up. To my surprise the computer displayed 45.8 mpg and I manually calculated 45.3 mpg US. From that day forward I now know that we have a lot of mpg catching up to do. Again, the technology is here. Emissions is not holding it up as that is not an issue. Safety is not holding it up as these same cars are imported to us with much less efficient drivetrains. Cost is not holding it up as we mass produce everything. There are no excusses...lets make the US energy self reliant. "...the fossil-fuel industry got a whopping $70 billion in government subsidies from 2002 to 2008. Many of these subsidies have been in place for nearly 100 years."
WOW. Imagine where renewable energy would be today if it received this support. |
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