Solving our Energy Crisis -- We'll all pay a Pirates Ransom!

The wife and I arrived home last evening after an enjoyable dinner and invigorating motorcycle ride with two of our dear friends. The hurricane season is almost over now, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are starting to cool and the weather is finally starting to change --the temps are lower now, as well as the humidity -- all of which makes it enjoyable once again to get on our Harleys and ride.

Anyone that has ridden a motorcycle for any length of time knows that global warming is not a figment of our collective imaginations. Riding exposes you to the elements and here in Florida, it's a fact that summers are lasting longer than ever before and temperatures are hotter now than I can ever remember them in my lifetime (60 years)

So, it seemed a bit ironic and completely apropos to me that, when I turned on the TV that night after the completion of our beautiful ride, what immediately appeared on the screen in front of me was a story about our environment, global warming and what we, as humans, can do to reduce our "Carbon Footprint."

Green is "in" once again, just like it was back in the 60's -- and not a minute too soon, from my personal point of view. The segment of "The Science Channel" last night featured a segment about a fellow by the name of Mike Strizki and his revolutionary House of the Future that he designed and built on his property about an hour outside of Manhattan.

"Welcome to the first solar-hydrogen residence in North America." reads the sign posted at the entrance of the driveway that leads to Mike's place. And while there isn't much that's overtly revolutionary about the physical structure of his home, what powers Mike's place is another matter, indeed.

You see, Mike is a Solar Power Professional who designed and built his own backyard power plant, which provides for all his home's energy needs, using a combination of solar panels and solar-generated hydrogen. Although Mike built the solar part of his house 15 years ago, the power plant is a more recent addition, dedicated in October 2006. Strizki lives comfortably in the house with his wife, Ann, a 23-year-old son, two dogs and a cat.

There are some really surprising things about what Mike has done. First of all, he designed and built his home solar-hydrogen power system by incorporating today's technology and using off the shelf parts.

Second, the system works well enough that the families yearly power bill is zero and although, you could say that the Strizki family is living "off the grid" (not hooked to conventional power lines) -- Strizki's system is "grid-tied," which means that with the flick of a switch in his basement, he can connect to the grid for backup power or to actually sell electricity back to the local power company.

And if all this still isn't enough to wow you, just imagine being able to pull the family car alongside a tank full of hydrogen gas and fill-er-up. Yea, that's right -- Mike has also converted his vehicle(s) to run on hydrogen gas -- the same stuff that powers his house now provides him with "free" mobility.

Or does it? Actually, there are some formidable downsides to what Mike Strizki has accomplished.

Cost is probably the number one mitigating factor that immediately transforms dreams of building your very own power system into a nightmare.

For most of us, the cost of converting to solar power is a deal breaker because, in most instances, 90 percent of it must be paid upfront at installation: Strizki's system cost about $500,000 to build. Donations from others and a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities grant of $225,000 reduced his out-of-pocket costs to $100,000.

As a unique, first instance of applied technology, it was, like all prototypes, expensive. But the "experience curve" -- the value of all the lessons learned in getting a bona fide, certified, code-approved working system up and running -- would soon bear fruit, Strizki claimed, reducing the total cost of the very next solar-hydrogen house to about $100,000, an 80 percent cost reduction just one generation beyond the prototype.

So, even if you've got an extra $100,000 lying around and the time to cope with all the headaches involved in getting your very own solar-hydrogen power system up and running on your property, you better take out the tape and start measuring because Strizki's system takes up a LOT of space. There's the solar array, the Hydrogen gas tanks, fuel cells and the electrolyzer -- the gizmo that separates water into it's components -- Hydrogen and Oxygen.

And then there's the barn needed to house all this specialized equipment along with a shop -- you'll need somewhere to tinker -- a place where you can do "stuff" like convert your vehicles to run on hydrogen. Don't forget maintenance and upkeep to all your specialized equipment. You want it to always run at peak performance -- don't you?

The practicality of solar-hydrogen power - here's the bottom line from my perspective.

We owe a debt of gratitude to all the hard work Mr. Mike Strizki has already done. He's proven to us all that his solar-hydrogen system works and that it can be built - right now. So, now it's up to all the rest of us to figure out the most economical and expeditious way to institute this technology on a grander scale.

My suggestion is to take advantage of the economy of scale. We should approach these power systems from the perspective of community rather than individual use. By doing so, the cost, as well as the benefits can be shared by the group rather than a single individual, thus reducing the initial individual investment and rendering the cost of these systems more economical when amortized over their life span.

The reality is, there is already an energy crisis in this country and it will continue to get exponentially worse. Furthermore, we are hostage to our reliance on oil and that just doesn't make sense to me. Everyone knows that we will (within the next 50 years) run out of fossil fuel and it's in all our best interests to do something about it NOW!

Solar-hydrogen power may not be "THE ANSWER" to our energy crisis but it certainly "IS" part of the evolving solution.

Never let money be the excuse that prevents any of us from doing our part to conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprint. You may remember suggestions that I made in previous Tips of the Week - suggestions for saving energy as simple as screwing in a light bulb.

And finally, my wife Yvonne and I just celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary. Naturally, she and I used the occasion to reminisce about all that has happened in our lives since November 1, 1987.

We still smile when we think that our married life together started with I-Do's during Capt. Memo's Pirate Cruise. Memo is an old friend, and former insurance salesman from California. And, as, Captain of Pirates Ransom, his own custom-built Pirate Ship, he performed our wedding ceremony way back then.

Memo and his First Mate (and wife) Pam had started their Pirate Cruise several years prior to our wedding and their tourist business had really taken off. So much so, that the struggling insurance salesman and his wife were now a successful plunderers of tourists replete with Mercedes and mansion.

One day I asked Memo the secret to his phenomenal business success. He thought about my inquiry for a moment then he lifted his patch, turned and looked deep into my eyes and said -- quite out of character and rather bluntly, "It's really fairly simple Bruce. You're either part of the problem or your part of the solution!"

And so, now I'm asking you, valued readers my weekly tips -- Which one are you?

FYI: Next week I'll move on from Pirate Ships to EarthShips.

Respectfully,

Bruce Hosking and the rest of the "Gang" @

BoomerBikerOnline.com

2174 Nursery Road, Suite 110

Clearwater, Fl. 33764

USA

727-729-4270

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