Global wind day

Here's an exciting event if you're a fan of renewable energy:
Global Wind Day 2009.

The event is being put together by the American Wind Energy Association to allow supporters of wind energy a chance to show off their wind pictures (the shot at right is of PSE's Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility near Dayton, Wash.)

AWEA is also putting together "Tweet-ups" through Twitter in cities around the nation for wind fans to be able to chatter on social media about renewable energy.

The website for photos is now live, and will stay active all summer long.

Comments are also being taken on the much-discussed implementation of a national "RPS" -- or renewable portfolio standard.

Washington state adopted its own RPS of 15 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 through voter initiative 937 in 2006.

Plugging in our socket rockets

Here's a little electric
vehicle history,
PSE-style.

From our "back in the day" file is a nice snapshot of Puget Power's 1991 Ford Escort
as converted to electric power.

Just to add to the vintage feel, look closely at the guy
in the red hat. I believe his hairdo is what historians call a "mullet."

Flash forward to 2009, and you'll see what we're testing today.
The modern version is called a "plug-in electric hybrid," which is a Toyota Prius hybrid modified with a larger battery pack. With greater battery power, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or PHEV) is able to run short errands around town only on electric power, saving the gasoline engine for longer trips or highway speeds.

A standard gasoline-electric hybrid, by contrast, doesn't plug-in ever, and simply recharges the onboard battery pack through energy from the cars brakes or gasoline motor. A full-electric vehicle is batteries-only, with no gasoline or diesel powerplant.

So far, the PHEVs are getting from the mid 50 mpg range to the low 60 mpg in our early tests, compared to the standard Prius cars in our fleet which get mileage more in the range of the mid 40s to near 50 mpg. While early claims said 100 mpg was possible with plug-in hybrids, that claim has generated some controversy.

In either case, a hybrid gives a driver the comfort of knowing that the gasoline motor can kick in and get you home in case the battery goes flat.

By contrast, when the battery in the old electric Escort was finished, so were you . . . even if you were far from a power plug when it happened.