Guest guest Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hi, The March 24, 2008 Wall Street Journal had a very interesting " Eco- Nomics " section (I read it today). Here are some interesting highlights: • Venture capitalists (VCs) see corn-based ethanol as a stepping- stone to a " celulosic ethanol " or some other " flex-fuel. " They say that oil and corn will have a hard time competing with biomass-based fuels ($35/barrel by 2020). There are manufacturing plants that will be operational by the end of 2009 or in full operation by 2010. • the energy market is worth 6 trillion (vs. the Internet market which is worth 100 billion). • The VCs feel E-85 ethanol will come first (before other cellulosic flex fuels) and that there is a $150 adapter that can be used on any car to make it E-85 compatible. One of the venture capitalists interviewed would like to see the government mandate a few large retailers to install E-85 pumps (there are 169,000 stations in the country and most are not owned by the oil companies). * the U.S. lost 24% of its manufacturing jobs (3.5 million) between 2000 and 2008. Green jobs are a bright spot. There are approximately 40,000 jobs in wind-power (20,000 were created in 2007). • 28 states have requirements that utilities obtain energy from renewable energy. Some states that have made this commitment are nervous that they won't have enough skilled green staff (e.g. Washington State needs 25,000 additional workers to meet their renewable energy commitment). Some states have set up training programs— with assistance from 2 year colleges, community groups and employers (the article mentioned Washington state—but did not specify other states that have training programs). Entry level pay is $16 - $30/hour. Mary Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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