Alternative Energy

Recently I've been reading about a lot of alternative energy sources. I read about the new tidal generators, which use buoys in the ocean, which have pistons in them that are driven by waves. I also just read this article:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/11/piezoelectrics-installed-in-tokyo-railway-station-floors-generat/

It talks about generators in the floor which generate electricity due to vibrations in the floor I believe. These examples got me to thinking...what other places do we see an up and down motion which we could harness for electricity? My first thought was that of elevators. Obviously you need energy to get the elevator to go up, but what about when it's coming down? It seems to me like you would be able to harness the force of gravity to create some electricity. I could see multiple ways to do this...The most straight forward being to attach a rope to the elevator car, and have the motion of the car either turn a wheel, or move a piston up and down. Along with this type of generator, I was thinking about another alternative energy story I saw about cars that run on compressed air. You could use the motion of the elevator to compress air for use in generating more energy later (in other words, use the elevator as a huge pump). I don't think any of these are breakthrough ideas, but with the issue of alternative energy popping up everywhere, it's got me thinking about ways I could make a difference. Take this as the first installment of a series of Alternative Energy posts I intend to make.

Presidential Candidates & The Economy

One of the most important issues at the forefront of this year's presidential campaign is that of the economy. I found a great article on CCN.com that showed the candidates different views on many important economic issues. That article may be found here:





http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0806/gallery.election_issues/index.html

Of note to me, are things such as tax cuts for the rich ($250k+ for families, and $200k+ for singles) that McCain is proposing, along with differing views on gas price relief. As far as taxes go, I like Obama's proposition of keeping tax cuts for the middle class, and increasing taxes again for the upper class (including property taxes which McCain proposes capping at $2 million, rather than $5 million). It's my view that when you are making that kind of money, you have many more tax shelters available to you already. Give the middle class person some relief, as they are probably in one of 2 positions:

1. They are middle class because they spend many of their assests, rather then investing them on tax shelters such as businesses or other entities which could help hide that income.
2. Just getting to the point where they are massing enough wealth to invest in tax shelters, but are not quite there yet. Allowing them to save on taxes may enable them to invest in businesses and other economically favorable entities which will in turn help the economy.