The ethanol industry has requested $1 billion to bail out plants struggling with economics of making ethanol.  They further want $50 billion of taxpayer money to help build more facilities. They also want a mandatory increase in the required % in fuel up to 30%, despite motor manufacturers saying it will destroy engines, and the EPA claiming environmental problems.  Even with the $0.47/gallon taxpayer subsidy; the trade restricting tarriff on importing ethanol; the biofuel mandates; and the infrastructure build by taxpayers;  the industry can't make it on its own.  And to "stimulate" them, we have to borrow more money from...whom?  China now hates us, the Middle East is suffering, Russia is saber rattling and now may be taking over a US West Coast steel mill (repayment?), Venezuela just voted to retain its dictator, Mexico is imploding, and even Dubai is near financial collapse. 

Hi Kevin,

I have used your input to write the EWPC article How to Increase the Leverage of Stimulus Bill to Global Green Energy .

Thanks,

José Antonio

It's great to see such a commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency in this stimulus package. It's also interesting to see how many of the areas receiving funding open up huge opportunities for the energy monitoring market. The grants for smart grid, HUD, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block,State Energy Programs, transmission systems upgrades, GSA, and many more -- all of these initiatives will require open energy monitoring platforms that can ensure maximum efficiency and performance across all renewable energy systems. Technologies from companies like Fat Spaniel Technologies -- www.fatspaniel.com -- that provide open platforms that can monitor all renewable energy systems using one central console will likely become a key/required component for ensuring that the systems paid for by the stimulus grants are operating as optimally as possible, while also providing max energy efficiency.

These technologies are essential for ensuring the cost-effectiveness of the systems deployed, and providing oversight and accountability. Especially in this economy, it's not enough to just deploy "green" technology and use renewable energy -- you need to oversee those systems and get the most of them. We must combine eco responsibility with fiscal responsibility.

Fat Spaniel was the first open energy monitoring platform on the market, and already monitors over 2,000 energy systems in 15 countries. Our platform enables the integration of many different vendors’ hardware devices – such as inverters, solar modules, wind turbines, environmental sensors, combiner boxes – into the intelligent energy management infrastructure. So, regardless of the hardware components organizations choose to use for their renewable energy initiatives, they can rest assured that they'll have one single platform to manage everything, giving them a holistic view of their systems to ensure that everything is operating optimally. If you'd like to learn more or have any questions, please visit us at www.fatspaniel.com. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have.