Check out FirstLook for an attractive interactive display of wind and solar resource data at http://firstlook.3tiergroup.com/ .

Hawaii's Parker Ranch is one of the largest cattle ranches in the US, and one of the few that also ranches the sun and wind. Parker ranch uses solar and wind energy for their water pumping systems. We talked with Michael "Corky" Bryan, who has the fascinating title of "Vice President of Livestock". To him, this is just a fancy title for a cowboy. Corky shows us around the solar and wind ranch. If footage is a little shaky at times it is because we did a lot of the talking in his large white pickup truck, of course.

Some good news from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): wind power in the US is growing rapidly. Below is the full article copied from their news article. Very glad to see wind taking off in the US. Of course we need to put this a little in perspective: in terms of percentage of total electricity generation, wind is still a small player in the US. But there is definitely progress being made.

The US is not a small player in wind energy, but, to date, offshore wind farms have not been built. This is soon to end however with plans for offshore sites in Delaware, Massachuchets and Texas. And California? It may soon follow.

We talk with Mike Dvorak, an aspiring wind engineer and scientist at Stanford University. Mike carefully researched available wind along the California coasts, and conducted feasibility studies for various potential sites. Cape Mendicino may well become California's Cape Wind.

Alternatives can help create a sustainable energy future. The most promising long-term alternative energy sources are wind and solar: there is plenty of it, greenhouse gas emissions are low, and the required surface area is relatively small — especially when compared to biomass. In this talk, SmartEnergy’s Margot Gerritsen says we also can’t afford to dismiss nuclear energy if we want to lower harmful emissions.

This talk was part of the “End of Oil” debate, at Stanford University in March 2006.