There is a 130-turbine wind farm that has been planned to be built off Cape Cod. Many resident have vehemently opposed the wind farm because they say it will ruin their views.

Now, a couple of Wampanoag Indian tribes are arguing that the land that the wind farm is supposed to be built upon may be protected under the National Historic Register. These tribes don’t want the wind farms on their lands.

But, not all Native American tribes may feel this way. In the West there are hundreds of Indian reservations in prime locations for both solar energy and wind (and of course, casinos) Here is a map of the reservations across America.

Likewise, the “Saudi Arabia of Wind” corridor in the Midwest also has numerous Indian reservations that would also be ripe for wind turbines. I’m not an expert in Native American culture, but I would surmise that many tribes seeking self-reliance and independence may wish to get in on the renewable energy boon that is upon us. Anyway, it’s just a thought.

The problem is that methane is also a greenhouse gas and even more deadly than CO2. Methane is also the main component in nature gas. But, methane is made up of CH4. That means one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

What is the point of adding electricity and hydrogen to produce methane, when you can use hydrogen, which produces zero greenhouse emission for storage? Today, most hydrogen is produce from natural gas by stripping out the carbon and selling it on the market as its own commodity.

A better way to store extra electricity generated from renewable resources such as wind and sun is hydrogen. You take the electric current and use modern electrolysis methods to produce hydrogen and oxygen. You store the hydrogen for use with fuel cells and sell the oxygen on the open market.

The only reason to make methane from microbes is as an interim step to producing hydrogen. Zero emissions will clean up greenhouse gasses and global warming far faster than low emission methods. And the time to start thinking this way is now.

Just as in residential or commercial real estate, it’s all about location, location, location, so goes it with wind and solar resources as well. The 3Tier system gives the most detailed and historical maps of wind and solar hotspots for any given location.

Also, as wind and solar energy tends to be fickle with night, clouds, calmness and other environmental factors getting in the way of consistent electrical production, this all needs to be taken into account by the builders of wind farms, solar installations and the traditional power companies buying the renewable energy.

The top part of the map above shows the Wind Corridor in the U. S. that T. Boone Pickens is referring to in his Pickens Plan. The bottom part of the map, shows the obvious bias of the sun’s energy directed towards the southwest of the country.

In fact 3Tier has put up a temporary wind and solar map that one can zoom in one in Google Maps style and see on a small scale where the pockets of activity and energy are most concentrated. This will give engineers and planners at more accurate representation of the viability for the locations of their renewable energy projects.

Just supposed that land you were to purchase for a project of this magnitude was located just a ½ mile from a more ideal location? This kind of sophisticated mapping will help avoid mistakes and pick the right locations the first time before the first panel or turbine is put into place.

The oil generation used to speculate as to what location may work well and there was a lot of hit and miss in this process. With today’s technology, renewable energy can use this current high tech computerized analysis and reduce speculation and increase profitability right from the get go.

Sure, there will be a parade with the traditional floats, a grand marshal with a family connection to the 1840’s potato famine and marching members from the Boys & Girls Club. But, St. Patty’s Day is also a part of Energy Week in Holland, a time to celebrate green renewable and sustainable alternatives.

The Boys and Girls Club will be handing out free coupons for CFLs. There will also be a free screening of the movie “Kilowatt Ours,” an environmentally-focused film of empowerment.

In addition to the general malarkey and shenanigans of the day, there will also be on display information about solar panels. And, as luck would have it, the rumor is that the organizers may also have on display a wind turbine powered by a four-leaf clover.

At least this could happen if only a fair maiden kisses the Blarney Stone and wishes it so. So, Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all you green spirited types and you can bet your Lucky Charms tomorrow will be a better day!

When the New England Patriots and New York Giants step on the field, most players will not realize that the lights, electronics and other electrical devices will be powered by a blend of geothermal, wind, solar and hydro power. Fox News will also be purchasing renewable energy from SRP for the Ritz-Carlton and Phoenician hotels, in which they will be hosting high-profile guests.

This grid iron irony of playing on green while using green energy won’t be lost on some of the fans, however. Trees will be planted on seven local school campuses as well as 96 acres of reforestation in celebration of Super Bowl XLII.

Mean Joe Green may no longer be playing football, but another kind of green will be at the stadium this Sunday and in a different way will electrify the fans.

Then Google announced their RechargeIT Initiative to encourage the development of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Google is working with A123 systems and Hymotion to convert their own fleet of hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrids and help test the cars for wider adoption.

A few weeks ago, Google announced their UK Carbon Footprint Project. People in the United Kingdom are now able to track their carbon footprint, compare it to others in the area and take steps to reduce their environmental impact.

Yesterday, Google announced a plan to develop renewable energy resources that will be able to produce electricity at a cost less than that charged by coal-fired power plants. This alternative energy search engine plan is being developed in conjunction with Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the corporate mother ship.

Google’s “Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal” project or RE < C for short, calls for the search giant spending tens of millions of hundreds of millions of dollars on solar thermal, wind and geothermal energy technology. The point of the project is to deliver cheap, renewable electricity to a city the size of San Francisco within years and not decades.

Just when you think the search behemoth can’t go any greener, they go for the gold. And, Google expects that going green will also keep them in the black. The bottom line is that renewable energy is also profitable and you don’t have to search long and hard to see that.