A Note From Damian:

Almost 30 years ago America was in the midst of its' first real energy crisis when the country found itself powerless to control OPEC and our main energy source--oil. Jimmy Carter was President and one of his responses was the creation of an alternative energy fuels research program. I received a government grant under this program as did thousands of other researchers. The goal of my project was to solve the primary problem in the manufacture of ethanol fuels: that is, the energy it takes to heat the organics (ie, corn+water) that create the ethanol, equaled or exceeded the amount of energy, (transportation grade fuel), that came out.  Our solution was simple: our heat source was solar energy--using parabolic concentrating reflectors to heat the water that completed the conversion process. This system changed the balance of the equation towards making ethanol fuels economical. Before Jimmy Carter's program was finished Ronald Reagan was elected President and he summarily ended the alternative fuels program. The entire infrastructure was eliminated-there was not even a department in the government for us to send our findings. The results of my and all those other programs were lost.

Here we are 30 years later. As I write this in November of 2008 the $4.00 gasoline of recent months  has dropped back to $2.00 but the problem remains. We are dependant on fossil fuels for  too much of our energy needs. Where would we be if we had pressed forward from the 1970's? I think the answer is clear: American ingenuity, our wealth of intelligence, the flexibility of our economic system, the enthusiasm and vitality of our people, would have found the path to clean, sustainable energy using solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, and other renewable sources. Is there anyone who doubts that the country that rose to JFK's challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's and DID IT, cannot make these alternative energy fuel sources possible within 10 years? Sustainable energy sources are  a vital key to the continued prosperity of America and the world. In support of this I add WeCanSolveIt to our web site and urge you to click through on the graphic below to go through to the WeCanSolveIt website. You know what? We Can!