Down On The Wind Farm

The time has come to revamp the blog

Allen Roth — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:50:03 +0000

After a much unintended absence from my blog I have finally decided that it is time to get back into the groove and let the world know my thoughts. Throughout the years I have become more and more interested in energy and the need for a clean energy now and for the future. With this blog I hope to let the world know my thoughts about energy, the environment, outdoors and the great unknown. Stay tune

Can we deny that climate change is real?

Allen Roth — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:09:57 +0000

This winter in Vermont has been a very difficult winter for snow lovers and the ski industry, but the really important thing that people should realize is that there is no doubt a severe climate change occuring. Temperates have been extremely mild in Vermont and the rest of New England this winter. The snow depths around the country are below average in almost every area in the US. The ski industry as a whole is hurting and the west coast resorts have had one of the worst season in recent memory. Now this hard evidence just makes that arugement of whether or not climate change is real a no braining. Its sad to see that it took this long for everyone to finally except that there was a world crisis on our hands and that the only way to stop or slow it down was with humans changing how we live our everyday lives.

Let the snow dancing continue and bring much needed snow around the country especially in the green mountains here in Vermont.

Thoughts while sitting by the fire

Allen Roth — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:33:24 +0000

Well today has been an exciting day up in the Valley in the Green Mountains. With the beautiful snow falling and changing the landscape I could not help, but think about the beauty of nature and winter. Many people do not take the cold and the snow as postively as myself but for me it is nights light these that I charish. Sitting by the wood stove, drinking a nice dark porter beer is something that I dream about doing all summer long.

Now this winter has already been quiet interesting with the unusually weather that we have been seeing up in Vermont so far this winter. With this snow storm that arrived early this morning and will continue on and off through Friday has made it feel a lot more like winter and the forecast seems to tell the same story. I believe that this winter is a true example of the severity of climate change from a global prospective. Northern California (Lake Tahoe has zero natural snow), which compared to last year this time when the western USA was nearing 100 inches total snow fall around this time last year. Now that winter has arrived I think that it is only right to say that the snow dances around the country have paid off and happy winter.

Why do some bums not try and make an effort to be someone in life?

Allen Roth — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:46:01 +0000

Three years ago while my neighbors had a party someone decided to go into my car and ultimately steal my gps that I had worked for and wanted for years. This evening I was looking at gps devices for the hell of it and came across the one that I did have which was the Garmin 60csx mapping gps. Now you might wonder how they got into my car in the first place and its quiet simple I forgot to lock the doors. In Vermont you would think that people would not steal and crime would be low but in Burlington, Vermont there is a huge problem with theft (did not know this being born and raised in Georgia). The reason that I know that it was a bum or “low life” was because they left a butane refile cartrage with paper wrapped around the nozzel to I would assume “huff the butane”. What drives me even more crazy is that the fact that I know that the person was in my car and other could of been as well. Why cannot people respect other peoples property and not even think about stealing especially something valuable like a gps which for the record this was the first time I had left it in my car EVER. Now i have to wait and have been waiting years to get another gps that is comparable to the one that was stolen or better and it just SUCKS.

Now to my question about why do some bums not try and make an effort to be someone? Well its quiet simple when someone is always given support whether that be from family or the government why would there be that urge to make an effort to be someone? Whats sad about Burlington and dont get me wrong Vermont and Burlington are very special to me is that there is a huge crowd of people who think that doing drugs all day long and asking people for money on the street is a normal way of life. Well news flash to those people you are very very wrong and will eventually realize that they will be more happier if they get off their asses and try and do something with their lives.

I appoligze for my rant but this has been on my mind for sometime now.

Enjoy the brisk air that is hopefully hear to stay in Northern New England and which has already taken hold of much of the west coast.

Art is a great past time during a recovery

Allen Roth — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:31:36 +0000

Now that I am basically stuck to sitting on the couch or hoping around my condo or using crutches to go up 45 stairs I have taking this time to do some artwork to get my mind off of reality. Enjoy!!

The Benefits of Public Transportation.

Allen Roth — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:39:32 +0000

While driving on this greyhound bus back up to the mountains of Vermont I have been thinking a lot about the benefits of public transportation and how it could benefit the world more specifically the US. One would think that more people would consider taking public transportation when you are driving into lets just say downtown Boston. While I was driving into Boston to catch my bus there was a huge traffic jam not with a bunch of buses or public transportation vans but single occupupied personal cars. Now on a side note everyone is driving directly into downtown Boston and many will be parking within a mile or 2 of eachother. So now thinking about public transportatin in mind if everyone choice to use the park & ride service that many places have;

1. the congestion on the highways would be dirasticay less.
2. The emissions would be drastically less
3. Everyone would still get to work on time and if it ran late everyone would be late meaning no one would be held accoutable.
4. Instead of enduring the stress of rush hour traffic people could enjoy the beginning of the day and relax before work.

Just an idea and alternative to the American way that so many people never consider.

Visually Pleasing to the eye

Allen Roth — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:02:30 +0000

I have found that I am more inclined to do mirrored images. I believe that art is unique because everyone thinks differently. My brain is visually stimulated by abstract images which can be seen in this art .

Art Work

Allen Roth — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:43:46 +0000

For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed doodling and doing my own kind of art.

Wind Turbines at Ski Resorts?

Allen Roth — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:28:40 +0000

This has been a subject that I think the whole ski industry and thought about for years and has recently begun to act on the idea of using the wind to power these resorts. Many people do not realize that ski resorts use huge amounts of electricity to power those lifts to carry those ski enthusiast up a mountain to enjoy the fresh pow. These resorts like any other business are trying to come up with creative and efficient ways to reduce there environmental impact and also reduce their utility bills.

Wind energy is the perfect way to not only reduce a ski resorts environmental footprint but also drastically reduce there power bills. Ski mountains are perfect for wind turbines for many reasons but there are two that really make it great. The first is the altitude which plays a key role in how effective a wind turbine will perform. The higher you go in our atmosphere the higher the wind speed is which makes ski resorts ideal. Many ski resorts on the east coast and specifically Vermont are ideal locations for these turbines. An example is Bolton Valley Ski Resort here in Vermont. This resort has a Northern Power 100 kW wind turbine that is capable of generating 250,000 kWh annually. That is enough energy to power. In the near future Burke Mountain Ski Resort is also planning on installing a Northern Power 100 kW wind turbine. Its a no brainier for ski resorts to take advantage of this wind resource and in the future there will be many more ski resorts that will have a wind turbine standing tall supplying them will clean renewable energy for many years.

This article from ESPN talks about the wind turbine that will be getting installed at Burke Mountain this summer. http://sports.espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/news/story?id=6443611

Misconception of renewable energy

Allen Roth — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:27:21 +0000

This is a problem in the United States and the different instances where I have seen this first hand never seem to amaze me. Recently over the holiday weekend I had a conversion with an old lady who was interested in talking about renewable energy. To sum up the conversation she thought that renewable energy was pointless and did not understand that the sun is energy. I think the one comment she made that really proves my point about the misconception was when she told me that she heard that after wind turbines are “finished” that they are kept standing. First of all most wind turbines will be running for awhile unless certain circumstances occur, but 9/10 will run for much longer than the 20 years that the engineers are marked for the life of the turbine. 20 years is the standard for how long a turbine can run but its a low ball number and all it indicates is when some parts will need to have maintenance/repaired or replaced. Wind turbines that are community/utility scale are never left and abandoned like this lady believed. They are decommissioned just like a power pant.