“By their fruits shall you know them.” – Jesus of Nazareth
The S&P closed today’s trading session at $3,961. Gold closed at $1,721.50 per ounce. Crude Oil closed at $94.65 per barrel. The 10-year Treasury rate closed at 2.78%. Bitcoin is trading around $22,625 per BTC today.
Dear Journal,
It has been over three years since I’ve last written… and boy does the world look different.
In fact, I would wager that 2019 feels like a lifetime ago for many of us. It seems like we’ve experienced a fundamental shift since then.
For example, Bitcoin was trading around $8,000 when I last penned a journal entry. And we were seeing signs that momentum was picking up.
Fast forward to today and Bitcoin has crashed by over 70%. In just eight months. It now trades at just $22,625.
Imagine that headline three years ago: “Bitcoin crashes to $20k!”.
Yes, dear journal, the world sure is different these days. And I have great news – what they call “green” energy is now viable. Check it out:
That’s right – I now have my home office fully outfitted with solar energy. I call it the solar shed.
And it’s 100% off the grid. We are producing all of our own electricity up here. Pretty cool.
What’s more, this process taught me a thing or two about electrical systems. I shadowed the brilliant gentleman who installed it for me… and it’s really not as complicated as it appears. Though don’t expect me to do it myself.
Here’s a look at the power center that makes it all go:
How’s that for beautiful? Green energy at its finest.
Now, my motivation with this project was simple. I wanted to see if I could take a step towards personal energy independence.
My thinking was that if we could learn the ropes and take the office off-grid with a small solar system, it’s just a matter of scaling up to get the whole house off the grid.
Granted, it would take a whole lot of scaling to get there. But I can envision a home powered by solar energy with a propane generator back-up.
A 500 gallon storage tank could provide enough propane for thirty days’ worth of power. That should be plenty. Especially if the propane company will top off the tank frequently.
To me, this is the big secret of “green” energy. It can in fact provide energy independence at the household level. At least to an extent.
But there is one more secret as well. This one a little darker.
There’s nothing “green” about it.
See those solar panels up on the roof? They are made using all kinds of metals and materials that have to be mined out of the Earth and manufactured in a lab.
And check out these lithium-ion batteries:
These are the key to the entire system. But again, it’s the same story.
These batteries are loaded with rare Earth metals that must be mined from the ground. And some of them are mostly found in remote places. For example, the Congo is home to the largest cobalt reserve on Earth.
Plus, the panels and the batteries will likely only have a useful life of twenty years. What happens to them then?
There are a few companies working to develop recycling processes for both panels and lithium-ion batteries… but I don’t think it’s terribly economical yet.
If they can’t make it economical, it won’t work. And if they don’t… well, I’m very confident in saying that these things aren’t biodegradable.
The point is, “green” energy is largely a myth right now. But I’m sure excited about it.
More to come…
-Joe Withrow