Ok, so there wasn't an energy summit on Vashon Island - but it felt that way after a few encounters with forward thinking energy movements.
We spent the weekend on Vashon Island, hoping to recharge from a busy M2 workload [the platform is coming together nicely, beta on schedule]. Vashon Island is like our Martha's Vineyard without the Martha. If you live in Seattle [not the region, the city] like we do, it's a simple and short ferry ride to the island. Once you land, it's like another world. There's still more open, undeveloped land than Seattle - most of it filled with active, thriving farms - with several facing the water. A select few farms face Mt. Rainier in all it's glory. If you're into this kind of lifestyle, this might be the one place on the planet to get away, and never come back.
This past weekend was the annual Strawberry Festival; apparently a big deal on Vashon Island because rooms and cabins were booked and [foreign to this Seattle outpost] traffic was jammed with limited parking available downtown. No matter. The walk was worth it; especially on a hot summer day in July. Can't beat this type of weather in the Pacific Northwest [it's why I advise NW newbies to not vacation this time of year - stay home and leave in the winter].
Anyway, while strolling the Strawberry Festival offerings, stumbled onto a booth for Zenn Motors. This company has been quietly selling elecric cars in Seattle; the company is based in Canada. We ran into a very happy owner of their two door hatchback a couple weeks back; so it was encouraging to see them setup a booth on Vashon Island, the word is starting to spread.
Later we stumbled upon another electric car booth; but this time it was a DIY effort from a Vashon High School student. He converted a VW Rabbit from gas to electric power; the specs for his project are impressive [thanks to Deborah for taking notes]:
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Up to 65 mph speed
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40 miles on a full charge [but not at 65mph :> ]
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8-10 hrs to recharge when fully discharged
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Can drive to work and charge enough to get home in less than 8-10 hours, if you don't commute 40 miles; then drive home
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Converted from gas to electic power in 6 days
It's not trivial to pull off this kind of project; even more so given he did it in a somewhat isolated location [wouldn't think of Vashon Island as an energy research community]. And yet this young man succeeded in proving to himself, peers, Vashon Island that perserverence has it's rewards. We need more of this to meet the demands of the next generation of energy innovation.
Later still, we stumbled upon an electric truck, owned by a local farmer who needed a way to get his produce to market. Believe the truck was customized originally from a Zenn Motors vehicle. Our daughter commented [as it drove away from Monkey Tree - great cafe/bakery on Vashon Island BTW] that it didn't make any noise or smell. How nice to solve air and noise pollution with the electric vehicle movement.
So one weekend on Vashon Island has me thinking this electric power movement might actually take off. Batteries are still the weak link but after seeing what a Vashon High School student can do; I think we'll solve it soon enough.
con paz,
frank