Daily Digest - July 6

• BMW 's Electric Mini E
• IR radiation solar panel uses tiny antennas, has 80% efficiency
• India Questioning U.S. Dollar Dominance…
• Ultimate Depression Survival Guide (Video with author)
• Unemployment Rate % Change (Charts)
• Zombie Banks Will Need More Money (Video)
• Speech By Dr. David Bronner CEO Alabama Retirement Systems
• A day late and 80 trillion short, Sunday Funnies (Humor, in a sad way)
• Headlines Just Making it to Mainstream Media

Energy

BMW 's Electric Mine E

“These are the future,” says James Van Nostrand, who invited us to drive his Mine E. Van Nostrand, executive director of the Pace University Energy and Climate Center (great fit, BMW) is a conversant passenger who describes a not-too-distant future when millions of plug-ins become an army of “mobile storage units” on the electric grid, sucking up power on the cheap overnight and selling it back — at a profit, mind you — during peak daylight hours.

IR radiation solar panel uses tiny antennas, has 80% efficiency

There are all sorts of ways to produce clean energy, but the smartest and cleanest of all is definitely solar panels. There is absolutely no moving parts, noise or intermediate materials. Just beautiful clean energy. The catch? Low efficiency that in reality is far from the theoretical 20%, high manufacturing costs and productivity only during daytime -preferably with lots of sunshine. The researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory are addressing all these shortcomings. By putting loads of nanoantennas on cheap base material, they manage to collect energy in infra-red frequencies by day and night.

Nanoantennas are a clever way to collect IR radiation that is very small wavelength itself. Tests started as a supplement to conventional solar panels, but progress was such that IR panel research became a project on its own. It is hoped that with nanotechnology manufacturing progress IR panels will be incredibly cheap, and as the substrate is flexible they will be installed practically everywhere. Due to intense packing of the small spirals and the fact that everything is tiny and undetectable by eye, special software will tune and arrange the pattern in ways that will not cause material damage. Panels could even be double-sided with the second face collecting the IR radiated from the earth!

Economy

India Questioning U.S. Dollar Dominance…

Now the demise of our dollar is picking up momentum. Soon there will be a critical mass reached and when that happens the world’s central bankers, dominated by U.K. and U.S. central banks, will have THE proposal that will undoubtedly place them on the top of a new credit based new and bigger, more highly leveraged, never ending growth Ponzi currency/debt scheme! It’s coming fellow slaves, get ready.

Ultimate Depression Survival Guide (Video with author)

Unemployment Rate % Change (Charts)

Zombie Banks Will Need More Money (Video)

Speech By Dr. David Bronner CEO Alabama Retirement Systems

1) Next month (July) California hits the wall financially, that will send a ripple effect across the US economy, AND over the next two years one state after the other will fall to its knees financially as the federal government stimulus package ends by 2011. It has helped various states at different levels comparative to their economic condition. He says the stimulus package is what's been keeping the states alive for now...except for California which was in such terrible shape the stimulus package wasn't enough to really help them. "They go first" he said. Alabama would hit the wall in February of 2011, late in the game as Alabama is in better shape than other states. Bronner says Alabama might dodge the bullet if the economy revives enough by then. But, he doesn't really think things will improve enough by then to avoid a crisis. "It will be the largest economic crisis in the history of the State of Alabama." Bronner says Alabama will experience such significant shortfalls by 2011 that taxes will have to be raised substantially to avoid collapse...probably on property. And that practically all states will face a similar fate.

2) Within 120 to 150 days from now the commercial real estate market nationally begins to collapse as stores, malls, and shopping strips, and industrial plant have enough closures (store and plant) and loss of rental revenue to make them unable to pay their mortgages. They will start going into foreclosure unable to pay their mortgages in a significant way at that time creating a second wave of economic disaster starting three to four months from now.

3) Unless oil stays above $70 a barrel Russian and Mexican economics will begin to unravel as countries ("socio-economic collapse) economies require that much from oil to have an adequate revenue stream to feed their people and economies. AND, the only other big revenue stream for Mexico is illegal drugs sold in the US...so their economy will intensify their focus on selling drugs in America as a result in order to survive if oil doesn't stay above $70...he said $90 would be better for them.

4) The US economy (according to Bronner) is today like a patient in the emergency room in the process of having a heart attack....

A day late and 80 trillion short, Sunday Funnies (Humor, in a sad way)

Headlines Just Making it to the mainstream media:

1. India Joins Russia, China in Questioning Dominance of U.S. Dollar...(Via Drudge)
2. WIRE: Rising debt may be next crisis...(Via Drudge)
3. 'Cash is king'...(Via Drudge)
4. Biden: 'We misread how bad the economy was' (Video, via Drudge)