Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk Plans to Build a 5 Mile Test Track for his Hyperloop Transportation System

Elon Musk is bringing the Hyperloop project closer to reality. He said recently that he is making plans to bring a testing facility for the ultra-fast Hyperloop system. It will likely be made in Texas and it will be approximately 5 miles long. The plan according to his tweet is to create pods connected to a train system and these pods will transport passengers and likely cars at hyper speeds between destinations. The system is based on creating a vacuum and theoretically transporting passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under an hour. He said in his tweets that his Hyperloop track would be open to other companies and students “to test out their pods.” This is in direct competition to the CalHighSpeed Rail which has recently broken ground in Fresno with media hype and political backing from Democrats and Gov. Jerry Brown. The Hyperloop system is projected to cost billions less than the CalHighSpeed Rail, and the Hyperloop can transport your car and you.

Cal High-Speed Rail Authority Hosts Official Groundbreaking Ceremony January 6, 2015

FRESNO Cal High-Speed Rail Authority yesterday and Governor Brown joined hundreds of supporters broke t ground on the nation’s first high-speed rail system. In addition to the support of federal, state and local dignitaries, there was strong backing from Central Valley and California-based construction crews, small businesses, and local students who were eager to highlight how high-speed rail is positively affecting California today and will continue to into the future. This construction faze is set for the next five years in the Central Valley. There was a tour of nearby construction activity, which is being done by local and statewide businesses. They also note in their press release finalization of project designs, ongoing right-of-way purchases, and workforce training. This will be a 29 mile stretch of land from Ave 17 in Madera County to East American Ave in Fresno County. The construction will include 12 grade separations, two viaducts, a tunnel, and a bridge over the San Joaquin River. It will be undertaken by California-based Tutor Perini Zachry/Parsons (TPZP) who will be designing and building this first phase of the project. Many at the ceremony were talking about the electric train taking cars off the road and renewable energy, and it potential low cost of $90 from SF to LA in the time it takes a plane to do the same. It will take some time to complete the SF to LA leg for sure. It will likely cost more than $90 once it is accomplished if it is ever accomplished. Authorities say they need to speed up the eminent domain process, since only 100 of the 500 land parcels needed for the rails and stations have been purchased. Californians approved a nearly $10 billion bond for the train in 2008, and in 2012 the Obama administration dedicated $3.3 billion in stimulus funds. Part of the greenhouse gas fees to be collected under the state's cap-and-trade program also will go to the train. There is a lot of capital both political and economic invested in this plan. We will keep you abreast of its progress.

The Hyperloop Plan Potentially from San Francisco To Los Angeles is Still in the Loop

Elon Mush forwarded a plan that would replace the Cal High Speed Rail. In this new version the plan would be to move vehicles and people 700 mile per house via a tube system above of below ground. UCLA Students have taken up the challenge with funding from JumpStartFund a crowd funding organization. Their main objective is to bring the Hyperloop from concept to reality, and then see which state or country would like to incorporate it in their plans. This may or may not be California. The UCLA/JumpStartFund concept is to have "bubbles" stacked on top of each other going opposite directions on air compressors so as to maintain the low pressure. The cost is projected to be $6 to $10 billion which can undertake a 400 mile stretch. They are in the feasibility phase and they are trying to prove it out. They think this can be done within a decade. The proposed price tag is much much less than the CalHighSpeed Rail plan which is in the 10’s of billions. The Rail plan is underway and is currently partially funded, and partially planned. If the Hyperloop feasibility study proves out can it leap frog the Train? There is a lot of political and financial capital behind the train, and no politician is backing the Hyperloop, but if it can be done for 1/10th the cost of the rail and it incorporates vehicles instead of just people then I think the Loop should win out. Think about it if you could drive your car into a tube that will get you from LA to San Francisco in 45 minutes then it will change the entire means of human long hall transportation. How about Sacramento to San Francisco in 10 minutes? You could live in low priced housing in Sacramento and work in the Bay Area. They could run it on or above the current rail lines. A big thing Americans embrace is freedom of transportation. You can build multiple car pool lanes, but most people still drive alone, because they have to or want to. We think if this can be a proven alternative to the CalHighSpeedRail then the rail is doomed, even though it is already underway. This innovation will even effect short hall flights that Southwest Airlines is famous for.

BYD Electric Car Maker Stock Tumbled in Heavy Trading

CNBC news reported recently that Shares in BYD which is traded in Hong Kong plunged nearly 47% or more than $1.2 Billion. BYD in based in Shenzhen China and makes electric vehicles, batteries and mobile phone handsets. It also makes the Electric Bus in Lancaster, Ca. According to the Business News reports the company can’t account for the sudden drop in price. Stock price drops of this magnitude are most usually based on hard company information. So why the drop? It is not known at this time, but it appears someone knows something. The 20% increase in stock sales volume indicates something. Local news reports speculated it has something to do with the Russia, yet other news reports indicate BYD has little exposure to the Russian market as most of their sales are in the Chinese mainland.

Lancaster and Palmdale Water Reclamation Plants Continue the Environmental Friendly Direction of County of Los Angeles

Many ask us what are those big pond near Hwy 14, and what are they building at 120th Street West? Well lets let LA Count tell the story about these Environmentally Friendly Projects: The Lancaster Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) is located at 1865 West Avenue "D" in the City of Lancaster and occupies 554 acres east of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway. The plant was placed in operation on September 24, 1959, with an initial capacity of 6.5 million gallons per day. It replaced a previous plant which was located on Avenue H between 20th and 30th Streets West. This original plant began operation on December 2, 1941. THE CURRENT OPERATION The Lancaster WRP provides tertiary treatment for up to 18 million gallons of wastewater per day (see flow diagram below). The Lancaster WRP plant serves a population of approximately 160,000 people. In addition to producing reclaimed water, the Lancaster WRP processes all wastewater solids generated at the plant. The wastewater solids are anaerobically digested, centrifugally dewatered, and stored in concrete lined drying beds where some additional drying occurs. The dried bio-solids are hauled away and beneficially reused. Methane gas is produced during the digestion process and is used to fuel the boiler used to heat the anaerobic digesters. The Lancaster WRP has historically supported the Antelope Valley Tertiary Treatment Plant, which uses chemical coagulation and dual-media filtration to remove additional amounts of phosphorus from reclaimed water. On average, 3 million gallons per day of the Lancaster WRP effluent is reused at a local farm for irrigation of fodder crops, nearly 3 million gallons per day are sent to Piute Ponds to maintain 200 acres of wetlands as a wildlife refuge, and approximately 0.5 million gallons per day of water is reused at the Apollo Lakes Regional Park during most of the year to maintain the water level in the lakes and for irrigation. The Palmdale Water Plant The Palmdale Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) is located at 39300 30th Street East in the City of Palmdale. The plant currently occupies 286 acres east of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway. It was placed in operation in September 1953 and had a capacity of 0.75 million gallons per day. THE CURRENT OPERATION The Palmdale WRP is a tertiary treatment plant with solids processing facilities. The plant provides primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment for a design capacity of 12 million gallons of wastewater per day (see flow diagram below). The plant serves a population of approximately 150,000 people. Effluent is reused for irrigation of trees and fodder crops on City of Los Angeles Department of Airports' property and also for parks in the city of Palmdale. The Palmdale WRP processes all wastewater solids generated within its service area. The wastewater solids are anaerobically digested, stored, and then dewatered using centrifuges. The dewatered cake, or biosolids, is hauled away for agricultural land application.

Did a Union Just kill hundreds of Jobs and Economic Growth for Palmdale, California?

The city of Palmdale was ready to complete a deal with Kinkisharyo International a Japanese company who agreed to build a $60 million factory on a city owned property. Kinkisharyo has a $890 million contract to build potentially hundreds of light rail cars for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But now the company is taking its project to another state and many indicate a union is to blame. The plant would have employed 300 at a 400k square foot plant. The plant known as Site 9 was a warehouse space used in numerous movies like “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and “Terminal”. This would have been a big economic opportunity for the City of Palmdale as Kinkisharyo International recently moved its U.S. headquarters from Boston to El Segundo, Calif. Palmdale Mayor Ledford was recently quoted this summer as saying "I believe this is just the beginning of a manufacturing renaissance here in the Antelope Valley,”. An environmental group backed by the International Brotherhood Workers Union Local 11 challenged the company. They produced an appeal claiming that construction of the proposed factory would violate state environmental laws. The union wanted to organize the plant without any interference from the company, but the company said no. So the Union backed the environmental group which turned the project into a potential environmental hazard. “They are using California’s environmental laws as a pretense to put leverage on the company to get what they want,” Kinkisharyo spokesman Coby King told FoxNews.com. Thus the Unions demands were not met so they used environmental laws of water rights to reduce “dust spores” which killed the deal. Initially the Union push the card check agreement. Which is a plan also approved by the Obama administration? Card check is where a company must accept a union if the majority of workers accepts the union. A union spokesperson said they didn’t kill the deal, and that it was the environmental laws, but Kinkisharyo is now looking to build their plant in another state. Kinkisharyo paid $2 million to fight to build the plant in Palmdale. It looks like it is too expensive to do manufacturing business in California.

Rural Land in Antelope Valley May Soon Lose Significant Value, While Other Areas will be Subject to a SEA Zone Restrictions

We have posted before regarding the upcoming proposed changes by Los Angeles Regional Planning under their Town and Country Plan. Many parts of the valley are changing from rural residential land allowing one home per 2 acres currently to Rural Land 20 (RL-20) allowing one dwelling per 20 acres. This is happening all over the valley from the far west to the far-east in places like High Vista, and east of Lake Los Angeles. Other areas like of Redman, and Roosevelt and Tierra Subida. Other areas are changing from the current one home per 2 acres to one home per 10 acres for a domicile RL10. This may drastically reduce the value of many parcels that are not in the city limits of Lancaster or Palmdale. A great number of these parcels are under 5 acres and even if you own a 10 acre lot but the zoning in that area maybe changing to RL 20 you may only be able to build one home on the property. It appears that parcels that are currently 2.5 acres will be allowed to build one home on the property. But parcels that are 20 acres or more with a zone change to RL 20 will only be able to build one home on the property, so property owners with large parcels of 40 or 80, or even 160 acres will only be able to build one home on that property per 20 acres. This will make a huge impact on larger parcels, and less on smaller parcels. Most of the west side county areas are targeted to be zone RL-10 with some exceptions. The county seems to want these rural areas to be country ranch land or farmed land. The best solution for these areas maybe farming if there is enough water, or alternative energy if approved. There have been meetings and invitations have been sent out earlier this year, and there last meeting was on September 27th 2014. Other changes are SEA zones. SEA zones are Significant Ecological Zones. These are areas where burrowing owls, kangaroo squirrels and the desert tortoise live. They will also include areas where the Joshua trees and poppy flowers grow naturally. Most of these SEA zones are near waterways like the Little Rock wash, and even near the duck ponds between Hwy 14 eastward to 10th Street West from Ave H north to Ave E. In this area virtually everything north of Ave G maybe in a SEA zone. The SEA zones run along the mountains along the west side from generally Lake Elizabeth area to Centennial and Gorman. The good news is that many areas the zoning has change positively. 90th east to 105th East running on Palmdale Blvd is proposed to all be Commercial Zoning. Also from Ave F south to G and almost all of the area from Division to 15th Street East will be industrial/Manufacturing zoned M1 or M2. There is also some land west of Division near Sierra Hwy that will be Industrial zoned. Additionally, land running along Hwy 138 from 72nd Street East to 90th Street East is proposed to be Commercial land, and a few areas will be Industrial. The maps and the details of these proposed zoning changes can be found via the Los Angeles Regional Planning’s website under their Town and Country plan. LA County doesn’t want much growth in the outskirts of Lancaster and Palmdale. There may be some influence from UN Agenda 21, which we have written about not long ago. Agenda 21 is implemented locally, but push globally to reduce development drastically to its current levels and allow much much more open space and areas for plants and animals.