Anytime society is faced with a fundamental shift in thinking, a great deal of misinformation surfaces from a variety of sources. Generally this misinformation is designed to discredit the new way of thinking or advance personal or corporate interests. Eventually the hype is exposed but not without leaving a great deal of people confused about what is real and what is myth.

The current rise in fuel prices has placed alternative energy front and center in everyones minds and we are being bombarded with a variety of seemingly wonderful choices. We will take a look at many of these choices and attempt to shed a little light on the lingering myths. We will learn a number of things about biofuels, wind, and solar energy along the way.

Scott Tippens received his Bachelor and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in the late 1980s. From there, Scott worked at IBM in Research Triangle Park, NC for two years followed by two years at Georgia Tech Research Institute. He began teaching at Southern Polytechnic State University in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology department in 1993 and has been teaching there ever since. While at SPSU, Scott was award the Distinguished Professor award for two consecutive years and later went on to serve as the founding director of SPSU's Center for Teaching Excellence. Scott has recently acquired funding for solar photovoltaic and solar thermal collectors and is in the process of developing laboratories and research experiences for undergraduate students. Scott also developed and teaches a course in Alternative Energy.