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Choice of the day

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Costs and Benefits

by Ryan Avent on 05/16/2008 14:22   0 comments , 11 views
Categories: Environmental Policy, Climate
Tags: economics, environmental economics, cost benefit analysis
Over at Grist, Lisa Heinzerling, a Georgetown law professor, has written an essay arguing against the embrace of cost-benefit analysis by environmentalists. She suggests that environmentalists enjoy nature in a very concrete and reverential manner that cannot be captured by economic analysis.: These values are foreign to the cost-benefit mindset. Cost-benefit analysts insist — through use [...]
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DOE Cancels Shipments to Strategic Petroleum Reserve

by tbhurst on 05/16/2008 13:14   0 comments , 9 views
Colorado Senator is lone dissenter in 97-1 vote

I'm really thankful that Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) is not running for another term. Earlier this week, the Senate voted 97-1 to halt shipments to the strategic petroleum reserve, a move that precipitated today's announcement by the Department of Energy that they would cancel shipments beginning in July. The reserve is currently 97% full, holding 701 million barrels of crude.

The lone dissenting vote i...
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King Corn and the food crisis

by Simon Donner on 05/16/2008 13:12   0 comments , 14 views
Last weekend, I was asked to answer a few questions after a local screening the film "King Corn", an offbeat documentary by a couple young college grads who decided to move to Iowa and try growing the crop that fuels us all. The audience questions centered around the usual public fears about food. Is all corn GMO? What animals can eat corn? What else are they fed? Where can I learn more? And, my favourite, is the "glucose-frutcose" listed on my ...
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+1 1 vote

Energy Collective Members Debate Biofuels and the Food Crisis

by Mark Lazen on 05/15/2008 17:06   0 comments , 70 views
Categories: Politics & Legislation, Agriculture, Biofuels, Transportation, Climate
Tags: ethanol, biofuels, agriculture, corn ethanol, food prices
There's a riveting behind-the-scenes discussion going on in a private group we maintain that is populated by many of our bloggers and members, and I want to bring the gist of it to all our readers. I'm not going to quote anyone, but in the future I hope the group lets such freewheeling exchanges spill out in the comments sections of this site, instead of in a back room.
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Recent Posts

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+1 1 vote

Wind Power — A core climate solution

by Joseph Romm on 05/17/2008 06:36   0 comments , 8 views
Categories: Politics & Legislation, Renewables, Alternative Energy, Wind
Tags: wind, politics
[I am (slowly) going through the major carbon-free strategies this year.] Wind power is one of the most important climate solutions. It is, for instance, one of the few zero-carbon supply options that can plausibly provide more than one of the 14 or so “wedges” we need to stabilize below 450 ppm of CO2 (see [...]
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+1 1 vote

Western Lands Uranium Gopher for May 16, 2008

by Dan Yurman on 05/16/2008 22:03   0 comments , 12 views
Categories: Nuclear Power, Green Business, Energy Investing
Tags: uranium mining
Mining uranium exploration press releases for useful stuff
(A occasional column of money and mining news items)

The rise of nuclear energy, a second act if ever there was one, has given the price of uranium a shot in the arm. In western states in the U.S. interest in uranium mining is growing and with it comes another growth industry - the production of press releases about the uranium mining industry. In an effort to separate the really interesti...
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Nuclear blog roundup for April ~ May 2008

by Dan Yurman on 05/16/2008 21:46   0 comments , 9 views
Categories: Nuclear Power
Tags: nuclear power, blogs

A fast forward look at what other nuclear blogs are saying roundup

This is third installment in a continuing series. Every four weeks or so I'll take a look at what other nuclear energy blogs are talking about and provide some pointers here.

At Atomic Insights Rod Adams takes a look at the rapidly escalating costs of new nuclear plants and asks whether smaller nukes might make more sense. He writes,

"When nuclear development does get back int...

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0 0 votes

AECL gives up on Maple reactors

by Dan Yurman on 05/16/2008 16:42   0 comments , 10 views
Categories: Nuclear Power
Tags: maple.nuclear power, medical isotope

The decision won't affect AECL's plans for the ACR1000 scapheap

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) is scrapping development of its two new MAPLE medical-isotope reactors at its Chalk River, Ont., laboratories.  Bloomberg wire service reports the decision "is based on a series of reviews that considered, among other things, the costs of further development, as well as the time frame and risks involved with continuing the project," AECL ...

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+1 1 vote

Comedy Night at the OEB

by Glen Estill on 05/16/2008 14:19   0 comments , 12 views
Categories: Electricity, Politics & Legislation, Agriculture, Renewables, Alternative Energy, Solar Power, Wind, Biofuels
Tags: ontario energy board, small generators
The evolution of electricity policy is sometimes funny.  Today, the Ontario Energy Board announced some prospective changes to the Distribution System Code.  George Orwell must work at the OEB. The existing code has an expedited connection process for small generators under 10 kW.  This would be a size typical of a home wind or solar [...]
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+1 1 vote

A Vicious Cycle

by Ken Levenson on 05/16/2008 14:04   0 comments , 9 views
Categories: Climate
Tags: global warming, glaciers
While our attention is largely on the melting poles, the most immediate and devastating effects will be felt from the melting glaciers. From Bhutan to Peru, global warming is exacting a great toll now and will soon be getting much much worse. The article Melting Andean Glaciers Could Leave 30 Million [...]
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+1 1 vote

Must read article: Tapped Out

by Lou Grinzo on 05/16/2008 10:36   0 comments , 9 views
Paul Roberts, author of The End of Oil, has an excellent survey article on the current oil situation in National Geographic, titled Tapped Out. It’s too long and detailed for me to do it justice with quotes, so I urge you to hit the link above and read it in its entirety. Roberts is one [...]
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Counting Electrons and Molecules

by Geoff Styles on 05/16/2008 09:46   0 comments , 9 views
The electric vehicles are coming. Whether they are to be plug-in versions of hybrid cars, along the lines of the eagerly-awaited Chevrolet Volt or plug-in Prius, or the pure EVs recently promised by the CEO of Renault and Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, we will soon have significant numbers of cars on the road for which fuel economy metrics must track kilowatt-hours, in addition to or instead of liquid gallons. As I noted in my posting a few months ago on...
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+2 2 votes

Redundant Ethanol Subsidies

by Robert Rapier on 05/16/2008 07:56   2 comments , 34 views
The proposed farm bill just sent to President Bush (and expected to be vetoed) contains several ethanol provisions. One is to cut the corn ethanol subsidy from $0.51/gal to $0.45/gal. Forbes explains:

Ethanol For Everyone!

It also includes $1 billion for energy-related programs, including several provisions related to ethanol and other biofuels. Notably, it reduces the tax credit paid to ethanol producers from 51 cents to 45 cents per gallon. The ...
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+1 1 vote

Toyota’s foresight pays off: Prius sales top one million

by Joseph Romm on 05/16/2008 07:03   0 comments , 37 views
Categories: Batteries, Green Business, Transportation
Tags: toyota prius
The Toyota Prius is “the world’s first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid car to hit 1 million in sales.” More than half of those were sold in North America. Toyotaps goal is to sell more than one million per year. I own one and must say it is a terrific car. I get about 45 [...]
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Weekly Highest Rated

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+6 6 votes

Befuddled by Our Oil Dependence

by Robert Rapier on 05/02/2008 19:00   2 comments , 196 views
In a different context, this might be funny:

Lawmakers being forced to give up gas-guzzling cars

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley likes his taxpayer-funded Ford Expedition. He isn't worried that it's not the most fuel-efficient car. It's reliable, suits his mountainous district and is cheaper to lease than many other vehicles.

"It's not a Cadillac. It's not a Lincoln. It's a Ford," the Republican congressman said with exasperation.

B...
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+5 5 votes

If Gasoline were Ice Cream*…A Modern Fable

by Jennifer Dillon on 04/17/2008 07:26   0 comments , 331 views
*The title is meant to be sung to the Barney tune of “If Raindrops were Gumdrops.” Every night my son and I share a bowl of ice cream, and I’ve noticed a parallel between my household’s ice cream interaction and the global economic demand and supply of oil. In this story: I will represent the American economy. [...]
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+4 4 votes

Rethinking nuclear power class 4 is up

by Dan Yurman on 04/21/2008 22:29   0 comments , 255 views
Categories: Nuclear Power
Tags: nuclear, dartmouth, bob hargraves
Bob Hargraves continues his online tutorial from Dartmouth

Readers of this blog will recall that Bob Hargraves is teaching an eight-part class at Dartmouth called "Rethinking Nuclear Energy," and he is publishing his slides and lecture notes online. Part 4 is now online along with Parts 1-3.

Bob has been updating me on the class and here is his latest note.

I had a great time in class today. We finished "3. Environmental Choices" and presented mo....
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+4 4 votes

Exxon, the Rockefellers, and the Future of Big Oil

by Joel Makower on 05/05/2008 09:12   0 comments , 223 views
Last week, the Rockefeller family made an historic challenge to Exxon Mobil Corp., the company founded by John D. Rockefeller and in which dozens of family members still hold stock. The challenge came in the form of a shareholder resolution to require an independent chairman of Exxon's board of directors, so that the company can better maximize long-term shareholder value in a rapidly changing energy environment. Making the board chair independe...
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+4 4 votes

Hillary's Stupid Energy Plan

by Robert Rapier on 04/28/2008 22:36   2 comments , 317 views
I had intended for this, my 500th essay on this blog, to be about my recent trip to Choren's new plant in Germany. But Hillary Clinton has just come out with a plan for high gasoline prices so asinine, it had to be addressed. Note that I have already picked on McCain's plan, and Obama's plan isn't all that different from Hillary's. In my opinion none of these candidates have demonstrated that they actually have a grasp of the reasons for high oi...
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Weekly Most Discussed

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+2 2 votes

Replacing Gasoline with Solar Power

by Robert Rapier on 05/12/2008 03:33   4 comments , 133 views
Executive Summary

If you don't want to run through the calculations, here is the summary. I attempted a thought experiment in which I calculated whether it would be feasible to use solar power to generate enough energy to offset all U.S. gasoline consumption. My conclusion is that it will take about 444,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity. Current U.S. generating capacity is over 900,000 megawatts, but there isn't a whole lot of spare...
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+3 3 votes

Tyson Slocum Testimony

by Robert Rapier on 05/07/2008 09:06   3 comments , 144 views
Consumer advocate Tyson Slocum recently testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about the record high gas prices. I am going to resist the urge to do a deep debunking, because 1). I have already taken a shot at his credibility; 2). I haven't slept in 36 hours; 3). Maybe he's got some good points? ;-)

Here is a PDF of his testimony:

Testimony of Tyson Slocum

Among some of Slocum's findings (a...
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+1 1 vote

The Russians are coming

by Dan Yurman on 05/13/2008 22:28   3 comments , 61 views
Categories: Politics & Legislation, Nuclear Power, Energy Investing
Tags: nuclear power, iran, russia, trade agreements, gnep

But it may not matter russia

According to World Nuclear News, the USA and Russia have signed a "landmark" deal on nuclear cooperation to facilitate trade and allow joint ventures between companies.

The deal would create the conditions for "massive development of nuclear power worldwide." It sounds like GNEP on steroids and that's just the kind of conflict laden political initiative by the Bush Administration make makes Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich) ....

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