Tag Archives: energy

Koch Brothers Seek Reversal Of Solar Policies

I find this extremely upsetting. According to The New York Times, the billionaire Koch brothers are not just indifferent to solar energy, but actively trying to reverse alternative energy policies in the United States wherever they are found, state by … Continue reading

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Amory Lovins: It’s Cheaper to Save Fuel Than to Buy Fuel

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Fusion on a White Horse? Michio Kaku Thinks So

Great news! Fusion’s technological problems appear to be “licked”, and (predicts Michio Kaku) will, by 2030-2040, be a feasible alternative to fossil fuels. Kaku also predicts that solar will become price competitive with fossil fuels within the next 15 years. See Kaku talking about these … Continue reading

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Thinking about Entropy

One way to think about entropy is as a measure of disorder in a system: where disorder is high, entropy is high; where disorder is low, entropy is low. I don’t have the exact quote in front of me, but the … Continue reading

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Critical Thinking Watch: Ray Kurzweil Says Solar Cells Will Power the World in 16 Years. Should We Believe Him?

Futurist and inventor, Ray Kurzweil, predicts that advances in nanotechnology will result in solar energy powering the world in just 16 years. The Big Think website recently interviewed him, and here is part of the editors’ summary: [H]ow far away … Continue reading

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They call the new cell ‘Synthia’: What is synthetic biology, and what, exactly, is Craig Venter up to?

The New York Times explains: In the approach toward which Dr. Venter is driving, engineers would specify the entire genetic code of a cell — essentially the software that runs the cell — on computers, making design changes as if … Continue reading

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A Moses for the 21st Century: Ed Moses

Ed Moses of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California may be leading the world—through nuclear fusion—into a real Promised Land—the Promised Land of an abundant energy future. If you are not already up to speed on what Ed Moses and his team of scientists … Continue reading

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Birds and Wind Turbines

Last year, a friend of mine who bird watches noticed that I had promoted wind farms on my blog. He subsequently informed me that wind farms are not an environmentally uncomplicated form of energy. Each year approximately 40,000 birds die … Continue reading

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Oil Dependence on the Middle East: Jimmy Carter Tried to Break It

And Republicans demogogued the issue and, in the 1980s, reversed Jimmy Carter’s even very modest initiatives. Now it’s President Obama’s turn to get smacked around by the Republicans on this issue. But I think that he has to do it. It’s right … Continue reading

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Peak Oil?

The Guardian today appears to have a big news scoop: The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a … Continue reading

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Caught with Our Pants Down? Is America Behind Other Nations in the Global Green and Clean Energy Competition?

Apparently so. Two energy observers in the San Francisco Chronicle cite alarming statistics: As Congress debates climate and energy legislation, Asian challengers are moving rapidly to win the clean-energy race. China alone is reportedly investing $440 billion to $660 billion … Continue reading

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T. Boone Pickens Scraps Plans for the World’s Largest Wind Farm

The wind farm would have been in Texas, but transmission problems (getting the energy from the plains to where people live) seem to have been an insurmountable barrier to bringing Pickens’s ambitions to fruition. Apparently financing wasn’t going well either. Sad. … Continue reading

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President Barack Obama’s August 1, 2009 Statement on America’s Economy and the Path Forward

This video reminds me why I voted for Obama. It’s nice to have a calm and intelligent man in the White House with some environmental and liberal vision:

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The White Roof Movement

My wife and I are seriously thinking about getting the roof of our house painted white (for energy efficiency and environmental reasons). And today the New York Times has an article on the “White Roof Movement.” Money quote: Studies show that white … Continue reading

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“Every now and then I spend my time at rhyme and verse and curse those faults in me.”

And then along comes Mary. I like the song’s powerful evocation of honesty. Mary is this powerful persona who breaks through all the games and bullshit around her, and brings clarity and vision. When Mary comes around, the emperor better have his … Continue reading

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Mid-Day Caffeine Substitute

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MONSTER Off-Shore Wind Turbines: A FIVE HUNDRED FOOT TALL One Goes Up This Weekend off German Waters

So says Der Spiegel: Once it is up and running, the titan will produce six megawatts of power, enough to provide electricity to 5,769 households.

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Classic Little Richard

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From “Up On the Roof” to “Through the Roof”: Kurzweil AI.net Says Solar Industry to Grow to 100 Billion Dollars by 2013

Money quote: Solar is poised for continued impressive growth, with new installations primed to increase nearly five-fold from 2008 to 2013. Starting in 2009, however, supply will exceed demand, leading to price decreases. According to the new report from Lux … Continue reading

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Let the Sun Shine?: Could a Major Solar Technology Discovery Give Us Energy Independence Within the Next 20 Years?

An article in MIT News suggests so. Here’s the link: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

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