I thought readers would be interested in this piece that my colleague Jim Greenberg from Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation wrote, proposing a connection between clean energy and our affinity for veterans.
Frequent commenter Tim Kingston sent me this very interesting piece (including a very well-made video at the bottom) on harvesting vibrational energy that is currently wasted using piezoelectricity, i.e., the property of some materials that they produce small amounts of electrical power when pressure is applied to them.
I’ve seen many articles on this over the years, but I remain convinced that this is a subject of academic importance only, i.e., that it will never result in anything cost-effective. Can you insert this stuff in the floors of Grand Central Station and collect a fraction of the energy currently lost as heat as all those high-fliers from Connecticut get off their trains and walk briskly to their midtown offices? Of course. Can you do it cost effectively? Nope.
Gary Stark asked me to comment on this intriguing video on the future of transportation, which suggests that, rather than make incremental improvements in our transportation system, that we replace the whole enchilada with a system of small tram-like cars that run on rails.
While the video makes some fantastic points and presents many important pieces of truth, it ignores a few basic ideas: (more…)
In the last four years, I’ve written about just over 3,300 blog posts on various concepts affecting environmental sustainability. But every once in a while, I think it’s worth writing about writing itself – or at least referring readers to one of the greatest wordsmiths of all time. Here’s a short essay on writing by Kurt Vonnegut, one of my heroes, on that very subject: How To Write With Style. The main point: be yourself and express your ideas in your own voice.
I’m not sure I have any talent in this field, but if I do, that’s simply it: I don’t try to write like Dickens; I just let it fly.
Those of you who may have wondered what a howler monkey sounds like when it does its thing will take delight in this video, made by my dear friends at the Turimiquire Foundation, located in Northeastern Venezuela, and dedicated to sustainable agricultural, family planning, and assuring the most basic human rights for the poorest of the poor. I can’t begin to express my admiration for this organization, the founders of which graduated from Harvard in the 1960s, and decided that their lives’ calling, as the luckiest of the lucky, lay 180 degrees from investment banking and other forms of personal enrichment. I hope you’ll enjoy.
It’s the 52nd anniversary of the publication of Catch-22, Joseph Heller’s brilliantly satirical anti-war novel. The story revolves around a bomber pilot who tries to get himself dismissed from World War II by virtue of insanity, but encounters a regulation stipulating that only sane people ask to be removed from areas of danger. Thus the phrase “Catch-22” has come to mean any dilemma that resists solution due to the nature of the dilemma itself. (more…)
There are plenty of benefits offered by electric cars, alongside a number of challenges that they still face. Here are some of the main ones.
Tiny Running Costs
Once you’ve got the upfront cost of purchasing the car out of the way (and there is certainly a premium to pay for them at the moment) electric cars are far cheaper to run than their petrol-guzzling equivalents. (more…)
Writing for a website I helped to create, EmpowerTheOcean, Emma Websdale notes, “This week’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, published by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), includes data showing that greenhouse gas emissions are on an upward and accelerating trend.” She then goes on to talk about climate change and the extreme weather events that are likely to ensue as a result. (more…)
Here’s a general article on electric transportation in the U.S. — strangely in “SeekingAlpha” — a blog site associated with the minute details that drive stock prices. I thought I’d present it here because of the cool maps that show the projected growth of Tesla’s fast-charging stations over the next few years. One notices that they’re not too anxious to build out places like Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Hmmmm.
Cause for celebration: as shown in this 
