Here’s an interesting infographic on electric transportation, showing the substantial progress that EVs are making in American society. Now, of course, the game is to get rid of coal as the lowest-cost form of base load, so it is no longer used to meet increases in demand in the middle of the night when we’re charging our cars.
There are a few things – just a few — that make living in the 21st Century a pleasant experience, and they all seem to revolve around technology. We’re living longer and healthier lives, and those of us fortunate enough to live in the developed world are enjoying more convenience and fulfillment, due to the ubiquity of information.
It’s articles like these, however, that make me wonder if the expansion of information technology hasn’t hit the wall. (more…)
Most homeowners are now aware of the need to achieve greater energy efficiency in their homes.
Energy bills are on the rise and are unlikely to fall anytime soon and with household budgets already stretched in many homes, it makes sense to find some ways to take your energy-efficiency efforts to the next level.
Here are five ways to help you achieve your energy goals. (more…)
Today liquefaction of air offers us a great solution to one of the biggest issues that world energy science faces – electricity storage. According to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers this type of energy storage is just as effective as the traditional batteries and the hydrogen. It can be used to store excess energy, generated from renewable sources like wind turbines. This energy can be frozen to cryogenic air in some isolated place. When it is necessary, this air can be warmed up and it will return to its previous state, in order to be used. (more…)
I’ve mentioned a few times that even Shell Oil believes the market for oil (gasoline and diesel – liquid hydrocarbons) is going away, and will be very small by the year 2060 – almost entirely replaced by electric vehicles – both battery and fuel cell. Here’s an article that analyzes this “end-of-oil” phenomenon vis-à-vis the share price of Tesla Motors – something that I think is worth following. At a bare minimum, it’s controversial; for everyone who thinks Tesla is far overvalued, there’s someone pointing out that they’re a leader in a market space that even the oil companies believe will dominate the world of transportation.
There’s also an alarming aspect of this report: though the percentage of the energy mix represented by coal is slated to fall, they predict the absolute tonnage of coal burned to rise to keep base with an exploding consumer population. Insofar as this means ecological disaster of unimaginable proportion, I have to believe that humankind (somehow) will refuse to let this happen.
It’s the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, most remembered for his role in conservation, i.e., his activism in preserving the natural environment. Per The Writer’s Almanac:
During his presidency, (Roosevelt ) provided protection for almost 230 million acres of land, creating 150 national forests and five national parks. In 1908, he gave a speech at the Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources, saying: “We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources and we have just reason to be proud of our growth. But the time has come to inquire seriously (more…)
Well my nickel-iron batteries have finally arrived from China on Friday afternoon. I have unpacked them and set them up and attached them to my system for their first charging. They are bigger than I imagined they would be — taller actually than I thought.
I placed them on two boards just so they would not be directly on the garage floor. (more…)
Everyone on Earth who knows anything about our environment challenges would like to see the elimination of coal-fired power plants at the maximum feasible rate. Yet few (myself included) have a rock-solid understanding of the implications of moving off coal. If you aspire to such an understanding, this is an article that you’re sure to enjoy.
Here’s another article by Robert Hargraves on the safety and cost-effectiveness of nuclear. If you have the stomach for it, read how the reporting of Fukushima spread unwarranted fear, and see if you can figure out the author’s explanation of how nuclear can be less expensive than coal. (more…)
There is a large and growing trend in which seniors living in the colder parts of the United States go into assisted living in the fall – only to come out and move back into their homes in the spring. This, of course, is due to the rising cost of energy: people living on modest fixed income sources simply cannot afford to heat their homes. (more…)
