Here’s a two-minute interview with Steve Jobs in which he tells you that you can be a greater person and live a more dynamic life than the world around you would have you believe. That’s profoundly beautiful, and completely true.
In response to my piece calling for an energy policy in the U.S., frequent commenter Dr. James Gover, author, speaker, and professor of electrical engineering at Kettering University, made a few interesting points, for which I thank him:
1) In the U.S., policy is established in response to the wishes of the public. Each president establishes energy policies believed to be consistent with public wishes, with particular attention given to the wishes of those who support the president. The process of policy development in the U.S. requires the public to be well informed on the alternatives and the costs and benefits of each.
I’m a bit surprised to see this. (more…)
Perhaps I should clarify what I mean when I write that the U.S. should have an energy policy; maybe an example would serve. Here’s one: Finland just announced their plan to phase out coal and retire it completely by 2025.
Can’t the U.S. do something similar? It’s not like we don’t have policies around here. We have policies that govern our policies. How hard would it be to say something like: “People are dropping like flies as a result of burning hydrocarbons, we’re empowering our enemies by buying oil from them, our utilities have no incentive to change what they’re doing, and we’re ruining our environment. And here’s what we’re going to do about it over the next 20 years.”
It doesn’t sound like an insurmountable challenge. I could write the outline in about 20 minutes.
And, btw, Finland, on behalf of all seven billion of us who share this tiny planet: Congratulations, and thank you.
People often ask me to tell them what’s happening in the energy world in an abbreviated form. That’s not particularly easy, as there are many forces at work right now that are pushing in two different directions at the same time. Here’s a quick list.
Why is the Migration to Renewables So Slow To Occur?
• The world is more corrupt than it used to be; big money wants the status quo, and is generally able to buy it from Congress.
• The recession; investors are nervous; uncertainty about the legal side, the disappearance of the 1603 (cash grant), PTC (production tax credit), etc. To a large degree, this is a result of the above.
• Low natural gas prices.
• The energy industry continues to spread lies about climate change and other environmental issues.
• The European debt crisis has put a crimp in clean energy investment in the EU.
OK, But Why Will This Happen? (more…)
Sunny Florida has sufficient sunshine to power 20 million homes. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) when campaigning vowed to create 700,000 jobs. Upon election, he axed programs that centered on renewable energy. The Sunshine State now ranks dead last in creating green jobs. That’s right, it ranks 50th. (Vermont is #1).
Former Pres. Bill Clinton recently spoke of cloudy Germany employing 300,000 workers in the renewable energy sector. That nation aims to retire coal burning and nuclear power plants (as will Japan).
Correlated to population, America could create one million green collar jobs by echoing Germany, and other EU countries. Even China is ahead of America in energy efficiency. (more…)
There are fewer more important tasks for green living than curbing our energy use. With summers hotter than ever and winters more cold, it is difficult to do this. But we can at least help minimize our usage through other means.
Many of these tricks are simple common sense. Turn off lights when you don’t use them. Try not to use a washer, dryer or dishwasher for small loads. Limit television and computer use. Put PC’s and laptops on energy saving settings. Buy appliances that have an energy saver rating. Use fans instead of the air conditioner or swamp cooler. Bundle up in winter and keep the heater low. All of these are great tips for reducing your impact on the environment. (more…)
The issues regarding hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” are considerably growing as risk analysts have issued their concerns regarding the contaminated waste water coming from hydraulic fracking wells have a great potential of polluting rivers and other sources of water within an area. The same analysts have also called out for additional mandatory steps in order to reduce or stop the contamination of drinking water sources from salts or other radioactive materials, such as uranium, radon and radium. You should know that these three are just some of the many hazardous chemicals used by companies who harvest natural gas through hydraulic fracturing. These findings and recommendations are just some of the issues that surrounds hydraulic fracturing ever since it was placed under public and government scrutiny because of its potential risks to the environment. (more…)
I try to minimize the number of completely off-topic posts, but here’s one I can’t avoid. It’s almost comical how Microsoft, three decades after its rise to prominence in distributed computing, is still turning out products that frustrate the living hell out of its customers.
I owned a small but growing business for almost 30 years starting in the 1980s, and, until I hired a full-time IT guy to replace me in, I’ll say 1994, I was the IT guy for my company that had, at the time, I’ll guess 40 employees. I knew even then that the Microsoft operating system that was dominant in terms of market share was a complete disaster. It’s sad to walk forward almost 20 years and see the same dynamics still in play.
A colleague wrote a few minutes ago to tell me that the government of Bonaire may want our advice re: sustainability. I wrote back:
That is terrific news. Obviously there are other aspects to sustainability, but to boil this down to its essence, we need to examine the trajectory under which they can replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. Of course, this is a discussion that most nations are entertaining, but nowhere is it more acute than on island nations, where energy is expensive (almost exclusively imported diesel), national security is most severely at risk, and the greatest element of GDP (tourism) is also threatened. Is it conceivable that the flow of diesel could be cut off or, at least, become exorbitantly expensive? You bet. Do tourists like fumes belched over them as they’re trying to enjoy the sunset pictured to the left? Nope. (more…)
A friend sent me this piece on photosynthesis and photovoltaics, which claims that commercially viable biohybrid solar cells would be a manifold breakthrough for solar power; their key components are abundant and renewable, so producing them would cost less and be better for the environment than traditional solar cells.
I’m not an expert on this, but I’m extremely skeptical. Biological processes evolved over 4 billion years to enhance the survival, growth, and reproductive capabilities of the organism, not to retain unneeded energy so people could come along in the 21st Century and run their air conditioners. The efficiency of garden-variety PV is about 25% and steadily improving. Biological processes will not compete with that.
