44 years ago today, Robert E. Moore and Robert Noyce founded Intel. Today, Moore is probably best known for the “law” that bears his name, the concept that the effectiveness of technology expands exponentially through time.
Speaking of which, a friend of a friend put me in touch with futurist Ray Kurzweil, who happens to be a big fan of this concept. In fact, Kurzweil requested that I review this presentation on Moore’s Law in advance of an interview for my next book: Renewable Energy — Following the Money. I found it interesting, and I hope you will too. It certainly does give us hope.
Here’s a good article by Robert Rapier, an extremely senior journalist in the energy industry. He and I had a nice chat on cellulosic ethanol a few years ago, and I have a great deal of respect for him. Having said that, I think he’s on the wrong side of a few issues here.
Robert takes exception to the concept that, regarding climate change, “The science is settled.” He writes: (It) is just not a statement that I am comfortable with, and I am uncomfortable labeling those who question climate change with something that evokes comparisons with Holocaust denial….. Not all skeptics are idiots. But not all proponents are well-informed…”
I agree in principle. I don’t have a problem with good, honest skepticism. But that’s not the way this is playing itself out in the real world (more…)
It’s becoming increasingly important for new cars to be eco-friendly. Lowered emissions, better mileage, and the adaptation of existing diesel and petrol engines to include hybrid electric motors and batteries is becoming more of a focus for manufacturers as they seek compliance with low pollution regulations. In this context, some of the best new cars from leading marques are being designed to combine the best of power, handling and options for lowered emissions. Some of the best examples of this eco friendly trend, in no particular order, include: (more…)
Here’s something I’ve shared with a number of people but, for some reason, have not yet posted. It’s called Secret Worlds: The Universe Within, and offers the opportunity to take a journey from the cosmos:
10 million light years from the Earth, through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.
I often use this website as a way to communicate the challenge associated with a “unified theory of everything.” We want one set of understandable principles that apply equally to galaxies (which are 20 – 25 orders of magnitude larger than our familiar world of ballpoint pens and automobiles), as well as to the tiniest building blocks of the universe, perhaps infinitesimally small vibrating strings of energy (that are 20 – 25 orders of magnitude smaller than these everyday objects in our lives).
Taking this journey, for me at least, underscores the audacity of supposing that this unified theory exists at all. And if it does exist, is the human intellect, even that of the Stephen Hawkings of the world, up to the task of apprehending it?
I’m reminded of a quote from British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane: “The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”
I admire the pure guts and heart of Bob Inglis, who sacrificed his position as member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina to stand behind the consensus of the scientific community in calling for solutions to climate change. He got “tea partied” right out the door in the last election cycle, but he did what he believed was right.
This is proof that there really are Representatives who vote their consciences. In fact, we have a name for them; they’re called “ex-Representatives.” It’s a sad commentary on what we’ve become as a nation. Our country has plenty of people of great skill and unflagging integrity, but they can get no closer to positions of leadership than I can get to flying to the moon on a surfboard.
I had the pleasure to interview the president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) for my next book project (“Renewable Energy – Following the Money”) just now. Dennis McGinn (pictured here, second from left) is a retired vice admiral from the US Navy, and an incredibly articulate spokesperson for our industry. Though I found our talk quite interesting and multi-dimensional, I’ll summarize it in a few high-level bullet points:
Like everybody else, I suppose I have certain abilities as a person. But looking into the future and divining weird trends and fads sure isn’t one of them. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought a large swath of educated Americans would be ignoring the claims of scientists, and challenging the findings of the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community on a certain matter, I would have laughed at you.
I had an outstanding day, the centerpiece of which was a fairly strenuous hike in the mountains above the Pacific with a fine friend. I burned a few calories, had a great time, and came back with a level of exhaustion that reminds me that I’d really done something. That’s hard to beat.
Here’s the bad news: in all our rambling conversations, neither of us could find much reason for celebration – or even hope for the human race – at least the American brand of it. He’s a banker, so he (more…)
For quite a while, I helped to promote a client back east and their solution to processing the manure that comes from our nation’s 7.6 billion chickens. The problem I had, in retrospect, was the technology, which was garden-variety (pardon the pun) anaerobic digestion. AD, a process in which waste is converted to methane and other products biologically, has been around for thousands of years. It’s slow, and worse, incomplete, leaving a huge portion of the incoming mass as sludge.
The other day I had lunch with an old friend who’s become quite an expert in biomass. When I told him that I was on a quest for the best technologies, he suggested that I check out Genifuel.
This looks really attractive to me. Pyrolysis and gasification are thermochemical processes that have the potential to be far faster and more complete than AD. I’m going to call them Monday and try to visit one of their customers if I can find one locally.
I’m reminded of a conversation I had with an economics professor at the Monterey Institute for International Studies, Dr. Jason Scorse, who took a few minutes and explained the basics of “behavioral economics” to me. The subject is based on the work of two psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who studied deviations from rationality, i.e., why people make decisions that do harm – both to themselves and to others; they developed a kind of architecture for how people think and act in the real world. Scorse believes that using this work to inform public policy can make a huge difference in the choices people make regarding the preservation of the environment.
Here’s a good 
