I got a call shortly after dinner last night from a radio host in Denver, explaining that due to a last-minute cancellation, he had an hour-long opening on his show.  He asked if he could call me for the interview – at 1 AM!

I agreed, stayed up late, reading, checking out Jay Leno, and fighting off the yawns.

The highlight of the show for me was a caller attacking clean energy (more…)

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A friend asked for my comment on columnist Ann Coulter’s position that radiation is actually good for human health. He seemed quite upset that anyone could use a public position to suggest something so outrageous. And this is not an exaggeration or something taken out of context; Coulter’s position is quite clear (linked above).

I reply: (more…)

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Every chance I get, I bang the drum for solar thermal. When I’m asked where the energy industry will be in 50 years, I always point out that our dependence on fossil fuels is not sustainable, that the sun showers the Earth each day with 6000 times more energy than we can possibly use, and that solar thermal is by far the best way to take advantage of these facts.

Want to learn more? Here’s Katherine Hamnett’s website that provides a few basics on solar thermal; she most definitely gets it.

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It is all well and good for people to talk about the price of oil, but nobody really understands Tanker, Tankage and Finished product storage issues, transportation and whether the terms of CIF or FOB apply.

There is plenty of Oil…There is not enough capacity to ship it, refine it, store it or use it. (more…)

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Based on the title of the post, you’re probably expecting me to point out that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and that our society is served very badly by the erosion of the middle class. All that is, by the way, quite true — and I’m hardly alone in my concern here, whether it’s on moral or practical grounds. Anyone with a heart — or a brain — objects to the ever-expanding discrepancy between the rich and the poor.  According to a recent study, the wealthiest 20% of Americans own just over 85% of the nation’s wealth — a figure than continues to climb, leaving the other 80% growing steadily more impoverished, uninvolved, apathetic, and disenfranchised.  I don’t see any long-term winners here — rich or poor.  (more…)

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Every few months I try to write a short piece about what I consider the mother of all threats to the quality of life here in the United States: the 2010 US Supreme Court Decision granting corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts to influence our elections in the direction of their interests.

I hasten to add that there is nothing intrinsically wrong or bad about corporations; in fact, they have served our civilization well for millennia, beginning in ancient Rome, where they (more…)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZm4idH5kzc&w=480&h=390]

On this segment of the 2GreenEnergy Video Report, I discuss electric transportation with host George Alger. I make some bold predictions here, namely, that I see this happening far faster and with fewer bumps in the road than most observers.

A friend of mine was helping me just now prepare for today’s webinar. “So part of the presentation is a few business plans you like. OK, how would you summarize this? I mean, is there one central point that they all have in common?” (more…)

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Ruohvz6_o&w=480&h=390]

Here, I discuss the “hydrogen economy” with 2GreenEnergy Video Report host George Alger. I know there are sincere and learned who disagree with me on this, but I don’t see it happening.

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I was just glancing through some comments to a recent essay on the future of nuclear energy and came across this comment on renewables.  My initial reaction was to see if it had my name at the bottom; it begins with a message I manage to squeeze into every radio program on which I’m honored to be a guest.  And, on those nights I may have had a glass of wine — or so — before sitting down to write after dinner, who knows?  I could have written this myself and simply forgotten:
Every hour, the sun radiates more energy onto the Earth than the entire human population uses in one whole year. (more…)
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