After my stand-alone talk at the International Trade Forum last Friday, I was asked to participate in a panel on the future of the energy industry, where the moderator peppered us with excellent questions on the promises and challenges associated …
Tag: externalities
Electric Utilities vs. Rooftop Solar
Here’s an article that suggests our power utilities don’t really want to see more rooftop solar. While that’s not really news to anyone, it certainly does raise a good question: what are the changes we need to make in our …
Tagged with: backup power, charge electric vehicles, Charge net-metering customers a lease fee for the service the grid provides, cost of building expensive peaker plants, Electric Utilities vs. Rooftop Solar, environmental damage, externalities, load shifts to daylight hours, low capacity factors, our relationship with our utilities, power utilities don't really want rooftop solar, pushback against net metering, rethinking the mandate we give the utilities, tax EV drivers, tax fossil fuel consumption, vehicle-to-grid programs, voltage and wave-form correction
The Economic Validity of Solar and Wind Power
A reader asked me to comment on this article by Andrew Follett, “Top 11 Problems Plaguing Solar and Wind Power,” in which the author makes his assertions and I respond to each. Here goes: 1: Power Storage Is Incredibly Expensive …
“Externalities” of Fossil Fuels
Externalities are the costs associated with a certain transaction that are not captured in the transaction itself, but are passed along unaccounted for (“externalized”) onto other parties who are often unaware of what’s hitting them, or, at best, unable to …
Jon Wellinghoff, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Pricing of Electricity
As Jon Wellinghoff steps down from his position as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) we read various articles summing up his accomplishments. In my estimation, Wellinghoff will be best remembered for establishing “dynamic pricing,” aligning consumer and …
Tagged with: demand response, dynamic pricing, Energy conservation, energy efficiency, externalities, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Jon Wellinghoff, long-term damage fossil fuels, regulation of the power utilities, Renewable Energy, smart grid, strengthening America’s economy, strengthening America’s security, strengthening America’s stature as an environmentally responsible actor, wholesale electricity rates
We Need Better Public Transportation — But Can We Afford It?
Here’s an article co-written by environmentalist superstar Bill McKibben that speaks to the need for better public transportation. The authors point out that transportation generally contributes 27% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Since transportation is 98%+ based on gasoline …
We Need Better Public Transportation — But Can We Afford It? Read More »
Tagged with: Bill McKibben, coal industry, energy policy, environmentalist, externalities, fossil fuels, government is broke, greenhouse gas emissions, long-term environmental damage, oil companies, oil subsidies, public transportation, structure and function of public sector, The Story of Broke, Warren Buffet
How Big Are the Externalities of Fossil Fuels?
In reference to my post on the lifecycle analysis (LCA) of wind turbines, Peter Leach writes: The LCA of fossil fuel (or nuclear) powered electricity production presumably shows a good return in terms of direct power out vs. power consumed. …
Tagged with: climate impact, externalities, externalities of burning coal, fossil fuels, global climate change, Harvard Medical School, LCA, legacy management, lifecycle analysis, national security, nuclear power, pollution, quantify the externalities, resource depletion, Wind Energy, wind power, wind turbines
As Energy Misinformation Proliferates, The Need For Myth-Busting Grows
I was in a meeting this morning in which the subject of myth-busting on energy issues arose. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which there exists a great deal of misinformation, both deliberate and accidental, on the subject. I …
As Energy Misinformation Proliferates, The Need For Myth-Busting Grows Read More »
Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Garth asks: Craig, just a question concerning fossil fuel subsidies. EXACTLY what is paid or tax credited in the fossil fuel industry? I have two ways of answering this: 1) If you want an extremely carefully done and conservative approach, …
Electric Transportation and Solar Energy
A reader asked that I comment on this fairly euphoric piece, suggesting that the world economy can and will be revived with the aggressive adoption of electric transportation and photovoltaics. Here are a few bits and pieces of my reaction. …
Tagged with: adoption of electric transportation, Amory Lovins, burning coal, coal-fired power plants, corn ethanol, electric transportation, Electric Vehicles, energy storage, EV consumer value proposition, EVs, externalities, externalities of fossil fuels, fossil fuels, fracking, Jeremy Rifkin, lowest-cost baseload power, nuclear renaissance, oil companies, oil pipelines, our home planet, production tax credit, PV, smart grid, solar energy, solar power, subsidies for the oil companies, using energy more wisely, using less energy, V2G, vehicle-to-grid, Wind Energy, wind power, world economy
