Energy
Category archives for Energy
Giant Solar Power Plants Don’t Need To Vaporize Birds
Posted by Greg Laden on January 20, 2016 
We often hope, even assume, that technology will fix our problems. We also know that sometimes technology creates a problem. In this case, technology can help us fix the problem of needing to keep the fossil carbon in the ground by making use of the sun, but created the problem of vaporizing birds with intensely…
Patriot Panels and Freedom Volts: Don’t Tread On Me!
Posted by Greg Laden on January 14, 2016 
The Nevada state government has just ruined solar energy in their state. From here, Although Nevada is one of the sunniest places in the world, there has recently been a dark cloud hovering over the rooftop solar industry in the state. Just before Christmas, Nevada’s public utility commission (PUC) gave the state’s only power company,…
Incredibly important finding on renewable energy
Posted by Greg Laden on December 4, 2015 
The big complaint people have about renewable energy, or at least, the big complaint that has some merit, is that renewables, such as wind and solar, are intermittent and to varying degrees, unpredictably intermittent. This makes it hard to match demand for electricity to supply. Some aspects of this argument are overstated. For example, a…
Low Hanging Fruit: A Very Healthy Diet for The Planet Earth
Posted by Greg Laden on November 17, 2015 
Michael Mann has an editorial on Scientific American’s site putting the well known 2.0C limit in perspective for the upcoming climate talks in Paris. Mann makes a number of important points in his essay (read it here: Meeting a Global Carbon Limit Is Cheaper Than Avoiding One) but there is one point that I want…
Keystone XL Will Become ExKeystone, ‘ell yeah.
Posted by Greg Laden on November 6, 2015 
According to sources, like this one, President Obama is about to nix the Keystone XL deal. One of those “hastily called” press conference is set for just before noon Eastern. Sorry about your stock values and stuff, TransCanada. Thank you President Obama. Now, please pardon those arrested over #KeystoneXL in front of the White House.…
Better Biofuels
Posted by Greg Laden on November 3, 2015 
This just in: Biofuels produced from switchgrass and post-harvest corn waste could significantly reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change, according to an analysis by EWG and University of California biofuels experts. EWG’s analysis found that the life cycle carbon intensity of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass was 47 percent lower than that of gasoline.…
Clean Energy: The State of the States
Posted by Greg Laden on October 30, 2015 
One of the problems we have in making a quick transition to clean energy in the US is the fact that energy production and distribution is typically regulated by states, and some states are not as smart as other states. Or, if they are smart, they are controlled by political forces intent on maintaining fossil…
What do you think about Hillary Clinton’s climate plan?
Posted by Greg Laden on September 23, 2015 Hillary Clinton just came out with her climate change plan. Here it is. Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Modernizing North American Energy Infrastructure Flipping a light switch, adjusting the thermostat, or turning a car key in the ignition brings predictable results—the light goes on, the temperature changes, the car starts. But where the energy for those…
Making Liquid Fuels From Sun And Air
Posted by Greg Laden on September 16, 2015 
Liquid fuel powering internal combustion engines is inherently inefficient. This is because innumerable explosions causing kinetic work to be done also makes piles of heat, and for other reasons. The same amount of energy put into an electric motor and an internal combustion motor produce more usable work for the former than the latter. Also,…
A less sexist approach to addressing climate change
Posted by Greg Laden on August 3, 2015 
Men and women are different, on average, in a number of ways. It all probably starts with who has the physiology to have babies and who doesn’t, and the differences spread out from there, affecting both the body and the mind. Decades of research show us that many of the body differences (but not all)…