If you read this site often, you will know that I am an engineer by training (even though I don’t currently practice). I tend to respect this profession a great deal as being fairly straight-forward and hard working. As a group, they also tend to be a pretty smart bunch.
One of the major trade rags in engineering is C&EN (Chemical and Engineering News). It is edited by Mr. Rudy Baum. If you aren’t in that trade, you would probably never pick up an issue so you may not be familiar with it. I haven’t read the publication in a long time but was recently made aware of a bit of controversy by Climate Depot. While the readers of C&EN are likely not climatologists, the science of CO2 and its affect on the atmosphere is very steeped in chemistry which their target market knows a bit about. Read more...(1165 words, estimated 4:40 mins reading time)
Dilbert and his boss once again point out the hypocrisy of life. In this case it is due to trying to be environmentally good.
It is hard to be good. Sorry, Mr. Gore, but it is true. Here are a few inconvenient facts:
It is very dangerous to the health of you and your children to live in a home or enter a room where a CFL (compact fluorescent) bulb has broken. That danger is minimized if you have had the room cleaned by a hazardous waste team. What is the problem? Mercury. Check out this article.
Regular readers know that I think that nuclear power is one of the very few ways we can provide the power we need without taking the chance that global warming is caused by carbon dioxide. If you believe in anthropogenic global warming and don’t believe the human race should live like the Amish, then you really don’t have a choice but to endorse nuclear power.
Strickland details plans for nuclear plant Business First of Columbus – by Matt Burns
A third nuclear power station proposed for Ohio likely won’t start operating for years, but government officials and energy industry executives are saying it is time to start considering its construction and Piketon is the place for it. Read more...(663 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)
While I typically do not reproduce pages in whole, I am going to put the entire text of the Wind Day campaign here for your convenience. You should also go to the Global Wind Day site. Read more...(508 words, 1 image, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)
While I am a big proponent of nuclear energy to solve our energy needs as well as to allow us a green source of energy, geothermal also offers some advantages that may be worth considering.
Like nuclear, it takes years to implement a large geothermal plant (perhaps decades). It is imperative that the United States aggressively and quickly begins the construction of these alternative sources of energy rather than building more coal fired plants.
Very good article in today’s Wall Street Journal regarding the use of ethanol and how it costs a great deal to add it to our liquid fuel supply. The article points out that depending on the technique used to create ethanol, it adds 5%-34% more greenhouse gas to the environment than pure petroleum.
There is also a case to be made that there is pressure put on food prices due to ethanol production as well.
I am not totally against using ethanol as an additive. I think there is some advantage to keeping the market alive and viable to spur development of new techniques of creating the liquid and new crop energy sources other than corn. Read more...(599 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)
There is a great post on the problems with all sorts of renewable energy on Watt’s Up With That. He does a great job of explaining the various downsides of most power sources and their lack of compatibility with the modern needs of our society.
The article is a posting of an essay by Ralph Ellis but I couldn’t find the original essay to link to.
The conclusion is that most of the “alternatives” actually hurt our environment more or cost us dramatically more money. The only realistic alternative is nuclear. Read more...(127 words, estimated 30 secs reading time)
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger tells CNBC’s Becky Quick why a carbon cap and trade system won’t work.
I absolutely agree with Mr. Munger. My rantings on cap and trade (or carbon trading) are almost constant on this site.
I also agree with Senator Gregg that we need to get 100 nuclear plants online as quickly as possible. Nuclear has problems but it is the best and most clean way to generate the amounts of energy that the United States needs.
Here is an excellent interview with famed scientist James Lovelock. Dr. Lovelock is best known for formulating the controversial Gaia hypothesis in the 1970s, which states that organisms interact with and regulate Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Later this year he will travel to space as Richard Branson’s guest aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
If you read this site often, you know that I really don’t like carbon trading. I don’t think it will help solve any problems and it is only a way to tax people and push industries into doom. Dr. Lovelock appears to agree with me and he is a fairly strong supporter of the theory that global warming is man made. Read more...(736 words, estimated 2:57 mins reading time)
There are a variety of techniques and tools that allow an internal combustion engine to capture more of its energy and direct it to moving your car down the road as opposed to sending that energy out of your exhaust. Most of these tools are difficult to use and maintain. They simply are not ready for primetime. However, with the virtual collapse of the automotive manufacturers in the US, it is not likely they are going to be increasing their R&D on getting more performance out of the engines that they make. It is an unfortunate reality that cars are sold on other things than their efficiencies. Read more...(450 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)
