Energy

Gumby and the Mad Hatter Meet US Energy Policy

As Dan notes, the Coast Guard is reporting the explosion of a nonoperating oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.  The last I heard, there were no fatalities, and several workers there were able to escape using flotation clothing, better known as “Gumby Suits.”  Obviously, had the oil rig been functional, there is a strong …

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Breaking News: Oil Rig Explosion

The Washington Post reports that a non-producing rig in 2500 feet of water has exploded off the Louisiana Coast. More details at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090202590.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

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Scaling Up Clean Energy

Science has a special issue on the problem of taking clean energy to scale.  News stories highlight some of the challenges associated with making this energy transition, Perspectives take an in-depth look at how researchers hope to scale up biofuels development, and a Review discusses a two-stage approach for expanding nuclear power generation. Compared to …

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Jump-Starting Clean Tech

A new report illuminates the role of the stimulus package in energizing Clean Tech.  Three of the four areas discussed in the report fall into this category; the fourth relates to medical research. 1. Modernizing transportation, including advanced vehicle technology and high-speed rail. Among other things, this includes $2 billion in advanced battery and electric …

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California legislature considers environmental bills

The California Legislature has several environmental and land use bills in front of it right now.  Under state law, the legislature must act by August 31 in order to send any of these bills to the Governor for signature.  Here’s a quick summary of the pending legislation, with some links for further info.  (Current information …

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Energy Policy: Kicking Butt and Taking Names

Steve, you write: This is not just about ceiling insulation and more heat-reflective roofs.  It also has to do with the ability of electric generators to convert heat to power, the elimination of line losses from the transmission grid, and the improvement of fuel delivery systems to avoid leakage.  It has to do with strategic …

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What a Waste of Energy

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has issued its annual snapshot of our national energy use, based on data collected by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency.  The good news is that we used less energy in 2009 than we did in 2008 (almost all of the savings probably attributable to the still-weak economy).  The …

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The Nano Road to Energy Efficiency

Science Daily reports: Researchers at Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered a new way to apply nanostructure coatings to make heat transfer far more efficient, with important potential applications to high tech devices as well as the conventional heating and cooling industry. These coatings can remove heat four times faster …

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Smart Meters and Smart Regulation

The poor little smart meter…it keeps catching all kinds of grief when all that it wants to do is save the planet. It is all things to all people. To utilities, regulators, and many environmentalists, it is the doorway to a modern green grid that will teach you to turn down your air conditioner when …

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What will Obama do about Connecticut v. AEP?

I just got a call from the managing editor of Carbon Control News, which seems to be a pretty informative and useful web-based publication.  His question: why hasn’t the Tennessee Valley Authority joined the rest of the utilities in asking the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Connecticut v. AEP, the federal common law public …

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