Energy
Carbon Sequestration: Is There a Lesson from Offshore Drilling?
When he lifted the moratorium on new offshore leasing in July of 2008, President Bush assured us that “advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills.” We know now that he was wrong, in part …
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CONTINUE READINGRetrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient
When we ponder ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, nothing says “low hanging fruit” more than retrofitting our existing homes and small businesses to make them more energy efficient. Energy use from commercial and residential buildings accounts for 22 percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. But relatively simple steps like …
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CONTINUE READINGKerry-Lieberman and State Government
The Georgetown Climate Center has put together a very useful summary of how the bill would impact state regulation, both positively and negatively. The most important fact is that the summary is fifteen pages long. The bill is obviously a big deal in terms of helping state regulation in some respects and curtailing it in …
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CONTINUE READINGBP’s Disastrous PR Blowout
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZidQAf8epE] Even Fox News is berating BP for its callous and inapt public response to the oil blowout. And for good reason. As Newsweek says: This hasn’t been a good few weeks for Tony Hayward, the chief executive officer of BP. In the weeks since the huge oil spill in the Gulf began, he has …
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CONTINUE READINGCosts and Benefits of Offshore Oil
In thinking about the economics of off-shore oil, the main benefit is increased energy security. According to an RFF study, Netted out, the Brown and Huntington estimates suggest that the effect of increased U.S. oil production is about $1 per barrel (or 2.4 cents per gallon of gasoline); for each barrel of increased U.S. oil …
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CONTINUE READINGGoing Nuclear in Finland
A new film explores how Finland is planning to dispose of its nuclear waste. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXif1MThJ6k]
CONTINUE READING100% Failsafe? There’s No Such Thing!
The blowout prevention device, which was touted as providing absolute protection against blowouts, not surprisingly turns out to have some flaws. In a 2001 document, according to the Washington Post, drilling rig operator Transocean said there were 260 “failure modes” that could require removal of the blowout preventer. Nothing is failure-proof unless the laws of …
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CONTINUE READINGA Corporate Culture of Carelessness
Of course, if it’s true that BP is weak on accident prevention, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there were lapses in this instance or that the lapses were the cause of the blowout. But BP’s record is a reason for concern.
CONTINUE READINGHow Did It Happen?
An article in today’s Washington Post has some useful background on oil-well blowouts: Blowouts are infrequent, because well holes are blocked by piping and pumped-in materials like synthetic mud, cement and even sea water. The pipes are plugged with cement, so fluid and gas can’t typically push up inside the pipes. Instead, a typical blowout …
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CONTINUE READINGChina’s Growth in Energy Usage Truly Alarming
Cara blogged earlier this week about the fact that U.S. emissions were down “a whopping 7 % in 2009.” Just when you might have been thinking that we are headed in the right direction on the climate change front, today’s New York Times has a distressing story about Chinese emissions. The take home point: Coal-fired electricity …
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