Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Thieves target wind farms for high-cost copper cables
Australia: High-voltage copper theft strands commuters
South Africa: Copper theft causing chaos
Copper thieves strip Italy in “red gold” rush
Canada: Despite the dangers wire theft continues
UK: Theft causes widespread blackout
Micronesia: A new type of crime rises
Ethanol production spikes corn prices
100 million acres needed for energy crops
Impact of corn ethanol on grain, oilseed, and livestock sectors (study)
Analysis of the link between ethanol, energy, and crop markets
If we look two or three or four decades into the future, we know that hydrocarbons alone will not meet the needs of a growing world economy. Even with all the technical expertise the world could offer and all the political will it could muster, eventually, we will run out of oil. And, even before then, the price of a dwindling supply will be prohibitive. At present, our world is overly focused on, and overly dependent upon, one source of energy. And that path is unsustainable.
The rise of solar: why the sun is shining on main street
Sharp expands solar cell output by factor of six
Sand Trap – silicon shortages
Jeff Vail on Energy Payback from Photovoltaics and
Investment in Complexity
The Elf Queen, the sun and the Tower of Tomorrow
Silicon and sun (and sea sponges)
Cheap, superefficient solar
Power failures hit Europe /
Smart metering and smarter metering /
Flat screen televisions ‘will add to global warming’
These cycles of conservation efforts and new consumer trends prompt the nagging thought that my efforts are, but the futile offerings of an environmentalist do-gooder. It was with these thoughts that I sat down for the 17th annual Bioneers conference and took out my notebook.
Dawn of the “solar salon” in US living rooms /
GE Energy Korea: ‘Switch to renewable power before you’re forced to’ /
False dawn of solar power /
China: massive capital for renewable power
Bush admin appoints Exxon’s Lee Raymond to solve America’s energy crisis /
U.S. drops bid over royalties from Chevron /
$450 million for coal research /
British Columbians in dark about ‘Enronization’ of energy
Controlling carbon and CO2 emissions requires, at root, finding some other way to generate electricity, to power vehicles, and to heat spaces. Fortunately for the future of mankind, there is a plethora of well-developed technologies in existence just waiting for mankind to start using them on a vast scale. The big problem is getting past the inertia of previous ways of doing things.
Whether conventional oil production will peak in the next year, or the next decade or a decade or two later, is moot. But it will peak and, in policy terms, the timeframe is short…
The Government believes the more serious and more immediate problem is climate change, and that is why we as a nation need to actively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produce.
Research into energy technologies by both government and industry has not been rising, but rather falling.
(Excerpts. Good summary of energy research and challenges.)
