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Gas is greener? Smearing renewables over land use exposes ignorance of fossil fuel lovers
Oregon’s solar highway. Photo: Oregon Department of TransportationA recent column in the New York Times suggested that land use is the greatest environmental problem facing new renewable energy. While getting the facts terribly wrong, it opens a door to talk about the advantages of distributed generation rather than large, central-station power generation. A prime example […]
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Response to Wall Street Journal op-ed on clean fuels in the military
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an op-ed critical of the military's efforts on clean fuels. It was filled with factual errors and misunderstandings.
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When the levees broke: the flood that made rock 'n' roll
An epic flood on the Mississippi River in 1927 spurred the northward migration that transformed Delta Blues into Chicago Blues.
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Please enjoy this mariachi band performing for a beluga whale
One step up from "save the whales" on the environmentalism ladder is "do nice things for whales, they've had a hard time." You know, fruit baskets, flipper rubs, playing music outside their tanks because they don't have Spotify. This beluga is LOVING. IT. He's like "Christ, finally, after 30 years of people singing me that […]
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The law of unintended consequences
The House of Representatives has proposed legislation to cut USEPA funding by almost 20% and curtail its ability to tackle a wide range of pollution issues. The regulated industries and their allies in Congress may be hopeful of reduced cost and a less intrusive government, but they should be very careful of the Law of […]
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Solar could help with that
A major heat wave is causing record demand in Texas–Monday set a record of 66,867 MW, and Tuesday is expected to set another. As a result, the grid operator is asking that people help avoid blackouts by reducing electricity usage between 3 and 7 PM. And as of 3:45 PM today, Texas paid $3000 MWh […]
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Grain Production Falling as Soil Erosion Continues
The thin layer of topsoil that covers much of the earth’s land surface is the foundation of civilization. As long as soil erosion on cropland does not exceed new soil formation, all is well. But once it does, it leads to falling soil fertility and eventually to land abandonment. As countries lose their topsoil through […]
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Local clean energy a high priority for Canadian provinces
Ontario’s “buy local” energy policy has the promise of 43,000 local jobs from 5,000 MW of new renewable energy. Now Nova Scotia is showing a strong interest in boosting the economic returns of its clean energy program. The maritime province is completing rulemaking for a provincial goal of 40% renewable power by 2020 that […]
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Iowa is a lean, mean, grain-growin' machine
The single state of Iowa produces more grain than all of Canada, and almost as much soy as China.
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New photovoltaic generator runs on heat instead of sunlight
Photovoltaic cells, the basic unit of solar power systems, turn light into electricity. But fueling photovoltaics with sunlight isn't always practical. MIT scientists came up with a way around this issue: they found a really efficient way to turn heat into light.
