Latest Articles
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Neat
World wide wind potential (using only conventional wind technology) exceeds our current energy needs by many times. However, that is merely the potential of wind near the ground, at 80 to 100 meters.Most wind energy is in the jet stream, miles over our heads. No one is going to build a tower that high to support a wind turbine; cost alone would prohibit that. But we can use flying energy generators -- turbines supported by kites or balloons or what amounts to stationary helicopters. The latter technology (stationary helicopters supporting wind turbines) has actually been demonstrated briefly, and has been claimed in peer reviewed research to be ready for commercial implementation (PDF). Questions like net energy, metal fatigue, stability, transformers and power loss have all been answered -- at least on paper. (Net energy at really high altitudes is higher than with either kites or helium balloons -- due to wasted energy on the downward part of the cycle with kite systems, and drag with balloon systems.)
According to the corporation developing this technology, Sky WindPower, they can put together a system out of commercially available products that will provide wind electricity (at a profit) for 2 cents per kWh -- competitive with current fossil fuel generation.
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An interview with Rupert Murdoch about News Corp.’s new climate strategy
Rupert Murdoch. When Rupert Murdoch, the cantankerous and conservative owner of Fox News, enthusiastically joins the fight against climate change, you know we’re past the tipping point on the issue. Think landslide. Last week, the media mogul pledged not only to make his News Corp. empire carbon neutral, but to persuade the hundreds of millions […]
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Now is the time to harangue your reps about farm and food policy.
As debate over the 2007 Farm Bill heats up, more people than ever are realizing that the five-year omnibus legislation, due to expire this year, directly influences what crops are produced in this country, who gets paid for them and how much, the manner in which they are produced, what kind of product they become, and who eats what. They're also connecting the dots and realizing that our current farm and food policy is making us overweight and unhealthy while lining the pockets of multinational corporations and polluting the environment.
Though the increased attention is exciting, the Farm Bill is a hugely complicated and can be difficult to get a handle on. Even its timeline is confusing and unpredictable. Is it too late to express opinions to representatives? The answer is no -- but now is the time to get busy.
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HopStop
Not long ago, our own JMG lamented the fact that online map services don’t include transit-oriented directions. Well, lookee here: HopStop, your city transit guide. OK, it’s only for NYC, but still, sounds pretty cool: HopStop is your city transit guide. We provide door-to-door subway and bus directions and maps for New York City. You […]
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How to profit from the end of the world
MarketWatch is running a ginormous series of articles under the rubric, "an investor guide to global warming." It’s about the market opportunities opened up by climate change and the companies that are moving in to take advantage. Lots of good stuff to peruse.
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Don’t fight it
Energy wonk Robert McLeod has long post filled with statistics and graphs, arguing a simple point: if historical trends continue, solar power is going to dominate. Soon. (You’ll recognize this as substantially similar to the argument made by solar booster Travis Bradford.) If you’re into statistics and graphs, read the whole thing. If not, here […]
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Eyes wide shut toward global collapse?
Ecological Footprint, Energy Consumption, and the Looming Collapse:
This article explores dynamic relations governing population growth, resource depletion, and world economics by means of a few simple modeling and simulation exercises. To this end, we start out by exploring the concept of an ecological footprint, representing the amount of land that a person needs to produce everything that he or she consumes: food, clothing, energy, shelter, the tools that are needed to make the clothing, etc. and place it in relation with the human development index, a measure of the quality of life of an individual. We then relate the ecological footprint to the per capita energy consumption. This discussion serves to provide a quantitative understanding of the limited resources that are at our disposal.
The article continues by exploring the dangers and seductions of exponential growth, and uses a system dynamics approach to illustrate why we are moving at a rapid pace toward global collapse with our eyes wide shut.
The article ends by discussing what we would need to do in order to avoid the looming collapse. -
Quoting some scripture
It seems appropriate that we consider the death of Jerry Falwell in the spirit by which he lived -- on a "higher level ... the Biblical perspective" -- and take a peek into what the Bible has to say about climate change as well.
