Articles by Gar Lipow

It’s cheaper than photovoltaic

The Guardian had a story yesterday on concentrating solar collectors. They have caught on to something I've been saying for a while: concentrating mirrors and heat engines can produce solar electricity less expensively than photovoltaic cells. Currently, we are able to store heat less expensively than electricity.

They must be supplemented with gov’t intervention

Jason D Scorse agrees with the Reason article arguing that the way to phase out fossil fuels is to tax them -- to make their price reflect some or all of their social costs (referred to by economists as "Pigovian" tax). Fossil fuels will become more expensive, low-carbon technology will become competitive, and everybody will do the "happy happy joy joy" dance.

Unfortunately, a strategy based mainly on price increases will work ineffectively, if at all -- a position for which we have both historical evidence and good theoretical grounding. (This is not to say that Pigovian taxes have no place, but as a supplementary measure, not a primary one.)

Efficiency is the key

I previously noted that efficiency is essential to eliminating fossil fuel use, because non-fossil sources have an overall market price cost higher than coal, natural gas, and even oil. This is not as obvious as it seems. Up to a point, renewable energy is competitive with fossil fuels; the problem is, that point is never a majority of consumption.

Take electricity.

Rail freight is more efficient than truck freight

So far the efficiency examples we've discussed have been glamorous new technology -- electric cars, next-gen light rail. But what may be the oldest mass industrial technology in the U.S. also has huge potential for saving energy: freight trains.