Climate Climate & Energy

If you only read one book, pick this one

For years I've been looking for one book to recommend to people who want to get up to speed on what's happening in clean technology. I have finally found it: The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity, by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder.

It is the only book I've seen that covers the whole gamut of the latest in clean energy -- including such cutting-edge areas as concentrating solar power and microalgae -- and isn't swept up in fads like hydrogen cars.

I was a bit worried when the index didn't have an entry for either "hybrids" or "plug-in hybrids," but that is only because the index is quite lame. In fact, the book "gets" plug-in hybrids, which I consider the acid test of any clean-energy book today.

Cool commentary on a hot topic

Awhile ago I made a lame post pointing to a really cool page in Mother Jones that actually wasn't online yet. Well, it's up now, so if you were one of the two people who tried to see it, you can go visit MoJo now and check it out.

Test Drive

New York to paste “global warming index” stickers on some new vehicles New York has become the second state in the U.S. to require new cars and light trucks to bear a “global warming index” sticker. (We’ll give you a minute to guess which one was first.) The law, which begins with the 2010 model […]

We Could’ve Sworn Someone Was Already Working On That

Bush confirms plans for U.S.-hosted climate summit Late last week, President Bush solidified plans for an international climate summit in September. The meeting, to be hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will convene 12 to 15 industrial and developing countries, including India and China, to discuss long-term climate goals. But critics are jumping all […]

YearlyKos: Energize America

The Energize America 2020 project that emerged from a collaborative effort in the Daily Kos community is remarkable. It’s easily the most impressive thing I’ve seen presented at YearlyKos — and I don’t just say that because it’s my issue. In terms of substance, process, and practical results, it’s an inspiring example of what the […]

Climate change impacts on wineries: Could this be the last straw for some?

Many of those opposed to action on global warming might change their tune if they knew that it would actually affect their beverage of choice. That's right, global warming might change wine. For more info on this, check out this story from KQED Public Broadcasting in San Francisco.

Anybody listing the lists?

Some people really like lists of things that you can (or maybe should) do for the environment. Some don't.

Those who do can go here.

For those who don't: move along, nothing to see here.

More from YearlyKos foreign policy panel

Hey, look, somebody asked a question about energy in the foreign policy panel! Beinart says this issue has undergone a sea change — everyone’s talking about it. Clemons says the global oil situation is heading in a grim direction. On domestic renewables: "There’s a corrupt game going on between those like James Woolsey who just […]

A: The cropland area of several states

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), U.S. farmers planted 92.9 million acres of corn in 2007, exceeding last year's corn area by 19 percent and surpassing the USDA's earlier projection (in March) by 3 percent. To put that number into perspective, it is equal to the total arable (cropland) area of four of the nation's leading farm states: Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) forecasts that some 2.18 billion bushels of that corn will be converted to ethanol this year. At an average expected yield of 149.1 bushels per acre, that translates into 14.6 million acres -- an area equal to the combined arable cropland of the entire northeastern United States (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York State, and New England).

The 6.9 billion gallons of ethanol thereby produced will displace, on an energy-equivalent basis (and not accounting for the energy consumed in producing the ethanol), roughly 3 percent of the nation's annual gasoline consumption.

I just thought some readers would find these numbers interesting.

Economist stuff

Two short articles of interest in The Economist. One describes the nascent attempts to conceive and build a network of high-voltage DC power lines across Europe, which would enable wind and solar to play the role of baseload power. The other is about compressed-air storage. This is nifty, but confusing: Meanwhile, General Compression, a small […]