Archive for June, 2009
« Previous EntriesTariffs in the Climate Bill
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
A number of people have written to ask why I haven’t commented on the climate bill. There are two reasons. First, the House and Senate versions are very different, so the final form may not resemble the version the House just passed. Second, I haven’t had the time to read through [...]
The Real Cost of Free Toys
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
transformers 2
I presently live in a country that does not have any McDonald’s outlets. I had to check online to find out the current theme for the 1/4 pound of plastic that kids get with their cholestafest.
Happy Meal Toys are bad. I’m not going to mince words the way they mince cow [...]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
[This story is funny but is not strictly true wrt inevitable or rockets...]
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads.
Why did [...]
20×2020 in Trouble
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
On May 29th, I attended the first half of the final public comments session on California’s plan to “reduce use by 20 percent by 2020.” (They are not, btw, clear on what year to use as a baseline.) The webpage has MANY materials and a video of the session.
First, the elephant in [...]
Dangerous Aliens, Please
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Sixty-five million years ago, the Earth went through a deep cycle of climate change, extinction and adjustment. The cause (somewhat disputed) was an asteroid impact that blocked sunlight on the Earth.
It now appears that humans are causing the same kind of “climate change,” but is it inevitable? On the one hand, we [...]
Smart Meters and Smart Competition
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
In the comments to this post, DW writes:
On the electric side, smart grid is all the rage. Utilities are installing smart meters that can tell customers how much energy they are using in real time and what it will mean for their bill at the end of the month. I expect it [...]
Shocking News! Prices Change!
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I get lots of emails with water news, and many of them have headlines like “XYZ agency raises prices…”
Now, I do not get emails from shoe stores, gas stations, advertising agencies — or pretty much any other industry on price changes. Why? Because price changes are normal in those industries.
From that simple [...]
Wood Gasification Plant Opens
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Been really tied up, but saw this story yesterday and wanted to bring attention to it. I think it is significant, and a sign of things to come. Not much time to comment, but some excerpts from the article:
Plant making gas from wood opens in Austria
GUESSING, Austria (AFP) – A new [...]
Shocking News! Prices Change!
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I get lots of emails with water news, and many of them have headlines like “XYZ agency raises prices…”
Now, I do not get emails from shoe stores, gas stations, advertising agencies — or pretty much any other industry on price changes. Why? Because price changes are normal in those industries.
From that simple [...]
The Last Lecture — The Review
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Like many people, I learned about Randy Pausch in 2007, when the video of his “last lecture” became an internet sensation. Pausch gave his lecture to students, family and friends at Carnegie-Mellon University when he only had a few months to live. (He died in July 2008.)
A book by the same name [...]
Humans, Incentives and Righteousness
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A few, slightly-scattered thoughts on morals…
We tend to pursue self-interest, to the point where we feel it’s ok to harm others — even when that harm is far greater than the benefit we get for ourselves (breaking a car window to steal change in the cup holder). This problem will persist as [...]
Housing and Barney Frank
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I think Barney Frank deserves to be ridiculed and booted out of Congress for his past role in the housing mess, his continued idiocy, and this current idea which makes me believe he still has no idea what his or the government’s role in the mess was (It was substantial). His main [...]
Lousy Water Editorials
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A recent Merced editorial discussed water problems in the state, and although I criticize this one specifically, there are countless others that are lousy in similar ways. A few passages need to be repeated:
Bottom Line: This simplistic reporting does not educate anyone.
“They (the legislators) are the ones who have been standing in [...]
John Benemann Responds to Green Algae Strategy Review
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I recently published a review of Mark Edward’s book Green Algae Strategy: End Oil Imports And Engineer Sustainable Food And Fuel. Following this review, I published a response from Mark Edwards. In that response, Professor Edwards mentioned Dr. John Benemann, who was Principal Investigator and main author of the U.S. DOE [...]
Green People on Twitter
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
Mashable came out with a list of interesting green tweeters awhile back. I was surprised at how many of them were not on my list. Here is the list of 75 names divided into the group that I was already following when I found the list and those that I added afterward.
ecopolitologist [...]
How Drought Promotes Entrepreneurship
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A guest post by J. David Foster*
We all know the impact of rainfall on crop production and we know, or think we know, the impact of rainfall on economic growth but how many even think about the impact of rainfall on entrepreneurship? Although sociologist Max Weber has long been famous for his [...]
U.S. Ramping Up Wind Power Programs Even As Concerns Surface About Possible Declines In U.S. Wind Strength
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Once again at DFW Airport, about to make my way back to Europe. So I will be offline for just a bit, but wanted to post the latest from Money Morning, which as I recently explained will be featured here whenever they have topical material to offer. As always, normal caveats [...]
Water Footprints Are Stupid
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Lynne has a post on waterfootprinting, and it got me to thinking of the reason why footprints matter or should be used.
They should be used when we need to know the non-price impact of a behavior, e.g., our “carbon footprint” tells us how much harm we are doing to the environment. We [...]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Indian Chief Two Eagles was asked by a white government official, “You have observed the white man for 90 years. You’ve seen his wars and his technological advances. You’ve seen his progress, and the damage he’s done.”
The Chief nodded in agreement.
The official continued, “Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did [...]
ExxonMobil in the Electric Car Business?
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
An interesting link from a reader this morning:
The Maya 300: An Exxon-Assisted Electric Car
If you’ve picked up a magazine in the last year, you’ve likely seen ads touting ExxonMobil’s (XOM) research into lithium-ion batteries.
This week, you will get a further look into how that technology will come to the marketplace.
Electrovaya on [...]
How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline?
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I Took This Picture of a CNG Bus on a Recent Trip to D.C.
You may have seen the news this week that a report by the Potential Gas Committee says natural gas reserves in 2008 rose to 2,074 trillion cubic feet. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (via [...]
Bootlegger Irrigation
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Fleck asks if we should agree with those who claim that their outdoor irrigation is okay because it “recharges” local groundwater.
Besides the obvious engineering problem (pump up, irrigate, percolate SOME back is a net user of energy AND water), there’s the more interesting (to me) claim that “my green lawn” is for [...]
Weekend Discussion: Useful Education
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
NOTE: This post will stay here until Sunday night. Posts for Saturday and Sunday morning go below this post.
Dear Aguanauts,
Discussion posts allow you to discuss a topic among yourselves — exchanging views, learning and teaching. (I only read the comments.)
If you are interested, take a moment to check out (and add to!) [...]
Human Rights Redux
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Aguanaut Jay Wetmore writes this:
I was pleased to see that our exchange on the human “right to water” developed into a blog post.
While I struggle to define how I would characterize the human right to water, I am still uncomfortable with using the term “right”.
Let me explain. As a person who tries [...]
Bleg: Learning Water Management
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A reader asks:
I am particularly interested in water economics. Does Berkeley offer a water management program and if so, does it include water economics? If not, do you know any programs that offer that coursework?
I am not sure about a masters degree in water management. Is that something that you can learn [...]
