Archive for July, 2009
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Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A guest post by Christian von Hirschhausen*
Out of the ~300 papers presented at the recent Conference of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) in San Francisco, only one dealt with the relation between energy production and water (I recommend you to look at Sandia National Lab’s website on the “energy-water-nexus”).
Energy economists [...]
China Tightens Grip on Africa’s Energy Resources with Stake in Offshore Field
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Today a topical post the latest from Money Morning, which as I previously explained will be featured here whenever they have relevant material to offer. As always, normal caveats apply: I am not an investment advisor. I don’t endorse any specific stocks mentioned in the following story nor the ad at [...]
Behind the Costs of CNG Conversions
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
In my recent post - How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline? - I mentioned that it is quite expensive to convert a gasoline-powered vehicle to natural gas. If you drive a tremendous number of miles each year - as many fleets do - the conversion will pay for itself relatively [...]
Weaning Yourself Off Bottled Water
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
There is a tremendous survival advantage to being fussy about water. There are a number of protozoa, bacteria and parasites that can potentially inhabit drinking water and people are dying every day from them.
When people in developed nations buy a plastic bottle of water the key motivations are convenience and security. The [...]
Some Interesting Papers
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These two World Bank notes come via Edouard Perard, one of the co-authors.
The number of developing countries implementing new private water projects was the lowest since 1995 [PDF]. Even more, three of the nine -— China, Brazil, and Algeria —- accounted for 89% of new projects and 85% of investment.
China accounts for [...]
The Department of Messing Up Farming
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
The Pacific Institute has released an updated version of their report on agricultural water conservation.
My response to their report from last year (”farmers are not dumb”) was based on their notion that farmers need only install high-tech irrigation technology (e.g., drip) to save water. I pointed out that farmers are not going [...]
Astroturf and Politics
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
In the ongoing war of words over who should get water in the San Joaquin valley (and Delta), every interest group claims that its interests are more important than those of others.
(Why a war of words? Because the decision on how to allocate the water is being made through political and judicial [...]
The Microeconomics of Plastic Waste
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
What does this guy think of my efforts to reduce plastic waste?
I was walking down a hill in a part of town that was evidently far outside of the ‘Zone Touristic’ and I saw this guy pulling his cart up the hill. I used basic sign language to ask if it was [...]
Acid Rain
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
My friend Soazic Guezennec made this piece:
Acid Rain © 2008 Soazic Guezennec
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Poll Results — Vacation!
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Hey! There’s a new poll (caffeine!) to the right —->
Vacations are good for… (This poll runs until July 20)
getting ready for more work
2%
2
enjoying life
62%
73
thinking about life
19%
22
spending hard-earned money
5%
6
keeping family together
8%
9
stimulating the economy
4%
5
After one month of careful research, I have concluded that vacations are indeed about enjoying [...]
Endangered Species for Sale?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
NW asks
With so many endangered species losing their natural habitats, would the usual prescription of allocating private property rights be suitable for dealing with this crisis?
On the one hand, centrally planned economies that had no or little private property are among the most environmentally damaged countries. On the other hand, I can’t [...]
Speed Blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Bad neighbors: Trash from Tijuana, Mexico flows downstream and north, desecrating the environment near San Diego, CA. The solution? Gringo money for pollution controls. The likelihood of this solution? Slightly greater than zero.
“Urban Sacramento is the leading source of pesticide contamination disrupting the Delta aquatic environment”
“As Borneo’s rain forests are razed for [...]
Opportunity Costs
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Do exports of water-intensive crops hurt drought-prone California?
Yes and no. To understand why, make sure that you know what “opportunity cost” means.
Put simply, opportunity cost refers to the cost of your action in terms of other actions foregone. If you are choosing between seeing one movie you value at $15 and another [...]
Overview of Electricity Storage Technology and India’s Renewable Energy Goals
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
There is a good overview in today’s Guardian regarding the status of affairs with respect to electricity storage technologies:
The challenge for green energy: how to store excess electricity
So with grid parity now looming, finding ways to store millions of watts of excess electricity for times when the wind doesn’t blow and [...]
An Extended Conversation with POET
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Today (July 17th) I spent some time on the phone with POET’s VP of Science and Technology Dr. Mark Stowers. (I was invited up for a visit, but I couldn’t swing that just now). Dr. Stowers is in charge of company R&D, which includes corn and cellulose to ethanol, as well [...]
The Dominant Fuel in 2030
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I just spent a fruitful week in Canada, learning about some of the biomass resources in Alberta. There are some interesting opportunities there for the right technology, and I expect that I will be making future trips up there.
One of the questions I was asked this week by one of my [...]
Weekend Discussion: Better Blogging!
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!) [...]
Wrong in One Picture
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This graphic (via the AWWA) shows that median charges for water are the same in the West as in the Northeast. Now, we all know that the West has water “shortages,” and now we see why — the water is too cheap! (10 ccf is 7,480 gallons.)
NE prices are the same because [...]
Flashback: 12-18 July 2008
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These posts are STILL relevant, so please comment (I’ll approve them ASAP.)
All-in Auctions are the way to reallocate water while protecting property rights. IID, meanwhile, overruns its 3MAF allocation. Interestingly, water conservation may not be the solution! Common Carriage, OTOH, can bring competition into water provision.
Forbes.com published The Water Shortage Myth, my [...]
Small is Beautiful — The Review
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
EF Schumacher, a British economist, published this book in 1973 from essays that he wrote in prior years. I have heard about it for years and just now read it. It’s truly a wonderful book, full of thoughtful — yet revolutionary — ideas of how to structure a sustainable economy. I give [...]
Dust Bowl or Salad Bowl
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This June 20 photo (via LC) shows the same protest sign noted in this post. The difference is that the “dust bowl” doesn’t look so dusty.
Whoops.*
Bottom Line: If you’re gonna do that agit/prop, make sure you don’t contradict yourself in plain sight!
* Shawn Coburn assures me that almond trees are turning to [...]
Using Software to Model Environmental Damage
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A guest post by Blake Shurtz*
Economists use stock-and-flow models to forecast the economic impact of environmental changes in the face of uncertainty.
One popular application of the stock-and-flow model is towards climate change. By constructing feedback loops between geophysical and economic parameters we can estimate the optimal discount rate. The discount rate is [...]
Hanging Your Thoughts on a Framework
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
J Shogren gave a big picture, “I wonder about this and that” talk [PDF] at a small conference I attended last month.
He covered a LOT of ground, but I liked these comments/clarifications:
Environmental and Resource Economics is economics applied to life sciences.
Behavioral Economics is psychology applied to economics.
Experimental Economics applies an experimental mindset [...]
Empty Houses and Homeless People
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
In many parts of the world, the economic bust has produced an interesting paradox: Many people are losing their houses, and others are losing wages that would help them buy houses. On the supply side, a wave of new housing has hit the market at the same time as new vacancies have [...]
Glennon and Zetland on the Radio
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Here and Now, a program from Phoenix public radio station KJZZ, hosted Dr. Robert Glennon today and also had a short interview piece with David. Audio is here (water discussion starts about 20 minutes into the program), comments to the show here.
It was an interesting show, although I wish Dr. Glennon spoke [...]
