Archive for October, 2009
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Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
JY asks:
Do you know of any sources for a nice clean bar graph, showing costs of water conservation vs. efficiency and new sources (e.g., WaterSense applicances, desalination, etc.)?
I’ve seen what JY is talking about, a side-by-side comparison of different methods of creating/saving water on the horizontal axis and the cost on the [...]
Sustainable desalination is NOT an oxymoron
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
New Water LLC has a patented a “biodesal” technology (process, really) that puts salt-tolerant trees in floating greenhouses. As the trees suck in seawater from their roots, they transpire water vapor from their leaves. This water can be gathered and used.
According to Noah Israel (New Water’s president), their demo 40×90 foot [330m^2] [...]
Peter Gleick on Peak Water
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Here’s NOT* the mp3 recording I made of Peter Gleick’s presentation last week at Berkeley (prior post).
His talk was about “peak water” — a concept that makes sense with oil (when use outpaces new discoveries), but not as much with water (previous post). Nevertheless, Gleick made these useful points:
The demand for water [...]
Credit Cards and Cracker Jacks
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Steven Otto says:
While enjoying Barry Zito’s surprisingly dominate start against the Rockies at AT&T Park, I couldn’t resist the urge to purchase the classic baseball treat, cracker jacks. As the [...]
Why buy books at the store instead of saving money online?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Ellena Nguyen says:
It’s a widely known fact among students that textbooks cost a lot. They can range anywhere from $20 to $100 something. To make things worse, the school bookstores [...]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Plus, the world’s first IT professional:
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Say Everything — The Review
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
JWT sent me this book by Scott Rosenberg on blogging’s first 15 years. In part one, the author (former editor of Salon.com) goes back to the early days of online diaries and link pages. In part two, Rosenberg tells how technological advances (e.g., the simple interface of Blogger, which hosts this blog) [...]
Weekend Discussion: Carbon Offsets
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!) [...]
No Salary Cap Not So Bad?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Ken Shimizu says:
As a die hard San Francisco 49ers fan, I thought I would give some insight on the upcoming expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and [...]
Why Christians should support drug legalization
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A friend asked for suggestions on ways to discuss drug policy at his church. I said this:
Ask them if they would worship God if their church was banned. After they (presumably) say, “yes, we’d go underground, like the early Christians,” you can tell them that some people feel the same about drugs. [...]
For sale: slightly worn balls
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Brandon Price says:
Major League Baseball is one of the most lucrative businesses of all time. Many of the world’s highest paid athletes are among those competing in the MLB. Several [...]
Speed Blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
The EPA vows to enforce the Clean Water Act.
Subliminal advertising doesn’t work and never did.
G. Tracy Mehan says [pdf] “a subsidized water or wastewater system is not a sustainable one.” Bravo!
“The Dismal Politics of Legislative Transparency: …legislators have a conflict of interest and act on it in making roll call votes inaccessible. [...]
“Cash for Clunkers” — Clunk or Slam Dunk?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Sungmin Song says:
I am writing a blog post about the government funded “Cash For Clunkers” Program. For a little bit of background information: The government created this program to encourage [...]
Flashback: 18-24 Oct 2008
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These posts are still relevant. Please comment!
Let Them Drink Bottled Water! CEI’s propaganda for bottled water is over-the-top, but so are the folks who want to ban it. Speaking of that, the religious have their own bottled water guy: Water, Faith and War describes blessed bottled water. Really.
Public Trust Toss-up — a [...]
Who Suffers More During a Recession?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Christopher Rodriguez says:
Census data reveals that the income gap in the United States is getting bigger. The toll that the recession had on income in the US was more evident [...]
Don’t Weep for the Trees
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
While I have no intention of changing the general theme of this blog, I will spend some essays in the future providing more details behind my new job in Hawaii. I did this on occasion with my previous job at Accsys, but the focus of the blog remained on energy, sustainability, [...]
Christmas Gift Idea: Locally Made Wooden Toy Truck
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
A toy doesn’t have to be very complex to be good(Not to impugn the excellent design and craftsmanship pictured above). Basically it needs to have a shape and it needs to stay in one piece. Everything else is just detail. Toy commercials on television would have us believe that children have very [...]
Review of Shark Razor Blades
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
I use a safety razor as a plastic-less alternative to disposable razors. When I first made the switch, a few people in America left comments about how they could not find razors packaged without plastic. Hopefully that has changed now that retro-shaving is cool. Here in Tunisia, I have at least three [...]
Weekend Discussion: Carbon Offsets
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!) [...]
Our Immortal Demise
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Ryan Lam says:
The rapid growth in the field of technology has led to the barrier breaking belief that immortality could be achievable by human beings. Advances in nanotechnology and an [...]
Elementary, My Deer Watson
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This [unedited] guest post is by a student in my EEP100 class (background post).
Please praise/critique/comment on its economic quality and importance to you.
Emily Riggs says:
Post labor day weekend, the season tends to swing swiftly into Autumn. The changing colors of the forest, from brilliant green to dusky reds and yellows, signify the [...]
Speed Blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Greg Clumpner points out [ppt] the Achilles heel of water budgets: Two families with the same water use but different lot sizes will have different bills. This basic violation of equity means that water budgets are politically indefensible. Use per capita allocations/rates instead! (That doesn’t mean that water managers are not going [...]
Gleick on Peak Water at UC Berkeley
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Peter Gleick, President and co-founder of the Pacific Institute will be giving a talk (”Peak Water: The World’s Water Crisis”) tomorrow (Friday, October 23rd from 12-1 PM) in room 406 of Davis Hall at UC Berkeley.
I plan to go.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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How property rights can save the environment
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Art Carden writes:
Where recycling is worthwhile, people earn profits doing it. Just because it is unprofitable now does not mean that it is not worthwhile, but the information we would need to evaluate recycling literally does not exist because the act of recycling is mediated by politics rather than prices.
[snip]
We recycle because [...]
Pacific Ocean Briefing in Sacramento Oct 29
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
“Please feel invited to The Pacific Ocean: Our Shared Resource in Peril, a briefing on the main threats facing the Pacific Ocean, and the people that depend on it. Comprising one-third of the earth’s surface, the Pacific Ocean, home to most of our planet’s biodiversity, provides services that support millions of people. [...]
