Archive for November, 2009
« Previous EntriesThree Gallons Per Mile
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Often when I am flying, I think about the amount of fuel that the airplane is burning. Then when I am off the plane, I usually forget about it. I have heard mixed opinions on the overall efficiency of airline travel versus automobile travel, but just never got around to investigating [...]
Gazan farmers killing Gazan children
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
(via DL), we hear this bad news:
Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is unfit for human consumption…
…the amount taken from underground aquifers last year to supply 1.5 million people with drinking water and for agriculture was 160 million cubic metres, but that natural replenishment was 80-90 million cubic [...]
Things to do, places to be
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Six Federal agencies involved in the California Bay-Delta ecosystem want comments here by December 1, 2009 (tomorrow!)
Comment on price increases for the Las Vegas Valley Water District
[or go in person to] 500 Grand Central Parkway (Las Vegas)
Tuesday, December 1 @ 9 am
Fundraiser in support of Rock the Boat: the story of Los [...]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Just $1 trillion/af. Wonder if users will pay?
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Speed Blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Some clever researchers have found the source of arsenic contaminating well water in Bangladesh: human-built ponds. This is great news — the first step to ending one of the greatest poisonings in history.
Put these guys in charge (they understand risk): “Citing fears of rising costs from climate change, insurance companies have begun [...]
Son of Xethanol Goes Bankrupt
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I have written several essays on Xethanol over the past few years. If you recall, they were a poster child for the theme of “overpromise, boost your stock price, and get rich quick” on biofuels.
For me, this story dates back to 2006, when an investigative journalist working for Dallas Mavericks’ owner [...]
Flashback: 21 — 27 Nov 2008
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These posts are still relevant, so please comment.
Sneaky Takings via Public Trust — a retort to AG Jerry Brown. If he’s governor in 2010, you may want to read this…
BEST: The Costs of Slowing Climate Change is $4 trillion. Spare a dime, buddy? Carrots and Sticks — which induces more cooperation? Can [...]
Blowing Bubbles
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Bubbles in financial markets [the image is a 1997 cover from the Economist] will not go away, and that’s upsetting to “rational expectations” and “efficient market hypothesis” economists.*
Fortunately, experimental economists have looked into the question, reproducing bubbles in the laboratory and playing with the factors that drive bubbles.
Both Vernon Smith and Charlie [...]
Speed Blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Israeli companies in leak detection and water meters.
A good post on the difference between drought (variations in supply) and shortage (the gap between supply and demand). Here’s the picture:
Want people to use less? Water meters need to be easy to read; bills easy to understand; conservation easy to measure. Hear hear!
Mexico is [...]
Thanksgiving and the American Dream
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Americans often celebrate Thanksgiving by reuniting with their families, to break bread and share in the good fortune that we enjoy. While some see this holiday as an example of excessive eating, TV watching and shopping, I see it as a useful reminder of the bounty that we enjoy in life — [...]
Policies & Procedures: a good thing or bad?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I enjoyed this post from CRG, who occasionally blogs from Imperial Valley.
(NB: I read it months ago, so some echoes appear in this post on term limits for bureaucrats.)
Point: At some point in a company’s growth, there need to be policies & procedures put in place to streamline processes, and to make [...]
Potential Markets and Benefits from Ocean Thermal Energy
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Happy Thanksgiving to those who will celebrate it tomorrow. I plan to spend the long weekend with my family, and probably won’t be on here much.
In the interim, two things. First is that it is about time to start thinking about the top energy stories of the year. As in year’s [...]
Plastic DVD Cases: My Secret Shame
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
Photo Credit - andresrueda
Despite my good intentions and my preaching to the children about the evils of plastic, we have accumulated a handful of DVD cases over the past couple of years. I am dwelling on them now because I am busy packing and I need to jettison anything we can do [...]
My New Reusable Shopping Bags
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
I recently received two beautiful cotton batik reusable shopping bags from Wrapsacks.com. These bags fold and zip into a compact size. I like the way that the outside of the storage pouch doubles as a reinforced bottom for the bag. I am happy to finally have a grocery bag with shoulder length [...]
DWR’s take on the water bills
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
…is here [pdf] (via ML and BP). It begins with:
Governor Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers successfully crafted a plan to meet California’s growing water challenges. A comprehensive deal was agreed to, representing major steps towards ensuring a reliable water supply for future generations, as well as restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and other [...]
Poll Results — US Healthcare
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Hey! There’s a new poll (Family!) on the right —>
The US Healthcare System…
…needs more government involvement
43%
…needs less government involvement
26%
…is just fine
1%
…is beyond my comprehension
23%
…is what? I’m not American (but wish I had your healthcare system)
0%
…is what? I’m not American (and I’m glad I don’t have your system)
6%
If there’s one key result here, [...]
The customer is definitely right!
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A loyal reader who works in a water agency send this customer letter:
Hi there,
I’m an avid water conservationist. Even have a large storage facility for capturing rainwater for my gardening.
I’m also an engineer and am adept at using a calculator. I see no good fiscal ($) reason to try to conserve on [...]
Academic Water Economists
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting of the International Water Resource Economics Consortium at Berkeley.
Many big wheels were presenting (Dinar, Hanemann, Howitt, Libecap, Olmstead, Zilberman and others who are probably more famous than I know and others were in the audience, giving comments, questions and suggestions. (All the best [...]
Department of I told you so
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
DW sent this story:
Poway’s residential users, who account for about 80 percent of all the water consumed in the city. They used 31.29 percent less water in July and August 2009 compared with the same two-month average from 2005-07
At Tuesday’s council meeting, several residents who use a lot of water to maintain [...]
Climategate
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Someone asked my opinion on the theft and revelation of data and emails related to climate change research. From my brief readings, it appears that some academics were blocking the views (preventing publication) of others they disagreed with, as well as — perhaps deleting “inconvenient” data.
Since the blocked people were climate change [...]
A fish here, a fish there. Who cares?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
OO says:
I’m a law student researching Entergy v. Riverkeeper where the Supreme Court said EPA can use cost-benefit analysis when determining the best technology available standard for cooling water intake systems.
J. Breyer’s concurring opinion posits that it’s irrational in a world of stressed resources to force a power plant to spend a [...]
Cleaner water
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Walter Bauer contacted me with an interesting invention/process [pps]:
The Bauer Energy Design® Water Processor improves water quality through many fundamental phenomena: Zeta potential reduction, electrolysis, turbulence and cavitation. Zeta potential controls the growth of particles in water. Reducing Zeta potential allows for growth of particles therefore increasing particle size. This in turn [...]
“Free” education taxes the poor & hurts students
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Brilliant:
One poor, “uneducated” resident of Watts, upon hearing Ralph Bunche say that he could not have had a college education unless tuition were free, opined, “Perhaps it’s time he repay out of his higher income for that privilege granted him by taxes on us Negroes who never went to college.” That reply [...]
Smile Bonus: China to US: “Stop fucking with us”
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Maybe this photo* explains “contamination” problems with food imported from China. It’s normal to mix chemical products and food over there!
A reader sent this (kinda funny, kinda sad) piece:
In “Endangering People to Protect Fish“, we learn:
….with some farms receiving only 10% of their previous water allocation, the human toll has been grave. [...]
