Archive for December, 2009
« Previous EntriesControlling demand with restrictions, prices or both?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
(via LF) In this 2000 article [pdf], Renwick and Green use statistics to look for the joint and several effects of eight California water agencies’ programs to reduce consumption between 1989 and 1996. Besides the Aurora article (the article on Santa Barbara’s conservation in the early 1990s does not separate the effects), [...]
The Delta Conveyance
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Note to self: blog on the issues.
Here they are:
There’s no lack of money for a conveyance (canal or tunnel). The water it would carry is far more valuable than the cost of construction. There’s a lack of political and legal agreement on if it should be built and whether it’s possible get [...]
Transcript from my EIA Panel Session
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I only recently became aware that the 2009 Energy Conference put on by the Energy Information Administration has posted the audio and transcripts of all of the sessions. You can hear the audio or download the transcript from my session - Energy and the Media - here. I summarized the overall [...]
Speed blogging
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
ImagineH20 has announced 10 finalists “for business plans that offer the greatest promise of breakthroughs in the efficient use and supply of water.” I know of two of them.
The end-of-year double-issue of the Economist always has amazing articles:
Migration and the American Dream
Socrates, debate and American media
Rice in Japan
Crony capitalism in China
Being a [...]
Monday Morning Smile
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Water Markets and Ecosystem Services
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I mentioned this paper 9 months ago, but I was told to take a second look, and I am glad that I did:
Abstract: …This paper develops a conceptual framework to examine factors enabling and constraining successful policy reform and implementation in market-based environmental water allocation… Two case studies were selected in water [...]
Flashback: 20 — 26 Dec
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These posts are still important, so please comment!
Environmental Prop/Agit, and one of my favorite images…
Dear Sant’ Obama — my list that I wanted to see from the new Prez. So far, he’s gone half way on two of ten. Pretty disappointing, but Washington isn’t an easy place to change…
BEST: Bureaucratic “Achievement” happens [...]
Rebirth on the Solstice
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Many religions celebrate the end of the solar year during the time when the days are shortest, and we face long hours of darkness and cold. But the Solstice can also be a useful time for reflection on what was and what should be. This, I think, is where birth and renewal [...]
WWCD?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Cheers! (Happy holidays, merry solstice, etc..)
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Poll Results — We so smart! Er?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Hey! There’s a new poll (climate adoption) to the right —->
Are you smarter than the average person answering this question?
Yes
61%
44
No
39%
28
72 votes total
This poll (of the Lake Wobegon effect) can be interpreted in two ways:
Respondents suffer from “Illusory superiority, a that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate [...]
Efficient new process uses CO2 in gasification
Submitted by Energy Answers Blog
his new method of gasification could iincrease the efficiency and lower the cost of syngas prodtion from biomass. It makes direct uof CO2 — a greenhouse gas. Syngas can then be made into many types of liquid fuels such as ethanol, or be upgraded for use as a natural gas substitute [...]
Let the Data Do the Talking
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Although not always successful, my goal is to let data drive my conclusions. Still, we all sometimes find ourselves in debates that are based more on passion and conviction than on data. But if the data are ignored because the conviction is strong, it may be dogma driving the conclusions.
Passionate debates [...]
German Robot Pigs
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
“What I need for this project”, I explained to my young son, “is an army of German robot pigs.” His eyes went wide. “And I know just where to get them…”
I have a project on my desk right now to look at avenues of disposal for sewage sludge in a specific [...]
Conditional giving
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
At this time of the year, many people are thinking of giving, and it’s appropriate to think about the different types of giving. This article mentions eight ways from the tradition of the Torah, ranging from “Level Eight: Giving grudgingly, with a sour countenance” to “Level One: Helping someone become self-sufficient.”
It’s obvious [...]
Flashback: 12 — 19 Dec 2008
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
These posts are still relevant, so please comment!
BEST: Bailout Banditos — an early post on stupid bailout(s), A Different Liquidity Crunch compares the credit shortages to water shortages (hint: both results of mismanagement).
Loving Themselves is all about the “rights to water crowd” — talk is cheap when you don’t have to live [...]
Las Vegas’ (old) search for water
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I came across this story recently:
Now Las Vegas is looking north to secure its future by harvesting water underneath vast, sparsely populated rural Nevada…The move by Las Vegas exemplifies the growing problem of the West, where cities are beginning to confront limits to growth, limits set by the shortage of water, a [...]
It’s what you say, not who you are
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Over the past few months, I have had several reminders of an unfortunate problem: People confusing criticism of their work as criticism of them.
For example:
Students worrying that their bad grades are a sign of stupidity (or the converse, that they are smart, so they should get good grades).
Authors of books I review [...]
PPIC’s pro-peripheral propaganda
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
The Public Policy Institute of California is supposedly a non-partisan non-profit, but they are engaging in some VERY partisan activities.
PPIC published a report favoring the Peripheral Canal.
PPIC’s Ellen Hanak speaks in favor of this option all the time.
Now, PPIC has issued results from a survey it commissioned that shows that people are [...]
Abuse of power
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Emily Green writes a compelling portrait of power and corruption:
Once again the Resnicks are using influence to bend the rules to their purposes. This time, instead of bullying a newspaper using a flagrant fabrication about a journalist, they are bullying a politician to have the opinions of scientists overturned for the betterment [...]
Particpiate in re-drawing CA’s political boundaries
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
via DW
For Californians willing to invest big hours for a shot at making history and creating a more competitive Legislature, today marks your chance.
Cost to apply? Nothing.
Expected to be watched closely nationwide, California will begin implementing a power-to-the-people initiative, Proposition 11, passed by voters last year.
State Auditor Elaine Howle will begin accepting [...]
Report on California water laws
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Addendum: Changed the title to reflect the content!
Ben Pink sent this report on The New Delta & California Water Legislation: How will it affect the Bay Area?
Here is an article that reviews the event.
Speaker: Ellen Hanack, PPIC
Ellen spoke about the PPIC reports Envisioning/Comparing Futures for the Delta (also see this op/ed). She [...]
Water and the California Dream — The Review
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
DW sent me David Carle’s Water and the California Dream: Choices for the New Millennium (Sierra Club Books 2003),* and I found it to be familiar, if depressing reading.
Carle basically outlines and documents the way that water has been used to spur growth, where supply creates demand instead of — as is [...]
Platts Survey of Top Energy Stories of 2009
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
As I compile my year end list of the biggest energy stories of the year, I have just gotten an e-mail from Platts that is very helpful. As they have done in previous years, they have a survey up so readers can rank the top stories:
Platts wants to know: the biggest [...]
Biomass Is Not Crazy Logic
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I saw a story about a week ago that I flagged to comment on when I got caught up. I suppose I am caught up enough now to do so. The story is:
Burn a Tree to Save the Planet? The Crazy Logic Behind Biomass
The author is listed as Joshua Frank, described [...]
Osmotic Power
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Did you ever wonder why the skin on your hands sometimes shrivels when you have them in water for too long? The underlying reason is called osmosis (a simple explanation in more detail below), and the same driving force is now being utilized as a power source.
Occasionally I encounter an energy [...]
