Tag Archives: energy costs

Pb and crime?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by

It seems like much of the interest in the environmental impact of energy systems these days is focused entirely on greenhouse gas emissions (or maybe that’s me being biased by my own research? .  However, a recent piece in Mother … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, sociology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

US military allowed to continue biofuels collaborations

Posted on December 22, 2012 by

I posted on a bill this summer trying to stop the US military from trying to reduce their long term energy costs by partnering with biofuels companies.  The US military consumes a huge amount of fossil fuels in the US, often … Continue reading →

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Natural gas shutting down coal plants (with energy price comparison calculator!)

Posted on November 27, 2012 by

Great article on how the natural gas revolution is influencing electric power in the US, and how coal plants are threatened more by gas than by the EPA.. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-demise-of-coal-fired-power-plants/2012/11/21/e7ca1e6e-fdda-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html Some people quoted in this article say that if gas hits $3 – … Continue reading →

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bioenergy companies flip strategies to lure investors

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

In what seems to be the beginning of a trend, some early stage bioenergy companies are shifting their focus and their feedstocks away from biomass and towards really really cheap natural gas (thanks to fracking). The first example was Sundrop … Continue reading →

Posted in biofuels | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

report questions military motivation for renewables

Posted on June 26, 2012 by

In light of the recent debates in congress on whether to ban the military from purchasing renewable energy, mostly as a way to provide a market for new technology development, this report questions that reasoning: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/us-usa-defense-energy-idUKBRE85I06120120619 “There is no credible … Continue reading →

Posted in biofuels, energy, policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

outrageous bill to stop military investment in biofuels gains traction

Posted on June 8, 2012 by

This is ridiculous.  If anyone has the power (and the need) to really help bioenergy move forward by providing a viable market it is the US military.  Tying them up with short-sighted legislation like this should outrage all of us. … Continue reading →

Posted in biofuels, energy, policy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

gas industry and climate change activists make good bedfellows?

Posted on May 31, 2012 by

I’m back from a busy past couple months and have a couple things I wanted to post. First up is a post from the Breakthrough Journal – a group that I regularly read for their fascinating and often controversial commentary … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, energy, policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Energy Factsheet

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

stumbled on this IEA factsheet and thought I’d share.  Some useful information in here. factsheet here: http://www.iea.org/weo/docs/weo2010/factsheets.pdf

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More on external costs of energy

Posted on October 12, 2011 by

Continuing my collection of recent estimates of external costs of energy, I found this National Academies report (free to download as pdf). As mostly a biologist, I found this discussion of the absurdity of the US trying to limit “foreign oil” … Continue reading →

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New paper estimates costs of air pollution from US industry

Posted on October 9, 2011 by

Just saw this paper (citation below) with fresh estimates of costs of air pollution based on real data across the entire US, divided by sectors of the economy.  Not unsurprisingly, coal generated electricity comes out as the worst – accounting for … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , | 5 Comments