Tag Archives: energy use

the rebound effect and how energy efficiency may not be the “low hanging fruit”

Posted on February 28, 2013 by

An interesting paradox: as we conserve more energy, we use more. We pointed out some research in the past on this effect, and some debate about the potential impact of this effect has surfaced in a couple places.  First, there … Continue reading →

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

US to become top producer of oil & gas and self-sufficient in energy

Posted on November 12, 2012 by

Says a new report from the IEA.. What does this mean for alternative and renewable energy and climate change? Renewables become the world’s second-largest source of power generation by 2015 and close in on coal as the primary source by 2035. … Continue reading →

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

coolest visualization of US electricity generation, distribution and potential

Posted on November 2, 2012 by

This is by far the coolest and most informative way to look at the electricity grid in the US – where the power is coming from, how is it distributed, and what is the potential for alternatives (wind, solar, biomass, … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , | 3 Comments

reminding us about the Jevon’s Paradox

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

This short article (linked below) reminds us of something I’ve posted on before: the Jevon’s Paradox, or the idea that we will use more energy as it becomes cheaper.  So the natural gas revolution we are seeing in the US … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, policy, sociology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Doubling automobile fuel efficiency

Posted on September 6, 2012 by

Last week our humble little university got a visit from this handsome guy, and Paul and I were lucky enough to attend and even get seats in the bandstand (thanks to Paul for the great photo!).  The speech was carefully … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, policy | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

renewable energy doesn’t offset fossil fuel use

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

At first glance I was very surprised and skeptical of the claims of this recent paper in Nature Climate Change.  Richard York did some simple regression modeling of renewable energy and total energy use in 132 countries and found that … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, sociology | Tagged | 7 Comments

Most efficient consumers of energy – by state

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

If I’m reading this correctly… What is going on in AK, WY, LA and ND?? I think it must have to do with industry energy use in those states, but not 100% sure.. source: http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/

Posted in energy | Tagged | 4 Comments

Energy use in our food supply

Posted on May 2, 2011 by

So I read this ERS report when it came out recently and was really interested in how little of our “food dollar” actually goes to farmers and how much goes to marketing.  I’ll have to save that for another time. … Continue reading →

| Tagged , , | 1 Comment