July 2002

The Neptune Project

The Neptune project is a privately-funded, high-voltage, direct current (yes, DC, not AC!) project to connect Manhattan and Long Island with other areas that have larger supplies of generated power. This type of interconnection of markets is a driving force in reducing transaction costs and increasing efficiency in energy markets. The progress of this project …

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How Cool Is This?

Also courtesy of Slashdot, this New York Times article (registration required) describes the flywheels that the NY Port Authority has installed in the subway to collect and use the energy given off when subway trains brake. What a win-win — their energy bills go down, and subway stations are less hot!

A Wireless Future?

Courtesy of Slashdot, this Business Week article discusses the prospects and hurdles for wireless, “wi-fi” networks. My favorite quote: Adds Ramesh Rao, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications & Information Technology: “History tells us that we cannot rely on the FCC’s ability to anticipate the future and write rules to allow progress.” In the …

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Crude Oil Update

We’re drivin’, there’s political uncertainty in the Middle East, and it’s almost August, so U.S. inventories are being depleted in a typical seasonal pattern. Thus, as this Bloomberg News article reports, crude prices have gone up. But they have not gone up much, because the continuing economic malaise is countering the price-increasing factors mentioned above. …

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