Lynne Kiesling Check out this cool Financial Times article on Dutch use of operations research to optimize their train network and timetable. Imagine trying to create a system detailing the precise movements of 5,500 daily train services, thousands of pieces of rolling stock and all the personnel needed to run a railway network (a typical …
Use Operations Research to Maximize Value in a Train Network Read More »
Lynne Kiesling There are a couple of very interesting recent solar developments that have substantial economic implications. First, the blue sky stuff: courtesy of Slashdot, a team of researchers in the Netherlands have demonstrated avalanche effects in semiconductors that can be used in solar cells (here’s the original article). Avalanche effects mean that instead of …
Lynne Kiesling I seriously gave myself an injury yesterday morning when I saw the Wall Street Journal article on the Congressional bill to nationalize hurricane reinsurance. Have we learned nothing about moral hazard from flood insurance, from the savings and loan fiasco, and so on? So I’m glad that Tim Haab’s on the case, pointing …
Government Hurricane Reinsurance :headdesk: :headdesk: Read More »
Lynne Kiesling One of the things I like about publication is that I don’t ever seem to lose that childlike fascination that Steve Martin had in The Jerk when he saw his name in the phone book and declared “I’m somebody!” With that same childlike fascination I am pleased to announce that you can now …
Lynne Kiesling Wired provides a wiki for collecting ideas and techniques for automating your home. Even though we do not yet have widespread retail choice in electric power service as residential customers, these ideas can reduce energy bills and reduce overall resource use: Aside from the nerd bragging rights, fully-automated homes can be much more …
Lynne Kiesling Thanks to Market Urbanism for linking to Mike’s “prices change everything” post this morning. I encourage you to check out Market Urbanism!
Lynne Kiesling I’ve written a lot here before about dynamic pricing, and Mike has too. Electricity is one of the most poorly-priced services we consume; only water is priced in a way that communicates even less about its scarcity and about the true costs of providing the service. If we are going to meet the …
Michael Giberson Steven Stoft, at the EU Energy Policy Blog, observes that market driven conservation is a slow process: Conservation is the main way consumers respond to high market prices. When price goes up, consumption comes down–but it takes a while for the full price effect to play out. Market-driven conservation is a slow process–slow …
Conservation of Resources: Prices Change Everything Read More »
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