September 3, 2009

The U.s. Postal Service Projects Smart Grid Revenue Needed to Make Electric Vehicle Fleet Cost Effective

Michael Giberson John Petersen at AltEnergyStocks comments on a recent analysis by the U.S. Postal Service of the economics of converting to an electric vehicle fleet.  Petersen observes that, “after years of reading up-beat promotional materials that talk about ten-year battery lives and seven- to ten-year payback periods, it was refreshing to see a more …

The U.s. Postal Service Projects Smart Grid Revenue Needed to Make Electric Vehicle Fleet Cost Effective Read More »

Unintended Consequences, Hybrid Vehicles Edition

Lynne Kiesling As the demand for hybrid vehicles increases, the consequences of that increased demand flow through to markets for their inputs, some of which are finite natural resources themselves. Increased hybrid vehicle production raises the demand for rare metals, increasing their prices and threatening short-run shortages. Among the rare earths that would be most …

Unintended Consequences, Hybrid Vehicles Edition Read More »

Solar Makes Financial Sense in Austin, if You Are Subsidized…

Michael Giberson Geoff Styles (“Can Solar Compete?“) observes two reports from MIT’s Technology Review: one from August 2009 that says cost reductions achieved in the solar power industry “have made solar power cheaper than the natural-gas-powered plants used to produce extra electricity to meet demand on hot summer days,” and another from the September/October 2009 …

Solar Makes Financial Sense in Austin, if You Are Subsidized… Read More »