Environmental policy

Project Better Place’s Electric Vehicle Network, Now Coming to Hawaii

1 Comment / Economics, Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling One of the most interesting entrepreneurial developments in the past couple of years is Project Better Place, which has one of the most well-articulated corporate visions I’ve ever seen. Their business model: evolve beyond using oil-based transportation fuels by constructing a network of charging stations and battery swap stations for electric vehicles. Their …

Project Better Place’s Electric Vehicle Network, Now Coming to Hawaii Read More »

“Exxon is a Cash Machine, and They Could Be Using That Cash to …”

1 Comment / Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson An excellent look at ExxonMobil in the Sunday New York Times. The article makes a strong case for the view that ExxonMobil is one of the best run large international corporations in the world. The article observes that the company has reacted to recent record profits by, among other things, increasing dividends and …

“Exxon is a Cash Machine, and They Could Be Using That Cash to …” Read More »

Pop Sci Debunking Recycling Myths

Economics, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling Opinions and analyses on recycling abound, from “it reduces our resource use and conserves landfill capacity” to “processing recycling uses more energy than not, and is therefore wasteful and inefficient”. Of course there’s some truth in these opposing views, and a case-by-case analysis is usually necessary to determine, on balance, the net effect …

Pop Sci Debunking Recycling Myths Read More »

The First Battery in the Country Capable of Storing Wind Energy?

13 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson From the Star-Tribune in Minnesota, “Xcel looks to harness wind energy for use even when there’s no wind “: Next spring Xcel Energy Inc., the state of Minnesota and a Virginia-based technology firm will test the first battery in the country capable of storing wind energy. Well, that’s a bit wrong. Any battery …

The First Battery in the Country Capable of Storing Wind Energy? Read More »

Offshore Wind Power Proposal Rises from the Pacific, and Other Offshore Wind Power Stories in the News

4 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson Typical offshore wind power projects — actually there are not enough projects in existance to talk about “typical projects”, so let’s say “typical offshore wind power proposals — envision embedding the turbines into the ocean floor. Not a problem off the U.S Atlantic Coast or in the Gulf, where the ocean is relatively …

Offshore Wind Power Proposal Rises from the Pacific, and Other Offshore Wind Power Stories in the News Read More »

Informing Consumers About Energy Efficiency: Viral Communication

2 Comments / Economics, Electricity, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling Informing individuals about the resource use and environmental consequences of their energy consumption can be surprisingly difficult. Do you ever read the little flyers that your utility or your energy retailer puts in your bill? Nope, I don’t either. But in general we’re pretty clueless about our energy consumption, because we do not …

Informing Consumers About Energy Efficiency: Viral Communication Read More »

Some Good, and Not So Good, Water Policy Discussions

1 Comment / Economics, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling David Zetland, call your office! Here are a couple of thought-provoking water articles I’ve recently read: 1. Peter Gleick on water policy in Wired: 8 proposals, and not a single one says a single thing about improving price signals to discipline water use! How can he claim to have any kind of serious, …

Some Good, and Not So Good, Water Policy Discussions Read More »

Green or Not?

7 Comments / Economics, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling Which is greener using a life-cycle analysis: walking to my nearby standard supermarket and buying standardly-commercial produce and meat, or driving the 5.4 miles (10.8 miles round trip) to Green Grocer and buying organic, locally-sourced produce and meat? I suspect it’s the former. BUT (a) such a calculation ignores any quality differential between …

Green or Not? Read More »

Why a Big Increase in “Green Jobs” Might Be a Bad Sign

8 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson The U.S. Conference of Mayors trumpets a study predicting a boom in green jobs. (A green job, for this study, is a job “devoted to the reduction of fossil fuels, the increase of energy efficiency, and the curtailment of greenhouse gas emissions.”) According to a groundbreaking study establishing a national Green Jobs Index, …

Why a Big Increase in “Green Jobs” Might Be a Bad Sign Read More »

Rggi – Results from the First U.S. Cap-and-Trade GHG Permit Auction

Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson The results from the first RGGI auction have been announced, coming in louder than a whimper, but softer than a bang. As the WSJ Environmental Capital blog reports, “Demand was actually pretty strong.” About 50 million units were bid upon, while just 12.5 million were offered. The demand pushed the clearing price to …

Rggi – Results from the First U.S. Cap-and-Trade GHG Permit Auction Read More »

Copyright © 2022 Knowledge Problem Archive