Our Exo-metabolism
Everybody has to work for a living. From the most primitive bacterium, to his cousin the investment banker, every living organism has to dissipate energy to build and maintain its complex molecular structure. “Do...
Category: Energy
Thin Blue Line
The astronaut orbiting Earth sees a thin blue line on the planet’s horizon, separating our Earth from the blackness of space. This blue line is our atmosphere, just a few kilometers of nitrogen, oxygen,...
Why Gregor is Wrong on Nuclear Energy
When it comes to commenting on the world energy situation, Gregor MacDonald stands out as exceptional. If you haven’t been following Gregor.US, you should put that on your regular reading list — especially if...
A CSR Approach to Nuclear: Reform not Rejection
by Chip Pitts The Fukushima nuclear disaster gives rise to many consequences, for the people and country of Japan, but also globally: consequences for the nuclear power industry, for energy more broadly, and for...
Turning Sludge into Green
Advanced anaerobic digestion is the best technology available for cost-effectively and environmentally recycling municipal organic wastes back into the ecosystem and returning value to the econosystem. It has not been deployed in the United States simply because until recently our economic calculations have not incorporated environmental costs and benefits. When the values of green energy, GHG reductions and organics recycling are added into the equation, anaerobic digesters are the “natural” solution.
What We Must Do
If humanity had a brain – if we had a truly global society rather than a world of suspicious and antagonistic tribal nations – it would be obvious what we must do. We would collaborate on a massive overhaul of our buildings, transportation systems and economic infrastructure to improve energy efficiency and to shift away from burning fossil fuels. But we cannot wait for a slow process of consensus. Let us not whine about whether we will be somewhat disadvantaged by moving first in a direction which all must move eventually. It is better to take a small disadvantage ahead of the crowd, in order to gain the benefits of leadership.
$15 per Gallon Gasoline?
We are used to cheap oil and inefficient consumption, so we have trouble seeing a higher value in that gallon of gasoline.
Energy and Economic Renewal in America
Intelligence itself has two components. One is the perception of a new possibility. The other is the organizational initiative to make that possibility a reality.
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