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DrumBeat: July 19, 2008
Posted by Leanan on July 19, 2008 - 8:19am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Small, developing nations feel impact of food and energy crisis
The Marshall Islands said Friday electrical power in the small Pacific nation may be switched off in September when its fuel supplies are expected to run out, as high food and energy prices have begun to hit hard some developing countries, particularly small islands isolated from the rest of the world.'Unless urgent international action is taken, the Marshall Islands will exhaust its present fuel supplies this September,' said Rina Targo, a representative of the islands at the United Nations. 'This is a dire situation in which we may be left without electricity for the foreseeable future.'
Growing risk of a shooting war over energy
Once again, the week's most important energy news has gone unreported by media in the U.S.Most of the U.S. news media still doesn’t understand that the important energy news is happening outside the United States. Once again this week, cameras rolled as the White House and Congress bickered for partisan advantage, this time over offshore oil drilling. Meanwhile, half a world way, three events – one indicative of the growing risk of a shooting war over energy – were completely ignored.
Threat from lack of gas capacity, expert says
A lack of adequate gas storage has left Britain's energy market like a “house of cards”, more vulnerable to supply shocks than any other country in Western Europe, according to a leading energy analyst.Four years after becoming a net gas importer, Britain still has one of the lowest levels of gas storage capacity in Europe - enough to supply consumers for about two weeks. That is equivalent to about 4 per cent of annual demand, compared with 20 per cent in both France and Germany.
Pakistan: Agri sector faces acute shortage of water
ISLAMABAD: Rising petroleum prices would affect the agriculture sector of the country as farmers are dependent on fuel to operate their tube-wells for getting water, which is the basic need for irrigation and growth of crops.
Fiji: Police deny fuel shortage claims
SPECULATION that the police vehicles at the Nabua Police Station were without fuel for the third night last night has been blatantly denied by the police.A source told Fiji Daily Post that police officers working night shift at the Nabua Police Station had to patrol the area walking.
It was also revealed that officers could not attend to reports from nearby areas because there were no vehicles to take them.
India: Energy scenario bleak as country faces sharp decline in power generation
NEW DELHI: The lesser inflow of water into rivers and the declining levels in dams and reservoirs across the southern, western and north-eastern regions of the country have led to a sharp decline in power generation, particularly hydro-power. The gas-based stations have also been under-performing due to shortage of fuel, leading to outages, power cuts and blackouts in many parts of the country.
Vietnam: Exporters fear failure amid money, energy shortages
Companies air their grievances at a conference as tightened monetary policy and a power shortage have left them without money or electricity.
Pakistan: IJT stages protest against power outages at PU
LAHORE: The Punjab University students staged a protest against six-hour load shedding on the campus- for the second consecutive day- outside the press club on Friday.Dozens of students, under the aegis of Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT), whilst holding placards, protested against the varsity's administration. They flayed the administration for failing to take steps to rectify the situation, as students were forced to take exams in scorching heat. The students also staged a sit-in outside the project director's office the other day, but to no avail.
Chevron-truckers union fray could cause fuel shortages, Nacional says
SANTO DOMINGO - Fuel transport from the Dominican Petroleum Refinery was still halted Friday morning and only the tanker trucks that take avtur to the airports entered, newspaper Nacional reported.
Proposals for a gas tax holiday faltered over job losses - and now lawmakers need to come up with money to repair roads.
Utah DOT feels pinch in rising costs of asphalt
The Utah Department of Transportation is experiencing an asphalt shortage. Several of UDOT's road construction projects have already experienced delays. It is because asphalt is now in competition with gasoline. The material that makes asphalt used to be considered waste left over from refining oil into gas but now the greater demand for gasoline is causing refineries to more efficiently squeeze every possible drop of crude oil into the more profitable fuel.It means there is not a lot of asphalt to go around. To make matters worse the polymer that binds asphalt together is in short supply because it too is a petroleum byproduct, thus, driving the cost up.
Pemex Plans Fuel Supply Reduction
In an unpopular move, Mexico’s state-owned Pemex oil company announced it will reduce gasoline supplies for Baja California soon. Ramiro Zuniga Salazar, president of the Onexpo Baja Gasoline Station Operators Association, said Pemex informed gas station operators in a July 7 letter that it would begin reducing gasoline deliveries of the Magna brand from 80 million liters to 72 or 74 million liters per month. A gallon is equivalent to 3.8 liters....Pemex’s decision was attributed to a 30 percent increase in demand for gasoline and diesel in Baja California during the past few months. Some blame the consumption surge on US citizens who drive across the border to take advantage of cheaper Mexican fuel prices and fill up their tanks.
Brazilian offshore oil workers end strike
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazilian offshore oil workers said Thursday they will end a five-day walkout as scheduled, but warned they may call a new, nationwide strike against state oil company Petrobras next month.
Why gas prices vary from state to state
With regional differentials pushing the price much higher in some places, drivers and small-business owners are finding it hard to cope.But which states' motorists get the best deal, and in which states do drivers pay the most to fill-up?
NYC taxi fleets may have trouble shifting to hybrids
DETROIT — This fall, New York City yellow taxis will start going green as fleet owners have to buy hybrids to replace the old Crown Victorias as they are retired.The city's decision to mandate the move from an all-gas taxi fleet to a gas-electric hybrid fleet has received much applause, but as the effective date approaches, there's a worry: Inventories of hybrids have dried up across the country as gas prices skyrocket, leaving fleet owners to wonder whether they'll be able to buy hybrids for taxis when they need them.
How China's taking over Africa, and why the West should be VERY worried
Reminiscent of the West's imperial push in the 18th and 19th centuries - but on a much more dramatic, determined scale - China's rulers believe Africa can become a 'satellite' state, solving its own problems of over-population and shortage of natural resources at a stroke.With little fanfare, a staggering 750,000 Chinese have settled in Africa over the past decade. More are on the way.
The strategy has been carefully devised by officials in Beijing, where one expert has estimated that China will eventually need to send 300 million people to Africa to solve the problems of over-population and pollution.
Energy crisis of 1973 left a lasting impact
The federal government began rationing diesel fuel to its own agencies and to private industry, including airlines and trucking companies.Airlines started getting monthly fuel allotments based on how much they had used the year before. They were forced to cut routes and eliminate flights that weren't booked to capacity.
By Nov. 21, Kanawha County officials were considering operating schools only four days a week to conserve energy.
Six days later, both Kanawha County and Putnam County school systems were saying they soon might have to end student bus rides altogether.
UN warns on biofuel crop reliance
Biofuels are important for combating climate change, Mr Ban said, but new global guidelines needed to be established to maintain an adequate supply of food."The cost of inaction would be unacceptably high. Over 100m people could slide into hunger," Mr Ban said.
"We must act immediately to boost agricultural production this year," he added.
The impact of rising food prices on disparate livelihoods groups in Kenya
The sustained rise in food and non-food prices is expected to accentuate food insecurity among the most vulnerable livelihood groups especially the urban, pastoral and marginal agricultural households.
The confidence that the Iranians displayed in Madrid is further confirmation of their growing influence in Europe and the Mideast. Indeed, their presence at the conference bolsters the belief that Iran may be the biggest winner of the Second Iraq War. And the oil and gas deals they are doing – with the Malaysians, Indonesians, Syrians, Venezuelans, Chinese, and others – provide evidence that America’s ability to influence global energy policy, particularly when it comes to policies that involve sanctions against Iran, is diminishing.
How to grab a share of the Gulf’s trillions
Spain made its fortune plundering South America. And Rome was built on the spoils of conquest. But the Gulf States are managing to accumulate the world’s wealth without even crossing their own borders.
U.N. Says Global Action Needed To Meet Food, Energy Crisis
New York, NY (AHN) - Urgent changes in global agricultural policies are needed to meet the threats of soaring food and energy prices, the United Nations General Assembly President said on Friday.Reducing subsidies and lifting tariffs and other trade barriers would stimulate food production and offer a route to development for 180 million small farmers in Africa, Srgjan Kerim told Member States as the Assembly met to discuss the two global crises, a U.N. press statement said.
After months of standoff with irate farmers, and a humiliating defeat in the Senate, the government rolls back the extra levy on farm exports.
Rising gas prices may stall school choice program
Rising gas prices will pose a tremendous challenge for the Lee County School District in this school year and the next.The school district is already bracing for a $29 million shortfall — expected to be even higher next year after Amendment 1 changes the local tax roll — and constantly increasing fuel prices may bear a heavy burden on the budget.
High fuel costs top priority for farmers
LEE COUNTY, GA (WALB) South Georgia farmers say high fuel prices are their number one concern as harvest time approaches. They say record petroleum prices have caused almost everything they use to grow crops to skyrocket in price, and pass even rain as their top worry.
Fuel crisis of our own creation
Americans were convinced they had the right to cheap gasoline and no power in the world should take that right away from us. Now that the right has been sopped up, it ought to be clear that gasoline is an expensive commodity. Environmentalists warned every year that disaster was waiting just around the corner, but Big Auto insisted Americans wanted big cars and small trucks and especially SUVs, gas-consuming monsters rarely used either for sports or utility, but mostly to reinforce the masculinity of drivers. And Big Oil lobbeyed fiercely against any restraints.
McCain calls for tax credit to promote electric cars
WARREN, Mich. — John McCain on Friday called for a tax credit to help American consumers buy electrically powered automobiles as part of an effort to decrease the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Let the Sunshine In: Sick of high energy bills, our columnist investigates solar options
This month, I've spent hours tramping across my roof with energy experts. We've measured its pitch, calculated how closely it faces true south and used high-tech tools to determine what times of day and which months the rooftop will be shaded.The goal: to figure out how much the sun's free power can offset my home's hot-water and other energy needs.
Global Heating: Why We Must Shift to Carbon-Free Fuel (Part I)
Even among the Merely Moderately Enlightened, Global Warming is no longer an issue. The Bali Roadmap of last December and the forceful reports earlier last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have, at long last, produced basic agreement that we have to get serious about fighting global warming.The elephant in the room is, "How"?
Oil prices tumble in biggest weekly drop ever
With oil recording yet another drop on Friday, some industry experts who just days ago thought there was more juice left in oil's meteoric run are reconsidering."If this is not the bubble's implosion, than it's a reasonable facsimile," analyst and trader Stephen Schork said in his daily market commentary. "Time will tell. Nevertheless, for the time being we no longer care to hold a bullish view."
New Hampshire accepts Venezuelan oil: The state scorned the free assistance two years ago, but costs have risen
CONCORD, N.H. -- Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. critic who once called President Bush "the devil." But with fuel prices rising, well, free oil is free oil.
Alaskans suffer nation's highest gasoline prices
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Think you're feeling pain at the gas pump? Consider the residents of Lime Village, Alaska, an isolated Denaina Athabascan Indian community where gasoline prices have hit $8.55 a gallon.The price is severely curtailing movement around the interior Alaska village, where four-wheelers are sitting idle, said Ursula Graham, administrator for the Lime Village Traditional Council.
Russia's energy drive leaves US reeling
Last week, the gloves finally came off the Dmitry Medvedev presidency in Russia. It had to happen sooner or later, but few would have expected this soon. It was crystal clear US President George W Bush administered a diplomatic snub to Medvedev on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G-8) summit meeting at Hokkaido, Japan.
Los Angeles is home to new rush of oil drilling: As energy prices surge, hidden rigs trap fertile fields under city
Remember how Jed Clampett and his family struck "black gold" and moved to Beverly Hills? Today the black gold is IN Beverly Hills.Beverly Hills is one of the most fertile oil fields in Los Angeles, producing nearly a million barrels a year. Many wells are camouflaged or hidden inside buildings. One on the property of Beverly Hills High School is covered in quilt-like floral blankets.
4 Dead, 7 Injured After Crane Collapse at Houston Refinery
HOUSTON — One of the nation's largest mobile cranes collapsed at a Houston oil refinery Friday, killing four workers and injuring seven others in the latest of several fatal accidents that have raised concerns about the safety of construction cranes.
How to beat 60% rise in gas prices? Wear two jumpers (sweaters), says energy boss
One of the UK's biggest energy suppliers came under fire yesterday after one of its senior executives said consumers struggling with record-high gas prices should keep warm by putting on two jumpers.
French nuclear firm admits uranium leaks at two plants
The French nuclear giant Areva yesterday confirmed there was a radioactive leak from a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in south-eastern France, a week after a uranium spill at another of its plants polluted the local water supply.The latest incident comes as an embarrassment to the French government as it struggles to contain environmentalists' anger and reassure residents near its nuclear plants that they are safe.
Solar cars race to promote renewable technologies
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—Even as U.S. oil refiners scramble to increase the flow of Canadian crude from Alberta to Texas, a caravan of futuristic solar cars is racing that 2,400-mile route in reverse to show what transportation could look like without a drop of oil or gas.
Can plug-in hybrids ride to America’s rescue?
Davis, Calif. - If the United States breaks its oil addiction, a measure of thanks will no doubt be due to Andy Frank, who some have dubbed the “father of the plug-in hybrid” car.
Faithful Citizenship: Caring for God’s creation
Some 60 parishioners attended the presentation, "Energy Ethics in an Era of Global Climate Change and Peak Oil," during which Rauckhorst stressed the lead role that religious congregations must play in helping form both our individual and national conscience on energy and environmental issues.
Missing fossils could warn of extreme climate to come
Did the tropics overheat during the Eocene some 55 to 34 million years ago? The answer holds the key to how our planet will respond to global warming, according to one climate researcher.
As passengers on the Titanic were headed for the lifeboats, I wonder how many were debating politics. . . Peak Oil makes strange bedfellows. Interesting change for Boone, who has stopped contributing to partisan political programs, like the Swift Boat ads that he helped fund in 2004.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/071908...
Pickens, Democrats agree in calling for alternative fuels
It's all about the MONEY.
Now that his business model has changed, he stands to get more help from the Dems.
Probably true to some degree, but at age 80, having made more money since he turned 70 than his cumulative income prior to 70, I think that he is primarily motivated by his concern for the future of the country. In any case, from the linked article:
T. Boone Pickens is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
Most oilmen, especially the old-timers, know that solar and wind will deliver about as much real energy as a cigarette lighter where energy is needed, that is in transportation.
The idea of using solar power to generate electric power in order to free up natural gas for transportation begins to look like Rube Goldberg, especially because the energy used in developing solar and wind would consume enormous amounts of oil and drive up the price of oil even higher.....hmmmmmmmmm.
Kind o makes me wonder what is goin on here??? :)
What if the real goal isn't to fuel cars, but to make some money while hopefully preventing the meltdown of the economy due to massive energy shortages overall?
For the American populace, saying "Gas prices are too high. Tell ya what, I'll invest a billion bucks to give you cheap electricity, and that'll free up some natural gas for car use, and that will drive down fuel costs nationwide" seems pretty upbeat and palatable.
If you say, "Over the next five years you will become unable to afford to drive your car, the nation's wealth will be sapped to pay to heat the NE during the winter, and then we'll all freeze together once that too is gone. But if we build my wind farm, you can keep your cars for another few years and then heat your house for a while after that while we work like hell to come up with something else" it just doesn't sound as good.
Coupling wind and CNG is just marketing -- the real point is building wind energy production at a profit. Everything else is spin or candy-coating.
But from what I've read numerous times here on the Oil Drum, is that we are likely to experience SERIOUS problems with Peak Natural Gas in the next few years. So just how realistic is this whole idea on any even medium-term basis?
Antoinetta III
Antoinetta III, you are right, of course.
I don't understand what you are so het up about.
Of course gas is going to get too expensive to use for transport for most people.
Keeping electricity up is a very good idea, we all need (like) fridges and washing machines and computers and more. Keeping the grid up and running any which way is smart. Going completely renewable (wind, solar and muscle) is even smarter.
It might even be possible to keep a few threads of our interconnected cultures alive...
What else is there to do? Wind is still one of the best choices. If transportation collapses, that is very bad, if the grid goes with it.....
And of course electric rail is the best choice for transportation .
I agree 100%. It doesn't matter what the marketing spin is, in the end if you get wind supply built, it's a net positive.
Consider the converse, what is the downside of building Picket's Plan? That an old man might make some money? Is there any other significant negative consequence?
Actually, you want the most money to be made by old people. You get a faster return on your investment through the higher rate of the estate tax vs. income tax.
Based on this real world comparison done by the Japan EV Club, usiing a Mitsubishi i MiEV and a Subaru R1e, the electric cars covered the journey using electricity generated by one sixth of the FF energy required by a typical Japanese gasoline car. Given a likely bias from the source, let's cut that advantage in half, to a third. Still a big gain in my book. Is it possible that, electrified transport will only require as much energy as a cigarette lighter?
Alan from the islands
Actually, I was a little disappointed by the Japanese numbers. They used about 160 watt/hours per mile. AC Propulsion and Solectria were putting up better numbers in the 1990s. But Hokkaido is pretty rough country; maybe there were a lot of hills on the route.
We've got to get it under 100 watt/hours per mile if we're going to put out affordable electric cars. The math says it's possible.
Damn right it's possible! After just about 100 years of tweaking and massaging the ICE, with millions of dollars spent on research and development, we're still stuck at about 30% maximum efficiency. No amount of electronically controlled ignition, fuel injection, variable valve timing, variable length intake manifolds, supercharging, turbocharging or (insert favorite technology here), has been able to get past the theoretical limit of efficiency set by the laws of thermodynamics.
On the other hand, electric drive trains, batteries and electronic systems have theoretical efficiencies that can exceed 80%. What will the efficiency of a typical battery electric vehicle be, after 50 years of R&D at the level that has been devoted to the ICE?
Alan from the islands
Not a direct thermodynamic limit per se, but a limitation of materials. You can make the heat to work conversion efficiency as high as you like by increasing the temperature at the hot end of the cycle.
The basic problem is that we don't have a (cheap) material that can take high temperatures while maintaining good mechanical strength and manufacturability. Metals have an upper operating temperature of about 1000oC give or take a couple of hundred, and that is what results in the thermodynamic efficiency of about 30%.
Ceramics take higher temperatures but are much harder to manufacture machine parts from and have crap tensile strength.
Hey Island boy,
Lets talk about moving real 18 wheel trucks, instead of little Japanese toys.
Okay, since you asked:
Brown Goes Green: UPS adds 50 new HEV trucks to delivery fleet
In case you think that's hot air, this one ain't no freakin hybrid
Brown goes green in NYC: Full-sized UPS EV truck
Neither is this one from the city of London
Modec truck looks great in UPS brown
For a little balance
FedEx puts 2 million miles on hybrid trucks, adds 75 more
Let's look at something a little heavier, the one in the background
Confirmed: Smith electric to build the Ampere and the Faraday II
Unfortunately you may not be seeing the above stateside
Bad economy prompts Smith Electric vehicles to curtail expansion
If you're gonna pick on a Prius, make sure his bigger Japanese cousin isn't around
Mitsubishi Fuso's new Green Truck
How about a real heavy duty hybrid
Volvo revving up its trucks with heavy-duty hybrid drivetrains
Here's a couple of hybrids from closer to home
Peterbilt shows off medium-duty hybrid truck
Eaton confirms order from Coke for 120 hybrid trucks
Peterbilt, Eaton and Wal-Mart partner on diesel-electric hybrid truck
Now, "about moving real 18 wheel trucks"
Heavy duty (really heavy duty) electric truck in use at LA port
All the above are not vaporware but actual working trucks, albeit most of them are being evaluated. They were all found by searching just one web site, Autobloggreen.com.
A google search for "electric truck reminded me that some of the biggest beasts of them all, the giant earth movers, have always been diesel electric hybrids. It was actually easier to use electric motors to transfer the huge amounts of power to the wheels, than to use a mechanical transmission. Many of the "stradle carriers" used in container terminals around the world to shuffle the containers around, are diesel electric hybrids as well.
With diesel fuel getting more expensive and in some places impossible to get, while batteries are likely to get better and less expensive, making the leap from diesel electric to battery electric doesn't seem too far fetched. This is certainly applicanle for short haul trips within a city or from a rail line to a factory or distribution center.
Alan from the islands
Alan - thanks for the links. You have enough material there for a guest post on this important topic - shoot an email to the editors box or nate@theoildrum.com if interested.
Just like I said, no 18 wheelers for long haul.
And what is the source of electric power -- 50% from dirty coal, 20% from natural gas, some from nuclear and oil.
And a 50% plus loss of fossil energy in power generation.
Then some loss in power transmission.
Then a 25% loss in the batteries.
Sounds to me like a lot of waste of fossil energy to get electric energy.
And what about the infrastructure for all of the electric economy, there are not even any plans for how to do all of it, and it would be trillions of dollars of infrastructure for the thousands of miles of highway.
Big capital costs in change over that will not be made in today's global bankrupt economy.
Seems like you solar folks are talking about what you dream about, rather than what is real.
And in so doing the above you are not looking at reality, the end of oil and time for risk management. We are moving at 100 MPH and the end of the tracks is just ahead, and you can't see it as you dream of what can never be.
This site is full of MEN, mostly MEN from the richest and most affluent societies on earth, who are obsessed with trying to invent technofixes to keeping things economic growth going, rather than careful analysis, which indicates that we have lost the battle with nature and can't keep this economy on the same path of everyone thinking they can have all the material possessions they want.
We've mostly used up our one time endowment of oil, and now you are grasping at straws, like solar and wind, which give us electric power, which we will have a surplus of when the factories, plazas, and airports shut down, this is happening today.
What will you do with spare electric power?
We have met the enemy and it is us, and ideologies and cultures of affluence, arrogance, and greed.
When the highways and power grid go out, so too will your solar toys.
Steel, aluminium, titanium, carbon fibres, cast metals, machined metals, hydrogen for fertilizer fuel and other chemistry, streetlights on bicycle paths, power plug-in hybrids, space heating via heat pumps, wooden furniture, power railways, semiconductors, solar cells, xmas lights, etc, etc.
In economic depression (coming to a movie theater near you soon) we will have spare electric power, more than is needed to do what you have above, and what do you do with it, can't store it or eat it. Hydrogen for fertilizer, not much of that being done. Power railways, nice idea, but we have few and no $$$ to build more. Sorry :(
Huh? I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the work of Alan Drake. Just in case you missed it, he advocates the rapid build out of electrified rail for long distance freight haulage to replace big rigs and passenger transport to replace air travel. If trains are doing the longer distance haulage, electric and hybrid trucks could take care of the last miles.
Oh, and those Japanese toys would come in mighty handy for 10km trips to your nearest Walmart when it's raining down there in Mexico, assuming you've got enough wind and solar to charge one. At 86kWh for 859km or 10km/kWh, I'd guess about 5kW of solar PV should be sufficient to keep one micro EV in a sufficient state of charge and have some left over to run a small fridge, a computer, a radio and a few CFLs. If you've got good wind, you could buy a large fridge or set up a solar powered absorption chiller and become the local cold storage guy.
Alan from the islands
"He advocates the rapid build out of electrified rail for long distance freight haulage to replace big rigs and passenger transport
to replace air travel. If trains are doing the longer distance haulage, electric and hybrid trucks could take care of the last miles."
Advocating one thing, actually doing it is another. And where is the capital for this trillion dollar adjustment going to from when oil is $200, then $500, then $5,000 per barrel.???????????
I advocate the we should scrap the global consumer economy immediately, idle all cars, close all of the malls, stop eating packaged foors, stop drinking sodas, beer and wine, and get serious about using the remaining oil for survival.
Unfortunately, 99.99999999 percent of the people are laughing at my proposals.
And I am not giving up drinking red zinfandel wine!
http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/...
http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/...
http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/...
Best Hopes for Getting as Much Done as We can Beforehand,
Alan
I can see curtailing all automotive travel, but stopping all beer drinking - the State of Texas would NEVER go for that.Be careful CJ you might start another revolution with your proposals.
A missive from two years ago:
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/14606
Open letter to Texas newspapers about peak oil: 'Why aren’t you listening?'
by Jeffrey J. Brown
April 2, 2006
BTW, I proposed, and helped organize, the 11/1/05 event in Dallas, which brought Matt Simmons, Jim Kunstler and Boone Pickens together in one room, and the sole local media coverage was the SMU student newspaper.
I'm happy they appeared together. They are all human beings, all Americans, all probably family men -- at some level, all can find themselves in agreement with each other.
However, not everyone is ready yet to go where they seem to be going -- our local radio mouth was droning on yesterday how Obama and Gore are "anti-American" because part of their proposals involve changing our mode of transportation and our expectations for ever increasing amounts of stuff.
In the end, it isn't the survival of the human species that is so much at risk-- human beings can adapt to almost any Earth climate and geography -- but the survival of a particular high-energy, highly complex civilization, Western Industrial, or whatever you want to call it.
Then the question becomes, what part of that culture is worth saving, and who is going to decide what is to be saved and what is to be discarded? Do we need a White Knights to make the hard choices and tell us what to do, or can we more democratically build an improved culture from the ground up -- by individuals consciously making better choices?
Or do we just sit back and wait for the Invisible Hand of the marketplace work its wonders by default? The default option will certainly work, but it doesn't quite seem the best choice to me.
I don't think many 80 year old think too much about money. However, it is true that any businessman knows that for a project to be successful, it needs to be profitable. If I had a $1B to spend, would I give it away to charity, to be spent piece-meal to address immediate needs, or would I undertake a high-profile, high-risk project to set the world on a new course? Gates and Buffet went with the former, Pickens with the latter. I can't fault any of them, as they are still putting money with their words.
For wind to grow massively, as it must, there must be economies of scale coupled with overall profitability. If you had a choice of many projects to be a nation-leading pilot-project, wouldn't it only make sense to pick one that had a high likelihood of success, and then to work to ensure its success? Sure you would. And how do you make a major project successful? You market it -- to consumers (Picken's Plan website), to the media, and to local movers and shakers. In local politics, that means lobbying for favor and spending money to slant things your way. After all, you can be sure there is somebody sitting on a fair number of oil wells who has just been waiting for peak oil before they start pumping, and they're going to be doing their best to keep BAU.
To me, it's simple: oil is a dead-end. Wind and solar are the future. Any major wind project, however it's funded, marketed, or profited by, is still a good thing. This particular project appears to have a higher private-funding fraction than most energy projects, so let's get behind it and make it successful so other projects will follow.
Ask yourself, who will benefit if the Picken's project fails?
I don't think many 80 year old think too much about money.
That all depends. My 80-year-old grandparents thought about money all the time. That's because they didn't have much, and had to be very careful with the money they spent.
"don't think many 80 year old think too much about money."
That's just crazy.
My Uncle, Dad, and Father in Law are cited as case examples.
And if they're not thinking about money, then Power.
And I'm wondering why Big Oil is not concerned about that
increasing Low Pressure Depression SSE of Jamaica forecast to be in the GOM Monday.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/carb/loop-wv.html
US HAZARDS ASSESSMENT
NWS CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER CAMP SPRINGS MD
300 PM EDT JULY 18 2008
SYNOPSIS: A TROPICAL DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IS EXPECTED TO MAKE ITS WAY NORTH AND WEST TOWARDS EXTREME NORTHERN MEXICO AND SOUTHERN TEXAS. DESPITE THE UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING THE FORECAST INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM, RECENT MODELS HAVE BEEN VERY CONSISTENT IN ITS TRACK. THUS, THERE IS A LEVEL OF CERTAINTY WITH A FORECAST OF HEAVY RAIN FOR SOUTHERN TEXAS, WHICH COULD PROVIDE SOME DROUGHT RELIEF. IN ADDITION, SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED FROM THE GREAT LAKES INTO NEW ENGLAND DURING THIS ASSESSMENT PERIOD. AT THIS TIME, LARGE SCALE FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED, ALTHOUGH ISOLATED HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE. THE DROUGHT REGIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN, ALTHOUGH RELIEF IS POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHEAST. DUE TO A VERY ACTIVE MONSOON, RELIEF IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHWEST.
Make that Two Uncles, a Dad, and a Father in Law- 8D
On the 16 July DrumBeat, I pointed to a mini tropical mess over Florida. It exhibited lots of circulation and the tight circulation on the radar image looked much like a hurricane. As it drifted towards the East, both NOAA and NWS let it drop off their area of concern. Well, this afternoon, the thing has popped up again off the coast of South Carolina. It even has been given a new designation, 03L. The disturbance is beginning to look like a real tropical storm, as it picks up steam (literally) over the Florida Current. Just a reminder that the O.C.S. off the Eastern U.S. is another spot likely to expierence hurricanes, etc.
E. Swanson