Take Big Bites – Chew Carefully, But Not Too Much
The following post is largely a product of a hilarious (fabulous) conversation I had in July with a friend and fellow graduate student at UT, Emily Grubert. Today’s energy is HUGE. When discussed, we use terms like… Megawatts and Megawatt-hours Quadrillion BTU’s Mountain-top (not hill-top) Removal Thousand short tons Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) Seemingly small changes in our energy... Read More
36 Years Later – Nuclear Power Plant Opens in Iran
Thirty-six years after first starting construction, Iran has finally completed its first nuclear power plant. Built in southern Iran, the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is Russian-built. Its fuel will be supplied by Russian companies, that will also be responsible for removing used fuel rods from the plant. Read More
Weatherization – Innovative Ways to Save Energy
Today, the Department of Energy announced $120 million in funding to support innovative weatherization projects. Funding was announced for some 120 projects – ranging from pilot programs ($30 million) to existing program expansions ($90 million) – under DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program. The funding finds its roots in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In today’s... Read More
POTUS speaks about green manufacturing
Check out the President’s speech, given yesterday in Menomonee Falls, WI, included talk about the importance of supporting and investing in clean energy manufacturing technologies. POTUS gave this speech during his visit to the ZBB Energy Corporation’s advanced battery manufacturing facilities. A video of the speech can be found here. Read More
Smart (and Stupid) Metering
Last week, Chris Mooney – co-author of Discover Magazine’s blog The Intersection - wrote a blog post about how electricity use is metered in his new apartment building. It’s a great example of our mixed incentives structure, which in many cases actually discourages conservation and efficiency. So I’ve recently moved to Washington, D.C., and into a newish building. And I’ve been... Read More
Investing in Clean Energy Technology – The next big policy battle with CA’s Prop 23
A good article was published yesterday by greentechmedia on the topic of clean energy investing in the United States. Written by the co-chairman of the board of the Clean Economy Network Educations Fund, the article provides some enlightening commentary on the state of cleantech investing now that carbon cap-and-trade has (seemingly) died – for this year, at least. Will California’s carbon... Read More
Smart Refrigerators
Sometimes the best solution is the low-tech one… The refrigerator sitting in your kitchen (or garage) today likely requires on the order of 600 W (watts) of dedicated power to keep your milk fresh and ice cream frozen. This dedicated power (your refrigerator is usually on all the time) is responsible for a significant portion of your monthly electric bill (13.7% in the average U.S. household). According... Read More
CleanTX Forum: Natural Gas and Clean Energy – Friends or Foes?
On Thursday, Aug. 12th the CleanTX Foundation will host a CleanTX Forum titled Natural Gas and Clean Energy – Friends or Foes? at Austin City Hall on 2nd Street. Moderated by Dr. Michael Webber, from UT’s Mechanical Engineering Department (he is also my advisor), this forum will include seven panelists: Paul Ballentine: CNG Analytics Michelle Foss: Center for Energy Economics Paul... Read More
Oil spills around the world
Assuming that BP’s static kill operation continues along its promising trajectory, the oil leak that spewed crude into the Gulf for over 3 months will be completely sealed in just a few days. According to the most recent estimates by federal scientists, this leak resulted in a total unplanned release of (almost) 5,000,000 barrels 210,000,000 gallons This crude oil flooded into the Gulf of Mexico... Read More
