ARPA-E: Energy Innovation Summit (2/28-3/2, 2011)
Today is the first day of ARPA-E’s Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, DC. The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) funds innovative research projects in the energy arena with the hope that their support will be a catalyst in the U.S. move toward a sustainable energy future. Their Energy Innovation Summit will run for three days (February 28-March 2), bringing together key... Read More
What if? Disruptions to world oil supplies
What if…? What if the uprisings that are currently spreading across northern Africa and the Middle East affected world oil supplies? How would the world’s oil markets respond to a temporary loss of Middle East oil production (1/5th of the world’s oil production and 70% of its spare production capacity)? Yesterday, David Wogan published a thoughtful post about the potential consequences... Read More
March 9: Energy at the Movies at KLRU Studios in Austin
On March 9, KLRU studios will host Dr. Michael E. Webber for his presentation on “Energy at the Movies.” This 90-minute lecture and panel discussion will explore energy in movies over the past 70 years and how the portrayal of energy on the big screen has influenced energy policy and the energy industry. From the gushing geysers of Giant, to the plutonium-powered time machine of Back... Read More
The Smart Grid in Texas – A Primer
Over the past 6 months, I have been working with other students from The University of Texas to develop a short report (primer) on the smart grid in Texas. This project was a part of a competition sponsored by Power Across Texas, a nonprofit organization that works to provide information and education on energy. For this competition, we created a group of policy, engineering and business students... Read More
Climate Change Voices – Scientists vs. the Media
Climate change, and the role of humans in it, was at the heart of carbon cap-and-trade bills in 2009 and 2010. It is also a substantial argument in support of the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide as a harmful greenhouse gas. But, there seems to be a disconnect between the main voices discussing the validity of climate change – specifically, between scientists and the media. And... Read More
AAAS Annual Meeting – Day 1 Favorite Session
Today was the first “full” day of the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This year, the meeting is being held in Washington, DC at the Washington Convention Center. It will run until Monday, hosting panel discussions and plenary speakers on a variety of science topics from sustainability to science and society aimed at giving scientists,... Read More
Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air
Britain gets 90% of its energy from fossil fuels. When we talk about moving Britain into a sustainable energy future – one that is less dependent on fossil fuels – what does that look like? There is a fantastic video on YouTube that stars Cambridge University’s Dr. David MacKay, a physicist and pragmatic converser in energy systems. His 2009 book, Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot... Read More
Inaugural UT Energy Forum
Check out my guest post today on Discover’s blog, The Intersection (blogging home to Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum). My post is about the Inaugural UT Energy Forum, hosted on UT’s campus earlier this month. I attended and spoke about the smart grid in a 7-minute TED-style talk. Read More
Energy and Environment Programs at the Heart of Republican Proposed of Budget Cuts
A lot is going on in Washington in the energy and environment sphere as budget woes have made programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DoE) targets for the next line of cuts. Later today, the White House will unveil its 2012 budget proposal, which is rumored to be ambitious and tough. One thing that is sure – the President’s budget will set the stage... Read More
Efficiency with People Power
The belief that all of our energy woes can be solved through technology was challenged today in a BBC Science and Environment article on the power of people. The article, written by Mark Kinver, discusses work by Oxford’s Dr. Katy Janda, who says that, while technology is an impressive tool for achieving energy efficiency goals, we “cannot forget the human side” of energy use. In... Read More
