Tag Archives: energy
The Visable Change in Asia’s Energy Consumption
As people are coming to understand, Asian economic growth over the past two decades—despite its great adoption of oil—essentially runs on electricity, most of which is supplied by the burning of coal. Here is the night sky over Asia twenty years ago, as captured in a still photograph from a film loop provided by NOAA’s [...]
Energy Science, Innovation and the Future of America
What does it really mean to change the game in energy technologies? Not to change a single game – as with a last-second shot at the buzzer, a Hail Mary pass, or a diving catch to close out the inning – but to transform the entire game, with new rules, new technologies, and often-unexpected new [...]
The Potential of Alternative Energy in the Midwest
A new study called Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest shows how marginal lands deemed unsuitable for food crops can be used to grow grassy and non-woody plants as biomass for alternative energy fuels. According to a Phys report, faculty members and a Ph.D. student from the Department of Geographical Sciences [...]
China: Consuming Just As Much Coal As Rest of World Combined
It’s not always that I agree with Time. But this time I do, even if they’re a bit late to the party. “As the data shows, China is now burning almost as much coal as the rest of the world—combined. And despite impressive support from Beijing for renewable energy and a dawning understanding about the dangers of [...]
In Focus: Arizona’s Renewable Energy Cuts
There are few people in Arizona who understand what’s happening with renewable energy policy in the state better than Nancy LaPlaca. So, when LaPlaca is worried, renewable energy proponents should take note. Until recently, LaPlaca was an adviser to Arizona Corporation Commissioner Paul Newman. Newman, a strong proponent of solar power, lost his seat on [...]
DOE’s International Energy Outlook: Wrong on Developing World
Regular readers will remember that I predicted that China would be using 247 quads by 2030, far more than the Department of Energy’s forecast of 163 quads. Is it possible they will be using even more than my pessimistic prediction? “Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show the total energy consumed in China in [...]
Electricity: The Key to U.S. Energy’s Future
As we enter 2013, it is clear that electricity is becoming the dominant form of energy that will drive society’s future. Exxon forecasts that between now and 2040, electricity will account for more than half of the growth of global energy demand [1]. And in the U.S., the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that electricity [...]
Energy Benchmarking: $9 Billion Savings Potential
Energy benchmarking can unlock $9 billion in energy savings by 2020, suggests a recent report by the Institute of Market Transformation. Despite our lofty aspirations of energy independence and tackling global climate change, we are only beginning to implement the first step in the multifamily building sector – understanding our energy use. Multifamily housing has [...]
The Two Faces of China’s Energy Governance
In my attempts to catch up on lots of literature published over the past year that I missed, I finally read the 2012 paper China’s Long Road to a Low-Carbon Economy: An Institutional Analysis by Philip Andrews-Speed, one of the first and foremost international commentators on China’s energy economy. Naturally, its stuff worth reading (otherwise [...]