Archive for the 'Energy' Category
U.S. Will not Tap SPR
January 3rd, 2008This, almost certainly, isn’t temporary. They know it, since They engineered this crisis. So, there’s no point in easing the pain a bit for a couple of weeks by emptying the SPR. There’s plenty of oil to go around at $100, or more, per barrel. Via: Bloomberg: President George W. Bush doesn’t plan to release […]
OIL HITS $100
January 3rd, 2008Via: AP: Crude oil prices briefly soared to $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time, reaching that milestone amid an unshakeable view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will outstrip supplies. Surging economies in China and India fed by oil and gasoline have sent prices soaring over the past year, while tensions […]
Some Guesses About 2008
January 2nd, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. This took me a bit longer to write than I thought it would. Apologies. Here are some issue areas that I think will be interesting to watch in 2008. Economy I don’t see the U.S. Dollar catching much of a break […]
Astonishing Security Breach at South African Nuclear Facility
December 29th, 2007In which category does this belong? “Stories to Scare the B-Jesus Out of You”? “Don’t Read Before Bedtime”? Via: Washington Post: An underreported attack on a South African nuclear facility last month demonstrates the high risk of theft of nuclear materials by terrorists or criminals. Such a crime could have grave national security implications for […]
NYPD Tests Vectrix Electric Scooters
December 27th, 2007NYPD Intelligence Division Officer: “We Are in the Business of Scaring People,” but in a clean, green manner. Via: Business Week: Police have found a way to help save the planet and perhaps sneak up on bad guys at the same time: an electric, ultra-quiet scooter. The New York Police Department will begin road testing […]
PG&E Agrees to Buy Power from Canadian Firm’s Proposed ‘Wave Park’
December 24th, 2007Via: San Francisco Chronicle: Ocean waves pack immense energy in a small area. Tapping even a fraction of it could provide large amounts of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases into the air. And because the energy is so concentrated, the machines needed to tap it, in theory, don’t have be as big as a wind […]
Stanford’s Nanowire Battery Holds 10 Times the Charge of Existing Lithium Ion Batteries
December 21st, 2007The new ExxonMobil battery needs some competition. Ha Via: Stanford: Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, […]
One in Five Expect to Borrow to Heat Homes This Winter
December 20th, 2007Via: Yahoo Finance: For perhaps as many as 27 million American adults, keeping warm this winter will mean borrowing money and 20 million will use credit cards to be able to afford their heating bills, according to a CreditCards.com poll. Nearly 12 percent of Americans say they will need to borrow money to pay winter […]
57 MPG? That’s So 20 Years Ago
December 20th, 2007Via: CNN: Car makers are confident they can meet new government rules calling for a national fleet average of 35 miles per gallon. But it will take a big technological push, they say. You might wonder why, since twenty years ago the car that got the best mileage in the nation was a real techno-wimp […]
Nanosolar Shipping Inexpensive Panels: Solar Now Cheaper than Coal
December 19th, 2007Via: New York Times: Nanosolar, a heavily financed Silicon Valley start-up whose backers include Google’s co-founders, plans to announce Tuesday that it has begun selling its innovative solar panels, which are made using a technique that is being held out as the future of solar power manufacturing. The company, which has raised $150 million and […]
