Electricity « The Cost of Energy

Driving the future

By Lou, on May 18th, 2012%

A few automotive thoughts, if I may…

Ford’s newest vehicle, to be on the market later this year, is the C-Max:

Aside from the atrocious name — are they now measuring corporate success by the number of cheap shots people take at their product names? — this looks like a winner in the ye olde marketplace. Somewhat . . . → Read More: Driving the future

Fleets and EVs

By Lou, on May 11th, 2012%

Frito-Lay buying 100 more Smith Electric Vehicle trucks in 2012; natural gas coming for tractor fleet:

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division will purchase 100 Newton Series 2000 all-electric commercial vehicles in 2012 from Smith Electric Vehicles, bringing the total number of its electric fleet to more than 280. Over the past two years, 176 Smith Electric Vehicles . . . → Read More: Fleets and EVs

Not talking about the true costs

By Lou, on April 25th, 2012%

I can’t speak for anyone else gathered here in my virtual living room — hey, Sasparilla, stop bogarting the Doritos; and Olner, we’re running low on Carmenere, please open another couple of bottles — but I certainly find it incredibly frustrating to see and hear people talk about the cost of energy solely in terms of . . . → Read More: Not talking about the true costs

The siren call of natural gas

By Lou, on March 13th, 2012%

Joe Romm has some quotes from Ken Caldeira about the paper he recently co-authored on natural gas, and they’re eye-popping, at least to anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, or worse, believes any of the ads about natural gas the energy companies are using to carpet bomb US airwaves:

I see natural gas as a bridge fuel; . . . → Read More: The siren call of natural gas

Doc alert: Greenhouse gases and low-carbon electricity

By Lou, on February 16th, 2012%

Greenhouse gases, climate change and the transition from coal to low-carbon electricity (emphasis added):

Letter

A transition from the global system of coal-based electricity generation to low-greenhouse-gas-emission energy technologies is required to mitigate climate change in the long term. The use of current infrastructure to build this new low-emission system necessitates additional emissions of greenhouse gases, and the . . . → Read More: Doc alert: Greenhouse gases and low-carbon electricity

Yet another battery breakthrough

By Lou, on January 7th, 2012%

If you could wave your handy dandy magic wand and create a single technological breakthrough that would make a huge impact on our intertwined climate and energy challenges, you’d be hard pressed to come up with something better than a killer battery. Find a way to make a battery pack that greatly exceeds the range . . . → Read More: Yet another battery breakthrough

As the Durban smoke clears, we see mirrors

By Lou, on December 11th, 2011%

After a Herculean effort by Durban negotiators to clean the climate change Aegean Stables, we have… what, exactly?

I don’t think we’ll know for sure for a while, and it will take years, possibly decades, to see how the entire process plays out. Remember, there was a time when the whole world was excited because the . . . → Read More: As the Durban smoke clears, we see mirrors

Acceptable EV charge times

By Lou, on November 20th, 2011%

Fascinating poll results about what people think a reasonable recharge time is for an EV:

Vehicle Technologies Program: Fact #702: November 21, 2011 Consumer Preferences on Electric Vehicle Charging:

Question: Considering your expected vehicle use, what is the longest time to fully recharge the battery that you would consider acceptable when buying or leasing an electric vehicle?

Damn… and . . . → Read More: Acceptable EV charge times

Doc alert: Freshwater Use by US Power Plants

By Lou, on November 15th, 2011%

Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource:

Take the average amount of water flowing over Niagara Falls in a minute. Now triple it. that’s almost how much water power plants in the United States take in for cooling each minute, on average.

In 2005, the nation’s thermoelectric power plants-which boil water to create . . . → Read More: Doc alert: Freshwater Use by US Power Plants

Energy, water, food. Any questions?

By Lou, on November 4th, 2011%

Water Energy Food Nexus, Bonn 2011 (emphasis added):

A new report on the water-food-energy nexus from the World Resource Institute (WRI), the Coca-Cola Company and iSciences, compiles information the WRI gathered with help from its partners in the Aqueduct project, which includes General Electric, The Coca-Cola Company, Bloomberg, The Dow Chemical Company, Talisman Energy, United Technologies Corporation . . . → Read More: Energy, water, food. Any questions?