energy security
Who could argue with the goal of achieving an “energy-secure” future? It’s a worthy-sounding ambition from any angle. Step back for a moment, though, and ask this: what, exactly, is energy security? Is it the assurance that everyone on the planet can continue with business-as-usual energy consumption? That’s
oil
In the good-versus-evil, broad-brush-strokes world of modern politics, it’s always someone’s fault when the price of oil — and, consequently, prices at the pump, grocery store and elsewhere — goes up. Back in fact-based reality, though, the truth, as always, is far more complicated. So why is West Texas Intermediate
Businesses will lead the way to a sustainable tomorrow, we’re often told. And corporations — not governments — know best how to maximize efficiency and eliminate waste. But an interesting fact emerges from the latest list of US Energy Star Leaders, organizations singled out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for
efficiency
There are lots of ways to measure how efficient a thing or process is: miles per gallon, GDP per barrel of oil, lumens per watt, etc. There are also, as Mark Twain (or was it Benjamin Disraeli?) said, “three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” What does that
feed in tariff
British officials are taking their fight for the right to reduce solar-energy incentives all the way to the country’s Supreme Court. The battle centers on the government’s attempt late last year to cut in half the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates it originally set to encourage people to install
energy security
We’ve heard over and over again in recent years that a smarter, more technologically advanced energy grid will help make power supplies more reliable, prevent outages and resolve failures more quickly. Judging by the latest review of blackouts in the US, those improvements can’t come fast enough. Despite
We have the technology we need to resolve the world’s most pressing environmental and sustainability problems. Unfortunately, we don’t have the human smarts to do so. Whether it’s our unsustainable energy path, out-of-control financial systems or climate change, the facts keep telling us in ever-stronger terms that
nuclear power
As a natural resource on a finite planet, uranium is no more unlimited in supply than oil, coal or natural gas. Compared to the vast quantities of those last three fuels we use each year, though, global uranium consumption is relatively small … about 68,000 tons per year, according to
nuclear power
Nuclear energy stands at a strange crossroads. In one direction, the path taken by Germany and Siemens, among others, in the wake of the Fukushima earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster, nuclear power it on its way to being phased out. In another direction, that being pursued by countries like the US
sustainability
Big investors know that money talks … and a group of nearly 100 investors with deep pockets hopes it can use money power to send a message to companies that could do more to cut their carbon emissions. It’s not just a matter of taking action to minimize climate change.
sustainability
What does an oil price shock have to do with subprime mortgages? Well, consider this: the global economy found itself on the edge of the abyss in 2008 when reality — in the form of wildly overvalued mortgage securities — landed hard on the illusion that real estate-related investments were a guaranteed,
smart meters
The City of Big Shoulders will be doing some heavy smart-grid lifting in the near future, as its main utility company embarks on a 10-year, $2.6 billion upgrade to the electricity system. Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) says the project will deliver something like a local economic stimulus to Chicago, generating
