Environmental Challenges
At age 77, American environmental lawyer Gus Speth has become quite the quotable guy.
I happen to love what he said here about the top environmental problems we face. (more…)
Trump’s Future
Acquittal in the Senate. Re-election next November. Resignation. Impeachment, removal, conviction on multiple felonies, prison. Escape with his family to Russia.
We’ve all seen the predictions, like the one on the left. (more…)
Tagged with: climate change denial
Details Versus the Larger Picture
Sometimes the fine points are important, as this magnificent detail from a Rembrandt (larger version below).
Other times, all we really need to do is hit the broad side of the barn. We need to finds ways to decarbonize our energy and transportation, and we need to reduce our consumption of red meat. We need to live according to the notion of sustainability, i.e., satisfying our needs without preventing future generations from satisfying theirs.
Japanese Manufacturing Technology
Few people know the story of how the Japanese rose to prominence in technology. Briefly, if goes like this:
At the end of World War II, Japan lay in ruins and had very few prospects for recovery. (more…)
Wind Energy with Compressed Air Energy Storage: An Update
A few weeks ago I wrote about an investment opportunity in the form of a project deploying wind energy integrated with compressed air energy storage (CAES), and mentioned some good news: a large investor group has offered $40 million in development funding to get it going—and to supply the $1 billion needed for project construction. Even better news, my colleague just nailed down the $2 million he needed to initiate the project. Looks like this is a go.
Scientific Illiteracy: “80 Hours of Electricity??”
It pains me to see the horrific level of scientific illiteracy in today’s world. From Business Insider: Chinese students have figured out how to turn a spoonful of sugar into 80 hours of electricity.
Electricity is not measured in units of time. That’s like my saying “I weigh 170 minutes,” or “This piece of string is 45 seconds long.” (more…)
Tagged with: scientific illiteracy
80% of Coal Power Plants in the EU Are Bleeding Red Ink
As I mentioned, the local high school kid I’m tutoring in history is studying the Industrial Revolution and its broad economic and social ramifications. Among the most important points here is laizzes faire capitalism / free market economics, as represented by Adam Smith and his “invisible hand.” (more…)
Tagged with: Coal Power Plants
Building-Integrated Solar PV
GreenTech Media’s article Five Reasons Not to Get Too Excited About Tesla’s New Solar Roof is actually more compelling than I thought it was going to be when I opened it. (more…)
The Trump Phenomenon and American Education
The map below presents U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of the 50 American states in terms of a variety of parameters. Beneath that is a map focusing only on the quality of the states’ educational system.
When overlaid against a map of how Americans vote, we see something significant: the states that went for Trump seem to be at the very bottom. (At left: Mississippi’s state flag) (more…)
Plant Trees
The paintings of Italian artist Maurizio Rega’s inspire this two-word phase: plant trees.
Tagged with: plant trees
