Pessimistic articles on climate change like this one from yesterday’s New York Times always get me thinking: what can we be doing to cut back on fossil fuel emissions? Obviously this is a tough problem in a number of ways, principally politically, but those challenges vary markedly from country to country. To take the most obvious examples, consider the U.S. and China, the two largest polluters. (more…)
Living here in the U.S., it’s easy to think that the rest of the world shares our state of delusion with respect to climate disruption, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and the many other environmental catastrophes that are unfolding all around us. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
Here’s a story that illustrates the bringing together of two great needs vis-a-vis renewable energy: an enormous amount of wind power (a variable resource) and energy storage. Check out what Norway is doing to facilitate the integration of tons more clean energy into the European grid-mix.
The whole thing is so propitious that there’s even a symbol of good fortune over one of the Fjords (pictured above).
The other day, I wrote a comment on an article that dealt with the sustainability of dog ownership, in response to which someone pointed out:
I guess it depends on how you define “sustainability.”
True, it may be hard, or even impossible, to work out a precise definition of “sustainable” that applies in all cases. In fact, a number of people have suggested that we stop using the term altogether simply because it means so many different things in various contexts.
I totally disagree with this latter idea. (more…)
Here’s an article on waste oil recycling that a friend sent me earlier. Every time I see something like this I wonder about the overall sustainability of the enterprise. Obviously, waste grease doesn’t collect, purify, and distribute itself. Is all this activity really worthwhile? (more…)
On the surface, this post is almost 100% off-subject, though I know readers who enjoy a good story will appreciate the Writer’s Almanac’s blurb on today’s 67th anniversary of the opening of “ A Streetcar Named Desire” on Broadway. For some reason, I cannot link to this precise page, so I’ve copied it below.
Personally, I find a relevance to this beyond simply “a good story,” as I believe we all need to revere those who change our paradigms, i.e., those who make this statement true: “The future always looks like the past—until it looks like something completely different.” I’ve always respected Brando as the man who delivered the present-day paradigm for acting, shattering that which had come before him to smithereens, much as Copernicus, Newton and Einstein had done in science.
I’m betting that you’ll find it hard to read this tale and not be overwhelmed by the sheer power of the moment. (more…)
Reader “Alan” writes:
I suggest you read Brian Czech’s “Supply Shock” on the thermodynamics of why we can’t grow or profit our way out of our onrushing date with extinction. Naomi Klein’s “This Changes Everything” is another essential book to read. (more…)
Everybody feels like they are unique; like they have at least some experiences no one else could ever understand. They have idiosyncrasies that set them apart from the billions of other people that have ever lived. The same thinking seems to apply on a larger scale. Every generation thinks they have ideas the world has not seen.
They think they’re living on some unprecedented cutting edge and that somehow, the world’s history can be charted into a steadily progressing incline culminating at this particular point in time. Finally, we’re here. We’re in the future. (more…)
A reader who’s been around here for a great while responded to my newsletter this morning:
Craig. Sorry to see you’ve declared Big Energy your worst friend forever. Whenever waging warfare, it’s good to carry a Big Gun.
I respond: (more…)
Anyone in the market for a little asinine reading material will love this piece on Toyota’s new hydrogen car, to be launched next year (several decades after the concept was initiated). Sure, the company predicts that sales volumes will not be astronomical: around 1,000 per year in the U.S. for the next 3-5 years. This means that, in the (unlikely) event that its target is met, 2015 sales will represent 1/160th of the installed base of battery electric vehicles here. (more…)
I friend sent me this interview the auto legend Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of a three-companies alliance: Renault, Nissan, and some Russian company with which I’m unfamiliar. I think the world of Carlos Ghosn as an executive. I attended the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2008, at which he spoke at length, and he impressed the heck out me with his commitment to EVs.
I also have great regard for Charlie Rose; in fact, I’m awestruck by his facility with so many disparate topics. Obviously, he as an incredible team of researchers, writers, coaches, etc., but he still blows me away. (more…)
