Energy issues – Sept 18

September 18, 2008

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage


WSJ special section on energy

Wall Street Journal

WSJ editor Lawrence Rout writes in an introduction:
There are few subjects as compelling as energy these days. Think about it: Pretty much every major issue has energy front and center. There’s the economy.

And national security. Oh, and the fate of the planet.

Yet there are also few subjects as confusing as energy. With so much happening, so much at stake and so many political games being played around the topic, it’s hard to get your arms around any of it.

That’s why Joe White’s cover story is so refreshing. Joe cuts through all the noise about the alternative-energy automobile to offer a simple and well-argued prediction: It isn’t coming nearly as fast as many of us probably think.

Technology, psychology, economics, sociology — they all argue against the conventional wisdom that we’ll be able to abandon the gasoline engine in the near future.

(15 September 2008)
You can access the stories at WSJ Energy Special. Noted by Grist


Physicists: U.S. could cut oil use with better houses, cars

Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers
he U.S. can reduce its dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse-gas emissions by making cars and buildings much more energy efficient, according to a study released Tuesday by a large national association of physicists.

The 46,000-member American Physical Society argues the need for action is urgent because the energy crisis is the worst in U.S. history. It also says that the physics and chemistry behind the human causes of climate change — such as heat-trapping pollution from the burning of fossil fuels — is “well understood and beyond dispute.”

The report argues that the country can still go a long way to reduce energy use in cost-effective ways that allow for continued comfort and convenience. It recommends that the federal government adopt policies and make investments to boost energy efficiency.

“The opportunities are huge and the costs are small,” the report said.

The complete APA energy efficiency report
(16 September 2008)
Most of the articles that I’ve seen by and about scientists have emphasized new sources of energy. It’s nice to see a focus on efficiency instead. However, they pointedly are avoiding conservation in their proposals. -BA


Physicists to unveil major energy efficiency plan
(video)
American Physical Society via Energy Policy TV
The American Physical Society, which represents 46,000 physicists in academia, industry and national laboratories, including nearly 60 Nobel Laureates, releases a major new study, Energy Future: Think Efficiency, that provides a roadmap for reducing America”s dependence on foreign oil and its contribution to global warming through dramatic improvements in energy efficiency.

Speakers: Nobel Laureate Burton Richter, Chair of the Study Panel and Director Emeritus of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; Michael Lubell, Study Panel Member and American Physical Society (APS) Director of Public Affairs and CCN Professor of Physics; David Goldston, Vice Chair of the Study Panel, Former Harvard University Kennedy School of Goverment Visiting Lecturer and Former House Science and Technology Cmte. Chief of Staff
(16 September 2008)


Tags: Buildings, Consumption & Demand, Electricity, Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Military, Oil, Transportation, Urban Design