Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
It’s not always simple to calculate how much area is occupied by an energy installation – especially if the effects of the facility are dispersed in space and in time. Can Power Density account for the afterlife of technologies?
Energy transitions take time, a lot of time–far too much time to be shrunk down into a television special, a few talking points, or the next big energy idea. If, as Vaclav Smil contends, we are in for a long, slow slog on the path to a renewable energy economy, then the course with the least risk and probably the greatest return would be to reduce our energy use.
What are the lessons from the failed nuclear energy revolution?
It took major storm damage and record floods to get energy prices off the front pages, but any ministers hoping for a brief respite on the turmoil over energy policy will be no doubt disappointed.
How are we going to meet the challenge of functioning without fossil fuels?
The more we expand our populations and built space over the landscape, the less the biosphere can offer its free services to the human economy.
Every time that I find myself discussing “cold fusion,” I need to explain why I think there exists a "good" science and a "bad" science; the latter sometimes defined also as “pseudo-science” or “pathological science.”. It is a point which is perfectly obvious to scientists, but very difficult to explain to non scientists.
