February 2012
52 posts
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NYT For G.O.P., Pipeline Is Central to Agenda →
A good recap for what has happened so far and how KXL has become so politicized.
The amount of adds for ‘clean energy’ relating to KXL or natural gas development has definitely skyrocketed in the last few months. Almost every news station I watch on TV has a good does of energy companies explaining how economically beneficial the project/s will be, and how they won’t do it if...
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More Climate Change politicization - Wall Street... →
Pretty steep.
But the most amazing and telling evidence of the bias of the Wall Street Journal in this field is the fact that 255 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences wrote a comparable (but scientifically accurate) essay on the realities of climate change and on the need for improved and serious public debate around the issue, offered it to the Wall Street Journal, and were...
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Rare Earth Metal Refinery Nears Approval in... →
KUANTAN, Malaysia - The world’s largest refinery for rare earth metals has risen out of the red mud of a coastal swamp here and could soon obtain permission to operate - a step that would help break China’s near monopoly on rare earths but also worsen an emerging glut of some of these strategic minerals.China’s suspension of exports of rare earths to Japan during a territorial...
January 2012
57 posts
4 tags
Y360: Wheat Yields in India May Drop as Region... →
Just another seemingly minute indicator of things to come if the trend we are on continues…
30 Jan 2012: Wheat Yields in India May Drop as Region Warms, Study Says
An analysis of satellite images has revealed that extreme temperatures are cutting wheat yields in northern India, indicating that the adverse impacts of rising temperatures on wheat production in warmer climes may be more...
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Operation Sustainability: U.S. Military Sets... →
DoD understands the energy crunch…
With personnel nearly the population of Chicago and a fleet of over 500,000 aircrafts, vessels, and vehicles, the U.S. Department of Defense is a massive and energy-hungry institution.
In 2009 alone, the military consumed some 375,000 barrels of oil per day, more than three-quarters of all other countries on the planet. To put that in perspective,...
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The Hydrogen Dream - a look at H as a source of... →
Hydrongen as a fuel / energy source? Maybe, maybe not.
Conclusion So the hydrogen dream lives on. Where will these research projects lead? Are all of them in vain? Perhaps not, but hydrogen continuously appears somewhat behind alternative technologies; for a massification of it to use as an energy carrier, nothing short of a revolution will do. In many regards, huge steps forward will have...
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EIA: How many/what kind of power plants in USA? →
Want some stats? Here you go.
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/pdf/table1.2.pdf states there are over 5K natural gas generators as top source in number of plants as well as nameplate capacity; coal is second in capacity, but conventional hydroelectric is second in generator numbers.
The capacity of fossil fuel plants far outweighs that of renewable plants, at this time…
How many and...
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State of The Union 2012 & Energy (KeystoneXL Saga:... →
So a number of different takes on Obama’s SOTU. I’m not surprise by his approach, and I generally support how he attempted to handle balance dirty energy and clean energy. I still maintain the he will allow Keystone XL to happen, although after the next election; it’s too big of a resource to not happen, and I think him delaying it so long will eventually help his credibility...
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Marcellus Shale estimates cut by 66% →
Cutting the potential output as being able to supply the US for 6 years instead of 18? Ouch. On the other hand, perhaps this will be good news for renewable energy R&D.
The U.S. Energy Department cut its estimate for natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale formation by 66 percent, citing improved data on drilling and production.
About 141 trillion cubic feet of gas can be recovered from...
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"The Perils of 2012", brief by Joseph E. Stiglitz →
A look ahead at 2012. I like the angles the author addresses. If he spoke more directly about the global energy crunch, it might be similar to something I’d write if I were to speak about the upcoming year. Those great Columbia economists (Jagdish Bhagwati, Jeff Sachs…), they seem to know what’s cooking. Maybe I’ll work with them someday, down the road…
From Project...
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COMMENTS: relationships, selfishness v catering to...
Question: Where do you draw the line between doing things for you and selfishness? In a relationship, in general. Do you find that one overrides the other, why? Do you try to balance these two elements?
As much as I know about relationships, there are still times where I feel “really scared” about having to make someone else like me. I don’t like those states because...
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Oft overlooked groundwater, satelite study reveals... →
Extremely significant to figuring out how we’re going to sustain life on this planet.
Professor Simmons said the groundwater crisis was driven by a competition for increasingly scarce water supplies between “megacities”, the energy sector, manufacturing and farming.
Groundwater shortage ‘critical’
BRONWYN FARR
23 Jan, 2012 04:00 AM
GROUNDWATER is a key...
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Beyond Hype, a Closer Look at New York’s Choice on... →
Close to home, definitely an important issue…
Beyond Hype, a Closer Look at New York’s Choice on Shale Gas
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
More than 40,000 comments have been submitted to New York State aimed at shaping how Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo deals with the huge natural gas resource locked in the state’s portion of sprawling geological formations known as the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale.
The...
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Minds Meet on Shale Gas, Fracking by Bill... →
Interesting Read. Check it out
The Takeaway: We Gotta Get Natural Gas Right
After yesterday’s session, a small group of us retired to the Faculty Commons for a glass of wine, dinner, and conversation. We were treated to a short talk by Richard Newell, a Duke professor and the director of Duke’s Energy Initiative, who returned last fall from a stint in the Obama administration as the head of...
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“In order to stay competitive in a global age, we must invest in our future by...”
– Prepare the American Workforce to Compete in the Global Economy
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Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower... →
Cool.
UC Berkley
Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower Alzheimer’s protein levels
By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | January 23, 2012
BERKELEY —
A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, provides even more reason for people to read a book or do a puzzle, and to make such activities a lifetime habit.
PET scans reveal amyloid plaques, which appear as...
