Jim Pierobon is Founder and principal writer of The Energy Fix. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about smarter grids, cyber-security as it affects the power grid, fossil fuel shortages, price spikes, energy efficiency and the rise and fall -- and the rise again of nuclear and renewable energy sources.Shale gas producers’ first stabs at ‘standards’ & ‘practices’: how much do they reduce accident risk?
That’s at least one question on this blogger’s mind. One cannot help but note the absence of “best practices” because, well, they aren’t, at least not yet. Can they be? I, for one, am willing to believe the industry CAN produce bonafide best practices. But there needs to be sufficient input from from a variety [...]
Try your hand at National Geographic’s 2011 Energy News Quiz
Time for something different . . . from a source you may not be familiar with, at least about energy: hat’s off to National Geographic magazine. Try your own hand at these 10 questions, without searching for the answers. “Great Energy Challenge” 2011 News Quiz questions (answers at the end of this post): 1. How [...]
Solyndra is 1.4% of U.S. energy loan guarantee portfolio, program default rate is less than 4%
For all the energy challenges facing the U.S. and Congress’ unwillingness to tackle real problems, the Republican-led probe of the Solyndra loan and its grilling of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu Nov. 17 by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation speaks volumes about its misplaced priorities. The $535 million Department of Energy [...]
54.5 MPG by 2025 for U.S. cars, lights trucks in auto – Obama – California pact
The White House has briefed the Washington press corps and word is spreading that a deal has been struck between the Obama administration, the auto industry and state of California on new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks. By 2025, the fleet average reportedly will be required to reach 54.5 [...]
Are tough economic times and disaster warnings undermining the IEA’s credibility?
The International Energy Agency is urging nations to scrap traditional fuel subsidies and replace them with “transparent, predictable and adaptive incentives for cleaner, more efficient energy options.” Despite the dramatic imbalance between the two — $312 billion US versus $57 billion — economically challenged industrial countries and the fastest growing developing countries don’t seem to [...]
Nuclear Still Not Viable Without Subsidies – New Report
When critics rail against subsidies for efficiency and cleaner energy sources, one of the best rebuttals is the enormous amount of taxpayer money and other subsidies that flow into nuclear energy. On an apples-to-apples basis, the money for nuclear energy overwhelms subsidies for efficiency and clean energy sources that have no significant other costs, which [...]
2011 U.S. Solar Decathlon staying on National Mall – sort of
The U.S. government is relocating its 2011 Solar Decathlon to the West Potomac Park between the Tidal Basin and the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Technically it will still take place on the National Mall. But now it will be a very long walk from its previous and far more convenient location nestled among the [...]
Coal’s health costs at least $140 billion per year: ‘heads in the sand’
How many credible studies will it take before elected officials and regulators acknowledge that coal has a quantifiable, net negative, impact on the health of human beings and the U.S. economy? The latest study, from the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment does a credible and persuasive job of estimating the [...]
New Jersey, Virginia moving quickly to seize offshore wind opportunity
Who is gaining the upper hand in the race to become the go-to locus of wind turbine manufacturing and assembly along the mid-Atlantic coastline? New Jersey and Virginia are moving quickly to seize the increasingly likely economic development bonanza that the mid-Atlantic offshore wind energy market is becoming. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities [...]