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.If half of U.S. consumers don’t know what a ‘smart meter’ is, how are they supposed to engage?
That is perhaps the most interesting question raised by the latest “Consumer Pulse” research by the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative. In its third survey by the Collaborative of at least 1,000 consumers throughout the U.S. since 2011 reflecting the U.S. demographics, 54% of Americans who are heads of households and at least 18 years old [...]
Google isn’t the energy magician some hoped it would be; RE > C how much longer?
RE < C ? Not without a carbon tax or cap and trade system. Google’s decision to stop trying to make clean electricity less expensive than power from traditional “dirty” coal-fired power plants was destined to come up short. Congress’ unwillingness in 2009 to create a carbon cap and trade system made sure of that. [...]
Boone Pickens vs. Koch brothers over U.S. natural gas legislation while oil reaches $100, again
Call it a coincidence but there are undeniable linkages. Crude oil has risen once again is flirting with $100 a barrel. Meanwhile, legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens is ratcheting up his push for legislation that would boost the development of U.S. shale natural gas reserves and deploy the cleanest burning fossil fuel to supplant products [...]
THIS is the way to crystallize the risks of dirty power – kudos to American Lung Association
“Log on to LungUSA.org and tell Washington: ‘Don’t weaken the Clean Air Act’ ” is the closing appeal from this 30-second TV commercial running this week at least in the Washington, DC market. It follows audio of an infant coughing and wheezing in a red stroller / carriage on the National Mall, in a Congressional [...]
U.S. EPA app challenge holds promise, but will developers deliver?
The paucity of information and data available to U.S. citizens about the economic, environmental and health risks, consequences, costs and benefits of all forms of energy is a major impediment to an energy-literate society. More data and more information accessible on the Web and mobile devices almost certainly can help address this conundrum. Comes now [...]
New Jersey Gov. Christie says he has a better way than RGGI to cut carbon emissions
That’s the conclusion one could reach after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced the Garden State is withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. If he’s right, he may be on to something because he asserted there are better ways to fight global warming, which he says is real and caused by humans. [...]
U.S. is slipping farther back in the clean energy race and not just to China
According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. is losing the race to create the most robust clean energy economy not just to China but now also to Germany. This among the G-20 nations based on the amount of private equity investment in dollar-equivalent numbers. The U.S. ranked #1 through 2008. If you look at [...]
No joke – Dominion Resources converting 3 coal plants to burn biomass
Moving to reduce its often controversial coal footprint, Dominion Virginia Power in the U.S. says it will convert three of its coal-fired generating plants to burn wood waste in biomass plants that qualify as renewable sources of electricity. Virginia Power will burn the residue of branches and limbs left on the ground after a forest’s trees have [...]
U.S. EPA monitors showing Fukushima radiation reaching Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued the following notice of higher-than-normal background radiation detected in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts: “As a result of the incident with the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, several EPA air monitors have detected very low levels of radioactive material in the United States consistent with estimates from the damaged nuclear [...]