U.S. Is Already a Net Exporter of Oil
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I knew that the energy situation in the U.S. had been improving but I didn’t realize that it was already this good.
To be sure, part of the reason for this change is that demand for energy in the U.S. is down in the sluggish aftermath of the Great Recession, while demand for energy …
Inconvenient Truths About ‘Renewable’ Energy
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Matt Ridley makes a few good points, I think.
It turns out that the great majority of this energy, 10.2% out of the 13.8% share, comes from biomass, mainly wood (often transformed into charcoal) and dung. Most of the rest is hydro; less than 0.5% of the world’s energy comes from wind, tide, wave, …
No Evidence of Climate Change Harm
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while economic growth and technological development fueled mainly by fossil fuels are responsible for some portion of the warming experienced this century, they are largely responsible for the above-noted improvements in human well-being in developing countries (and elsewhere). The fact that these improvements occurred despite any global warming indicates that economic and technological development has been, overall, a benefit to developing countries.
The Case for Increasing Domestic Oil Production
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By increasing U.S. oil production (from off shore drilling, from natural gas fields, and from shale oil fields) we could cut our oil imports roughly in half.
Powered by Nuclear “Waste”
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Bill Gates is helping to fund a start-up called TerraPower LLC. The company hopes to build a nuclear reactor that can run for 50-100 years on the stuff that we currently consider to be nuclear waste.
Instead of storing it in Yucca Mountain, why don’t we use it to generate clean electricity instead?
One big road block: …
Peak Oil Myths
Michael Lynch, the former director for Asian energy and security at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, debunks some of the claims surrounding peak oil, in an op-ed at the New York Times. Here’s a few of the highlights:
On the claim that oil companies are extracting increasing amounts of water …
(Nearly) Unlimited Energy?
This weekend, while in Minneapolis, I started reading Jerry Pournelle’s 1979 book, A Step Farther Out. I was reading it on my Kindle, natch.
In the first chapter, Jerry advocates a form of energy production known as the Ocean Thermal System (OTS).
It is an Earth-based solar power system, and the concept is simple enough. …
Shale Oil
I’ve heard before that shale oil was energy intensive. In fact, that’s the most frequent criticism I’ve heard. But I had no idea it was this energy intensive:
Environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council have called oil shale one of the planet’s dirtiest fuels. It can be converted into liquid petroleum, …
Iran's Fear of Low Oil Prices
This is good news:
The price of crude oil has hit an 8 month low, dipping to just under $90 a barrel. The decrease in price is being attributed to the global financial slowdown, which analysts believe will lead to a reduction in the consumption of gas. The decline in price should come as …
T. Boone Pickens Lack of a Plan
The Wall Street Journal correctly skewers T. Boone Pickens today:
Boone Pickens may be a fine man, and has played a colorful and useful role on the American stage for decades. But his ”energy plan,” which he’s spending a fortune to promote on cable TV, is not a plan.
Asserting that …