Category: Energy Matters

The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy. 

Toshiba launches next generation battery

admin /29 November, 2008

From MSNBC

TOKYO – A new battery that can be recharged to 90 percent capacity in under five minutes and lasts 10 years will start shipping in March, Toshiba Corp. announced this week, hailing it as “a new energy solution” for cleaner transportation.

Toshiba plans to initially make the quick-charging Super Charge ion Battery for electric bikes, forklifts, construction machinery and other industrial use. It can work in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Australia lags Germany in solar

admin /22 November, 2008

A NATIONAL scheme to pay people for generating solar energy would drive a $17.9 billion investment in the industry, generate thousands of jobs and reduce Australia’s carbon emissions by 4.6 million tonnes a year, a report to be released today reveals.

The report by Access Economics for the Clean Energy Council comes after Australia’s biggest solar-panel factory, BP Solar, announced it would close its doors early next year, saying it could make panels more cheaply overseas.

The research shows that a gross feed-in tariff, under which people would be paid for all of the electricity they generated, including the energy they used themselves, would invigorate the solar industry, leading to strong take-up of solar panels and bringing forward investment in the technology.

Iceland leads geothermal push

admin /22 November, 2008

Drive around Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik on any cold night and look at the houses and apartment buildings lining the streets. The first thing you may notice is how many windows are wide open, allowing the frigid outdoor air to mix with the warm indoor heat. In most places, the scene may seem a bit strange. But in a city that hosts the world’s largest geothermal district heating system, it’s a normal occurrence.

“Energy is cheap and it’s abundant. We don’t have any shortages so we do tend to leave our lights on and our windows open. It’s not something we think about as much,” says Hannes Pálsson, a resident of Reykjavik.

(Image, left: The Hellisheidi Power Plant sends plumes of steam into the sky on a rare calm morning in Iceland.)

DOE defines forward plan for energy

admin /22 November, 2008

by Allan Hoffman, U.S. Department of Energy

This country needs a good debate on energy policy. While there are many divergent views on what that policy should be, I thought it would be useful to begin my thoughts by identifying a set of “facts” on which most people can agree. So here goes.

I would start by recognizing that people do not value energy itself but rather the services that energy makes possible. These services include lighting, heating, cooling, delivery of clean water, transportation of people and goods, communication, entertainment and a variety of business activities. It follows that it is in society’s interest to provide these services with the least energy feasible, to minimize adverse economic, environmental and national security impacts. Energy has always been critical to human activities, initially in the form of human and animal labor and fire, but what differentiates modern societies is the energy required to provide increasingly high levels of services.

Supermarkets control fuel prices

admin /15 November, 2008

FuelWatch may have sunk in the Senate, but the days of real competition in the fuel industry are numbered anyway, according to Australia’s peak petrol station body.

Earlier today the Senate defeated the Federal Government’s proposed FuelWatch scheme after South Australian independent Nick Xenophon voted against the motion, which would have forced service stations to advertise petrol prices for the next day, giving consumers the chance to plan ahead.

Ron Bowden, CEO of the Service Station Association (SSA), said he was relieved with the Senate’s decision as it would have sounded an immediate death knell for Australia’s independent petrol stations.

Top energy body calls for revolution

admin /15 November, 2008

The International Energy Agency has called for a revolution in the management of energy on a global scale.

Here is the press release from the global organisation, released on November 13, 2008

“We cannot let the financial and economic crisis delay the policy action that is urgently needed to ensure secure energy supplies and to curtail rising emissions of greenhouse gases. We must usher in a global energy revolution by improving energy efficiency and increasing the deployment of low-carbon energy,” said Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) today in London at the launch of the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2008 – the latest edition of the annual IEA flagship publication. The WEO-2008 provides invaluable analysis to help policy makers around the world assess and address the challenges posed by worsening oil supply prospects, higher energy prices and rising emissions of greenhouse gases.

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