| New Energy Bill |
 |
 |
 |
| Policy - Policy |
| Thursday, 20 December 2007 10:12 |
|
The US Congress passed an energy bill yesterday and Bush signed it into law. It is both a step backward and forward for energy policy. See this CS Monitor article for a synopsis. Creating a higher CAFE standard to get to 35 mpg by 2020 is certainly a good step forward, and it has been a long time coming. The biofuels mandate is a marginally good idea. The emphasis on corn ethanol is not the greatest due to the environmentally unfriendly aspects of using a tremendous amount of irrigated water (200-2,500 gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol) consumed and fertilizer runoff into the Gulf of Mexico. To most engineers who study the problem, I would say they believe biofuels must be non-irrigated and farmed in a way that sustains the nitrogen cycle, and not only the carbon cycle we hear so much about. The removal of the renewable energy production tax credits for wind, solar, etc. is disappointing, but it has lapsed and been restarted three times already in its brief history. What we really need is a PTC scheme that sets it at a medium to high level (note: it was 1.9 cents/kWh) and has it steadily decrease in a set manner which cannot be changed. This gives businesses the ability to know the future of this kind of incentive such that they can invest in infrastructure that must be amortized over several decades. The CS monitor article mentioned above does point out one thing that I think is good: energy policy might now be, as it should, a perennial subject. That doesn"t mean that energy policies should change every year, it just means they should be evaluated every year. |
The net energy cliff Charles Hall, the father of the energy return on investment (EROI) concept, once told me that our current society would probably not be able to function if the EROI for the entire society slipped below five.What does that mean? First,... Read more Policy | | Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
Steve Rayner: Dear Mr. President, Deal with Climate ChangeSteve Rayner, climate policy expert and lead author of The Wrong Trousers: Radically Rethinking Climate Policy (PDF), is featured in this month"s Wired Magazine. He"s on the "2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To" (no matter... Read more Policy | | Wednesday, 1 October 2008 |
Time Scales and Quality of Life: How they define our FutureSince before Roe vs. Wade (1973) … the United States populace has been divided on how to treat the current/potential “quality of life” of the unborn who are not capable of expressing will of their own. For the past 20... Read more Policy | | Thursday, 22 November 2007 |
Deregulated vs. Regulated Energy PricesIn Texas in 1999, Senate Bill 7 created a deregulated electricity market within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Some areas opted not to join into the fun of a deregulated market, where consumers could choose their retail electricity... Read more Policy | | TUSEDAY, 4 December 2007 |
Review: Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization You may want to read this book by starting with Part II. Either that or make sure all the knives are locked away so you won't slit your wrists during Part I.Lester Brown has his facts straight and uses them liberally,... Read more Policy | John | Sunday, 31 August 2008 |
Landmark study reports breakdown in biotech patent system - scientists call for overhaul of IP laws worldwide The world"s intellectual property (IP) system is broken. It"s stopping lifesaving technologies from reaching the people who need them most in developed and developing countries, according to the authors of a landmark report released in Ottawa today by an international... Read more Policy | | TUSEDAY, 9 September 2008 |
Alternative fuels taxes may be scrappedAustralianFriday 18/7/2008 Page: 4NEW taxes on alternative fuels including LPG could be delayed or scrapped by the Rudd Government under a compensation deal to balance the inflationary impact of its carbon trading scheme. In a separate measure, Treasurer Wayne Swan... Read more Policy | | Augustonday, 11 August 2008 |
Some elements of a proper energy policyA proper Energy Policy in the United States would promote (1) clarity of purpose, (2) diversification of use of energy resources, and (3) more transparent and accurate pricing of energy such that the market (consumers and energy companies) can properly... Read more Policy | John | Thursday, 22 November 2007 |
New Energy BillThe US Congress passed an energy bill yesterday and Bush signed it into law. It is both a step backward and forward for energy policy. See this CS Monitor article for a synopsis.Creating a higher CAFE standard to get to... Read more Policy | | Thursday, 20 December 2007 |
Climate protestors threaten to shut down London’s carbon marketwww.environmental-finance.comLondon, 5 February:After attracting thousands of climate protestors to the Kingsnorth power station and Heathrow airport, the Camp for Climate Action has turned its sights on leading carbon trading platform, the European Climate Exchange (ECX).The campaign group has called for... Read more Policy | | Sunday, 8 February 2009 |
The information society and its limitsThe breathtaking expansion of the Internet and the sources of information now available on it have served to conjure a cybernetic vision of unlimited growth--growth that can never be slowed for long by lack of physical resources because it is... Read more Policy | | Sunday, 8 February 2009 |
PM's carbon target plans face rethinkSummaries - Australian Financial ReviewMonday 21/7/2008 Page: 1A proposal to give parliament the task of annually setting carbon reduction targets in an emissions trading scheme (ETS) looks set to be scrapped by the Rudd Government. The proposal is part of... Read more Policy | | Thursday, 14 August 2008 |
|
More in: Policy |
|
100% - + 12Show options | |