Out With The Old, In With The New The end of one year and the beginning of another. Traditionally a time to take stock of what recently happened and what we expect of the future. Be advised: Not all is well with the world. But good news lurks toward the end of this report. You [...]

In one sense, a rather quiet month. Mostly looking over the shoulder at recent events while waiting for the big event in Antarctica, where it is only the equivalent of the northern May. And for the report of thousands of climate scientist on the ice down there trying to figure out what’s going on. The [...]

Peak Oil The price of crude oil dominated the energy news for the past month, with oil reaching prices over $98 a barrel. While there’s really nothing magic about $100 oil, economists have invested the number with their own brand of mysticism. Why 98.67 is regarded so differently from 100.00 is a mystery to me. [...]

November. Ice is reforming in the Arctic after a shocking thaw last summer. In the Antarctic it’s the northern equivalent of May. If you’ve hung around a pretty cold area ( I grew up in North Dakota and later spent over two decades at 11,000 ft) you would know in your frozen bones that there [...]

What’s in a Name? Being an independent journalist has its attractions. One is I can promptly respond to a good idea if one happens to shows up. One has. Instead of calling the first column of the month “Peak Oil” I’m going to expand the title to “Energy Watch.” There is too much going on [...]

Peace Prize Awarded to Al Gore and the IPCC for their work on climate change. Well deserved. Electrification From the Oregonian I pulled a piece on the lining of Oregon highways with solar panels, as is done in Europe. It’s stuff like that the keeps Oregon a leader. If the program is expanded sufficiently, it [...]

Good News ODOT is giving deep thought to lining its highways with photovoltaics, a common sight in Germany. They reason that substantial parts of highway corridors are used for nothing else so why not? Planners are thinking of a slow start – not so many kilowatt hours to begin with. They need to gain the [...]

Are we there yet? I dunno. But this story isn’t about peak oil. Not exactly…though that has to do with it. I don’t know if the concern this year over gasoline stocks have reached you. If so, you probably heard about 205 million barrels (earlier in the year) or 192 million barrels (recently) of gasoline [...]

Climate Change Coal Fired Electricity Production Last year we reported that China was bringing one 400 mw coal burning power plant online every week. The picture has changed. They are now bringing two 400 mw generators online each week. A hundred a year. India promises to build a hundred during the next decade. Atmospheric Carbon [...]

Wind Power Oregon’s energy news is limited but interesting. We are experiencing exponential growth in wind power generation – a doubling of capacity will occur when current projects are completed, and a great deal more is being proposed. In that regard we have an interesting legal battle brewing just west of The Dalles. A wind [...]