Save and Conserve

As an Albany, NY resident, I was really happy to spy the news that the CDTA (Capital District Transit Authority) is planning to convert all city buses to bio-diesel, and while browsing their website, came across this page which details all of the energy-saving stuff happening over at CDTA.

CDTA estimates that the switch to bio-diesel will save "about 125,000 gallons of diesel fuel next year [2008]." Nice to know that energy conservation is top of mind for the local transit authority.

Other neat initiatives at the CDTA include:

• New hybrid (electric) buses, similar to hybrids used down in New York city
• Clean diesel fuel (evidently a precursor to the bio-diesel switch)
• Solar powered bus stops

Progressive public transit ... way to lead by example CDTA!

Posted by tom c. at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I browsed over to the EIA website to review This Week In Petroleum after I saw the big crude stock draw for the previous week, which came in at -7.6 million barrels. The 7.6 million barrel decline is surely news in its own right, but I was startled by the picture painted in the graph directly above this paragraph.

The graph clearly shows what many have long been saying: the end of easy oil is over. While this graph is speaking directly to the situation in America - where "the big increase in spending has not resulted in significant increases in reserves" - many other oil producing regions and/or nations are experiencing the same thing. Increased spending on exploration & production is not leading to increased oil discovery. Which means there won't be growth in oil supply. Which means price will continue to rise. Which means inflation will continue to be a huge problem, since oil is an underlying component of lots of products and of course, gasoline.

When you see a graph like that, you want to ask the economists what we do now. They have been the ones saying higher price will spur E&P spending, which will bring oil to market and subsequently drive price lower. I don't see that happening in this graph. In fact, the opposite is true. No wonder the major oil companies are buying back shares and not sinking more cash into E&P ,,, it just doesn't make good sense anymore.

Times have changed ... just look at the data.

Posted by tom c. at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What a joke.

Posted by tom c. at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time has posted a bunch of top 10 lists, including the Top 10 Green Ideas list. Here's how they see things:

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)
• The Green Supply Chain
• Avoided Deforestation
• Green-Collar Jobs
• Plug-in Hybrids
• E-Flex
• Congestion Pricing
• Carbon Capping
• Geo-engineering

I would have liked to see these ideas:

• Live closer to where you work
• Virtual office
• 4 day work week
• Walkable neighborhoods
• Tax credits for residential solar

Time's list doesn't ask the reader to change behavior. It implies that "Green Ideas" are going to rescue us from our energy problems. Not really, but I guess it reads well ...

Posted by tom c. at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The US Department of Energy has released a preview from an upcoming report on global renewable energy growth.

Renewable energy use is growing much faster than 10% per year throughout the world, according to a new report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Excluding large hydropower, the global electric generating capacity of renewable energy facilities reached 237 gigawatts (GW) this year, up 15% from last year. That's about 5.5% of the electric generating capacity throughout the world. At 93 GW, wind power provided about 40% of that renewable generating capacity; wind power capacity increased by 25% over 2006. Grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems reached 7.8 GW in capacity, a 56% increase, while the global production of photovoltaic systems reached 3.8 GW per year, a 52% increase over 2006.

Among non-electric renewable energy sources, solar hot water capacity increased by 17% to 121 thermal GW. Global ethanol production increased 16% to 11.6 billion gallons, while biodiesel production increased by a third to more than 2 billion gallons. The REN21 report estimates that global investment in renewable energy will exceed $100 billion in 2007, including $15-$20 billion invested in large hydropower facilities, at least $66 billion invested in other renewable energy facilities, $10-$12 billion invested in manufacturing plants for photovoltaic devices and biofuels, and $16 billion invested in public and private research and development.

That renewable energy mutual fund is looking ever more attractive. You know how Wall St. loves a good growth story ...

Posted by tom c. at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)