Thoughts on This and That
Posts about energy and energy policy.
I was cruising around the web looking for some information on coal employment(don’t ask), and came across an interesting tidbit of news: After 41 years of operation, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant ceased operation and was disconnected from the grid in December of 2014. Continue reading “Retiring Nuke means More Fossil Fuel”
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In 2008, my Dad published his first book for the public at large. Titled “Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century,” the book wasn’t about the high energy physics that lead to his Nobel Prize. Rather it was written about climate issues and energy policy. He wrote it because he was ever more frustrated with all the whack-jobs out there who were spewing forth huge amounts of BS. (My words, not his.) Continue reading “Read This Book!”
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My last post, on how stupid we can all be, focused on not doing the obvious and the risks that come with some short term decisions. This post highlights one companies efforts to do something smart. Continue reading “Common Sense Saves Carrier Big Bucks!”
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So I was reading in a green newsletter on automotive stuff, and found some more evidence that we in the US are stupid (not that this evidence is hard to find). Continue reading “Are we stupid or what?”
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I recently highlighted a novel audio amp that can run off batteries for a long, long time. And I’ve been collecting some other low power stuff that I’ll share here. But what really makes it complete is the concept of Energy Harvesting! Continue reading “Energy Harvesting for Electronics”
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It’s amazing what application specific integrated circuits can do now. I never stop being surprised at what I keep seeing coming out of the pipeline. Audium Semiconductor recently gave me one such surprise with the hyper efficient AS1001 amplifier that can deliver 100 watts peak power, from a 1.5 volt (read single battery) power supply. Continue reading “Hyper Efficient Audio – 100 W from a single battery!”
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The Nissan Leaf is an all electric car for the masses. On paper, the car seems to be a much more realistic proposition than cars like the Tesla or the Fisker. It’s a small 5 seat car, with a range of 100 miles and a target price somewhere a bit above $25k. For many, this is a price point that is manageable, even in these tough times. Continue reading “Driving the Nissan Leaf”
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Turns out the crafty Germans are at it again! As reported in the Fraunhofer Research News recently, a group there is working with something called a redox flow battery. Basically it uses a liquid instead of a solid to store the charge. This isn’t new, but the team has brought the energy density up to that of Li-Ion batteries, and that is new! Continue reading “Battery fill up via pump?”
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In one of my previous posts, I was ragging on some automotive magazine editors about being part of the problem, and not stepping up to be part of the solution. That got me thinking again (I know, somewhat dangerous). It wasn’t just pig-headed behaviours that got the big three in trouble, it was listening to their customers! Continue reading “Long Term and Short Term Interests in the Automotive Market”
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