05 December 2008

David's Green Picks of the Week

Consider this my homage to Preston Koerner at Jetson Green. (He's cool.)

Since energy and environment issues have always been an interest of mine, and since my work has increasingly focused on sustainability issues, I'm trying out a new feature for this blog - just a few links to the blog posts that catch my eye on the topic. I might introduce some commentary as well.

New Energy Find: Osmotic Energy
from Maria Energia. I've been a fan of this blog for a while because Maria Surma Manka is smart, assertive and upbeat. This is a cool techie idea - don't know if it will ever get to the point where it makes power inexpensively but it represents the kind of thinking we need.

Hot Question: How Big Should Solar Get?
from WSJ Environmental Capital. Hot Answer: much, much bigger. We're not close to meeting our potential. I agree that you have to be mindful of the footprint, but I also think innovation in solar cells will help us draw more power from less space. More efficient solar cells can be used on factory rooftops, utilizing the "barren space" mentioned in this piece.

Nuclear, Wind, Coal, Gas and Oil Footprints from NEI Nuclear Notes. I found this link in the WSJ post above. A rather illustrative piece, demonstrating some of the important issues we don't often discuss when considering the diverse energy portfolio. I must acknowledge that the footprints for solar and wind energy currently represent a sort of "inconvenient truth" for advocates of each, but the good news is we haven't come close to maximizing the efficiency in those technologies. Investment is a good thing.

The Public Wants Wind and Solar Even Though Initial Costs are Higher
from Environmental Law Prof Blog. I think Susan Smith may have just cut and paste the report from WPO, but I still found it interesting. I would have liked to have seen some commentary from her.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're all on equal ground having fun with this thing. Thanks for the shout out ... have a good weekend!

Maria Surma Manka said...

Thanks for the shout out David - it's so exciting to learn about new renewable technology that's actually being tested and not just in the theory stage...we'll see what happens.