Monday, February 28, 2011

Wall Street Journal Article on New Energy Sources

I have posted on this blog several times that when a mainstream media outlet becomes interested in Renewable Energy, it is more significant than any blog or specialized media talking about this. That is why, when the Wall Street Journal, Forbes or Businessweek look at RE, it is always a matter of importance. This article looks at both the advantages and the difficulties of harnessing three new forms of energy in a simple and easy to understand manner. The thing is that this will be read by businessmen - people working in the energy sector, financial sector professionals and so on. And, hopefully, some visionary businessman of the future is reading this as I type this here, taking notes, and thinking about how to make money from these sources of energy. As someone who believes in showing fossil fuel the fist, I say, please go ahead! And, thanks in advance . . .

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wikileaks: Saudi Arabia Cannot Pump Enough Oil to keep a Lid on Prices

I received this piece from The Guardian via Dr Mayraj Fahim which suggests a most alarming prospect - that Saudi Arabia's oil reserves might have been mis-stated by as much as 40% and that there is far less oil available in that country than was earlier presumed. In every sense, this news suggests that it is important for the world to look for alternative sources of energy as oil is going to run out at some point in time. This blog is not in the business of trying to forecast when the oil will run out - that is the job of experts, and, whenever one of them speaks about it, those views will be reported here. But, with China and India buying enormous quantities of oil and increasing their purchases as their economies grow, consumption in the future is certain to grow significantly over the past.

The shortage of oil in Saudi Arabia (and who knows what the situation is with other countries?) is worrying but some solid work has begun to wean the world off oil - the numerous electric cars, electric motorcycles and electric airplanes that are now being worked upon are an example of work that could minimize the shock from oil running out when that happens. The time to work hard to develop alternative sources of energy is NOW. Any delay and this would only cause monstrous problems when the oil does run out.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Canada's Globe and Mail Takes on Phantom Power

Onee thing that many of us don't realize is how much power we waste through not turning things like computers, televisions and DVRs off - the power consumed when these are on standdby mode costs hundreds of dollars a year (or whatever currency is used in other parts of the world) and all of this is money that could be saved merely by switching these devices off. Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper has this excellent piece that discusses this way of saving money and becoming more energy efficient. Yes, it doesn't fit in with the Renewable energy focus of this blog, but it certainly shows how less energy could be used, thereby showing fossil fuels (and all other kinds of fuels as well) the fist!