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 . . .

Some Nice Solar Powered Homes in the USA

As the old saying goes, a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words. These pictures are nearly a coffee-table book on elegant homes that are also efficient, powered as they are by the sun. From The Wall Street Journal for your viewing pleasure!

What Renewable Energy is Really About: Saving Money

Trust a hard-nosed business newspaper like The Wall Street Journal to make the case that Renewable Energy is about saving money and not about some loony left-wing desire to save the world: Link Somehow, the morons who go around with a messianic zeal touting Renewable Energy never make the case that the use of RE is good economics. You save money over the long term because you use natural energy that you do not have to spend money to access - sunlight is free compared to buying electricity generated from coal or whatever other source, reduced pollution means less sick people and less spend on keeping your environment clean, less spending on medical treatment etc and much more. The list goes on and on.

In a country like India or Sri Lanka where most of the year brings abundant sunlight, this could mean immense savings in electricity costs, as hot water is something that everyone needs. The import of coal from other countries would slow considerably because electricity would not need to be used for heating as much as it is. Power shortages and outages would also be reduced as the load on the generation and transmission system would be minimized. Yes, without beginning with the intention of becoming another Mahatm Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, it would be possible to become self-reliant, conscientious and to save the world as well as one's own finances in a world that is increasingly getting more expensive to live in. Now, if only the loudest voices for renewable energy could see things this way . . .

WSJ: More Builders Zero In on Energy Neutral Housing

I guess it is winter when peoples' thoughts in North America turn to energy efficiency. The cold in large parts of this continent makes heating homes imperative and it is good thing that home builders are now working hard to make homes here energy neutral - as this article from The wall Street Journal points out, homes consume 40% of all the energy that is used in the USA:Link. There will be lessons learned from the American experiment that could be replicated in the rest of the world as well.

I hope that they succeed soon.

Wall Street Journal Video On the Challenges Facing Predicting and Utilising Clean Energy Efficiently

Article Link

WSJ: Organic Farming Helps Farmers in India

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words - this short film from the Wall Street Journal's website is worth several million. Remember - this is from a dyed in the wool business journal and not from an activist of any kind. My hat's off to the WSJ for highlighting this and I hope that India's authorities look closely at this video from the website of the most influential newspaper in the USA seriously.

The Wall Street Journal Likes the Zero S

I have written about the Zero electric motorcycles here before and about how I hope that they would become more widespread - the costs would, then, come down, and with bikes like the Zero S and the Quantya Strada, there would be performance that is the equivalent of any expressway capable bike available in the West. Apart from the many dedicated green magazines and websites, there have been positive reviews from the mainstream media, this one, from the finest US newspaper of all - The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574177823192389460.html

As would be expected, this review is a very balanced one, bringing out both the bike's strengths as well as its weaknesses, mainly the short range and the charging time because of the state of today's battery technology. As there are several exciting developments taking place in battery tech at the moment, it is possible that a battery swap could become a feasible prospect at some point in the future. Hopefully, with this happening, the very limited shortcomings of these bikes would be addressed. That said, for the kind of home to work commute that I do every day, this would be an ideal bike for me - the range is more than enough for my travel every day, and, I think, for 90% of people who live in the USA. Let's see - I just might have to buy one . . .

Zero Motorcycle's website is: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/

The Shipping Industry Supersizes Container Carriers

I grew up as a boy in a seaside town, in a quiet street that was a few blocks away from one of the oldest ports in that part of the world. Roman coins are still found from time to time in Chennai (or Madras as the city was called when I was born and grew up, or Poompuhar if you want the original name for the region and Mylai for the specific town that later became one of the largest cities in India) and the Dutch, the British, the Danish, the Portuguese and french all came there seeking footholds in what was an ancient trading center for seafarers. The people of the region had themselves reached out and settled in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and other countries as we know them today, forming many of the vibrant Tamil and Telugu Chettiar communities around South and South East Asia. Other communities followed the Chettiar traders over the centuries and did equally well. I remember buying a fifty paise ticket to go to the port of Madras on Saturdays and walking around the docks in the old days. Most sailors were friendly and would get us boys some or the other goodies that they ahd brought back on their voyages to other lands - goodies like imported chocolate and Coca Cola which had been banned by the socialist government in India back then. There were steam ships and diesel ones and we learned to tell the difference from how they were named - SS for the Steam Ships and MV for the diesel ones in those not too old days. I even travelled to Sri Lanka in the TSS Irwin from Rameswaram to Talaimannar as a boy, a voyage that I have some lovely memories of even today.

And that brings me to this post - an article in the Wall Street Journal talks about some of the world's largest shipping companies investing to build huge container carriers: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123292489602813689.html While shipping is a very cost efficient method of carrying goods from one part of the world to another, sadly, today, there are no emissions regulations on ships anywhere. This is equally true of the huge oil tankers and container carriers as well as of small private yachts that are used by people for recreation in the world. While I do think that the businesses that are building these monster ships would try and use the most advanced technologies possible to make them cheap in operation, it would be nice if this were a time when governments around the world led by the various industries bodies that work in shipping push for greater efficiency by regulation and force the industry to adapt more green practices.

I personally think that this is also a good time to look at building advanced sailships especially to carry valuable agricultural produce in small quantities. There are French companies that deliver wine to European destinations in sail ships - I can't see why tea clippers cannot be built these days. The old tea clippers were faster than the fastest steam ships of their time. There is no reason why new ones that are even faster, larger and modern competition to the diesel ships cannot be designed. I did not see any sailships when I was a boy, but, boy, what would I not give to see them back before I die!

More on Electric Carmakers' Problems

From the Wall Stret Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122849893450683261.html

US electric and hybrid carmakers have found that their big problems are 1. getting capital when oil prices have fallen sharply and 2. the fact that batteries are mostly manufactured in Japan, South Korea and "elsewhere in Asia." Well, with Lithium available in huge quantities in Bolivia and elsewhere in Latin America, perhaps, the USA needs to look at developing these countries as a manufacturing base for batteries and help itself as well as the economies of these countries by setting up manufacturing plants there. I know this is not going to be easy in a recession, but this is something that the USA could make work. It has more experience dealing with the Western Hemisphere than any other country in the world with the possible exception of the erstwhile colonial powers of Spain and Portugal.

The Pickens Plan Flounders

Forbes and the Wall Street Journal have been warning about this and the green blogs have been discussing this as well for some time now. This morning's New York Times carries a piece that shows where Boone has hit a rock: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/pickens-delays-his-plan/ This is unfortunate, to say the least, and this blog did talk about OPEC lowering the price of crude to kill the plan. Hopefully, Boone will continue to plug ahead and actually sell electric cars etc and gain something from the publicity that he has achieved so far. If he really has any intention of making money and helping the environment, he would certainly do something in this direction.

Let's see what steps he takes in the days ahead. Actions speak louder than words.

Green Hypocrites in the USA

An excellent editorial brings out the hypocrisy of some greenies in the USA: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121901822110148233.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

I have posted earlier about a CBS commentator whining on AM 780 in Chicago about wind farms in Texas giving red states a switch with which they could turn power to blue states off. These are the jokers who howl about global warming and scream that there is little being done about investing in green energy. These are the same jerks who moan for days upon end about the other side being in the oil industry's pocketbooks. And these are the same jerks who work hard to sabotage any attempt that anyone tries to make in actually generating and transmitting power from green means.

Those who are really interested in renewable energy and in showing fossil fuel the fist would do well to show these jerks the fist as well.