Energy

Subsidized Solar Energy- Let's Not Buy Any More Magic Rocks

People may complain about tax breaks for successful energy companies but the one thing worse is spending real money on lousy ones.   Yet it has happened because advocacy is taking precedence over science. The recent Solyndra LLC collapse is not the first t ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 24 2020 - 2:48pm

Fast Charging Stations Damage Tesla Car Batteries After Just 25 Charging Cycles

A new p aper shows that a selling feature of electric cars, fast-charging stations along highways, actually subject batteries to high temperatures and high resistance that can cause them to crack, leak, and lose their storage capacity. ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 15 2020 - 11:56am

Trump Did Not Start Fracking On Public Lands, Obama Did

When is it right to turn over 5 million acres of public land for exploitation by energy corporations?  The Obama administration did just that, with corn ethanol, and environmental groups wrapped him in the flag of renewable biofuels despite science showing ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Apr 13 2020 - 5:30am

Coronavirus Has Shown Alternative Energy Is Luxury Spending, Not Part Of A Realistic Strategy

If you know the government is going to subsidize your business, you are a lot more agreeable to starting a company with questionable prospects than if you have to compete in the free market. If government subsidies decline, you are in real trouble if you h ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jun 23 2020 - 12:46pm

ELM And The Right Scenario For A Fusion Power Plant

A new operating mode for fusion power avoids instabilities in the plasma that place a heavy load on the vessel wall and to remove heat and particles from the plasma more gently. The aim of fusion energy is to tame atomic nuclei the way the sun does. Becaus ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 3 2020 - 12:52pm

Used PPE Equipment Could Be Repurposed Into Biofuel

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to rampant new use of personal protective equipment (PPE) but we're also facing a problem of more garbage in landfills. It could be trivial but in a world where people people about Keurig K-cups, technology to turn billi ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 4 2020 - 7:31am

Fossil Fuel Divestment Has Been An Environmental Placebo- Low Carbon Investment Could Take Its Place

Since 2012, there have been increased calls for fossil fuel "divestment"- getting money out of fossil fuel companies. Despite an effort that peaked in 2015, spurred on by paid protesters from groups run by activists like Bill McKibben, they haven ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 3 2020 - 6:23pm

Fact-Checking Joe Biden Science Claims On Energy

During last night's Presidential debate, former Obama administration Vice-President and Delaware Senator Joe Biden said something that had Democrats worried and even the most partisan fact checkers holding up an index finger: "I have never said I ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Nov 18 2020 - 12:20pm

The World Has Spent $2.6 Trillion On Solar And Wind Power Subsidies- And Gotten Little Energy

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019 report stated that in the previous 10 years the world had spent $2.6 trillion on solar and wind power subsidies- which they framed as a good thing. Since we need to get billions off wood and dung, the l ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 5 2021 - 12:12pm

Dams Are The Largest Source Of Hydroelectric Power And Water For Farmers- Environmentalists Should Stop Opposing Them

At the turn of the 20th century Carrie Nation smashed up a saloon in Kansas, gold was discovered in Alaska, and New York City's boundaries became set with the inclusion of Queens and Staten Island. America had five new states and t hey had a big probl ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 9 2021 - 9:28am