Life after cheap oil: February 2009 Archives

The Carolyn Dorothy, displayed before a large crowd in the Long Beach, California area on January 23, was built by Seattle, Washington-based Foss Maritime. This tug joins a fleet of existing standard tugboats servicing the needs of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

So what exactly makes this Green Assist tug a hybrid? Foss first detailed this project back in 2007. In place of a traditional tugboat engine, this boat is powered by two 670 horsepower battery packs coupled with two 335 horsepower diesel generators.

A recent report showed how big the impact can be of relatively simple measures.

When we hear the word "fuel cell" we tend to think about pumps and valves and stacks and the works. Complex installations.

The Department of Energy in the USA has released its 2008 Annual Progress Report on for the Energy Storage Research and Development Vehicle Technologies Program. In short: their view of the state of the art in battery technologies for cars.

Thomas Friendman tells a very encouraging story in the New York Times on two young women who have just driven an electric car with roof-top solar panels all over India in a "climate caravan" to highlight the solutions to global warming being developed by Indian companies, communities, campuses and innovators, as well as to inspire others to take action. Best part in my opinion is where they point out the American and Chinese embassies. The U.S. Embassy's roof is loaded with antennae and listening gear. The Chinese Embassy's roof is loaded with ... new Chinese-made solar hot-water heaters. Another great example that we might have to look eastwards for green innovation in stead of westwards.

Green Car Congress reports that responding to a question from a city councilwoman about transportation and infrastructure in the stimulus bill during a town hall forum in Ft. Myers, Florida, President Obama said that the days of just building sprawl are over. He mentioned further that transportation is not just fixing our old transportation systems but its also imaging new transportation systems and that we should be using this money to help spur this kind of innovative thinking when it comes to transportation. That will make a big difference. Yes, he gives hope. Let's help him realize his plans! The discussion below the article on Green Car Congress is not bad at all, by the way. And to show that the conservatives in Britain are good friends with Obama, the Tories presented what they call a long-term vision for the railways, which includes a high-speed north-south rail line between Manchester and London.

 

The International Energy Agency said global demand for oil is expected to fall 1.2% this year, the biggest annual drop in 27 years, as U.S. consumption declines and Chinese growth weakens. According to the Wall Street Journal U.S. crude prices are down nearly 75% from a July peak of $147 a barrel. What other products exist where such a relatively small change in demand causes such a massive drop in price? As far as I know only products where there are also big changes on the supply side. Which is not the case with oil in the short term (say 5 years). The only other explanation is pure speculation. Or the futures market, as it is called nicely.

District heating ("stadsverwarming") is associated by some people with old flats in the former Soviet union. It is problably not well known that it is still in use in many Western countries including the Netherlands. 

You can see more when you walk. Like this surprise on the Rhoneweg in Amsterdam.

Indian infrastructure player Punj Llyod and US-based Throium Power, which signed an MoU last month to form a 50:50 joint venture company for exploring commercial nuclear power opportunities, are targeting an investment of up to $1 billion in the venture.

"We are looking at an investment of several million dollars or up to a billion in the coming years, depending on how India's government allows commercialisation of nuclear power sector," Dennis Hays, vice-president of Thorium Power, said on the Indian Business Standard website.

In this time where more and more voices are calling for a return to Nuclear Power this raises the interesting question how much nuclear fuel is available in the world. Clearly the different parties do not agree here. Where the Nuclear Energy Agency announced a year ago that we would have enough resources long into the future, others state that with slightly increased nuclear demand we will run out of the easy to mine uranium within thirty years or so and that then we need to turn to other potentially more dangerous sources.

A Canadian Nuclear Engineer, Dr Jeremy Whitlock, maintains a very interesting website on the subject, where we can find the, in my opinion most realistic, answer that in principle there is a lot of uranium available, but that it fully depends on how much we are willing to pay for it. Moreover, the developments in reactor technology are still going on and the efficiency of nuclear reactors still leaves a lot of room for improvement. Finally, thorium, which is about three times more available than uranium in the form of thorite (see picture), can also be used as fuel. And this possibly explains the Indian joint venture mentioned above, since India has one of the worlds largest thorium reserves. Interesting, but I still do not know where I stand on the subject of nuclear energy...