Tag Archives: Renewable

Earth Day 2023

 (Source: Houston Arboretum) This is obviously not my first blog titled Earth Day. Just put the title in the search box and start investigating. The day is unique for me on two levels: it celebrates our physical environment and commitments … Continue reading

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Back from Germany

 A field of dead sunflowers  in Farsleben, Germany I have described Germany’s energy transition in earlier blogs (December 9 – 30, 2014, and October 1 – 8, 2019). As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I followed my trip to … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Extreme Weather, Russia/Ukraine, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Guest Blog by Phil Gallagher: Going Solar in 2022 

This week, we have a guest blog from one of my friends, a retired Brooklyn College History professor, who just installed solar power in his home in Brooklyn. Going Solar in 2022 My wife and I recently succeeded in going … Continue reading

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Incorporating Carbon Capture into the IPAT Identity

Figure 1 – An artist’s depiction of carbon capture (Credit: Walter Newton) Last week, I opened the discussion about what it takes for oil companies to change their business model and fulfill the commitments that some of them are making … Continue reading

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The Role of Oil Companies in the Energy Transition

In last week’s blog, I included a citation from Nicholas Kusnetz’s article, “What Does Net Zero Emissions Mean for Big Oil?” which pointed out: Most glaring is that none of the companies has committed to cut its oil and gas … Continue reading

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Conclusions From COP26

This semester, I am teaching two courses directly related to climate change. I start both with an exploration of the basic science involved. It’s a multidisciplinary topic that requires using first principles to address the overlap of the physical, natural, … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Economics, Energy, Sustainability, UN | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Managing the Energy Transition: Specifics

Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, may have asked, “what good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers?” (September 21, 2021) but this week, in the context of COP26, the current CEO of Exxon expressed a different … Continue reading

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Managing the Energy Transition on a Global Scale

Figure 1 Figure 2 I have been (starting on September 21st) focusing on energy companies’ transitions away from fossil fuels; many are finally realizing that such global shifts are necessary if we cannot implement an acceptable way to capture the … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Sustainability, US | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Universal Hydrogen Economy: Part 2

This week, we’re back to our discussion about the hydrogen economy. The Economist published a great summary of the related challenges we’re facing right now: Today’s hydrogen business is, in global terms, reasonably small, very dirty and completely vital. Some 90m … Continue reading

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Learning from COVID-19 to mitigate the energy transition

Two years ago, I wrote a blog, “Cherry-Picking Data in an Energy Transition: Renewables & Polar Bears” (September 17, 2019) that took stock of where we stood in the ongoing energy transition. I am repeating the photos from that blog … Continue reading

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