Greenpeace’s 2012 datacenter report came out. Some think it exposes the dark underbelly of on-line services, others think its another Mike Daisey-like hoax, designed to mislead the public. Overall it appears to me that the data is accurate, the results are unremarkable, some of the analysis is overly critical, and at least one point is [...]
Posts under ‘energy’
Notes on Apple’s Clean Energy Push in North Carolina
There’s been a lot of press about Apple’s major solar and fuel cell installation at its new data center in Malden, North Carolina. So far I haven’t seen direct statements from Apple staff – all of the data seems to be based on an Apple document titled “Facilities Report: 2012 Environmental Update”. Here are some [...]
Paper: Analyzing the DOE Loan Program
The Solyndra bankruptcy has, not unexpectedly, resulted in a wide range of reactions. On one end we have “This was a horrible investment and waste of taxpayers’ money. We should shut down the whole program,” and on the other end “Every investment has risks, and if you want success on a big problem there will [...]
A Federal Lightbulb Plan
Yesterday I again voiced my criticism of the “Light Bulb Bill”, which is now on hold. Today, I’ll lay out what I would propose the federal government should do. I’ll start by defining the problem we’re trying to solve, beginning with two things that aren’t a problem. First, I don’t believe there is an issue [...]
Lightbulbs, Again: The Big Bulb Manufacturers Lose Their Market Maker
I’m sure the saga isn’t over yet, but for the moment Congress has starved the EPA’s lightbulb efficiency efforts of the money they needed to carry out their planned program (I’ve written about it a number of times this year – start here for my thoughts). While most of the surrounding discussions have replayed the [...]
Peak US Carbon and Electric Cars
In 2008 I predicted that 2007 would prove to the be peak CO2 output for the USA (I termed it “peak carbon”). Checking in on the 2010 results published by the EPA we see that my predication has held up, but seeds of its possible undoing have been sown. The total US CO2 emissions rose [...]
Why I Oppose the Lightbulb Law
For the past few days I’ve been going back and forth with @NobleIdeas on the national lightbulb law (formally known as the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007), but I thought I’d break out of the 140-character limit and write down my rationale. Those who know me know that I’m a big fan of [...]
Why Are We Lying To Ourselves About Electric Cars?
As I’ve written about before, the carbon intensity of electric automobiles is totally dependent on the source of electricity you use. They can be a huge win, a marginal win, or in some cases, a net loss compared to internal combustion and hybrid vehicles. Claims that electric vehicles are, in general, “emissions free” are so [...]
Peak Carbon, Revisited
A little over two years ago I wrote an article for Environmental Leader declaring that 2007 would be the year of “Peak Carbon” in the US, such that GHG emissions would generally decline from that point on (with accommodation for random short blips upwards). In the short term I figured that the economy would get [...]
Electric Cars: Headway, But Improvements Needed
With the 500 car Cooper Mini E field trial, we’re finally started to get some real-world data on the performance of electric vehicles. The WSJ recently ran an article which surveyed participants in the field test and found they were generally getting in the 100-110 miles per charge range, less than the advertised 150. The [...]