Large-scale energy storage technologies are often hailed as a key to enabling increased use of intermittent renewable energy resources – like solar and wind – to supply the nation’s electricity demand. If one can balance out the generation dips (for example, when the wind dies down on a summer afternoon) using an energy storage technology, they can create a system that is capable of providing electricity around the clock. But, the potential for these technologies is much more broad, with applications on short and long timescales, giving them the power to increase grid reliability and defer the need new infrastructure. In the electricity world, energy storage generally refers to electricity, thermal, or potential energy storage. Examples include batteries (electricity), molten salts (thermal), and pumped hydro ... Continue reading →

By Melissa C. Lott and Scott McNally According to Dr. James Hansen, developing Canada’s tar sands would mean “game over for the climate.” And, the current Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies is disappointed with President Obama for not taking action to stop Canada from causing a climate change-induced apocalypse. But, what Dr. Hansen fails to acknowledge in his May 9th NY Times Op-Ed is that demand drives supply. The tar sands are not the climate endgame – we are. Hansen’s two main arguments, as presented in his NY Times article, are as follows: Developing Canada’s tar sands will release massive amounts of harmful greenhouse gases into the air. The President should take action to prevent the development of Canada’s tar sands, in ... Continue reading →

PARIS — In an apparent breakthrough, the leader of the United Nations nuclear monitoring arm said on Tuesday that despite unspecified differences, he expects to sign a deal with Iran “quite soon” on the arrangements for an investigation into potential military applications of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was speaking to reporters on his return to the body’s headquarters in Vienna after conferring with senior Iranian officials during an unusual one-day trip to Tehran. His remarks came a day ahead of negotiations scheduled for Wednesday in Baghdad between Iran and the world powers over Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes but Western leaders say they suspect Tehran is seeking ... Continue reading →

Survey Shows Strong Support for More Domestic Energy Production br> AUSTIN, April 10, 2012 – Consumers strongly support increased production of energy from domestic sources, particularly natural gas and renewables, according to the University of Texas at Austin Energy Poll that was released today. This is the second release of the poll, a twice-annual national online survey of energy issues. The poll also offered insights in how energy issues may affect the upcoming presidential election, with more than 65 percent of the 2,371 poll respondents saying that energy is important to them. Respondents generally favor candidates whose policies would increase domestic energy production, and expanded natural gas development had the most support among consumers, with 61 percent saying they would be more likely to vote ... Continue reading →

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but an apple? Well it may be more than just an apple. Is it normal? Local? Organic? Is that piece of cheese low fat, is the coffee fair trade? Psychologists have known of a “health halo”, centered around foods thought to be “healthy”, whether or not they actually are (like low fat yogurt, which may be low fat, but is often high in sugar). There is also a “health halo” around foods that are organic. People think organic foods are lower in fat and lower calorie than foods without the organic label. (Source) And it turns out that there might be another kind of halo around organic food: a moral one. But not the kind that makes you ... Continue reading →

Each day, the average American household throws away a pound and a half of food. And, while this might not seem like much, but, over the course of a year, these pounds amount to the energy equivalent of throwing 350 million barrels of oil into the trashcan. To put it in perspective, this is about twice the amount of energy that Switzerland consumes in an entire year. According to a study co-authored by University of Texas Professor Dr. Michael Webber and his former student researcher Amanda Cuellar*, American’s could save roughly 2 percent of its total energy consumption in one year if it could significantly reduce or eliminate its food waste. According to Dr. Webber, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering and the associate director ... Continue reading →