Stories on oil prices crash

(Photo: John Massie/Flickr - License)

For more than a month now, we have seen quite a few stories about the fall of oil prices. Here are a few catching headlines.And of course, you can monitor prices from my Fuel Economy page on this blog.

• Oil prices at $50: Why a barrel of crude costs less than your shoes (Christian Science Monitor) - Catchy headline that compares the price of oil with the price of an everyday item. See also this comparison with Frappuccino and other foods (ABC News).
• Market experts are wondering how low oil price could fall, and that shows on Bloomberg and CNBC. $45? $40? Or $35? Any better?
• For consumers, $2 per gallon prices (Car Connection) looks good. It's is apparently equivalent to $60M in tax credits (CNN).
• For the economy, in the short term it may improve (NYT), however in he long term, opinions are mitigated... is economic demand falling?
• For overall car fuel economy, large car sales seem to pick up (NPR), however car fuel economy progress may slow for a little while (Minnesota Public Radio).
• Airlines who started adding fuel surcharges starting 2007-2008 are not removing them anytime soon (USA Today) (except Alaska Air, for a limited time?)

Fw: California breaks ground on bullet train as climate solution

Via MSN News

At last, construction is starting for the first high-speed rail project in the US. The line will link downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in three hours and reduce emissions from car and air traffic. Read on here. Also visit the official page from the California High Speed Rail Authority.

Fw: Holiday lights brighten cities + Use energy efficient Christmas lights

Via NASA, IBTimes, SmithsonianMag.com

Happy holidays everyone! In the article at the following link, NASA explains how they can match the differences in light intensity with holidays in different regions around the globe using satellite imagery. The article has some satellite shots of several regions, showing differences in lighting between certain periods of time. Light (and energy use, emissions...) increases as people place illuminations, and the difference is more visible in areas not normally lit during the year. 

Also, among many other posts, this post from HGTV provides tips on using efficient holiday lighting, saving households $100-250 depending on the holiday display.

 

(Photo credit NASA)

 

Fw: Oil Investors at Brink of Losing Trillions of Dollars in Assets

Via Bloomberg

(Photo source freerangelongmont.com)

 Bloomberg recently posted an article describing the concept and financial implications of "stranded" oil assets. Basically, if governments start restricting access to oil resources (to meet carbon reduction objectives for instance), the value of oil resources could have to be written off. Read more here.

Truly Alternative Fuel Buses

I recently came across two kinds of buses that truly use alternative energy sources.

(Photo: fta.dot.gov)

The first one was tipped to me by a friend who administers transit programs. CALSTART will soon roll out the first fuel-cell, full-size transit bus in the U.S., in partnership with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), bus manufacturer New Flyer, and several other vendors. Officials refer to this accomplishment as a 'major milestone.' Typical bus usage may exceed 500 miles a day. CALSTART promotes and commercializes clean transportation technologies.

(Photo: Wessex Water)

The second kind of buses was relayed by Engadget. This bus built in the U.K. converts the energy contained in human waste into mechanical energy, by means of 'anaerobic digestion' that produces methane. The bus can travel up to 180 miles/300 km. The bus is built by Scania and get its biomethane from a biowaste plant near Bristol. Engadget also has a video that explains how this bus works.

In conclusion, there are always sparks of innovation in the energy and transit industries. Let's see how soon we may get to enjoy them!

Fw: What It Would Really Take to Reverse Climate Change

Via IEEE Spectrum

Image: Alfred Palmer - Library of Congress

At the current technology and policy progress rate, it will too late to reverse human-made climate change. At least that is the conclusion of this very interesting article from IEEE Spectrum Magazine. Read more how the authors are taking a retrospective on an aborted Google project that aimed at delivering technology to curtail carbon emissions. They say that despite carbon cutting measures, continued use of fossil fuel will cause CO2 levels (and temperatures) to rise for the foreseeable future.

MPG Tracker is back and Fuel Drop

Announcing the return of my MPG tracker on the side pane of this page!! My old website featured an MPG tracker showing my car's MPG along with the price I paid for gas. I left it out when I switched to Blogger. It is back and up to date now with three years of consumption.

Not as dramatic, you can also see the price of fuel sharply declining in recent weeks - from $3.70/gal to $2.99/gal and less (read more about it here for example).

Fw: Three Interviews on Utility Analytics

Via greentechmedia.com

At this page, you will find videos of executives at three competing companies explaining their vision on utility analytics during the SoftGrid conference:

• Landis+Gyr's Soorya Kuloor (former GRIDiant CTO)
• Space Time Insight's Steve Ehrlich (VP Marketing)
• TempoIQ's John Cronk CEO

It just happens that greentechmedia.com placed links to these videos on the same page.
Disclosure: I am now an employee of Landis+Gyr INC.