Thursday, February 28th, 2008
On Tuesday morning, we wrote about the recent boom in Texas wind power generation and its many positive attributes. By the evening on that same day, Texas had entered into a wind energy emergency. The winds which we noted blow so consistently from the north had abruptly died down that day, coupled with an increase in energy demand due to a cold-snap and the failure of a series of non-wind related power plants in the state, led to a series of rolling blackouts. Fortunately the blackouts were limited to commercial customers who opt to be the first to be taken off the grid in emergencies in return for lower rates during normal times.
While this event does not discredit the usefulness of wind energy, it does highlight a potential problem relating to it. Since wind power, once generated, is very difficult to store on a large level, when the wind dies down abruptly so will the amount of power that can be supplied to the grid. This leads us to believe that while wind power is going to be an integral component of future energy supplies, it needs to be balanced with other methods of production in order to avoid total collapses resulting from the whims of Mother Nature.
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Thursday, February 28th, 2008
Given our recent posts on the regulation of plastic bags in Ireland, Santa Monica and China, we thought we’d take a quick look at some of the factual differences between plastic and paper bags. Like many green alternatives, the benefits of switching from plastic to paper are not so black-and-white. (Granted Santa Monica proposes to ban plastic and also tax paper.)
Apparently, paper bags that are not made out of recycled material result in 70% more air pollution and 50% more water pollution than the production of plastic bags. Additionally, one pound of plastic can be recycled with 91% less energy than it takes to recycle the equivalent amount of paper. The one clear disadvantage of plastic is that, unlike paper, it is not biodegradable.
[Update: One of our readers noted that the picture above says "I am biodegradable" on the plastic bag, but that we claim that plastic is not biodegradable in this post. According to this link, plastic bags do not biodegrade in any reasonable timeframe, but can photodegrade when exposed to sunlight (which of course is unlikely in a landfill). Therefore, the only way the manufacturer of the bag in the photo above could reasonably claim to be biodegradable would be if the bag was not actually made of polyethylene (the standard process), in which case it would probably not be called a "plastic" bag.]
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
The Chinese government recently mandated that thin plastic shopping bags are to be banned, starting June 1, two months prior to the Summer Olympics in Beijing. According to the AP, in anticipation of this law, China’s largest plastic bag manufacturer has closed its factory. It is unclear to what extent other types of disposal bags will still be allowed. Readers with insight on this topic are encouraged to chime in.
This story is of particular interest given the recent developments regarding the taxation and regulation of plastic carry-out bags in both Ireland and Santa Monica. It will be interesting to compare the results of the Irish method (taxation of bags) to the Santa Monica/Chinese method (outright ban). As we’ve noted before, when solutions like taxation of a problem can be effective (e.g., a 95% decrease in Irish usage of plastic bags), more absolutist options like outright bans seem less desirable and may even be unnecessary.
Photo credit.
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Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
During a recent trip to central Texas, I discovered that the easiest way to gather my bearings when lost was to see which way the wind was blowing. Every time I spotted a Texas flag (which was pretty much everywhere I went) it would be whipping in the wind, and that wind was always coming steadily from the north.
Consequently, Texas has become the country’s largest and fastest growing generator of clean wind energy. According to this article in the New York Times, wind energy now accounts for more than 3 percent of the state’s electricity and is growing fast. Even famous oilman T. Boone Pickens is getting into the act, with the development of a $10 billion wind farm in Texas. Once built, it will be the largest wind farm in the world.
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Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Recently it has been reported that NAFTA’s requirements of free trade between Mexico and the United States has resulted in a dramatic increase in large used vehicles being shipped south and resold. The environmental concern is that while many in the United States become more environmentally conscious and trade in their big SUVs for more fuel efficient models, their old gas guzzlers are merely being reused south of the border.
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Friday, February 22nd, 2008
Apparently the dramatic increase in oil prices over the past few years has, in addition to spurring massive investment in alternative energy sources, also caused many individuals living in colder climates to switch from gas to wood for warming their homes.
This is an interesting trend because it has often been assumed that the rise in oil prices will cause the market to find cleaner alternatives. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as seen with this increase in wood burning. Similar to coal power plants that are not governed by carbon regulations, wood burning also fails to accurately price in the externality of air pollution.
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