News from April 2009

Suniva CEO: Solar industry closer to grid parity

When it comes to the solar industry, the holy grail is achieving “grid parity In about 25 percent of the U.S. today, solar energy-fueled electricity

'Cash for clunkers' kicks in gear

Program originally pitched to help the environment is getting new life as the White House and automakers see its potential to boost sales. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — A congressional effort to subsidize new cars sales for consumers who scrap old ones is gaining momentum, as leaders seek to help the struggling auto industry. So-called cash-for-clunkers legislation [...]

Understanding crude oil prices

The $140/barrel price in the summer of 2008 and the $60/barrel in November of 2008 could not both be consistent with the same calculation of a scarcity rent warranted by long-term fundamentals. What caused the high price of oil in the summer of 2008? In Understanding Crude Oil Prices (NBER Working Paper No. 14492), James [...]

A potential breakthrough in harnessing the sun's energy

New solar thermal technology overcomes a major challenge facing solar power The salts are just fertilizers

Report Ignites Biofuels Debate

A new report charges that government subsidies for biofuels aren

Climate Change and Peak Oil as an Actionable Investment Theory

Since Caps is an investment based game it would only make sense to make peak oil applicable as an investment theory. Now I From a specific investment perspective there are a few things to look at here. Commodities become more valuable not only in that they become harder to extract but in that they become [...]

$50 billion needed to fix rail transit, study says

Many trains, equipment, facilities of largest agencies near end of useful life WASHINGTON – More than one-third of the trains, equipment and facilities of the nation A report by the Federal Transit Administration estimates it will cost $50 billion to bring the rail systems in Chicago, Boston, New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Philadelphia and [...]

White House finishes review of ethanol draft rule

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The White House has finished a review of a rule that aims to cut emissions from alternative motor fuels like ethanol, federal environmental regulators said on Thursday. The Office of Management and Budget has completed the review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule and “we will determine what further action to [...]

U.S. lawmakers to discuss more government power over grid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Thursday will consider legislation that would allow the federal government to override state objections to establishing corridors for new electricity transmission lines. The draft proposal from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee would give states one year to provide sites for high-priority national transmission projects. If states do [...]

Floating oil lake likely to curb future oil prices

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil companies are storing a record volume of oil at sea in giant tankers as world crude supply outstrips demand, and this floating oil lake is now so big that it is likely to keep a lid on prices for some time. Shipping analysts say around 100 million barrels of crude [...]