Should the United States and China be teaming up on clean urban transportation systems instead of clean cars? After the announcement of a suite of new energy partnerships between China and the United States, I sought feedback on the electric vehicle project from Lee Schipper, an energy and transportation specialist who splits his time between the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford. He’s quite worried that the program is looking at cars mainly from an energy-efficiency context, instead of how they will shape and affect China’s fast-expanding cities in a larger sense. “Creating a zero-carbon car for China tomorrow won’t solve the much bigger problems of urban congestion, traffic fatalities and the paving over of once-beautiful cities to make room for more cars,” Dr. Schipper said. “The discussions should back up. Energy is only a means to an end. What are the ends, urban access and mobility, or cars for a small minority?”"

Below is a summary of my presentation, The Renewables Gap, from the ASPO 2009 conference. The intent of my presentation was to highlight the political challenge of affecting a societal transition to renewable sources of energy. In particular, I focus on wind and solar, though it seems to me that the problem will be largely the same (if not worse) if we attempt to rely on other “renewables.” My initial presentation focused on attempting to illustrate the Renewables Gap as an energy problem. While I briefly addressed the political aspects of this problem in my presentation, on reflection I’ve chosen to focus more carefully on this aspect of the Renewables Gap. "

Dr Michael Dittmar, a physicist with CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), said in the fourth and final part of an essay on the world's nuclear industry published this week that civilian stockpiles of uranium could be depleted by as early as 2013. "

Just something to keep your eye on as your politicians promise you that the U.S. will be the world leader in green tech jobs. In fact they will have to layer countless more debt on your children and grandchildren for temporary "green jobs" jobs, to make this mirage come true - for a while. Most likely this promise will come next spring as the next massive stimulus is pumped to the masses to create "green jobs" retrofitting buildings and such. Meanwhile, ask where the production is and what work we will be left with after we borrow money from China to create temporary jobs."

The best prospects for large-scale renewable energy production and net-energy performance remain wind and certain forms of solar, according to a study released by two California-based think tanks."

Floating turbines can be located over the horizon, out of sight of land, eliminating aesthetic and noise concerns that have delayed projects, including Cape Wind. Deepwater farms can be established far from shipping lanes, aircraft flight paths, commercial or sport fishing grounds, and known migratory paths of birds and marine animals, potentially easing the process of obtaining the necessary approvals and permits.

State oil, gas and power firm DONG Energy inaugurated the plant on Wednesday in time to serve as a showcase of Danish environmental technology before a U.N. climate conference in the Danish capital next month.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the biofuel would cost around $8 per gallon at the pump. Other experts have even projected prices of more than $50 per gallon because of inefficient production and harvesting methods.

More than half of the energy consumed worldwide is wasted, most of it in the form of excess heat. This new technology would allow conversion of waste heat into electricity with an efficiency several times greater than existing devices. That kind of waste-energy harvesting might, for example, lead to cellphones with double the talk time, laptop computers that can operate twice as long before needing to be plugged in, or power plants that put out more electricity for a given amount of fuel."

"The modernization of the grid will increase the level of personal information detail available as well as the instances of collection, use and disclosure of personal information," warns a report (PDF) jointly released Tuesday by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Future of Privacy Forum, a think tank made up of chief privacy officers, advocates and academics."

Energy independence is the new creationism; nuclear power its deity. As the head glow for nuclear's new dawn, you can't do better than Aris Candris. He's president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric, the company aiming to build 14 of 25 new nuclear reactors planned in the United States. Candris also sums up everything that's wrong with the nuclear power industry's orchestrated revival -- the deceptions, the manipulated numbers, the false promises and the sheer swindle of taxpayer dollars for a technology with a lethal past and an unproven future. Candris' Nov. 9 tribute to nuclear in The Wall Street Journal tells the tall tale. "

The new group, called the Electrification Coalition, envisions significant federal assistance in jump-starting what it calls “grid-enabled” vehicles.

Is this what a spaceship sounds like? I'd imagined something a bit more whooshy, a bit more Millennium Falcon. These stately tones are more "we come in peace" than "brace yourself for the jump into hyperspace". Still, at 25mph up Camden Road, maybe that's no bad thing. "

The Electricifcation Coalition held a press conference in Washington, D.C. and released an Electrification Roadmap, which prescribes the business and policy steps required to ramp up electric vehicle adoption. "

Their goal: to replace the oil used to make chemical ingredients in plastics, fibers, diapers or synthetic rubber with sugars extracted from plants in an enzyme-based process."