Monthly Archives: June 2016

National security implications of international energy and climate change policies, Senate hearing

[This is an excerpt of a very interesting senate hearing that looks at how war can be caused by climate change (i.e. drought, hunger, rising sea levels) and how climate change will affect infrastructure. The European emissions trading scheme and … Continue reading

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Emerging threats of resource wars. U.S. House hearing

Goh Chun Teck, Lim Xian You, Sum Qing Wei, Tong Huu Khiem. 2011. Resource Wars. Players compete with each other for territories that generate resources such as coal, water, gold and gas. A Player can sell resources for money, which … Continue reading

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House of Representatives hearing 113-2 Feb 13, 2013: American Energy Outlook: Technology market and policy drivers.

House 113-2. February 13, 2013. American Energy Outlook: Technology market and policy drivers. House of Representatives hearing. [ Excerpts from the 119 page transcript of this hearing ] Chairwoman Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming. It is difficult to overstate the importance of … Continue reading

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Hybrid electric trucks are very different from HEV cars

Preface. The National Research Council paper I review in this post explains why it is hard to transfer auto hybrid technology to trucks.  They are entirely different animals — medium-duty trucks weigh up to 10 times more, have up to … Continue reading

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The Dark side of Cruise ships. Garbage. Sewage. And more.

[ I detest cruise ships which destroy the ambiance of small towns in Alaska and everywhere else they go.  While cruise ships disgorged their sewage and garbage in Alaska’s Skagway harbor, passengers disgorged into shops owned by the cruise ships … Continue reading

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Electric truck & car range less in cold weather

Preface. What follows are two articles. The first has excerpts from Calstart’s study of the effects cold weather had on lithium and Sodium Nickel Chloride e-truck batteries. The second article is from Consumer Reports, which says that half of driving … Continue reading

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Once upon a time Congress knew an energy crisis was coming

Extracts from the 2005 Senate hearing “High Costs of Crude” [ In Mason Inman’s outstanding biography of M. King Hubbert, “The Oracle of Oil”, he shows five different models Hubbert used to predict the continental peak of U.S. production that … Continue reading

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Sex, crime, and death on the high seas. A U.S. Senate investigation of the cruise ship industry

Senate 113–642. July 24, 2013. Cruise Industry Oversight: recent incidents show need for stronger focus on consumer protection. U.S. Senate hearing. 169 pages. Since 2011, cruise lines voluntarily reported 959 alleged crimes to the FBI, and 130 crimes that must … Continue reading

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