Transportation: Vehicle miles driven per capita are dropping
“For decades, the country’s driving pattern moved in sync with the economy. Now, we’re driving less even though the economy has been expanding for more than a decade.” Source: America’s…
Energy: Lifecycle GHG emissions from a hybrid, plug in hybrid and an EV are about the same
This graphic, from the International Energy Agency, illustrates the lifetime CO2 equivalent emissions from different types of vehicles. “BEV” is a battery electric vehicle with a 400 km range, HEV…
Energy: In many countries, hybrid gas/EVs emit lower emissions than pure electric vehicles
An average battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars using electricity characterised by the current global average carbon intensity (518 grammes of carbon-dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour ) emit less GHGs…
Energy: Unplugging your cell phone charger does nearly nothing for the environment
Few people have any idea about the lifetime energy usage of popular consumer products. 50-75% of the energy and green house gas emissions for many cars occurs during manufacturing. Switching…
Energy: Over the past decade, U.S. energy predictions were way off
In 2010 the U.S. Energy Information Administration published its forecasts for 2019 on topics such as oil and natural gas production, oil imports, coal fired electricity generation, green house gas…
Environment: Electronics recycling reveals huge scam
People want to feel good about "doing the right thing". Recycling is an example of a "feel good" activity and "ethical recyclers" stepped in to help people feel good about…
Environment: We make too much, store too much unused, dispose too much, and reuse too little
"The one thing we do know is that the biggest impact of most products is the manufacturing side. So if you want to reduce the environmental impact of your consumption,…
Energy: Why throwing money at climate solutions leads to no solutions
Politicians, who do not understand what they are doing, are likely to pursue policy options that are costly and accomplish little. There are better ways but it is unclear whether…
Energy: Should you buy carbon offsets, an EV or solar PV to reduce your environmental impact? It depends.
Should you buy an EV? Should you install solar PV? Details matter a lot as to whether your decision leads to actual environmental improvements - or not. Should you buy…
Energy: To achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 requires building a new, large nuclear power plant every 2 days
Simple calculations illustrate how much energy fossil fuels provided, globally, and what has to be done to achieve "net zero" CO2 emissions by 2050. Few people have any idea of…