Nov
27
Energy Ideas Need to Go to Houston
November 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Houston is home to SURGE Accelerator, an incubation and mentorship program for startups in the energy software space. At a year and a half old SURGE can provide the accepted startup company with $30,000 in seed funding, free office space, and access to dozens of mentors in Houston’s vibrant energy sector in exchange for a […]
Jul
26
Here Come Virtual Power Plants
July 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Researchers from the University of Southampton have devised a novel method for forming “virtual power plants” – from the small and distributed energy resources (DERs), like wind farms, solar panels, small hydro and others that have begun to appear in greater numbers in the electricity supply network or the “Grid”. To make sure energy demand […]
May
1
Another Horror For Energy Consumers
May 1, 2012 | 1 Comment
Brad Harstad argues that buying and holding extraction rights to fossil fuels is a more effective means of curbing their use than legislating to reduce demand. Harstad, who is associate professor of managerial economics & decision sciences at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said, “Both on the demand-side and the supply-side the result is […]
Apr
20
Get Yourself an Asteroid Week
April 20, 2012 | 1 Comment
Brian Wang’s NextBigFuture has posted four compelling articles on asteroids this week. That’s getting hard to ignore and the potential is substantial. The reason why is the resources asteroids contain. There will be metals of considerable interest, lots of water, and perhaps some methane. Plus a lot of what many will consider junk. Still, with […]
Feb
29
Too Many Cars – A Good Starting Answer
February 29, 2012 | 2 Comments
William Clay “Bill” Ford Jr., the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and great grandson of Henry Ford has an eye on the forthcoming gridlock problem, already an existing problem for some – with the answer cars must talk to each other and to the road. “If we do nothing, we face the prospect of ‘global […]