Three articles appeared in the Albany, NY Times Union today of import for energy policy and the environment. Wondering what's going on at the gas pump? Heard about the Big Lift at a ski area? How about the coming Green Business agenda?
Take a look below the fold where I do some cutting and pasting to whet your appetite, along with some linky goodness. Enjoy!
Let's start off at the Gas Pump. The future doesn't look good for your wallet. An article picked up from the Chicago Tribune by Robert Manor warns: Higher gas in forecast -Experts see surge in fuel prices as world oil supply remains uncertain. Reasons for concern?
Increasing tension between Turkey, important because of the petroleum pipelines that cross the country, and the Kurds of Iraq is one major factor contributing to the rise in the price of oil, analysts say.
SNIP
Civil unrest continues in Nigeria, a major oil producer and exporter to the United States. India and China are demanding more petroleum to help fuel their fast-growing economies.
Meanwhile, tension in the Middle East continues and Iraq's production remains far below its potential.
And speculators are believed to be pouring into the market for oil, not to buy it to consume but rather to buy it to hold for a time, then sell at a profit.
SNIP
"It has become much more of a speculative market than it used to be," said David Sykuta, executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council.
He said the declining value of the dollar relative to other major currencies may also be affecting the price of oil.
The world trade in oil is conducted in American dollars. Buyers or sellers in yen or euros often must convert those dollar trades back into their local currency, where the dollar now buys less than in the past. As a result, oil is more expensive when priced in dollars.
The dollar shows no sign of strengthening, peace is not breaking out in the Middle East, and the economies of much of Asia continue to grow rapidly.
But not to worry. Sykuta says:
Sykuta said he could not predict whether oil prices were on a trajectory toward $100 a barrel. For one, he never would have predicted it would reach the levels it's hit this week.
Sykuta remains an optimist in the long term, however.
"They are finding new oil all around the world," he said. "I see this more as a blip.
emphasis added. Read the whole piece for some more detail - though I don't think you'll find any specifics on all the 'new oil' Sykuta claims is being found.
Meanwhile, Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, MA has been busy getting their big Wind Turbine "Zephyr" back on line after some work. With little fanfare, a wind turbine rises. By JULIE A. VARUGHESE and BRIAN NEARING, Staff writers
Like surgery, reassembling a wind turbine requires a precise hand.
"Cable easy, cable easy," a man's voice said through walkie-talkies to workers operating two cranes. They lifted some 31 tons -- a hub and three blades resembling a propeller for a gigantic aircraft -- atop a 253-foot pole at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort.
The popular Berkshires skiing destination has made environmental sustainability its mantra.
The $3.9 million, 1.5-megawatt turbine, named "Zephyr" after the Greek god of the west winds, was repaired after a brief time online this summer.
It will generate 4.9 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough for a third of the power used by the resort. That's the equivalent of air-conditioning 613 homes for a year, according to the resort's Web site.
This is a good article to check out. If you've ever wondered how much those big turbines cost, what it takes to put one in place, and how they operate, you'll find some answers there, along with some good photos by Skip Dickstein of the Times Union. Definitely worth a look. There's plenty of additional pictures at the Jiminy Peak website, too.
Is Jiminy Peak an anomaly - or part of an emerging trend? Bruce Piasecki of Ballston Spa has a new book coming out which addresses that very thing. Eric Andersen of the TU interviews Piasecki and reports: Book explores energy efficiency - Ballston Spa author predicts shift to environmentally friendly policies.
The Capital Region in 25 years will be a different place, thanks to rising energy prices and global warming, says Bruce Piasecki, a Ballston Spa author and consultant.
Piasecki, the founder and president of AHC Group Inc. in Saratoga Springs, expects utilities will charge an escalating price for owners of energy-intensive megahomes, an initiative that is likely to come from state regulators. Owners of SUVs and other larger vehicles, meanwhile, will face a luxury tax for fuel consumption beyond that of a typical family car.
"Those folks will be feeling some pressure," he said.
And dairy farms that haven't begun to use biomass and methane for energy will also feel the pressure. Taxes will be levied on farms "that haven't yet decided to get past the petrochemical treadmill" of fossil fuels and fertilizers, he predicts.
In his book "World Inc.," Piasecki says corporations will play a growing role in society's response to global warming and dwindling oil supplies.
Piasecki cites one particular statistic: "51 of the world's largest economies are actually corporations. Those that respond to consumers' concerns will thrive."
While Piasecki's optimism is more than balanced by a Saratoga resident just down the road, he makes a case that a generational change is taking place in corporate circles, and new managers are looking at the looming environmental challenges as opportunities for those in the Business world who "get it."
"What I'm trying to talk about in my book is that human inventiveness, when pressed against the wall, finds a new way of doing things," he said.
He cites the growing popularity of such programs as Energy Star in identifying efficient appliances and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, or LEED, that recognize efficient buildings.
"LEED certification is happening in the biggest real estate markets," he said.
Piasecki also said the efforts by at least 20 states, including New York, to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources will encourage further development of those sources, reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
None of this is new territory for Piasecki, a former associate professor of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An earlier book published in the 1990s, "In Search of Environmental Excellence," was called a minor classic by one reviewer. It was then that Piasecki first wrote about global warming, years before it entered the mainstream.
If Piasecki has come up with a way to make corporations part of the solution rather than part of the problem, more power to him. There is no question they have the resources to make it happen; more than that I won't venture, not having read the book.
Looking at some of the comments about the book at Amazon, I see at least one person arguing Piasecki 'proves' that government is not the answer to the environmental crises facing us; market forces will do the trick. I note however that the TU interview above makes mention of tax policies and setting of standards - traditional governmental tools - as playing an important role. If he's making the case that bottom-line logic will drive the change, I rather suspect the work of these guys will play an important part in making that happen. UPDATE: This link says it even more explicitly. H/T to Bob Harris.