by Ethan Johnson
October 9, 2008

Disclosure: I am really, really, really not a fan of Thomas "Six more months" Friedman.

Regardless of my personal opinion about Mr Friedman, he has ventured into "Power Plus" terrain with his latest book. To his credit, he foretold of its core message about a year ago, as per a column he wrote for the New York Times. Since pundits need a hook, Friedman offers his thusly:

by Ethan Johnson
September 8, 2008

If nothing else came out of this year's Republican National Convention, it was the chant of "drill baby, drill!" Because nothing solves an energy crisis like drilling for a finite resource. Incredibly, a writer for The Economist agrees:

by Ethan Johnson
August 21, 2008

Marlena and I were watching the seven-part miniseries about John Adams a few months ago, and I had a stupidly obvious realization: Lots got done before the advent of electricity. The pyramids were built, aqueducts made, castles constructed, iron forged, wars waged, and so on. I have been wanting to investigate when the notion that UFOs built the pyramids entered the collective consciousness. Off the cuff, I suspect it was after the advent of electricity. Because in these times, it seems that we are collectively convinced that no major undertaking is possible without automation (or other-worldly intervention). Pshaw.

by Ethan Johnson
August 9, 2008

It's time for the "silly season" in US politics, which means this year the candidates are spewing sound bytes and similar bumper sticker-ese in hopes of swaying the voters. An example of this is direct from a recent bumper sticker sighting around town: "Drill here, drill now, pay less." Sure, maybe in 10 years, assuming that the oil/gas market mirrors current conditions, rather than being a last-ditch effort to placate "demand" with "supply". This is apparently a new Republican meme. On the "eco" side of things, which tends to skew left, a common refrain is "[whatever] will save the planet." Cut/paste/replace with any of the following: CFL bulbs, "green" grocery bags, wind power, solar power, geothermal power, SIGG™ water bottles, etc etc ad infinitum. I don't disagree with the assertions that many (and more) of these things can be good decisions, and yield positive benefits, but "save the planet"? What is this, Marvel Comics?

by Ethan Johnson
July 21, 2008

I have been clinging to part of the July 6 edition of the Dallas Morning News as it was chock full of Power Plus-related material, most notably a story about wind power in Texas. For the purposes of this installment, I am going to zero in on a sidebar item from the wind power story about the "grid" and peak demand.

by Ethan Johnson
July 12, 2008

"Power Plus" is an open-ended series of articles, intended to cover matters pertaining to energy production, consumption, and conservation. Admittedly, this can come off as a depressing or maddening topic, especially when I harp on conservation and consumption. Sadly, I can't promise to stop beating those topics into the ground, but now is a good time to talk a bit about advancements in the power "space" (I said that to get a rise out of the office types) and how we all might benefit from them.

by Ethan Johnson
July 11, 2008

Some years ago, I started to notice that HGTV was quietly removing ceiling fans whenever a total room makeover was being performed. I wondered if running the ceiling fans in our house was something of a sucker's bet, as the AC might actually cool the room more efficiently, and who knows what the electrical draw of each fan is, anyway?

by Ethan Johnson
July 6, 2008

The New York Times went two-for-two this weekend with stories about high US gas prices and what is being done now to cope with them, and what could have been done to minimize their impact. Fair warning: NYT online articles tend to require free registration.