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behavioral economics
Bound by the Chains of Oil: The Need for Energy Innovation
bound by oil prices?
So, when gas prices go up, we all suffer and our economy lags. What we really need are more choices to break the iron-clad grip that oil prices have on our lives and our economy.[read more]
Thailand: Where Environmentalism Rules, Sort Of
Bangkok traffic
Recently, I spent a month in Thailand and was struck by how ordinary Thais simultaneously embraced and ignored environmentalism. On the one hand, few Thais recycle, but virtually every home uses CFLs.[read more]
Can behavioral economics help save the planet?
“Consumption is a tricky issue for us, but we need to start talking about it.” So says Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. This is welcome news. Like the other big environmental NGOs, NRDC has shied away from telling people what to eat (less red meat and dairy), what kinds of cars to drive (...[read more]
Oil Price Hangover
The price of oil is an odd thing. It's watched by millions of people every day, especially when it reaches uncomfortable levels, yet no two observers agree on all the details of how it's determined. Having traded the stuff professionally, I've always given a lot more credence to the fundamentals of supply and demand than to the...[read more]
What’s for lunch? Behaviorial economics meets climate change
At the Net Impact conference last week, a waiter stopped by before lunch to ask if anyone at our table wanted a vegetarian meal instead of chicken. Just one or two people did. This, as it happens, is typical. When a meat-based entrée is being served, and people are offered a vegetarian alternative, about 5 to 10% will request it. But...[read more]
Price gouging and the “dark side of cooperation”
At Overcoming Bias, Robin Hanson points out that the human instinct for cooperation has good and bad consequences. A handful of recent articles in reaction to Frans de Waal’s new book, The Age of Empathy, and other writing on cooperation have treated it as a good thing, as a helpful counterweight to human instincts to act...[read more]
Cognitive Gaps
There’s an undeniable fact that overhangs peak oil, climate chaos, and probably a few hundred other issues one could name. Far worse than being merely an “inconvenient truth” or a “nasty reality”, it’s the issue that stands between humanity and the action needed to deal with those problems. And this is it: We live in reality, but we...[read more]
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Scott Edward Anderson is a consultant, blogger, and media commentator who blogs at The Green Skeptic. More »
Christine Hertzog is a consultant, author, and a professional explainer focused on Smart Grid. More »
Gary Hunt Gary is an Executive-in-Residence at Deloitte Investments with extensive experience in the energy & utility industries. More »
Jesse Jenkins is a graduate student and researcher at MIT with expertise in energy technology, policy, and innovation. More »
Jim Pierobon helps trade associations/NGOs, government agencies and companies communicate about cleaner energy solutions. More »
Geoffrey Styles is Managing Director of GSW Strategy Group, LLC and an award-winning blogger. More »
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“Hydrogen can also be made from fossil fuels. In fact, we are now just starting a research project on a Chemical Looping Reforming reactor with embedded membranes which could lead to affordable hydrogen production with inherent CO2 separation. Chemical Looping Reforming is based on the somewhat more mature Chemical Looping Combustion which economic studies have found capable of producing ...”
“Sally Jewell's comment that these discoveries "will help private, nonprofit and government decision makers at all levels make informed decisions about the responsible development of these resources" assumes responsible development of any new fossil fuel sources is a given.That assumption grows more dubious by the day. ”