Comments by Kristopher Settle Subscribe

On Ethanol Biofuels Mandate On Alert

Some distribution companies do already.. I know FedEx and UPS have fleets of liquified natural gas (LNG) vehicles, for example..and they do save money on fuel costs for now...but getting the general public on board for LNG has been arduous at best.  I would assume because of the lack of filling stations. 

I can imagine if lawmakers are looking for a speedy solution to implementing natural gas in a sizable way, Rep. Olson's bill would be a quick way to do it 

On Industrial Energy Efficiency Gets a Boost with Revamped Shaheen-Portman Bill

http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=28547172 

PG&E Lauds U.S. Senators Shaheen And Portman For Leadership In Introducing Important Energy Efficiency Legislation

On Canadian Hydro-Power: Niagara Tunnel Now Fully Functional

oops! thank you and fixed

I had it right on the top of the article but must have been rushing for the second mention near the bottom

On Energy Storage Study Predicts Boom Through 2022

more or less that phrase is in reference to Navigant suggesting they would want to upgrade methods to defer the electricity off the power grid to these storage devices

little more explanation is here, great question Ivor - http://www.electricitystorage.org/technology/technology_applications/transmission_and_districution_deferral 

On Breaking Down the Super Bowl Blackout

Agreed about the worst case scenario prep, Steve. 

It sounds as though the city of New Orleans and SMG knew there was an issue with faulty equipment months in advance...the question is whether they made the proper repairs with the $500,000 they had to work with, or if it was something secondary that caused the blackout.  I suppose only SMG and Entergy know that for certain (and i doubt they'll provide the whole story unless they absolutely need to). 

Thank you for the comment and for your time, Steve.

On Will Climate Change Hawk Kerry Kill Keystone XL?

That's exactly it, Jessica - this oil is going somewhere and I think that's out of the US's control.  If the options are either to have Canada export that oil to the US or export it to China/Russia/anybody else, I'd favor that it come through America for the jobs and economic benefits. 

My heart's with not building the pipeline, but my brain favors it for the reason above. 

On Newest Solar Energy Development Could Be Gamechanging

Thanks for the feedback Roger - i agree on most fronts, when I state that cost and efficiency are the greatest barriers I'm referring more to barriers of entry into the industry, not so much real-world barriers, but you still bring up a very valid/important point.

A solar cell is almost entrely ineffective when the sun's down right now...and that's not good enough for self-sufficiency.  Fair enough - but based on the technological advances I've seen in the industry..even in the last 5 years, I see the nighttime issue as more of a speed bump than an impassable barrier.  It's only a matter of time before somebody discovers an effective way to operate the things we use at night with the solar energy that's stored by some sort of a chargable battery system. 

In the meantime, even if the solar nighttime issue isn't solved immediately, the option to run a hybrid style system with solar in the day and more conventional energy generation at night is a possibility - if anything, it's nice that an energy option exists nowadays

Plus, in reference to you mentioning how solar energy's not there when we need it most..well it actually is there..because the time of the day the nation sees the most electrical draw is the early afternoon (or in the morning during wintertime in some regions of the US) - this is just the first thing that popped up when i searched, but it's validated by an engineer at a utility on Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090123141510AAaHItm 

Again, thank you for reaching out Roger

On Newest Solar Energy Development Could Be Gamechanging

Thank you Sarah ,I think it's really interesting too.  Couple big things that I didn't mention in the article were that the company already has over 4 gigawatts worth of requests for the Spin Cell...considering that the US has 7 gigs of solar installed as a whole, that'extremely impressive.

And in terms of the logistics on going large scale...V3 Solar is working with a design house in California to refine the Spin Cell before mass producing...so the wheels are turning, no doubt.  Only seems like a matter of time before the Spin Cell catches momentum, I look forward to seeing how it all plays out. 

On Climate Change and Washington's Approach

This is a very interesting topic Eileen, California was the first state to OK a carbon tax in 2010, was first instituted Nov 2012 - I did a write up about it http://www.yourenergyblog.com/californias-cap-and-trade-policy-takes-effect-this-week-ramifications-unknown - a lot of pundits believe the CA program is the guinea pig for a national program - great read

On Enhanced LED Design Inspired by Fireflies

that's pretty awesome Tyler, it's fascinating how some of the best solutions for living our lives day to day is right beneath our nose (or in the abdomen of a lightning bug, I should say) - good job  

On Air Pollution: The Price of Coal in China

in terms of global emissions are concerned, a lot of our progress is going to rest on China and India's shoulders to find ways to continually develop, but to do so without completely oblitherating the environment.  Although the technology's there, nothing appears to be able to outprice ole' fashioned coal burning for the time being.  Hopefully the costs of energy generation will continue to balance themselves out and right soon - until then I'll expect to see more 'airpocalypses' moving forward. 

On Obama Makes Climate Change a Priority in Inaugural Speech

Obama has a lot on his plate with renewable energies in his second term, especially having to replace a lot of the members of his core energy team (Ken Salazar, Lisa Jackson, ..rumored that Steven Chu will announce his departure soon too) It's smart of him to address climate change without needing to be prompted..if he didn't, the speculation that he would be shying away from renewable energies would blow up pretty quickly.  It was a good start by renewing the tax credits/exemptions for wind energy at the beginning of the year, let's see if he keeps it up!