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Supply and demand

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

What happens when the supply of any product continues to dwindle is predictable? First prices rise because of simple supply and demand economics. If demand is not that elastic as is the case for energy, consumers will have to find ways to pay the price. Even when supplies dwindle and...
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The carbon cycle

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Every living thing is dependent upon green plants for sustenance. Whether you’re a vegetarian, a herbivore, or a carnivore if you look back far enough in your food chain, what you eat comes from plants. Even fungi that breakdown once living things in the process of decay, earn a living...
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eROeI–energy accounting 101

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

In business there’s a concept called return on investment (ROI), and it’s pretty simple. When ROI is a positive number you can make a profit, when it’s negative, you lose money. If you invest $10, say in marketing, to sell a $1,000 product, your ROI on the marketing program is...
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Economics and Climate Change

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

There are plenty of analyses of the costs associated with a warming planet including those associated with major weather incidents like hurricanes and tornadoes, crop failures, greater demand for electricity to control personal climate, and much more. This piece is not about that because there are other unexplored issues to...
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Another facet of climate, refugee crisis

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Climate refugee is an odd term, one that many people are not familiar with but climate refugee status is something we’re already dealing with. The question is how bad we let the situation become before recognizing it as a major event that’s part of the climate crisis and not some...
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Climate Change at a Crossroads

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Recent storm activity in the Atlantic and Caribbean as well as extreme hot weather and forest fires in the northwest have brought renewed attention to the topic of climate change. We may be at a tipping point where it’s no longer possible to sidestep human responsibility for the growing crisis...
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Beginning of the End for Internal Combustion

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Debate about the internal combustion engine’s future in the automobile is heating up in the world’s biggest car market, China. For several years, the Chinese have been seeking ways to accelerate development of low cost and reliable electric transportation and threatening to ban the internal combustion engine. China has some...
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Why Photosynthesis is So Attractive

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

There are many suggestions for removing carbon dioxide from the air to help reduce the impact of global warming including various mechanical approaches to capturing CO2 from the air and moving it to underground storage. However, if you evaluate these ideas by how much pollution causing energy they still need...
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Plan B for the Carbon Cycle

September 22, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Every living thing is dependent upon green plants for sustenance. Whether you’re a vegetarian, a herbivore, or a carnivore if you look back far enough in your food chain, what you eat comes from green plants and ultimately the sun. Even fungi that breakdown once living things in the process...
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Cap and Trade

September 22, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a consortium of 9 states including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont that supports a mandatory market based program to lower CO2 pollution from the electric power sector. The states agreed in 2014 to cap CO2...
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