Money and Finance
- Buffett's $26 Billion Power Bet In West Seen Paying Off
Link to article: Buffett's $26 Billion Power Bet in West Seen Paying Off Warren Buffett’s $26 billion bet on western U.S. power plants, transmission lines and wind farms is poised to pay off. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with the...
- Global Energy: The Latest Infatuations - By Vaclav Smil
Found via Miguel at Simoleon Sense.To follow global energy affairs is to have a never-ending encounter with new infatuations. Fifty years ago media ignored crude oil (a barrel went for little more than a dollar). Instead the western utilities were preoccupied...
- Vaclav Smil's “energy Myths And Realities” - A Review
Found via Chris Martenson.Vaclav Smil, professor of Environment and Environmental Geography at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, has written a new book called “Energy Myths and Realities.” In the book, he looks at a number of things he considers...
- Why Technology Hasn't Saved Us From Inflation (but Still Can)
Technology can be a powerful deflationary force. Thanks to Moore's Law (the remarkable ability of computer technology to double in power for the same price, or halve in price for the same power, every 18 months) if you want a 50 percent discount on...
- Emerson Stock Analysis
Last week was a slow week for the blog because work was really busy, so I figured I'd give y'all another stock analysis. This time I decided to take a look at Emerson Electric Company (EMR). Emerson closed on Friday 5/25/12 at $47.28. Company...
Money and Finance
Companies Unplug From the Electric Grid, Delivering a Jolt to Utilities
Thanks to Matt for passing this along.
On a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, two big wind turbines crank out electricity for Kroger Co.'s Turkey Hill Dairy in rural Lancaster County, Pa., allowing it to save 25% on its power bill for the past two years.
Across the country, at a big food-distribution center Kroger also owns in Compton, Calif., a tank system installed this year uses bacteria to convert 150 tons a day of damaged produce, bread and other organic waste into a biogas that is burned on site to produce 20% of the electricity the facility uses.
These two projects, plus the electric output of solar panels at four Kroger grocery stores, and some energy-conservation efforts are saving the Cincinnati-based grocery chain $160 million a year on electricity, said Denis George, its energy manager. That is a lot of money that isn't going into the pockets of utilities.
From big-box retailers to high-tech manufacturers, more companies across the country are producing their own power. Since 2006, the number of electricity-generation units at commercial and industrial sites has more than quadrupled to roughly 40,000 from about 10,000, according to federal statistics.
Experts say the trend is gaining momentum, spurred by falling prices for solar panels and natural gas, as well as a fear that power outages caused by major storms will become more common.
- Buffett's $26 Billion Power Bet In West Seen Paying Off
Link to article: Buffett's $26 Billion Power Bet in West Seen Paying Off Warren Buffett’s $26 billion bet on western U.S. power plants, transmission lines and wind farms is poised to pay off. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with the...
- Global Energy: The Latest Infatuations - By Vaclav Smil
Found via Miguel at Simoleon Sense.To follow global energy affairs is to have a never-ending encounter with new infatuations. Fifty years ago media ignored crude oil (a barrel went for little more than a dollar). Instead the western utilities were preoccupied...
- Vaclav Smil's “energy Myths And Realities” - A Review
Found via Chris Martenson.Vaclav Smil, professor of Environment and Environmental Geography at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, has written a new book called “Energy Myths and Realities.” In the book, he looks at a number of things he considers...
- Why Technology Hasn't Saved Us From Inflation (but Still Can)
Technology can be a powerful deflationary force. Thanks to Moore's Law (the remarkable ability of computer technology to double in power for the same price, or halve in price for the same power, every 18 months) if you want a 50 percent discount on...
- Emerson Stock Analysis
Last week was a slow week for the blog because work was really busy, so I figured I'd give y'all another stock analysis. This time I decided to take a look at Emerson Electric Company (EMR). Emerson closed on Friday 5/25/12 at $47.28. Company...