by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 14, 2023 | Energy Rant
About two weeks ago, New England got a punch in the mouth from old man winter. I tuned into the Mt. Washington Observatory (New Hampshire) to check the conditions. On Friday evening, February 3, it was cool and breezy at minus 46°F[1] with 99 mph wind and freezing...
by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 6, 2023 | Energy Rant
PSA I thought of making some wisecracks about the trial balloon that the Chinese Communist Party drifted over the United States. Whatever the intent, it’s no good. The thing that gave me a chill is that these balloons are a top ‘delivery platform’ for a nuclear EMP...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 31, 2023 | Energy Rant
In this year’s twelve-pack of predictions for 2023, I forecast that the attacks on the U.S. power grid would continue, and the media would desperately attempt to blame their ideological opponents as extremists. Yawn. The attacks certainly risk public welfare, safety,...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 24, 2023 | Energy Rant
As undergraduate mechanical engineering students, we took materials science courses and studied phase diagrams like the one below from “Metallurgy for Dummies.” Does that appear to be dummy-grade to you? It gave me a chuckle. A phase diagram for water (below) is...
by Michaels Energy | Jan 22, 2023 | The Big Why
If we are counting on energy efficiency to account for a large part of reducing carbon emissions, we need to count lifetime savings accurately. Annual CO2 emissions in the US may be leveling off or declining, but CO2 lasts a very long time in the atmosphere and its...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 17, 2023 | Energy Rant
Last week I read a statement from a retail energy provider. It said, “100% green rates, always.” It doesn’t work that way. An aggregation of power sources, including renewable, nuclear, coal, and natural gas, are supplying the grid at any given time. The little...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 10, 2023 | Energy Rant
A Twelve-Pack for 2023 Last year Las Vegas booked my predictions at 1:1.5 odds. This year I’m being more aggressive and expect something closer to a 3:1 weighted average. Below, I include my estimates for each forecast. Ukraine War I’ll get the tough stuff out of the...
by Elisabeth Hamilton | Jan 10, 2023 | Awards
Our VP of Marketing, Liz Haworth, won the Rising Stars in Energy award by CHARGE for her unique approach to branding in energy. CHARGE works with energy companies from across the globe who are trailblazers, all committed to advancing their brand and strengthening...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 3, 2023 | Energy Rant
This post features the results of my Lucky 7 predictions I made a year ago, a grade for each omen, and a little sass here and there. Coal Record Prediction: Annual worldwide coal consumption will pass the all-time high set in 2014. Result: The Internation Energy...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 27, 2022 | Energy Rant
With most people off this week, it is a good time to probe the mysteries of life that I have accumulated in recent years. Food Let’s start with a great food mystery; the hamburger. Every other burger has the key ingredient in the name: turkey burger, walnut burger,...
