by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 14, 2019 | Energy Rant
Last week, we explored ethanol carbon content, carbon caps and markets, and refiner profits on gasoline and diesel fuel. Wasn’t it fantastic stuff? This week, we describe precisely how the fluids you use to fuel and lubricate your vehicle are manufactured, what drives...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 7, 2019 | Energy Rant
I recently researched many attributes and market effects for liquid fuels for a project we are working on, and like my digging into the wind and climate studies, this research results in several findings. This post covers ethanol and gasoline blends. A future post...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 2, 2019 | Energy Rant
Many of us at Michaels are gluttons for data and accompanying analysis. Our homes are test beds. In this post, we look at impacts from smart thermostats, the dangers of wrong assumptions, and extrapolating findings for impact evaluation. Every smart thermostat...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 17, 2018 | Energy Rant
When I dig in to research a topic for the Rant, it’s a bit like American Pickers with Mike and Frank, but not drama. Pickers cover thousands of square feet of junk or treasure. I suppose the contents of this blog could be described as thousands of words of junk or...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 10, 2018 | Energy Rant
Last week we started to learn how wind turbines impact the environment from a global warming perspective. As an engineer, I have to understand the physics behind that, and in the meantime, I chased one rabbit and found that even though the wind dies down at night,...
by Jessica Wagner | Dec 10, 2018 | Videos & Webinars
Electrification has garnered a lot of attention recently across the country. Likewise in Minnesota. electrification and the associated concept of fuel switching within conservation programs have been the subject of conversations. research. policy dockets. program...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 3, 2018 | Energy Rant
As children, some engineers liked to take things apart to see how they worked – and maybe even put them back together. That was too much work for me, but I was curious. I would intently watch my Mom as she accelerated the 1970s Ford Galaxy 500[1] down the road. What...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 19, 2018 | Energy Rant
If polling managers were competent, we would have election day rather than the election playoffs. For several days they were finding ballots in the usual places anyone normal would stash them, like elementary school classrooms, rental car trunks, vans, and the bottoms...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 22, 2018 | Energy Rant
E2e, and I have no idea what that stands for, is a joint initiative of University of California-Berkeley, The University of Chicago, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their charter is to assess and quantify the energy efficiency gap between estimated, or...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 15, 2018 | Energy Rant
Show me the money, Jerry! That is what I have to say about building energy performance. I don’t care for bling and doohickeys. What is the bottom line at the meter? I surmise that ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager[1] was conceived and developed with the best of intentions...
