carbon-reduction Archives - Michaels Energy

Jun 01

North Carolina’s Carbon Plan Criticized for Lack of Specifics, Energy Reliability and Possible Higher Bills

By Jeff Ihnen Carbon Reduction No Comments

A plan to significantly reduce carbon emissions in North Carolina is receiving widespread criticism. Environmental groups believe the state’s first Carbon Plan lacks specifics while other critics are concerned that too much reliance on renewable energy will be costly to the state. Some customers believe increasing renewables will mean a less reliable grid. The passing of House Bill 951 requires Duke Energy and other electric utility providers to reduce carbon emissions by 70% from 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Carbon Plan released on Dec. 30, one day ahead of the state deadline, essentially serves...

Jun 01

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Does Green Investing Work? Expert Says No

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

I’m just a mechanical systems[1] engineer but assume for a moment that I was a structural or civil engineer, and you asked me what it would take to build a bridge from Los Angeles to Honolulu. We can build anything, including that bridge. If the Golden Gate Bridge could be built in the 1930s, a nuclear submarine in the 1950s, and we put a man on the moon in the 1960s, we can sure as heck build a bridge to Hawaii in the 2020s. The bridge would be easier than zeroing out carbon emissions from the energy sector. See, I’m...

Dec 22

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Baker’s Dozen Energy and Carbon Saving Tricks

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Do squeaky wheels get the grease? No. They get replaced (Peter’s principle). Adulators get dessert. That is the case this week as I had considerable positive feedback from last week’s post: 12 schemes for waste and carbon-reduction. I will move one step upstream of that pie chart that showed shares of carbon emissions by household. That was a page by globalstewards.org, featuring 20 ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Here are some of Global Steward’s recommendations. 1. Walk when your destination is within a two-mile radius. This is great, except it comes with a big non-energy penalty: time. This is...

Dec 16

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12 Schemes to Reduce Carbon Emissions

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Back in the day, when I was interviewing college kids for full-time employment with us, I would ask them to tell me about things they have done in their personal experiences to save energy. The purpose was twofold, 1) do you dig efficiency, or are you just looking for employment – any employment, and 2) creativity. I thought I had everything covered, but some real zingers gave me a chuckle. It’s too bad I cannot recall them at this time. Nevertheless, I came across an old paper that appears to have been published for an ACEEE Summer Study in 1994,...

Sep 03

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Strategic Energy Management is Elvis

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

You’ve been there – on the phone trying to get some help from a car dealership, appliance store, online retailer. The menu choices are unclear, especially for auto stores (hit zero). It makes me cringe when I hear my Mom say she called Dell for help with her computer. Yikes, Mom. This isn’t the plumber on Main Street. Maybe Dell isn’t bad, but hearing my Mom say she was on the line “with them” for two hours, I have my conceptions. I would expect no help from an organization like that. Any help would be above and beyond. So what’s...

Jun 11

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Stage 4 Climate Change and the National Debt

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 4 Comments

You are not reading the Rant for a weekly dose of pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. You read it for the spicy beef jerky – even vegetarians. I mean, vegetarians can’t resist the beef jerky. Nobody wants to eat a vegetarian. Anyway, the Rant is a dose of what you need to hear and what you want to hear. This week is no exception. Confession But first, I have a confession to make. Exactly one year ago, I wrote about the Paris climate accord in The Abominable Snowman (inferring that it was toothless). I had only...

Dec 08

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Policy to Curb Carbon

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Stimulus, Tax Stuff No Comments

Any carbon-reduction policy that includes paying Washington for permits to emit carbon is the wrong way to go. Why? Two words. Social Security. Washington has no spending restraint. Earmark nation is alive and thriving. Everyone has heard of the Social Security Trust Fund; Al Gore’s “lock box”. Social Security has been running surpluses in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year for a long time. If you think your payroll taxes are piling up for your retirement in a bunker under Washington somewhere, you are sorely mistaken. Our profligate government has been taking the surplus and spending it on...

North Carolina’s Carbon Plan Criticized for Lack of Specifics, Energy Reliability and Possible Higher Bills

Does Green Investing Work? Expert Says No

Baker’s Dozen Energy and Carbon Saving Tricks

12 Schemes to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Strategic Energy Management is Elvis

Stage 4 Climate Change and the National Debt

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