Fuel from Air

Peak oil presents a liquid fuels problem.  Transportation depends heavily on oil and nothing is in place to take on the demand.  Every once in a while, a new technology hits the news.  Air Fuel Synthesis is a company with a process that reacts hydrogen with carbon dioxide to produce gasoline.

Now, it's probably helpful to have a process to produce fuel that doesn't depend on crude oil or biomass.  And it's nice to extract some carbon dioxide from the air.  But electrolyzing hydrogen from water involves a net energy loss.  The plan calls for renewable energy to do that, but we're better off using that power more directly.  They hope to produce a ton per day in two years and don't mention any energy return on energy invested.

There seems to be a never ending quest for a silver bullet to solve intractable problems.

Update (April 3, 2013):  Research at the University of Georgia is using a modified microorganism to directly produce biofuel from atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Update (April 8, 2014):  The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory has demonstrated using carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater to produce hydrocarbon fuel.

Update (August 1, 2016):  A study published in Science describes using a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide which is easier to further convert into hydrocarbon fuels.

Seeds of Destruction

Chrystia Freeland argues that as people start to accumulate wealth, they seek to protect their own position and transform an inclusive society of economic mobility into an extractive one where elites try to get as much as they can out of the rest of society.  She reiterates a point made by Stiglitz that growing inequality has led to lower mobility.  The super rich are confusing their own interests with the common good.

Voting for Obama

This year, for the first time, I will vote to re-elect an incumbent president.  Rebecca Solnit explains why.

We are facing a radical right that has abandoned all interest in truth and fact.

Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

The preliminary minimum for 2012 is 3.41 million square kilometers.  This is 49 percent below the minimum extent average from 1979 to 2000.  It is also 18 percent below the previous record in 2007.

Update (January 25, 2015):  Watch the arctic ice cap melt away.

One Year

Today was the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Rebecca Solnit reflects on what it means.

Update (September 16, 2013):  Further reflections from Solnit at the second anniversary.  It's not about instant results, but rather the seeds that get planted.

Sea Ice Extent May Be Uncertain

Even with a record low this year, it's possible there's even less ice than the satellites show.

Lost Decade

The State of Working America 12th Edition presents the conclusion that the American "middle class has suffered a lost decade and faces the threat of another."

Compared to several other rich countries, the US has greater inequality and less mobility.

The Gini coefficient for the US has grown 32 percent since it's lowest value in 1968.

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class seeks to reverse these trends.  There's a big need for well paying jobs with decent benefits.