Arabian Gazette
Arabian Gazette Author Archive for: John Brian Shannon
(Click on my hyperlinked name above — to go directly to my Author Archive at ArabianGazette.com to read my latest articles published there)
President Obama Updates America’s Energy Strategy
President Obama visited the Argonne National Laboratory today in Argonne, Illinois, to give a major speech on the future of American energy. A new, USD $2 billion dollar program called the energy security trust was announced which gives focus to the administration’s plans for more renewable energy and proposes lower subsidies for fossil fuels….
Shell Drops Two ‘Bombs’ in One Week
First came the announcement this week by Shell senior executives that oil extraction in the Arctic would be postponed for the 2nd year in a row, and second is yesterday’s announcement foreshadowing the company’s plan for the future, ‘Shell Sees Solar As The Biggest Energy Source After Exiting It’ in 2009…
The New MPG is MPD – Miles per Dollar
For decades, we have measured fuel economy and miles traveled by car or truck in the familiar miles traveled per gallon of gasoline, or MPG. Some nations don’t use miles as they use the metric system and distance is measured in kilometers (American spelling) or kilometres (European and Canadian spelling) which…
The Big 3 and the Paradigm shift of US Auto Industry
The Big 3 – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have always ruled the roost in the history of American automotive industry. It began in the 1890′s in the US and grew to become one of the largest industries in the world, with high demand from consumers who considered it as…
Reality check on Greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gas is a catch-all term used to describe a class of gases — either naturally-occurring or man-made (anthropogenic) which have a detrimental effect on the Earth’s atmosphere. It is no longer in academic dispute that any upset to the natural atmospheric equilibrium can wreak havoc on the climate of…
The Biggest Energy Story of 2012
The world energy industry is suddenly transforming into something very different from the industry we have grown accustomed to over the past decades. It used to be, pump and burn more oil, mine and burn more coal and build more coal-fired burners to produce electricity. More, more and more…
The Next Trillion-dollar Business
In past decades, oil wells were considered ‘spent wells’ when only one-third of their total volume was pumped to the surface for our use. It turns out that the astonishingly-high energy costs to pump crude oil from the bottom two-thirds of an oil reservoir is one of two main reasons…
Leadership and Opportunity – China’s New Leaders
While some might think that the sky is falling now that a new President of China and a new Chinese Premier will be installed in March 2013, some feel this is a time of hope for China…
Clean Energy: How to Get There From Here
Everyone knows more electricity is needed in developed nations and electrical needs in developing nations are skyrocketing. No problem there — everyone deserves to live a good lifestyle and enjoy our modern technology to the fullest. The problem occurs in the means used to generate that electricity. Some kinds of electrical power generation cause…
The Economics of Green Energy
Back in the old days of sustainable energy, circa 2000, the cost of switching to solar or wind was so expensive that only the well-intentioned considered it – and only the very wealthy could afford it. How times have changed! Nowadays, utility-scale solar power and wind power are cost-competitive with…
Sustainable Energy has Merit in Germany
Electricity rates in Germany drop by up to 40% during the hours in which solar power or wind power are active – and this is what Merit Order Ranking is all about, using the cheapest available electricity source FIRST - and then filling in the gaps with more expensive coal-fired electrical power generation SECOND…
Energy: The Ball is in Our Court
Human beings use different kinds of energy for different purposes all over the planet every hour of the day and night. About one-third of the human-produced energy is used for transportation which requires energy that is easily stored and ready for use at any time – the gasoline in your car…
Size Isn’t Everything! – The Modular Nuclear Reactor
The March 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster has precipitated a world of change in Japan’s nuclear power industry. Within hours of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, some of Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants (which had supplied 27% of Japan’s electricity) were shut down on orders from then Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Japan is…
Next Generation Biofuels are Making Solid Progress
As many of you know most of the gasoline available in North America today has a biofuel component of between 5 – 10 percent. Newer cars and trucks are E85 compatible, meaning they can operate with up to 85 percent ethanol blended into the gasoline – which means there is…
The U.S. Military Turns to an Old, Reliable Partner – Solar Power!
The first solar panels ever installed, were photo-voltaic solar panels mounted on military satellites and blasted into space from Cape Kennedy, Florida during the ‘Space Race’ of the 1960′s. Many of those old, reliable PV solar-powered satellites are still up there sending back (decidedly low-tech) information – as compared to today’s satellites…
President Barack Obama: Too Smart to Take the Bait
Only four months ago, many pundits in the US were predicting political chaos along with a dramatic drop in the polls for President Barack Obama if he refused to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built directly over the Ogallala reservoir in Nebraska. Everything from Congressional gridlock to lame-duck disease…
