Yesterday I wrote a post about how expensive car batteries are. Today Brad Plumer has a post about clean energy subsidies and how they're fading out. These two things together reminded me about an energy factoid that's always struck me as slightly odd: virtually every form of energy seems to be almost as efficient as burning oil, but not quite.
For example, on either a power/weight basis or a cost basis, batteries are maybe 2x or 3x bigger and less efficient than an internal combustion engine.
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On Monday night, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said he would be in favor of ending century-old subsidies to the oil and gas industry, if clean energy tax breaks end as well. But when Upton has had the chance to nix ... Read Post
A123 Systems, a manufacturer of electric car batteries and recipient of stimulus money, filed for bankruptcy today. Brad Plumer puts this in perspective: Of the 29 battery companies that received federal stimulus support, A123 is th... Read Post
Brad Plumer advocates scrapping "the $775 billion spent [globally] each year subsidizing oil, gas, and coal." He explains why this probably won't happen, even though the cost of the subsidies could be devoted "to efficiency upgrades... Read Post