green econometrics

As energy and food prices set new world records, what can we do at home to avert the crisis? Food prices are rising because corn is diverted from food production to producing ethanol for use as fuel in motor vehicles and is exacerbated by the recent flooding in the Mid West. Oil […]

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Solar energy is gaining considerable attention from Wall Street and countries looking to achieve energy independence. Solar energy represents one of the most significant energy solutions to help eradicate our addiction to oil. Despite the tremendous success offered with solar photovoltaic (PV), more research is required to sustain further deployment and achieve […]

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Improving economics and high market valuations should help drive research for alternative energy. With the release of Q3/07 financials, it’s clear that the economics of solar photovoltaic (PV) suppliers is improving. Some of the leading pure play publicly traded PV stocks are demonstrating significant improvements in financial performance that should drive further investment […]

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After reviewing some of the details of Honda’s experimental solar-power hydrogen refueling station in Torrance, CA and its fuel cell vehicle several questions concerning efficiency and practicality come to mind. It most be noted that solar and hydrogen don’t emit harmful byproducts such as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide so both technologies […]

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With the Solar Decathlon is taking place in Washington DC today promoting commercially available solar energy technology and oil prices pushing to an all time high of $84/barrel, where are we in terms of cost parity with hydrocarbon fuels. Advances in solar energy technology, lower production costs, and rapidly rising oil costs […]

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From our post last week we visited some research at California Institute of Technology’s division of Chemical and Chemical Engineering The Lewis Group and its focus on energy conversion and trade-offs between costs and efficiencies for photovoltaic (PV) devices.
We are providing a brief and very oversimplified analysis of the physics behind […]

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With rising energy prices and growing concern over global warming, will advances in solar and alternative energies enable the development of affordable and efficient energy solutions. Caltech research on the energy conversion process may offer some insight.
Energy conversion, ways of converting sunlight to electric and chemical energy, offers promising advancements to make solar […]

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Without greater investment into solar and hydrogen energies, we are held hostage to rising oil prices. Alternative energies such as solar and hydrogen fuel cells offer tremendous potential to provide energy independence and energy security. The dependence of the U.S. upon imported foreign oil raises inflation, weakens our currency, exacerbates the trade deficit, […]

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There is considerable variance in calculating the cost of solar energy. Using U.S. Solar Radiation Resource Maps from the National Solar Radiation Data BaseThe (NSRDB) we found the amount of kilowatt-hours (KWH) per days of solar radiation per square-meter varies from less than two for Northern Alaska to six KWH/m2 per day […]

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