True Progress

One of the real driving forces in any human exploration has been intense need. In the initial human migrations around the globe, people explored out of a need for food, and a need to be safe from other potentially hostile bands–there is safety in distance. During the European colonization period the nations and kingdoms of Europe felt an intense need for hard currency (gold) and other physical wealth (spices, gems, etc.) to support their mercantilist economic systems. In today’s world, many hope for human exploration of space in a noble adventure to make our mark in the galaxy, but what will really pull us off the planet will be our needs. Read the rest of this entry »

With energy costs increasing faster than inflation and much faster than income in the United States, many have a desire to conserve. But, without information, our conservation may be more expensive than it is worth and hardly as effective as it could have been. The kill-a-watt electricity usage monitor provides a useful way to be smart about conservation. Increase the efficiency of your home. Read the rest of this entry »

In this earlier article on the new CAFE standards, I found that depending on the assumptions made for the number of future miles driven, restricting the speed limit to 55 miles per hour would be a more cost effective and more energy efficient solution than changing the CAFE standard. That analysis only considered the total amount of fuel consumed between the two options. Now, let’s take that analysis a few steps further. Read the rest of this entry »