Archive for energy policy
The film “Minority Report” – Pre-Crime, and Pre-Bribe
Posted by: | CommentsPeople may have seen the rather good (IMHOP) film “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise.
The basic plot idea is that in the future the authorities have a means of detecting serious crimes just before they are about to happen, using a sort of hi tech clairvoyant.
Tom Cruise and his hi tech cops then zoom off and arrest the about-to-commit-murder criminal, and he is charged with Pre-Crime – a crime he didn’t commit but would have committed but for the police intervention. It’s a good yarn. Read More→
Professor David Elliot, Open University criticises New Labour Policy On Nuclear Energy
Posted by: | CommentsNuclear expansion? Not in my name
The public debate and the government consultations in 2006 and 2007 on nuclear
power were framed in the context of a replacement programme for existing
reactors scheduled to close. On this basis it has been suggested that there was
if not a clear consensus then at least a majority in favour.
However, subsequently the government began to talk about goin Read More→
Plotting the performance of a technology against the money or effort invested in it most often yields an S-shaped curve: slow initial improvement, then accelerated improvement, then diminishing improvement.
These S-curves can be used to gain insight into the relative payoff of investment in competing technologies, as well as providing some insight into when and why some technologies overtake others in the race for dominance. Analyzing renewable energies from such a technology S-curve perspective reveals some surprising and important implications for both government and industry. Using data on government R&D investment and technological improvement (in the form of cost reductions), we show that both wind energy and geothermal energy are poised to become more economical than fossil fuels Read More→
