Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere
Energy, Water in `Catch-22′
Archive of entries posted by jfleck
The Water-Energy Nexus
The water-energy interface is a problem area. Energy production requires water. Water production requires energy. We don’t have enough of either, which is the makings of a serious problem. There’s a nice summary of the issue in the March 20 Nature, by Mike Hightower and Suzanne Pierce from Sandia Labs. Nature makes you pay, but …
Drought in Israel
A story out of Jerusalem about drought in Israel reminds that the place labels change, but the themes remain: Israel’s water problem stems from population growth and an improvement in quality of life that brings a greater desire to water lawns and gardens, Schor said. This winter was the fourth that Israel got less than …
Today’s Syllogism
I love Belshaw. I love baseball. Therefore, I love Belshaw on baseball. Then from behind us, two rows up, comes this gravelly, hard-core South Side Chicago White Sox voice: “Show me da flag! Show me da flag! Show me da flag! Show me da flag! Show me da flag!”
The Winters Wild Card
The U.S. Supreme Court’s “Winters” decision a century ago essentially says native Americans are entitled to the water they need. But “need” here is a pretty squishy thing, and we’re still sort out its implications. Matt Jenkins has a terrific piece in the latest High Country News about the Navajo piece of this puzzle – …
Communicating Variability
Communicating with a non-statistical public about issues of variability is enormously difficult. I deal with this all the time with respect to weather. How much warmer (colder) is it today than “normal”? The Energy Information Agency’s “This Week in Petroleum” had a great discussion of the issue Thursday with respect to the prospect of $4 …
On The Cost of Energy
Michael Tobis does some nice number-crunching on the true costs of energy: A hundred dollars a barrel. A barrel! Energy is unbelievably cheap. That’s about six million BTUs. One point seven megawatt hours. With that $100 barrel you can power your laptop for two years. You can ship hundreds of pounds of bananas from Guatemala. …
Water in the Desert: 2008 Runoff Edition
Charmed by yesterday’s trip north to see snow, I rode my bike up to the Alameda Bridge today to see the result. You can see from the picture that the Rio Grande at 2,000 cubic feet per second is sufficient to begin overtopping the sandbar island in the middle of the river. Lots more snow …
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It’s Melting
As Scot points out, there’s a crapload of snow all over the western U.S. right now. That’s probably the most interesting bit from a climatological perspective. You typically see wet up north and dry down south, or vice versa. But we’ve also hit a warm spell down here, which means you’re starting to see things …
Who’s Saving Now?
A confession: I’m one of those people who delights as the gas price numbers at the Kwik-E-Mart around the corner from my house tick up higher and higher. I know, I know, I’m a bad person. There are folks for whom that price really hurts, who don’t have the disposable cash to buy 30-year old …