Cincinnatus BLOG *** Political Commentary - Social Commentary

  The first lesson every President learns is that in trying to please all his constituents he pleases no one, including himself. President Obama sold the $800 billion Stimulus Plan to the American people as a strategy to create untold infrastructure jobs. If fact, President Obama said the stimulus plan would save or create 3.5 million jobs in the next two years and that he hoped to limit the unemployment rate to a peak of 8% this summer. In typical political bait and switch fashion his democratic Congress allocated 8% of the stimulus money to infrastructure projects. Instead of infrasturture jobs Congress gave us cornucopia of social programs that have been on their wish list for decades, leaving the President with egg on his face. The unemployment rate has already reached… Continue reading | 30 Comments

  Some thoughts for Obama Motors to consider! Only 20% of the energy contained in gasoline is converted to mechanical energy by a traditional internal combustion engine. Refinements in the internal combustion engine, improved aerodynamics, more efficient drivetrains and low resistance tires could make a greater contribution to increased milage and reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) production than advanced technology such as plug-in cars. Among the adjustments that could help improve fuel economy are turbocharging with smaller, more efficient engines that produce the same level of power; advanced heat management and cooling systems, which reuse the heat produced by the engine for energy; weight reduction, including extensive use of high-strength steel; better aerodynamics; more efficient air conditioners, transmissions and lighting devices and increased electrification leading to full hybridization with electric motor and… Continue reading | 4 Comments

  How much confidence do we have in the science? Researchers use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships. This method requires that a hypothesis be constructed. Scientists then design an appropriate well-controlled experiment to test that hypothesis. The results must be statistically significant and reproducible in order to be considered valid. There are a number of techniques that can be used to enhance the objectivity of a study as well as increase its statistical reliability. In prospective medical research for example, we often use double blind, placebo controlled studies so that neither the researcher nor the patient knows if they are receiving the active drug or a placebo. This eliminates observer bias. Some times we cross the patient's over, so that the same patient takes both the active… Continue reading | 13 Comments

  Despite the soaring rhetoric to the contrary, President Obama has amassed an impressive record of caving to every Democratic special interest group in America. Not once, has he stood up to the special interests. The critical question is - will he find his manhood before he gives away the national store? We were promised shovel ready infrastructure projects by President Obama, but only a miserly 8% of the $787 billion stimulus plan was allocated to this use, and very little of that will be spent in 2009. The left of his party held sway and President Obama sheepishly, albeit with great fanfare, signed on. With great oratorical flourish we were introduced to President Obama's choice for Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, the man who would bring real change to a failing inner-city… Continue reading | 11 Comments

  Coal-fired plants produce approximately 50% of the electricity in the United States and 82% of power generated carbon dioxide emissions.  If electric vehicles are charged exclusively by coal-fired electricity they produce more green house gases than a traditional gasoline-powered combustion engine car. In the future, electricity must be generated cleanly, if we expect automotive electric-drive technologies to reduce our carbon dioxide burden. Wind and solar will probably make a significant contribution to clean energy generation, but realistically, we cannot count on these two sources for more than 20-30% of our electricity needs in the next 20 years. Even reaching these modest goals will require a major investment in energy infrastructure and fundamental advances in technology. Nuclear power may be the only clean alternative. In the United States… Continue reading | 3 Comments

When the only tool you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. In other words, there is no problem that a bureaucrat can't solve, if only we would let them pass another regressive tax. That may well be the sum total of the creative thinking that has gone into the Obama Cap-and-Trade plan. The Obama Administration proposes that companies buy a permit for each ton of carbon emitted, at an estimated cost, to start of $13 to $20 per ton. The permits could then be bought and sold. The theory behind this convoluted scheme is that it will somehow miraculously increase energy efficiency and renewable energy development. Rather than focus on available technological solutions, let's burden hard working American consumers with another ill-conceived regressive tax! Who… Continue reading | 4 Comments

Only one industrial country in the world has significantly reduced its carbon footprint, and that country is France. France, the sixth largest economy in the world, ranks 15th in carbon dioxide emissions, behind pre-industrial economies like Iran and Indonesia. France has simultaneously, reduced its dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels, coal, natural gas and oil. While we dither with small-scale experimental intermittent technologies like solar and wind in the United States, France has gone nuclear and clean. In 2008 wind and solar accounted for 1.1% of US energy needs and even if we meet President Obama's objective of doubling the amount by 2012, its contribution will still be inconsequential.  In the best-case scenario for wind and solar, they might together generate 20%-25% of our clean… Continue reading | 4 Comments

Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of clean renewable energy in the world, generating over 19% of the world's electricity. It requires no fuel and produces no direct emissions or by-products. The United Nations estimates that the technically exploitable potential for hydropower is 15 trillion kilowatt-hours per year, amounting to half of the total projected global electricity needed in 2030. In the United States, hydropower has fallen to 10% of the electricity supply mix down from14%, 20 years ago. In terms of electricity production, hydropower accounts for only 7% of America's current power needs.

Source US Department of Energy In theory, the mechanics of a hydropower plant

Coal-fired plants produce approximately 50% of the electricity in the United States and 82% of power-generated carbon dioxide emissions. If electric vehicles are charged exclusively by coal-fired electricity they produce more greenhouse gases than a traditional gasoline-powered combustion engine car. In the future, electricity must be generated cleanly if we expect automotive electric-drive technologies to reduce our carbon dioxide burden. Clean energy alternatives like Wind and solar power will probably make a significant contribution to clean energy generation, but realistically, we cannot count on these two sources for more than 20-30% of our electricity needs in the next 20 years. Even reaching these modest goals will require a major investment in energy infrastructure and fundamental advances in technology. In light of these realities, it… Continue reading | 8 Comments

The key to producing less carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels is to use the fuel with the lowest carbon to hydrogen ratio. Coal is the least desirable because there are roughly 2 carbons for each hydrogen; oil is cleaner because it has the inverse ratio of approximately one carbon for 2 hydrogen molecules; and best of all is methane (CH4), with 4 hydrogen molecules for each carbon molecule. Although natural gas is primarily methane, it does contain, some longer chain hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, butane, pentane etc. that make it slightly less desirable than pure methane. Thus, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions when natural gas is substituted for gasoline in an automobile is about 25-30%.

Fossil Fuel Emission Levels

- Pounds per Billion… Continue reading | 6 Comments