Boston Globe (November 26)
Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”
Tags: 2025, Automakers, CAFE, Efficiency, Oil, Technology, U.S.
Bloomberg (May 26)
Solar is sliding down the cost curve even as cell efficiency climbs. Solar may soon beat the electricity rates set by utilities. “The cost of solar cells, the main component in standard panels, has fallen 21 percent so far this year, and the cost of solar power is now about the same as the rate utilities charge for conventional power in the sunniest parts of California, Italy and Turkey.”
Tags: Cost, Efficiency, Electricity, Solar, Utilities
Wall Street Journal (March 29)
Will the 30% spike in the price of oil hobble the U.S. recovery? This is unlikely. Prices have not hit new highs. They are actually down 30% from two years ago. Moreover, “the U.S. economy is today well-positioned to absorb an oil spike without experiencing it as an oil shock.” The U.S. is 9% below peak oil consumption which occurred in August 2005. In addition, the U.S. has gotten more efficient with the oil it uses. “We’re consuming the same amount of crude oil that we did 12 years ago and real output is more than 25% higher.”
Tags: Efficiency, Oil, Recovery, U.S.
