Farewell
Well, it's time for me bid y'all farewell. It's crazy to think that three years have already gone by. I started contributing to Plugged In shortly after I completed graduate school, and I hope that you've enjoyed the posts...
Stories by David Wogan
Rethinking environmental folklore
You've likely faced the question: "paper or plastic?" Clearly the paper bag is the better option, right? Or is it? In a TED Talk, Leyla Acaroglu has a challenge for us.
Sustainability
Offshore Drilling Exhibit Opens at George Bush Presidential Library
The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University has a new exhibit that tells the story of offshore drilling and the 41st President’s previous life as an oilman...
Sustainability
Here’s Where All the U.S. Shale Oil and Gas Wells Are
Post Carbon Institute has an incredibly detailed (and gorgeous!) map of all US shale oil and gas wells (they count 63,000 through June 2012 using data from Drilling Info).
With Wiki Energy, Pecan Street Project shares the largest residential energy database with the world
There’s a new resource for researchers on residential energy usage called Wiki Energy, which is a new initiatve from Austin, Texas-based Pecan Street Project.
Consider the bigger picture for US natural gas imports
In a post at ThinkProgress, Joe Romm throws a wet blanket on the idea of exporting US natural gas in an attempt to curb Russia’s energy leverage, saying “Sadly, few seem to care about diminishing the threat posed by climate change, since it has become increasingly clear that LNG would make things worse.” The issue [...]..
For Russia, natural gas weapon works both ways
The situation unfolding in Crimea is an interesting example of energy’s role in geopolitics. In Ukraine, the major energy story is consumption and transportation of Russian natural gas...
Sustainability
Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Are Moving In at a Furious Pace
The impact of domestic oil and natural gas production has seen a significant uptick in the past several years. The rush of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in "tight" shale plays around the country is largely responsible for a resurgence of U.S...
Sustainability
Americans Are Buying More Fuel-efficient Cars
CAFE standards are working, at least according to a research note from the University of Michigan. The graph below shows the average sales-weighted MPGs by month and model year.
Sustainability
From space, North Korea is a sea of darkness
I never tire of satellite images, and especially those of North Korea at night. Take a look at the latest image by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Portable solar chargers bringing light to Syrian refugees
For many of the 7 million Syrians who have fled their homes amid civil war, having access to clean and reliable electricity in refugee camps is not guaranteed.
How deep is the Strait of Hormuz?
Humor me and lose yourself in this depth map.
Crude by rail has exploded in the last three years heres a map that shows how much
The following map shows just how many loading and unloading terminals have been constructed since 2010: Loading facilities (red dots) are located throughout the major tight oil plays in North America, including the Bakken formation in North Dakota and the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB)...
An idea worth sharing: communicating science
One of the best perks about this gig is sharing this space with some of the smartest and enthusiastic scientists and communicators. I want to point you towards a video of a talk by our own Sheril Kirshenbaum that she gave at the TEDxCongress Ave event last Fall in Austin, TX...
What happens to cities after the Olympic are gone?
What happens to Olympic host cities after the torch has gone out?
Sustainability
Pay-as-You-Go Solar Gaining Steam in Africa
Cheap energy from sunlight could displace kerosene in African villages
Sustainability
Where wind power is generated in the US
Texas. We’re known for big hats, presidents, and oil and gas. So it might suprise you that when the Energy Information Administration asks “how much #windpower is produced in each state?” the Lone Star Statecomes out on top...
Sustainability
Haze in the Sichuan Basin, as seen from space
Much like the Los Angeles basin, China’s Sichuan Basin traps haze and smog. NASA’s Terra satellite capture the following image of a hazy Sichuan Basin on January 23, 2014: The Sichuan Basin is home to many cities, including the province’s capital Chengdu, a city with more than 14 million residents...
Shale gas certification goes online in Appalachia
A new set of performance standards could inject a higher degree of safety and accountability into the fracking industry. The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) has developed a set of 15 standards that oil and gas drillers can adopt in their operations (a PDF of the standards is here)...
If no coal, then what?
Even as the US market for coal appears to be declining (first due to market pressure from cheaper natural gas and now EPA GHG rules), US exports of its coal abroad has been a sore spot.
