current events

[Neal Oldham]

Hi all,

 

Just wanted to see how everyone's doing...

 

Things are going fairly well here; NC is proving pretty kind to us.  We had a difficult time adjusting to the East Coast winter, but our cars have rewarded us (gas mileage from 21 mpg in CA to 27 mpg in NC).  Also got a tankless water system and converted as many lights as possible to LEDs.  (It helps to work for an LED company.)

 

In terms of megatrends, one of three things that continues to reshape the energy landscape is cheap-ass natural gas.  If you compare the price of natural gas to that of oil, natural gas has just collapsed.  (I hope the picture shows up when I send this.)  This is going to continue to be the biggest threat to alternative energy.

 

The second megatrend has been criminally low interest rates.  With central banks worldwide managing to print money at a rate no one expected a year ago, the trend towards unchecked consumption has accelerated.

 

The third was the unseasonably cold winter in the Northeast.  While it was a hot winter on average globally, and the cold winter in the eastern US was purely an El Niño effect, dumping several feet of snow on the US political and media capitals was a sure way to doom any attempts at curbing carbon emissions.

 

Bottom line:  Never bet against human stupidity.