Speaking at PowerGen, former CIA-director James Woolsey is quoted as saying:

That the country’s heavy reliance on oil has the two-pronged effect of contributing to global warming and helping to finance global terrorism…We have to move toward renewables, in the interest of averting global warming and our terrorist problem.

Sound energy policy is the cornerstone of our national interests and security. Renewable energy for electricity and transportation coupled with conservation and more efficient energy use present the solution. It is clearly evident that renewable energy is in our national interest. We need only exercise our collective will to make it so.


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Technorati Tags: Energy | Policy | National Security | Mike Harding Blog

According to the American Council on Renewable Energy, investment in renewable energy companies has gone from $28B in 2004 to $71B in 2006. Sooner or later, investors are going to expect a return on that investment or the money will dry up.

The Wilder Hill Clean Energy Index is down 14% in the past year showing that in a strong rally period, renewable shares aren’t necessarily participating. However, the index is still up 50% since its inception in 2004.



There is cause for hope, oil prices remain high, pressure for carbon regulation is steadily increasing, and government support for clean energy is on the uptick (with the notable exception of geothermal energy.)


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In what seems to be common practice among the geothermal companies listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange, Nevada Geothermal has issued 23M units @ $0.55 per unit (a share and a warrant) in order to raise $12.75M in a private placement. Presumably the proceeds will be used to advance the Blue Mountain project.

While it’s clear these smaller geothermal companies are gaining access to funding, it’s unclear if this is a winning strategy in the long term for any party other than Dundee Securities or Jacob & Company Securities (who charge 8-10% commission on each deal.)


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Technorati Tags: Energy | Geothermal | Funding | Mike Harding Blog

If you’re a Trekkie and think I’m talking about space, you can be forgiven. But our last frontier is much closer to home, it’s the ocean floor. I’m struck by the continuous discovery that is happening in the deep ocean, new species and most recently, “missing crust” on in the Atlantic Ocean. Having spent a fair amount of time thinking and learning about things geological in the past few months, I find missing crust to be fascinating. Makes you wonder what we’ll discover next.


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Technorati Tags: Deep Ocean Research | Mike Harding Blog

From the Onion…

Described in its patent filing as a “hype-generating mechanism with fully integrated Mac compatibility,” the iLaunch is powered by Intel dual-core processors optimized to calculate a product’s gravitas. Apple claims the iLaunch can garner the same amount of press attention as a major scientific discovery, high court ruling, celebrity meltdown, or natural disaster at 200 times the speed of a traditional media-fostered launch.

I love my Macs, but sometimes the hype gets a little thick – it’s nice to see some good clean fun poked at the bunch from Cupertino from time to time.


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Technorati Tags: Apple | iLaunch | Satire | Mike Harding Blog