Forbes has a column looking at a survey into people’s attitudes regarding a smart grid model which allows utilities to remotely control home appliances to adjust demand to match supply – Would You Let The Power Company Control Your Appliances?.

How big a discount would your electricity provider have to get on your rates before you’d be willing to give them the ability to remotely control appliances like your clothes dryer, air conditioning, pool pump or big-screen TV during times of peak power demand?

Power companies around the world are giddy about the potential energy savings from all these smart meters they’re installing for customers. It makes sense that people will voluntarily wait to run their clothes dryer until cheaper off-peak hours. But what about the potential for power companies to control your loads remotely?

Accenture set out to answer that question by surveying 9,000 people in 17 countries. The results are surprising.

An astonishing 16% of respondents said they would be willing to give up control to the power company even if they received no benefit from lower rates and even if they had no override power over the remote control. I guess altruism is alive and well.

Predictably, the potential adoption rates rise with the offer of price discounts. A 10% overall rate discount lured a quarter of respondents, while one-third said they would give up control for a 20% discount.

Given that same 20% savings, half of respondents said they would let the electric company control appliances given the assurance that they could override the decision.

I watched the first episode of the series Burn Up on (ABC) TV tonight and quite enjoyed it – Burn Up. Next episode is on next Sunday (for Australian viewers – British viewers got to watch it back in 2008).

From the oil fields of Saudi Arabia to the boardrooms of London, Burn Up is a two-part topical thriller set in the real-life context of climate change as oil company executives, environmental activists and politicians collide in the battle between economic success and ecological responsibility.

Starring Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks, Whitechapel), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Neve Campbell (Party Of Five) and Marc Warren (Hustle), Burn Up is a potent mix of fiction and fact that will enlighten as much as entertain.

Tom McConnell (Rupert Penry-Jones) has just been made head of Arrow Oil, a hugely powerful and wildly profitable oil company. With a happy family and lucrative promotion, life couldn’t get any sweeter. But the assassination of six geologists working in the Saudi desert will turn Tom’s world upside down and Tom will slowly uncover a sinister side of business.

Always the company man, Tom is as loyal as they come and a staunch defender of the oil business, denying any link from the work of Arrow Oil to climate change. His charismatic best friend and oil lobbyist Mack (Bradley Whitford) helps confirm his convictions. But when a young Inuit, Mika (Sandrine Holt), alleges that Tom and Arrow Oil are ruining the lives of her people, with scant regard for the environmental impact of their work, Tom starts to question Arrow Oil.

Joined by his environmental advisor Holly (Neve Campbell), Tom takes a trip to Mika’s homeland and learns first-hand the growing climate change problem, a problem he can’t ignore any more. He also can’t ignore his growing attraction to Holly. But when Mack reveals that she is a spy in collaboration with environmentalists, Tom is stunned and starts to question who he can trust.

Sunday Talking Heads: April 25, 2010
Financial Reform, Debt Commission

Duck weather here, how about there?  But April showers bring May flowers – or so Mama said.  Do hope they at least bring us a bouquet of Bankster hearings.

Speaking of which, today’s main topics are financial reform and the Debt Commission.

Washington Journal: 7:45am – Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, Senior Congressional Correspondent & Scott Wilson, Washington Post, White House Correspondent.  8:30am – Ben Baldanza, Spirit Airlines, President & CEO.  9:15am – Laura Hayman, University of Massachusetts – Boston, Associate Dean for Research.

ABC’s This Week: Bank Reform. White House Economic Adviser Austan Goolsbee defends the President’s plan. Then Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). Roundtable: George Will, Paul Krugman, Cynthia Tucker, and former Fox VP of Business News Alexis Glick.

Amanpour.

CBS’ Face The Nation: Lawrence Summers, Director, National Economic Council, Thomas Friedman, Michael Lewis.

Chris Matthews: Katty Kay BBC; Andrew Sullivan The Atlantic; David Ignatius The Washington Post; Kelly O’Donnell NBC News.  Topics: Does Obama Want A Fight On Wall Street Reform Or To Move On To Immigration?  Is the Extreme Anti-Washington Rhetoric Seditious?

CNN’s State of the Union: Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI). Topics include the economy in Michigan as well as the speculaton of Gov. Granholm being a possible Supreme Court nominee.  Then Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

Fareed Zakaria – GPS: Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.  Roundtable: Eliot Spitzer, Slate columnist and former NY governor and attorney general; Andrew Ross Sorkin, the chief mergers and acquisitions reporter for the New York Times and author of Too Big to Fail; Martin Wolf, Financial Times’ chief economics commentator; and Amity Shlaes, Bloomberg columnist and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Fox News Sunday: The Debt Commission with Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles.  Then Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).  Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.

NBC’s Meet The Press: Financial Reform with the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) & Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).  Roundtable: David Brooks, Erin Burnett, Michele Norris, Evan Thomas.

Newsmakers: The top Republican on the House Appropriations Cmte. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), talks about the role of the bipartisan Debt Commission and his views that it is essentially “a political tool and not a real tool.”

Q & A: Presidential historians Richard Norton Smith and Douglas Brinkley. They talk about their work and their profession.

Religion & Ethics: Catholic Abuse Scandal.  Muslim Home Schooling.  Haiti: A Personal Journey.  “My Jesus Year” A rabbi’s son searches for “true spirituality” among Christians.

60 Minutes: The Narrative – A former member of a Muslim extremist group tells Lesley Stahl the reason for the increase in home-grown jihadists like the U.S. Army major accused of shooting 13 at Ft. Hood is an ideology called “the narrative,” which states America is at war with Islam.  Boosting Brain Power – More people are illegally boosting their brain power by using prescription “smart drugs” like Ritalin and Aderall, meant for those with attention deficit disorders.  Competing Against Time – Byron Pitts reports from the construction site of the future Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, CA, where there’s a race to complete the new, earthquake-resistant span alongside the old structure.

To The Contrary: Topics:  1- Title IX muscles up; 2- More Democratic female candidates than Republicans; 3- Ending elder abuse.  Panelists: Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD); Conservative Commentator Tara Setmayer; Global Summit of Women President Irene Natividad; and Independent Women’s Forum’s Nicole Kurokawa.  TTC online extra: Immigration Reform On Deck? Will it hurt Democrats to take up immigration reform before the mid-term elections?

Univision’s Al Punto: Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL); State Rep. Steve Montenegro (R-AZ); President Bill Clinton; Actor and Activist Edward James Olmos.

Virtually Speaking: Eve Gittelson and watertiger.  “Eve is a high profile Daily Kos diarist writing about health care. watertiger blogs at dependablerenegade.com [and FDL].”

C-SPAN’s Book TV.

FDL Book Salon: America’s Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity. “The United States dealt effectively with the threats of Soviet predominance in Europe and of nuclear war in the early years of the conflict. But in engineering this policy, American leaders successfully paved the way for domestic actors and institutions with a vested interest in the struggle’s continuation.” Chat with Campbell Craig and Fred Logevall about their new book, 5pm ET.

FDL Movie Night Monday: Prodigal Sons.  “Filmmaker Kimberly Reed dives headfirst into an unflinching portrait of her family that is absolutely engrossing and marks her coming-out, in more ways than one. Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother. But along the way PRODIGAL SONS uncovers stunning revelations, including a blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender.”  Chat with  Kimberly Reed and host Lisa Derrick, 8pm ET.

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Late Late Night FDL: The Screwball
Woody Woodpecker in The Screwball. This Universal Pictures Walt Lantz Productions cartoon was released on February 15, 1943.

Woody Woodpecker in The Screwball.  This Universal Pictures Walt Lantz Productions cartoon was released on February 15, 1943.

Produced by Walter Lantz.  Directed by Alex Lovy.  Animated by Verne Harding.  Written by Ben Hardaway and Milt Schaffer.  Vocal Talent by Ben Hardaway (Woody Woodpecker), and Mel Blanc (Woody’s Laugh).  Music by Darrell Calker.

What’s on your mind?

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Palin E-Mail Hacker Could Get 50 Years Behind Bars
Remember that guy who allegedly broke into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account back in 2008? Well, it turns out he’s in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn., facing 50 years in the slammer if convicted of the criminal charges. Palin spent 45 minutes in the witness box Friday, declaring that the hacking had caused a major disruption in her personal and political life. —JCL The Guardian: Sarah Palin today addressed the jury at the criminal trial of the man accused of hacking into her email account during the 2008 presidential election campaign. Palin spent 45 minutes in the witness box in a federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee where David Kernell, 22, faces up to 50 years in prison if found guilty of four charges. Palin told the court that the “disturbance” to her email had disrupted her personal and political life. “If the intent was to disrupt it, it was successful. It caused a huge disruption in the campaign,” she said. Read more

Remember that guy who allegedly broke into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account back in 2008? Well, it turns out he’s in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn., facing 50 years in the slammer if convicted of the criminal charges.

Palin spent 45 minutes in the witness box Friday, declaring that the hacking had caused a major disruption in her personal and political life. —JCL

The Guardian:

Sarah Palin today addressed the jury at the criminal trial of the man accused of hacking into her email account during the 2008 presidential election campaign.

Palin spent 45 minutes in the witness box in a federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee where David Kernell, 22, faces up to 50 years in prison if found guilty of four charges.

Palin told the court that the “disturbance” to her email had disrupted her personal and political life. “If the intent was to disrupt it, it was successful. It caused a huge disruption in the campaign,” she said.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 16, 2010 Gays Get Hospital Visitation Rights
• March 25, 2010 President Obama Calls for ‘End to Repression’ in Cuba

Death by Firing Squad
In a throwback to Utah’s Wild West past, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner has requested, as per state law, to be executed by firing squad. The request sets the stage for what almost certainly will be a contested debate on capital punishment. Gardner would be only the third person to be killed by the method in the U.S. since 1976. —JCL The BBC: A convicted murderer in the US state of Utah has chosen to be executed by firing squad. When given a choice between lethal injection or being shot, Ronnie Lee Gardner told the judge: “I would like the firing squad, please.” Of the 35 US states that have the death penalty, Utah is the only one to give firing squads as an option. Critics say the method is a relic from the state’s Wild West past and should be abolished. Read more

In a throwback to Utah’s Wild West past, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner has requested, as per state law, to be executed by firing squad. The request sets the stage for what almost certainly will be a contested debate on capital punishment. Gardner would be only the third person to be killed by the method in the U.S. since 1976. —JCL

The BBC:

A convicted murderer in the US state of Utah has chosen to be executed by firing squad.

When given a choice between lethal injection or being shot, Ronnie Lee Gardner told the judge: “I would like the firing squad, please.”

Of the 35 US states that have the death penalty, Utah is the only one to give firing squads as an option.

Critics say the method is a relic from the state’s Wild West past and should be abolished.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 16, 2010 Gays Get Hospital Visitation Rights
• March 25, 2010 President Obama Calls for ‘End to Repression’ in Cuba

Roger Hickey: This Week: Obama’s Deficit Commission – or Pete Peterson’s?
On Wednesday Wall Street multi-billionaire Peter G. Peterson, who has pledged to spend a billion dollars to panic Americans about deficits in order to get…

Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup
In case you missed it, this week saw the launch of HuffPost Hill, our afternoon email newsletter covering the Washington political scene — from what’s happening on the Hill and who’s in and who’s out at the White House to the latest DC news and buzz. It’s a new media spin on the old afternoon newspaper — both a breezy and useful daily recap and a timely look at what’s ahead — made to be read on your handheld. You can sign up here. And if you, like the rest of the world, are getting lost in the complexity and opacity of the financial reform debate, let our new video editor Ben Craw be your guide through the myriad metaphors the media have used to explain things — starting with the Goldman Sachs fraud case. And here’s a link to his earlier video mashups.

Valerie Taliman: United States Re-examines Opposition to UN Declaration
NEW YORK – Political tides are turning as international support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples continues to grow, putting…

Civil Rights Advocates Vow To Challenge Arizona Immigration Law
PHOENIX — Arodi Berrelleza isn’t one of the targets of Arizona’s new anti-illegal immigration law – he’s a U.S. citizen. But the 18-year-old high school…

Numerous Fox Newsers embrace and defend racial profiling aspect of AZ immigration law

In recent days, numerous Fox News personalities have voiced support for Arizona’s new controversial immigration law that requires law enforcement to demand immigration papers of those they suspect to be in the country illegally, which many argue will lead to racial profiling. In doing so, these Fox News figures have embraced and defended the law, including the potential for racial profiling, by arguing, among other things, that “people may have to endure some inconvenience.”

Law and “racial profiling … will go hand in hand”

Arizona Republic: Law “will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce” immigration documents. An April 24 Arizona Republic article reported:

Arizona’s immigration law, now considered the toughest in the nation, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws. It will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce “an alien registration document,” such as a green card or other proof of citizenship, such as a passport or Arizona driver’s license.

It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, and traffic is impeded in the process, would also be committing a criminal act.

NY Times: “Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics.” As the New York Times noted on April 24: “Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.” The Times added: “It requires police officers, ‘when practicable,’ to detain people they reasonably suspect are in the country without authorization and to verify their status with federal officials, unless doing so would hinder an investigation or emergency medical treatment.”

Arizona Daily Star: “Racial profiling, SB 1070 will go hand in hand.” The Arizona Daily Star wrote in an April 16 editorial that the bill “would turn legal residents into police targets, as well as those who are here illegally. It would foment racial profiling of Hispanics. … Civil libertarians and immigrant-rights groups say the Arizona bill will spur racial profiling. We agree, and we doubt that many of its provisions are constitutional.

Fox Newsers embrace and defend law’s potential for racial profiling

Crowder: Nothing wrong with law’s racial profiling. During the April 23 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, Fox News contributor Steven Crowder said that there’s racial profiling in the law and “I don’t think there’s really anything wrong as far as racial profiling, stopping people who are coming in illegally. I mean, you’re not looking for a blond haired, blue eyed Swede most of the time.”

Gutfeld: Racial profiling a no-brainer. On the April 21 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld said of the law: “A lot of the critics are saying this is racial profiling. Duh! They’re coming from another country. That’s what you do. You have to look at them and see who they are before you know they’re legal or illegal. I don’t think that’s a fair criticism.”

Gallagher dismisses racial profiling concerns. On the April 23 edition of his Salem Radio program, radio host and Fox News contributor Mike Gallagher told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, “Sign it, baby, sign it” and that the Arizona legislature is his “new hero.” After Wallace noted concerns about civil liberties, Gallagher said that “it’s racial profiling, to be sure, cops know if there’s a van full of dark-skinned men with lawnmowers packed into the back of a pick-up truck…that’s what they’re talking about.”

Malkin: “Arizona: Doing the job the feds won’t do.” Michelle Malkin praised the law in an April 23 post on her blog, writing: “GOP Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed the nation’s toughest immigration enforcement bill. They’re doing the job the feds won’t do – taking the law and our borders seriously to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our citizens first. Cue the ACLU lawyers, the open-borders lobby, and the race-card players. And watch the Left show you what intolerance is really all about.” Malkin, who wrote the book In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror, also wrote that some are “whining about Arizona becoming a ‘police state.’”

Hume: “Some people are going to have to endure inconvenience as opposed to everybody.” On the April 19 edition of The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume appeared to dismiss concerns about racial profiling, stating that “if it’s an effective law enforcement technique done in good faith, people may have to endure some inconvenience. What we’re saying here is that some people are going to have endure inconvenience as opposed to everybody having to endure it.”

Some Fox Newsers disagree: Bill is “draconian” and “goes way too far”

While numerous Fox News personalities have embraced and defended the racial profiling aspect of the Arizona law, some Fox News personalities have criticized it. For instance, Mike Huckabee said on Fox & Friends that the courts will find the law “problematic” because “there is no such thing” as “American looking” person. Fox News contributor Fred Barnes said that the bill is “draconian” and “goes way too far.” Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer said he was concerned about “illegals” but the bill “could lead to a lot of civil rights abuses.” And Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace said on Mike Gallagher’s program: “I’m not sure I like the idea that law enforcement can go up to anybody and say show me your identity card.”

Shady Anti-Financial Reform Group Using Ad Agency That Worked For Swift Boat Vets
The group Stop Too Big To Fail, which is employing a liberal-sounding message to fight the Wall Street reform legislation, is working with an advertising agency whose past clients include the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and myriad GOP campaigns.

Report: Feds Eyeing Crist Role In Probe Of Florida GOP Spending
Earlier this week we learned that federal authorities are investigating Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio. Now, the St. Petersburg Times reports that investigators are interested in the role of Rubio’s opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, in the seemingly ever-expanding scandal over lavish spending at the state GOP.

Bloch Attorney: I Am Pleased ‘Unnecessary’ Inquiry Is Over
The attorney for former Bush Administration official Scott Bloch, who was charged with contempt of Congress yesterday in the “Geeks on Call” case, says he is pleased the “unnecessary five year inquiry is over.”

Gov. Jan Brewer’s New AZ Fashion Police

The Second Great Depression Myth Rises Again
President Obama must think he has a real turkey on his hand with the financial regulation bills before Congress. How else to explain the revival of the “second Great Depression” myth in his speech at Cooper Union today? The second…



Cooper Union – Great Depression – Wall Street – President of the United States – United States

Spitzer’s Test on Political Courage And List of Those Who Don’t Have It (When It Comes to Israel)
In Sunday’s Times Elliot Spitzer offers a succinct guide to whether or not your representative is any good. Toughness is not the issue. It’s easy to be tough if the selection of one’s target is driven by politics. The real…



Politics – Climate change – Environment – Israel – Activism

Rep. Steve King frustrated that GOP leadership is not fully embracing ObamaCare repeal.
On Thursday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) appeared on the Scott Hennen Show to express his frustration with his Party’s division over whether to support a full repeal of ObamaCare and register its disapproval with all parts of the law: KING: And this should have happened almost instantly and spontaneously. And instead it’s going slow because there […]

On Thursday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) appeared on the Scott Hennen Show to express his frustration with his Party’s division over whether to support a full repeal of ObamaCare and register its disapproval with all parts of the law:

KING: And this should have happened almost instantly and spontaneously. And instead it’s going slow because there are Republicans who are arguing they don’t want to have to be opposed to every component of ObamaCare. They want to nuance this a little bit. And whenever you get nuance, you get divided by the enemy. And they scatter you across the battlefield and take you apart. We’ve got to stand on this thing as a central square. And our leadership has been pretty good. Mike Pence has signed on to the bill and he’s been very clear in where he stands. I don’t have John Boehner signed on yet. I don’t have Eric Cantor signed on. A number of the other people in leadership have not.

Watch it:

For all their uncertainty behind closed doors, Republicans are still insisting that they will be running on some form of repeal. Earlier this month, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said repealing this bill “has to be our No. 1 priority.”

Graham withdraws support for climate legislation
The effort to enact comprehensive climate and energy legislation this year suffered a critical blow Saturday when Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), the key Republican proponent of the bill, withdrew his support because of what he said was a “cynical political” decision by Democrats to advance…

As Obama visits coal country, many are wary of his environmental policies
BECKLEY, W.VA. — Coal has helped divide Barack Obama from the people of this heavily Democratic state. On Sunday, it will bring the president and West Virginians together, at least briefly.

Goldman executives cheered housing market’s decline, newly released e-mails show
As the U.S. housing market began its epic fall nearly three years ago, top executives at Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs cheered the large financial gains the firm stood to make on certain bets it had placed, according to newly released documents.

Financial, business interests step up lobbying against overhaul bill
The decision by Senate Democrats to move ahead with financial overhaul legislation this week has prompted a last-ditch lobbying campaign by major banks and business groups, which fear the political winds have shifted against them amid widespread public anger over the excesses of Wall Street.

Featured Advertiser

If you have an old iPhone 2G laying around (and chances are if you do have one, it’s laying around, right?) and want to run Android on it like we saw the other day, instructions are now available. It’s definitely not for the casual jailbreaker, and it’s gonna take you a little while. But the instant karma you gain by putting the world’s best smartphone operating system on the world’s most ubiquitous phone is gonna be worth it. Video of how it’s done after the break.  [AndroidaLot via Redmond Pie]

And if you’re looking for even more resources, check out linuxoniphone.blogspot.com and the idroidproject.org wiki, brought to you by the guys who got this done in the first place.

read more

Greek Bailout: An Extreme Necessity

Media Leave “South Park” Creators Out to Dry
Diana West, DC Examiner
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park,” get it.They get the free-speech significance of the Danish Muhammad cartoons epitomized by Kurt Westergaard's bomb-head Muhammad.

Schumer Fundraiser a Key Figure in Goldman Case

Jerome a Paris has an interesting post at the European Tribune about the economics of wind power – Wind’s latest problem: it … makes power too cheap.

Bloomberg has a somewhat confusing article about the newest complaint about wind power, but the gist of it is that wind power is an issue for the industry because it brings their revenues down:

operators in Europe may have become their own worst enemy, reducing the total price paid for electricity in Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, by as much as 5 billion euros some years

Implicit in the article, and the headline (which focuses on lower revenues for RWE) is the worry that wind power will bring down the stock market value of the big utilities – which is what the readers of Bloomberg et al. care about.

But despite the generally negative tone of the article, it’s actually a useful one, because it brings out in the open a key bit of information: wind power actually brings electricity prices down!

windmills (…) operators in Europe may have become their own worst enemy, reducing the total price paid for electricity in Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, by as much as 5 billion euros some years …

The wind-energy boom in Europe and parts of Texas has begun to reduce bills for consumers. …

Spanish power prices fell an annual 26 percent in the first quarter because of the surge in supplies from wind and hydroelectric production

This tidbit of information, which will hopefully begin to contradict the usual lies about the need for hefty subsidies for the wind sector, has been publicised by EWEA, the European Wind Energy Association in a report on the merit order effect (PDF). This is the name for what happens when you inject a lot of capital-intensive, low-marginal-cost supply into a marginalist price-setting market mechanism with low short term demand elasticity – or, in simpler words: when you have more wind, there is less need to pay to burn more gas to provide the requisite additional power at a given moment.

I’ve long argued that this was one of the strongest arguments for wind (see my article on The cost of wind, the price of wind, the value of wind from last year), and I’ve pushed the EWEA people to use it more – so this study (which I was not involved in) is most welcome.

The key thing here is that we are beginning to unveil what I’ve labelled the dirty secret of wind: utilities don’t like wind not because it’s not competitive, but because it brings prices down for their existing assets, thus lowering their revenues and their profits. Thus the permanent propaganda campaign against wind. But now that this “secret” is out in the open, it’s hopefully going to make one of the traditional arguments against wind (the one about its supposed need subsidies) much more difficult to use… The argument remains true for solar, and to a lesser extent for offshore wind, but the utilities are going to complain much less about offshore wind given that they are investing so much capital in that sector right now. The reality is that wind power brings prices down for consumers, even taking into account the cost of feed-in tariffs or other regulatory support mechanisms, which means that these regulatory schemes are not subsidies, but rather smart corrections of market inefficiencies for the public good.

Ironically, wind provides “utility-like” returns to investors, ie low, stable single-digit returns, as befits a regulated strategic infrastructure activity required for the common good. Utilities and investors should love the sector; but they have been spoiled by market deregulation, which has allowed companies to seek higher returns by under-investing, building merchant gas-fired plants, going for M&A games, and playing on market price volatility and trading – in other words, by behaving as perfect clients for investment banks…

As I’ve noted many times, the energy sector is one of the best examples of how the financialisation of the economy has brought results that are bad for everybody except the investment bankers and top management; it’s also, thankfully, one where reality can most objectively re-assert itself.

And the reality is that you get cheaper electricity with wind – and oh by the way, wind requires no imports of fast-depleting fuels from unstable countries, spews no carbon and provides lots more domestic jobs. And it’s a perfect investment for our pension needs – safe, low risk, stable, decent long term returns…

Citroen acaba de publicar las primeras imágenes del interior del nuevo prototipo que nos adelantará el futuro diseño de las nuevas generaciones del DS y C4. Este concept se denomina Citroen DS High Rider.

Su diseño mezcla características de un coupé, con un monovolumen y todoterreno. La verdad es que el resultado es inmejorable. En el interior primará la comodidad de los ocupantes mientras que contará con algunos acabados cromados.

Por el momento no se ha confirmado nada pero se espera ver este mismo interior en la próxima generación del C4 que verá la luz en el año 2011

Related posts:

1. Citroen DS HIGH RIDER
2. Citroen Aircross, imágenes oficiales
3. Citroen C-Cactus, nuevas imágenes

Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it’s where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories such as Investing, Credit, Debt, Budgeting, Frugality, Wealth Building, Money Management, Financial Planning, Insurance, Taxes, The Economy, Real Estate, et. al.

Below are the carnivals that I participated in this week, along with a link to my article:

• Festival of Stocks published: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) Dividend Stock Analysis
• Carnival of Personal Finance published: Four Dividend Stocks Stepping Up In The Downturn
• Carnival of Money Hacks published: 5 Dividend Stocks Building Superior Long-Term Returns
• Carnival of Financial Planning published: 5 Dividend Stocks Building Superior Long-Term Returns

Articles I enjoyed reading included (in no particular order):

The DIV-Net Featured Articles

• Dividends4Life presented Stock Analysis: Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL)
• The Dividend Guy presented Daily Dividend Report
• Barel Karsan presented Short-Term Predictions
• Dividend Growth Investor presented United Technologies (UTX) Stock Analysis Technologies (UTX) Stock Analysis

Articles From DIV-Net Members

• The Dividend Guy presented A Dividend Increase is Not a Reason to Buy a Stock
• Dividend Growth Investor presented Living off dividends in retirement
• Barel Karsan presented Masking Poor Results
• moneygardener presented Procter & Gamble pays more
• The Div Guy presented 3 Stocks With 5% Yields
• Disciplined Approach to Investing presented Magnitude Of Rally Not In Uncharted Territory
• Old School Value presented Insider Buys vs Share Buybacks
• BuyLikeBuffett.com presented Warren Buffett’s Big Bets Continue To Pay Off
• 40percent 20years presented Clas Ohlson – Hardly any “old man shares”
• Value Walk presented The Royce Funds’ Jay Kaplan On Small-Caps, Value Investing, Dividends And More
• The Market Capitalist presented The best of both worlds – Dividend paying growth stocks

Other Articles

• SmartMoney presented Retire Cash-Rich: Diving for Dividends
• Wall Street Journal presented Another Way Dividends Can Boost Your Stock Portfolio
• Wealth Daily presented Warren Buffett’s Dividend Stock Strategy
• TheStreet.com presented Top 10 Dow Dividend Stocks
• StreetInsider.com presented Barron’s Names Five Dividend Stocks with Appreciation Potential
• Investopedia presented 7 Dividend Stocks Analysts Love
• Motley Fool presented These Stocks Have What You Want
• CNBC presented 9 Winning Dividend Stocks: Strategists

There are some really good articles here, please take time and read a few of them.

(Photo: Sachin Ghodke)

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Joe Romm has an article at Forbes on Areva’s interest in solar thermal power – Nuclear Giant Areva Predicts Solar Thermal Boom.

Earlier this year, French energy giant Areva bought U.S.-based Ausra in order “to become a world leader in concentrated solar thermal” power (CSP). And so the race is on for market share in “The Technology that will Save Humanity.”

CSP is the most scalable and affordable baseload (or, even better, load-following) low-carbon supply technology — when used with low-cost, high-efficiency thermal storage. CSP can also share its steam turbine with biomass, a strategy the Chinese are pursuing, or with natural gas.

The Oil Drum wonders if Areva is “losing faith in the oft-predicted but unrealised ‘nuclear renaissance’.” Certainly, Areva’s best-known product has become very expensive and the cost of a new reactor today would be as much as 6 billion euros, or $8 billion, double the price offered to the Finns.

CSP, on the other hand, has just started down the experience curve and is poised to be one of the major winners in the low-carbon economy. Indeed, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports:

Areva SA of France predicts the global use of solar-thermal power will grow by about 30-fold this decade, a forecast that spurred the world’s largest maker of nuclear reactors to buy a California-based equipment maker.

The technology, which typically uses curved mirrors to focus sunlight to generate electricity, will be installed on plants with 20,000 megawatts of power potential by 2020, Anil Srivastava, Areva renewable energies executive vice president, said in an interview. That compares with about 625 megawatts today, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data.

“It is a very attractive market,” Srivastava said. Paris- based Areva aims to become a world leader in solar thermal, he said, after agreeing yesterday to buy Ausra Inc., a Mountain View, California-based maker of sun-driven steam generators used by power plants.

Many big international companies are trying to become leaders in CSP:

Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, agreed last year to a $418 million purchase of Beit Shemesh, Israel- based Solel Solar Ltd. Abengoa SA, also an engineering company, is building 13 solar-thermal plants in Spain that will benefit from consumer subsidies for clean energy….

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast the installed base to grow to as much as 34,000 megawatts worldwide by 2020, exceeding the estimate of the French atomic-reactor maker.

Whether 20 GW in 2020 or 34 GW, CSP is a very fast-growing market (see “World’s largest solar plant with thermal storage to be built in Arizona — total of 8500 MW of this core climate solution planned for 2014 in U.S. alone“). And ultimately that’s why Areva says it is jumping in:

The market for concentrated solar power plants is expected to grow substantially in the next decade with an average annual growth rate of 20% and should reach an estimated installed capacity of over 20 GW by 2020. With this acquisition, AREVA is poised to capture the leading position of this attractive and growing market.

This gizmo looks pretty good for campers…

Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility is a tool to create multiboot ISO and multibootable USB with Antivirus Rescue disk, various utilities (copy, fixing, recovery), some Linux distros and some Windows PE boot solutions.

What’s New in version 1.0.7.2:

• Upgrade syslinux to 3.86
• Multiple PE 1.x
• Fix Clonezilla
• Add Dutch (thanks to Oddy)
• Add Spanish (thanks to mlopez)
• Add Polish (thanks to SamuraJack)
• Add Turkish (thanks to H. Canik)
• Change support VBARescue-beta to VBARescue
• Fix Gparted
• Add link to Forum
• Add Link to SARDU on Facebook
• Add support to Win XP Recovery disk
• Add support to Win Vista Recovery disk 32/64 bit
• Add support to Win 7 Recovery disk 32/64 bit
• Add defrag for USB
• Added update databases for Avira
• Added update databases for BitDefender
• Added update databases for F-Secure
• Add progress bar
• Add Support to kaspersky Rescue Disk 2010
• Add Support to Ubuntu/Kubuntu
• Add Support to AVG Rescue CD
• Add PLoP Boot Manager v5.0
• Fix support to Min Dr.Web LiveCD 5.0.x
• Fix Partition Wizard
• Add SHORT Keys: CTRL+ALT+C for list

Homepage: http://www.sarducd.it/
Download: SARDU_1.0.7.2.zip
File Size: 3.02MB

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