Jonathan Koomey

6 May 2014 • 2 min read

The US National Climate Assessment, just released

Rick Piltz at Climate Science Watch has compiled a list of resources related to the recently released US National Climate Assessment. This landmark document summarizes the climate impacts the US has felt so far and those expected in the future if we don’t change our direction. I hope and

6 May 2014 • 2 min read

Big news: Stanford to divest from coal mining companies

Stanford is the first major University of which I’m aware to divest from coal, but I’m convinced they won’t be the last. Coal is the low hanging fruit and the natural first target for those seeking to reduce emissions and increase pressure on the fossil fuel industry.

14 Apr 2014 • 1 min read

What has become of business journalism?

This excellent New Yorker article explores the failure of business journalists to serve as objective observers in recent years. It echoes some of the discussion I laid out in my recent piece “Separating Fact from Fiction: A Challenge for the Media.” Here are a few key intro paragraphs: In January

14 Apr 2014 • 1 min read

An excellent discussion of externalities associated with rail transport of oil

Meridith Fowlie, writing for the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, lays out the economic case for better data collection and policy changes to internalize the externalities of rail transport. Here are a few key intro paragraphs: Railways and the problem of social cost Almost a

14 Apr 2014 • 2 min read

Is it really all about framing?

Lakoff assumes that people who believe irrational things can actually be convinced, and I’m not sure framing or facts will ultimately matter that much. Many people who can’t accept climate change are surrounded by others who can’t accept it, so that changing their views would involve rejecting

13 Apr 2014 • 2 min read

Carbon is a wondrous thing, especially in the form of graphene

The NY Times has an article today describing recent developments in graphene, which is a carbon based material with amazing properties. Carbon is of course the basis for life on earth and when emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide it warms the earth (as do other greenhouse gases like

7 Apr 2014 • 1 min read

Chris Calwell's experience driving from Colorado to California in his Model S electric vehicle

For those interested in a real world account of using Tesla’s supercharging network to drive long distances, check out my friend Chris Calwell’s blog posts here, here, and here. The superchargers worked well, and as they become more common, it will get even easier. I suspect strongly (though

5 Apr 2014 • 2 min read

A wonderful quote from Elon Musk about integrated whole systems design

As I wrote in Cold Cash, Cool Climate, one of the most important ways to achieve breakthrough innovation is through integrated whole systems design. That means not settling for incremental change, but redesigning devices as whole systems to help them accomplish tasks as well as any human or machine could

4 Apr 2014 • 1 min read

Clean Tech Open events in the East Bay

I had the honor of speaking at a Clean Tech Open event in San Francisco two days ago, which was a terrific event focused on Climate and Clean Tech. There were more than 60 eager and interested folks in attendance, and there were lots of great questions from the audience.

31 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

Three Mile Island 35th Anniversary Symposium: The Past, Present, and Future of Nuclear Energy

Last Friday March 28th, 2014 saw an event commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Three Mile Island at Dartmouth, sponsored by The Thayer School of Engineering The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding The Steyer‐Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford The video for the entire event

31 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

I'm appearing on a panel Thursday evening April 3rd, 2014 on the Commonwealth Club's Climate One program: "Nuclear power: Meltdown or revival?"

I’m appearing on a panel Thursday evening April 3rd, 2014 on the Commonwealth Club’s Climate One program: “Nuclear power: Meltdown or revival?” It’s open to the public, so please join us. Here’s the program description, which can be found at the event page at http://www.

31 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

An invitation: I'm headlining at a Clean Tech Open event on Clean Energy and Climate in San Francisco on Wednesday evening, April 2nd, 2014

Here are the details on the April 2nd, 2014 event: Clean Energy and Climate Change, a Cleantech Open business briefing at Impact Hub in SF Wednesday, April 2, 2014 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT) Location: Impact Hub San Francisco 925 Mission St San Francisco, CA 94103

28 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

My interview today on Bloomberg West about making data centers more efficient

I had a wonderful interview today about data center efficiency on Bloomberg West today, which you can watch here. The focus was on our case study of eBay’s management practices, which came out last September. The interviewers were really prepared which is always gratifying. Let me know what you

26 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

CO2 Scorecard analyzes coal exports

My friends at CO2 Scorecard just released a short data analysis demonstrating that coal exports from the US have more than offset carbon emissions savings from switching from coal to natural gas in the US electricity sector. This result is one important piece of evidence that an “all of the

24 Mar 2014 • 1 min read

Transport constraints and Keystone XL: New Calculations from Max Auffhammer at UC Berkeley

Max Auffhammer at UC Berkeley brings his formidable economic talents to bear on the Keystone XL question, and finds that not approving the Keystone XL Pipeline will keep at least 1 billion barrels of bitumen in the ground. It is a nice counterpoint to the circular reasoning that still pervades