Short Takes  

Green Car Congress has an update on algae-to-biofuel company Solazyme, who seem to be cheating now by juicing up their process with a sugar drip into fermentation tanks where the genetically modified algae grow in the dark.

Tom Philpott at Grist has a post on "Biofuels and the fertilizer problem", looking at the issue of biofuel production dependency on phosphate - one mineral which might be heading towards a "Limits To Growth" style scarcity in the foreseeable future (see "The Fat Man" and "The Limits To Scenario Planning" for background).

The Independent reports that global warming may cause an explosion in the insect population that is 'a threat to food crops'.

Barack Obama is reportedly promising to pay for rebuilding crumbling infrastructure in the US with money saved by ending the war in Iraq ("which senators Clinton and McCain voted for"), with the money being distributed via a "National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank".

The WSJ reports that Bank Of America has decided to put a price on carbon when deciding to lend money for coal fired power plant construction (following Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley and their "Carbon Principles" announcement last week).

The WSJ also reports that GE is expecting $6 billion in wind turbine sales this year (around 4.2 gigawatts of turbines - almost as much as the US installed last year. Demand for wind power is so strong that GE says its turbine production is sold through to 2010.

Layer8 reports that the US Department of Energy will spend $21 million on projects aimed at advancing solid-state (LED) lighting research, as it has the potential to more than double the efficiency of lighting systems, significantly reduce its carbon footprint and transform the environment.

Technology Review has an article on "nanowires that convert motion into electric current that could lead to textiles that can generate power". Recharge all your mobile devices as you walk (or sit in the wind). In another nanotech story, Cleantech.com has a report on a company called Bloo Solar that is using nano-sized "bristiles" to make solar photovoltaics cheaper and more efficient.

The Washington Post has an interesting post about techniques middle class Chinese citizens use to organise protests - in this case the target is Maglev trains, which seems a bit unfortunate, but on the bright side its a good way of practicing complaining against a government that doesn't listen to the wishes of the governed.

Jeff Vail's blog has been transformed once again this year, now rebranded as "Rhizome" and back to what I'd categorise as more of an anarchist's theoretical analysis of energy geopolitics and related topics (ie. the interesting stuff from the old "A Theory of Power" days). Posts are once a week, which is a good frequency for content that forces you to stretch the brain muscles a bit. Episode 1 of a mini-series on "The Problem Of Growth" is out called "Hierarchy must grow, and is therefore unsustainable".

Peter Martin has an interesting post on the remarkable transformation of the Australian Treasury Department, first under the neglectful eye of the Rodent (obviously busy cultivating division elsewhere) and now under the difficult-to-categorise Mr Rudd. "Its mission statement does not, as you might imagine, require it upfront to increase the nation’s GDP. Nor does it require it to save the government money. It’s new statement, adopted a few years back, instead simply requires it “to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people”".



Good Magazine has an article on "The New Nostradamus" - Bruce Bueno de Mesquita - a new school game theorist who has a magic model that predicts political outcome (see "The Shockwave Rider for background).