Thermodynamic Wind Energy Analysis: Bonneville Power Administration

A thermodynamic paper on a renewable energy source on an economics blog? Seriously?  Yes seriously.

The paper is my first attempt at applying the principles of statistical economics into other fields. I model the consumption and production of various sources of electricity.  Electricity is a pure human creation for human use and is the defining characteristic of modern life.  So yes, it is all connected.

The results shocked me when I saw them. The power of the method is readily apparent and starts to lay bare our understanding or lack thereof of energy production and consumption.

Thermodynamic Wind Energy Analysis: Bonneville Power Administration

I look forward to your comments.

Regulatory Applications for Bitcoin: Environmental and Spectrum Allocation

I recently wrote a post about using property rights to avoid the tragedy of the commons.  Jesse Jenkins, of The Energy Collective, responded to my draft post that he thought my idea of allocating property rights based off of land use was too complex. I assured him that it was not and gave a logical and concise rebuttal. However, his challenge to me left me thinking about how to simplify the regulatory approach. This post is my effort to sketch out such a simplified approach. Continue reading

What Level of Government Is Necessary?

What Level of Government Is Necessary?

The short answer is, it depends. But on what? The purpose of this post is to etch out how we can estimate what level of government we need.  The recent actions of my government (United States) restricting our civil liberties in the name of security got me thinking about the subject.  I ranged from reflecting back on my socialistic youth to contemplating the consequences of anarcho-libertarianism.  The answer came contemplating Hayek’s notion of emergent social order and trying to understand why and where that social emergence comes from. Continue reading

Allowing Complexity: A Liberal Response to Climate Change

In the essay below, I explore the consequences of current energy and environmental policy and suggest an alternative set of solutions based on private property rights to resolve cost externalities and foster innovation.  The essay is a little longer than I hoped.  It is in two parts, the first identifies the failures in current policy, and the second part identifies how we can implement a more enlightened environmental policy.

Continue reading