Lloyds Warns Of Climate Change Risk

Insurers predict losses as high as $150 Billion for Australian coastal properties

A new report published by Lloyd's and Risk Management Solutions warns that without adaptation, insurance losses from coastal flooding for high-risk properties could double by 2030.

Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward says: ''With over half the world's population expected to live within 100 kilometres of the coastline in 25 years' time, it is imperative that we address this risk now by starting to adapt.

''The world cannot insure its way out of climate change, but the insurance industry can play a key role in the fight against it by encouraging adaptation. ''If this doesn't happen, insurance will become more expensive and less available.''

Because rising sea levels threaten all coasts, insurers can't diversify risk.

The insurance sector has hundreds of thousands of coastal property and other key infrastructure on its general insurance books, but developers, insurers and governments are all grappling with the impact of predicted rising sea levels on homes in low-lying areas close to the sea.

In Australia, insurers are suggesting a fund into which owners of low-lying land would pay a regular levy for compensation when sea levels cause their land to become permanently unusable.

The Insurance Council of Australia has estimated that over the past 12 months, severe weather has already cost about $2.2 billion in insured losses. One general insurer has estimated that the value of Australian coastal property at risk to rising sea levels and erosion is between $50 billion and $150 billion.

Detailed vulnerability mapping would be available there in 2010, yet it would not ban development or predict sea level rise precisely.

That is partly because mapping likely sea level rise could greatly diminish coastal property values, the cornerstone of the wealth of thousands of families.


Related stories:
Investors Demand Climate Risk Disclosures
Who Will Pay The Costs Of Climate Change?

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Investors Demand Climate Risk Disclosure

Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about potential regulatory risks and economic dangers in a carbon-constrained world

A group of 65 leading US investors with collective assets totaling $7 trillion has teamed up with the European investment management firm, F&C Investment to put a halt to Wall Street financial regulators softening of the rules on tar sands reserves disclosed by oil and gas companies.

The Investor Network on Climate Risk and F&C Investment are concerned that the escalating risks posed by climate change have broad implications for oil and gas companies which could impact their future earnings, and that these risks fall into the category of known trends requiring company disclosure.

At a time when governments around the world are taking an increasingly hard line on carbon pollution, these investor groups feel it is essential that investors be able to assess accurately the risk profile of reported reserves.

As quoted in the UK Guardian, Elizabeth McGeveran, senior vice-president of F&C's governance and sustainable investment team said"Understanding climate risk will assist investors in understanding and evaluating reserves. Regulations already require the disclosure of known trends that companies can reasonably expect will have a material impact on net sales, revenues or income from continuing operations, and we believe that the disclosure of any estimated additional risks posed by the extraction and development of additional reserves will be important."

The SEC had been reviewing the regulations on the way reserves are calculated since 2004, when Shell fell foul of SEC rules and was forced to reallocate a quarter of the assets on its books. The move led to steep fines, the ouster of its chairman and a plunging share price.

Three months ago the SEC changed the rules to allow previously excluded resources such as tar sands to be classified as oil and gas reserves that, as with oil or gas, could be listed as probable, possible and proven reserves.

Previously, tar sands were defined as mining materials, and literally speaking they actually contain no oil in their natural state. Only by heating up the rock to boiling point, can any liquid be extracted. However, such large quantities of heat are required to obtain a usable fuel from the rock means that this is a far less efficient source of energy than conventional oil.

"The energy consumption required to extract a barrel from Canadian tar sands is very different to a barrel of crude from the Gulf of Mexico."said McGeveran. As oil prices rise, companies that use a lot of oil in ratio to the product they sell are obviously far more impacted by price rises. Tar sands mining has an input of 1 unit of fossil energy in for every 3.5 units of energy (their product) out. The lower this ratio, the more the cost of producing oil from shale will rise as fossil energy prices go up.

But mostly, this unusually high carbon method of extraction means that the climate impact of tar sands mining is much worse than that of regular oil and gas. So the move reflects changing attitudes among a very large group of mainstream investors about the impact of commercial activities that could worsen global warming. This group of institutional investors, among them the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Ceres and Parnassus Investments have signed a letter of concern about the tar sands proposals and called for the new carbon implications to be taken into account.

Ceres president Mindy Lubber says that there is a need for financial institutions to evaluate these kind of projects with carbon prices that reflect their true long-term costs once carbon-reducing regulations take hold around the world.

"Much of the problem is our reliance on outdated accounting systems. Our economy uses accounting systems that are precise in measuring capital goods and profits, but weak in measuring natural and human resource impacts. This narrowly-defined accounting system means that companies are often able to "externalize" natural resource costs. In other words, they can emit global warming pollution for free without paying for environmental damage. Society and taxpayers shoulders these costs instead."

We're now seeing the capital markets begin to incorporate the external costs of global warming, especially in Europe where government-supported trading systems and pricing mechanisms for every ton of carbon dioxide emitted have fostered a $30 billion a year carbon emissions trading program. "

Therefore, filers of reserves should be required to provide investors with information about the carbon content of proven, probable and potential oil reserves in their portfolio as well as the potential liabilities posed by their continued extraction and use.

Photo S. Jocz

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Could Fuel Costs Finally Ground Us?

The friendly skies of yesteryear are just not so friendly anymore. Worldwide, airlines are in serious trouble due to fuel costs.

Jet fuel now accounts for 36 percent of the industry's costs, up from 13 percent just six years ago, and could account for 40 percent of the airlines' costs next year. No one is suggesting that the industry is about to go bust - yet - but there is a feeling that things could get much worse before they get better.

While European airlines project seven-fold profit declines to just $300 million, they get off relatively easily, since the Euro is strong and they have a strong presence in emerging markets like China and India. US airlines however, are projecting $5 billion in losses, and the IATA predicts the industry will lose more than $4 billion next year. "The negative impact of the industry crisis is universal," says Giovanni Bisignani, head of the IATA, representing 94 percent of the world's airlines.

But Boeing CEO Jim McNerney believes that the occasional bout of bloodletting accelerates the introduction of new technology: "There are two cross-currents," he says.

"There are the economic difficulties presented by high fuel prices. But the current cutting the other way is: you really do need new technology to lower your fuel consumption by between 20 per cent and 30 per cent."

Funny that he should mention that figure... 20 percent. I seem to remember that Boeing's new low carbon 787 Dreamliner was designed to cut fuel use by just that amount.

Image from Plan59
From Wired Autopia


Related stories
Boeing Says Bugs Will Fly Us To Europe In 2030
Microbes Grow Jet Fuel In The Dark

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The End Of Newspapers?

In green measure,newspapers consider publishing subscribed content on electronic news-readers to eliminate newsprint entirely

Newsprint editions of newspapers are suffering decreased circulation. And no wonder. You can't click on a link in a newspaper, or subscribe to rss feeds of only the kinds of news you are interested in following. So they are dull. And whats worse, after all that, and getting your fingers all smudgy too, you have to recycle the damn thing. And then there's the guilt. Who wants to imagine how many trees died for you to read this dull rag?

And that's just your problems with newspaper. The newspaper industry has problems with newspapers too. Fewer readers of papers leads to fewer advertisers footing the bills. Print and delivery costs can amount to 65 percent of newspaper expenses. They need to find a way to eliminate the printing costs and material costs of producing paper newspapers.

Silicon valley startup Plastic Logic has created a Kindle like device that will help news organizations save that money, while saving forests-full of trees. Originally spun off from a project developed at Cambridge University, Plastic Logic’s display feels about the same weight as a Kindle, but with a bigger screen. It is about a third as thick, is made from a lightweight and slightly flexible plastic, and it's wireless-ready to be used replenishably, as a news-reader.

Most electronic reading devices use E Ink’s technology to create an image. Like paper, (remember when you used to read on paper?) electronic paper technology doesn't need a backlight, remains displayed even when the power source runs down, and looks brighter, not dimmer, in strong light. It also draws little power from the device’s battery.

But since the Plastic Logic news reader is an electronic device, newspapers can determine, as they can when you read online, who is reading their news, and which articles are being read. Their advertisers could understand their audiences better and direct the kind of focused advertising the're used to on the web. And that 65 percent newspaper expense savings? News organizations could spend that on a cadre of great journalists who would have the time to find and report news.

Via Treehugger


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Geothermal Heat Pump Business Up 50% In Canada

Canada's Geothermal heat pump sales have grown an astounding 50% since last year, and it' s helping to boost the growth of US companies too. Indiana based Waterfurnace Renewable Energy reported in August that offsetting the U.S. housing crunch, they have seen a surge in sales north of the border.

"Canadian sales were up 119 per cent versus the same quarter last year. Ontario has grown the most. It's up 200 per cent," said Waterfurnace CEO, Bruce Ritchie.

Their second quarter sales soared to $31.3 million. "It's a phenomenal number, especially if you keep in mind that it's only for retrofits, and only retrofits that have applied for government incentives."

And that installing a heat pump can set you back $25,000 or so, though Canadians can qualify for between $8,000 and $9,000 in energy efficiency rebates. Ritchie attributes the Canadian growth to strong government incentives, a healthier economy, and increased environmental awareness. And those cold winters, I'll bet factor in there somewhere.

No matter what climate you live in, you can benefit from using less energy to heat or cool your house, if your temperatures vary throughout the year. For some climates that means blazing summers and frigid winters. What many people don't realize is that the temperature below ground actually stays fairly consistent all year. The ground is able to maintain a more consistent temperature because it absorbs about half of the suns heat as it hits the Earth's surface. Geothermal systems tap into this stable earth temperature to create a free supply of warmth in winter and cool temperatures in summer to reduce the additional energy needed to heat or cool your home.

Via Clean Break
Diagram from After Gutenberg
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GM's Lutz Demands - "Tear Down This Wall!"

Detroit comes up with an easy solution:"We should suspend U.S crash-testing requirements in order to allow Detroit to speed our fuel-efficient European models to the U.S. market"

A virtual "iron curtain" of NHTSA regulations prevent GM from being allowed to selling GM's high-mileage European cars in America. GM chairman Bob Lutz says:

“In Europe, the crash-test procedures are different than in the U.S., so the tests are different. If our government says cars that meet crash tests in other countries are good enough to be sold here, we would have more high-mileage, small-car flexibility.”

True. But why are US crash-test procedures different here than in Europe?

Because, after the oil shocks of the 70's, GM, Chrysler and Ford lobbied for a NHTSA import "wall" to prevent those gas sipping Japanese and European cars from interfering with the American consumers' unfettered patriotic right to buy gas-guzzlers.

You might say that Americans have been kept behind a wall, an iron curtain that keeps our vehicle choices very limited.

NHTSA regulations were deliberately created to differ from ECE regulations that govern cars in the rest of the world in order to protect the fortunes of GM, Chrysler and Ford.

Meanwhile, in Europe, under Kyoto, Ford and GM had to learn how to produce low carbon driving options that met Kyoto standards. (Typically low carbon vehicles will also use less fuel.)

As a result, European Ford and GM now make some of the finest gas sippers there are over there, and there are lots. As detailed in Number of Gas-Sipping Cars Unavailable in US Rises To Well Over 100, by 2007 Europeans had a choice of over 100 cars that get over 45 mpg, while we were stuck with fewer and fewer models capable of 35 mpg or more till Smarts and Minicoopers hurdled the wall this Spring.

“We also would like a 3-year moratorium on certain U.S. front- and side-impact crash test regulations,” Lutz says, but don't be alarmed by that. Europe has a lower deathrate than the US, under the EU rules, and these will be safer than what you are driving now.

How ironic that now Big Auto is realizing that the climate-virtuous vehicles they make over there are only prevented from being sold here by their own once lobbied-for legislation. I hope he has a good strong lobby for this new and much better idea to standardize their production worldwide, to a better standard.

I'm with you, Mr. Lutz. Lets tear down this wall!

For Matternetwork

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Climate Change Measures To Boost Economy

A California study accounts the benefits to accrue as we start to invent solutions to the mother of all necessities.

A study quoted in the Sacramento Bee this morning showed that the improvements in fuel and energy efficiency and additional clean technology jobs needed to achieve required emissions reductions would result in a net household savings of up to $500 a year and a net $4 billion gain in the total annual output of goods and services in California.

So when you minus all the coal miners and plus all the solar roofers: you come to the apparently surprising news that a clean energy industrial revolution will improve your economy.

But surely: hands-on jobs like those of solar roofers cannot be outsourced or replaced. And mandated solar roofs? That's a lot of jobs. By definition, the zero carbon innovation economy will be an expanding one, throwing off new jobs and businesses as new problems and solutions surface to solve climate change.

By contrast, the extractive economy is a mature economy. 75,000 miners have lost their jobs in the last decade. Now in Wyoming, a mere 5,000 workers produce 40% of America's Coal.

The giant coal company Peabody employed fewer than 8,300 people making a quarter of our coal to earn $5 billion in 2007. By comparison, the 20 year old wind turbine company Vestas employed more than 13, 000 people, the year that it made $5 billion.

Now, from a strict economist's point of view, the coal company CEO is doing a better job, eking out the same $5 billion off fewer people. And that one CEO probably is doing fine. But looked at from a bigger picture point of view: which state would be better to live in, even do business in, the one with really only one customer, the CEO, or the one with 13,000 people with bucks in their pockets to buy your goods?

I would have thought that that was obvious simply by the disparity between the economies of the thriving Green States versus the Brown States. It is a choice between a Belgian economy and the Belgian Congo's:

"Now let's look at the countries that are heavily dependent on extractive industries. The first five out of the top six are uniformly crummy places to live: Mongolia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Serbia and Montenegro, and Australia. More Belgian Congo than Belgium."

Then there is the problem with a strict economist's accounting of goods and services. What is an emergency-room visit for pollution-related asthma? That's a service.

The expensive prescriptions her $8-an-hour mother can ill afford, but now must buy her weekly? That's a good.

Or is it? Are these really goods and services? By my accounting, these are environmental costs that we are all laboring under now. Our health insurance costs rise to help cover every kid raced into the emergency room with that asthma.

Because of the skewed accounting we currently use, I suspect that this California study actually greatly undercounts the actual huge economy-wide benefits that will accrue as we set about inventing solutions to the mother of all necessities.

Photo By Steve Jurvetson

Related stories:
While Markets Turn Red, The Future Looks Green
Sweden Exceeds Kyoto Targets; Economy Booms
Why Eco Businesses Should Move To Brown States Read more...

Top Prius Dealer Starts Taking Deposits For PHEVs

Impatient customers in Palo Alto are putting down $500 for the first Toyota Prius Plug-in due out soon.











Felix Kramer of CalCars reports that Magnussen Toyota of Palo Alto in California, one of the top Prius dealers in the US, has begun taking $500 deposits for the plug-in Prius that Toyota announced this week it is now working on completing by 2009. The California activist group CalCars says that one Toyota dealer moving ahead of the pack will encourage others, and help speed the arrival of PHEVs into the market. They hope carmakers will get the message that their customers want plug-in cars, and accelerate their plans.

Activist grous have long publicized the development of Prius conversions that can get over a hundred mpg. No doubt we have all seen images of the ubiquitous +100 mpg Prius in this picture.

Initially, Toyota had been reluctant to join in with the other auto companies moving to electric vehicles in the last few years, despite the popularity of their RAV4 EV, created in response to the CARB zero emissions rules of the 90's. The few remaining are still going strong, now fetching as much as $70,000 on eBay.

Understandably enough, Toyota had felt no natural impulse to create a competitor for its own Prius hybrid that has been enjoying a virtual monopoly in the restricted US market.

But unremitting pressure from EV groups like CalCars to perfect the good has altered Toyota's plans. Last July, Toyota said that their plug-in adaptation of their Prius hybrid had advanced to the point where it was able to be driven legally on public roads in Japan. This week, Green CarCongress reports that Toyota now plans to accelerate PHEV development:

President Watanabe now plans plug-ins for fleet deployment as soon as 2009: earlier than the previous 2010 target, and plans an additional "next-generation electric vehicle" to follow. These are not mere fluffy green press releases, either. Toyota has already ramped up battery pack production capability with Panasonic EV Energy.

EV activists believe that without waiting for any new technology or infrastructure, Toyota could begin to build and sell first-generation plug-in hybrids now to early adopters and fleet customers. And as batteries improve, “good enough to get started” will become better and better. As long ago as 2005, the New York Times noted that the popular hybrids were being hacked to get 100 mpg. Classes in converting hybrids to plug in have been held by many engineering schools around the country: hands-on demonstrations that the technology is here now. This dealer's initiative marks the second time that dealers have applied pressure to Toyota to move faster. Previously, some dealers had offered aftermarket conversions which are available for the Prius for $10,000 or so that you can already buy directly from Hymotion.

Photo by the author

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Geothermal Projects Up 20% Since January

The Geothermal Energy Association has released a new report which shows a 20% increase since January of new projects starting in the US. Iceland and Tibet currently power the highest percentage of their electricity from Geothermal sources - 25% and 30% of each nations power comes from Geothermal energy respectively. Geothermal energy today meets the total electricity needs of some 60 million people worldwide, roughly the population of the United Kingdom.

The new projects underway will power 4 million homes with 4000 megawatts of geothermal power. The report lists projects being started in 14 states, mostly in the Pacific Rim states but also, surprisingly, Florida.

Volcanic areas are typically those that best tap Geothermal potential such as Iceland which is the world leader in the percentage of its electricity that comes from Geothermal power. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. When developed, these projects could provide nearly 4,000 megawatts (MW) of new electric power, enough electricity to meet the needs of roughly 4 million homes.

Of these projects, 45 will be in Nevada, 21 in California, 11 in Oregon, Idaho and Utah will have 6 each, 5 in Alaska, 2 each for Arizona and Hawaii, and Washington, Colorado, Wyoming and Florida will each have one project. With the new additions, US geothermal power will be close to 7,000 MW.

Google is investing $11 million in Geothermal power, and also has previously invested in electric vehicles powered by Lithium, a side product of Geothermal drilling.

From Renewable Energy World
and the Geothermal Energy Association

Photo by Phil Mercer

For Matter

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Would Ford Rather Die Than Switch?

Key executive who abandoned Ford places $70 million dollar battery order to power Think EV


Autoblog Green has news of ThinkGlobal's new $70 million dollar battery order.

Recently ThinkGlobal announced a new CEO - the key Ford executive who had been Worldwide Director of Strategic Planning.

"The appointment of Australian born Canny will help Think accelerate its growth plans and compete globally in the rapidly emerging electric vehicle market" said CEO Jan-Olaf Willums "Richard brings twenty five years of global automotive experience to Think which will help us greatly in growing the company quickly and increasing our international presence. His extensive background at Ford in both strategy and operations will be ideal to help guide Think as we grow."

Canny expressed his optimistic view on the future of electric vehicles, saying "the electrification of the automobile industry has reached a tipping point. Think is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this trend and is the leader in this rapidly growing industry sector. My view is that Think is where the future of the automotive industry will be."

It's not good news for a company when key executives jump ship to join new technology startups. Ford has had a history of dropping the ball on the EV. In the 1990's, Ford had to build at least a couple of models of zero emissions vehicles to comply with the California Mandate. They briefly made the little Ford Ranger as all electric. The few remaining ones are still escalating in resale value on eBay. A retired auto worker at a Ford Ranger plant scheduled for shutdown this year has been trying to keep it operating by once more rolling Ford Ranger EVs off the assemblyline.

Ford had initially created the Think EV to meet the California Mandate. To meet the zero emissions requirements, Ford found a little Norwegian EV company run by Jan Otto Ringdal, bought the company and produced their PIVCO electric vehicle renamed as the Think. But like GM, of Who Killed The Electric Car? fame, Ford murdered their little EV as soon as they were able to, and sold the company back. Some historical footage of that time at youtube shows some very unhappy customers having to give them up.

The little Norwegian company bought back the rights for the Think themselves, encouraged by the Norwegian government, (who says that oil-rich nations just can't think ahead!) and now that little EV just won't stay dead. Now ThinkGlobal is bringing it back to bite Ford in the US with talk of possible American production facilities. GE's Ecoimagination has invested $24 million to help. Currently ThinkGlobal is ramping up its production for deliveries in Europe this year and USA in 2009.

Per their site currently, their ThinkCity shown above will get 110 miles a charge, go to 65 mph top speed and cost about $30,000 This model can seat two and a couple of little kids in the back seat. Or lots of groceries. Or both the dogs. They also plan a 5 seater SUV that they call the ThinkOx. The name sounds as though they are making gentle fun of our SUV obsession in implying that we think we must have really heavy-duty Oxen to cart us about.

There had initially been talk of leasing the batteries with monthly payments like on a cellphone to make the vehicles themselves cheaper. It is possible that Washington will be able to pass a subsidy for EVs since Obama proposed a $6000 EV subsidy in the energy bill last year. Even though that failed to pass cloture, by one vote (McCain did not vote) there is widespread approval for this idea, and some Democrats want higher subsidies: Clinton proposed it be $10,000. This would be more like the generous subsidy Japan provided, that jumpstarted the Prius.

Think is not the only electric vehicle opportunity that has slipped through Ford's fingers.

Tanfield's Smith Electric Vehicles is using Ford to make the 'glider' or shell for their Ampere and is already using the Ford Transit as the glider for their Edison van, which is delivering groceries carbon neutrally for Tesco in the UK.
Former workers are trying to revive their electric trucks. Fords factories are ending truck production. Fleets are contacting conversion companies to re engineer Ford trucks as EVs. Now Ford's own executives are jumping ship to join EV startups. Why won't Ford make their trucks electric? Torque can even improve in an electric version. Big macho trucks can be EVs.

The largest is probably this behemoth of a hybrid diesel-electric dumptruck.
And it's not as if Ford is uninterested in sustainabilty. They are always announcing their new biodegradable banana peel seatcovers or whatever, but as an auto company, they have larger responsibilities than other firms since carbon emissions are a big part of an industry that has been reliant apon being fossilfueled.

GM, on the other hand is betting the farm on their Chevy Volt, an extended range EV: an ER-EV. If they can make it, they will need to amortise their huge investment in this by offering this truly game-changing technology in their other models. The ER-EV is more advanced than a hybrid converted to a plug-in hybrid. Its the next step after the hybrid. This is why AFSTrinity's hybrid conversion of the GM Saturn seems a bit redundant: AFS would have been smarter to pick a Ford, since Ford won't make an EV. Just as Toyota changed everything with the Prius, GM could change everything with the Volt ER-EV.

Ford is doing the world a huge disservice by hanging Ford tough on this refusal. Detroit does not have to be a has-been.

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Google Brings Cheap Energy From Earth

Arguably Google has done far more to change civilization than the Gutenberg Press, in bringing free research to the world and thus opening up the vast wealth of all of our collective intellectual endeavours to all of us. Now they would appear to be performing a similarly game-changing service: investing in a neglected, cheap, clean and abundant source of energy.

Google plans to invest $11 Million in EGS (deep) Geothermal power this year. (By contrast, the Bush DOE has once again zeroed out Geothermal investment.) "It's a big resource, it's got a good cost curve, and it's not getting enough attention," says Dan W. Reicher, Google.org's director of climate and energy initiatives. This investment in Geothermal would be a good fit with Google's previous investments in electric vehicles, because an easily extractable byproduct of Geothermal drilling is lithium.

Forbes says that a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated EGS could open up an additional 100,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. by 2050, up from 2,000 MW today. That could mean 800 million megawatt-hours of more power every year, up from just 15 million megawatt-hours today.

Initial extraction costs (including construction, development and financing) would be 9 cents, even with no subsidies that might well become available under a hopefully more pro-renewable administration. Once production is underway, costs drop by more than half.

The ongoing cost for Geothermal power is estimated at 4 cents. This compares extremely well with new nuclear power at 18 to 30 cents, or natural gas at 9.3 cents and would be almost as cheap as coal, currently at about 2 cents, a figure which is likely to increase as carbon legislation forces older facilities to either close or retrofit for carbon capture.

The cost of Geothermal is falling faster than the cost of fossil fuels, including coal. While geothermal’s costs have steadily decreased throughout the years, those of natural gas have increased recently, often experiencing boom and bust type cycles that can negatively impact the economy. EIA analysis places geothermal energy at a lower levelized cost than Natural Gas Combined-Cycle, Wind, Open-Loop Biomass, Nuclear, Solar Thermal, and Photovoltaic (with costs increasing in the order in which they are listed).

Most industry experts agree that Geothermal is one of only a few alternative technologies that will compete economically with polluting technologies in the near term.

Photo By Guillermo Santamaria

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Are Coal Prices Next?

Appalachian Coal Prices Hit $140 Per Ton

When the farsighted French Wind Financier Jerome Guillet started his predictive series countdown to $100 oil, I found it curious that gas prices at the pump did not initially reflect the rising oil prices. As oil prices kept creeping up, doubling the $30 a barrel prices we had grown used to, to surpass $60 and even $70 a barrel, prices at the pump remained strangely unresponsive.

But there did come a tipping point. Gas prices at the pump finally reflected the ever increasing oil prices, and then interesting things happened: - SUV resale values plummeted $8000 in 6 months, US automakers retooled to build cars instead of trucks, Mini Cooper inventories shrank to one-day supplies on the lot and the US accident rate dropped 9% as Americans sharply curtailed their driving habits.

Now, international pressures have pushed coal prices to a record-breaking $140 a ton.

I wonder... at what point in the next few years will rising electricity costs yield similarly interesting changes in our behavior?

Could the other 6 billion electricity consumers competing for our electricity supply change what Al Gore couldn't?

Might it simply become normal behavior to protect our own electricity supply? Just as responsible parents buy insurance to protect our families' futures, might it simply become the normal, responsible thing to do to ensure the family electricity supply by finally putting up that solar roof?

Appalachian Coal Prices Hit $140 Per Ton
From Appalachian Voices Front Porch Blog and the EIA

Other Sources
SUV Resale Rates Plummet $8000 in 6 Months
US Automaker Retools To Build Cars Instead Of Trucks
Mini Coopers Hit One Day Supply in July
Vehicle Accident Death Rate Drops 9%
82% of US Consumers Driving Less In Response To High Gas Prices Read more...