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Posted on September 16 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Simek needs to step down today. The President of a university should NEVER state that another school is "a better academic institution." 90% of his job is to sell the University and its programs. Belittling his own institution in comparison to another who recently suffered an annual funding cut of $132 million due to the insolvency of their state government... that's shameful and highly inappropriate for someone in his leadership position.
Posted on August 9 at 9:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a note for the previous commenter. Last time I checked, all bonuses for TVA managers were canceled for FY2009. So much for attempting to "protect its bonus structure." If that changes between now and October, I'll be as upset as anybody.
There are a lot of good people at TVA doing a lot of good things for our community, our state, and the whole Tennessee Valley. Try not to paint us all with such a broad, unflattering brush.
Posted on July 28 at 3:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Build some desalination plants on the GA coast. Provide power to the desalination plants with new nuclear power facilities, which can also draw cooling water from the ocean. Problem solved.
Posted on July 5 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who puts honey mustard on a waldorf salad. That's bizarre.
Posted on February 18 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Your statement that only 7 of the 9 board members attended the latest board meeting is only half true. Indeed, only 7 members attended, but that is because there are currently two vacancies on the board. President Obama has yet to appoint new members to replace those whose terms recently expired.
Co-generation is a mixed bag. It sounds good in theory, but this generation is almost exclusively fueled by natural gas, which is only marginally better than coal for greenhouse gas emissions. Given the high price of gas in recent years, and the huge swings in that price from week to week, the economics are questionable as well.
Clean coal is a myth. The technology does not currently exist. Pilot projects for carbon capture and sequestration are underway, but there is no proven commercial technology that can clean up this dirty fuel. All that sulfur, ash, and particulate matter has to go somewhere.
Your comments regarding load management, variable rates, and mountain-top removal are all right on the money.
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Posted on April 24 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ethanol contains 30% less energy per gallon than gasoline. So right off the bat, you lose 3% for a 90/10 gasoline-ethanol blend. This is simple physics. Beyond that, ethanol could impact your fuel system, causing further degradation over time, but this would be more likely at higher concentrations.
Ethanol releases 20% less CO2 per gallon than gasoline, yet provides 30% less energy. So the same amount of driving for an ethanol-fueled vehicle, you'll actually put MORE CO2 into the atmosphere. Someone call Al Gore before it's too late.
Also, corn is a lousy fuel source. Ethanol production took up about 1/3 of our domestic crop last year without meeting a significant fraction of our energy needs, driving up worldwide food prices in the process. Cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass would be cheaper and be better for the environment.
In the longer term, plug-in hybrid vehicles (powered by nuclear, solar, and wind, in that order) are the answer, perhaps with switchgrass-based ethanol in place of gasoline for trips that exceed the battery capacity of these vehicles. Better mass transit and urban planning would also help immensely.
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Posted on September 17 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There's a difference between lying and not going on record making comparisons. If you told your customers that your competitor's product was superior, your boss would fire you. Why should Simek be treated any differently?
On Simek acknowledges having talk with Kiffin