Daily Digest 1/5 - Canada Finds Itself In Energy Crunch, The Dreamers And Loons Of Fusion Energy

Economy

Fiscal Deal Fails to Allay Doubts on U.S. Global Power (jdargis)

Vali Nasr, who will soon publish “The Dispensable Nation,” argues that the debt, among other economic woes, has allowed Mr. Obama and other Democrats to justify a retreat from global engagement. “It’s made it far easier to say ‘We can’t do more,’ ” said Mr. Nasr, the dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “And without addressing the debt issues, it will be easier to make that argument for years to come.”

From NASCAR to rum, the 10 weirdest parts of the ‘fiscal cliff’ bill (jdargis)

As Dan Eggen has reported, this provision, first created in 1997, allows manufacturers and banks to defer taxes when they engage in a special type of financial transactions known as “active financing.” The break now costs $9 billion per year, and critics claim it encourages firms to create jobs overseas. But it’s a top lobbying priority for companies like GE and JP Morgan, who say that it helps them compete abroad, and it will get extended another year.

Sci-Finance: The Great Cybernetic Experiment, Part 2 (adam)

In Part II, we’ll take a closer look at the nature of this experiment, how it is evolving, and a possible outlook for the future. To begin, let’s return to some of the concepts mentioned in Part I—artificial markets, adaptable software agents, and machine learning—with a quote from Scott Patterson’s latest book, Dark Pools: High Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System. As he explains, the trading world is now one...

Obese who refuse to exercise 'could face benefits cut' (westcoastjan)

Resident, housing and council tax benefit payments "could be varied to reward or incentivise residents", the report said.

It claims "early intervention techniques" could help save more lives and money.

Energy

Worsening oil bottleneck could cost Canada $1 trillion, shock government revenues (westcoastjan)

Today, Canada finds itself caught in an energy crunch.

Oilsands production is taking off, but the country's future capacity to export oil appears constrained. Our main customer - the United States - is also enjoying its own oil renaissance, while concerns over foreign takeovers and the environment loom. For Albertans - and other Canadians - it's a decisive moment for a country striving to be an energy superpower.

Iceland awards oil and gas exploration licences (westcoastjan)

"The Norwegian participation is also important - we think that it strengthens the matter in every way, not least to have the support of Norway and its massive knowledge in this field."

Exxon Mobil moves ahead with $14-billion Hebron oil field off Newfoundland (westcoastjan)

The green light for Hebron, the fourth major offshore Newfoundland oil project, is a positive development for energy operations in harsh operating conditions in a week in which the industry came under intense fire for an accident in the Far North.

Fusion Energy’s Dreamers, Hucksters, and Loons (jdargis)

For one thing, the history of fusion energy is filled with crazies, hucksters, and starry-eyed naifs chasing after dreams of solving the world's energy problems. One of the most famous of all, Martin Fleischmann, died last year.* Along with a colleague, Stanley Pons, Fleischmann thought that he had converted hydrogen into helium in a beaker in his laboratory, never mind that if he had been correct he would have released so much energy that he and his labmates would have been fricasseed by the radiation coming out of the device. Fleischmann wasn't the first—Ronald Richter, a German expat who managed to entangle himself in the palace intrigues of Juan Peron, beat Fleischmann by nearly four decades—and the latest schemer, Andrea Rossi, won't be the last.

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