My career, primarily in the electric utility industry, has focused on renewable energy and energy conservation. I would like to respond to recent advocacy for nuclear power and skepticism relating to renewable resources. Here is my overview of the attributes of renewals. Continue reading
73.6% of statistics are made up on the spot and if conveyed with sufficient confidence are believed by 90% of the population. Some sources advise that 70% of all projects fail, 42% of companies don’t understand the importance of project management, 55% of managers cite budget overrun as a reason for failure, and 62% of ‘successful’ projects had supportive sponsors. Continue reading
Canadians aren’t worried enough about superbugs. As bacteria develop immunity to the antibiotics in our limited arsenal, new treatments will be needed—and soon. Otherwise, routine medical procedures will become impossible, common infections will turn fatal and tens of millions of people will die every year of once curable infections. Continue reading
Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. cities are still adjusting to a new normal, with more people working remotely and less economic activity in city centers. Other factors, such as underfunded pension plans for municipal employees, are pushing many city budgets into the red. Continue reading
Some days are better than others. We sometimes run into failure when working to create a new product. With a little investigation we suspect the components are not working as expected.
We’ll call the vendor and ask for an explanation. If this is normal production and variability of performance, our product will suffer an higher than expected failure rate. The vendor will assure us with: Continue reading