Thirty Days Hath Semptember

Aaaah February. As I found out yesterday, somewhat to my surprise, February only has 28 days. Meaning that the grant I am applying for is due on Friday March 2nd, rather than next monday. When I made this discovery, I was sitting in the computer lab, typing up my grant application and singing the "Month Song" to myself (and other people in the lab, I guess)...you know, "Thirty days hath september, april june and november, all the rest have 31." So, I think to myself, clearly February has 31 days, because the days of the month song is always right. Apparently the writers of the song forgot to add, "But occasionally, it will be thus that February will hath 28 days in order to screw you over at crucial moments."

Additionally, I believe that the March 1st deadline is important to a number of internships. So, if you guys also didn't realize that February is freakishly short (please, let there be someone else like me out there...)March 1st is actually this thursday. In order to be helpful, I am going to try find a bunch of worth-while internships with applications due in early march and post them here over the next few days.

First, there is a very cool-looking internship available in Washington DC at Science Magazine for minority students interested in science journalism. In case anyone is unaware, Science is one of the most prestigious science publications out there, one which most scientists dream of publishing in. The internship is 10 weeks, and paid. Additionally, they will pay for your transportation to and from DC. I am guessing that this is pretty competitive, and the application is probably extensive. However, if you are interested in science journalism and are a minority student, I would strongly recommend applying for this position.


Okay, well I have to go stride around on a frozen lake in sub-degree temperatures for a few hours taking Livingston cores and water samples. Hoping not to fall in, because, as our teacher informed up, the weight of the recent snow will make the ice a bit more dangerous. If my blog mysteriously ends, it is because I have fallen into a hole in the ice and no one noticed.

More later about the dreaded March 1st deadline,
Emily

The Green Oscars

Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore just stood up on stage together (an unlikely pair) to talk about the "Green Oscars" initiative. Finally, environmentalism is in vogue, and there are a multitude of celebrities who want to ride in hybrid limos and build energy efficient mansions. Al Gore's "The Inconvenient Truth" was nominated for two oscars itself. My readers may detect a hint of scarcasm. No, I am glad that some of our richer and (perhaps, unfortunately) influential citizens are taking an interest in "being green." However, sometimes it feels like environmentalism is becoming more of a fashion statement than a movement with real goals. There is even a new term being bandied about these days, "green-washing." Wikipedia defines greenwashing as, "a pejorative term that environmentalists and other critics use to describe the activity of giving a positive public image to putatively environmentally unsound practices." You can see it all the time, and I wrote about greenwashing in gas and oil companies in a paper last semester. I mean, BP now has a green logo with a little sun on it, as though they are a solar-energy company instead of a gas and oil one. Unfortunately, we need environmentalism to be much more than a fashion statement - we need it to be something that we act on and believe in. Its not just about snazzy hybrid vehicles, or pricey organic food made from imported ingredients. Environmentalism needs to be more than skin deep.



For an article about the green oscars, check out:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2281395.ece

Bush appears in embroidered lab coat

Man, oh man. Its sunday - just spent a fruitless hour working on an environmental geochemistry problem set, but now its time to take a break and do something fun. There are a couple of neat little news peices on energy and utilities which you might want to check out. People often don't catch the more subtle articles about utilities - but, like the one from the New York Times below, they can be very influential.

The New York Times published an article entitled, "In Big Buyout, Utility to Limit New Coal Plants" by Felicity Barringer and Andrew Ross Sorkin on February 25th. (Check out: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/business/25coal.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin) They put it in the business section, which means that a lot of college students may have skipped right over it (note: despite appearences, the business section is often a good place to look for news...) The gist of the article is that TXU Corporation, a large company being bought by private equity firms, will cancel the manufacture of 8 of its 11 planned coal factories in order to appease two environmental groups, Environmental Defense and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). I am always interested when the news specifically mentions activism as the impetus when a business will change its plans - for some reason it seems like a lot of the time people are unwilling to give grassroots activism the credit it deserves. Additionally, ED and NRDC are known as two of the more conservative of the environmental activist groups out there (there was no mention of the Sierrra Club or Greenpeace). If you are interested, check out the ED website devoted to its campaign against TXU (http://www.environmentaldefense.org/page.cfm?tagID=596&campaign=583).
I did an internship at Greenpeace a few years ago, and I learned a lot about how environmental activist groups plan their campaigns. For example, ED and NRDC chose TXU because it is one of the largest corporations in the field, and at a vulnerable stage right now - a buyout. it is a good time to target this corporation because they will be especially wary of negative publicity. Secondly, ED and NRDC paid for an advertisement (see the link below) which puts a great deal of pressure on TXU. It is always useful in a campaign to target a specific enemy, preferably a person or a well-known corporation, rather than an issue, such as dirty coal plants.



Anyways, we have been following the ethanol debates pretty closely on this blog (well, to be fair, ethanol has gotten a ton of press lately). So check out "Bush Makes a Pitch for Amber Waves of Homegrown Fuel" by Edmund Andrews, published on Febraury 23, 2007 in the New York Times. You all can make up your own minds about ethanol, but be sure to read between the lines in the article, particularly paying attention to cellulosic ethanol. Also, notice the patriotic rhetoric being used to push ethanol, and remember that it is still a corporation-dominated industry. Also, the picture below made me laugh (it appeared in this article). Bush had his name stitched into the white lab coat he is wearing. !!!!!!!!




Anyways, I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend.

Emily

Internship in Ethanol

Hmm, I just made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, and they all turned out flat. I thought they just didn't have enough flour, so I added some more - didn't solve the problem. Suggestions anyone??

I thought today we could cover some more ground on internships available for this summer. Its getting to be the time of year when winter is dragging on too long, and it feels like summer will never be here. But in fact, its slowly warming (hopefully) - and soon we'll be out there interning away. I have been blogging about ethanol lately, so I found a few internships available at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) - the premier ethanol corporation in the United States. They are looking for engineers, accountants, economists and computer scientists - so if you have any of those skills, this might be a good place to investigate. Additionally, if you are a senior and an intern, you get an automatic interview at the end of the summer for a job at the company. They seem very committed to taking employees from their intern program, so if you are interested in environmental engineering as a career, or biofuels and ethanol (which may be a smart career to choose at this point) - this could be a good choice for you. Check out: http://www.admworld.com/naen/careers/crengineering.asp

I did a little research on ADM, if this sort of thing interests you. ADM began as a midwestern company which served as the middleman between farmers producing grain (largely corn) and companies creating corn-products, such as cereals. It became powerful by the 1970s. CEO Dwane Andreas was one of the most generous CEOs in recent history, and gave large sums of money particularly to help the political campaigns of certain politicians. Later, when corn prices fell as a result of new governmental policies, ADM was instrumental in influencing the government to impose tariffs on imported sugar (these tariffs are still in place). They did this in order to make their new product, high fructose corn syrup (now an American staple) competitive with sugar. They have also used this same lobbying power to sway government action regarding ethanol. Anyways, it is clearly an ambitious and interesting company. The above information came from this article, "Go Green, Go Yellow" written by Tom Philpott in December of 2006. To view the article, please see: http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/12/06/ADM/



Above is a picture of part of an ADM factory taken from this article.


Well, moving on. Another intermship folks might be interested in- in fact it looks pretty interesting to me, is the "Energy Sustainability and Administration Intern" at the Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP). (See: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/util_join_our_team.jhtml;jsessionid=EQYCEFT1FDPCKAKRGWDSELQBKE0YIISW)

Looks like you get paid $13-15/hour to consult the company on its energy sustainability issues. Might be worth looking into, especially if you live near Waterbury, MA - the hometown of HBSP. The application is not officially due until the beginning of May - so this might serve as that much-needed backup for summer plans. Anyways, its getting dark and I am going to head out to Thai food with some friends. I hope that everyone is having a good weekend!

Emily

Taking Stock of Energy

First of all, one of my friends recently pointed out to me that I look like a bit of a pyscho in the featured blog photograph of myself. In said photograph, I am holding a fork up to my mouth, and have the semi-crazed look of a girl about to dig into a large pan of brownies. Not that there is anything wrong with this - I am a bit of a pyscho, especially on the subject of chocolately baked goods. (Note: If you want very good fat-free brownies, get "No Pudge" brand, they are delicious, and all you have to do is add fat free yogurt and bake). (See above picture). (Not that I'm obsessed or anything). So, this is a promise to find some more normal photographs of myself, preferably doing career-related things, to post here. If you guys are extremely lucky, I may also post some photographs of our two turtles, Shakira and Obama (Shakes and BamBam for short). I will only do this if everyone agrees that they are the two cutest turtles to ever swim the face of the earth.

But now to business. If you can get past Britney Spears' shaved head (who cares???), there was some interesting news regarding energy this week. For one thing, I was scanning the Forbes' 2007 Energy Outlook, which touched on alternative energy, electricity and oil and gas. I am particularly interested in this because I do a little bit of investing and have been wondering for some time whether gas and oil stocks are currently being undervalued. After all, although Exxon's most recent earnings weren't spectacular, they comfortably beat analyst expectations. Further more, it seems to me that long term, oil prices will be on the rise again- meaning that it is possible that oil prices will pop. Forbes gave me a few interesting facts about energy and electricity usage (to see whole article, check out: http://www.forbes.com/2006/10/06/energy-oil-ethanol-biz-energy_cx_pm_1009overview_energy06.html). The article is called "Its the Consumption Stupid" and is written by Paul Maidment.

1. The oil shock of 1973 had a much greater effect on overall energy usage that I had realized. According to this article, total oil use is down almost 50% from what it was at that time. Energy demand has replaced oil with natural gas and nuclear power.

2. The efficiency of oil use for energy is increasing, but so is demand for oil. This is one reason why it will be hard to make strides in curtailing American imports of foreign oil. As I am sure you all already know, the United States is the world's biggest importer of oil, although China is close behind.

3. China is the world's leading exporter of hydro-power - and close behind the US in coal and oil.

Right now everyone is wondering what the makeup of energy usage will be, say, 50 years from now. Will natural gas and oil still be the primary sources of power? Wil nuclear energy finally live up to its promise, and begin to produce vast quantities of electricity? Will alternative sources of energy ever be cheap and efficient enough to compete with the already existing oil and gas industries? It certainly feels right now that the winds of change are blowing - and the optimist in me hopes that in 50 years our energy supply will be much cleaner and safer than it is today. One can only hope.

Finally, for your enjoyment I am posting a photograph below of Arnold Schwarzenagger and his hydrogen-powered hummer. I guess he just loved those Hummers so much that he had to get one of his own - and make it environmentally friendly so he wouldn't get too much press about it.

Baby Its Cold Outside..Lets Talk about Oil

Brrrr....Its gotten chilly out. A tad bit nipply as my sister might say. But that is good news for gas and oil companies because people are turning up the heat in their homes- and companies can count on profits from the increased use of oil and gas. Gas and oil companies have been getting a lot of negative press in recent months due to allegations of price gouging and concerns over global warming. A few weeks ago ExxonMobil reported record earnings yet again - and even the corporation's enemies must admit that it is one of the most successful corporations to ever exist. So who wants to get in on the earnings. I did a little scouting around and found a few promising internships concerned with the gas and oil business.

1. ExxonMobile. Check out: http://www.exxonmobil.com/Benelux-English/Jobs/Bnl_AS_Stages.asp, or simply www.exxonmobile.com/careers

2. BP (Beyond Petroleum). Check out : http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9004579&contentId=7011872 or go to the website and search for co-ops and internships.

3. Chevron. Check out: http://careers.chevron.com/students/internship_programs/default.aspx


Working with these companies has its good and bad sides. First of all, if interested be sure to apply right away as most of them have rolling applications. Second, these companies are especially hungry for engineering majors - most of the people employed in the gas and oil industry are above the age of 40 - and the corporations are eager for young, tech-savvy employees. The internships are very competitive, but are well organized and pay well.

Okay, I hope everyone is out playing in the snow. I went snowboarding down our campus green yesterday - and would recommend it.

Energetically yours (not..I need a nap...),
Emily

Ethanol: A Dream Come True?

Its a lazy sunday, and I just happened across an interesting article about ethanol which sparked my interest.

Ethanol is the current golden child of alternative energy in this country. President Bush and other members of the administration love to mention ethanol - and it has had more than its fair share of press in recent months. I am as ready as anyone to jump on the bandwagon - after all, a cheap, plentiful source of renewable energy sounds pretty good to me. But lets just take a step back and ask ourselves whether this confidence is justified.

Ethanol can be made from a large variety of sources (pretty much any sugar and starch containing plant could be a source) - China is interested in using Tapioca, and most people are aware of Brazil's success story - ethanol made from locally grown sugar cane. Check out some excellent blogging on the sources of ethanol at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2006/05/politics-of-ethanol.html (This is Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog).

Currently, almost all of the ethanol in the United States comes from corn, which is problematic because ethanol made from corn is not as energy efficient as other sources, such as switchgrass. As you can imagine however, the farm industry has an interest in keeping the ethanol production centered on corn in this country. Read this quote from the New York Times article entitled "Springtime for Ethanol":

"For an industry once dominated by the will of a single powerful producer, Archer Daniels Midland, ethanol has come a long way, joining the oil industry and producers of major agricultural commodities as an entrenched political force in Washington. And it now enjoys a powerful role in presidential politics because of Iowa’s status as one of the first states to select delegates to the parties’ nominating conventions.

But with dozens of new ethanol plants coming online this year, the ethanol lobby is facing a critical point. The political reality is that corn’s days as the chief crop for making the fuel may be numbered.

Corn-based ethanol can only marginally reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. But it does little, if anything, to improve energy efficiency, and the mounting concern of some politicians is that relying on corn is leading to collateral damage in other parts of the agricultural economy and threatening the nation’s status as the leading corn exporter. The big increase in the works may mean consumers would end up paying more at the supermarket.

So the ethanol lobby and its political supporters now face the challenge of trying to maintain the momentum of ethanol’s feel-good story before the potential negative consequences of the rapid ramp-up become all too apparent.

Clutching the reins these last five years is Mr. Dinneen, a longtime Washington lobbyist who joined the association in 1988. He recalled his early years there as a pitched war with the oil industry. “I would wake up in the morning and try to think of a way to vilify the oil guys,” he said.

Today, to keep the ethanol train moving, ethanol makers are cozying up to the oil industry, forming political alliances and enlisting executives from companies like Chevron as they race to make a quicker transition to cellulosic ethanol made from nonfood crops, like switchgrass.

Otherwise, public support could turn against the fuel, which yields a third less energy than petroleum-based gasoline and still relies on a federal subsidy of 51 cents a gallon to remain competitive." (Alexi Barrioneuvo, "Springtime for Ethanol" The New York Times, 1/23/07).

This quote touches on some of the less appetizing aspects of ethanol. It also points out something that most crop scientists are well aware of - that ethanol made from corn is so inefficient as to be inviable. The real hope for ethanol lies in biotechnology, in techniques and genetically engineered crops which do not yet exist. To those familiar with the idea, the true dream of ethanol is to produce the energy from a bioengineered crop which requires little energy or nutrient input - something like switchgrass but even more energy efficient. This worries me. Let us suppose that such a crop is genetically engineered - it will probably be a weedy-grass species (a member of the composite family most likely). It will contain genes which make it extremely drought resistant, and able to live in soils with little nutrients. This plant will be grown in vast acres of monoculture in order to supply enough ethanol. In such a situation the crop will suffer from all the problems that our current monoculturing creates (the constant need for new pesticides, high energy inputs via fertilizers, loss of land). Additionally, its identity as a weed plant may aid it to spread far beyond where it was planted - thus transferring its own genes into the genes of "natural" plants found throughout the country.


A second NY Times article came out more recently (see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/weekinreview/11egan.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1), and it stresses the hope of decentralized ethanol production. We Americans love to envision ourselves as a country of small farmers - and the unfortunate reality of large agribusiness has disillusioned us. One of the reasons that ethanol appeals to us so much is that we see decentralized ethanol production as a way to bring the small farmer back into business. Who wouldn't love to see small, poor farming towns across the country being revitalized by new ethanol plants? Politicians of both parties talk about new jobs, energy independence and ethanol as though the three are easily obtained and profoundly related. But lets be careful not to let this kind of rhetoric confuse us. Currently, ethanol is part of large agribusiness, it is even affiliated with certain gas and oil companies. Additionally, government subsidies for ethanol are huge - something I do not want to criticize, but just aknowledge. The public should recongize the limitations of ethanol and the fact that competitive ethanol will go hand in hand with bioengineered crops. In my opinion, ethanol should be part of the answer to America's energy crisis, but it should not be the only answer.

Crunch Time

Well, the beginning of february signals the start of crunch time - when those of us who have not yet started thinking about summer internships do, and others of us struggle to meet deadlines and put the finishing touches on our resumes. In my experience, the large investment banking firms and other business internships are the ones with the earliest deadlines, followed closely by some well organized government-related internships.

This all hit home yesterday when one of my best friends at Brown was so busy preparing for her consulting interviews (not even giving the interview...just preparing..) that she wrote me an email instead of calling me back. The email said, "I am too busy to call you because I am prepping for consulting interviews." Sheesh. The internet age, what can you say? I didn't even get a text message!

Well, the good news is that generally, those of us in the energy and utilities field have a bit more time to sort through our options and apply. We can take a deep breath and realize that a summer internship, though it can be an amazing opportunity, is just a summer internship. It is not the make-or-break of our entire careers. So lets just take that time to breathe for a moment (I need it too..)









Now, I am going to include some pieces of advice which may help all of us successfully apply to summer internships, without causing us to blow off our best friends (*cough *cough).

1. Be focused. Before jumping headlong into job searching, brainstorm a few specific areas of interest. Also, consider your limitations, whether they be monetary, geographic, physical, or otherwise. Some issues to consider are:
a. Where do you want to work this summer?
b. Do you need to be paid, or can you afford an unpaid internship?
c. Do you want to work part time or full time?
d. Do you prefer a corporate or public service environment?
e. What is your background and what are your long term career interests?

2. Consider your connections. Do you know of any friends or family members who may have access to a place you want to work. Even if they cannot use their connections directly to get you an internship, they may have ideas of new and upcoming places to apply to - or friends who may be able to give you advice. One thing to consider is that it may be wise to save some connections until you graduate. Is it more important to you to use the connection now, as an undergraduate, or in may senior year, when the outside world is beginning to look like a scary and unfriendly place. On the other hand, some firms have a strong record of rehiring former interns, so it could be advantageous to use the connection now.

3. Take advantage of your university resources. Most universities have a career resource center complete with internet job searches and staff who are paid to help you. Additionally, universities have access to a wide network of alumni, although these types of connections are often more useful post-graduation. However, many times these internet job searches available through the university will obtain better results than just using Google.

4. Do not make a single mistake in the resumes, cover letters and writing samples that you hand in to employers. The best way to ensure this is to ask friends to proofread your writing for you - it is often very difficult to catch mistakes that we have made ourselves. You may think that this doesn't matter - but last summer I was not hired for a internship in the Justice Department because I made 2 tiny typos in my cover letter. True story - and the woman who told me that this was the reason I did not get hired sounded very disappointed on the phone. But the truth is, sloppy writing is unacceptable in competitive internship positions.

5. Delving into the treasures of the internet. Begin a small love affair with Google if you haven't already done so, but remember to search smart. That being said, searching for an internship in utilities is probably one of the easiest internships to search for. Simply find the relevant utility's homepage and call them, or search around for an internship program by clicking on "employment opportunities" or "careers". As I blogged previously, many utilities will have internship programs in order to encourage students to return later as employees.

Searching for jobs related to energy is a more diverse and heterogeneous undertaking. However, I will give you one of my career secrets: Go to the Yale School of Forestry's career resource website :
http://environment.yale.edu/1939/favorite_cdo_job_&_internship_sites/

This website has a long and thorough list of internships and jobs available at diverse work places. Many of these are environmentally related, but there are a number of energy, especially alternative energy, options on the site. Additionally, many large universities have sites like this one, especially universities with strong engineering and environmental studies graduate programs - so use your head and search smart.

Phew, time for me to contemplate dinner. Also:::why is it so cold and yet there is no snow!!! My room mate and I bought a tobaggon (not a sled...a tobaggon) and it hasn't snowed one iota.

Best of luck everyone...
Emily

Peyton Manning and the IPCC

Time for a little pregame post about energy and utilities. My roomie and I have our tofu hotdogs, chicken wings, chips and salsa all ready to go. Small confession: I know pretty much nothing about football, but am looking forward to the ads. Plus I have a bit of a soft spot for Peyton Manning.

Anyways, the big news in energy and utilities this week was the release of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report on global warming. It stated with a 90% certainty level that humans were responsible for the changing global climate. This coincides neatly with Bush's recent State of the Union address which called for a 20% reduction in gasoline usage by 2017. It seems as though the tide is beginning to turn for the environmental movement in this country - and that means that there will be lots of job opportunities in renewable energy and energy efficiency areas. Or at least that is what I am betting on. (Note: If people are interested in an internship involved with renewable energy, try the National Renewable Energy Lab which hires summer interns. The website for the description of the program is http://www.nrel.gov/employment/student_interns.html )

There are many ways to take advantage of the new energy wave heading our way. Physics and engineering majors can head straight to the labs to develop new energy sources and perfect others. Right now wind energy is leading as the most cost-competitive alternative to gas and oil, but with better technology solar may catchup. My own personal feeling is that energy efficiency will become a top priority for our country - which means that there will be opportunities for employment in energy consulting. (There are many environmental consulting firms out there which are beginning to address these energy efficiency issues and some of them even offer internships. I will post more about this later).

Okay, time to go check on Peyton. Hope that everyone enjoys the game, and we will talk soon.

Emily