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| 8 of the 11... 3 left yesterday |
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| Our playground |
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| Me and Bea- so warm we could short-sleeve it! |
A perfectly refreshing weekend and now back to the books.
Dreaming of Hallingskeid,
lisa liv
On Giving
14 years ago
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter 2011
More to come but I had to post a few pictures from the past weekend. I just got home and must get to school work but these are a few photos from a very special weekend in Hallingskeid, Norway. Truly an unforgettable Easter 2011. 11 friends from NHH (representing countries- USA, Germany, Italy, Norway, Austria and Peru) went to a true Norwegian cabin (we are talking no running water, etc) and spent time cross country skiing during the day and cooking, laughing, playing charades and drinking some wine/beer together at night.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
a, b, c's
Hello Hello! So, i've decided. It is time. While it's fun to post about my trips and goings on, part of my intention for this blog is to share what I'm learning in my program. There's so many exciting things going on and energy is of the utmost importance- starting now. I'm really pleased with what I'm studying and feel it's important to help spread information.
I'm stating with some information presented by the head of micro-economic analysis of petroleum for Nordea Bank who presented on campus last week. This is something we've been covering in class but it really hit me in her presentation. Below is information from the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) on the top 15 oil exporting nations from 2009 (generally the same today):
Don't worry about the barrels so much. Take a good look down the list of countries. I'd venture to say Norway and Canada are the only two really 'stable' countries on that list. 2 out of 15, hmmmmm.
And, guess who the biggest oil importer is? You got it, the good old U.S of A. I'm sure I will preach the need to reduce our use of fossil fuels somewhere along the way. But, today, this post is to simply make the point, we are relying on unstable sources for the lifeblood of our daily functioning. Does this concern anyone else?! You might have heard the term 'energy security' being thrown around. This is exactly what it means- having stable sources supplying our energy needs.
So, what do we do? Do we drill more of our own domestic petroleum supply? Well, let's be honest, it's all finite (ok, maybe not in our generation, but, come on, we are smart people, we can do this!). Do we keep ourselves reliant on oil? I believe it's time to start getting more aggressive about other options and I hope this blog will now start building a good case for why and how.
As for oil, EIA predicts gas prices will remain high through the summer months, around $3.71 a gallon (click here for article). I know y'all don't like the sound of that (or maybe you do because you know high gas prices are the one thing to make people really start looking at the severity of the issue). But, as some perspective, gas in Norway is typically over $9 a gallon. Perhaps that would change car purchase decisions and driving decisions? Just saying.
Mom and I were just visiting friends in Copenhagen and our friends just got a new Skoda 'GreenLine' car. The car averages 68.9 miles per gallon... holy wow! Ok, ok, it lacks a little pickup some people might want, but still- impressive!
I leave you with one last thing for today- the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. This competition challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost effective, energy efficient and attractive. I love this! Brilliant for the government to involve young smart minds in this way. Here's an entertaining little piece about Ohio States team getting ready. They came in 10th last year and are looking to win. Oh the drama!
Off to do some reading about hydro as a good energy storage device especially when integrating more wind power into the electricity grid system.
energetically yours,
lisa liv
I'm stating with some information presented by the head of micro-economic analysis of petroleum for Nordea Bank who presented on campus last week. This is something we've been covering in class but it really hit me in her presentation. Below is information from the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) on the top 15 oil exporting nations from 2009 (generally the same today):
Don't worry about the barrels so much. Take a good look down the list of countries. I'd venture to say Norway and Canada are the only two really 'stable' countries on that list. 2 out of 15, hmmmmm.
And, guess who the biggest oil importer is? You got it, the good old U.S of A. I'm sure I will preach the need to reduce our use of fossil fuels somewhere along the way. But, today, this post is to simply make the point, we are relying on unstable sources for the lifeblood of our daily functioning. Does this concern anyone else?! You might have heard the term 'energy security' being thrown around. This is exactly what it means- having stable sources supplying our energy needs.
So, what do we do? Do we drill more of our own domestic petroleum supply? Well, let's be honest, it's all finite (ok, maybe not in our generation, but, come on, we are smart people, we can do this!). Do we keep ourselves reliant on oil? I believe it's time to start getting more aggressive about other options and I hope this blog will now start building a good case for why and how.
As for oil, EIA predicts gas prices will remain high through the summer months, around $3.71 a gallon (click here for article). I know y'all don't like the sound of that (or maybe you do because you know high gas prices are the one thing to make people really start looking at the severity of the issue). But, as some perspective, gas in Norway is typically over $9 a gallon. Perhaps that would change car purchase decisions and driving decisions? Just saying.
Mom and I were just visiting friends in Copenhagen and our friends just got a new Skoda 'GreenLine' car. The car averages 68.9 miles per gallon... holy wow! Ok, ok, it lacks a little pickup some people might want, but still- impressive!
 |
| this is not their Skoda but gives you the idea |
I leave you with one last thing for today- the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. This competition challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost effective, energy efficient and attractive. I love this! Brilliant for the government to involve young smart minds in this way. Here's an entertaining little piece about Ohio States team getting ready. They came in 10th last year and are looking to win. Oh the drama!
Off to do some reading about hydro as a good energy storage device especially when integrating more wind power into the electricity grid system.
energetically yours,
lisa liv
Monday, April 04, 2011
Geilo!
that's pronounced yie- low.... yie like pie but with a 'y'.
Geilo is about half way between Bergen and Oslo and I was fortunate to get to go this past weekend with a few 'American Girls' I've met here in Bergen. A classmate from Wisconsin introduced me to Nancy from Maine/New York and we became fast friends. She then invited Crystal from Seattle to join in the American night dinners and we've had a grand time together since the fall. Crystal met a Norwegian in Africa and they are now married living here and Nancy was here studying at NHH when she met Erik, from Bergen. You got it, Nancy and Erik are getting hitched this summer. And, Erik and his family are very generous and allowed for the North American invasion of their Geilo cabin this last weekend. Yea! Aniela, a Canadian, joined us from Oslo.
My goal is to get some more pictures posted but here are a few from my phone over the weekend. We stuck to cross-country skiing which I'm really enjoying. My 2nd and 3rd time (Sat and Sun) but it feels really natural. I love flying across the snow and it's wonderful to spend time amongst the beauty of nature.
We did a good 10k around the lake on Sat and rewarded ourselves with a Hansa beer at Dr. Holmes, the trendy 'after ski' hotel and bar. Anyone who's anyone goes there. Duh. We are so in the know.
And, next weekend I get to see my beautiful mummy!! Yipeeeee! We are rendezvousing in Copenhagen, Denmark where we will visit with some great old family friends, the Larsons. Then we will come to Bergen so she can see life here. As you can see, we clearly don't have any fun together (this is sarcasm, Norwegians don't get sarcasm very well and, if you know me, I'm slightly sarcastic... I've really had to work on this!)
Ok, now I must get back to the books. Must wrap up a lot of school work before I leave! Classes have just about ended lecture wise and my finals start coming down the pipe starting the week after Easter. I can't believe I'm done with this semester on May 16th. And, at that point, I'm half way done with my program- what?! Woah.
Nerd-ily Yours,
lisa liv
Geilo is about half way between Bergen and Oslo and I was fortunate to get to go this past weekend with a few 'American Girls' I've met here in Bergen. A classmate from Wisconsin introduced me to Nancy from Maine/New York and we became fast friends. She then invited Crystal from Seattle to join in the American night dinners and we've had a grand time together since the fall. Crystal met a Norwegian in Africa and they are now married living here and Nancy was here studying at NHH when she met Erik, from Bergen. You got it, Nancy and Erik are getting hitched this summer. And, Erik and his family are very generous and allowed for the North American invasion of their Geilo cabin this last weekend. Yea! Aniela, a Canadian, joined us from Oslo.
My goal is to get some more pictures posted but here are a few from my phone over the weekend. We stuck to cross-country skiing which I'm really enjoying. My 2nd and 3rd time (Sat and Sun) but it feels really natural. I love flying across the snow and it's wonderful to spend time amongst the beauty of nature.
We did a good 10k around the lake on Sat and rewarded ourselves with a Hansa beer at Dr. Holmes, the trendy 'after ski' hotel and bar. Anyone who's anyone goes there. Duh. We are so in the know.
And, next weekend I get to see my beautiful mummy!! Yipeeeee! We are rendezvousing in Copenhagen, Denmark where we will visit with some great old family friends, the Larsons. Then we will come to Bergen so she can see life here. As you can see, we clearly don't have any fun together (this is sarcasm, Norwegians don't get sarcasm very well and, if you know me, I'm slightly sarcastic... I've really had to work on this!)
Ok, now I must get back to the books. Must wrap up a lot of school work before I leave! Classes have just about ended lecture wise and my finals start coming down the pipe starting the week after Easter. I can't believe I'm done with this semester on May 16th. And, at that point, I'm half way done with my program- what?! Woah.
Nerd-ily Yours,
lisa liv
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