Emergic: October 2, 2005 Archives

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Oil Alternatives

For those looking to replace oil, not just to find more of it in odder places, ethanol and other biofuels are getting new attention. Although in the U.S. ethanol from corn has a reputation both for draining energy and being corporate welfare, high oil prices make it more interesting. The recent energy bill provided a guaranteed market for 72 billion gallons by 2012. This ugly duckling may yet become a swan.

Unsubsidized producers in Brazil are already making oceans of biofuel from sugar cane. An energy-equivalent quantity of ethanol brewed there sells for less than half the price of crude oil. More than half the new cars sold in Brazil can run on fuels ranging from straight gasoline to straight ethanol. And researchers around the world are experimenting with all sorts of plant oils—including canola, soybean, and palm—to fuel diesels, which can't burn ethanol.

General | PermaLink | Comments (1)

As a Republican sympthiser, and an admirer of president Bush, Imust nevertheless point out the colossal failure in vision that has caused the bush administration to NOT launch a second manhattan project - this time focussing on energy alternatives - startig with biofuels in the short term to maybe fusion energy in the longterm.

As of 2005, and for the next few decades forward, America remains the sole national power capable of pulling off this audacious feat with any hope of success.

This act of omission on the administration's part is indeed apalling.

Posted by sudhir

Harvard Endowment Cracks $25 Billion

A WSJ story Indian educational institutions should read:

Harvard University said its endowment, the largest in higher education, achieved a 19.2% return in the year ended June 30, bringing its value to $25.9 billion.

n the 2005 fiscal year, the endowment provided almost a third of Harvard's operating budget, or more than $850 million, the school said.

Harvard said the endowment's strongest results came from private-equity investments, while foreign bonds achieved the best performance relative to the benchmark against which they are measured.

I wonder if Indian colleges are thinking along these lines...

General | PermaLink | Comments (2)

Not only do American universities have large endowments (Harvard is way ahead with $26 billion, compared to most other private and state universities which are in the $5 billion range), many of them derive a substantial part of their annual income (about 20%) from provision of medical services on a commercial basis by leveraging their medical college hospital facilities and faculty. They also raise about 5% of their annual income from donations from alumni, well-wishers and donors - they are on perpetual fund-raising drives.

Only about 20% of their total annual income is derived from tuition fees.

See my post on the sources of income of American universities at
http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/2005/07/what_are_the_so.html

Posted by Satya

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