The Case against Government Intervention in Energy Markets

Many politicians and pundits are panicked over the existing state of the oil and gasoline markets. Disregarding past experience, these parties advocate massive intervention in those markets, which would only serve to repeat and extend previous errors. These interventionists propose solutions to nonexistent problems. This Policy Analysis reviews the academic literature relevant to these matters and argues that the prevailing policy proposals are premised on a misunderstanding of energy economics and market realities. The interventionists do not distinguish between problems that government can remedy and those that it cannot. They ignore lessons that should have been learned from past experience. They embrace at best second- and third-best remedies rather than first-best remedies for the alleged problems. Moreover, they ignore the extreme difficulty associated with ensuring efficient policy response even when it seems to be theoretically warranted. Fear of oil imports is premised on pernicious myths that have long distorted energy policy. The U.S. defense posture probably would not be altered by reducing the extent to which oil is imported from troublesome regions. Fears about a near-term peak in global oil production are unwarranted, and government cannot help markets to respond properly even if the alarm proved correct. Market actors will produce the capital necessary for needed investments; no "Marshall Plans" are necessary. Price signals will efficiently order consumer behavior; energy-consumption mandates are therefore both unwise and unnecessary. Finally, more caution is needed regarding the case for public action to address global warming. The omnipresent calls for more aggressive energy diplomacy are misguided. Economic theory validated by historical experience implies that the diplomatic initiatives are exercises in futility because they seek to divert countries from the wealth maximization that is their goal. Similarly, the search for favorable access to crude oil is futile. Despite their popularity, rules to force reductions in energy use lack economic justification. Attacks on American oil companies and speculators seek to shift blame to those subject to U.S. government control from the uncontrollable foreign oil-producing governments that are truly to blame

Harmonic analysis of lossy piezoelectric composite transducers using the plane wave expansion method

Periodic composite ultrasonic transducers oer many advantages but the periodic pillar architecture can give rise to unwanted modes of vibration which interfere with the piston like motion of the fundamental thickness mode. In this paper, viscoelastic loss is incorporated into a three dimensional plane wave expansion model (PWE) of these transducers. A comparison with experimental and nite element data is conducted and a design to damp out these lateral modes is investigated. Scaling and regularisation techniques are introduced to the PWE method to reduceill-conditioning in the large matrices which can arise. The identication of the modes of vibration is aided by examining proles of the displacements, electrical potentialand Poynting vector. The dispersive behaviour of a 2-2 composite transducer with high shear attenuation in the passive phase is examined. The model shows thatthe use of a high shear attenuation ller material improves the frequency band gap surrounding the fundamental thickness mode

Enhancing the bandwidth of piezoelectric composite transducers for air-coupled non-destructive evaluation

This paper details the development of a novel method for increasing the operational bandwidth of piezocomposites without the need for lossy backing material, the aim being to increase fractional bandwith by geometrical design. Removing the need for lossy backing materials, should in turn increase the transmit efficiency in the desired direction of propagation. Finite element analysis has been employed to determine the mode of operation of the new piezocomposite devices and shows good correlation with that derived experimentally. Through a series of practical and analytical methods it has been shown that additional thickness mode resonances can be introduced into the structure by a simple machining process. The shaped composites described in this paper offer increased operational bandwidth. A simple example of a two step thickness design is described to validate and illustrate the principle. A more complex conical design is presented that illustrates a possible tenfold increase in bandwidth from 30kHz to 300kHz, operating in air without backing. An illustration of the applicability of this type of transducer technology for frequency agile guided mode non-destructive evaluation is then presented

An FeLoBAL Binary Quasar

In an ongoing infrared imaging survey of quasars at Keck Observatory, we have discovered that the z=1.285 quasar SDSS J233646.2-010732.6 comprises two point sources with a separation of 1.67". Resolved spectra show that one component is a standard quasar with a blue continuum and broad emission lines; the other is a broad absorption line (BAL) quasar, specifically, a BAL QSO with prominent absorption from MgII and metastable FeII, making it a member of the ``FeLoBAL'' class. The number of known FeLoBALs has recently grown dramatically from a single example to more than a dozen, including a gravitationally lensed example and the binary member presented here, suggesting that this formerly rare object may be fairly common. Additionally, the presence of this BAL quasar in a relatively small separation binary adds to the growing evidence that the BAL phenomenon is not due to viewing a normal quasar at a specific orientation, but rather that it is an evolutionary phase in the life of many, if not all, quasars, and is particularly associated with conditions found in interacting systems.Comment: AASTEX 13 pp., 4 figs; accepted by ApJ Letter

Analysis of ultrasonic transducers with fractal architecture

Ultrasonic transducers composed of a periodic piezoelectric composite are generally accepted as the design of choice in many applications. Their architecture is normally very regular and this is due to manufacturing constraints rather than performance optimisation. Many of these manufacturing restrictions no longer hold due to new production methods such as computer controlled, laser cutting, and so there is now freedom to investigate new types of geometry. In this paper, the plane wave expansion model is utilised to investigate the behaviour of a transducer with a self-similar architecture. The Cantor set is utilised to design a 2-2 conguration, and a 1-3 conguration is investigated with a Sierpinski Carpet geometry