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Daniel B. Botkin

Solving environmental problems by understanding how nature works

  • People & Nature
  • Climate, Energy & Biodiversity
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Solar Energy Where It’s COLD Outside

August 9, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

For most people, the very north of Michigan, the Keweenaw Peninsula, on the shore of Lake Superior, might seem an unlikely place to get electricity from solar energy. But Professor Rolf Peterson of Michigan Technical University, well-known for leading the long-term study of wolves of Isle Royale National Park, thought differently.  He installed a photovoltaic system on his … [Read more...]

The Shifting Geography, Technology, and Politics of U.S. Energy Production

July 20, 2013 By Joe Browder 2 Comments

Wind power plant

Guest article by Joe Browder.About the author: Joe Browder of Washington, DC, an active participant in Meeting of the Minds, is a consultant to global energy and automotive companies, NGOs and to Native American groups, chairs the Advisory Committee of China’s ChangCe Institute and is a member of the Advisory Board of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for the Study of the … [Read more...]

Is There Nuclear Power in Our Future?

June 18, 2013 By Daniel Botkin 3 Comments

Can We Build Enough Nuclear Power Plants Fast Enough?In a recent (May 22, 2013) Wall Street Journal article, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger state that nuclear power “is the best chance we have to make big reductions in carbon emissions quickly.”  In fact, however, “quickly” is impossible.  A large number of new nuclear plants would have to be up and running in the … [Read more...]

Nuclear Power: More Evidence That It Is Not Environmentally Friendly

February 23, 2013 By Daniel Botkin 2 Comments

More evidence that nuclear power is not an environmentally friendly way to go came to light today.  Six underground tanks holding radioactive waste are leaking at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington.  (See this New York Times article, February 23, 2013)Hanford was built in 1943 as part of the  Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb.  As a primary … [Read more...]

The Risk of Losing Solar Manufacturing Abroad

August 22, 2012 By richf Leave a Comment

Recently, Dan had an opportunity to sit down with students from the Energy: Today and Tomorrow class at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. The course, taught by Department of Geography lecturer Tracy Edwards, examines many of the questions and challenges of alternative energy discussed in Dan's book Powering The Future: A Scientist's Guide to Energy … [Read more...]

Ocean Power Gets A Jolt With A New Turbine

August 10, 2012 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

UPDATE: On Tuesday, August 14, 2012, the ocean electric generating turbine was successfully lowered into the Bay of Fundy, just off of Eastport, Maine. Costing $21 million, and benefitting from $10 million in U.S. Dept. Of Energy subsidy, Ocean Renewable Power Company will begin generating some 180 kilowatts, enough to power about 30 homes, according to The New York … [Read more...]

Alternative Energy That Works For People

July 30, 2012 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Click here for a demonstration Home Wind Turbine, Boca Raton, FLThis is a new section of my website. It tells about people’s experiences with alternative energy.Here is the first:Amherst, Massachusetts home, not the sunniest of locations. On a barn roof next to the house are 24 SunPower model 230 Solar Panels, covering 20.9 feet (6.4 m) by 15.3 feet (4.68 m) or … [Read more...]

Energy and Humanity: The Next One Thousand Years

June 20, 2012 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Dan Botkin Future of Energy

This video interview was just recently made available from an interview I did for the Foundation for the Future at their Humanity and the Biosphere Conference a few years back.At the conference, scholars from five continents participated in the seminar “Humanity and the Biosphere: The Next Thousand Years,” jointly sponsored and conducted by the Foundation For the Future … [Read more...]

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From Daniel B. Botkin, Ph.D

Daniel Botkin
I believe we are mostly on the wrong track in the way we try to deal with the environment. Everything I do, study, learn, and advise about the environment is different from the status quo. Throughout my career, I have tried to understand how nature works and use that understanding to figure out how we can solve our most pressing environmental problems.

My process over the past 45 years has been to look carefully at the facts, make simple calculations from them (sometimes simple computer models) and then tell people what I have learned. It’s surprising how rarely people bother to look at the facts. This has surprised me every time I’ve started a new ecology research project or work on an environmental issue.

In the course of my work and studies, I have learned many things and I want to tell you about them. That is the purpose of this website.

Follow @danielbotkin

Books by Dan Botkin

The Moon in the Nautilus Shell  Strange Encounters
Powering the Future  No Man's Garden
See all books by Dan Botkin

Jabowa III Forest Model


Jabowa Forest Model
Jabowa Forest Model for Windows 7.
This forest model, used around the world, was developed first in 1970 by Daniel B. Botkin, James F. Janak and James R. Wallis

JABOWA remains the most completely detailed and well validated forest growth model available, accounting for 95% or more of the variation in real forests where it has been tested.

The book Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model (available as an eBook) provides a complete description of the model and the rationales behind its development.

Order Online

Sea Ice Study

The Bockstoce and Botkin Historical Sea Ice Data Study has a new home at the University of Alaska website. The data include more than 52,000 daily observations in an unbroken 65 year record from 1849 – 1914.

See related papers

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