China Investment Corp.

China Investment Corporation was established on 09/29/2007 as a sovereign fund of China. Its registered capital is $200 billion. Since its inception, CIC has made the following investments.

(1) Blackstone Group LP, $3 billion at IPO at NYSE. Blackstone is one of the largest private equity companies. It is the second of its kind ever listed on NYSE (Fortress Investment Group LLC was the first listed private equity firm).

(2) CREC (China Railroad Engineering Corporation), $100 million at IPO at Hong Kong. Now CREC is also listed in China as A-shares.

(3) Morgan Stanley, $5 billion convertible bond, at distressed price. Morgan Stanley is one of the major Wall Street firms. Its stock price is under pressure due to its involvement with the sub-prime loan problems.

道德经 第十六章 观復

致虚极
守静笃

万物并作
吾以观復

夫物芸芸
各復归其根

归根曰静
是谓復命
復命曰常

知常曰明
不知常
妄作凶

知常容
容乃公
公乃王
王乃天
天乃道
道乃久
没身不殆

[释]

我觉得这一章是老子的科学思想

前四句是科学方法论 致虚极 守静笃 就是要求科学家解放思想和抛弃一切陈旧观念 只有这样 在万物并作的情况下 才能发现那些可以重复的规律

接下来的五句是对规律进行定义 在老子看来规律就是常 规律才可以重复(復) 可以重复的规律才没有变化(静) 这样一来所有事物都有各自的根本规律

接下来的三句是对规律的检验标准 按照规律办事就会有光明 不按照规律办事 就是糊里糊涂地办事 这样一来就有凶险

最后七句是讲规律对王公也同样适用 因为规律是永存的(没身不殆)

Solar Panels vs. Biofuels

It is commonly known that all energy sources are directly or indirectly from the Sun, either as stored energy such as petroleum or coal or as direct transferred energy such as photosynthesis or solar panel.

Stored energy = Conversion efficiency from biomass to fossil fuel * Annual biomass energy production * Time of biomass production

If the conversion efficiency from biomass to fossil fuel is 1%, the total biomass production time 3 billion years. Then the stored energy is about 30 million times of the annual biomass energy production.

Currently the most efficient man-made solar devices can convert solar energy about 1/3 of the efficiency of photosynthesis. The currently available commercial solar panel can be about 30% efficient. The photosynthesis efficiency is over 90%. Over the years, the efficiency of artificial devices can increase. Ultimately they may reach the efficiency of plant photosynthesis. Even then, the stored energy is still million times of the annual solar energy production.

From the sustainable development point of views, the solar panels can ultimately become of the solutions of energy needs. There will be many other forms of alternative energy production, such as bio-energy, wind power, hydropower, nuclear power, geothermal power, and fossil fuel power.

Energy produced from solar panels has limited energy intensity. This makes it very hard to be attached to any mobile devices such as airplanes, trains, automobiles, even cellular phones.

Solar panels will have to compete with fuels made form biomass. Currently ethanol made from agricultural products like corn or sugar cane is already in hot demand. Research studies to convert other form of biomass like trees or grass to fuels are already moved from university labs to corporate labs.

In other words, solar panels are in competition with leaves.

12/20/2008 Jatropha seeds contain 30 to 40% of oil content. Its yield is about 8 tons per hectare per year. Jatropha can be an excellent plants for producing biofuels.

01/11/2008 Switchgrass can yield 5 to 11 metric tons of grass bales per hectare depending on rainfall. It is a potential ethanol-producing grass.

01/13/2008 GM's investment in Coskata Energy seemed very interesting. Coskata use syngas generated from a gasification process developed by Westinghouse to produce ethanol using natural microorganisms (bio-fermentation). http://www.coskataenergy.com/

言有宗 事有君

There are different interpretations. Many of these interpretations are very limited in their scope. This is a very important and fundamental statement. I would translate it as the following:

All media contents are presented with specific objectives.
All human events are directed by definite masterminds.

Golf at Local Country Clubs

In the last several weeks I played with Evans, Patrick, and Weiguo at several local country clubs. These country club golf courses are well maintained. These clubs are listed below.

12/1/2007, Stonebridge Ranch Club (the Hill Course).
http://www.dallasstarscountryclub.com/

12/2/2007, Hackberry Creek County Club at Dallas.
http://www.hackberrycreekcc.com/

12/8/2007, Canyon Creek Country Club at Richardson.
http://www.canyoncreekclub.com/

12/9/2007, Timarron Country Club at Southlake.
http://www.timarronclub.com/

12/15/2007, Oakmount Country Club at Denton.
http://www.oakmontclub.com/

12/16/2007, Trophy Club at Dallas.
http://www.trophyclub-dallas.com/

12/29/2007, Gleneagles Country Club at Plano (King's Course)
http://www.gleneaglesclub.com/

12/30/2007, Sonebridge Ranch Country Club (the Dye Course)
http://www.stonebridgeranchcountryclub.com/