A friend of mine whose life’s work is analyzing the forces that shape the health of Brazil’s consumer economy sent me this short and quite bearish paper on the subject. I respond: Thanks; this is interesting. However, from the standpoint …
Author: craigshields
From Guest Blogger Micaela: Check This Guide to Solar Panels
In the past few years, a lot of interest has grown regarding solar energy. This is the result of an increasing awareness about climate change and the consequent boom of renewable sources of energy. However, there is still a lot …
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Obama’s Energy Policy Could Be A Great Deal Worse
When I wrote a piece a month or so back lamenting U.S. president Barack Obama’s “all of the above” energy strategy, senior energy analyst Glenn Doty commented that I need to keep things in perspective, that things could be a …
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Solar Energy Becoming Fabulously Inexpensive
The picture here may imply that pretty girls are necessary to sell solar PV, but journalist Bill Moyers vehemently disagrees. On a recent episode of his popular show on PBS, Moyers presented evidence that the solar industry is booming—and for …
Global Warming Is Real, and the Atmosphere’s Temperature Is Rising, But There Is Additional Heat Whose Path Is Still Not Completely Understood
Much has been written about the potential causes in the slowdown of the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. Climate scientists are quite confident in the validity of the greenhouse effect, but they’re still trying to account for all the heat …
Unlike Solar PV, A Concentrated Solar Power Plant is a Real Edifice
I laughed out loud when I read Glenn Doty’s comment on my piece in which I mentioned the levelized cost of energy of both solar PV and CSP. After an analysis of some of the engineering details, he writes: I …
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World’s First Solar Road Installed and Ready for Public Use
Here’s a topic that’s gotten a fair amount of play over the years: solar (PV) roads. Finally, the first such thoroughfare is open to the public—in the Netherlands: land of tulips, windmills, and yes, if you get far enough off …
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Can Solar Thermal Compete in the Pantheon of Renewable Energy “Flavors?”
I took a nice hike with a friend last weekend, during which we had lots of time to talk about the important issues of the day; we’re out there long enough that there is no reason to rush from one …
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War and a Sustainable Society
I had a strange experience yesterday that I thought I’d share. It had nothing to do with renewable energy, but it lies at the core of our notion of a sustainable society. I attended a wonderful staged reading of four …
From Guest Blogger Cherry: Collecting Rainwater For Your Container Home
Have you heard of rain water harvesting? It’s simply the act of catching water in a container system to use for other purposes. And this is exactly what you can do with your container home. Who Exactly Would Harvest Rainwater? …
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