Sea-Level Rise
In an attempt to discredit my recent post on sea-level rise, a frequent commenter writes, “Meanwhile, the coast of beachfront real estate keeps increasing!” (more…)
Take a Cool Guess—The Fun Quiz on Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Today’s Topic: Sea-Level Rise
Question: By what percentage have flooding incidents increased in Southern Florida in the past 10 years?
Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.
Relevance: This is caused by the one-two punch of melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica, combined with the expansion of the ocean waters due to their retaining heat, a phenomenon that is happening at a far greater rate than was believed as recently as a year ago.
Breakthrough Heating Technology?
Here’s an ad for a helical copper infrared heater that claims that their “breakthrough” delivers “more heat with less electricity.” Consumers should know that high efficiency heaters already have ratings above 90%, some as high as 98%, meaning that only 2% of the electrical power is not sent into the room as heat.
Not sure where you’re going to take this from here, guys. Seems like a questionable use of the word “breakthrough.”
How Investors Are Surviving and Thriving in the Era of Climate Change
Bruce Wilson LEED AP certified building contractor in environmentally sustainable renovation, restoration and new construction, offers this:
Efforts to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions are taking on greater urgency. (more…)
Many Cleantech Jobs Cannot Be Automated
A top management consultant once quipped, “The factory of the future will have only two employees: a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.” (more…)
Take a Cool Guess—The Fun Quiz on Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Today’s Topic: Turkey
Question: Which of the following are true about Turkey?
a) Its human rights record (oppression, torture, disappearances, etc.) is among the worst in the world. (more…)
In the Adoption of Cleantech, the Carrot May Be More Effective Than the Stick
The “gloom and doom” messaging (including, often, my own) that pervades so many texts on environmentalism comes at a cost in terms of motivating its audience. In particular, the effect of scaring people about a phenomenon that is cascading over a period of decades or even centuries tends to wear off over time; fear is not an emotion that persists in any given individual over long periods. (more…)
Take a Cool Guess—The Fun Quiz on Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Today’s Topic: Sea-Level Rise
Question: According to the National Academy of Sciences, which end of the antarctic (east or west), previously thought to be fairly stable, is now reported to be losing ice mass. This represents almost 40% of the total loss on the continent (which has caused 13.8 millimeters of sea level rise over the past 40 years). (more…)
Fraudulent Concepts in Cleantech
Whenever I bash a cleantech concept as being fraudulent or asinine, I do so at the risk of push-back from the promoter or one of his fans. A few months ago, I disparaged the inventor of the Eco-Gen Joulebox (see video below) in a blog post, suspecting that I’d hear from someone. I just got the following response, and replied to it at the bottom. (more…)
Bringing Sustainable Energy to the Developing World
Induction cooking uses the principle discovered by Michael Faraday almost 200 years ago, i.e., that an alternating electrical current induces an oscillating magnetic field, which in turn causes a current to flow in any nearby conductor. (more…)
