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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Eco-Friendly Bamboo Bedding

The eco-friendly feature of bamboo bedding has been just one of the many reasons most people choose to buy and use bamboo sheets, bamboo comforters and and other bedding ware. In contrast to the other types of fabrics and materials, bamboo is a sustainable product that is ingrained with innumerable qualities. Bamboo fabric products are considered to be eco-friendly as it is produced without the use of dangerous pesticides and fertilizers. The pulp of the bamboo shoots is used for manufacturing fabrics and other products. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Global Climate Disrupution and the “Anthropocene Era"Let me call readers’ attention to Glenn Doty’s incredible comments on my post about the new “Anthropocene Era,” so named because of the vast impact humankind has had recently on the planet, and the fact that this impact can only increase as time goes forward.  For those who want a primer on glaciation and the astronomical/geological forces that affect it, you’ll struggle to find anything done any better than this brief science lesson.

However, now that I understand (at some level) the forces that affect global warming over a period of thousands, and in some cases, millions of years, can’t we conclude that they’re irrelevant?  Atmospheric CO2 levels have risen over 29% since I was born.  It’s true that I’m not a kid anymore, but we’re not exactly talking about “geologic time” here.  Not only are levels increasing, but the rate of change at which the levels are rising is increasing as well.  Isn’t everything else negligible, insofar as it’s happening so slowly in comparison?

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Curious About the Operation of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plants?Here’s an interesting article on concentrated solar power, based on an interview with one of the engineers at the Ivanpah plant near the California/Nevada border near Las Vegas. Readers may be curious about the minute-to-minute tactics associated with managing the heliostats (sun trackers) so as to generate as much constant power as possible.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Solar Thermal Hot Water HeatingHere’s a 3D animation of a solar thermal tracking system that a reader sent me just now.

There is no doubt in my mind that solar thermal hot water heating has a great deal of merit; in fact, I really love the “Plexisun” concept, which is among our list of renewable energy investment opportunities.  It’s great for commercial uses where large volumes of hot water are required, e.g., dairy barns and beer breweries, as well as domestic use, e.g., heating pools.

Having said that, all concepts in this space are not created equal, and this one won’t work.  The challenge here is to make this cost-effective, which will be impossible; the cost of solar tracking will not begin to pay for itself.  The claim that most people will find this more aesthetically pleasing than a roof-mounted system I also find fantastically hard to believe.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Will Today's Billionaires Let Humankind Destroy the Earth?I have a chapter in my current book project (“Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose”) tentatively called “Extremely Wealthy Forces of Super-Innovation Will Not Let 20th Century Energy Policy Slowly Destroy the Planet.”

We’d all like to think that certain multibillionaires, perhaps Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Sergei Brin/Larry Page, etc. care more than Donald Trump or the Koch Brothers about the quality of the planet that we will be leaving to posterity. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s the acknowledgement that I wrote for my most recent book project, “Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose.”

I can’t begin to express my gratitude to my friend and colleague Gary Tulie for his enthusiastic support of this project, and, more to the point, for the enormous amount of content he contributed.  His help enabled me to get this whole effort wrapped up far faster than I possibly could have if I had been forced to research every detail personally.  Gary is extremely bright, and was always eager to go in any direction I asked, which not only made the whole process totally enjoyable for me, but also served the reader quite well. 

It would have taken me months to come up with all the detail that Gary provided off the top of his head.  He’s especially strong in what’s happening in Europe, where I happen to be fairly weak.

In golf, when two players on a team complement one another it’s called “ham and egg.”   That’s what I’d call that here.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As I’ve mentioned, the guiding theme of my latest book project (“Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose”) is that the force of market economics alone is in the process of guiding us swiftly towards clean energy, as renewables, energy storage, efficiency, smart grid, etc. become increasingly inexpensive.  However, I couldn’t help myself from mentioning a couple of other dynamics that layer themselves on top of pure market forces, namely that we will eventually have incentives to lower carbon emissions, as well as heightened consumer sensibilities that will accelerate all this even faster. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I hope a great number of readers here are following the “MaydayPAC,” which, according to its website, is:

an independent political action committee (“superPAC”) that aims to elect a Congress committed to fundamental reform in the way political campaigns are funded by 2016. The PAC will operate in both the 2014 and 2016 election cycles. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Another Round of Thanks to Jigar Shah, Renewable Energy Super-EntrepreneurAgain, I need to thank Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison, author of Creating Climate Wealth, and former CEO of Carbon War Room, the global organization founded by Richard Branson and Virgin United.  Not only did he grant me a really good interview on the re-regulation of our power utilities for my current book project ( “Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose”), but he sent me this quote for the back cover: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

printing energy consumption

There has been a lot of hype lately concerning the 3D printing technology with many technology environmentalists hailing it as a great way of eliminating manufacturing waste. While there is some truth in what you can do through this technology to lower waste in manufacturing, there is no doubt that this technology has a dark side as far as energy consumption is concerned. (more…)

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