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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency, Sustainability

Transforming Your Home To Be More Energy EfficientIf you want to see a more energy-efficient world that does more to protect and conserve our resources without being wasteful, that starts at home! The following article is a collection of tips and tricks to help you transform your home to be much more energy efficient, by taking a series of small, simple and manageable steps towards a greener future. Some of these changes will save you money right away from the onset, whereas others may take more time to pay for themselves, but going green almost always saves you money in the long run even though it’s not all about money, it’s about leaving a better world for our children. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Powerful Video Screened for World Leaders Attending U.N. Climate ConventionThose who liked the uplifting video on climate disruption I posted yesterday featuring the Morgan Freeman voice-over will love this one–an expansion on the same theme.  It’s very action-oriented, i.e., “we have every reason to act–today.” Apparently, it was shown to the 120 world leaders yesterday at the U.N. climate convention; I hope they found it as inspiring as I did.

From the video:  “We will either be remembered as the generation that destroyed its home, or the one that finally learned to respect it.”  That’s great writing, and it’s so true.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Google's Driverless CarEvery day or so I get an email from a friend celebrating the wonderful innovation of Google’s driverless car.  I just responded to one:

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this does very little to take us in the direction of sustainable transportation.  Looking at this from 50,000 feet, we still have what we did 75 years ago: a 4,000-pound hunk of steel that burns a fossil fuel that’s growing ever-scarcer and more environmentally unfriendly by the day–with an average of 15% efficiency.  This hunk of steel is parked an average of 23 hours a day, and carries an average of 0.25 passengers during the one hour it’s used daily. 

And we’re to believe that the most important innovation, during this time when humankind is just now realizing that consuming fossil fuels is devastating our planet is…..getting rid of the driver???  How about getting rid of the gasoline?  Or the car?  The driverless car is good news for the oil companies and the auto OEMs (imagine that…), but it’s certainly not for the remaining seven billion of us. 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Magicians Misdirect Their Audiences—So Do Energy AdvocatesI wrote a post yesterday poking fun at French investment bank Kepler Chevreux for their analysis that they claim has dramatic implications for the global oil industry. They estimate: “$100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy – and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles – will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil” and go on to posit: “the implications, needless to say, are dramatic. It (sic) would signal the end of Big Oil, and the demise of an industry that has dominated the global economy and geo-politics, for the last few decades. And the need for it to reshape its business model around renewables.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

John Oliver on Climate DisruptionIMO, John Oliver doesn’t get enough coverage of his terrifically insightful and hilariously funny commentary on life in the 21st Century.  Here’s a four-minute-long excerpt from his recent piece on climate change, including this exchange:

Newscaster: According to a recent poll, one-quarter of Americans are skeptical that climate change exists, or believe that concerns are exaggerated.

Oliver:  Who gives a *&^%?  And whose idea was it to survey Americans on matters of fact?  That’s like asking people’s opinion on whether 5 is a bigger number than 15, or if owls exist.  All this means is that one-quarter of Americans are incorrect.  And how newsworthy is that?

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

On Michael Faraday and Wally Rippel It is the birthday of Michael Faraday, whose discovery of the relationship between electricity and magnetism in the 1830s remains to this day one of the most important contributions to the well-being of humankind.

By coincidence, I’m having lunch tomorrow with my friend Wally Rippel (pictured), an extremely senior scientist in this space. In 1968, Wally represented Caltech in the Sunracer project, pitting his school against MIT in a contest to determine who could build the better electric vehicle. 46 years later, Wally’s still making important refinements in the conversion of electrical to mechanical energy and vice versa.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Tesla Motors Get Lots of Ink in Seeking AlphaI subscribe to the website Seeking Alpha for news about Tesla Motors, meaning that I receive perhaps three or four emails per day proffering opinions on the value of the company’s stock.  Needless to say, some of these make more sense than others.  Here’s one that says, essentially, that because Tesla has been successful with a pure EV, that plug-in hybrids are bound to experience a resurgence.

Wow, that’s some seriously flawed logic.  Cars have risen to dominate horse-drawn buggies.  Does he expect a resurgence in the latter?  I’m sure glad this guy isn’t managing my money.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Climate Disruption, Climate ActionWant 63 seconds of inspiration to jumpstart your Monday morning?  Here’s Morgan Freeman’s video on climate action.

Note the tone of this masterpiece: it’s not about scaring the viewer, or calling out the bad guys, or placing blame on piggish consumers; it’s about pure love and hope.  Incredible.

At the end of the day, I think the dude is right, and, in fact, this is essentially the message I’m communicating in my new book “Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose,”  i.e., humankind is well-positioned to emerge victorious in the most important challenge it’s ever faced.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

An Investment in Either Wind Energy or Solar Energy Will Produce More Energy Than an Investment in Oil--But What Are the Implications?Here’s an article that begins:

French investment bank Kepler Chevreux has produced a fascinating analysis that has dramatic implications for the global oil industry.

It estimates that $100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy – and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles – will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Renewable Heat Incentives Save You More Than EnergyThe Renewable Heat Incentive is for everyone, whether for households, landlords, businesses, schools, hospitals and many more. It is a beneficial scheme which you can be used to save money and energy, both together!

There have been various attempts to enhance the usage of renewable energy across UK. One of the best examples is of the Feed-in Tariffs. A scheme which went live in April 2010 accelerated the installation of renewable energy capacity in Europe. And now comes the more effective, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which was launched in April 2014. Through this scheme, who make use of renewable energy to heat their buildings are awarded financially. (more…)

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