Blog – Page 1338 – 2GreenEnergy.com

MicroBlend Is a Great Business Concept That Benefits the Environment

craigshieldsPosted on April 24, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

Three times in as many decades I have functioned as a marketing consultant to enterprises run by my “serial client” and close friend, business titan John Tyson. John sits on the board of half a dozen large corporations, and currently serves as CEO of MicroBlend Technologies, a company that is redefining the paint industry.

John’s current gig is benefiting the world around him in many ways, and I’m sure he’s quite proud of the role of environmental stewardship he’s playing. (more…)

Tagged with: Business Concept That Benefits the Environment

From Guest Blogger Kelly Mansfield: Handy Environmental Management Tips for Start-ups

craigshieldsPosted on April 24, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

Starting a new business brings with it the need to make a lot of decisions and choices, including choosing the right name and branding, arranging the right business structure, building the right team of staff, and finding the right premises to operate your business.

Of course you’ll also need to think about how to promote and sell your product. In today’s climate (in both the business and weather context), it’s also important to think about keeping an eye on the environment and, connected to that, saving money. (more…)

Tagged with: alternative energy, cutting energy bills, energy efficiency, environment, environmental management, green energy, Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies, sustainability, waste recycle, waste systems

From Guest Blogger Matt: How Solar Powers your Home and the World

craigshieldsPosted on April 24, 2014 Posted in Photovoltaics

Solar energy is ubiquitous, free, green and easy to use. Many of the primary drawbacks — extreme expense, the need for clear skies and the capacity of the standard battery — have been minimized or solved in the last decade. Today, solar energy is an effective way to power an entire home, if you’re willing to make the investment. Augmenting grid power or cutting yourself off the grid entirely can be rewarding, and it’s very doable.

A Benefit for Society

On a global scale, much can be said for the switch to solar. (more…)

Tagged with: solar energy, solar power

Google Offers Solar Energy

craigshieldsPosted on April 23, 2014 Posted in Photovoltaics

At a party last weekend, someone asked me to speculate as to what Google’s grand plans are. Of course, I have no more real insight into this than the next guy, but, given their $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest, one would have to think that it involves the use of information to guide us in our use of energy. And here’s news suggesting that Google wants to become a major player in the energy sector more directly: their entry into the solar photovoltaics business.

Tagged with: entry into the solar photovoltaics business, Google Offers Solar Energy, Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest, Google’s grand plans, information to guide use of energy

Earth Day – a Good Time to Bury the Hatchet With Respect to Clean Energy

craigshieldsPosted on April 22, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Each month, we read more about the battle heating up between the traditional energy industry (the providers of fossil fuels, power generation, transmission, and distribution) – versus renewable energy. But aren’t they natural enemies? Can anyone be too shocked that powerful forces try to beat up on their competition? (more…)

Tagged with: battle between the traditional energy industry, Investor-owned utilities IOUs, liberals in love with solar because of its ecological benefits, solar energy represents a threat to IOUs

Many Renewable Energy Concepts Are Physically Possible but Economically Unfeasible

craigshieldsPosted on April 22, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s a conversation the essence of which I have frequently. An inventor, in this case, one Lyle Bates, has a patent on an idea related to renewable energy and wants to raise the investment capital necessary to build it. There’s nothing theoretically impossible about the idea, and that, in the inventor’s mind, means “full speed ahead.” Essentially, it’s the use of waste heat from internal combustion engines to reform methane into hydrogen gas. (more…)

Tagged with: levelized cost of energy, reform methane into hydrogen gas, violation of physical laws thermodynamics, waste heat from internal combustion engines

How Feasible Is a Migration Away from Fossil Fuels, Technologically and Economically?

craigshieldsPosted on April 22, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Business

Mark Z. Jacobson is a researcher at Stanford University who has made a splash recently with his findings that, both technologically and economically, it’s possible for us to migrate away from fossil fuels in the direction of renewable energy. He’s even been on the (late-night television show) David Letterman to present his case to casual viewers at home.

In essence, he wants to see 50% of our planet’s 15 terawatts coming from solar, another 40% from wind (mainly offshore), and most of the rest of it from hydrokinetics.

I believe Jacobson is 100% correct that we can phase out fossil fuels altogether; in fact, I think we must. But I was surprised to see his solution. (more…)

Tagged with: clean energy capital formation, Mark Z. Jacobson Stanford, migration away from fossil fuels, off-shore wind better wind conditions, phasing out coal before the environmental devastation from this resource becomes irreparable, removing subsidies for fossil fuels creating level playing field

The Impact of Biofuels

craigshieldsPosted on April 21, 2014 Posted in Biofuels

One of the entrepreneurs whose project is included on our list of the clean energy business investment opportunities just sent me this article from Time Magazine on biofuels. The author’s point, in brief, is that we tend to underestimate the damage that most biofuels do to the environment; he is completely correct, IMO.

There are several mechanisms at work here, but they largely come down to land use. In some areas, farmers are planting crops whose ultimate use is biofuel, opting to go in this direction rather than planting food crops. In other areas, large swaths of ecologically beneficial forests are being removed to make room to grow the biomass that will be processed into fuels. (more…)

Tagged with: algae more energy-dense, damage biofuels do to the environment, electric transportation, Impact of Biofuels

National Security and Renewable Energy

craigshieldsPosted on April 20, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Politics

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday with 2GreenEnergy intern Louis de Saint Phalle, talking about the project he’s working on: a set of articles that will lay out the main issues associated with the adoption of renewable energy. The first hour featured a walk on Hendry’s (dog-friendly) beach, pictured here, and a discussion of the national security implications of our energy policy. (more…)

Tagged with: adoption of renewable energy, distributed generation, energy generation and delivery from renewable sources, National Security and Renewable Energy, national security implications of our energy policy

From Guest Blogger Brian McGowan: Defection from the Grid?

craigshieldsPosted on April 19, 2014 Posted in Smart Grid

There have been several articles about defecting from the grid talked about here as well as reshaping what the grid means to us and what it should now do for us. While defecting from the grid may not seem likely, I find with things like this happening it may become more frequent if things described in the article linked above continue. (more…)

Tagged with: defection from the grid, smart grid