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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Blogging on Economics, Renewable EnergyMany thanks to my fine friend and colleague Terry Ribb for sending me this marvelous video on blogging.   The piece presents the thoughts of Dr. Tyler Cowen, a university professor whose field is economics, rather than clean energy, but his remarks strike directly at what I try to accomplish—with whatever level of success—at the 2GreenEnergy blog.   In particular, I try to address my subject from the widest possible variety of perspectives, in the hopes that readers will enjoy wondering what they’ll find when they come here.

The video was both a revelation and an inspiration. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Migration from Fossil Fuels Carries Numerous BenefitsOne of the great many side benefits of a migration away from fossil fuels is that, when it’s complete, we can greatly reduce the rate at which we’re putting energy workers in harm’s way, e.g., exposing coal miners to black lung disease.  At the same time, we can greatly reduce the need to lie about putting them in harm’s way.

Here’s an article about a coal miner who blew the whistle on his employer, Armstrong Coal, which was systematically falsifying the information it was giving to inspectors on the concentrations of coal dust at its facilities.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Carbon Tax to Mitigate Climate Change – Fascinating DebateI believe everyone should see the five-minute-long video embedded in this article, in which conservative Republicans of various stripes debate the concept of a revenue-neutral carbon tax as a tool to take a proactive step to mitigate climate change.  As you approach the end of the piece, keep in mind that everyone in that room is a self-described conservative.  Wow.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Tensions Develop as Environmental Concerns BuildAccording to this note in the Writer’s Almanac, yesterday was the 101st anniversary of the opening of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” a ballet so new in its day that it caused a literal riot in the theater in which it was performed.  Per the article:

Paris of 1913 was caught between tradition and modernity. The opening of the Eiffel Tower had drawn scorn in 1889; telephones and elevators were beginning to creep into everyday life. In the arts, Picasso and Gertrude Stein were testing the limits of representation and narrative. On the evening of May 29, 1913, two types of people had gathered for the debut of this ballet: the wealthy, who expected beautiful music and choreography; and the Bohemians, who were eager for something bold and new….. Forty people were ejected, but not before the audience had turned on the orchestra. The musicians patiently played on, even as they were pelted with vegetables. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

California Energy Summit, Fabulous As Always, Speaks to Challenges in Demand ResponseI had the pleasure of attending Infocast’s annual California Energy Summit this week, and I wish to enter a few posts for readers who may be interested in the subject.  Here’s the first of several:

As always, there were a few presenters who made remarks so asinine that some people rolled their eyes, wondering how it was possible that they had heard something so ridiculous.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Summer

Summertime is fast approaching. In order to keep a cool environment in the wake of the summer heat, majority of people turn their air conditioning units and fans on without thinking twice. This way, they rack up huge energy bills although much of this could be avoided. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Deploying Renewable Energy in the U.S. – Patience RequiredA recent graduate from James Madison University in the central part of Virginia (the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley, pictured here) wanted my advice on U.S.-based career paths available to a young man in renewable energy.  I was happy to spend about 15 minutes with him on the phone this morning, during which I provided a few ideas that I hope prove helpful.

Outside of a few specific suggestions, my more general advice was this: be patient.  Keep in mind that the U.S. generally spends far more time and effort bickering about clean energy than it does in deploying it.  There was an hour recently in which 74% of Germany’s energy consumption came from renewable energy; we here in the States are a very long way from anything remotely resembling that.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Is Renewable Energy Finally About to Boom?After what seems like decades of scientific evidence and expert advice all pointing us in the direction of sustainable fuel, the past few months and years have really shown a turnaround in the ways that we in the UK source our power. Renewable energy initiatives are finally starting to gather momentum both commercially and privately, as companies and home owners discover that the rocketing cost of fossil fuels is harming electricity price sand driving up costs. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Lots of “Oomph” Behind Environmental and Social JusticeYesterday was the 211th birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who reminded us, “”Every mind must make its choice between truth and repose. It cannot have both.”  That’s certainly the case for those of us trying to get to the truth as it applies to environmental justice.  The realities of what humankind is doing daily to degrade virtually every aspect of this planet are frightening, to say the very least, and the sheer inertia that needs to be overcome if we are to turn this around is staggeringly enormous.

But offsetting that absence of repose is the satisfaction of being a part of a huge and growing grass-roots effort to turn this around.  Consider for a moment that you and I are part of the 2GreenEnergy community, and that this is only one of over 200,000 groups around the world whose mission is environmentalism and social justice; that’s a lot of horsepower.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Fossil Fuels Are Going Away, And Most of the World Knows ItDuring the seven-mile hike I took yesterday with a friend to the top of Gaviota Peak (pictured) and back, we talked a great deal about the stock market, as my companion is very worried that we could be facing a long period of negative growth.  Here’s my perspective, for what it may be worth:

I’m bearish on the U.S. economy, since I doubt our young people’s fitness to compete in the global marketplace, and I’m extremely disappointed that we don’t seem to understand that renewable energy (and cleantech more generally) is going to play a defining role in the 21st Century.  That being said, (more…)

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