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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Our Utilities Deal with the Challenge of Electric Vehicle ChargingHere’s a good article on the relationship between the power utilities and the charging of electric vehicles.  The author’s position is that the presence of electric transportation adds flexibility for grid operators, enabling them to adjust the rate at which EVs are charged according to the real-time availability of renewable energy.

I agree that there is a wonderful opportunity to use EVs as a tool to integrate more renewable energy onto the grid that would have caused a problem in the absence of this storage capacity.  There is a problem the author is overlooking, however: For car owners, the availability of their vehicle is not a “nice-to-have;” it’s a requirement.  Telling EV owners that there is a chance that they won’t be able to use their cars is not a viable plan, if we expect electric transportation to take root.

I see this as a soluble issue, but it’s one that I think we need to understand and confront.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Sustainability Means Minimizing the Impact of Human Development on Wildlife -- But Exactly How Is That Accomplished?A friend stayed at our place Saturday night, whose brother, I came to learn, is involved with establishing wildlife and eco-system corridors in fast-growing sub-rural communities.   Here’s a fairly detailed piece he sent me that lays out exactly how his team and he minimize the impact that human development, with, for instance, the construction of new freeways, has on the many species of animals that may now be cut off from water sources and other important components of a successful habitat.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Infographic on Going Green -- Plant These Vegetables To Help the Environment When beginning a vegetable garden, it is important to understand which vegetables to plant during which times. There are plants that can thrive starting in the early parts of the year while others do better waiting until spring or even summer. By using a comprehensive guide, you will be able to create a vegetable garden space that will keep your kitchen stocked with fresh vegetables year after year. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

We all know that LED Light bulbs are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs but do you know by how much?

The guys over at Energy Saving LED have produced a fun infographic to highlight the issue. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

How to Make Your Moving GreenNobody likes moving. Regardless of whether you are moving to a better place or simply relocating, it is always a hassle – countless boxes, sorting, dealing with movers, planning, sorting again, then resorting after that, endless packing, even longer unpacking… The list goes on and on with very few, if any items one can look forward to except maybe for the pleasure of finally finishing it. It is not easy to minimize the cost and distribute the available resources in the most efficient manner. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Las Vegas Is Home To Huge Conventions on Renewable Energy – And Essentially Everything Else

Sorry if this comes across as out-of-touch, but I’ve never had any particular love affair with Las Vegas.  When I was consulting to IBM and one of  its joint ventures in the late 1990s, my team and I spent three days in Vegas – quarterly.  Yes, that’s 12 out of every 365 days for each of several years—in a place that has never impressed me.

I’m turned off by idiots flying in from all over the country to lose money they should be saving for the children’s education. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Five Ways To Turn Your Office Into A Green Haven To Aid The EnvironmentSome people are becoming more aware of the effect their lifestyle is having on the environment and they decide to become a little more green at home, but there is still more we can all do. If you run your own business you could easily make your office building environmentally-friendly too, but since it’s a big building you might need a few tips and we’re going to look at some ways you can get started right now.

Start turning off equipment. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Unsustainable Use of Water

This week’s “To The Contrary” on PBS did a fabulous job on the growing water shortage in the Western U.S.  It seems that climate change and population growth have gotten the better of our ability to deploy technology and conservation, and are putting a severe crimp on agriculture in this part of the world, thus endangering the food supply and the jobs that are associated with this sector.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Renewable Energy World’s Editor on Energy StorageHere’s a video featuring Renewable Energy World’s editor, Jennifer Runyon, discussing energy storage and the different roles it plays.  She describes how, at one time, storage is a generation asset (providing power at peak moments and coping with the variability of solar and wind), a transmission asset (smoothing out the “wave form” that defines our alternating current and reducing the overall amount of transmission that is required), and a load asset, enabling people to put some PV on their roof, and providing for all their power needs with renewable energy.

This sounds terrific on paper.  Isn’t it great that one single entity provides all these benefits?  (There are others as well that she doesn’t mention.)  Sure, but then we need to ask:  Who should pay for it?  That’s when the answers start to get harder to find.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Does Google’s Personalized Search Present Me Web Pages Slanted in Favor of Environmentalism?Do you ever wonder how Google customizes/personalizes your search results based on what it thinks you want to know?  If I’m ordering a pizza in Santa Ynez, California, it’s true that I probably don’t want to see listings for Italian restaurants in Omaha or Buenos Aires, so I suppose there’s some value there.   But I’m very concerned that I’m not getting a fair representation of the news, because Google (I understand) is shaping what it’s showing me based not only on my location, but on my previous searches as well.  (more…)