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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

A reader sent me this piece on the low cost per mile of driving electric vehicles. 

Not to sound ungrateful, but I point out that EVs’ cost per mile is a fairly uninteresting statistic. It’s already ridiculously low; saving a bit more is only a tiny incentive. 

The only really interesting thing for the thoughtful EV driver in the U.S. is charging without causing more coal to be burned. That means either charging them during the day, when incremental loads on the grid are generally met with natural gas, or, better, it means using renewable energy.  My friend Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug-In America, has been driving EVs since the late 1990s (originally a Toyota Rav 4 Electric, now a Nissan LEAF) and has a sizeable PV array on his roof.  He hasn’t bought a drop of gasoline in over 15 years, and he’s almost entirely off the grid.  

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Linked below is an article by my colleague Emma Websdale who writes for the wonderful website on OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion) called “EmpowerTheOcean.”  Here, she addresses billionaire Richard Branson’s belief that the process of mitigating climate change provides marvelous opportunities for capitalists.  

For a chapter on this subject in my first book (Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies), I interviewed Jigar Shah, then the CEO of the think tank Branson formed called the Carbon War Room.   I do believe that somewhere, there is considerable workability to all this stuff on climate capitalism, though it needs to be stimulated by creating a level playing field, i.e., a tax on emissions, the removal of the subsidies for oil, etc.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s a recent piece of mine that Energy Manager Today ran earlier this week – an article on the CBS “60 Minutes” outrageous mistreatment of the cleantech industry.  

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Next week I’ll be headed up to Santa Clara (about three hours’ drive north from here) for Infocast’s Annual “Storage Week” show.  The event’s producers claim that storage is headed for “hockey stick” growth over the coming few years, and I don’t dispute that. The cause in the short term is government mandates placed upon utilities, but I believe that the whole subject will snowball (to stay with the winter sports metaphors) after we see a few initial successes. 

I really like this show, as it does such a good job covering the numerous different technological approaches.

Anyone in the Bay Area who wants to meet for coffee (or beer, as appropriate)?  Please let me know.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

The author of this article is 100% correct: there are two opposing factions among those of us who believe that action is necessary to deal with climate change: anti-nuclear and pro-nuclear.   His assertion that “divided we fall” is also accurate; there is no doubt that the environmentalists’ position here would be stronger if it were united on this and all other issues.

Personally, I believe that most of the rabidly anti-nuke side consists of people who don’t realize how bad coal is.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

While U.S. football fans spent last Sunday eating and drinking their way through the Super Bowl, few noticed that it was also the birthday of Ayn Rand, author of philosophic novels.  Her concept, as we all know, is that individual creativity, especially as it applies to the creation of wealth, should not be driven by the needs of society. 

This overarching idea, i.e., “Let us ignore the needs of others,” was extremely well-received when it was introduced in the mid-20th Century. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Smart Grid

Thanks and congratulations to 2GreenEnergy intern Nikita Rao for her first article on smart grid, published here earlier today. This is a subject that is rightfully garnering much attention, as it’s so clearly integral to our civilization’s ability to achieve a rational approach to energy generation and consumption.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

According to the Writer’s Almanac, it is the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Robert Hofstadter (pictured), best known for his research on the nucleus of the atom. While he was studying at City College of New York, Hofstadter wanted to major in literature and philosophy until a physics professor told him, “the laws of physics could be tested and those of philosophy could not.”

That’s a clever point. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I’m not a believer in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, since I don’t like the efficiency of creating the hydrogen, and I really detest the prospect of building another fuel-delivery infrastructure.  Electric transportation has its issues re: power generation from coal, but it most certainly isn’t challenged by the ubiquity of the fuel dispensers; we can “unplug our toasters and plug in our cars,” as the Plug-In America people like to say.    (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

For those who may not have seen my email when I sent it around earlier, I ran across a very interesting group of folks in Brazil in late 2013.  The team, captained by an extremely senior financial/energy professional, has assembled a package of 13 “small” (1 – 30 mW) and “micro” (less than 1 mW) run-of-river hydrokinetics projects in Southeastern Brazil, and is well-positioned to move quickly.   They’re looking for investors, and are prepared to make a good-looking offer. 

Again, if you happen to be an accredited investor, and you’d like to learn more about the project, just click here.  Please contact me if you’d like to get in touch with the principals, and I’ll make that happen.

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