Sustainable Eating
Humanitarian and 2GreenEnergy supporter Leo Schwaiger (pictured) sent me this video, with subject line: “The Most Important Speech You’ll Ever Hear–Gary Yourofsky,” and commented, “You may like him.”
Yes, he’s amazing. (more…)
Your Influence on the World
I just had a funny little experience that I thought I’d share. I was helping my son study for his sociology final, and we came upon the concept of the Malthusian Trap, the prediction that the population will rise to the point at which it can no longer be supported by the Earth’s finite resources. Of course, the situation is even more pronounced now than it was when Malthus (pictured) had this idea about 200 years ago, given the realities of global warming, ocean acidification, and the ever-accelerating rate of species extinction. (more…)
Investment Banks Are Making Huge Investments in Renewables, But There Are Counter-Currents As Well
David Crane, chief executive of NRG Energy Inc., smiles during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Goldman Sachs North American Energy Summit in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 11, 2014.†Crane discussed the outlook for renewable energy and the importance of sustainable power development for businesses.†Photographer: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A reader notes:
NRG Energy Inc’s CEO David Crane, a former investment banker who led (the independent power producer) for 12 years, has been removed by his board and investors (including Goldman Sachs) for the reasons given in his statement to the WSJ: ”Investors made clear they would rather have had profits from the power-generation business returned to them through dividends and stock buybacks and not poured into clean-energy enterprises.” (more…)
On a Carbon Tax
Those of you who caught Dr. James Hansen’s interview yesterday on “Democracy Now!” noted how unimpressed he was with the climate change proceedings in Paris. In brief, he has low regard for the basic concept emerging from the talks (putting it kindly—he called it “a fraud”), i.e., the notion that each country should volunteer to meet whatever emissions reduction target they feel they can. (more…)
High-Altitude Wind: Examining the Merits
Here’s something for all you fans of high-altitude wind.
There are at least a dozen variations on the theme, but the concept here, in brief, goes like this: energy is extracted from the high-velocity wind aloft as a kite, attached to a cable, is pulled outward from a base that houses a generator. When the cable is fully extended, the kite is moved, via a robot, to a position where the wind is no longer blowing it away from the base, and the cable is retracted, enabling the process to be repeated indefinitely. (more…)
From Guest Blogger Pooja Maharshi: An Advanced Steam Technology That Shakes The Steam Basics
Since the invention of a steam pump by Thomas Savery in 1698 steam has been used for multiple processes. Application have included pulling trains, creating electricity from nuclear plants, cooling with an absorption exchanger or simply heating liquid or air with a heat exchanger. Steam design has been done the same ways for hundreds of years.
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Renewable Energy: Reasons To Be Bullish
We occasionally encounter people who are steadfast in their belief that, because solar and wind are variable resources, renewable energy cannot power the world. But these folks miss some important points:
No one with any education in the subject is suggesting that the entire energy needs of the world should be met with solar and wind. Those who study the subject see a transition that includes nuclear, natural gas, the other myriad flavors of renewables, as well as smart-grid, efficiency, energy storage, electric transportation, and all the other peripheral technologies. (more…)
Republicans on Climate Change
When he left the climate talks in Paris a few days ago, U.S. President Obama said: “I mean, you travel around Europe and you talk to leaders of governments and the opposition, and they are arguing about a whole bunch of things. One thing they’re not arguing about is whether the science of climate change is real and whether or not we’re going to have to do something about it.”
From this article: Proving him right, GOP leaders wasted no time in exposing their idiocy. (more…)
From Guest Blogger Jordan: Apple Is Looking for a Test Track for Driverless Cars, Report Says
Over the past couple of months, there have been a lot of rumors suggesting that Apple is considering building a driverless car to rival Google, but so far, the company hasn’t released any official information confirming those intentions. But now, a new report claims that there is finally proof that Apple is really developing an autonomous vehicle, and that it’s about to be tested pretty soon. (more…)
The Exxon Empire Fights Back
In the American psyche, the theme music from the popular 20th Century TV crime show “Dragnet” (especially the first four notes–take a listen) still evokes the feeling that some huge force has entered the scene, and that something dramatic and probably violent is about to go down. This is the feeling I just had when I read this:
Oil giant ExxonMobil is under criminal investigation in New York over claims it lied to the public and investors about the risks of climate change. Now Exxon is fighting back against the journalists who exposed how it concealed its own findings dating back to the 1970s that fossil fuels cause global warming, alter the climate and melt the Arctic ice. Students at Columbia Journalism School collaborated with The Los Angeles Times on two of the exposés. Exxon accused the students of producing inaccurate and misleading articles.
I’m sure these people don’t like me very much.
