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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Celebrating Mark TwainOn this, the 180th birthday of Mark Twain, it’s hard not to think of the great witticisms for which the great language virtuoso is best known. My favorite: Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.

Yet it’s always struck me as a weird notion that kind, decent people are thought to be dreary and tedious. Personally, I have no taste for selfish jackasses and scoundrels. I’d far rather take a long walk with the Dalai Lama or Pope Francis than I would Donald Trump. Maybe that’s just me.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

TankFor many homeowners, their utility bill is often one of the highest expenses for the property and can be difficult to afford throughout the year. From the cost of heating the home to using electricity, there are a long list of necessities to keep the property both comfortable and functional. To enhance the home’s energy efficiency and save money, there are a few unique ideas to begin practicing. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

13.7 Billion Years—Reduced to 18 MinutesHave you ever seen a presentation that was so powerful and compelling that you felt a strange impulse to memorize it verbatim? That’s exactly what just happened to me.

Here’s a Ted Talk on the history of the universe (“Big History”) that will leave you with at once a rhapsodic joy and a profound sorrow that it has only 1.6 million views on YouTube, meaning that, tragically, the vast majority of people on Earth don’t really understand this.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

2GreenEnergy on Social MediaI find all this work I’m doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc., to be invigorating. Instagram is particularly cool, insofar as it calls upon me to be ever-vigilant for interesting photographs that I can, perhaps, pair up with a helpful hint about renewable energy or the notion of sustainability more generally.

For example, my wife and I are headed out to a wedding in a couple of hours, where I’ll be hard at work looking for visual metaphors that might work: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The Effect of Some Miraculous Breakthrough in Clean EnergyFrom my feed at Quora.com: Suppose cold fusion (or some other source of clean and abundant energy) was developed by China. How would this affect  the current geopolitical status of the world? What would this mean for oil producers? Would USA and Russia try to destroy this kind of technology at any cost? How would this affect everyday life of regular people once the technology becomes publicly available?

Response #1:  Since cold fusion is a myth, we might as well call it flubber. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Geothermal

The Geothermal Energy Technology RevolutionIs Geothermal Energy Really Going To Be The Next Big Thing?

As more and more people finally begin to take notice of the state of our planet, so it follows that businesses will start to invest in the manufacture of technology that will satiate the demand for greener energy supplies. Geothermal energy may not be news to those of us who have had an interest in such matters for some time, but the demand for a cleaner way of heating our homes and business premises is growing – even amongst those who were once skeptics. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Tom Steyer – Using His Money for the Good of the World Around HimWhat a coincidence. One fine morning last week I sat down to write a Thanksgiving post when I checked my email, saw that I had received the message below from billionaire eco-philanthropist Tom Steyer, and laughed when I realized that I was just about to write essentially these exact words. Thank you, for doing what you did to make 2015 a watershed event in the history of humankind.

In particular, this year marked the point at which a huge majority of people saw the handwriting on the wall with respect to fossil fuels, climate change, and environmental damage more generally. In the U.S., this was occasioned by President Obama rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline, simultaneously saying, on behalf of the American people, that we will no longer be pawns in the oil companies’ game. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Sunlight as an Energy SourceFrom my Quora.com feed, in which I’ve volunteered to answer questions related to science, a young reader asks: Can we trap light and use it as an energy source?

Ovis writes: Almost all sources of energy on Earth is in some way or the other linked to sunlight: fossil fuels are the result of sunlight that was trapped over a period of millions of years.  Then we have PV, wind, biomass, and hydro.  The only exceptions are nuclear and geothermal power.

I respond: Good answer, Ovis.  To the list of exceptions I would add tidal hydro and, to a certain extent, ocean current hydro.  Here’s an infographic on all the forms of energy available to us here on Earth.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

2GreenEnergy Intern Fabio PorcuThese past three months have gone by rather quickly, and, before I have to return home, I wanted to share some personal thoughts. I want to start by saying that my reflections are not in any form accusations but a critical view that, of course, includes me too.

During my stay in the United States I found myself with a significant amount of free time on my hands, which I often dedicated to observing and inquiring about the many different cultures around me. In particular, during these three months we have seen the attacks in Paris, which made me think a lot, especially about what motivates people to do that. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Efficient Drivetrains Is Starting to Take the Electric Transportation World By StormCheck out the progress that my client “Efficient Drivetrains” is making.   A few months ago, I sent a couple of eager investors their way, both anxious to fund their “C” round, and I believe a deal is in the offing.

As I wrote last summer, I drove up to EDI’s headquarters in Milpitas, CA on my birthday (July 3rd) for an all-day meeting with the company’s CEO. When I arrived home late that night, tired but happy, I told my wife, “If I can’t help these guys, I can’t help anyone. It’s unclear why the world isn’t beating a path to their door, but I’m going to help make that happen.”  So far, so good.

Shown above: Lauren Figueroa of Stewart Chevrolet Cadillac (Colma, Calif.) charged a 2016 Chevy Volt using electricity from an EDI truck at the PG&E ride-and-drive event in San Francisco this morning.

 

 

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