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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Ocean Thermal

I’m learning a great deal about social media by helping my fellow investors in Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation to construct their cool new website EmpowerTheOcean.com, and to build traffic/search engine optimization for it.   It’s been instructive coming up to speed on the cutting-edge thinking about the use of Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of these platforms. 

Among my jobs is coming up with ideas for compelling content, one of which is the uniqueness of the investor base: over 300 people, mostly from Central Pennsylvania, have bought stock in this early-stage high growth company.  When you think about it, that’s a story unto itself.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I just published my 3400th blog post here, which prompted me to think about the process of coming up with ideas.  To be honest, this is easy, as these concepts spring up naturally from reading other people’s stuff – some of which inspire praise and support, some curiosity, and others rebuke.  There really is no discipline to it at all.

Apparently, the same can be said about modern novelist E. L. Doctorow, who talked about his writing routine in an interview, “Here’s how it goes: I’m up at the stroke of 10 or 10:30. I have breakfast and read the papers, and then it’s lunchtime. Then maybe a little nap after lunch and out to the gym, and before I know it, it’s time to have a drink.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

The fuel versus food debate has been continuing for years. While some people aim to produce biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, others are concerned about our irresponsible actions and the fact that because of them our planet might stop supporting us one day. This issue has turned into a furious argument which has been going on for years. Replacing fossil fuels with environmentally-friendly biofuels does sound like a good idea. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

Almost forty million metric tons of electronic waste is produced annually by the world. Only thirteen percent of the total waste is recycled and that too primarily in developing countries. Nine million tons of waste, a conservation figure according to the United Nations Environment Programme, is produced by the European Union itself. America is the world’s largest waste producer. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I’m working my way through a collection of esteemed essays on a variety of topics, and I happened upon a brilliant piece on environmentalism: Jedediah Purdy’s “Shades of Green.”   A professor of law at Duke University, Purdy ably makes the point that there are several different such movements that have little to do with one another, and sometimes actually come into conflict.  Consider a few different sectors, and think about the differences in ideas between those who: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

I spend a few hours every day working for a client that offers a unique approach and capability in the solar thermal hot water space.  For those who may be having trouble visualizing this, shown here is what is called “flat-plate” technology, which has been around for several decades.  My job is to tell the world that breakthroughs in this space make it quite attractive from a cost/watt perspective. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a wonderfully entertaining crash-course in U.S. history that aims, appropriately enough, at the founding of the colonies in the early 17th Century.  I was intrigued that the settlements in Massachusetts and Virginia had radically different conceptions of how people were expected to treat one another, the nature of human rights, and the proper role of government in our lives. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

This year is the 200th anniversary of the confirmation of the conservation of energy, marked by the publication of British engineer Peter Ewart’s paper “On the Measure of Moving Force” in 1813.  Of course, the consequences of this are enormous.  For one, we’re no longer on the hunt for perpetual motion machines.  What we are looking for, however, are economically feasible means of taking enormous quantities of energy, e.g., that which has come from the sun, and harvesting them into useful work, by converting one form of energy into another.

Here’s an infographic on energy that readers may find useful. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

As always, I’m willing to be wrong.  But I believe that wave energy, i.e., that which is derived from the wind that blows over the ocean and creates the relatively small bit of kinetic energy that becomes the ups and downs that surfers so enjoy, is a lost cause in terms of a cost-effective way to power our planet.  If you think I have this wrong, please let me know.

Here’s an attempt at the subject of wave energy that a reader sent me today that you may find interesting.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

We’ve been hearing about various processes for converting waste-tires to energy, fuels, and other valuable stuff (e.g., carbon black) for decades now.  And yes, there really are a few people with pyrolysis technology that really works; my friends from the Ukraine have equipment that’s been running 24/7 for the last three years.  Having said this, we need to be frank: there are also many hundreds of others who, let’s just say, “make exaggerated claims.”  (more…)

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