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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business
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

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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

On a Carbon TaxThose 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

High-Altitude Wind: Examining the MeritsHere’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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

An Advanced Steam Technology That Shakes The Steam BasicsSince 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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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Bullish on Renewable EnergyWe 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Republicans on Climate ChangeWhen 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Apple Is Looking for a Test Track for Driverless Cars, Report SaysOver 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The Exxon Empire Fights BackIn 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.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Big Oil’s Role in Our Energy Future

In response to my piece comparing Big Oil to Big Tobacco, Matthew Baxter writes:  Just like big tobacco is around 20 years after people were predicting their imminent demise – big oil is likely to still be around in 20 years. Are container ships and planes going to run on batteries tomorrow/Next year/20 years?

To be clear, I’m aware that the fossil fuel industries will be here for a long time to come, and that’s actually a good thing, as I’ll explain below. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Boyle'sSelfFlowingFlaskAs an example of a strange communication between a reader and me, Mark writes:

Hello Craig:  You may recall we had some discussions earlier this year regarding an emerging new technology which we believed was going to revolutionize the way power could be produced.  Our clients have now finalized an exhibition prototype in which they were able to prove and achieve what was previously thought impossible. (more…)

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