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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It’s the birthday of Geoffrey Chaucer, who gave us the rip-roaring stories comprising the Canterbury Tales.  Though I read them all senior year in high school in a marvelous English course called “Chaucer and Cummings,” (taught by my favorite teacher of all time, Joe Perrott), the only one I remember now is the hilariously vulgar “Miller’s Tale.”

I prefer the modern version of the last two lines:

And Nicolas is branded on the bum,

And God send us all to Kingdom Come.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

A gentleman from New Zealand contacted me recently about a terrific idea in the integration of solar thermal water heating in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings .  I’m off to Los Angeles for a meeting with him in which we’ll discuss a number of different possibilities by which I can help drive sales in the Americas.

I’m psyched.  Though I’ve been unexcited about building-integrated solar in the past, I’m starting to see the market here.  More on this later.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

If I had another couple of good reasons to be in London, I’d love to check out this conference on tidal energy, reported to be one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies, and predicted to be worth a staggering £3.7 billion to the UK by 2020.  For tidal to succeed, it needs a large population center nearby, combined with extreme latitudes, where the tides are more pronounced; thus I suppose that if this can’t work in the UK, it can’t work anywhere.

What pleases me about the trajectory for tidal (and the other flavors of clean energy as well) is the top industrial names that are jumping in with both feet.  When I see that ABB, Alstom, Siemens and so forth are embracing tidal, it gives me confidence that it will actually happen with some alacrity.  Senior management can’t afford to invest resources into arenas that subsequently fail to gain momentum and monetize themselves.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A shell and tube heat exchanger (pictured here) is one of the most common type of heat exchanger that you will find used in various industrial sites such as oil refineries and chemical processing plants.

They are popular applications for a good reason, it is an efficient way to conserve energy and this will also help to reduce your maintenance costs as well. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make this lecture on a local professor’s new book: Let It Shine: The 6000-Year Story of Solar Energy.  But I feel like I learned a lot just reading the abstract, e.g., the work the early civilizations did with passive solar.  Dr. Perlin asks: “If years ago people successfully harnessed the sun’s energy, can’t we, with a far superior tool kit, do better, using their work as our foundation?”

The response is complicated by the fact that the world’s population is 35 times what it was during the Roman Empire, and the power consumed per capita in the developed countries is 110 times what it was back them; together; that’s huge.  But the ultimate answer is yes.  We do have the capabilities to become what physicist Michio Kaku refers to as a “Class One Civilization,” i.e., one that reaps its energy from its star, which requires that we find a way to harvest only 1/6000th of the total radiant energy we’re receiving from the sun — a formidable but accomplishable task.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Here’s an interesting article that talks about the need to store solar energy, and the decision on the part of the State of California to force its power utilities to buy a large amount of energy storage accordingly.

These people are off base here.  Because of the high correspondence between the presence of the sun in the sky and humankind’s need for energy, this will be a terribly cost-inefficient idea.

I’m really surprised to hear this; I know I’m not the only person in this state who understands this stuff.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Question:  What percentage of Curitiba, Brazil uses public transportation?

Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732 .

Hint: Curitiba is among the greenest cities on Earth.    Guess high!

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Leaky windows make your home drafty and send your home heating and cooling costs through the roof. The obvious leaks will catch your attention, but it’s the hidden ones that can sap the heat and cold air from your house and dollars from your wallet.

A professional home energy audit costs money, but it’s a financially sound investment if it lowers your energy bill. Your decision to take a do-it-yourself approach depends on your energy savvy. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

I did a radio show yesterday on an ultra-right-wing talk program whose host wanted to explore the issues of new energy, climate change, etc.  The guy, a gentleman by the name of Charles Heller, did a really good job, but the experience served as a reminder of a profound truth:  people gravitate to sources of information that tell them what they want to hear.

But let’s be honest:  Who can object to that?  Or, more importantly, who can escape from that?  I don’t spend a lot of time watching Fox News, and trust me, the radio station that hosted yesterday’s show made Fox News look like a bunch of Marxist pot-smoking hippies. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

I thought I’d pass along the status of my new Nickel/Iron batteries. They have arrived from China and passed through customs and are now on a truck from Colorado to my house. Arrival is expected on Thursday. I am really looking forward to this and hoping these batteries are all that I have been led to believe they are. I will post about them again after I have them installed and operating.

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