Are you thinking about building an eco-friendly home? Whether your primary concern is to reduce utility bills and save money in the future, or to preserve the environment, building an eco-friendly home might be just your thing. Here are some suggestions on how to make a cheap environmentally friendly home.
Use sustainable building materials (more…)
Adrian De Jong of LunarSolarPower writes: Craig: Please watch this short video and watch a whole new world of possibilities open up to you! More here.
Sorry, Adrian. That’s a truly preposterous concept, for a whole bunch of reasons (starting with the numbers the guy quotes) that I’ll explain in depth if you want to call me. Having said that, you’re obviously a good person with a fine heart. I would simply suggest that you focus your attention in a more practical direction.
Here’s a piece I commented on a few months ago on the ecological aspects of our meat-crazed culture. The producer claims that this renders everything that environmentalists are doing as meaningless, and, although she’s incorrect here, she makes many excellent points in this extremely well-done, fast-paced video. (more…)
The notion of the “hydrogen economy” has been around since the early 1970s, brought into play in the aftermath of the oil embargo. The concept is that pure hydrogen can be made by electrolyzing water or reforming methane with energy from any of a variety of resources (which can be variable in nature, e.g., solar and wind), and then that hydrogen can be used in fuel cells, thus replacing internal combustion engines powered by liquid hydrocarbons. (more…)
Here’s an interesting post on a new manufacturing process for solar PV cells. I note that I ran across a similar approach at the Solar Power International show a couple of weeks ago, under development at NREL (the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab), where a spokesperson told me about their work with perovskites, especially calcium titanium oxide, CaTiO3. Gary writes:
1366 Technologies is a company with a novel, lower cost and cleaner manufacturing process for solar wafers. (more…)
Three years ago I wrote: I look at Michael Klare (Professor of Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts) as a kind of Craig Shields on intellectual steroids. He and I agree on essentially everything; the only real difference is his super-extensive command of the facts, and his ability to draw bold and important conclusions from dozens of different data streams.
Here’s a recent article in which he discusses the concept of the “tipping point” as it applies to climate change, and where we are with respect to that tragic event. As always, it’s sobering, perhaps better suited to a Monday than a Friday, but it’s material that everyone should understand.
Having sustainable business practices not only reduces your impact on the environment, but also shows potential clients how much you care about being green. There is a lot that businesses can do to be greener that may even save money in the effort.
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Today we celebrate the 180th birthday of one of the true child prodigies in the history of humankind, Camille Saint-Saens (pictured), which gives me the opportunity to tell a story I heard when I was young. Saint-Saens gave a recital when he was 9 years old that amazed its audience, but they were astounded even further when he returned to the stage to perform an encore, and asked a lady in the front row to pick a number between 1 and 32. He then reminded his listeners that Beethoven had (at that time fairly recently) composed 32 sonatas for piano, and proceeded to play from memory the piece that corresponded to the number the woman had chosen; he was, of course, equally prepared for any of the others. (more…)
If you think Hillary Clinton is a trustworthy human being, ask yourself why she flip-flopped on the Trans Pacific Partnership. “As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” Clinton told PBS News’ Judy Woodruff. “I don’t believe it’s going to meet the high bar I have set. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about the agreement, but I’m worried.”
The “high bar” you’ve set for what? Deceit? If that’s an honest remark, I’m a bald eagle.
Recently, I ran across a company called ITN Energy, a top player in redox flow battery solutions that I thought I’d mention to readers, as they are well-poised to take advantage of the current global market demand in the energy storage space. Advanced flow batteries have been recognized as one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reduce peak load demand and associated energy costs, as well as to facilitate the integration of increasing quantities of renewable energy from variable sources into the grid-mix. (more…)
