Blog – Page 1412 – 2GreenEnergy.com

How Sincere Is Toyota in Its Position as a “Green” Automaker?

craigshieldsPosted on July 13, 2015 Posted in Electric Vehicles

In response to my post: Flagship Green Car Toyota Prius Faces Diminishing Influence, frequent commenter Glenn Doty notes: As for the Tundra… Yes, that’s a pretty horrible purchase for those that don’t actually need the functionality of a pickup. But those buyers are buying a pickup, not a sensible car… so whether they need it or not, there’s not a choice between a Tundra and a Prius… it’s between the F-150, the Ram and the Tundra… which are all pretty much the same (poor) efficiency. If Toyota refused to sell the Tundra, then you’d just have more sales of the Ram and F-150… you wouldn’t have more sales of more efficient vehicles.

You are 100% correct. My point is (more…)

Tagged with: eco-friendly transportation, Glenn Doty, Green Car Toyota Prius Faces Diminishing Influence, How Sincere Is Toyota in Position as a “Green” Automaker?

Flagship Green Car Toyota Prius Faces Diminishing Influence

craigshieldsPosted on July 13, 2015 Posted in Electric Vehicles

In his weekly newsletter, my colleague Jon LeSage notes:

The Toyota Prius has been a flagship for Toyota Motor Co. for about 15 years – and the automaker is counting on the redesigned 2016 model to restore its image as the leading green car on the market. Toyota faces steep challenges in getting Prius sales back toward upward trending with gasoline prices being where they are; and stiff competition coming from small, fuel-efficient cars and competing alternative technologies. (more…)

Tagged with: Flagship Green Car Toyota Prius, Los Angeles Auto Show, plug-in Prius

Brian McGowan, the Ultimate Renewable Energy DIY Guy

craigshieldsPosted on July 12, 2015 Posted in Uncategorized, Wind Energy

I keep meaning to take an extra day during one of my excursions to the East Coast and hang out with Brian McGowan, hands-on renewable energy guy extraordinaire, who lives near Philadelphia. Pictured left is a wall of his garage; I could spend a couple of happy hours just studying the way all these storage components work together.

Brian writes: (more…)

Tagged with: Renewable Energy DIY, small wind, Wind Energy

Concepts in Geo-Engineering

craigshieldsPosted on July 11, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s a conversation with a colleague in Australia, Sev Clarke, a brilliant biochemist I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for several years, during which time he and I have traded ideas on geo-engineering. He writes:

Sev: Hi Craig, long time. (Please) consider the feasibility and effectiveness of the following alternative CCS method described here, with supporting documentation here. (more…)

Tagged with: alternative CCS method, breakthrough method for cooling the globe, Concepts in Geo-Engineering, generating renewable energy, reducing/harvesting fugitive polar methane emissions, Sev Clarke, stabilizing glaciers & the polar vortex

Short Comment on Writing

craigshieldsPosted on July 11, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

It’s the birthday of E. B. White (pictured), best known for his masterpiece for children Charlotte’s Web, and for his nonfiction collaborative work with William Strunk, Jr. published in 1918: The Elements of Style.

Often referred to as “Strunk and White,” The Elements of Style provides the hard-and-fast rules of English grammar, as well as numerous pieces of writing advice, perhaps the most enduring of which is “omit needless words.”

White also recommends: (more…)

Tagged with: command of the written language, Elements of Style, revise and rewrite

More Discussion on Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels

craigshieldsPosted on July 10, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

In my post Energy Policy: Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels, I wrote:

As a side note, I believe that carbon sequestration is a non-starter; we have a far greater opportunity to move to a low-carbon economy than we do perpetuating our dependence on fossil fuels and capturing the carbon. (more…)

Tagged with: carbon sequestration is a non-starter, CCS is a non-starter, low-carbon economy, Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels

From the EV and the Grid Summit: Vehicle to Grid

craigshieldsPosted on July 10, 2015 Posted in Electric Vehicles

As one might have predicted, there was plenty of talk about V2G (vehicle to grid) at the EV and the Grid Summit in Los Angeles this week. How could it have been predicted? Because it’s been a topic of discussion at every event of its kind since long before I started showing up in the 2008-timeframe. (more…)

Tagged with: ancillary services voltage- or wave regulation, discharging EVs that have extra charge to spare, EV and the Grid Summit, EV/grid nirvana, two-way flow of electrons, V2G vehicle to grid

From Guest Blogger "Sustainafreak": Easily Reduce Your Home’s Heating Usage

craigshieldsPosted on July 10, 2015 Posted in Sustainable Building

Everyone wants to make spending cuts these days, from the government to the average homeowner. Whereas the bills passed through in Parliament may or may not have a direct impact upon your life, making significant changes to your home certainly will.

Reducing the amount of energy used to heat your home will lower your carbon footprint, encouraging a more eco-friendly lifestyle and slashing heating bill costs. Whatever the size and shape of your house there are a number of simple changes you can make that reduce your energy usage while maintaining its current décor. (more…)

Tagged with: efficiency, energy efficient home, energy saving, insulation, solar panels, solar power

The Power Utilities and Electric Transportation

craigshieldsPosted on July 9, 2015 Posted in Electric Vehicles

I had a very engaging experience at the EV and the Grid Summit in Los Angeles yesterday, which I suppose I can sum up with the following bullet points about the overall unique (and unenviable) position in which the power utilities find themselves:

• Offering a commodity delivered across an aging infrastructure; they spend $4 billion annually in repairs and upgrades

• Seeing declining utilization due to self-generation, energy efficiency solutions, and conservation (they spend $400 million annually convincing consumers to buy less of what they sell) (more…)

Tagged with: declining grid utilization due to self-generation energy efficiency solutions and conservation, decoupled environment, EV and the Grid Summit, generation -> transmission -> distribution -> consumption, grid defectors, imperative to decarbonize electricity, integrating variable resources into the grid-mix, Power Utilities and Electric Transportation, tailor-make every kilowatt-hour of electricity for our customers

From Guest Blogger Minty: Why It's Hard To Roll Out Innovative Green Projects (And What To Do About It)

craigshieldsPosted on July 9, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

The green energy sector is trapped in its efforts to produce innovative energy solutions. This seems unexplainable in an environment where consumers are looking for better and cheaper energy and engineers are coming up with more technologically advanced systems every day.

The demand is there. But consumers are presented with products that do not have the ROI and speed of return they want.

The supply is there. But engineers struggle to bring their innovative solutions to market. (more…)

Tagged with: green energy marketing, marketing green, solar market boom, solar PV market