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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Powering the Country with SolarA friend asks:  By your lights, has anything changed substantively – positively or negatively – with regard to the viability and cost of CSP, molten salt energy storage, and HVDC? Are we still fully capable of satisfying the entire US electricity demand with 10,000 square miles at about $6 trillion?

The LCOE (levelized cost of energy) of PV is about $0.05, wind is $0.03 in the right places, and CSP about $0.14.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A Glimpse Into Bernie Sanders’ Thinking on Substantive MattersMy mother is a right-wing Republican, but one with a wonderful and kind nature—so generous, in fact, that she puts up with my occasional jokes about politics, and my kidding-on-the-level reminders that her party seems to be out of sync with the psyche of the American people.  And here, to make my point is Bernie Sanders’ Twitter feed during the course of the debate the other night. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Incredible Writing on the Coming “Climate Apocalypse”2GreenEnergy supporter Cameron Atwood sent me this masterpiece from Jedediah Purdy (pictured), Professor of Law at Duke Law School, where he teaches constitutional and environmental law; it begins: “In the last week, a group of scientists and a prominent historian each predicted a climate apocalypse.”  Our conversation:

Craig: Holy (cow), that’s amazing.  What an article.

Cameron:  Isn’t it? The last line is especially brilliant:  “That 150 years is also less than a blink in the eye of planetary time. And that eye is now a human one, looking back at us from a future that only we will make.”  It’s so completely necessary that more people think like this.

Craig:  Yes, that line is breath-taking; it is an extraordinary piece of writing from start to finish, really.  And your assessment is spot-on, IMO.  I’ll write a post on it in the hopes that our readers will check it out.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Ocean Thermal

OTEC and Carbon Sequestration

2GreenEnergy Supporter Cameron Atwood sent me this piece on OTEC, and writes: Interesting.

Yes, that IS interesting. There definitely will be unintended consequences (assuming that OTEC ever comes along). Some of these, however, will be good, or at least have the potential to be so—as I wrote in the post linked above.    (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Our Understanding of Climate Change: A Weird HistoryToday, most of the literate world is aware of the challenge that our civilization faces with respect to “AGW” (anthropogenic global warming, aka climate change, aka climate disruption).  For most of us, however, this realization has come fairly recently; public recognition of the issue has come a very long way in just the last 10 years.  The science underlying all this, however, has been a long time in the making.

The concept of CO2 as a greenhouse gas goes back to the 19th Century.  Then, per this article (other citations here and here, but the best one is here):   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Small Green Steps for the Brighter FutureDid you know that if every used plastic bottle were to be recycled, we would keep 2 billion tons of plastic out of dump sites? Through simple actions like recycling, using non-toxic products, reducing the use of fossil fuels and using our energy more wisely. We can preserve our environment and save natural energy supplies that are being spent at an alarmingly fast rate. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Women Working Hard on Climate Change Mitigation2GreenEnergy supporter Gary Tulie Writes:  Hi Craig, Following on from your post on Women in the Solar Industry, I thought I would let you know about a local day conference to be held on 7th November.  My good friend Mrs. Frances Alexander – former mayor of High Wycombe and leader of The Environment Centre – a local charity promoting sustainability is organising a day conference in High Wycombe on the topic “Can Women Cool It” celebrating the contribution of women to sustainability, and encouraging women to play an active role in solving this critical issue.  (I am one of the volunteers who helps in the Centre.)

This is fabulous, Gary.  You’re an amazing human being, in case no one’s told you that recently.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

A Good Example of a Bad Idea in Solar PVEach month, I come across a couple of dozen cleantech business concepts, and, when I refer to some of them as “silly” or some such, I’m sure readers think that perhaps I’m being rash or unfair.  OK, check this out:  a solar-powered attic fan.  The value proposition: pay $700 for the hardware, and God-knows-how-much to pay someone to chop a hole in your roof to install it.  Then sit around and pray your roof doesn’t leak as a result. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Women in the Solar IndustryI had an interesting conversation yesterday at the Solar Power International show with a young lady whose mission was to ensure that women in the solar industry are accorded the same respect as men. I actually was unaware that this was a huge issue, but I eagerly assented to support her cause, as suggested in the photo here.  I noticed that she had another placard that read “I am not a booth babe,” which I presume she would have recommend for my colleague and me had we been female.

Upon reflection, I sadly admit that all trade shows, whether they concern renewable energy or steel blast furnaces, still utilize/exploit pretty girls to attract males’ attention. It’s a regrettable vestige of the sexism that continues to remain in the workplace, and we’ll most certainly be a better society when it’s gone.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Spanish Energy Giant Abengoa Still Super-Active in Concentrated Solar PowerI had a terrific discussion with a spokesperson for Abengoa at the Solar Power International show yesterday, from which I walked away quite pleased to learn that CSP (aka solar thermal) is still very much alive and kicking.  Abengoa’s approach is a proprietary glass parabolic trough focusing on a tube filled with molten salt.  This eliminates the losses associated with transferring heat from another working fluid to molten salt (for energy storage) in a series of heat exchangers.  The levelized cost of energy is $0.12 – $0.15 per KWh, almost three times that of PV, but it’s very competitive in islanded applications where the grid cannot be used to absorb off-peak power.

Keep up the good work, guys.

 

 

 

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