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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I love virtually everything about BMW’s i3 battery-electric vehicle – except that it won’t be available for another year.  I hate to say it, but I’m mildly resentful  of the fanfare that the company is generating, 12 full months in advance of the car itself.

Having said that, BMW knows how to do things right, and I’m 100% confident that the product will succeed.  At the very least, it will appeal to people who wouldn’t be seen in anything other than a BMW – and trust me, there are plenty of them.  I ought to know; I was one myself until I “went green.”  Yes, I had a 540i, and a 735i before that.  Not no more, as they say.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Frequent commenter Tim Kingston came across this microwind concept in Gizmag and sent it to me.  A man of few words, he writes: “FYI.”

Thanks as always, Tim.  Here’s my take:  The wind conditions in 99% of the places this would be deployed are terrible, the “swept area” is small.  I would bet that the electricity one would generate with it would be horrifically expensive.

As far as I can see, the only people who have a legitimate customer value proposition in this space are our friends at WindStream, which is why we present them in our list of renewable energy investment opportunities.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A reader asks:

What’s your take on Hydro Nano Gas? I think this could be a game changer if it really works.

This strikes me as a fraud.  The issue is one of chemistry.  The reaction CH4 + O2 -> CO2 +2(H20) produces CO2 (pictured here) as you can see.  To say that something “neutralizes” this doesn’t make sense.  Now if you add more energy and other material, you can synthesize some other compound; in fact, that’s what our friends at Doty Windfuels do; they’re on our list of clean energy investment opportunities.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Today, back to back, I experienced two different sides to an important argument that I hope readers will find interesting.  I had a meeting this morning with Richard Stuebi, a gentleman who’s been in and around the game of raising capital for cleantech start-ups long before I had the idea.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Almost everyone knows that you can recycle aluminum cans and glass bottles, but did you know that you can recycle cars, ink cartridges, and telephones? Here are 10 things you didn’t know you could recycle.

1. 85% of Your Car Is Recyclable

If you have an old car in the garage, take it to a junk yard to be turned into scrap metal to produce recycled steel. Several programs are listed online at the Automotive Recycler’s Association website. If the car is operable, consider donating it to charity or selling it. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

Here’s an article on energy from sea waves, to which I have mixed emotions about calling readers’ attention.  The subject is exciting, and very little progress appears to be being made on it, so any news is intriguing.  But man, this guy needs an editor like a baby needs her mother’s milk, and I’m a bit dubious on these claims.  If there are any experts on the subject who would like to weigh in here, I’d appreciate it.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Sorry, we made an error and sent you this email with a link to the wrong article.  It’s corrected below…..

I’m anything but an expert on the Middle East, but this can’t be good news: Iran and Syria signing a win-win agreement based on $3.6 billion in oil.  When I see countries with criminally insane governments getting rich off oil, it engenders a range of thoughts and emotions – none of them positive.  Obviously, I’m afraid of the implications in terms of human rights violations and the ever-growing prospect of nuclear war.  But I’m also angry that oil is the de facto energy/transportation policy of my beloved nation. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Industries on our lands are continuously generating waste. People are unknowingly contributing to environmental pollution moving a step ahead toward making it more hazardous for living. This article is an awakening for those who belong to these industries; a must read on how to handle the waste coming up with their everyday operations. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Like everyone, I’ve always been impressed with the winners of the Nobel Prize.

My favorite personal experience along these lines goes back to my younger days in which I chronicled the Nobel laureates in protein chemistry when I was a marketing consultant to Hewlett-Packard in the 1990s.  In the three or four years I worked for them I did a dozen or so campaigns, and, a few times, tapped into the lore of the Nobel Prize for my content.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Why is it that scientists generally are quiet and demure, and so seldom even mention the field of politics?  Perhaps it’s the very difference between fact and opinion, and scientists’ preference to the former over the latter.  In any case, Michael Mann is decidedly unafraid to make political statements in the name of climate science.  Here is an interview in which he chops up Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, whom he calls out for the politician’s ties to the fossil fuel industry and the fabulously anti-science position that those ties have engendered.  Enjoy.

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