Recycling and Sustainability – Feelin’ Good
If you want to spend a few minutes watching something that will bring you joy and inspiration, here’s a short video on a unique aspect to recycling and sustainability. You’ll be glad you did.
2GreenEnergy on Clean Cities Radio – Funding Alternative Fuels and Green Energy Projects
I forgot to mention a radio show that I did a month or so back with “Clean Cities Radio” whose pleasant but no-nonsense host Curtis Martin (pictured here) interviewed me for a full hour. It’s linked above for anyone who may be interested.
To promote the show, he wrote:
Meet Craig Shields, of 2GreenEnergy. Craig is an expert on funding alternative fuels and green energy projects. Is this the key to your project’s success? Listen in and find out. Breaking our oil addiction is essential for the economic, environmental and energy security of America. Listen and learn as we interview the leaders of the alternative fuels world and Program Coordinators for the US Department of Energy Clean Cities program.
Curtis was very sharp, and I think the whole thing turned out nicely — but I’ll let you be the judge.
Media Coverage Of Environmental Issues Waxes and Wanes
I just got back from a walk up to the local coffee shop, where I thought I’d read the Sunday paper and try to get some inspiration for a blog post or two. Since I surround myself with breaking news in the cleantech/environmental space most of the week, I sometimes forget that the rest of the world isn’t as amped up about the subject as the 2GreenEnergy readers/writers and I are, and the mainstream papers aren’t littered with articles on the topic.
The closest I came was an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that pointed out the problems with our beaches here in the U.S., which included the notion that they’re disappearing (i.e., eroding) at an ever-increasing rate due to global warming. (more…)
Is the Trend Toward Distributed Solar Good for the Power Utilities?
Here’s a good article that asks if the coming boom in distributed solar is good for the utilities. The way I see it, the short answer is an emphatic No. Utility bills (i.e., their revenues) fall, and the need for storage rises as the predictability of load falls.
Sounds like a big fat loser to me, given the way utilities are regulated today. All that means, however, is that we need to rethink these laws that have been in place for 100 years, and begin to compensate the power companies for doing what we want from them now, i.e., selling us less energy (as we conserve and implement efficiency solutions), and selling us a greater component from renewable resources.
Southern California's Pasadena Freeway Celebrates 73rd Birthday — But Can We Achieve Sustainable Transportation?
As The Writer’s Almanac notes, the Los Angeles area’s Pasadena Freeway was opened on this date in 1940, the first freeway — a high-speed, divided, and limited-access thoroughfare — in the western United States.
This was just a few years after a group of large corporate interests related to the automotive and transportation industries, including General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Trucks, bought over 100 electric surface-traction systems in 45 cities here and several other large American cities, including Baltimore, Newark, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland and San Diego and systematically dismantled then. Several of the companies involved were convicted in 1949 of conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce.
This, of course, is water under the proverbial bridge. What matters now is how, if at all, we can progress in the direction of sustainable transportation.
Tagged with: sustainable transportation
How the Laws of Thermodynamics Apply to Renewables – A Smile for Your Saturday
For those who may be trying to understand the principles of thermodynamics as they apply to renewable energy – but who may not wish to take the subject too seriously, here is the British comedy duo of yesteryear, Flanders & Swann, and their hilarious skit ‘First And Second Law.’
Thanks to our fabulous intern Rebecca McKenzie for sending it along. We have three interns (soon to be four) working on various projects, and we have a great time working together; of that I can assure you.
Tagged with: Thermodynamics
From Guest Blogger Anne Staley: Metal Scrap – Dispose or Recycle?
Every time you have a soda, what do you with the empty can? Do you toss it into the trash, or do you make a conscious effort to dispose it off into a bin that’s clearly marked “recycle”? Did you know that practically every ounce of metal that you dispose can be recycled and put to some use? Metal is found everywhere, from plumbing fixtures to vehicles to almost every device we use in our day-to-day lives. So all your old, broken-down appliances or your rundown car has enough metal that can be turned over to a scrap yard to help you make a few greenbacks in the process. (more…)
From Guest Blogger Chelsea McCary: How to Keep Your Family Safe While Being Green — Energy Efficient Home Security Systems
Keeping your home safe is of utmost importance, but it might seem like the options for environmentally-friendly security are limited. After all, bringing more electronics into the house seems like the opposite of living a greener lifestyle. Still, you have to remember how serious burglary stats can be. According to the FBI, over 2 million burglaries happen annually in the United States, and more than 70 percent of them are committed in residential houses. (more…)
From Guest Blogger Tristan Anwyn: How Can I Use Vine to Promote Green Energy?
Getting a message across in six seconds might sound a little like writing a haiku.
In fact, Twitter’s “Vine” app, launched in January 2013, encourages users to do just that. Vine users record six second videos on their iPhone, and share them with the world.
Already popular with social media lovers, Vine is fast becoming recognized as a valuable marketing tool for businesses all over the world. (more…)
Is Fracking Dangerous? Is Climate Change a Real Threat?
When some left-leaning sociology professor at NYU who looks like Jerry Garcia tells us that fracking is dangerous and climate change is a real threat, I’m sure some people discount those opinions. But what happens when they come from a retired Executive Vice President at Mobil? Here’s an interview with Louis W. Allstadt, who, per the article, “ran the company’s exploration and production operations in the western hemisphere before he retired in 2000. In 31 years with the company he also was in charge of its marketing and refining in Japan, and managed its worldwide supply, trading and transportation operations. Just before retiring, he oversaw Mobil’s side of its merger with Exxon, creating the world’s largest corporation.”
