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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Recycled Eco-friendly Entrance MatsEntrance mats are extremely beneficial for people’s homes and businesses. They provide floor protection, safety, bacteria regulation, dirt control, and may even spice up the décor of a dull room. These rugs are meant to protect floors made of different materials, including hard floor, marble, and tile. In time, if they’re not well-taken care of, they will crack, chip and scratch. Rather than replace the flooring, which is not cheap at all, it’s a lot better to invest in a practical and efficient entrance mat. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

A New Start-Up Offers Gas Insurance for Those Fearing That Gas Might Go Up AgainDrivers were certainly very happy when gas prices fell well under $3 per gallon in late 2014, hitting a four-year low, but most auto industry observers, along with many car owners, were well aware that sooner or later, the time will come when prices are going to start rising again. Even though at the moment, national average prices are still under the $3-mark, hovering around $2.40, most oil industry experts expect a gas price spike to occur pretty soon, so drivers might face higher fuel costs in the months to come. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Teach Children Green Habits for LifeNew parents know that their is a long road ahead in terms of teaching their kids right and wrong. Educating them on what to do, and not what to do, is a difficult task to begin with, but there are several societal grey areas where “right” and “wrong” aren’t clearly defined.

For example, environmental concerns are becoming increasingly widespread, but there are still several hurdles in the way of society in general becoming kinder to the planet. There is a general feeling of “I’m just one person, what can I do?” not helped by the knee-jerk reaction of some who think caring about the environment automatically makes a person a “tree hugging hippie.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Poland: Installing Wind and Remembering Chopin

It’s highly unlikely that anyone anywhere will ever forget the great Frederic Chopin and the incredible music for the piano that he left us. It’s even less likely that anyone in Poland will ever forget him. I was in Warsaw about 20 years ago (landing at Chopin Airport), and soon noticed that there are countless statues of him, buildings named after him, and now a line of high-end vodkas.

I’m happy to report that Poland is on a tear with respect to deploying wind energy; they just cut another deal with Vestas—this one for an additional 83 MW.  In celebration, here’s my favorite piece of music ever written: Chopin’s Ballade #4 in F minor.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

BioFertizer and BioGas from Animal WasteHere’s what I’m submitting for this month’s “Craig Shields–Clean Energy Deal of the Month”  at the Hedge Connection, a website that brings together hedge fund managers with investors/allocators.

I did a webinar a while back with these folks, and I’ve always remained interested in the subject (biofertilizer and biogas from animal waste), and hopeful that we can get this project done.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Let's Start with a Progressive National Energy Policy and Go From ThereA reader asked what I would do if I were elected to public office, by which I presume he meant: what would I do if I had unrestrained power to implement anything I want.

First, let me say that I wrote a piece on this in 2008 called The Civilization that (Nearly) Everyone Wants, which I posted here the next year, when I started 2GreenEnergy.   Because I had not yet started to think too much about energy at the time, it’s very light in that arena, and so I would add the following: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

Nuclear Energy:  Where Is It Going?It’s hard to predict what will happen to the nuclear industry.  Taking a broad view, nuclear energy is both absolutely vital to low-emissions world and completely taboo even to discuss. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Deadly Heat Wave in IndiaIt’s childish to say that individual weather phenomena are the result of climate change; anyone with the brains of a turnip shudders when one of our store-bought senators offers a snowball as evidence that the Earth has not warmed.

Having said that, it’s hard not to notice the heat wave in India—especially insofar as it’s been so extreme (118 degrees F in places) and has been responsible for 500 deaths thus far.  According to the report linked above: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Wind Energy Comes to Iowa—Corn Farming Not ImpededBecause I watch so little commercial television, I tend not to see advertisements—even the good ones, like this piece for Siemens and the success they’re having with wind energy in our (quite breezy) state of Iowa.  Until now, Iowa was known primarily for corn; it’s by far the largest producer in the U.S.  Iowa grows three times as much corn as Mexico; it is home to 92,300 corn farms on 30,700,000 acres, which translates to an average size of 333 acres.

My point: as you check out the ad, notice that the corn production is largely unobstructed by the presence of the wind turbines; that’s a nice feature, IMO.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Credit Suisse Projects ~85% Of US Energy Demand Growth Coming From Renewables Through 2025Frequent commenter MarcoPolo placed a three-part note on my pieces on the Low Carbon Investment conference and this one on Amory Lovins, which I summarize as follows:

1) Amory Lovins isn’t really credible.

2) The study from Yale University suggesting that the common person is becoming increasingly aware of and concerned about climate change isn’t credible either.

3) There is no evidence that the big banks are investing heavily in renewable energy.

I respond: (more…)

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