Here’s a bit of pessimism on the prospect of building out the grid in the U.S. to foster the massive integration of renewables. “It’s not going to happen, anytime soon, at least,” reports a FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) spokesperson. The culprit? Balkanization, i.e., the absence of agreement and standards across many small regions.
I don’t doubt that this is a major issue. (more…)
Dr. John Grotzinger, a friend from high school, has become the spokesperson for NASA’s exploration of Mars. Here’s an article he wrote in a recent issue of National Geographic that I thought readers would enjoy.
The relevance to 2GreenEnergy? I could talk about the program’s use of solar energy, or the inevitability of space migration as part of humankind’s development. After all, when we’ve polluted our environment to the point that it no longer supports life, we’ll want to take the show on the road, and bring our gift to the rest of the galaxy.
But both of these are stretching the point; I hope you’ll simply enjoy the article. “Grotz” (as we called him) is a terrific guy and I think you’ll agree that he writes with an infectious charm.
I’m always appreciative of good infographics on cleantech that help people wrap their wits around complicated subjects. Here’s one such piece on our carbon footprint I came across a few weeks ago and inadvertently forgot to share it. Enjoy.
Good news for householders: the Government’s Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) is being extended to residential properties. This means that green homeowners could be paid hundreds of pounds a year for generating heat by solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps.
This is an extension of the existing scheme which benefits non-residential properties. It is backdated to mid 2009, so anyone who meets the criteria will be eligible for payments. (more…)
The green movement is the nickname for “going green” in the United States as well as many other countries abroad.
There is only so much individuals and small businesses can do to improve their own carbon footprint, creating a need for funding to larger organizations for renewable resources and green energy.
In the past year, funding for renewable energy and similar topics has gone up to $257 billion. This means great things for the green movement. The study was released in a report at the end of 2012, by the UN Environment Program. (more…)
Though it’s arguably off-topic, I mention my outrage at National Defense Authorization Act every month or so.
Today, as incredible as it may seem, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has turned down the numerous activists and journalists who were suing to prevent the indefinite military detention of American citizens. (more…)
Here’s July’s webinar, which I conducted the other day with Jesse Berst, internationally known technology and business analyst, founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com, and founder and Chairman of the Smart Cities Council. I hope readers will check this out, and discover what Jesse means when he says that the council’s motto is “Livability, Workability, and Sustainability.” (more…)
Here’s an article that got my attention: How To Get Rich In Smart Grid. This has always impressed me as an important challenge, as a) I’m very bullish on the sector, and b) the large cap stocks that constitute most of the financial activity in smart grid (GE, Siemens, Johnson Controls, Honeywell, ABB, Schneider, etc.) are not pure-play. An $1000 investment in GE 30 years ago is worth about $300 today, but not because of their participation in this arena.
So which way to go? I just took the “lazy investor’s” route and bought a bit of the NASDAQ-traded ETF mentioned in the article. We’ll see.
I like to comment each year at this time, and remind readers that today is believed to be the anniversary of the fire that burned Rome in 64 A.D., while the emperor Nero supposedly played his fiddle. According to the Writers Almanac, in fact, Nero wasn’t even in Rome when the fire broke out; he was 35 miles away at his holiday villa on the coast, and his own palace was one of the buildings that burned.
Be this as it may, the concept is a metaphor that’s lasted in our culture for more than 2000 years; it represents a casual indifference to suffering and a shocking failure to take responsibility in a time of urgent need.
Perhaps you see where I’m going with this….
Per this article in Global Energy World, offshore drilling for oil and gas is predicted to expand at a CAGR of 10.6% between now and 2018, bringing it to $211 billion annually. And here’s an article on sea-level rise, showing that this unwelcome phenomenon, the result of humankind’s addiction to fossil fuels, is growing with the same predictability. Where will this end?
It’s a reminder of the carnival barkers of the old days: “Round and round she goes; where she stops, nobody knows.”
