Blog – Page 1432 – 2GreenEnergy.com

EPA’s Clean Energy Plan

craigshieldsPosted on May 12, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an article whose message is simple: the political rhetoric surrounding energy is often misleading. I’m not sure that’s exactly news, but that’s the take-away nonetheless.

In this case, a guy with ties to the fossil fuel business, Koch Industries to be specific, wrote an op-ed in a newspaper in Utah telling seniors that the EPA’s Clean Energy Plan will cause skyrocketing electricity prices and offer no benefit. The article is a refutation of all this, including a concept that I would have hoped was too obvious to require presenting: some seniors have trouble breathing, and, for that reason alone, there is great value for them (and everyone else) in replacing coal-fired power plants with renewable energy.

Tagged with: EPA’s Clean Energy Plan, fossil fuel business, Koch Industries, political rhetoric surrounding energy misleading, replacing coal-fired power plants with renewable energy, skyrocketing electricity prices

Coal Plants Produce Cheap Energy—But There’s a Catch

craigshieldsPosted on May 11, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

We often talk about the “externalities” of the energy from fossil fuel resources; it’s a term in economics describing the costs involved in a certain transaction that are not captured by the parties involved in the transaction itself. In the case of energy, it refers to the fact that what we’re currently paying for a kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by coal, for instance, fails to take into consideration enormous costs to human health and the environment. (more…)

Tagged with: burning coal and selling the resultant electricity at a low price, Coal Plants Produce Cheap Energy, enormous costs to human health and the environment, externalities of the energy from fossil fuel resources, what we’re currently paying for a kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by coal

Mourning the Loss of a Friend of Mine — Who Was Also a Friend of Yours

craigshieldsPosted on May 11, 2015 Posted in Ocean Thermal

Last month, Jim Greenberg, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, lost a short but intense battle to a particularly aggressive form of cancer. Jim was a long-time client, a fine friend, and a consummate gentleman. He will be profoundly missed by all of us in the renewable energy arena, and by a much wider group of people who knew him through his work in law, and as a board member of numerous non-profits, where he had given a great deal of his time to philanthropy. (more…)

Tagged with: 18th Century educator Horace Mann, Antioch College, Jim Greenberg, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation

Viewpoints on the Migration to Renewable Energy

craigshieldsPosted on May 10, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

A colleague writes: Just finished Facts and Fantasies. Very informative, very readable. I dog-eared a bunch of pages to come back to later for reference. I’ll tackle “Doable” this week and eventually we’ll have a discussion about them. I suspect the series will show a progression in your thinking to your current position…

I responded:

Yes, the books do, in fact, represent an evolution in my viewpoints on the subject. (more…)

Tagged with: Electric Vehicles, irreparable level of harm to the environment, migration away from fossil fuels, power utility model, recognition of the realities of climate change, Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies, renewable energy tough realities, transition to renewables, wind energy in the grid-mix

Is Cold Fusion Real?

craigshieldsPosted on May 10, 2015 Posted in Nuclear

A colleague asks for my viewpoint on low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR, aka cold fusion). I wrote:

It’s funny you ask, as my belief has changed over the last few years. If you will read the short chapter on the subject in my first book (Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies) starting on page 171, you’ll see that my mentor on the subject, Wally Rippel (pictured), an extremely senior physicist, is (or at least was) a believer on the subject. Subsequently, however, he’s become far more skeptical. The problem I have with it is that there is no theory that explains how LENR could possibly work; the issue isn’t that there is insufficient energy potential, but that sustained reactions can happen at speeds much slower than 10^-22 seconds at temperatures much lower than hundreds of millions of degrees. As another high-ranking physicist told me, “It’s a subject better suited to séances than sciences.”

Tagged with: cold fusion, Is Cold Fusion Real, LENR, low-energy nuclear reactions, Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies, Wally Rippel

Our Corrupted Democracy Has Its Lighter Moments

craigshieldsPosted on May 9, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an excerpt from the remarks Steven Colbert made at an awards dinner honoring Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people shortly before our 2012 elections here in the U.S. The full transcript is linked above; it’s just too good…

Of course, all of us should be honored to be listed on the TIME 100 alongside the two men who will be slugging it out in the fall: President Obama, and the man who would defeat him, David Koch.

Give it up everybody. David Koch. (more…)

Tagged with: Charles Koch, Corrupted Democracy, David Koch, MoveToAmend.org, Saving American Democracy, Steven Colbert, Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people

Conservatives Victorious in the UK—But Environmental, Low-Carbon Policies Prevail Nonetheless

craigshieldsPosted on May 9, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

On top of what I wrote yesterday, here’s another reminder of what the Conservative (“Tory”) government in the UK has achieved vis-à-vis the environment. Of course, we can only speculate as to how progressive the Labor Party or the Liberal Democrats would have been, but the point is that the term “conservative” means something quite different in the UK than it does in the US. (more…)

Tagged with: Conservative Tory government, Conservatives Victorious in the UK, Environmental Low-Carbon Policies

UK Conservatives Support of Progressive Environmental Policies

craigshieldsPosted on May 9, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Frequent commenter MarcoPolo writes: The results of the (yesterday’s) UK general election are evidence of what can be achieved by “conservative, responsible environmentalists.” The voters’ rejection of Green-left politicians, in contrast to the popularity of environmentalists like the conservative Mayor of London, and newly elected Tory MP Boris Johnson, shows the public’s willingness to accept rational environmental policies.

All this is true, but we’re using the word “conservative” in two vastly different senses. (more…)

Tagged with: David Cameron greenest government ever, David McKay, Green-left politicians, Progressive Environmental Policies, UK Conservatives Victorious, UK renewable energy grid-mix 19%, “Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air”

The History of Oil

craigshieldsPosted on May 8, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

When we think of political humor here in the U.S., we think of television personalities like Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and John Oliver, as well as a long line of stand-up comedians that may have begun with Will Rogers and Lenny Bruce before being incarnated into George Carlin and the many folks who have taken up that mantle since.

In my opinion, however, there has never been anyone who even remotely resembles British comedian and political activist Robert Newman. (more…)

Tagged with: battle to replace fossil fuels, books on renewable energy, History of Oil, political activist Robert Newman

Trying to Be a “Quick Study” on Renewable Energy Concepts

craigshieldsPosted on May 8, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

I’ve reviewed almost 3000 clean energy business concepts since the launch of 2GreenEnergy in 2009. That may sound like a lot, but most of these are quite easy to process. Take this one for example: (more…)

Tagged with: 2GreenEnergy, clean energy business concepts, clean energy electrode for fuel cells, hydrogen generator, lithium ion battery technology, Renewable Energy Concepts