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The Folly of Carbon Taxes

craigshieldsPosted on May 8, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

Frequent contributor “MarcoPolo” has written dozens of comments here over the years. Judging by his remarks, it’s clear that he’s a Libertarian, yet he has a keen and heartfelt concern for the health of the environment. In what he wrote in response to my piece on the subject (which is too long to duplicate, but too dense with good ideas to abbreviate), he argues eloquently against a tax on carbon, while suggesting a powerful alternative.

I would only add in summary: smart people (and big corporations can afford to hire plenty of them) will always find a way to beat a certain tax, and especially a new one, where even the most obvious “end-runs” and unintended consequences have not been fully explored. (more…)

Tagged with: Buckminster Fuller, concern for the health of the environment, largest single cause of both environmental ( climate change) and toxic emissions, Marine Grade No. 6 Fuel (bunker oil), tax on carbon

“Energy Gang” Bullish on Renewables

craigshieldsPosted on May 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

The Energy Gang, GreenTechMedia’s weekly podcast on the migration to renewable energy, is emceed by my colleague Stephen Lacey, a young man from whom I’ve learned a great deal via our many talks through the years. I like to follow the show, mainly because it takes on the big ideas in the energy industry.

The episode that was published on April 27, 2015, entitled “Why Renewables Can’t Be Stopped,” began by covering the implications of the rebound in clean energy investment. In particular, after a two-year dip in global clean energy spending, the world saw a record $310 billion invested in solar, wind, storage and energy efficiency in 2014 (though this needs to double if we are to turn the corner on climate change by the year 2020). (more…)

Tagged with: big ideas in the energy industry, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Bullish on Renewable Energy, Bullish on Renewables, Energy Gang, Energy Gang GreenTechMedia, fossil fuel industry has lost the long-term race for electricity generation to renewables, Michael Liebreich, migration to renewable energy, rebound in clean energy investment, record $310 billion invested in solar wind storage and energy efficiency, Stephen Lacey, world energy consumption

Hedge Connection Publication "The Edge" Features Doty WindFuels

craigshieldsPosted on May 7, 2015 Posted in Synthetic Fuel

Here’s my monthly post for the Hedge Connection, an online link between investors—now called “allocators”—with hedge fund managers. I contribute articles to their publication called “The Edge,” which is read by a large and growing number of high-level people whose job it is to seek out solid investment opportunities, some of which are in renewable energy and cleantech more generally.

This month I feature Doty WindFuels, a breakthrough in synthetic fuels, i.e., gasoline, diesel and jet fuel synthesized from point sources of CO2, the hydrogen from electrolyzed water, and off-peak wind energy. As I mention in the post, “If this gets the financial backing it deserves to make it happen, it’s going to happen big.”

Tagged with: Doty Windfuels, Hedge Connection, hedge fund managers, investment opportunities in renewable energy, investors allocators, off-peak wind energy, synthetic fuels

The Trajectory for Getting Rid of Coal

craigshieldsPosted on May 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

In my post suggesting that we need to cut the cord with respect to fossil fuel subsidies, senior energy analyst and regular 2GreenEnergy commenter Glenn Doty writes: It will take decades to get society to a point where we can shut off all coal power generation for good. Not years. Decades…..During the super-Renaissance of renewable energy that we’ve celebrated and fought to perpetuate, the total electricity generation from coal has been reduced by 21%. If we can maintain that pace, we’ll eliminate coal by 2055.

Your argument is that we can extrapolate the incursion we’re making into coal linearly, and (more…)

Tagged with: Bullish on Renewable Energy, Renaissance of renewable energy, shut off all coal power generation, Trajectory for Getting Rid of Coal

Wanted: Energy Pragmatists

craigshieldsPosted on May 6, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s the 202nd birthday of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (pictured). He’s best known as the first existentialist philosopher, but he was also active in many other fields, including the writing of fiction. According to the Writer’s Almanac:

He published many works under a variety of aliases… to disavow his own authority. He would adopt a “character” who wrote about a particular philosophical viewpoint, and then would adopt another persona to explore the opposing viewpoint.

I bring this up simply to note how incredibly rare it is to find this capacity for thought today, if it exists at all. (more…)

Tagged with: Energy Pragmatists, Existentialism, fossil fuels are benign, shills of the oil companies, Søren Kierkegaard, Writer's Almanac

The Legal Battle Over Demand Response

craigshieldsPosted on May 6, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

If you’re looking for proof that we live in an absurd world, here’s one for you: the U.S. Supreme Court has been called to rule on the authority of the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) regarding its order that demand response (DR) be included in the tools available to meet peak energy loads. To summarize this briefly: DR means that grid operators can make agreements with their customers to cut power usage in times of peak load, and then use those agreements to meet peak demand, as opposed to building and running peaker plants. (more…)

Tagged with: allowing demand response resources to enter electricity markets, building and running peaker plants, burning fossil fuels, Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC), Legal Battle Over Demand Response, legitimacy of demand response, ocean acidification, peak energy loads, U.S. Supreme Court

Clean Energy Business Plans Need Only Present the Solution

craigshieldsPosted on May 6, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

A fellow from somewhere in the Middle East claims to have a new technology for water desalination, and I requested something that explains the science. Even though he writes at considerable length, his English is not sufficiently strong to permit me to understand his idea and its validity (if there is any). I wrote: Sorry, I can’t understand your English. Is there a website that describes this? To which he responds: Oh! I dident think…. its a new technology.

I thought I’d publish my response, because it speaks to a great number of clean energy business plans I see that present long discussions of the problem, i.e., environmental degradation in one form or another. This is unnecessary, and detracts from the quality of the piece by insulting the reader’s intelligence. Here I responded: (more…)

Tagged with: All energy comes at a cost environmentally, Middle East, more potable water, Multi-stage flash distillation, Multiple-effect distillation, water desalination

The Future of Off-shore Wind

craigshieldsPosted on May 6, 2015 Posted in Wind Energy

I’m not certain we’ll ever see off-shore wind here surrounding the U.S., but it certainly is taking hold in Europe. It’s a shame that we Americans are loathe to participate here, since the potential for inexpensive power from this source is a function of how much R&D the world throws at this collectively. Here’s a brief excerpt from Bullish on Renewable Energy on the subject: (more…)

Tagged with: Future of Off-shore Wind, larger turbine cost per kW is higher, larger turbines mean fewer foundations fewer cable connections and fewer units to maintain, MHI Vestas, Off-shore Wind technologies less mature costs higher

Thorium-based Nuclear Reactors

craigshieldsPosted on May 6, 2015 Posted in Nuclear

Readers often talk about thorium and its potential to become the feedstock for the next generation of nuclear fission reactors. I have high hopes for thorium; there is a whole chapter in my most recent book (Bullish on Renewable Energy) dedicated to the subject. I would also assert that anyone, regardless of where he stands on the political spectrum, who doesn’t like thorium simply because it’s nuclear, is deranged, or at best, completely misinformed. (more…)

Tagged with: Bullish on Renewable Energy, feedstock for the next generation of nuclear fission reactors, LFTRs, liquid thorium nuclear reactors, Thorium-based Nuclear Reactors, wind and solar energy bad ideas