I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk. Anyone who bets against him on his “Tesla Energy” venture (batteries for distributed energy storage) or any of his other businesses is taking a huge risk, given his track record. But for the life of me, I don’t understand why he is the only person on a planet whose ideas on using storage to drive the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy is taken seriously.
Of course, that’s an exaggeration. (more…)
The office is an environment that uses a lot of energy, and that produces a lot of waste, in the form of things like paper and endless coffee cups after all those long meetings.
Therefore most offices could really benefit from some steps to make it more environmentally friendly to help reduce the company’s carbon footprint without compromising on the productivity levels. If you want your office to be greener, we’ve come up with some tips to help you on your eco friendly mission.
Do as much as you can online (more…)
Here’s a blurb from the Writer’s Almanac:
It’s the birthday of Horace Mann, born in Franklin, Massachusetts (1796). He was the first great American advocate of public education. He believed that, in a democratic society, education should be free and universal. He was fiercely opposed to slavery, and toward the end of his life, he was the president of Antioch College, a new institution committed to coeducation and equal opportunity for all students, black and white. (more…)
Niccolò Machiavelli was born on this day in 1469, a man best remembered for his work called “The Prince,” a set of suggestions for heads of state that can be summarized as follows, according to the Writer’s Almanac:
(Machiavelli) wrote that morality was irrelevant when it came to running a state. He didn’t advocate evil for its own sake, and believed rulers should stick to the good whenever possible. But he also said they should be willing to perform evil acts when it became necessary to hold onto their power and maintain the security of the state. (more…)
Why should you Fuel What Matters?
The U.S. is very dependent on fossil fuels and this could hurt the economy in the long run. Investing in alternative energy sources can secure the future of our economy and our nation as a whole. Fuel What Matters is a TV, radio and digital media campaign designed to reduce harmful vehicle emissions by encouraging the use of cleaner fuels (biofuels, electricity, natural gas and propane), transit, bicycle and pedestrian options by sharing compelling stories and helpful decision-making resources. (more…)
Energy Storage and the Advent of Electric Transportation. The only real issue with solar and wind is variability, i.e., the fact that the sun doesn’t shine at night, and the wind doesn’t blow in a given place all the time. Ultimately, this will give rise to the need for storage, which comes in many flavors: pumped hydro, compressed air, etc. One type of energy storage that is often overlooked, however, is electric vehicles. (more…)
Question: Tom Steyer, who made his fortune in finance, has pledged to spend “any amount” of his net worth to battle the forces behind dirty energy and to pressure the U.S. Congress to address climate change. What, in fact, is Steyer’s net worth?
Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.
Relevance: As presented in an infographic at the “new” EnergyFactCheck.Org, there are clearly identifiable heroes and villains in the battle for a clean and healthy environment. Readers should check this out; it’s at the lower right corner of the home page.
Note: Here is a short essay that I wrote for another publication whose editor rejected it on the basis that it contained “controversial statements.” Ya know….I never thought of that….I suppose he’s correct! I laughed out loud when I read that; he expected 1200 words of pabulum? In any case, it needed a home, so I’m publishing it here. – Craig
There are powerful forces that govern the migration away from the use of fossil fuels and towards clean energy here in the United States. I will list a few and discuss each in turn. Which ones will prove dominant? Some people say it’s too early to tell; others say it’s already written in concrete. I’ll let the reader decide. (more…)
On my post on the Sierra Club and Chevron, a long-time reader who happens to be a biofuels expert writes: I do not want to read political opinion so I and others will unsubscribe.
I respond:
I’ll be quite sorry to see you go.
You’ve probably noticed that these newsletters, of which you’ve received many hundreds since you first subscribed many years ago, offer a wide variety of perspectives on renewable energy and sustainability more generally. (more…)
Frequent commenter and senior energy analyst Glenn Doty writes: The goal should be to direct money in a way that it generates the greatest bang-for-the-buck, and the direction of money should not be limited in any way by the type of technology being discussed. If a coal plant is considering putting a highly effective smokestack scrubber to reduce their harmful emissions, we should encourage that without hesitation.
Glenn: I’m sure you know that I couldn’t possibly have any more admiration for you and your ideas, both scientific and philosophic. But (more…)
