Concepts in Geo-EngineeringHere’s a conversation with a colleague in Australia, Sev Clarke, a brilliant biochemist I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for several years, during which time he and I have traded ideas on geo-engineering.  He writes:

Sev:  Hi Craig, long time.  (Please) consider the feasibility and effectiveness of the following alternative CCS method described here, with supporting documentation here.   (more…)

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Short Comment on WritingIt’s the birthday of E. B. White (pictured), best known for his masterpiece for children Charlotte’s Web, and for his nonfiction collaborative work with William Strunk, Jr. published in 1918: The Elements of Style.

Often referred to as “Strunk and White,” The Elements of Style provides the hard-and-fast rules of English grammar, as well as numerous pieces of writing advice, perhaps the most enduring of which is “omit needless words.”

White also recommends: (more…)

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Taking a Stand Against Fossil FuelsIn my post Energy Policy: Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels, I wrote:

As a side note, I believe that carbon sequestration is a non-starter; we have a far greater opportunity to move to a low-carbon economy than we do perpetuating our dependence on fossil fuels and capturing the carbon. (more…)

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More from the EV and the Grid Summit: Vehicle to GridAs one might have predicted, there was plenty of talk about V2G (vehicle to grid) at the EV and the Grid Summit in Los Angeles this week. How could it have been predicted? Because it’s been a topic of discussion at every event of its kind since long before I started showing up in the 2008-timeframe. (more…)

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Easily Reduce Your Home’s Heating UsageEveryone wants to make spending cuts these days, from the government to the average homeowner. Whereas the bills passed through in Parliament may or may not have a direct impact upon your life, making significant changes to your home certainly will.

Reducing the amount of energy used to heat your home will lower your carbon footprint, encouraging a more eco-friendly lifestyle and slashing heating bill costs. Whatever the size and shape of your house there are a number of simple changes you can make that reduce your energy usage while maintaining its current décor. (more…)

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The Power Utilities and Electric TransportationI had a very engaging experience at the EV and the Grid Summit in Los Angeles yesterday, which I suppose I can sum up with the following bullet points about the overall unique (and unenviable) position in which the power utilities find themselves:

• Offering a commodity delivered across an aging infrastructure; they spend $4 billion annually in repairs and upgrades

• Seeing declining utilization due to self-generation, energy efficiency solutions, and conservation (they spend $400 million annually convincing consumers to buy less of what they sell) (more…)

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Innovative Green ProjectsThe green energy sector is trapped in its efforts to produce innovative energy solutions. This seems unexplainable in an environment where consumers are looking for better and cheaper energy and engineers are coming up with more technologically advanced systems every day.

The demand is there. But consumers are presented with products that do not have the ROI and speed of return they want.

The supply is there. But engineers struggle to bring their innovative solutions to market. (more…)

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Scania to Test Conductively-Charged Electric Trucks in SwedenDevelopment of electric truck technologies is considered a key part of the efforts for reducing global greenhouse gas emission levels and improving air quality, but a large-scales electrification of commercial fleets has yet to occur.

One of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, Scania, is looking to change that, as it plans to test electrically-powered trucks using conductive technology, which can help make electric trucks a practical and viable option for commercial fleet operators that want to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions. (more…)

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Energy Policy: Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels--Additional DiscussionRe: My piece called Energy Policy: Taking a Stand Against Fossil Fuels, frequent commenter MarcoPolo writes:

Joe Public has grown weary of endless doomsday predictions that just don’t occur. (more…)

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Good Ideas in Clean Energy Are Actually Quite RareHere’s a discussion I’m having with a fellow who proposes this idea for desalination, and is looking for help getting it off the ground:

Reader:  Where I need help is to strategize about a) how to get a water district to accept a fixed price contract for water with no capital outlay, (more…)

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