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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

The All New "Energy Fact Check"For many years I’ve been promoting EnergyFactCheck.Org as the best and most comprehensive source for answers to the thousands of questions that can be posed on the migration to renewables. Now, the good got even better; last week, the site was greatly expanded and updated. Here’s a random example:

CLAIM: Clean energy is too expensive. Government subsidies are the only reason renewables are competitive with fossil fuels.

FACT: Clean energy technologies of all stripes are increasingly beating fossil fuels on cost across the country – with or without subsidies.

That’s fine, but saying that doesn’t make it true.  Can you back that up?

With pleasure; check this out: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Environmental Aspects of Showers vs. Baths--Myths and FactsThe question, what is better for the environment, a bath or a shower, has been a constant subject for discussion and the reason for many arguments since the minute showers were invented. It seems everyone has an opinion on which is better for the environment, a shower or bath, some of these opinions are based on facts and figures, whereas others are based on myths. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

New E-bike Company Looking to Crowdfunding To Put It Into BusinessHere’s a post that’s nominally about electric bikes, but more directly about crowdfunding.   These folks (actually, it looks like one 20-year-old kid) want to raise $70,000 from investors so they can sell an e-bike that’s “affordable, fun, fast, and will take you farther than you’ll ever need to go.”

But ask yourself: How credible is that? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

A reader offered this quote from Buckminster Fuller:  “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

So true. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Plastic Materials and Our Environment--What We Can Do BetterSomewhere around five billion plastic bags are used each year around the globe. Plastic materials are products that have made our busy on the go lives much easier and we have become dependent on them.  As quickly as they appear in our lives, that much quicker we choose to throw these plastics in the trash without even the slightest afterthought of where these products end up or their impact on the environment. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Facts on Eco Finance and Its ImplementationEco finance is actually a phenomenon that is known to integrate the financial world and the business world with eco-friendly behaviour. This is supposed to be an arena involving several participants including business and individual consumers, investors, producers and even financial lenders.  Eco finance may be expressed in various ways as per the participant. Eco finance is driven by financial incentives, an intense desire to safeguard and preserve Mother Earth or may be a combination of the two. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

A dear friend from the southern part of Germany writes: I thought this article might interest you.  Somebody’s gotta do it! America’s Congress is ignoring one of the biggest problems of all time, global warming/climate change.  America’s entrepreneurs, however, are not.

That’s wonderful. Not coincidentally, I have a chapter in my most recent book, Bullish on Renewable Energy, devoted to this entire idea. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Heartland Institute Is Always On the AttackIt’s been a while since I wrote something on the brazen evil represented by the Koch-funded Heartland Institute, so I thought it might be time to rectify that.  Linked below is an article that will make your skin crawl. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Sustainability and the Human DietI want to take a moment and introduce readers to the thoughts of J. Morris Hicks. As you’ll see in his remarks linked here and pasted below, the fellow has undergone a wonderful evolution in his work with respect to the priorities that he places on various aspects of our lives.

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Oil, Coal, and Electric TransportationA reader points out:

To replace coal we do not have to also displace oil. It is a common misunderstanding to equate oil companies with our general energy needs. 70% of refined oil products are used in transportation. 20% for heating and 10% for other petrochemicals like fertilizer and pesticides (approx.). So while it may be true that the world “runs” on oil, it gets most of its work done on electricity. 40% of carbon emissions come from making electricity. Although the electrical energy mix varies a great deal, overall less than 1% comes from oil. (more…)

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