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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

The Ever-Accelerating Migration to Renewable EnergyEnglish poet Alexander Pope was born this day in 1688, who left us with this: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

That’s something to think about in terms of the migration to renewables.  Michael Eckhart, ex-president of the American Council on Renewable Energy and current Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance and Sustainability at Citigroup put this into perspective at a recent conference.  He believes that we’re 40 years into a 100-year process and that, as we make a greater impact each year, we’re getting push-back from the incumbents, which would be expected in any business arena that faces disruptive technology.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

New Approach To Ocean Wave EnergyIn the course of a given month, I’m sure I contradict myself at least once or twice regarding the hope that ocean wave energy can come to play a prominent role in the unfolding world of renewables.  Let’s put it this way: If this is going to happen at all, a number of criteria must be met.  The devices must:

• Be inexpensive to construct

• Be extremely heavy-duty, built for the horrendous conditions under which they will be operating (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

The Business of BiogasA reader asks:

I would like to know the basics involved in biogas production from cow dung and food wastes.  In particular, I would like to have your view on how realistic it is to make a business out of it in small scale. Thank you.

I’m quite sure that there is nothing you or anyone else can do on a small scale in this space.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Texas's Ban of Fracking Bans Could Go All the WayWhen my children were younger I spent a fair amount of time with them trying to explain the roles played by the three branches of the United States government. We talked about the judiciary, and the purview of the court system at the local, state and federal level.  My children we’re at a loss to understand what is required to get a case to the Supreme Court.  I explained that it is normally an interpretation of the Constitution, e.g., does the 4th amendment’s limit on search and seizure apply to cell phones?  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

Novel Approach to Ocean Wave EnergyHere’s an approach to extracting the energy from ocean waves whose inventor asks my opinion. I love looking at new ideas. Here goes:

Will this generate electricity? Certainly.

Will it provide a viable approach to solving the problem of cost-effective wave energy? I’m not an expert in hydrokinetics, but this design appears to me to contain the following drawbacks: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Google in the Developing WorldIt’s no secret that Google is the world’s most rapidly diversifying company, and I found further proof of this yesterday when I had the pleasure of meeting Rick Needham, Google’s Director of Energy and Sustainability, at the Low Carbon Investing conference. One of Rick’s most important goals is to electrify the developing world. Of course, I was very keen on this, as electricity means an end to burning kerosene lanterns, and provides the basis for education, which in turn means greater productivity and self-sufficiency, and ultimately fewer children. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Heard It At the Low Carbon Investors ConferenceA few other quotes from the conference, which provided me a great excuse to be in San Francisco, one of my very favorite cities.  I couldn’t resist adding my comments.

• Renewable energy has not fully recovered from the Carter-Reagan transition. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Divesting from Fossil FuelsHere’s an interesting bit of conversation from the Low Carbon Investors conference: a session moderator noted the following about divestiture:  Divestment from all fossil fuels is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Natural gas plays a role in replacing coal.

True. Its presence also enables integrating large amounts of variable resources into the grid-mix.

Another speaker whose company manages the money of a large Protestant church, an organization that is pushing to divest its portfolio of all fossil fuels said, “I’ll do that as soon as you yourself stop using fossil fuels.” That’s a good, clever point IMO.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A quick note from the Low Carbon Investors conference: a speaker noted, “Investing in water is a contact sport” meaning that you’re going to be dealing with individual people and communities who may not approve of what you’re doing. That certainly is a great metaphor, and it’s completely obvious that the speaker is correct here. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

America's Aging Infrastructure I met a very interesting guy yesterday at the Low Carbon Investors conference: a professor at Stanford whose discipline is disruptive technologies.  Among other things, he’s an advisor to several different groups of students who are working on new approaches to energy and transportation, some of which sound like they have real merit.

Discussions of the future of transportation bring to mind the current sad state of affairs that exist in the U.S.; there is an ongoing debate here with respect to our crumbling infrastructure: our highways, bridges, railroad tracks, airports, etc. (more…)

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