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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

UK Conservatives Support of Progressive Environmental PoliciesFrequent commenter MarcoPolo writes:  The results of the (yesterday’s) UK general election are evidence of what can be achieved by “conservative, responsible environmentalists.”  The voters’ rejection of Green-left politicians, in contrast to the popularity of environmentalists like the conservative Mayor of London, and newly elected Tory MP Boris Johnson, shows the public’s willingness to accept rational environmental policies.

All this is true, but we’re using the word “conservative” in two vastly different senses.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The History of OilWhen we think of political humor here in the U.S., we think of television personalities like Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and John Oliver, as well as a long line of stand-up comedians that may have begun with Will Rogers and Lenny Bruce before being incarnated into George Carlin and the many folks who have taken up that mantle since.

In my opinion, however, there has never been anyone who even remotely resembles British comedian and political activist Robert Newman. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Trying to Be a “Quick Study” on Renewable Energy ConceptsI’ve reviewed almost 3000 clean energy business concepts since the launch of 2GreenEnergy in 2009.  That may sound like a lot, but most of these are quite easy to process.  Take this one for example: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The Folly of Carbon TaxesFrequent 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

“Energy Gang” Bullish on RenewablesThe 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Synthetic Fuel

Hedge Connection Publication "The Edge" Features Doty WindFuelsHere’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.”

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

The Trajectory for Getting Rid of CoalIn 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Wanted: Energy PragmatistsIt’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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

The Legal Battle Over Demand ResponseIf 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Clean Energy Business Plans Need Only Present the SolutionA 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…)

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