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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

photo BMW_Welt_Muacutenich_Alemania04_zps95cd7140.jpgVery few people understand a sad truth about electric vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2014: right this very minute, most of them carry no real environmental benefit over gas- or diesel-powered vehicles, given an honest well-to-wheels analysis of the fuel they actually consume.  Those who wish to understand this better should read the many comments made here (and elsewhere, I’m sure) by senior energy analyst Glenn Doty, like the note he made to a post I wrote yesterday.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

photo via_zps65cfb440.jpgI just got a notification about a new range-extended EV company, co-founded by GM-legend Bob Lutz, that aspires to raise the capital necessary to manufacture and sell electric pick-up trucks.  The guy sent me the following and asked for my opinion:

VIA (pictured here) employs a streamlined second-stage manufacturing process to integrate its proprietary V-DRIVE™ power train into new OEM vehicles, then sell directly to fleets under the VTRUX brand name. VIA VTRUX deliver up to 40-mile battery range and unlimited extended range, averaging more than 100 mpg in typical daily driving.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

photo IMG_8054_zps510cd6e0.jpgHere’s another piece of my conversation with a reader on the subject of government’s role vis-à-vis bringing about positive change re: the deteriorating conditions surrounding our environment: climate disruption, ocean acidification, increasing levels of toxicity, loss of biodiversity, etc.

I had previously offered her a laundry list of actions that I would take in this arena if I suddenly found myself promoted to “king of the world.”

The reader comments in return: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

photo Haze_in_Kuala_Lumpur_zps2f8909f7.jpgHere’s a continuation of the discussion I’m having with a reader who doesn’t see the fairness in pulling together the money to feed the world’s people and preserve our environment.  In a previous post, I wrote:

I don’t accept your basic premise that there isn’t enough money to accomplish the tasks that are clearly laid out in front of us.  The oil companies have plenty of money to lead Congress and the rest of the world around by the nose.  We just got finished spending more than $6 billion in the 2014 election campaign. The military budget of the United States is $640 billion dollars a year, more than all of the next 16 countries’ budgets combined. The wealthiest 1% of Americans own more than 40 percent of the entire value of goods in this nation.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

photo 20140804_Rome_Colosseum_0397_zps371bd4b1.jpgHere’s a short but wonderful article by Allan Hoffman, PhD USDoE (Ret.) that summarizes U.S. energy policy and where it may be headed vis-à-vis the Earth’s great empires and what eventually brought them down. 

Of course, there are many great aphorisms that speak to the relationship of history to the future, perhaps the most famous of which comes to us from Spanish philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  In this case, the author closes with a similar notion: “We should learn from history, not just repeat it.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

photo AP_OBAMA_CHINA3_141112_DG_4x3_992_zps2d4b4788.jpgA reader responded to my Thanksgiving Day post in which I called for all Americans, especially those to the left of center politically, to stop griping about what Obama has not brought us, and to be grateful for what we have, in fact, received, in terms of environmental progress.  Maybe this whole thing came to a head for me when I realized that the climate-related agreement that Obama forged with Chinese President Xi Jinping, one of the most sweepingly important international accords in the history of humankind, went almost completely unnoticed in the U.S. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

photo Thanksgiving_1861_croped_zps1758106e.jpgWhat gets Americans jumping up and down for joy? We don’t seem to be in a particularly festive mood at this point in time.   And don’t get me wrong; though we all may have many things for which to be thankful in our family lives, we cannot help but be aware of the multi-faceted horrors surrounding us, both domestically and internationally. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

More of today’s global citizens are taking responsibility for their lifestyle choices that impact the environment. This is most evident in the increased sales of hybrid and electric cars and the use of alternative energy technologies to heat and cool residential and commercial buildings. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

photo 320px-D30CB791_BC1CAD11_B2E4C774C624B4DC_zps0c5a0e12.jpgIt can be easy to assume that you need to take drastic measures just to become more green, but there are actually simple changes that can be made to reduce your carbon footprint. From the type of light bulbs that you use to your car’s tire pressure, there are several factors that can be wasting precious resources. To reduce your carbon footprint, there are a few simple changes that you can make without changing your lifestyle. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Telsa Motors Faces Threats, 24/7/365/…It’s so incredibly rare that I agree with anyone who’s written something of any real meaning and value on the financial website Seeking Alpha on the subject of Telsa Motors I thought, I note this exception.

The author states that out-maneuvering its numerous and incredibly powerful competitors is going to be a huge task that will require years of carefully deployed tactics in all major business disciplines with very few slip-ups.  The auto, and, far more  importantly, the oil industry are working in teams around the clock, planning a way to squash Tesla. (more…)

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