Blog – Page 1452 – 2GreenEnergy.com

Wishing Cutting-Edge Technology in Transportation Were Being Applied to Efficiency, Sustainability

craigshieldsPosted on March 11, 2015 Posted in Electric Vehicles

I have a friend in Kansas City (skyline pictured here) I’ve known for many years through my connection to the world of electric vehicles, and he likes to keep me apprised of the developments in technology as it’s applied to transportation generally. Here, for instance, is an article he sent me on developments from BMW that make driving safer by projecting an image of the dashboard such that the driver does not have to take his eyes off the road, and this one, offering the latest in communications technology within the confines of a motorcyclist’s helmet.

I write: Cool stuff. I hate to whine about this, but you know where I stand on all this: it’s disappointing that so little of this technology is focused on the things that matter most in terms of sustainability: better fuel efficiency, alternative fuels (especially electricity generated from renewable resources), and a reduction in VMT (vehicle miles traveled) via mass transit and cities designed for walking and bicycling.

Tagged with: alternative fuels (especially electricity generated from renewable resources), BMW projecting an image of the dashboard, cities designed for walking and bicycling, communications technology motorcyclist’s helmet, reduction in VMT

The World’s Dedication to Phase Out Fossil Fuels Is Symbolized In Modifications Made To its Most Beloved Structures

craigshieldsPosted on March 11, 2015 Posted in Sustainable Building

Though I’ve never read it cover-to-cover, I have to love what Mark Twain wrote in “The Innocents Abroad”:

“The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad. I speak now, of course, in the supposition that the gentle reader has not been abroad, and therefore is not already a consummate ass. If the case be otherwise, I beg his pardon and extend to him the cordial hand of fellowship and call him brother. I shall always delight to meet an ass after my own heart when I have finished my travels.”

It is for this reason, i.e., wishing to avoid coming off as an ass, that I make very few references to my travels. (more…)

Tagged with: Mark Twain “The Innocents Abroad”, modernity honestly cares about the quality of the environment, Parisians retrofit the Eiffel Tower with tastefully constructed wind turbines and high-efficiency lighting, phase out fossil fuels

Senator Calls For Investigation Into The Climate Change 'Denial-For-Hire Scheme'

craigshieldsPosted on March 11, 2015 Posted in Climate Change

All those of us who follow the three-ring circus that is the U.S. government when it comes to the discussion on climate change and possible steps towards mitigation must be laughing at the article linked above. This guy happens to be on the right side of the issue of climate change denialism and the way reports on the subject are bought by the pound by the fossil fuel industry. (more…)

Tagged with: climate change denialism, climate change mitigation, fossil fuel industry

From Guest Blogger Dixie Somers: Why the Latest Boost in the Manufacturing Industry will Be Much More Clean, Sustainable, and Eco-Friendly

craigshieldsPosted on March 11, 2015 Posted in Sustainability

Revolutionizing manufacturing industries has long been tied to the cost of maintaining compliance with clean, sustainable and eco-friendly implementation of manufacturing processes. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, little thought was given to the effects of manufacturing processes ecologically or environmentally. After several major environmental disasters from Love Canal, NY to the Horizon Deep Water Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the depth of the impact on quality of life has been placed in the bright spotlight of public awareness. (more…)

Tagged with: Eco-Friendly Manufacturing, environmentally responsible position manufacturing, Horizon Deep Water Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, sustainable and eco-friendly implementation of manufacturing processes

Beer Brewers Unite To Call For Action On Climate Change

craigshieldsPosted on March 10, 2015 Posted in Climate Change

You gotta love this piece (see title above).

I’m reminded of the project I did last year for a client, promoting the idea of building-integrated solar thermal hot water heating. Part of the effort was a day or so in which I spoke with key players in the largest 20-or-so U.S. microbreweries. Obviously, making beer requires a large amount of energy to heat up all that water, and my offer was simply this: the next time you extend your facilities, instead of building a roof with solar thermal on top of it, use this stuff; it IS the roof. (more…)

Tagged with: Beer Brewers Unite To Call For Action On Climate Change, building-integrated solar thermal hot water heating, Director of Sustainability, Dr. Jason Scorse, heat-exchangers

Uprooting Our Relationships with Our Power Utilities

craigshieldsPosted on March 10, 2015 Posted in Photovoltaics

As I wrote in my post called Utilities Wage Campaign Against Rooftop Solar – But It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That: The subject is made even thornier because, as the author mentions, distributed generation means reduced loads at or near peak, which, given the perverse rules by which utilities are regulated, is actually bad for them; it means that the utilities cannot justify the construction of new power plants which they would bill back to the rate payers at a profit.

A friend from the southeast portion of the U.S. writes:

You are 100% correct Craig. (more…)

Tagged with: Alabama Public Service Commission, distributed generation means reduced loads at or near peak, Georgia Power, utilities bill back to the rate payers at a profit, utilities cannot justify construction of new power plants, Utilities Wage Campaign Against Rooftop Solar, Vogtle nuclear plant

2GreenEnergy Has A Broad Focus and Results That Are Hard to Measure–But There's Good News Too

craigshieldsPosted on March 10, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

I had a wonderful conversation with my old friend Jon LeSage yesterday, in which we talked about our respective business foci. Jon spends most of his time writing about and consulting on the adoption of alternative fuel transportation, which is a fairly broad subject, when you think about it. Lots of different types of government and private sector customers, ever-changing regulations that drive change, and, of course, the fuels themselves: hydrogen, CNG, propane, and so forth.

As I explained, my focus is on helping to advance good ideas in cleantech, which, of course, is even broader. It can mean raising investment capital, (more…)

Tagged with: alternative fuel transportation, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Gandhi: “To believe in something and not to live it is dishonest.”, hydrogen CNG propane, Wall Street under water

EcoVim – Waste-Food to Compost

craigshieldsPosted on March 10, 2015 Posted in Biomass

Here’s a device that devours uneaten food from restaurants, and, with the input of energy, creates top-grade compost from that waste stream in just a few hours. Apparently, the Hawaiians have created a cycle in which the farmer delivers the food, and receives back the compost to help him grow his next batch. Unfortunately, it required the input of energy, which, to me at least, appears to defeat any eco-benefits associated with the rapid processing of the compost. (more…)

Tagged with: biofuels, EcoVim, extract chemical energy in waste, gasification/pyrolysis, processing of the waste via the metabolic action of bacteria, Waste-Food to Compost

Take a COOL Guess – the Fun Quiz on Clean Energy. Today’s Topic: Sequestering Carbon

craigshieldsPosted on March 10, 2015 Posted in Climate Change

Question: What role can (and should) basalt play in the subject of carbon sequestration?

Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.

Relevance: Our civilization, as denizens of planet Earth, is badly losing the battle to hold the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere at a level that will not cause runaway global warming (thus the name “350.org”). (more…)

Tagged with: basalt carbon sequestration, concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere, consumption of fossil fuels, Dr. Alex Canarra, global warming, quiz on clean energy, take a cool guess

From Guest Blogger Izabela: Environmentally, Why It's Time to Make a Switch to E-Reading

craigshieldsPosted on March 9, 2015 Posted in Sustainability

E-reading is gradually becoming more popular in today’s society, with some reading enthusiasts preferring an e-book reader to their conventional book collection. E-reading is much more environmentally friendly, with many other benefits too, and it is because of this that e-reading is more prevalent than ever before.

What is e-reading?
(more…)

Tagged with: e-readers, environmentaqlly friendly reading