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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As described here, legendary environmentalist Bill McKibben’s suggestion that folks sell their holdings in fossil fuel companies has been accepted by a gathering wave of universities, churches and synagogues, city governments and pension funds.  According to the article, “In the last few months, fossil fuel divestment has turned into one of the fastest-growing protest campaigns in recent American history – and it’s already reached all the way to Australia, where portions of the Uniting Church have announced they’ll sell their fossil fuel stock as well.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

I’ve run across two different reports so far today suggesting that the surge in atmospheric CO2 is causing an increase in the amount of vegetation due to greater photosynthetic activity.  I have no doubt that this is true; in fact, it’s one of a few lucky consequences of our dependence on fossil fuels.

If you’re a Canadian farmer, you’re experiencing another happy accident: warmer and longer growing seasons.  The problem is that the bad effects greatly out number the good – even in the narrow scope of vegetation.  As climate change continues, vast regions of currently arable land will become deserts.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Today is the 117th anniversary of Henry Ford’s first successful test drive of the automobile; his four-horsepower, 500-pound frame called the “quadricycle” (pictured here) ran on pure ethanol.  Electric vehicles came along shortly thereafter as well, and enjoyed impressive market share, due largely to the fact that they did not require the driver to start the car with a hand-crank, which was physically difficult and often quite dangerous.  This advantage disappeared in the 1920s with the invention of the electric starter, and so did electric vehicles. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

This article on fracking reminded me that I haven’t written too much on the subject.  For the record, my position is that fracking carries with it serious ecological consequences that we’re sweeping under the rug, and that natural gas does not, in any way, serve as a “transition fuel” to renewable energy.   On the contrary, cheap fossil fuel only acts to postpone the much-needed development of clean energy in all its many flavors:  solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydrokinetics. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Wind energy – maybe one thinks of old wooden windmills and tulips when they think of wind energy, but reality shows new state of the art wind turbines that have the capacity to power around 250 homes from a single megawatt of wind energy. These sleek, modern machines are becoming more and more visible throughout the world.

The United States ranks third in the world, only behind Germany and Spain, when it comes to wind energy development and installed wind energy, according to National Geographic.

The U.S. actually has the two largest wind farms, both based in Texas. Iowa is a runner up in production of wind megawatts from wind, followed by California, according to the American Wind Energy Association. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

There have been a lot of changes in the solar industry since SunRun first introduced the model of third-party ownership a little more than six years ago. Leasing solar panels is now the first choice in many states – a study conducted by PVSolarReport found that more than 70% of Californians prefer third-party-ownership. The same trend can be seen in many other states across the country. Affordable Solar have now launched solar leasing in New Mexico, allowing homeowners that are unable to pay the whole system upfront (or do not qualify for a well-structured loan) to reap the benefits from the sun.

The homeowners pay a “low monthly fee” and can start saving money from day one without any upfront costs. Here`s an example, taken from Affordable Solar`s press release, to illustrate what kind of amounts we`re talking about: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

According to a study from Duke University, half of Americans firmly believe in climate change. Another 34% believe that climate change is very likely.

However, just because most of the American population acknowledges the existence of climate change doesn’t mean they’re planning to do anything about it.

Another study carried out by Gallup found that only 30% of Americans have significant concerns about this issue.

This statistic brings up an interesting question. Should more of the people who acknowledge climate change care about it, or is this minority percentage just overreacting? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

As I’ve mentioned frequently, I deeply admire CSP Today and the robust way it covers the international breaking news on concentrated solar power, aka solar thermal.  I can’t believe it’s been over two years since I had lunch in the shadow of the Empire State Building with the organization’s director Belen Gallego; what a wonderful person she is.

I bring this up because I’m planning to attend CSP Today’s conference in Las Vegas later this month, June 26/27.  If anyone happens to be in the area and wants to meet for a cup of coffee, please let me know.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

The key legacy of French social philosopher Rene Girard is the concept of “mimetic desire,” i.e., that we borrow our desires from others.  While we may think our aspirations are authentic and self-created, in truth, we generate our wants from our perception of other people.

I don’t dispute this, as I’m not sure it’s possible to prove or disprove the idea.  I’m reminded of a conversation I had with my daughter just yesterday when she remarked how much our family dog (“Batman” – pictured here) loves us.  “He sure does,” I agreed, “Though it’s never been clear to me what actually motivates that.  For instance, isn’t it possible that dogs are simply smart enough to know how to treat the people in their lives from whom they want affection (and food) in return?”

In any case, I often think about our human society and what it’s going to take for us to survive the next 100 years, given that our exponential growth in resource consumption (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s a report on the increased use of bicycling in the U.S., pointing out that the demographic of white guys is the only one that isn’t experiencing huge growth. Hey, I’m trying to do my part!

A gating factor, understandably, is concerns for safety, which itself suggests that we would do well to expand our commitment to building bike lanes, making it more obvious to everyone that bicycling is an important component in our overall transportation mix, especially as a tool to relieve urban congestion.

And here’s another wrinkle: Emcycle. Since we want to encourage bicycling but we’re concerned about safety, this represents a pretty cool solution. If anyone wishes to know more, please let me know.

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