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We Need To Make Tough Choices In Some of Life’s Arenas—And Energy Policy Is One of Them

craigshieldsPosted on February 9, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Fifty-one years ago this evening, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and attracted a television viewing audience (73 million) that stood as a record for some time. I was a little boy taking piano lessons, and I recall that my teacher, Ms. Young, was not at all pleased when she saw me later in the week; she asked me if I had tuned in and I answered in the affirmative. She scowled: “Do you like this garbage???” (more…)

Tagged with: energy policy, energy space, Obama’s “all of the above” approach to energy, phase out fossil fuels

Coal Won’t Go Gentle Into That Good Night

craigshieldsPosted on February 8, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

The ad below is a call to action focused on Australian coal miners, but it illustrates a larger point: there are interest groups on all sides of every issue—some helpful, others harmful. Yet getting rid of destructive practices isn’t as easy as one might hope. (more…)

Tagged with: coal industry causes disease, coal miners

Clean Energy’s Role in the Advancement of Our Civilization

craigshieldsPosted on February 8, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s the birthday of Jules Verne (pictured), author of fantasy books of the mid-19th Century. According to the Writer’s Almanac:

Verne described inventions that were similar to modern airplanes and automobiles, and tall skyscrapers where people use electricity to listen to the radio and send faxes, and yet he wrote his stories by candlelight.

Hollywood is littered with screenplays that project the world of the future, most of which are deeply dystopian, normally visions of a post-apocalyptic period where what’s left of humankind is locked in some sort of tooth-and-nail struggle for precious resources. (more…)

From Guest Blogger Martin William: The Latest Trends in Home/Kitchen Appliances

craigshieldsPosted on February 8, 2015 Posted in Efficiency

The kitchen is one of the most important parts in a house. It is where the family gathers the most aside from the living room. Over the years, the appliances that fill a kitchen have transformed, following the latest trends and new technologies. This year, the trends in home and kitchen appliances are focusing more on simple designs and connectivity.

A Smart Home

Ever since the Nest thermostat became very popular, the revolution towards a smarter home was kicked off. Smart TVs can now accept voice command, browse the internet and even record the shows you want to watch for you based on your habit and other inputs. (more…)

Tagged with: efficient appliances, Kitchen Appliances

Analyzing Claims Regarding "Breakthroughs in Physics"

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

At the rate of approximately one per month, I receive emails from people who claim to represent breakthroughs in physics that are called “over unity” or “perpetual motion,” where the purported efficiency of the process is greater than 100%, meaning that they put out more power than they consume. This concept, of course, violates the laws of physics, specifically the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Yet the fact that what the person is describing is theoretically impossible normally does not deter him in the slightest. (more…)

Tagged with: First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, over unity, perpetual motion, Ramamurti Shankar Professor of Physics at Yale

The Lighter Side of Climate Change Denial

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Climate Change

My biggest problem with 2015 so far is that it’s happening in the absence of Steven Colbert, at least in the form of the “Colbert Report.” I had forgotten how fabulous this whole enterprise was until I came upon this piece on climate change denial.

I saw this when it first aired just after the U.S. midterm elections last November, but I laughed until tears were streaming down my face when I watched it again just now. Enjoy.

Tagged with: climate change denial, Colbert Report, Steven Colbert

Neither You Nor I Know What the Future of the Energy Industry Looks Like

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Sustainability

Don’t we all chuckle to ourselves when we hear people explain what the energy industry is going to be like in the year 2100? Our world changes so fast today—and that rate of change is only accelerating—that it makes very little sense to speculate on what flavor of renewable energy will be in vogue 85 years hence—or what flavor of anything else will define the world at that time: the state of the art in medicine, information technology, warfare, geopolitics, life elongation, space migration, etc.

We’ve all seen that our lives, individually and collectively, take radical and unforeseeable twists. In particular, the things that worry us most never happen, and the things that cause us the most pain totally blindside us. (more…)

Tagged with: Bertrand Russell, energy industry in the year 2100, flavors of renewable energy, Future of the Energy Industry, loving character of Christ, Quakers nonviolence loving their enemies, William Penn

The Migration To Renewable Energy Is Both Essential and Impossible

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

I have two main theories that address our transition from fossil-based to renewable energy:

1) The challenge the world faces in phasing out fossil fuels is both absolutely imperative and ….totally impossible. It’s akin to the paradox: what happens when an irresistible force encounters an immovable object? A few more decades of pumping the exhaust from fossil fuel combustion into our skies will destroy our civilization. (more…)

Tagged with: development of off-shore wind, incentive to decarbonize our energy. cost of solar PV and land-based wind, migration to renewable energy, pumping the exhaust from fossil fuel combustion into our skies, transition from fossil-based to renewable energy, what happens when an irresistible force encounters an immovable object

From Guest Blogger Anita Ginsberg: Six Ways Businesses Can Lower Emissions And Go Green

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

Businesses that have taken advantage of the incentives that the US government has offered them on products and processes that lower emissions can save a lot of money. Here is a snapshot of what businesses are doing on their own to lower emissions and go green:

Use Solar for Electricity Generation (more…)

Tagged with: green business, office lighting, solar electric generation

From Guest Blogger Dixie Somers: Five Amazing Projects for Renewable Energy You Probably Didn't Know Were Possible (But Are Currently Underway)

craigshieldsPosted on February 7, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

With each passing year, people realize our dependence on fossil fuels is hurting the world we live in. Climate change as well as climbing prices have driven a global search for alternative energies. Scientists everywhere have taken up the call, and some of their solutions are as creative as they are bizarre. Keep reading to learn about some amazing projects for renewable energy that you might not know about—but that are already underway:

Waves to Energy

Everybody has heard of wind farms, but farming waves is a different story. (more…)

Tagged with: landfill gas, Pelamis, regulus, solar roadways