Here’s something I wrote for my son when he was a little kid. It’s off-topic in the extreme, but some people have told me they think it’s funny, so I thought I’d post it.
Commas, And Their Correct Use
By, Daddy
This short essay, contains lots of errors with commas. Some are quite glaring don’t you think? Some others aren’t so obvious, you’ll have to look carefully to find them all. For instance is it proper to conjoin two independent clauses with just a tiny measly insignificant comma? I and I’m well over 40 years old don’t think so. Is it proper to separate, the subject from its predicate with a comma? Again I think not. All in all you have to be pretty sharp bright and quick-witted to know where to place those commas!
My 7th grade English teach Phil Maroney had plenty to say, on the subject of commas, and their correct use, once he roared at the class “Do you just throw in a comma because it doesn’t cost anything?” Even though we all were terrified of him we knew he had made a really good sound point one that we would remember forever.
Part of the issue here is there are multiple entities that have some regulatory influence over the grid: FERC, NERC, NRC, DOE, State governments, RTO’s or ISO’s, local governments (zoning), etc… But while there’s a maze of entities overlapping, there are few regulations that do anything other than help ensure constant reliable power – and I wouldn’t want to see those regulations unraveled without great care.
I hear you, but I’m unswayed – not that I favor unreliable power, only that I see a new day dawning in which value is placed on sustainability – and that, I believe, will come at the expense of a wholesale rethinking of who pays for what.
I fully admit that this is a horribly complicated situation, because there are so many moving parts. We have regulated and deregulated areas, and we have innovations like smart-grid and energy storage that offer many different types of benefits to different constituencies: generation, transmission, distribution, and end-customers – all coming with their own hard costs and other challenges.
It’s going to require a great deal of objectivity and honesty to make the adjustments that our society needs. But are there people/entities with a sufficient level of both fair-mindedness and the power to make it happen? I’m not sure.
Here’s a webinar called “A Dawn In Solar Investing” that I recorded with Esplanade Capital’s Shawn Kravetz when I was in Boston last Tuesday. Shawn is the founder of a hedge fund that focuses on the global PV world; he’s regarded as one of the foremost experts on the subject. His routine appearances on numerous business television programs make him one of the most visible faces in the solar industry, and I was pleased to have had him as a participant in our ongoing webinar series.
Not to give anything away, but Shawn sees many signs that the solar PV market may have seen its worst, and provides seven reasons that he is bullish, though cautiously so, on the future. I certainly learned a lot, and I hope viewers will too.
Note: The conversation is about 50 minutes in length, and there are 16 slides. However, the first slide is up for the first 12 minutes; viewers shouldn’t think that the presentation is broken just because we took so long to get to the second slide. That, incidentally, is “my bad,” as I kept peppering poor Shawn with questions.
Here in the UK the Green Deal is the coalition government’s flagship for enabling consumers to access energy efficient measures and also contribute to the drive for a green economy. Not only was it seen as a way for the government to assist people in finding a solution to ever increasing fuel prices, it would also provide a way for the UK government to meet European carbon reduction targets. As the first phase came into view in October 2012 renewable energy industries looked upon the initiative as a positive project that would allow residents and businesses alike to access green energy that they normally would not have the financial backing to invest in.
At the same time there was also an element of scepticism concerning government processes and whether it would stand by directives. The solar energy industry suffered badly in 2011 and 2012 as the government continued to change the goal posts and the benefits from the Feed In tariff. There was perhaps little surprise then when the Green Deal, as early as October 2012 was beginning to look an out and out failure.
Statistics being fed back to the Department of Energy and Climate Change showed quite clearly there was something wrong. The amount of people taking part in the first phase – assessing energy performance – appeared to be minimal – a response which, if it had occurred in the private sector, would undoubtedly have led to its collapse. However on closer scrutiny it is clear that the lack of interest it provoked was once again down to a poor oversight by the coalition government.
Although the Government has ring fenced £125 million for the Green Deal the fact that it needed marketing and promoting does not seem to have occurred to them. The result was furrowed brows and questionable glances when a survey asked “What is the Green Deal?” Just at a time when it was needed most – as the winter approached and weather reports offered stark reading nobody was aware of the Green Deal.
Now finally the government has made real efforts to promote the benefits of the Green Deal to both home owners and businesses by introducing a £2.9 million advertising campaign. The outcome according to a YouGov survey is very favourable. Statistics show that 39 per cent of people are now aware that the Green Deal exists, and this number is expected to continue to rise as further advertisement campaigns are launched. Also they suggest that public awareness has increased by as much as 20% over a period of a few weeks.
Questions have recently been asked in the media as to whether this maybe the greenest government ever. That is probably true but not because of a staunch feeling for green policies but more because they are in an age where to ignore it would not only be folly but dangerous. There is still a strong feeling in the UK that even though they are putting creative green policies in place, they are often short-sighted, carry little long term sustainability and often create hurdles for the renewable energy industries when they have to re-think principles. The next few months will give a clear idea in the UK as to whether the Green Deal is a great success or will herald another government U turn.
As we become more energy conscious, we’re always looking for ways to make our homes and businesses more ‘eco-friendly’.
With rising energy costs and increased pressure from external sources, there has been no time like the present for your company to go ‘green’. Whether you’re a multinational corporation with a big carbon footprint; or a small company looking to ‘do your bit’, there are plenty of ways to make your business more eco-friendly:
1. Perform an energy audit
Before you can take action to become more ‘green’, you need to know exactly what your business’s energy usage is like.
Many industrial electricians and utilities companies offer such evaluations, making it easy for you to perform. Such consultations will highlight your energy usage, and failings, and the best strategies to help you reduce your business’s usage. You can also monitor proceedings within the company and track this against your bills.
Depending on the size of your business though, you might not think this is the best option – especially in the early stages of ‘going green’. Instead, you might be able to highlight a number of simple but effective ways you can cut your costs and go ‘green’.
2. Go electronic
Every business sends hundreds of emails every day, so making the move towards electronic-only proceedings shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Move towards a paperless office by reducing your printing, faxing, and photocopying.
You can even send quotes and invoices safely and securely online. This will also help you keep your postage costs down – another reason to take steps towards making your business eco-friendly. You will obviously have to print some things, but try and keep this to a minimum where possible.
3. Buy green
If you want to reduce your business’s carbon footprint, one of the best ways to do so is by buying economical products. Everything from fridges to dishwashers is marked with their energy efficiency rating these days, making going green easier than ever.
It’s not just your kitchen appliances that can go green either. Make sure that your printers, PCs, and photocopiers, all have the highest ‘green’ rating. This will help you reduce the business carbon footprint, whilst still keeping the day-to-day running hassle-free.
4. Recycle and reuse
When you need to print; print double sided. Reuse old scraps of paper for note taking. Recycle all your paper when you’ve finished with it. There are loads of ways you can recycle and reuse everything in your office to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum. You might be surprised at the additional uses you can discover for everything. Similarly, you should always try and source products from recycled and sustainable sources.
5. Turn it off!
Simple actions such as turning appliances off when not in use, buying energy efficient light-bulbs, and not leaving taps dripping; can help you reduce your bills in the home and at your business. The easiest way to go about making a real difference is by following these tips.
Turn printers and photocopiers on for reduced hours a day, make sure everyone turns their computers off at night, and check all the lights are off when you leave a night. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how effective these methods can be.
Making your business more eco-friendly doesn’t have to be a challenge. In fact, a few simple changes like the aforementioned can have a huge impact on your company’s carbon footprint. By taking steps to go ‘green’ today, you will have increased productivity tomorrow.
Powertricity is a leading industrial electricians in Bromsgrove, UK who can help you make sure your business is eco-friendly. Contact them today for more information on their commercial and industrial services.
There is an old saying I learned about 45 years ago, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I have found on occasion that an “improvement” caused more difficulties as the situation had many more interactions, perhaps some not documented of which we were initially unaware, but the improvement knocked it off kilter. Eventually I learned to repair equipment based upon the previously working design, and not to “redesign the wheel.”
I hear this a lot, and I admit there is a certain truth to it. In fact, this is the main reason that the migration from fossil fuels is such a challenge; looked at a certain way, we’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. We have reliable and inexpensive electricity, and many people say, “Well, that means it ain’t broke.”
But I’m not sure you’ll get too much agreement from the families of the more than 13,000 people who died of lung disease last year because the aromatics of coal, or the parents of the hundreds of thousands of children who were rushed to the hospital with acute asthma. We could go on and talk about the incredible levels of devastation to our climate, our oceans, and our biodiversity – but here you have long-term effects, in a world (or at least a country) that is quite short-term focused.
In the end, it’s a debatable point – one that comes down to one’s definition of “broke.”
When I was in Boston on Tuesday I recorded a webinar in the office of Esplanade Capital’s founder Shawn Kravetz, who provided almost a full hour of really sharp insight into the ever-changing world of investment in solar photovoltaics.
In the course of the discussion, I asked Shawn if he wished to share any observations on the way the solar industry, or renewable energy in general, is treated vis-à-vis subsidies. Obviously, the PV industry has benefited greatly from the support it has received from the public sector all over the world, most notably Germany. However, these subsidies are inconsistent, unpredictable, and, in comparison to the tens of billions of dollars that are dumped into the coffers of the oil companies each year, quite modest in scope.
I loved Shawn’s response. He smiled, and quoted (the great U.S. football team New England Patriot’s head coach) Bill Belichick, who said, “We do business as business is done.” I took this to mean (and please feel free to comment if you think I’ve misread this remark) “There may be a place for idealism, but it certainly isn’t the business world.”
This is one of the many reasons I like the cut of the Esplanade Capital’s jib. They’ve dialed down into solar as a strictly business proposition – and an incredibly complex and dynamic one at that. They don’t even represent their enterprise as SRI (socially responsible investing). While Shawn privately may, as a person of conscience, hope that renewable energy prevails on Earth (and he clearly does) you certainly won’t hear a single mention of this in his presentation. If you’re an accredited investor who happens to think that solar is likely to gain ground, for whatever reason – social, moral, or purely financial — you may want to check them out.
In today’s tightly-knotted world of investment capital, we don’t require huge victories to merit a celebration. Last week, I received word that 2GreenEnergy had successfully arranged a modest but not insignificant investment contribution to our client Vision Motor Cars, which will enable the construction of a number of test vehicles of the company’s latest design, in this case, super-affordable light-duty electric trucks.
Most of us who follow the electric vehicle market remain at sea regarding a crucially important issue: can a successful EV program come only from an established auto manufacturer? We’ve certainly seen a great number of start-ups fold their tents. Even the exalted Tesla has disappointed some analysts, which seems unthinkable, given what I think of as its “dream cars,” not to mention its price-points that result in some really healthy operating margins.
But I, for one, still believe in the concept of an EV start-up, as long as the product can be solidly differentiated in the market, and offers the customer something of unique and obvious value. And that’s precisely what this happy investor saw in Vision Motor Cars: a cool, well-thought-through design, resulting in a high-quality yet affordable product.
Next step: building and selling e-trucks. Now let’s see if we can find a reasonably smart marketing guy with a decent track-record to help make this happen. 🙂
The skier’s delight rarely falls in the realm of green renewable eco-friendly holidays, but many resorts are trying to change that image. Some resorts are increasing their recycling, while others are working to have a less strenuous impact on Mother Nature. This means eco-friendly, sustainable and an awareness of how to use natural resources efficiently and responsibly. One way of becoming eco aware is to manage the carbon footprint that we leave behind as individuals, companies and corporations. Ski resorts are not exempt from this responsibility to mother earth and all that she offers. Evaluating a resort’s responsibility to the environment looks at ISO14001 approval, recycling, green power usage, traffic reduction, sewage management, climate policy and green building policy.
Aspen, Colorado
Leave it to the hippies in Colorado to lead the ski and winter industry into the green revolution with their pioneering ideas. The Aspen Skiing Company was the one of the first to announce new policies to protect the climate and environment. They didn’t just take on the slopes but the whole winter tourism industry. They are using biodiesel fuel for snow grooming machines and are also using 100 percent wind power as a sustainable source of energy. This is the resort leading the way in sustainable skiing holidays.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
One of the last family owned resorts in the United States, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is doing their part to become more eco-friendly and sustainable. After the 2006 resolution by the mayor, Jackson Hole has focused on reducing greenhouse gas emission and becoming more sustainable. The Chamber of Commerce and the businesses in Jackson Hole have partnered with the RRR Business Leaders Program to work towards a goal of a healthy, sustainable economic growth and development for the whole area. The citizens participate in the program through the Jackson community recycling, Sustain Jackson Hole, Teton Sustainability Project, the Uncommon Sense Program, and the Lower Valley Energy cooperative. They have invested in upgrading the facilities at the resort including converting energy resources to 100 percent renewable energy credits and recycling at least a third of all its trash. Jackson Hole is one of the only resorts in the world that is 100 percent wind powered. This takes the resort off the grid and makes them completely sustainable.
Kaprun, Austria
They have been skiing in the Alps longer than the United States has been a country and that means that non-sustainable practices have drained the resources. The survival and beauty of the Alps depends on the development and incorporation of sustainable practices and resources. At ski resorts, one of the biggest drains on energy sources is the ski lift. Just think of the energy needed to carry all those many skiers up the mountain every day, on their winter Group ski holidays. Kaprun in Austria led the way in becoming the first ISO-Certified lift company. They operate the Kitzsteinhorn lift and improve efficiency, safety, and quality at the resort all around. Furthermore the lift is connected to a sewage pipe, which removes waste from the mountain and converts energy for use in other places. These improvements, along with membership in the Alpine Convention, ensure that Kaprun is opening new doors to sustainability in Austria and Europe.
Avoriaz, France
When designing the ski resort the builders of Avoriaz, France created an eco-friendly resort that focuses on reduced carbon emissions, and full scale recycling efforts. Cars are not allowed in the resort thus reducing emissions even more. The resort uses biofuel converted from old cooking oil and reduces pollution through other conversions. The ski chalets are environmentally friendly and sustainable. The resort even built the roofs to hold more snow, in order to use the extra pack as insulation that will increase indoor temperatures naturally. The beautiful escape in the Alps focuses on comfort as well as the environment and it certainly shows.
Bolton Valley, Vermont
They did it in Colorado and Wyoming, so why not Vermont. At Bolton Valley, Vermont the ski resort started the wind revolution of sustainable energy. The first ski area in Vermont, Bolton Valley has been using wind energy since 2009. Moreover most of the restaurants in the area are converting to locally grown and harvested foods. This supports the local communities and reinforces a strong environmental focus for the area. The ski resort uses only recycled trash bags from a local company and composts all organic trash for the creation of making topsoil to be used in the community.
All of these measures focus on the mantra of every environmental lobbyist; recycle, reuse, and reduce. With a little attention, you too can support a stronger environment even while enjoying your ski holiday.
I’m looking forward to today’s meeting with David O’Brien, Bridge Energy Group’s Director of Regulatory Strategy and Compliance. With his permission, I will record the discussion and squeeze it into my current book project, “Renewable Energy – Following the Money.” This is important, as I realized the other day that the book is a bit light in the subject arena of David’s expertise, i.e., the regulation of power utilities and the effects these have on innovation, especially, the implementation of efficiency, conservation, smart-grid, and renewables.
My belief going into this discussion is simple:
Our current system of utility regulation is a hodge-podge of arcane rules that sprang up on a regional, ad-hoc basis over the last 125 years. These rules were designed to minimize the cost of electricity, especially to large, industrial customers, while guaranteeing the power companies extremely attractive and perfectly predictable streams of profit. They need to be ripped out by the roots and replaced with something that’s simple, fair, and understandable, while encouraging all stake holders (generation, transmission, distribution, and load) to do the right thing, i.e.,
Invest in smart-grid as the enabler of a modern and efficient energy network
Offer incentives that minimize consumption, especially on-peak
Retire coal plants as quickly and as practically as possible
Replace them with a combination of renewable energy and storage.
From my initial conversations with Mr. O’Brien, I can see that he and I agree on a great deal of this, but I fully expect to learn exactly why my assessment here is an oversimplification, or lacks other features that would make it pragmatically implementable. That’s fine; I’m here to learn.
On my 
As we become more energy conscious, we’re always looking for ways to make our homes and businesses more ‘eco-friendly’.
