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If the Migration To Renewable Energy Is Inexorable, Why Is It Taking So Long?

craigshieldsPosted on May 13, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

When someone asks me this question at a party, I normally ask if he wants the three-minute or three-day version; there are dozens of answers, each quite important, and each requiring some time to articulate.

One of the most important responses: science is for sale. Our largest polluters, e.g., Koch Industries, spend enormous sums of money each year to obscure the fact that the consumption of fossil fuels is having a terrible effect on the health of our skies, oceans, climate, and lungs.

Here’s an example that I would have found funny if it weren’t so tragic: (more…)

Tagged with: consumption of fossil fuels, David H. Koch “Hall of Human Origins” species may be able to adapt to a warming climate, Koch brothers, largest polluters Koch Industries, migration to renewable energy, Migration To Renewable Energy Inexorable, science is for sale, Smithsonian Institute

How Objective Is the Reporting on Renewable Energy and Fossil Fuels?

craigshieldsPosted on May 13, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

Most thoughtful and decent people wish there were a way to force authors of purported unbiased “research papers” to disclose their political ties and the sources of their funding. Here’s an interesting story along those lines, entitled “Accuracy Happens: A Fossil Fuel Pundit’s Funding Is Exposed.” At a minimum, it calls upon us all to question the objectivity of the stories we come across that blast renewable energy for receiving government subsidies.

I particularly love the line: (more…)

Tagged with: Checks and Balances Project, political ties, renewable energy receive government subsidies, Reporting on Renewables and Fossil Fuels, sources of funding

The Cost of Renewable Energy Continues To Plunge

craigshieldsPosted on May 13, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m not normally one to banter about stereotypes about the people of various nationalities, but let’s be honest: the Scottish are generally known for their frugality. That’s why it’s noteworthy that Glasgow was the host to this year’s “All Energy” show, and that the event’s attendance set an all-time record, up over 20% from the previous high.

The event helps explode one more myth about renewable energy, i.e., that it’s expensive. Regardless of its attractiveness in terms of its eco-friendliness, the real driver here is the speed with which its costs are plummeting. The leading example, of course, is wind power, which is now, in certain parts of the world, by far the least expensive source of energy on Earth—with or without government subsidies.

Tagged with: All Energy, speed with which renewable energy costs are plummeting, The Cost of Renewable Energy Continues To Plunge, wind power, with or without government subsidies

Can the Oil Companies Become “Energy Companies?”

craigshieldsPosted on May 13, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

Is it possible that Big Oil can morph itself into so many “energy companies,” in the sense that they offer an overhauled set of (cleaner) energy resources? Over the years, I’ve consistently denied that they are capable of this (even if they actually wanted to) on the basis of the age-old concept of “core competency.” (more…)

Tagged with: Big Oil, Big Oil turn the corner, chemical and mechanical engineers, energy companies, energy resources, less lethal manner of providing the world’s energy, oil and gas exploration, oil companies core competency, trillions of dollars of capital equipment and deliver infrastructure

From Guest Blogger Jenny Richards: Five Sources of Financing for Solar Energy

craigshieldsPosted on May 13, 2015 Posted in Photovoltaics

A few years ago, when the world entered its first stages of transitioning to solar and wind energy, it became apparent that cost would be the biggest impediment to the transition. Installing solar in homes meant that home owners had to invest a lot of money in solar equipment.

There has been a lot of progress in innovation of solar financing solution, which would make it easier for you to install solar systems in your home today. (more…)

Tagged with: Financing for Solar Energy, solar power, solar pv

EPA’s Clean Energy Plan

craigshieldsPosted on May 12, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an article whose message is simple: the political rhetoric surrounding energy is often misleading. I’m not sure that’s exactly news, but that’s the take-away nonetheless.

In this case, a guy with ties to the fossil fuel business, Koch Industries to be specific, wrote an op-ed in a newspaper in Utah telling seniors that the EPA’s Clean Energy Plan will cause skyrocketing electricity prices and offer no benefit. The article is a refutation of all this, including a concept that I would have hoped was too obvious to require presenting: some seniors have trouble breathing, and, for that reason alone, there is great value for them (and everyone else) in replacing coal-fired power plants with renewable energy.

Tagged with: EPA’s Clean Energy Plan, fossil fuel business, Koch Industries, political rhetoric surrounding energy misleading, replacing coal-fired power plants with renewable energy, skyrocketing electricity prices

Coal Plants Produce Cheap Energy—But There’s a Catch

craigshieldsPosted on May 11, 2015 Posted in Fossil Fuels

We often talk about the “externalities” of the energy from fossil fuel resources; it’s a term in economics describing the costs involved in a certain transaction that are not captured by the parties involved in the transaction itself. In the case of energy, it refers to the fact that what we’re currently paying for a kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by coal, for instance, fails to take into consideration enormous costs to human health and the environment. (more…)

Tagged with: burning coal and selling the resultant electricity at a low price, Coal Plants Produce Cheap Energy, enormous costs to human health and the environment, externalities of the energy from fossil fuel resources, what we’re currently paying for a kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by coal

Mourning the Loss of a Friend of Mine — Who Was Also a Friend of Yours

craigshieldsPosted on May 11, 2015 Posted in Ocean Thermal

Last month, Jim Greenberg, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, lost a short but intense battle to a particularly aggressive form of cancer. Jim was a long-time client, a fine friend, and a consummate gentleman. He will be profoundly missed by all of us in the renewable energy arena, and by a much wider group of people who knew him through his work in law, and as a board member of numerous non-profits, where he had given a great deal of his time to philanthropy. (more…)

Tagged with: 18th Century educator Horace Mann, Antioch College, Jim Greenberg, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation

Viewpoints on the Migration to Renewable Energy

craigshieldsPosted on May 10, 2015 Posted in Renewables - Science

A colleague writes: Just finished Facts and Fantasies. Very informative, very readable. I dog-eared a bunch of pages to come back to later for reference. I’ll tackle “Doable” this week and eventually we’ll have a discussion about them. I suspect the series will show a progression in your thinking to your current position…

I responded:

Yes, the books do, in fact, represent an evolution in my viewpoints on the subject. (more…)

Tagged with: Electric Vehicles, irreparable level of harm to the environment, migration away from fossil fuels, power utility model, recognition of the realities of climate change, Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies, renewable energy tough realities, transition to renewables, wind energy in the grid-mix