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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Here’s a renewable energy idea that frequent commenter Tim Kingston sent me.  It doesn’t seem reasonable, but I thought I’d ask the physicists out there to comment.  It’s a device that emits tiny droplets of water from electrical conductors (copper pipes with thousands of tiny holes?) that are placed in the wind.  The droplets pick up electrical charge, and, when they’re blown away, cause the conductor to take on the opposite charge. 

There is nothing theoretically impossible about this, and I love the concept that it doesn’t have moving parts that wear out.  But the electrical field that is created (and thus the electrical energy that can be derived from it) comes from the kinetic energy of the wind.  You’re not going to get more energy out of this than the theoretical maximum (as prescribed by Betz’ Law) regardless of what device you insert into the path of the wind.  Am I not right?  And how much of that total energy can be converted into blowing droplets off their pipes?   I would think it would be a minute fraction.  What am I missing?

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

One of the risks of writing pieces in the tone of my recent article on the fantastic levels of mean-spiritedness and lethargy in the U.S. Congress is the tendency to depress people.  Though my intention is to spur readers into action, I occasionally have the opposite effect. 

I’m reminded of Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Here’s a note I just wrote in response to a fairly glum email I received in response to that post:

Thanks very much for taking the time to write.  You make some excellent points here.  I think the bottom line is hoping that Washington will clean up its act is foolish.  That, however, doesn’t mean a sensible approach to energy won’t happen.  Hometown America really gets this, and many of the largest corporate entities are doing fabulous work. 

In the meanwhile, I urge you to remain active and not lose your enthusiasm for turning this around. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

The main obstacle facing cleantech generally is that it tends to be more expensive than what it’s replacing, but here’s an example of the opposite case.  2GreenEnergy associate Lindsay Oliver sent me this article on “green” bonds that are gaining favor in the market, and are used to fund the development of renewable energy projects.  They’re selling like hotcakes, precisely because investors love the value: the three-year, triple-A rated bonds, unwritten by Citigroup, J. P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, currently yielding 15 basis points above the comparable U.S. government securities.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s something I thought readers would enjoy: a video about energy and transportation concepts of the future.  A friend sent me this a minute ago and asked for my comment, which is as follows:  there is nothing theoretically impossible about any of this, but none of the concepts has any practicality as far as I can see, and the figures quoted are enormously exaggerated. 

To be fair, I suppose I can see a day in the distant future where the first idea (extremely high-speed public transportation) could happen, though it’s hard to imagine how a society in our current condition could get to a point at which it could possibly afford such a system. 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

I want to thank the many people who have helped 2GreenEnergy along the way in our attempts to popularize the site.  Though we have a great deal further to go, we’ve come a long way, and I’m grateful for all the support we’ve received.

Looking back across all the ideas that have been submitted, I think the most savvy of them center around concepts for cutting-edge content, e.g., developing our own clean energy infographics, as this is a common way to do something so compelling that is goes absolutely bananas in the social media space.  In truth, we’ve never hit a homerun, though we’ve knocked out a few singles.

Speaking of infographics, here’s one I came across today in the energy space; it happens to be particularly offensive to the oil companies, as it “calls them out” for their attempts to hush up the 13 incidents in the last 30 days, in which a total of more than 1,185,000 gallons of crude oil, tar sands, and other fossil fuel waste were spilled.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

When people think of going green, they may not think of contract manufacturing, but they should! Contract manufacturing allows companies who want to design, engineer, and manufacture green products to do so without the added expense and resources of building their own production facilities. Using a contract engineering and manufacturing company allows green energy technology entrepreneurs to keep their costs down and focus on developing and perfecting their core technologies. This is a great option for not only early stage companies, but also mature green energy companies! Some contract manufacturing companies will also provide global field service to implement and support the products they help manufacture. (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Confused about some of the facts on wind energy? Does it work as well as they say?

There are tremendous benefits for having wind energy, and here are some of the top facts on the productivity of it.

Number One in New Generating Capacity

In 2012, wind energy was the number one electricity-generating capacity source for the first time ever. It provided, all total, 42 percent of the new electricity-generating capacity for all sources. U.S. developers are installing nearly two turbines a week with the current rate of growth.

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Maybe it’s a “guy-thing,” but I’ve always loved tree houses.  One of the first books I ever loved was Swiss Family Robinson – and not for the plot or the characters; I just enjoyed how the author totally transported me to safe, cozy charm of life many yards above the forest floor.  For those who share my passion, here’s a cool piece that the Sierra Club did on the world’s top tree houses, in the larger context of eco-tourism. 

But, as we all know, the Sierra Club takes on subjects that are not at all about making the reader feel good.  Here’s a fairly aggressive video, yet equally well-made, on our civilization’s consumption of oil and the direct it’s taking us.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I occasionally like to write something purely for the 43% of 2GreenEnergy readers who reside outside the United States and may have difficulty understanding how profoundly broken our legal and political processes are here, or who may think I’m exaggerating when I discuss our government’s flagrant disregard for the clearly expressed will of the people it ostensibly represents.  Previously I wrote:

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter told a packed house at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum a few weeks ago the following story… The University of Colorado at Boulder recently completed a survey of many thousands of residents from around the state, in which participants provided their viewpoints on a myriad of energy-related issues.  Among other things, the study showed that an overwhelming majority favored a bill on the floor on Congress that would place a tax on carbon and create financial incentive for businesses and households to reduce their carbon footprints. To Ritter’s astonishment, one of the senators from his state, under pressure from special interests, went back to Congress and voted against the bill that his constituents had so clearly favored. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I’m not sure how people in the wind industry react to news like this concerning the Production Tax Credit (PTC); I guess it’s hard to look a gift horse in the mouth.  Personally, I find the continuing flip-flopping of incentives for renewable energy to be incredibly irritating, as it’s an in-my-face reminder of what’s so sickeningly wrong with the U.S. approach to energy. 

I.e., we have no energy policy.  We hand the oil companies tens of billions of dollars per year in subsidies; that’s a deeply rooted aspect of our laws dating back almost a century; it will take an (incredibly unlikely) act of Congress to overturn.  Meanwhile, the plants that manufacture wind turbines produce, shutter, produce, then shutter again, as Congress turns on and off the subsidies for wind energy.  Investors don’t like this type of unpredictability, and, understandably, run away as fast as their legs will carry them. 

If I were in the fossil fuel industry, I couldn’t ask for anything more favorable.  It would even be hard to buy.  Wait…..you don’t suppose….?

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