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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Tesla Might Get an Exemption from California's Environmental LawsCalifornia has always been at the forefront of environmental regulation innovation, with a wide range of environmental policy tools aimed at reducing the human impact on the environment and encourage the use of greener technologies. But now, it seems that the state might waive some of its toughest environmental laws in an effort to land one of the most talked-about investments at the moment – Tesla’s Gigafactory. While stepping up as one of the front-runners in the self-driving cars market, Tesla Motors announced its plans to build a large plant for producing electric vehicle batteries, that would be able to churn out up to 500,000 batteries a year, immediately igniting a fierce battle between a number of states for this project, that is thought to be one of the most significant investments that the U.S. has seen in a long time. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Little Green Things We Can All Do in Our WorkplaceOne of the most controversial questions in the entire field of sustainability and green living is whether the damage has been done and whether the climate change is irreversible. The author of this article is not someone who claims to have the knowledge enough to make even an uneducated guess about whether this is true, but he is someone who is aware that little things we all do every day will surely do no harm. (Can’t we assert that that they will do at least some level of good?  – Ed.) (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Overturning Citizen's United--The Brightest Day for Democracy Since the Days of Jefferson

I wrote earlier:  Democracy is such a powerful idea that it appears capable of surviving even when the most powerful forces of Earth are trying so desperately to destroy it.  It seems that this Monday, our leaders will have the opportunity to nullify a law, based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that was made almost five years ago, that currently enables corporations to spend as much as they wish to influence our elections.

But I forgot to make the most obvious point:  If this actually happens, we should all celebrate a huge victory. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

U.S. Senate Could Vote To Overturn “Citizens United” – the Supreme Court Decision from HellDemocracy is such a powerful idea that it appears capable of surviving even when the most powerful forces of Earth are trying so desperately to destroy it.  It seems that this Monday, our leaders will have the opportunity to nullify a law, based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that was made almost five years ago, that currently enables U.S.-based corporations to spend as much as they wish to influence our elections. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Building Out Our Power Grid Means No More Curtailments for Wind PowerThere are many reasons (eleven to be precise) that I believe the migration to renewable energy is happening far faster than most people understand.  Thus, the name of my current book project: “Bullish on Renewable Energy – Eleven Reasons Why Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose.”

In particular, I see many disparate ingredients coming together simultaneously that are making clean energy, wind in particular, extremely inexpensive. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Associated Press Publishes Reports on Concentrated Solar Power Plant Including Grossly Inflated Avian Mortality NumbersHere’s a fairly noncontroversial statement:  Those who publish alarming reports on unintended environmental consequences of cutting-edge renewable energy technologies have a responsibility to ensure their numbers are correct. Yet astonishingly, every major newspaper in the U.S. published the Associated Press’s report to the effect that the CSP plant at Ivanpah had killed 28,000 birds—a number that turns out to be almost 100 times higher than the correct one.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

 What Remedies Do We Have In Place When Our Power Utilities Betray Our Trust? Question:  Actually, this is a bonus “double question.” Earlier today the California Public Utilities Commission levied a fine against Pacific Gas and Electric, the power company that serves most of the northern part of the state and a bunch of the rest of the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.  The penalty was based on the 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno, a city just south of San Francisco, that destroyed an entire neighborhood, killing eight people and injuring 58.  Here are your two questions: 1) How large was the fine? 2) How many separate violations were found?

Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.

Relevance: Whenever a company, perhaps a utility like PG&E, or perhaps a DoD mega-contractor like Northrup Grumman, is caught having committed gross violations of the law, particularly when, as in this case, it smashes the public trust to bits, the very first thing it does is invest heavily in an extremely aggressive public relations campaign in an attempt to deal with the rebuke it’s brought on itself through its dishonesty.  Here’s one of PG&E’s latest PR blasts, stressing its ostensible heartfelt concern for public safety, in the wake (here’s a hint at the second question) of literally thousands of safety violations that have been rolling along for years before they finally resulted in this catastrophe.  If you can think of anything more revoltingly insincere than this series of advertisements–or, if you think I’m over-reacting–I hope you’ll enter a comment here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Dirty Energy, Dirty Money: Universities’ Move To Divest from Fossil Fuels Rolling Along, But Encounters Bumpy TerrainHere’s a video on the travails of the young people at Yale University (pictured) and their organization “Fossil Free Yale.”  These folks are working hard to get their school to follow the lead of other top-level institutions like Stanford and divest from oil, coal, and gas.  Last week, however, a Yale committee refused to consider going in this direction, putting a damper on the works – at least temporarily. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Changing Paradigms in TransportationI’ve often mentioned that car ownership, the defining paradigm of transportation in the 20th Century, may be on its way out.  A great number of events are conspiring to make this happen—one of which is urban planning to support walking and bicycling.

The city of Lakewood, Ohio is a good example.  Here’s an uplifting video that shows how and why Lakewood is a city devoid of school buses.  What happens when 5800 kids walk or ride their bikes to school every morning?  It’s pretty cool stuff.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Renewable Energy and Crowdfunding A friend sent me this piece earlier today on the concept of crowdfunding for renewable energy.

In the main, I’m not a fan of crowdfunding in this space—for the same reason that VCs tend to avoid the subject: it’s capital intensive. You think you’re going to raise a billion dollars a hundred dollars at a clip?  Wrong. (more…)

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