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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

CasablancaFrequent commenter Glenn Doty notes:

Peak oil, or peak anything for that matter, is about production peaking, not about production running out.  There’s nothing uncertain in this, there’s just misunderstanding. Hubbert’s peak (his prediction that the production of oil would hit a peak) happened.  That’s why North American crude production declined from the late 70’s through 2008.

….We do also have to pay attention to peak gas (~30 years), peak uranium (~40-50 years), and peak coal (~80 years). If we don’t take different paths towards better technology, then those peaks will hit us pretty hard, and they will hit just as we’re starting to experience some serious accommodation costs from AGW.

Two good points.  To the first (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Peak Oil May Be An Empty Concept, But Fossil Fuels Will Vanish Far Faster Than Most People Believe A reader comments:

The problem that most concerns me is not the shortage of oil but its abundance.  Saudi Aramco, the Saudi (state owned) oil company is the world’s largest corporation with over $30 trillion dollars in assets including oil reserves estimated at $20 trillion.  All of this oil is very easily accessible and is of the highest quality for crude. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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January 15, 2015

“There are many possible events that could accelerate the demise of fossil fuels—but none is required to phase them out in favor of renewables, a process that will be driven primarily by pure market economics—and far faster than most people understand.”  – Craig Shields, 2015  

 

SANTA BARBARA, CA  Though Craig Shields was pleased that his first two books became #1 best-sellers in their respective categories on Amazon.com, looking back, he has some reservations about their content.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Flow Batteries and Fine WineDuring a talk yesterday with a friend who happens to be a wine connoisseur, we discussed the grapes that do best in Croatia.  “They’re very similar to those of Northeast Italy; Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio all grow well there,” my friend explained. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Promoting "Bullish on Renewable Energy" with EnthusiamI’m blessed with fine friends who constantly go out of their way to help me.  Here’s a conversation with a dear friend I’ve known for over 30 years who found a website that might like to feature the press release for my book “Bullish on Renewable Energy.”

Friend:  I just came across this (Yes! Magazine).  Is this a good place to publish an article that summarizes your book?  ​

Craig:  Thanks very much.  I just wrote to the person who reviews press releases.

Friend: Nice.  I signed up for their newsletter.  I’ve always wanted to find a news source for ‘positive ideas’!

Craig:  Yes, I know you’re into thinking positively.  Good for you.  Coincidentally, that’s the change in tenor represented by my new book, vs. the first three.  Let’s get excited!

And when I think of this sort of intellectual excitement and the thrill of innovation, Ralph Waldo Emerson comes immediately to mind.  I remember him best from this little nugget: “Nothing great in this world was achieved without enthusiasm.”

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

Renewable Energy from the Oceans’ TidesThese amazing photographs of the Earth’s moon provide another opportunity for me to link to one of our renewable energy infographics that depicts the four different basic types of energy that are available to us.  Of course, the orbit of the moon brings us the oceans’ tides which are especially robust in the extreme latitudes, i.e., closest to the poles. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Wind Energy Resources Vary According to GeographyThis morning I awoke to:  Hi, my name is Josh Sowers and I’m a senior at Marais des Cygnes Valley high school (in Kansas). I am writing a essay on wind power and was wondering if I could ask a couple of questions about what you think about wind energy, why it’s important, what all wind can do for the world, and why we should use more of it. Thank you for your time for reading this.

Josh:  Thanks for your interest in the subject.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

What the Oil Companies Can Do To Morph Into “New Energy” and Become Good Corporate CitizensSev Clarke, a fellow from Australia I’ve known and admired for many years wrote this about my recent post on Shell Oil:

Craig, sorry to contradict, but a few of your statements do not hold water, probably because you have accepted what is regarded as common wisdom, but which is incorrect. There are ways that the oil companies can get out of their dilemma, retain profitability, and become good global citizens.
 (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

The Latest on Concentrated Solar Power – Always at CSP TodayI have a great deal of admiration for the publishers of CSP Today and what they’ve done to promote the concentrated solar power industry.  When I had lunch with the organization’s director, Belen Gallego, in New York City a few years ago, I congratulated her for her tenacity and hard work in making sure her technology is constantly kept in the public eye.  After all, part of the reason that renewable energy isn’t making faster progress is that, where the oil companies are “an industry” (in fact, the most powerful in the world), solar and wind are just now beginning to move out of obscurity and achieving that status as bona fide industries.

I still subscribe to the newsletter, edited by Bea Gonzalez (pictured).   Here’s an article from today’s issue that points out that wind energy may pose a bigger threat to the viability of CSP than solar PV.  The author points out that the energy from CSP can be stored fairly inexpensively as heat, but that the cost of storing electrical energy is falling fast.

Keep up the good work.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Scarcity, Sustainability, and Shell OilRegarding my post: Shell Oil Has an Indefensible Position, But At Least (I Believe) It’s Trying, a reader suggests that I check out the book Abundance, by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, and summarizes it as follows:

It offers the only real positive vision of the future with the premise that the we (not just the U.S. “we”) will be able within a 10-20 year time frame to provide a sustainable standard of living to every person on the planet. (more…)

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