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Obama Once More Vocal on Climate Change, Renewable Energy

craigshieldsPosted on June 16, 2014 Posted in Climate Change

As his term in office draws nearer to a close, U.S. President Obama has begun again to talk about climate change and the imperative to reduce our contributions to its causes. If I were he, I would inform the nation (and the rest of the world) that America stands ready to adopt a responsible energy policy, and that this is important, not only from the standpoint of global warming, but from a great number of other completely unrelated perspectives. (more…)

Tagged with: adopt a responsible energy policy, alternative fuel transportation, clean energy business, efficiency solutions, global warming, loss of bio-diversity. new energy to dominate the world economy in the 21st Century, Obama on Climate Change, ocean acidification, smart grid, storage

From Guest Blogger Hannah Whittenly: How Much Do Industrial Accidents Like the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico Cost America Per Year?

craigshieldsPosted on June 16, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

If you’re of a certain age, you may think of the Dow Chemical gas leak in Bhopal, India that resulted in conflicting reports of 3,000 to 8,00 deaths. More recently, there was the BP Gulf oil spill. But industrial accidents most often involve individual workers hurt on the job.

What is the dollar cost?

The estimated annual cost of occupational injuries and illnesses is estimated to be $250 billion. (more…)

Tagged with: BP oil spill, BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Solar Roadways: Sorry To Be a “Hater,” But There Is No Such Thing as a “Good, but Impractical” Idea

craigshieldsPosted on June 15, 2014 Posted in Photovoltaics

As I’ve reported before, I find the appeal of crowdfunding is something of an enigma; in fact, it’s totally lost on me. According to an expert on the subject I happen to know, “Over 80% of what we see on sites like IndieGogo is vaporware; normally, investors are sending money to someone they don’t know, to enable that someone to build and sell something that doesn’t as yet exist, and, in most cases, never will.” (more…)

Tagged with: photovoltaics, solar roadways

Energy Policy Is One Aspect of the Crises Facing Our Civilization

craigshieldsPosted on June 15, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

In response to my recent piece called “Those Whose Hearts Are Open See the Need for Clean Energy,” Debi Ireland writes:

Good message Craig. You are doing good work. We need renewable energy. Dependence on fossil fuels is creating a global crisis. Check out this movie by Nafeez Mosadeqq Ahmed at TEDxHornstull.

Thanks, Debi. And wow, that movie is fantastic; I don’t know how I had missed it. I heartily recommend this to all readers, and simply offer a few words in summary, as follows. (more…)

Tagged with: combat climate change by migrating to renewable energy, dependence on fossil fuels, energy policy and environmental justice, Nafeez Mosadeqq Ahmed at TEDxHornstull, Those Whose Hearts Are Open See the Need for Clean Energy

We Have the Power to Overcome the Challenges Humankind Faces

craigshieldsPosted on June 14, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

I write often about the daunting number of challenges that humankind faces vis-à-vis sustainability, and note that many of them are rooted in our approach to energy: climate change/desertification, ocean acidification, loss of bio-diversity, water and food shortages, skyrocketing rates of lung disease, terrorism associated with oil, etc. It’s hard to remain optimistic in face of all this, but I actually do believe that we’ll somehow find a soft landing here.

Why? (more…)

Tagged with: challenges humankind faces vis-à-vis sustainability, climate change/desertification, loss of bio-diversity, ocean acidification, skyrocketing rates of lung disease, terrorism associated with oil, water and food shortages

Discussion of the Costs Associated with Marine Hydrokinetics at the Ocean Energy Show

craigshieldsPosted on June 13, 2014 Posted in Hydrokinetics

My major concern about the viability of marine hydrokinetics (MHK) is that there is very little attention paid to the levelized cost of energy that it represents. Is there a real trajectory for getting it in line with other forms of renewable energy? If so, let’s examine that. If not, it’s hard to understand why this remains an attractive arena for clean energy investors to pursue. (more…)

Tagged with: clean energy investors, cost curves for nascent technologies, emerging approaches to nuclear, forms of renewable energy, levelized cost of energy, marine hydrokinetics, MHK

Coca Cola, Sustainability, and the Rise of Cleantech

craigshieldsPosted on June 13, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s a clever video that lays bare the connection between Coca Cola and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. And here’s an article that gets at the issue of the unsustainable use of water required in the actual manufacturing of the soft drink, including this excerpt:

The company regularly extracts up to one million liters of water per day in some areas in India. The result has been sharp drops in groundwater levels, resulting in severe water shortages for tens of thousands of people.

Coca-Cola’s water use ratio in India is 4 to 1 – that is, 75% of the freshwater it extracts is turned into wastewater. The company has indiscriminately discharged its wastewater into the surrounding fields, severely polluting the scarce remaining groundwater as well as soil. (more…)

Tagged with: Coca-Cola, deployment of renewable energy, economics of the 21st Century will be defined by cleantech, energy efficient buildings and transportation solutions, long-term environment damage and human health issues, rise of cleantech, sustainability

PBS’s “Earth From Space” Is Magnificent

craigshieldsPosted on June 12, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

I heartily recommend the new Nova program on PBS called “Earth From Space,” which, as the name suggests, uses photography from satellites to explore the complex relationships between various phenomena here on our home planet.

About 90 minutes into this two-hour program, no mention had been made of the impact humankind has been making on natural processes, and I thought to myself, “If this ends without a single word on the influence people are having on these systems and the notion of sustainability, the producers are going to get an angry memo from me. Spoiler alert: I didn’t have to ball anyone out.

Not only is this fabulously informative, but it’s stunningly beautiful. Five stars.

Tagged with: complex relationships between various phenomena, impact humankind making on natural processes, PBS Nova, PBS’s “Earth From Space”, photography from satellites

From Guest Blogger Erika Remmington: Going Green in the Telecom Industry — Five Companies That Are Making the Energy Transition

craigshieldsPosted on June 12, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

Businesses across the globe are beginning to respond to impending environmental destruction by confronting their own wasteful practices. The telecom carrier industry has been at the forefront of this shift in attitudes. From changing its relationship towards energy usage, to inventing high tech green solutions, telecom is at the forefront of the green revolution in business. (more…)

Tagged with: green business, green energy, Telecom Green

From Guest Blogger Jordan: China Plans to Scrap Millions of Cars In an Effort to Reduce Pollution

craigshieldsPosted on June 12, 2014 Posted in Electric Vehicles

Air pollution has been a pretty serious problem in China for the last couple of decades, as it has been undergoing a process of intensive industrialization. This process has resulted in a significant increase of the number of motor vehicles on the roads, which have become one of the biggest contributors to air pollution, in addition to factories. Besides the global drop in interest of driving in urban areas, China has tried to reduce the harmful impact of cars on the environment by limiting car sales in some of its largest cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and by promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles. But it has become clear that it has to take further, more radical steps. (more…)

Tagged with: alternative fuel transportation, China, Chinese governement, emission standards, environment, scrap cars