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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

Reader:  Hi Craig.  This is an interesting report from DOE stating that there are over 30,000 potential hydroelectric sites in the US where hydro power could be used with minimal environmental impact as there are already structures in place in the water flow.  It goes on to say that using just the best 100 sites could amount to 8GW of renewable energy.

Sometimes there are easy solutions.  I think baseload hydro should be used before covering our deserts with solar panels and our plains with wind turbines.  Solar and wind are today’s sexy choices and get the most publicity, and poor old hydro and geothermal get the scraps from the table.

 

Craig:  To me, the issue is scale.  As you pointed out, there is a limit to run-of-river hydro.  If you multiply the weight of all the water in all the rivers in the U.S. by the altitude from which it falls (i.e., all the potential energy), you’re under a terawatt, even if you got it all.  8 GW is about one-seventh of 1% of the 5.4 TW we’re consuming as we speak.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, but it’s not the answer we need.  And btw, geothermal doesn’t seem to be making headway in terms of costs coming down and competing with solar, wind, and fossil fuels.   

 

Reader:  I  guess you’re right.  It seems it’s going to take a variety of solutions to get this thing done.

 

Craig: Yes.  I don’t turn up my nose at hydro, but I don’t spend too much time on it either.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a quick note to let you know that we just updated the “Advocate!” page on 2GreenEnergy. 

It’s a sad fact that so many people are victims of disinformation campaigns on energy, and thus it’s important to promote a quick and easy way for them – and their elected officials – to get the facts straight.  As usual, I hope you’ll go to the page and participate; it’s not trivial stuff — and please spread the word.  

Here’s the link: http://2greenenergy.com/express-yourself/

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an article that illustrates Bernie Sanders’ guts and perspicacity when it comes to energy and sustainability.  How a politician survives in today’s poisonous atmosphere without being a “yes-man” to the main power structures in Washington is beyond me.  (But I suppose running in Vermont doesn’t hurt; those are some fiercely independent people up there.)

Sanders is sponsoring comprehensive legislation, the End Polluter Welfare Act, designed to remove subsidies for the fossil fuels industry in the U.S. The bill would save taxpayers more than $10 billion a year and more than $110 billion over ten years. Perhaps best of all, it would represent an important first step in creating a level playing field for renewable energy. 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I thought I’d share a conversation with a lady I’ve known for about 30 years, who, each election cycle, does extensive work in researching the issues and the candidates, to bring some level of clarification to (I guess) at least a few hundred whose emails she’s been collecting over the decades and who read her viewpoints with interest. 

I wrote her recently about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and asserted that this renders moot the entire political process.  (I admit that this may have been a bit indelicate.)

She writes:  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The American voters who are hoping that the cause of clean energy and sustainability will still be alive when the dust clears in November can sleep a bit easier after tonight’s debate.  But it sure was a tragedy to see the top two prospective leaders of the world’s most powerful nation behave like schoolchildren, and speak so evasively on these issues.

In particular, can’t someone tell the coal miners that their jobs are going away?  Do both sides of the debate team really have to sell coal as a vital part of the U.S. energy future, when the exact opposite is so clearly the case?

If you guys won’t do it, I will.  Watch this:

Attention coal miners and the executive strata in coal companies:  Retrain, regroup, rethink, reorganize.  Do whatever you want, but go out and acquire new skills that won’t kill you and the rest of the world.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s an extremely well-crafted video from Goldman Sachs promoting their Clean Technology and Renewables Group in their Investment Banking Division.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll begin an effort to engineer a conversation with Stuart Bernstein, the global head of the group, with an eye toward walking him through our list of clean energy investment opportunities. I know that most of these aren’t precisely the later-stage deals that Goldman is looking for, but one never knows.  Bernstein is obviously a bright and sincere guy; he may like a couple of these.  And, as they say, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Below is a graphic that I borrowed from my friends at Energy and Capital (Hi, Jeff Siegel!) illustrating the real problem we face vis-a’-vis coal on the international scene.

I’m reminded of an interview I did for a consultant in Germany, who was looking for tips on how his country could drive investment in clean energy. At the conclusion I said: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

When it comes to renewable energy, there’s hardly a shortage of misinformation out there. That said, those with a skeptical streak really seem to have it in for wind farms. Here’s a look at some of the most widely propagated myths about wind energy, along with an explanation of why they’re simply not true.

Myth 1: Wind Power is Costly

Fact: The cost of producing wind energy compares favourably to the cost of producing nuclear and coal energy. Wind turbines, by their very nature, have no fuel-related costs whatsoever and help to make the production of electricity cheaper in general. Between the year 1990 and the year 2002, the capacity of global wind energy doubled after every 3 years and with every doubling, the cost of electricity fell by about 16%.  As prices of scarce fossil fuels continue to increase, the price of wind energy continues to decrease and earlier this month German researchers Deutsche Welle concluded that when wider costs are factored in, at 9 cents per kWh, wind power is, along with solar, the cheapest source of electricity in the world. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Solar Junction, the solar energy company based in Silicon Valley that offers high efficiency solar energy cells for the concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) market, has created a new energy efficiency record for its commercially ready solar cells.

Vijit Sabnis Co-Founder of Solar Junction said during an interview “”Breaking our own world record cements Solar Junction as an innovator and leader in the multi-junction cell space. We continue to push technological boundaries to further drive CPV costs down.”

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Question:  Can you guess the average amount of mine waste that results from the production of one gold ring? 

Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732.

Relevance:  Everyone likes gold rings, but, considering we’re all concerned about sustainability, we may want to check out http://greenkarat.com/ for wedding bands, etc. based on “post-consumer gold.” 

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