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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Does Google’s Personalized Search Present Me Web Pages Slanted in Favor of Environmentalism?Do you ever wonder how Google customizes/personalizes your search results based on what it thinks you want to know?  If I’m ordering a pizza in Santa Ynez, California, it’s true that I probably don’t want to see listings for Italian restaurants in Omaha or Buenos Aires, so I suppose there’s some value there.   But I’m very concerned that I’m not getting a fair representation of the news, because Google (I understand) is shaping what it’s showing me based not only on my location, but on my previous searches as well.  (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

A Few Cleantech Business Concepts at UCSBI spent a couple of hours yesterday evening at the “New Ventures Forum” at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).  Guests had the opportunity to meet a total of 22 different teams of students, some of them Ph.D. candidates, and ask them to present their concepts for new businesses.    Great food, a little wine – a good time was had by all. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Geothermal

Geothermal Sees Solid Growth Internationally, But Not in the U.S.There’s a lot to like about geothermal, especially its lack of variability; utilities buy energy generated from the heat in the Earth’s crust as baseload, just as if it were coming from a coal or nuclear plant.  Linked above is a good article that points out that the trends here internationally are quite positive; 2013 saw 530 MW commissioned, the most in a single year since 1997.

Sadly, the renewable energy market in the U.S. is riddled with permitting issues and other elements of bureaucracy, and thus geothermal experiences extremely counter-productive boom/bust cycles.  Investors, understandably, are terrified of the uncertainty associated with all this, and are reluctant to get involved in an industry whose very underpinnings could change any minute.

Hey, here’s an idea.  Why don’t we create a stable energy policy, where everyone knows the plan for the coming years and decades?

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Marketing and Promotion – Not All Products Serve Society As Well As CleantechI hope you’ll check out this video on advertising and ethics.  It sure spoke to me – especially considering my background: 25+ years as a marketing consultant to the Fortune 500, helping the IT giants (IBM, Hewlett-Packard, etc.) generate demand for their products and services.  If you’ve ever faced ethical conflicts regarding the validity of what you’re promoting and how you’re going about your work, you’ll do well to invest a few minutes into checking this out.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

MicroBlend Is a Great Business Concept That Benefits the EnvironmentThree times in as many decades I have functioned as a marketing consultant to enterprises run by my “serial client” and close friend, business titan John Tyson.  John sits on the board of half a dozen large corporations, and currently serves as CEO of MicroBlend Technologies, a company that is redefining the paint industry.

John’s current gig is benefiting the world around him in many ways, and I’m sure he’s quite proud of the role of environmental stewardship he’s playing. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Handy Environmental Management Tips for Start-upsStarting a new business brings with it the need to make a lot of decisions and choices, including choosing the right name and branding, arranging the right business structure, building the right team of staff, and finding the right premises to operate your business.

Of course you’ll also need to think about how to promote and sell your product. In today’s climate (in both the business and weather context), it’s also important to think about keeping an eye on the environment and, connected to that, saving money. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

How Solar Powers your Home and the World

Solar energy is ubiquitous, free, green and easy to use. Many of the primary drawbacks — extreme expense, the need for clear skies and the capacity of the standard battery — have been minimized or solved in the last decade. Today, solar energy is an effective way to power an entire home, if you’re willing to make the investment. Augmenting grid power or cutting yourself off the grid entirely can be rewarding, and it’s very doable.

A Benefit for Society

On a global scale, much can be said for the switch to solar. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Google Offers Solar EnergyAt a party last weekend, someone asked me to speculate as to what Google’s grand plans are.  Of course, I have no more real insight into this than the next guy, but, given their $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest, one would have to think that it involves the use of information to guide us in our use of energy.  And here’s news suggesting that Google wants to become a major player in the energy sector more directly: their entry into the solar photovoltaics business.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Earth Day – a Good Time to Bury the Hatchet With Respect to Clean EnergyEach month, we read more about the battle heating up between the traditional energy industry (the providers of fossil fuels, power generation, transmission, and distribution) – versus renewable energy.  But aren’t they natural enemies?  Can anyone be too shocked that powerful forces try to beat up on their competition?  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Renewable Energy Concepts May Be Physically Possible for Economically UnfeasibleHere’s a conversation the essence of which I have frequently.  An inventor, in this case, one Lyle Bates, has a patent on an idea related to renewable energy and wants to raise the investment capital necessary to build it.  There’s nothing theoretically impossible about the idea, and that, in the inventor’s mind, means “full speed ahead.”  Essentially, it’s the use of waste heat from internal combustion engines to reform methane into hydrogen gas.  (more…)

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