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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Is Environmentalism a Fad?

As I wrote the other day, the concept of environmentalism in Western culture (or at least any real popularizing of the idea) is almost brand new. It dates to the mid-20th Century, and can be said to have begun with the publication of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1963. Until that time, there was essentially no recognition among those of European heritage of the fact that humankind is capable of inflicting permanent damage to its home planet, and therefore carries a vast set of responsibilities to restrain itself accordingly. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

FirstElement Fuel Helping Upgrade Hydrogen Refueling InfrastructureAs more and more car makers seem willing to embrace hydrogen as the fuel of the future and start to increase investment in fuel cell technology, the issue of scarce refueling infrastructure becomes ever more pressing. Although automakers like Toyota – which has been at the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technology for a while now and will continue to try to push fuel-cell cars to market – certainly have to contribute to building a supporting infrastructure, it’s clear that they can’t solve the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma by themselves, and will need help from government agencies, as well as from energy companies. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

photo pg-31-tiananmen-6-ap_zps06395887.jpgI wrote a post recently in which I mentioned the Black Swan effect, i.e., the tendency of human beings to underestimate the importance and frequency of unforeseeable events in the future. This concept, popularized by Nassim Taleb in his 2007 masterpiece, has implications in many different arenas of human activity, principally economics/investments, where we tend to make long-term bets with little appreciation of the huge potential impact of the unanticipated and unknowable.

Part and parcel of all this is the effect that one person can have on human civilization as a whole. Needless to say, there have been many such examples throughout history. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

photo Sydney-Harris1_zps7e56d2a1.jpg

Pessimistic articles on climate change like this one from yesterday’s New York Times always get me thinking: what can we be doing to cut back on fossil fuel emissions? Obviously this is a tough problem in a number of ways, principally politically, but those challenges vary markedly from country to country. To take the most obvious examples, consider the U.S. and China, the two largest polluters. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

photo 1280px-Norway-_Fjord_on_a_rainy_day_zpsbe413237.jpgLiving here in the U.S., it’s easy to think that the rest of the world shares our state of delusion with respect to climate disruption, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and the many other environmental catastrophes that are unfolding all around us.  Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s a story that illustrates the bringing together of two great needs vis-a-vis renewable energy: an enormous amount of wind power (a variable resource) and energy storage.  Check out what Norway is doing to facilitate the integration of tons more clean energy into the European grid-mix.

The whole thing is so propitious that there’s even a symbol of good fortune over one of the Fjords (pictured above).

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

photo 320px-Justice_Antonin_Scalia_Speaks_with_Staff_at_the_US_Mission_in_Geneva_2_zps3f607651.jpgThe other day, I wrote a comment on an article that dealt with the sustainability of dog ownership, in response to which someone pointed out:

I guess it depends on how you define “sustainability.”

True, it may be hard, or even impossible, to work out a precise definition of “sustainable” that applies in all cases.  In fact, a number of people have suggested that we stop using the term altogether simply because it means so many different things in various contexts.

I totally disagree with this latter idea.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

photo 1280px-Swimming_dog_bgiu_zps5b92c812.jpgHere’s an article on waste oil recycling that a friend sent me earlier.  Every time I see something like this I wonder about the overall sustainability of the enterprise.  Obviously, waste grease doesn’t collect, purify, and distribute itself.  Is all this activity really worthwhile?  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

photo Marlon_Brando_in_Streetcar_named_Desire_trailer_zpscf9cb5ea.jpgOn the surface, this post is almost 100% off-subject, though I know readers who enjoy a good story will appreciate the Writer’s Almanac’s blurb on today’s 67th anniversary of the opening of “ A Streetcar Named Desire” on Broadway.  For some reason, I cannot link to this precise page, so I’ve copied it below.

Personally, I find a relevance to this beyond simply “a good story,” as I believe we all need to revere those who change our paradigms, i.e., those who make this statement true:  “The future always looks like the past—until it looks like something completely different.”  I’ve always respected Brando as the man who delivered the present-day paradigm for acting, shattering that which had come before him to smithereens, much as Copernicus, Newton and Einstein had done in science.

I’m betting that you’ll find it hard to read this tale and not be overwhelmed by the sheer power of the moment.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

photo 320px-Naomi_Klein_1_zps780fb776.jpgReader “Alan” writes:

I suggest you read Brian Czech’s “Supply Shock” on the thermodynamics of why we can’t grow or profit our way out of our onrushing date with extinction. Naomi Klein’s “This Changes Everything” is another essential book to read. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

photo Nissan_BladeGlider_front-right_door_open_2013_Tokyo_Motor_Show_zps7152ad45.jpgEverybody feels like they are unique; like they have at least some experiences no one else could ever understand. They have idiosyncrasies that set them apart from the billions of other people that have ever lived. The same thinking seems to apply on a larger scale. Every generation thinks they have ideas the world has not seen.

They think they’re living on some unprecedented cutting edge and that somehow, the world’s history can be charted into a steadily progressing incline culminating at this particular point in time. Finally, we’re here. We’re in the future. (more…)

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