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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Yesterday I was a guest for a 30-minute segment of “The Solar Fit Renewable Energy Show” — a weekly radio program coming out of WNZF in Daytona Beach, FL, during which I mentioned the need to rethink the way we regulate our energy markets from the ground up.  Here’s another troubling consequence of our archaic approach to energy: the demise of providers of clean energy like “Clean Currents,” who promised to deliver electricity at a certain fixed price to thousands of customers, but who were unprepared for the spike in prices associated with the polar vortex. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Green cleaning is the cleaning process by which products and/or services are employed that exclusively feature environmentally friendly ingredients, as well as promoting naturally biodegradable compounds that do not cause skin irritations or breathing problems. Industrial-strength cleaning products are usually filled with chemicals that can create health problems through accidental exposure (via inhalation or exposure to the skin). (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

I’m delighted to note that the 392MW Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System begins commercial operation today.  Solar thermal, aka concentrated solar power or CSP, has terrific potential to dominate the world of renewable energy if we can drive the costs down, and, over the coming decade, I believe we’ll experience exactly that.  Solar thermal lags PV and wind by at least 25 years in terms of R&D, and I’m thrilled to see that the world hasn’t given up on it. 

My heartiest congratulations to everyone who made Ivanpah happen, and best of luck for the future.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Bill McKibben’s and my position on the Obama administration’s approach to energy policy and climate change are identical. In a sentence: Obama can’t have it both ways; he can’t simultaneously be proud of the fact that we now extract and burn domestically (or, increasingly, export) more fossil fuels than at any time in our history, while claiming that he cares about the environment.  And now, with his decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline looming, he will provide lasting clarity on his character.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Nowadays more and more people and institutions become really concerned about the environmental issues the humanity faces up every day. A lot of organizations were established in order to make people understand the importance of preserving the natural beauty and recourses. The fashion industry has always been blamed for being careless towards the nature. A lot of campaigns against the animal abuse and the fur used for making over expensive clothes. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Although electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have been considered the only plausible alternatives to conventional cars for a long time, and practically all of the world’s biggest car makers have been investing heavily in these technologies, and governments around the world have been trying to promote the use of such vehicles by offering generous incentives and financial benefits to those who choose to buy an alternative fuel vehicle instead of a gasoline-powered car, adoption has been lagging and sales have not been as strong as the auto industry had expected. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

There are many ways to go green. In fact, as consumers, we are at the most strategic position. What we consume and demand from manufacturers – today and for the coming years could affect how our planet will hold out in the future.

If you think that buying furniture does not strike a clear and direct connection with the environment, then think again. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s an Office Depot product that shows quite clearly how misguided it’s possible to be with respect to sustainability.  We’ve all seen hundreds of ostensibly “green” products sold with fraudulent claims, but in my book this one takes the prize.  For a $2200 purchase price plus the 600 watts of electrical power it consumes, you can have your own device that condenses two gallons of drinking water per day out of the atmosphere, and then pumps the water through filters to minimize the growth of bacteria while it’s sitting in its tank.  It’s inventors bill it as environmentally friendly on the basis: “Not using ground water and no bottles to throw in landfills.”

I struggle to think of anything more misleading.  You’re using an incremental 14 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day – enough to drive a Nissan Leaf more than 50 miles, but you’re saving 2 gallons of groundwater (about one-third of a toilet-flush), and not using (99+% recycled) bottles — and you think that’s a benefit to the environment?

Apparently, Office Depot has very little regard for what they’re doing here on planet Earth; they really should be ashamed of themselves for selling garbage like this.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

I sat through a 75-minute-long session at Infocast’s “Storage Week” show yesterday, on the subject of the economics of energy storage.  Three presenters took us through how they develop their models using fantastically complicated spreadsheets.  For example, if we deploy a certain technology for energy storage, we need to establish the value in dollars as to how it will improve reliability, how it will smooth out the wave form, how it will help regulate voltage, etc.  I’ll admit: these are important issues. 

But to my horror, they don’t put a value on the social good that storage brings to the table.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

If you’re in the electrical utility business, getting the PUC’s approval to pass a cost you’ve incurred along to rate-payers is obviously a big deal; your goal is not to spend a nickel that you can’t recoup.  But, where the utilities in California can get pre-approval before they build a new asset, the utilities in Washington State cannot.   They have to build the asset (say, a new power plant, or energy storage system) before they even approach the commission for approval.  As a consequence, as a representative of Puget Sound Electric was explaining to us at Infocast’s “Storage Week” show yesterday, PSE is extremely cautious of spending money on new technology. 

Of course, this is a sure-fire way to ensure that no progress occurs in the way that electricity is generated, transmitted, and distributed.  How totally asinine.

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