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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

There are so many different ways in which to regard human evolution. 11th Hour, the 2007 documentary narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, expresses one of them with brilliant elegance: More than 99.99% of the species of life that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct, and we could be next.

Humankind considers itself the master of the Earth, and prides itself on how it’s subjugated nature for its convenience. But signs are starting to emerge that we’ve pushed nature too far, and she, a far more powerful force than perhaps we had imagined, is in the process of pushing back, making us yet another of the millions of life forms that simply came and went.

Does this sound like an idea from a bunch of wimp liberal Hollywood filmmakers? Humankind, the all-powerful masters of the universe could be undone? You may want to watch it and decide for yourself.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

When I wrote this piece yesterday by Inside Climate News’ Maria Gallucci, I had no idea that just a few hours later, a friend would send me this article by the same author, in which we can see how nasty and partisan the climate change legislation has become. Through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative policy group, huge forces including ExxonMobil, energy conglomerate Koch Industries, and Peabody Energy, the country’s largest coal producer are hard at work to roll back decades of regulations that act as a burden to their polluting our oceans and skies.  

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Among my core beliefs is that our common humanity is a far more dominant aspect of who we are than our surface-level differences. Occasionally, I come across a beautiful depiction of this concept, and when I do, I like to share it. I hope you’ll enjoy this short film, the winner of an international contest in which directors were asked to submit a piece of no more than three minutes and containing no more than six lines of dialogue.

Thanks to my friend, public speaking champion Lance Miller for sending it to me, and for his profound comment: Sincerity trumps sensationalism in speaking, cinema and life. This is a great example of a sincere story that allows the audience to fill in all the blanks and understand the bond of love and kindness that holds human beings together.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCAs_CyopMQ]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s common for me to hear people say things like, “Boy, you renewable energy people sure are taking it on the chin.” Of course, it’s true that the whole clean energy initiative is under attack from the traditional energy industry; the oil and coal folks are spending a fortune through their PR firms and lobbyists to discredit all alternatives, thus necessitating sites like EnergyFactCheck.org. 

But what amuses me about the quote above is the phrase “you renewable energy people.” I don’t feel that I’m part of a small group; I feel that I’m part of humanity, working hard to make sure that it’s still here in 50 – 100 years.

At the risk of sounding weird, whenever I hear “you renewable energy people” I automatically start mentally singing the old Beatles’ tune “I Am The Walrus” that begins…

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

One of the perks of attending the Renewable Energy Finance Forum as a delegate from the media is access to the “press room,” which affords a place to write and conduct interviews. In addition, it’s the opportunity to meet really cool people, like Maria Gallucci, clean economy writer for Inside Climate News. She’s extremely pleasant and sharp as a tack; I invite readers to check out some of her material, linked above.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I suppose I should have seen this coming, but the traditional energy industry, apparently starting to feel the heat, has recently ratcheted up the volume of its ongoing public relations efforts against the renewables industry.  I had a wonderful conversation yesterday at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum with American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) president US Navy Vice Admiral (ret.) Dennis McGinn on the subject of the new website EnergyFactCheck.org. “Had it not already been taken,” he quipped, “I would have called it ‘Myth-busters.’”  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

Part of the joy of participating at the Renewable Energy Finance Forums is the diversity of people I get to know, each somehow connected to the business aspects of clean energy. I would suspect that each of the 500 – 600 people in attendance has his/her own concept of the market dynamics at play here – how it can be that a concept so desirable for so many reasons (peak oil, environmental issues, national security, job creation, etc.) could have become such a political football, one that has been so horribly fumbled over the past year or so.  

The effects of the possible (probable?) end of the PTC (production tax credit) for wind energy dominated the entire conversation for two consecutive days.  And what’s behind that?  Simple: Democrats favor it, and Republicans want to put a spear through it.  The result?  Chaos — which is good enough for those who want to see it killed.  Investors don’t like chaos.

In any case, I took the opportunity to pull my friend, stock market analyst Tom Konrad aside for a few moments and interview him for my next book: Renewable Energy – Following the Money. More on this soon.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

2GreenEnergy supporter Dr. David Doty wrote to update me on his progress in raising the capital for his Windfuels project, and notes:

In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing – trying to increase public awareness of the need to do much more to avert a climate disaster by mid-century, which at this point actually seems unavoidable for political reasons. See this article on “Dust-Bowlification,” as reported in Nature here:

Thanks for this.  I agree with your analysis of the short-term political and economic events that have conspired to make things tough.  But looking at this one way, it’s actually good news that Windfuels is still an open opportunity for an investor with vision.  Yes, I’ll continue to help tell your story, and raise awareness of the threat of climate change. It’s hard to believe that we live in a country in which this is necessary, but that seems to be the case.

I hope readers will check out the article that you’ve provided above.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

I just met the CFO of SolarReserve, one of the top players in CSP (concentrated solar power, aka solar thermal).  This hasn’t been a good couple of years for CSP; it’s been a time in which the price of both natural gas and PV, both mature technologies, have  fallen precipitously, leaving CSP dangling, looking hard for the investment dollars necessary to perform the R&D and drive the scale necessary to compete.  CSP, however, has the virtue of supporting very inexpensive energy storage compared to PV and wind, thus providing dispatchability — both during short periods of peak demand and the hours after the sun goes down.

I hope we don’t let CSP languish into obscurity.  I remain bullish in the medium- and long-term; I believe I’ll live to see a day at which we’ve built out our grid and can transmit power over long distances; at that point, we’ll realize how strategic this technology can be.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Wednesday morning as I was getting ready to conclude my participation in the Renewable Energy Finance Forum, I had a thought I wanted to share.  It had been two-days of nitty-gritty financial talk — extremely precise language of tax lawyers and investment bankers, which left me more than ready to resume a discussion of the “broad side of the barn.”  As important as all these issues of cost of capital, production tax credits, and Senate bills addressing master limited partnerships may be, this really had been, to some degree, an exercise in missing the forest for the trees.  (more…)

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