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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

It’s the birthday of Gregor Mendel, whose famous experiments with pea plants in 1854 led to his theory of genetics. But, according to The Writer’s Almanac, when Mendel died in 1888, his papers were burned, and it wasn’t until the 1920s that scientists recognized the significance of Mendel’s work.

That certainly makes one wonder about the ideas we may have floating around us today, doesn’t it? As I’m fond of saying, if we still have a civilization here in a few decades, we will have conquered this energy problem; I’m quite certain that we will not be burning coal in 2050. There are, however, many open questions, among which are:

• Exactly what technologies will scale to win the day?
• Who will make a buck in the process?
• How much ecological damage will we have done by that time?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I put quite a few miles on my car today between meetings, which gave me a while to catch up on the news.  One of the top stories of the day was Syria and the world’s concern that its chemical weapons might fall into the hands of “irresponsible parties.”  I broke out into laughter when I heard this; in fact, I was glad that I was alone in the car so that I did not embarrass myself.  Is there a responsible use of chemical weapons? 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

You may have noticed our series of posts we call “Take a Cool Guess,” in which we offer one-question quizzes on cleantech trivia. I hope you’ve had fun with them; I know I have.

In a recent “Take a Cool Guess” post I mentioned Falcon Waterless, a new client for whom my team and I will be doing a bit of content creation. Those of you following this now know that the amount of clean drinking water (an increasingly rare and precious commodity) flushed down the average urinal in the United States is (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Being green can be a time-consuming task and no one should have to do it alone! Whether you’re wanting to work in a more environmentally concerned industry, make like-minded friends, rub shoulders with influential figures or simply buy fresh local produce, New York City offers nearly unlimited opportunities to live a green life. (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

44 years ago today, Robert E. Moore and Robert Noyce founded Intel. Today, Moore is probably best known for the “law” that bears his name, the concept that the effectiveness of technology expands exponentially through time.

Speaking of which, a friend of a friend put me in touch with futurist Ray Kurzweil, who happens to be a big fan of this concept. In fact, Kurzweil requested that I review this presentation on Moore’s Law in advance of an interview for my next book: Renewable Energy — Following the Money.  I found it interesting, and I hope you will too. It certainly does give us hope.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s a good article by Robert Rapier, an extremely senior journalist in the energy industry. He and I had a nice chat on cellulosic ethanol a few years ago, and I have a great deal of respect for him. Having said that, I think he’s on the wrong side of a few issues here.

Robert takes exception to the concept that, regarding climate change, “The science is settled.” He writes: (It) is just not a statement that I am comfortable with, and I am uncomfortable labeling those who question climate change with something that evokes comparisons with Holocaust denial….. Not all skeptics are idiots. But not all proponents are well-informed…”

I agree in principle. I don’t have a problem with good, honest skepticism. But that’s not the way this is playing itself out in the real world (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

It’s becoming increasingly important for new cars to be eco-friendly. Lowered emissions, better mileage, and the adaptation of existing diesel and petrol engines to include hybrid electric motors and batteries is becoming more of a focus for manufacturers as they seek compliance with low pollution regulations. In this context, some of the best new cars from leading marques are being designed to combine the best of power, handling and options for lowered emissions. Some of the best examples of this eco friendly trend, in no particular order, include: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s something I’ve shared with a number of people but, for some reason, have not yet posted. It’s called Secret Worlds: The Universe Within, and offers the opportunity to take a journey from the cosmos:

10 million light years from the Earth, through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.

I often use this website as a way to communicate the challenge associated with a “unified theory of everything.” We want one set of understandable principles that apply equally to galaxies (which are 20 – 25 orders of magnitude larger than our familiar world of ballpoint pens and automobiles), as well as to the tiniest building blocks of the universe, perhaps infinitesimally small vibrating strings of energy (that are 20 – 25 orders of magnitude smaller than these everyday objects in our lives).

Taking this journey, for me at least, underscores the audacity of supposing that this unified theory exists at all. And if it does exist, is the human intellect, even that of the Stephen Hawkings of the world, up to the task of apprehending it?

I’m reminded of a quote from British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane:  “The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”

Enjoy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

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I admire the pure guts and heart of Bob Inglis, who sacrificed his position as member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina to stand behind the consensus of the scientific community in calling for solutions to climate change. He got “tea partied” right out the door in the last election cycle, but he did what he believed was right.

This is proof that there really are Representatives who vote their consciences. In fact, we have a name for them; they’re called “ex-Representatives.” It’s a sad commentary on what we’ve become as a nation.  Our country has plenty of people of great skill and unflagging integrity, but they can get no closer to positions of leadership than I can get to flying to the moon on a surfboard.

Inglis is quite an impressive human being.  Click here for this piece I had written earlier on the work of this unique character.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

I had the pleasure to interview the president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) for my next book project (“Renewable Energy – Following the Money”) just now. Dennis McGinn (pictured here, second from left) is a retired vice admiral from the US Navy, and an incredibly articulate spokesperson for our industry. Though I found our talk quite interesting and multi-dimensional, I’ll summarize it in a few high-level bullet points:

(more…)

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