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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A friend asked me to evaluate the technology represented here.  “Is there something here?” she inquired?

“I wish there were. But alas, it’s a fraud,” I responded.

“You are soooo in the know!” she gushed.

“Ha! You’re too kind.  Btw, I like to keep an open mind about this stuff; not all weird ideas are fraudulent. In fact, ALL great ideas were consider weird — at best — when they were introduced.  

“But certain things are non-starters from the point of view of science principles that are extremely well established, like the laws of thermodynamics.  The idea of running a car on water, for example, is the same as fueling a fire with ashes. Ashes are the low-energy product of a fire that’s already happened, i.e., an event in which the chemical energy of the fuel was turned into heat energy. Similarly, water is the lower energy result of the oxidation of hydrogen; it’s what’s left after the energy of the fuel has been removed.

“Btw, if you want to see an even more obvious attempt at criminal fraud, it’s here. Why this guy isn’t making license plates, I cannot tell you.

“Please feel free to send me other stuff as well; I’m always looking for winners, while being amused at people’s attempts to pawn off bad ideas.”

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Tomorrow I plan to take my daughter and one of her friends to a green home improvement show in San Luis Obispo, a charming little rural community a bit north of here.

In addition to product demos, there are lectures throughout the day. I’m reminded of various talks I’ve done at venues like this, where I would look out at the audience and notice someone trimming his nostril hairs with a weed-eater.

I’ll post some highlights after the show.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Bruce writes:

Wake up, if you want to stop pollution, stop polluting yourself and quit blaming the people that enable you to do the dirty work yourself. Take some personal responsibility. Environmental issues are never going to be solved as long as we concentrate on what others should do instead of what we ourselves can do. You have a choice. Stop talking and start doing or quit whining.

Ahem.

It’s certainly true that we form the world in which we live with our purchasing behavior. And I have to admit that, while I’m fairly decent in this department, I could be better.

But, Bruce, I did feel compelled to make a point here on behalf of the entire 2GreenEnergy team. We actually ARE doing; we ARE making a difference. In fact, we’ve helped hundreds of people in countries all over the world connect up and form businesses based around energy efficiency and renewables. I have emails from people in countries I didn’t know existed thanking us for our help. At the same time, we’ve communicated what we believe to be the truth in this space to many hundreds of thousands, creating a better informed, more energy-literate student population and electorate.  We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished — and we’re just getting started.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

We’re having a small gathering here tomorrow for the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. I’ve prepared a few Kentucky-oriented dishes and drinks for the proceedings, including my inimitable recipe for the Mint Julep.

My wife and I bred Thoroughbreds for a couple of decades. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Oh my God. Please tell me this isn’t true – that it’s a bad dream. I don’t live on the same planet with people who would run an ad like this one from the Heartland Institute, do I?

For those who may not know, Heartland (an appealing name for “real Americans,” isn’t it?) is an elite group of the wealthiest, most powerful and most ruthless people on Earth.  And this ad is the level of abuse they’re willing to perpetrate on “commoners” — people who lack the luxury of an education that would be necessary to recognize it for the pure garbage it is.  

I’ve seen a lot of disgraceful behavior in my 56 years crawling around this sad planet, but I honestly cannot recall anything more shameful.   

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The reader who asked me about this article on renewable energy from RealClearScience poses this follow-up:

So the article didn’t stress the importance of a “level playing field” which I understand is of major importance. So, your overall impression is that the article mentioned obvious problems in green energy without emphasizing the most important one. Correct?

Thanks for your note, and yes.  The article’s purpose was to bring new people up to speed on renewable energy in the least offensive way possible, which required talking around the central issue, which I would summarize as follows: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

A reader asked for my opinion on this article in RealClearScience, a well-written and innocuous primer on renewable energy.

The premise: “keep pushing, but push smarter” is hard to argue with. I’m reminded of people who caution “Be careful!” when someone trips or bumps his head. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I tend to make up my mind about travel at the last minute, leaving all options open until the very end. For example, the Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS-26) happens to be in Los Angeles this year, and runs from Sunday to Wednesday. I want to attend precisely one day — but which one? It’s a function of several things: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

It’s good to see the world of nuclear power showing concern about seismic activity that may endanger their reactors – especially in California, where we’ve been known to have a temblor or two. Elsewhere in the news, Japan is shutting down its last nuke this weekend. Perhaps we really are making the transition from a Type Zero to a Type One civilization, in the parlance of physicist Michio Kaku (the video linked here is quite good).

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHyef2Wio4Q]In April’s webinar we delved into the subject of aeroponics, a cutting-edge technology for growing produce in a carefully orchestrated mixture of air, water, and minerals.

The relevance to renewable energy? As energy becomes scarcer and as our climate changes as a result of our use of fossil fuels, the possibility of growing shortages of both potable water and food looms in the not-too-distant future. Aeroponics offers the capability of growing large quantities of nutritious, organic produce with a minimum of resources.

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