Blog – Page 1542 – 2GreenEnergy.com

OTEC, Powering Civilization from Our Sun, and Questions About Human Consciousness

craigshieldsPosted on August 3, 2014 Posted in Ocean Thermal

For me, part of the joy of business travel that involves long car rides is the opportunity to listen to amazing radio broadcasts that I otherwise would have missed. Last week found me renting a car in Lancaster, PA (home of my client OTECorporation), and driving it south to Leesburg, VA, where I stayed with one of my best friends from college and his charming wife the evening before a meeting in nearby Washington DC. En route, I was lucky enough to catch a program that examined the question: Who are we, fundamentally? Incorporeal souls? Ongoing chains of chemical reactions that somehow enable us to form a coherent story about ourselves? (more…)

Tagged with: economically feasible way to power civilization from local star, OTECorporation, underlying theory that explains the origin of and basic composition of the universe, understanding human consciousness

Disruptive Technologies Have Doomed Fossil Fuels

craigshieldsPosted on August 3, 2014 Posted in Fossil Fuels

Here’s an author with the right idea: the industrial age, powered as it was by fossil fuels, is at an end. Within a few years (by 2030 according to the book, though I believe it’s happening more quickly), disruptive technologies will have rendered essentially everything we know of traditional energy and transportation completely obsolete. People will no more want one of these things in their driveway than they’ll want a hole in the head.

Tagged with: disruptive technologies, fossil fuels, industrial age, traditional energy and transportation

A Civilization in Search of Sustainability

craigshieldsPosted on August 2, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

Here’s a response to my post on my new book in which I propose to examine the trajectory for civilization’s success in the face of the vast ecological destruction we’re wreaking on the planet. Walter writes: Supply and demand of resources are known to always reach an equilibrium in the last resort. Consumption must reduce to meet anticipated supply. …” (more…)

Tagged with: ecological destruction, George Carlin, trajectory for civilization’s success

OTEC, Sustainability, and Brain Chemistry

craigshieldsPosted on August 2, 2014 Posted in Ocean Thermal

Have you ever wondered about the age-old nature-nurture discussion? What are the forces that determine the way we think and act?

My colleague Jim Greenberg, chief sustainability officer at OTECorporation told me during a recent meeting at his office about this study on the difference in brain chemistry between self-described liberals and conservatives. We all feel very strongly that we choose our politics (and our other major modes of thinking). But is it possible that we’re simply wrong? (more…)

Tagged with: chief sustainability officer, difference in brain chemistry between liberals and conservatives, nature-nurture, OTECorporation, sustainable approach to energy

From Guest Blogger Hannah Brooklyn: Eco-Friendly Places in the World

craigshieldsPosted on August 1, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

While regardless we feel the need to appreciate a get-away and set our footprints around the world, it is critical to do so without deepening our carbon footprints. Planning a “green” get-away is restricted to have a ton of fun, not at the cost of our ecosystems. Tuned in to this thinking, numerous excursion spots offering Eco-friendly choices for voyagers. Whether applying vitality saving conveniences to inns or excursion rentals, or offering neighborhood sustenance’s in restaurants, these destinations welcome all earth cognizant visitors to remain. Those uninformed of Eco-set out are certain to find their get-away instructive and agreeable. (more…)

Tagged with: eco-friendly, Eco-Friendly Places, Esta, Places

From Guest Blogger Lizzie Weekly: Going Green — Five Home Maintenance Tips to Make Your House Cleaner and More Sustainable

craigshieldsPosted on August 1, 2014 Posted in Sustainable Building

It’s not practical for every homeowner to renovate their entire home in the interest of going green. Luckily, there are simple changes you can make to gradually increase your home’s efficiency. These home maintenance tasks are easy ways to reduce your energy expenditure without performing a costly, total-home overhaul.

1. Trim Your Trees

Believe it or not, your landscaping can drastically affect the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems. Just trimming the lowest branches of your shade trees opens up space for air to circulate through your property, so you can take advantage of cool summer breezes. (more…)

Tagged with: clean energy, eco-home

Given the Immanent Extinction of the African Elephant, What Should We Be Thinking About the Future of Humankind?

craigshieldsPosted on August 1, 2014 Posted in Sustainability

African elephants will likely become extinct by 2020 if the current widespread poaching continues. Long-time ranger and conservationist Rory Young says that given the current rate of slaughter, he’s “absolutely convinced” that African elephants could indeed be annihilated in the next six years. (more…)

Tagged with: African elephants extinct, Craig Shields’ next book, disaster not a foregone conclusion

Renewable Energy Job Creation

craigshieldsPosted on July 31, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Business

I had a very interesting meeting yesterday in Washington D.C. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill with Randy Flood, a fellow who’s been an important part of the law-making process at the federal level since the early 1970s. The content of the talk centered largely around a subject of terrific importance: renewable energy job creation. In particular, Randy has put his finger on the concept, and I believe he’s correct, that selling renewable energy as a valid industry is equivalent to saying that there are a ton of well-paying jobs associated with it.

And how difficult a concept is that to accept? Or, put another way, which of these two propositions do you find more credible? (more…)

Tagged with: Center for Energy Workforce Development, consumption of fossil fuels causing climate change, loss of biodiversity, new career opportunities come from deploying clean energy, ocean acidification, PV and concentrated solar power, renewable energy job creation, selling renewable energy as a valid industry

Social Attitudes Towards Energy Policy Can Change Quickly

craigshieldsPosted on July 31, 2014 Posted in Renewables - Politics

The migration of the farmers out of the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 1930s was a story of gut-wrenching passion and sorrow, but the mainstream press in the U.S. was completely uninterested in covering it—until a very specific instant in time: the publication of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Within just a few weeks of that moment in time, the number of column-inches devoted to the issue had exploded. A single event—in this case a book—had broken the dam.

This seems to be a pervasive characteristic of humankind. (more…)

Tagged with: Chevron's "We Agree" campaign, damage caused by our energy policy, fossil fuels, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, oil companies