Writing for a website I helped to create, EmpowerTheOcean, Emma Websdale notes, “This week’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, published by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), includes data showing that greenhouse gas emissions are on an upward and accelerating trend.” She then goes on to talk about climate change and the extreme weather events that are likely to ensue as a result. (more…)
Here’s a general article on electric transportation in the U.S. — strangely in “SeekingAlpha” — a blog site associated with the minute details that drive stock prices. I thought I’d present it here because of the cool maps that show the projected growth of Tesla’s fast-charging stations over the next few years. One notices that they’re not too anxious to build out places like Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Hmmmm.
Here are five mini-reports on companies that have recently received funding for the development of advanced energy storage technologies. That’s good news.
I’m reminded of the presentation that ARPA-E deputy director Dr. Cheryl Martin gave at CleanTechLA earlier this week, in which she said, “Storage makes everything better.” We all chuckled at this cute little maxim, but she’s right. Storage means less expense associated with providing power at peak moments, more integration of variable resources in the grid-mix, better reliability in the event of storms, the establishment of micro-grids and distributed generation, and the migration to electric transportation.
Wondering about the validity of synthetic fuels? I’m talking about liquid hydrocarbon fuels created from hydrogen (from electrolyzed water) plus carbon (from point sources of CO2 ) plus excess energy from off-peak wind (or off-peak anything else). I know you’ll want to check out this latest paper from our friends at WindFuels, as well as the Windfuels calculator.
I’ve presented this concept to the people I thought would have the most interest — but to no avail. By fondest hopes: (more…)
UK journalist Emma Websdale notes on my piece on Canada’s use of renewables: “Thanks for sharing this Craig, I had no idea that Canada was so ‘emissions friendly!’”
Thanks for writing, Emma. It’s ironic. Canada has renewable resources coming out its ears, especially hydro, and the wealth to take advantage of them – so all that’s going along well. But the mayor of Toronto’s crack cocaine embarrassment is dwarfed by the antics of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in terms of environmental irresponsibility. (more…)
I’m flattered that a favorite high school English teacher of mine likes my books; in fact, Mr. Perrott (as I call him to this day) is currently working on “Is Renewable Really Doable?” (more…)
Here’s 2GreenEnergy Associate and transportation visionary Dan Sturges giving a talk on the future of mobility. He’s most certainly right about a lot of things:
• Our current transportation paradigm (the car) has been with us for over 100 years, and it’s far too wasteful and expensive, both financially and environmentally, for the 21st Century. The average car has 1.1 occupants, and is in use 3% of the day. Roughly than 1% of the gasoline our cars consume goes into moving the occupants; 75% is wasted as heat, and 24% is used in moving the car. (more…)
Energy efficiency in light bulbs has a range of 5 – 90 percent depending what technology is used. The average building uses 15% of its energy on lights, leading many private companies to make the conversion to efficient technology on their own, and some nations to implement regulations forcing this change. Most of the focus has been on consumer lighting but a major opportunity exists in municipal streetlights. (more…)
I’ve been having good luck recently in meeting strangers at social events with super-relevant backgrounds and interests. Sunday night’s wine-tasting event with friends was another terrific example. I sat next to Bill Klipstein, Ph.D. in physics, who heads a team of about 20 people at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory out here in Pasadena, CA that will soon send two missiles into space to help us learn more about global warming. (more…)
When a speaker at yesterday’s CleanTechLA event presented what Deutsche Bank calls its “three pillars of a successful market,” I could see some of the main challenges associated with the migration to renewable energy. Abbreviated “TLC” (something that everyone and everything needs to receive), they are Transparency, Longevity, and Certainty.
With the clean energy industry, we have a combination of events that serve to destroy, or at least, greatly reduce these three items. (more…)
