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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I’m in the process of becoming a partner in an aeroponics company called Tower Harvest; I’ll have a video up on this shortly. I’m thrilled for the association with these people, in particular with CEO Rafael Quezada; he’s incredibly knowledgeable in this arena, and deeply committed to locally grown, organic, high-yield, yet low-cost farming.

When I think about how to address the business challenges the company faces, I’m reminded of a great number of experiences I’ve had over the last 30 years as a marketing consultant in which my clients had products or services in emerging categories. The quandary is this: How do we avoid spending our resources promoting the category, but rather allocating them to promoting our specific solution within that category?   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

One of the things I like most about my friends at Eos Energy Storage is the cleverness and sense of humor of their writing. In their website’s piece about the need for storage on our grid, they quip, “Sushi has better storage.” I.e., even though the electricity market is the single largest supply chain on the planet, it is the only supply chain in the world that has almost no storage at all.

They write:

Every commodity in the world—oil, gas, coal, grain, manufactured goods, textiles, everything—has storage to enhance the efficiency of the supply chain. Even sushi, which like electricity basically needs to be consumed as soon as it is produced, has storage in its supply chain. Imagine how difficult it would be to get good Japanese food if there had to be a handy fisherman standing by to jump in a boat and catch a tuna every time we ordered maguro sushi.

Yet that is how we run our electricity grid. As a result, the grid is massively overbuilt to accommodate the few hours each year that we reach peak demand. In the US, 25% of all distribution assets and 10% of all transmission and generation capacity is used less than 400 hours each year.

That’s sure something to think about as we continue our discussions on smart-grid. Sure we can use advanced IT to create better efficiencies in the way we generate, transmit, and distribute electricity. And yes, the two-way flow of information to and from the consumer is an even greater potential benefit from smart-grid. But as long as we need to consume the electricity we’re generating that very moment, we’re doomed to this hopeless overbuilt and super-expensive infrastructure.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I know I’ve mentioned 2GreenEnergy “Associate” Vijay Rochlani, who specializes in bringing clean energy to India, via his vast network of business connections. Recently, Vijay sent me this wonderful collection of short videos on smart-grid that point out some of the advantages of using IT to create efficiencies in the way electrical power is generated, transmitted, distributed and consumed.

The value of those efficiencies alone is nothing to sneeze at. Here in the U.S., smart-grid will mean a savings of over 25%, the equivalent carbon reduction of planting a forest the size of the State of Texas, or taking 130 million cars off the road. But of perhaps even greater importance is smart-grid’s promise as an enabler, allowing a greater penetration of renewables in the grid-mix.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

In our continuing series of videos, whose purpose is to introduce newcomers to the subject of renewable energy, I offer this short piece on hydrokinetics, featuring a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the idea of extracting energy from moving water.

Though this sounds simple – and mankind has been harnessing that simplicity for thousands of years, it gets tricky now that there are seven billion energy-starved people on this small planet, and we’re desperately looking for sustainable ways of providing that energy.

Indeed, it’s not as easy as it seems. Anytime we insert a device into moving water, we face immediately a variety of issues, both ecological and logistical. I.e., we’re both changing the natural habitat in some ways that are hard to understand completely, and we’re also setting ourselves up to face huge costs associated with maintenance, as devices rust, and encounter things like biofouling, shifting current patterns, dynamic sea- and riverbeds, etc.

Hope you enjoy.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9xxcHdO2NE]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I plan to attend the last day (Wednesday, March 28th) of the 10th Cleantech Forum, to be held in San Francisco. The show does a great job in pulling together cleantech innovators, investors, corporate leaders and policy-makers from around the world. It’s always great to meet new people at the top of the field, and learn about the technologies that are shaping our future.

As the name suggests, there’s more to this than clean energy per se: energy efficiency, water, biofuels, electric vehicles, smart grid, etc.

If you happen to be in the Bay Area that day, please let me know, and let’s meet for a cup of coffee.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

“Is Renewable Really Doable?” is listed on Amazon.com under the category “Environmental Economics.” I didn’t chose that; they did – and they really nailed it; that’s exactly what the book’s about.

Btw, it just hit #1 in its category.  Looks like people have realized what I believed all along: It makes a great Ides of March gift.

Seriously, thanks to all who bought it. I hope you’ll consider writing a review on the Amazon page.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Is Renewable Really Doable, by Craig ShieldsI’m happy to report that my new book, “Is Renewable Really Doable?” just hit #3 on Amazon.com in the “Environmental Economics” category, and it’s climbing steadily. I figure this is good news for anyone who’s a fan of living things, as the more people understand the issues here, the better chance the world will have to correct its course in terms of energy policy before it’s too late.

When I first checked this morning, it was #19, thus I want to thank everyone who jumped on board and bought a copy today, its official launch day.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Well, the big day has finally arrived. Today is the official launch of my second book: Is Renewable Really Doable?  I’m stoked.

If you’ve ever wondered why the world is moving so slowly in the direction of renewables, even though the need is so obvious and so pressing, here’s your answer.

As I mentioned, anyone who buys one or more copies today receives the 32-page report “Insights into LCOE – The Levelized Cost of Energy”  (on sale for $59.95) absolutely free.

Is Renewable Really Doable? is a compilation of interviews with an incredibly wide range of people, to present the most fair-minded viewpoint possible on the energy scene: folks representing the disciplines of physics, engineering, anthropology, mathematics, economics, law, and venture capital.

Today’s the day.  As always, I appreciate your support.  

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Over the years, I’ve learned that the most productive way to deal with climate change deniers is to point out that global warming is only one of half-a-dozen reasons to knock off our dependence on coal and oil. “Just pick your favorite,” I smile.

How about the obvious and growing damage to human health? It would seem to me that this would be a fact that even the most fanatical of the anti-government types couldn’t argue. Don’t we need some empowered body to protect our health from those who are indifferent?

One of the very clearest – and saddest – indications that we’re on the wrong road with respect to environmental regulation is our skyrocketing rate of respiratory disease, e.g., asthma, in children. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

I refer frequently to the writings of Professor Michael Klare, documentarian at Amherst, as I find him so lucid and so on-target in his analysis of the macro issues on energy that we face here in the 21st Century. Here, in his piece Why High Gas Prices Are Here To Stay, he notes the difference between what the oil propagandists say (“the world is awash in oil”), and the truth:  the world still contains plenty of oil, but very little “easy” oil. It’s getting harder to get to, it’s becoming harder to extract and refine, and the risks to the environment are growing with each passing year.  And who’s absorbing these costs?  Look in the mirror.  

 

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