I like to jog on a dog-friendly beach in Santa Barbara to get a bit of exercise and to take in the beautiful sights, sounds, and fragrances. After my run, I slow to a walk and often stop to talk with people with unusual-looking pets, or doing interesting things.
The other day I happened upon a geologist who was examining an oil deposit of a certain sample of shale – a natural lead-in to a conversation if there ever were one. (more…)
A life-long friend sent me this piece on off-grid charging with solar PV, from the online section of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the main newspaper where I’m from. In fact, the guy featured in the article lives in Glenside, walking distance from the house in which I grew up.
It’s hard for me to get excited about this business concept. (more…)
A colleague in the run-of-river hydro business sent me this piece earlier today, on the ascension of green energy jobs in general. Worldwide, 5.7 million people worked in the clean energy industry in 2012, about 10% of whom were Americans (China and Brazil collectively represented about one-half of the world’s work-force in this space). My overall reaction is extremely positive. Two quick points: (more…)
In recent years, the world has been desperately calling for a change in the way we use nature to make our lives better, feed, work, travel and generate energy. A lot of people took up the idea of green living, eating, cleaning… generally, anything that can be green, meaning it does not do harm to nature in any way.
Now the world is starting a clean energy revolution. Since we use lots of nature’s finite resources like fossil fuels and fresh water, we need to think about developing infinite resources that will successfully replace those resources that are available in limited amounts. (more…)
Concern for the future of the planet is growing. Being a member of the world population amidst an ever teetering global economy and the seemingly infinite growth and effective weight of climate destruction can create an unparalleled pressure and fear of the future. For most of us, the problems have become clear. There is an ever growing mountain of evidence illustrating a dire picture of the future. For many, a shift has become detrimental, and the spirit of resourcefulness must span across all areas of our lifestyle if there is any intention of creating a happy, successful, sustainable future. (more…)
Like many of us I’ve usually questioned regarding technology that may facilitate the surroundings. My motivation could be a conviction that science can sooner or later facilitate undo the environmental issues caused by act. What follows could be a tiny choice of ideas that show some promise with respect to saving the earth.
There is a desire to conserve our surroundings. Government agencies, Non government agencies and public action teams are all attempting to contribute towards conservation of surroundings. (more…)
Earlier today, I was driving to a lunch meeting with a potential investor in our clean energy investment opportunities, and I had the good fortune to find a lecture by Buddhist philosopher Alan Watts on the radio. The talk brought back good memories, as I was heavily into him when I was a young man in the early 1970s.
Apparently when Watts was a little boy living in London, he happened upon a store with the sign in the window that read “Philosophic Instruments.” (more…)
Though I don’t normally cover the news on extreme sports, I do need to mention that NBC took Olympic gold last night in the Extreme Cruelty event, ascending to the top of the podium for their talk on camera with men’s skiing “Super-G” bronze medal winner, American Bode Miller. The interviewer forced Miller to talk about his reactions to the tragic death of his brother, obviously a very painful subject to him, with not just one question on the subject, but three – until Miller, eventually in tears, was rendered incapable of speaking further.
The relevance to environmental justice? The migration to a sustainable way of life here on Earth can happen only in the presence of people who honestly care about one another, and demonstrate that in their actions. When this basic compassion is missing, all is lost.
I’m planning to make yet another addition to my list of renewable energy investment opportunities: the development of a smallish wind farm in Sardinia. Apparently, power from wind turbines that are rated under 60 KW is greeted with a huge feed-in tariff (more than 26 Eurocents per KWh for 20 years). An associate of mine in Paris plans to deploy an array of 18 specially built small/mid-sized turbines (55 KW apiece) to generate a total nameplate capacity of 1 MW, using land high up on a rocky mesa, leased from a farmer with huge flocks of sheep. (more…)
Santa Barbara is lucky enough to have one of the 13 Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums. Yesterday I checked out several dozen original documents that happened to interest me, including the first page of one of the world’s most beloved pieces of piano music: the A-flat (“Heroic”) polonaise of Chopin, as well as several writings of the world’s great scientists. (more…)
