Here’s a blog post by a brilliant young man, Sheeraz Haji, along the lines of what I wrote about 60 Minutes’ galaxy-sized blunder in its coverage of cleantech.
His first point is probably his strongest: Cleantech is essential. It’s not as if we have any other choices. Our civilization is in the process of collapse due to the destruction that it’s wreaking on the environment and the rate at which it’s consuming our natural resources. (more…)
In response to my post on the need to develop an energy policy, a brainy friend of mine sent me this extremely interesting and detailed piece on the relationship between capitalism and our need to preserve our environment. I’m still working my way through it, but, in essence, it “proves” that capitalism and environmentalism are incompatible.
I believe the author is wrong. (more…)
Over the last few months, I took on several clients for whom I delivered marketing of some type: social media, public relations, demand generation, content creation, the establishment of strategic business partnerships, etc. Now, some of these projects are coming to a close, enabling me to take on more work.
If you’re interested in having me help you tell your cleantech story to the world, let’s talk. At the risk of sounding immodest, I’ve had some really nice successes over the years, and I’d enjoy a conversation with you around how I may be able to assist you in forwarding your business.
A young man from Peru writes:
Hi, I am 21 years old and I study environmental engineering. I have been thinking what to do after I finish, and I came to the conclusion that I want to specialize in renewable energy. As this is an important decision, I would like your opinion about it, and any advice you can give me (including good reads, websites, etc.). I already downloaded the free e-book on renewables; thanks for it.
You’re quite welcome; thanks for writing. (more…)
In a discussion I had yesterday with an old friend and long-time 2GreenEnergy subscriber, I was reminded of how outrageous it is that the United States has no energy policy. Is it really any wonder we’re making such dreadfully slow progress in the direction of a sustainable approach to energy, considering that we don’t know where we’re going?
What’s the matter with asking our leaders to chart out the next few decades, and putting a stick in the ground re: our phasing out of fossil fuels? Where do we want to be in three years? 30? Isn’t that what leaders do, i.e., lead? (more…)
Energy giant Alstom has nailed down a 120 million Euro contract to build a pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant in Israel. Currently, there is 129 gigawatts of this technology installed around the globe, and, as we sit here today, it has very few competitors; over 97% of the world energy storage capacity is PHES.
What will happen over the coming decade? It depends on whom you ask. (more…)
According to the Writer’s Almanac, it’s the anniversary of the date on which Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River from Gaul back into the Roman Republic, starting a civil war; this whole event and the context in which it occurred is (as always) described nicely in their article on the subject.
The importance of this event in history is so great that we carry the metaphor “crossing the Rubicon,” meaning passing a point of no-return, in our language more than 2000 years later.
I often wonder if there will be such an event in the migration away from fossil fuels (more…)
On my piece about clean energy solutions for bringing relief to the Philippines, a friend of a friend writes:
On a somewhat related note, but completely out of our hands, a provocative thought: the one single person who could do wonders to reduce the Philippines’ need for energy is the Pope. You probably noticed that over there, any politician worth his or her salt has to have a photo taken with the Pope and posted all over the country or in the press to assert credibility, the pervasiveness and influence of the Catholic Church being so huge. (more…)
Commenting on guest blogger Alex Nicolson’s post “Alternative Energy Technologies Are Held Back by Outdated Accounting Practices,” Cameron Atwood writes:
Thank you so much for this article, Alex – this phenomenon has been a thorn in my side for decades. I’m reminded of the economist who claimed that the very worst impacts of climate disruption would only minimally affect the economy because agriculture only makes up 3% of the whole. Of course, he neglected to consider it’s the 3% we eat.
Exactly. There are so many asinine ways to regard the threat of climate change that it’s hard to count them all. I’m reminded of the Cato Institute’s position: Because the worst effects of climate change won’t affect humankind for 50 – 100 years, we recommend putting off the bulk of global warming mitigation strategies until that time. It’s analogous to recommending that a smoker with a small lung tumor continue to smoke because the tumor hasn’t killed him yet; the logic really is no stronger than that.
With all the talk about global sustainability and the importance we place upon it, let’s take an occasional look at the larger perspective of Earth’s place in the universe. For those interested in the cosmos, the video linked above will provide that – in spades. As far as we’re aware, all the good and evil, all the strong and the weak, the exhilaration and the despair, everybody you’ve ever known — or ever will know — exists on an unimaginably small grain of sand.
