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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Water, Energy, and Food – How Shortages Are Affecting Us AllFor his final project in his Environmental Horticulture class, I’m helping my son write a paper called “Water, Energy, and Food – How Shortages Are Affecting Us All,” and I thought readers may be interested in how we’re attacking the challenge.  Here’s a short note to him, suggesting that he answer certain critical questions:

• When we say there is a “water shortage,” what exactly do we mean?  Is there less water on this planet now than there has been in the past?

• What causes shortages of potable water in certain places?  Discuss droughts, floods, saltwater intrusion, and desertification.  What are the causes of the problems that are occurring here? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Obama Administration's Report on Climate Change Won’t Change Much, But Environmentalists Are Making Progress AnywayIn the few days since the U.S-based report on climate change was published, several people have asked me if I believe the document will mark a turning point in Americans’ attitudes and behaviors on the subject.   My response: No.  Make that:  Hell no.

At the risk of over-simplifying: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Classic Car to Electric Car--an Easy ExperimentI loved my 1972 VW Beetle. It was the car my mom bought when I was a baby, and I spent many childhood hours riding in it and, when my parents replaced it, playing in, on, and around it. When I learned to drive, it became my first car. It was the car I drove my girlfriends around in and even the one who would become my wife (though her parents imposed the ridiculous stipulation that I replace the passenger side seatbelt first). I drove friends around in it, and we acquired dozens of great stories from it, (like how one of them sat down too hard over the battery and got a shock that burned through his shorts). I had beaten up, abused, and loved that car for decades so that it had become real, like the Velveteen Rabbit. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

BMW Announces X5 Plug-in Hybrid To Go Into ProductionAlthough BMW has been working on the development of plug-in hybrid technology for a while now, it has yet to introduce a hybrid vehicle to the market. They recently launched their first all-electric car, the i3, in several markets, including Asia-Pacific and Europe, with deliveries in the U.S. expected to start in May 2014, but they haven’t offered a plug-in hybrid model so far, even though the German luxury car maker has unveiled several concepts in recent years. However, it seems that this is about to change, as BMW announced recently that the hybrid version of the X5 SUV is finally ready for production. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

Biomass Briquetting Plant - Meet A Green Business

Biomass briquetting plant is the green business for manufacturing Eco fuel briquettes from biomass feedstock. Since the 1970’s the scientific community has been interested in converting biomass to energy. In the beginning, there was not much interest as the world was getting along fine with fossil fuel. Interest lagged for quite some time, even when the government decided to finance research in 2000. In spite of the money, time and interest involved the projects were more or less abandoned. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

photo Toddler-enjoying-air-cond-002_zpsc8a42352.jpgHVAC is an abbreviation for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. An HVAC system controls the temperature within a structure or house. The system takes the temperature of the area, then, takes note of the desired temperature. When there is a disparity in the ambient temperature and the desired temperature, the system, then, sets off a series of mechanical devices within the system, like the blower.

Most likely, you already have an HVAC system. If there are any issues about yours, contact only a reputable company. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Can We Use Artificial Photosynthesis to Remove CO2 from the Atmosphere?I just had an interesting call from a fellow in Germany who introduced me to “faux trees,” i.e., artificial photosynthesis, performed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Here is one of those many cases where just because a concept doesn’t violate any laws of science doesn’t make it a good, practical idea.  If you have some PV available and you’re concerned about reducing CO2, it’s FAR better to use it to reduce your consumption of electricity that otherwise would have been generated by fossil fuels.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The Campaign to Discredit Clean Energy Can Only IntensifyI had lunch yesterday at the American Wind Energy Association conference with an interesting gentleman who, quite successfully from what I could discern, develops PV and wind projects in the U.S. and Latin America.  The actual business model varies: where sometimes his team and he might sell the entire project when it’s shovel-ready, in other cases they like to retain an interest.  A typical wind project might be 100 MW or so, where the usual PV effort is a fraction of that, perhaps a couple of MW.

He mentioned something that I thought I’d offer readers: an explanation of the fairly recent ruckus being raised about the government subsidies for solar and wind.  “Why,” he asked me in a thoughtful tone, “do you think Fox News and congressional Republicans waited until now before starting their campaign to convince voters that renewable energy is a waste of money, a drain on the economy, a job-killer, part of a socialist agenda, etc.?  The tax credits have been around for quite a while.  Virtually everyone on both sides of the aisle were absolutely fine on this until very recently.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Truth About BatteriesIt appears that 2GreenEnergy has taken on another eager and extremely bright intern, Audrey Cook, who lives close enough to me (Orange County, CA) that periodically meeting her in person won’t be too difficult.  Audrey’s background and interest lies in the subject of batteries, an area of extreme importance for a great number of reasons, largely facilitating the adoption of electric vehicles and the integration of more renewable energy into our grid-mix.

I was just writing an email for her, but I thought I’d make it a blog post: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

Yesterday, I attended the Alternative Clean Transportation Expo, in Long Beach, California. The show was dominated not by electric transportation (though EVs did enjoy a certain representation) but by natural gas.  There was also some representation of biofuels, in particular, biodiesel. Even its proponents, however, understand that it is at best a “bridge” fuel, and that, if there is any real hope for biofuels in the medium-term, it lies in algae. (more…)

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