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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

A war of rhetoric has erupted in the USA over Washington’s plan to compel refiners to increase the proportion of ethanol in gasoline. Carmakers are warning owners against using ethanol blends higher than 10 per cent, saying warranty claims might otherwise not be honored.

Manufacturers claim the proposed new mandate of 15 per cent, known as E-15, corrodes engine and fuel system components. Toyota and Lexus are even apparently fixing warning labels on gas caps and including cautions not to use E-15 in owner’s manuals. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

2GreenEnergy supporter Tim Kingston sent me this piece on Germany’s adoption of renewable energy.  It’s good, but I wish it were a bit more informative.  We already knew that heavy penetration of variable resources gives systems operators heartburn, and that unexpected clouds that shadow a significant part of their solar arrays (a mere 30 gigawatts in the case of Germany) are bad news.

In any case, we all need to be respectful of Germany, as, with their new-found anti-nuke sentiment, they really are grabbing the clean energy bull by the horns.  It’s a very interesting commitment for a country whose cultural norms are so deeply rooted in minimizing risk.  “Sicher ist sicher” (sure is sure) an old friend used to tell me, describing the typical German mentality.

Of course, the Germans would respond here, “You want sure?  OK, we’re surely destroying our planet with the consumption of fossil fuels.  The question is what are we going to do about it.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s an article from SmartGridNews that raises an interesting and important question about the siting of renewable energy projects.   Siemens is asserting that the large European governments are in the process of wasting 45 billion Euros by not properly thinking through the consequences of its siting decisions.

No one likes to waste money, especially not tens of billions of Euros.  But this is tricky business for several reasons, like the opportunity cost of waiting while various forces argue the merits of different alternatives.  This, btw, is exactly what the Nature Conservancy wants to do here in the U.S., i.e., take as long as required to find the perfect spot for solar panels – one that has exactly zero impact on natural systems.

In case it’s not obvious, I believe that there is a real cost to this behavior, and that making a few compromises in the name of expediting the build-up of renewables is acceptable.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s hard to know what to make of this week’s unanimous Senate vote, confirming Ernie Moniz as the new U.S. Energy Secretary, replacing the outgoing Steven Chu.  If you’re a fan of a sustainable energy policy, it’s certainly not a good sign when 100% of Senate Republicans like the way a certain person thinks.  Of course, in addition to his work in support of renewable energy, Moniz does have deep ties to the oil and natural gas people. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Considering I was a marketing guy for the fat part of my career, it may be a bit strange that I don’t closely follow the writings of Seth Godin (on left in photo), certainly one of the biggest names in marketing over the past 20 years.  I did, however, come across this incredible piece, and wanted to be sure to pass it along to our readers here at 2GreenEnergy.  I think you’ll agree that it makes an important point about the relationship between marketing, sustainability, and business ethics.

Hope you enjoy.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Kenny Hearn from South Africa writes:

Highly underdeveloped countries have all the making to move directly to renewables. Mozambique has a massive hydroelectric plant already, Namibia has massive potential for solar thermal to power surrounding countries and the list goes on. And this is where my query comes in… In your book your views of hydrogen are not by any means becoming due to the large infrastructure required to replace existing in the US. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I mentioned earlier that I’m on my way to Portland, OR for the day, and I happen to be flying on Alaska Airlines.  I just leafed through the in-flight magazine, expecting to see plenty of ads for arctic cruises and fishing expeditions, photos of bears, and other enticements to come to the destinations the airline serves.  Yes, there was plenty of all that.

But there was also a long and well-written piece on renewable energy of all types. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I’m on my way to Portland, OR this morning to do a marketing needs assessment for Xzeres, an important player in small wind (anything under 200 kilowatts).  This is a beleaguered industry if there ever were one; there have been numerous abject failures, and a great deal of snake-oil sold over the years.  Having said that, I remain convinced that there is real merit here – particularly for those who can drive the cost down.  The opportunity is offsetting the cost of retail electricity, rather than selling power to the grid at wholesale rates.

I’m looking forward to a rousing discussion, and adding some real value here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Renewable Energy World does a good job at tracking the adoption of clean energy at all levels, including continental.  Here’s an article that explains why Europe is unlikely to achieve its goal of 20% penetration of renewables by 2020.

While we’re making broad, sweeping statements, let me add one more:  It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which clean energy succeeds in making a wholesale replacement of fossil fuels, as long as the latter is made artificially cheap.  If we continue to subsidize the oil companies, fighting wars all over the planet in order to maintain access to the petroleum we need, and refusing to price in the other externalities, e.g., healthcare costs and long-term environmental damage, how can anyone even hope that solar, wind and the rest are going to compete?

We either implement an energy policy that pushes us in the direction of clean energy, or we deal with the consequences of waiting – probably several decades – for the price of fully dispatchable renewable energy to come down to parity.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s a very accessible video on the melting of the arctic ice.  Thanks to my fine friend and 2GreenEnergy associate Terry Ribb for calling it to my attention.

In a related story, here’s a piece on the effect that climate change is having on ducks’ migration paths.

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