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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - 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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

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…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

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.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

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. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

The New Year brings a whole host of home renovation projects to the surface, as what better way to start 2014 than with an improved home? A main one that people tend to put off for as long as possible is the replacement of windows, due to it usually being a large and sometimes costly task, but with energy prices rising and global warming becoming ever more apparent, surely it is your duty to make your home a more energy efficient domicile.

Therefore you may be left wondering if you should embark upon this venture, and we’re here to help. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Smart Grid

Like Jesse Berst, my colleague at SmartGridNews, I too am suspicious of claims that consumers of electrical power are motivated solely by lower costs.  However, I find it hard to believe that some of these other benefits of smart grid, e.g., resetting your thermostat with your cell phone, are of great value either.  You’re coming home from work and you want your house warm when you get there, so you use your Internet connection to crank the heat.  I understand that, but I sure can’t get too excited about it.  Maybe that’s just me. 

What is of obvious value is using IT and communication technology to lower the overall environmental footprint of providing us the power we need.  And this comes in dozens of different forms, like demand response and other forms of peak-shaving, as well as charging our electric vehicles at times when renewable energy is available for the purpose.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I’m one of these people who likes to think he has his finger on the pulse of the major trends in his chosen discipline – in my case, clean energy and transportation. If, five years ago, you had wanted to bet me that there would be mass interest in autonomous vehicles, like the Induct Navia, discussed in this article, or BMW’s driverless car (pictured here) I would have bet you $100 against a dime you’d be wrong.  But, for some reason that I can’t fully understand, this subject is all the rage here as we enter 2014.  (more…)