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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m proud to serve as a member of the Advisory Board for the Clean Business Investment Summit (CBIS), held annually at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the late summer. This year’s event on September 12th will be the fourth such meeting of which I’ve been a part, and I have to say, to date, each one has been bigger and better than the one before it.

CBIS brings together good ideas in clean tech with investors – an enterprise to which we’re no strangers here at 2GreenEnergy. Thus far, over $110 million in angel and venture capital has been raised as a direct result of introductions made at CBIS – not too bad, in my humble estimation.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s an article about renewable energy power density, i.e., the amount of power available in a certain area, measured perhaps in Watts per square meter.  The article makes the point that, as the world’s population continues to move to the cities, we’ll have increasing difficulty generating the energy we need locally – especially if we do it with renewable resources, where we’re limited by the amount of radiation we’re receiving from the sun, or by the amount of energy in the wind that is blowing by us.  If you’re having trouble imagining this, think of the absurdity of heating, cooling, lighting, and providing power for the equipment in the 2,158,000 square feet of office space in the Empire State Building by putting solar panels on the roof.

This, of course, is the reason that all the other technologies associated with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity need to come along at the same time, in particular, high voltage transmission to bring enormous amounts of electrical energy over large distances with a minimum of line loss.   If we still have a civilization here in 50 years, I predict that most of the energy consumed in the U.S. will come from PV, CSP, and wind scattered around the deserts and the plains, and that most of the energy for Europe will come from the Sahara.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

A reader asked me to comment on the article linked below, but frankly, I simply don’t understand it.

If this is to be believed, a power utility (Southern California Edison) denied a homeowner’s application to connect his solar PV array to the grid because the batteries used to store energy for emergency backup power when the grid went down were considered “power generators” and not energy storage devices.  Apparently, the project did not qualify for their net metering program because the utility could not distinguish between power produced by the solar panels and power produced by the batteries, which it considers a nonrenewable source of power.

Obviously, batteries don’t generate power.  We all learned that in second or third grade.  Maybe they think the homeowner has a coal-fired power plant in his garage?  Sorry, I’m lost here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

I’d never come across the Geostellar Solar Index until a reader sent it to me just now.  He writes: “Craig, Did you see this in your internet meanderings? I think it’s disturbing that in most states it’s more cost effective to buy T-Bills than to invest in solar. This, more than anything, is why we can’t get enough people into solar power in this country.”

Actually, if I’m reading this correctly, that’s not the case.  They claim: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

In hard times every business is paying particular attention to their bottom line. Tasks and processes are streamlined at every corner and all outgoing bills must be reduced to ensure that a business can still turn a profit. A key aspect of monitoring the bottom line for any commercial business is efficient use of utilities.

Residential electricity bills have soared in recent years and commercial premises are not exempt from the rise. There are several things one can do to reduce electrical usage and subsequent bills by monitoring working habits and developing smart work practises. The time to start is now… (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

The world is our oyster. We’ve shucked it, eaten it, piled the shells as high as they’ll go and are about to start an avalanche. We simply have to make some changes in our consumption of the earth’s resources and our “give me another one” attitude if we want to leave anything for future generations. Fortunately, this can be done relatively easily AND  save us money while we do it! Below are a few easy ways to help reduce our footprint on the earth, while saving a few dollars along the way.

Lights, Please! (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Why is it so important to teach our kids to go green? Well, first we have to determine what going green means. To that end, it means adopting a more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious way of living. It also means that we should be adopting more renewable products and resources, in order to sustain our energy and the various resources that come with it. So why should we go green? Read on to find out – and to find out why it’s even more important for our kids to follow in our footsteps. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s a conversation with senior energy analyst and committed environmentalist Glenn Doty that I thought readers would enjoy:

Glenn:  Hi, Craig.  Have you seen this? It could very easily be the most significant step forward for mankind since the green revolution (genetically modified crops), and the most significant step forward for the environment since forever. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Question:  The average installation of solar panels on the roof of a house offsets the equivalent amount of CO2 as planting how many acres of trees?

Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732 .

Relevance:  Here’s what the Sierra Club says about solar PV in the State of California: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

The average American throws away four pounds of garbage every day, yet they still find their homes overrun with clutter. Reduce your waste and organize your home with these clever eco-friendly storage solutions.

Turn Jewelry Boxes into Drawer Tidies (more…)

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