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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Some readers might be shocked by the fact that there are different types of solar installations. I know, because I could hardly believe it myself when I first found out but it turned out to be true. Not only that, but the differences aren’t exactly subtle. Depending on your needs, there are different types you are advised to use and even though you won’t be able to generate 1.21 gigawatts, it will be enough to warm up some water (which is what some types provide) and even power up your household (which is what other types provide). (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business, Sustainable Building

Every day across America, tens of millions of people are delivering some type of scrap metal to recycling businesses and making money in the process.  What happens to the metal after it’s been dropped off? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Starting a recycling program is an admirable ambition for a town of any size, but it is important, especially for small towns to decide whether or not it will be economically sustainable to begin a recycling program.

There are many options available to alter the financial and physical responsibilities on a town that is looking to create a custom recycling program in order to maintain its own program. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

For readers who enjoy high-level discussions on the topic of sustainability, I heartily recommend the video linked above.  Dr. James Boyce, the director of the Program on Development, Peace Building, and the Environment at the Political Economy Research Institute, and professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, discusses the cost-benefit analysis associated with climate change mitigation.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I attended a terrific event on raising capital for cleantech ventures the other night, and had the good fortune to become acquainted with Tiffany Paige of “GreenWithTiffany.”  What a fabulous human being.

I love her rant on Styrofoam: “nothing we use for 10 minutes should be polluting our planet for hundreds of years.”

And here’s her position on the people who claim wind farms are unsightly (which echoes my own):  “Really?   Since when do gas or nuclear power plants spruce up a neighborhood?”

Right on, Tiffany.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

At an average rate of one or two a week, I get suggestions for clean energy concepts that demonstrate a lack of understanding of the laws of physics.  The last 24 hours has represented a spike; I received both:

• A call from someone who claimed he can generate 250 mW from 10 acres of solar PV (far more than the incident solar power), and

• An idea I’ve seen before in various manifestations, the notion of extracting energy from cars as they drive along the roadway.  (Obviously, you can extract the energy, if you don’t mind slowing the cars down, causing them to burn more gasoline.)

At the core of the discussion, of course, lie the first and second laws of thermodynamics, i.e., you’re not going to get more energy out of a system that you put into it, and there will always be losses along the way.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Here’s a podcast of about 10 minutes in length; it’s an interview in which Bob Gourley of “Issues Today” interviews me.  I try to do as many of these as possible to promote my new book: Renewable Energy – Following the Money.  I had been on his show before, but I didn’t recall that he was such a naysayer on renewables generally — or that he was a global warming denier.   Oh well.

As noted in the article linked here, his contention that the price/cost of solar photovoltaics is not falling is incorrect, btw.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

You need to start making changes at your doorstep if you want to be a good global citizen as far as environment protection is concerned. Minor changes at your home are not only beneficial for the planet but for you own health and happiness as well. These changes might include anything from using alternative cleaning agents to using recycled ones. As fact of matter, decrease what you consume or recycle as much as you can to make your home more eco-friendly. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Style up your space by adding all safe and healthy items that are supposed to be eco friendly and more appreciable for maximizing the beauty of your dwelling. It is an age of modifications and innovations where thousands of new things are arriving through different emerging companies. At once this new creative world is good for its facilitative feature and worst as well because of its hazardous remains. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s an excerpt article published last week by Reuters that illustrates how galactically stupid the debate on energy has become.  Please read along and see where you think this goes completely off the rails for anyone with an IQ over that of a stalk of celery:

Wear-and-tear costs on coal and natural gas power plants from adding high levels of wind and solar energy in the U.S. West is small compared with the benefits of generating less power using fossil fuels, a federal study said Tuesday. (more…)

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