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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Well I took the plunge and ordered a nickel iron battery pack. There was a lot of hemming and hawing but after a huge amount of research and calculating, I could find no better alternative currently available and no new technology shortly forthcoming that was worth waiting for.

The 500Ah 12V pack will cost me $5200.00 shipped to my door with everything I need to set it up. This pack will last 25 years before the fluid needs replacing and then another 25 years after that. I know people with packs of original Edison batteries passed down from generation to generation that are in the range of 75 years old and still functioning at full capacity. (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Ever since I interviewed Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) ace Johanna Wald for my first book (Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies), I’ve had only fond respect for what these fine folks do: use the legal process to protect the natural environment. And of course, this often takes the form of building a level playing field on which renewable energy can compete fairly with fossil fuels.

Here’s an article by Peter Lehner, Executive Director of NRDC, which suggests that the new Energy Secretary, Ernie Moniz will be terrifically effective at promoting energy efficiency and renewables in President Obama’s second term. He mentions that, despite the politically-motivated rancor around the failure of Solyndra, the Department of Energy has a 98% track record of success in backing efforts in clean energy, and should be supported and expanded.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s an article suggesting that electric transportation saves lives insofar as its environmental benefits reduce global warming, and heat causes more deaths each year.  Sadly, this is an oversimplification.  As long as coal is our lowest-cost base-load energy source, EVs will remain of dubious benefit vis-à-vis climate change (and the dozens of other environmental/health issues).  We really have to turn off coal.

Yet I remain a fan of EVs, even in the near-term, since they will enable us to integrate more renewable energy — wind in particular — which, ironically is what will eventually enable us to decommission the last coal plant.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

photo Atlantic_hurricane_tracks_zpsbc6ea4eb.jpgHurricane Sandy was one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes to ever strike the United States. Images of flooded subway tunnels, destroyed boardwalks, and millions without power will not soon be forgotten. The storm was also a reminder for people all over the United States, but particularly along its Atlantic and Gulf coasts, of the terrible impact a storm like Sandy can have on properties. Because of Sandy’s unique combination of damage from both wind and water, homes suffered massively, which helped make Sandy the second costliest hurricane in United States history. Here we will take about how wind and water are a double-threat to homes in any major storm’s path. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

photo Nikolaus_Kopernikus_zps55a59ec3.jpgHere’s a very scholarly publication documenting a broad consensus on AGW (anthropogenic global warming)  in scientific literature.  Maybe it’s just a personal thing, but I’ve always hated articles like these.  An article about articles?  A “meta-article,” I guess it could be called?  Eww.

In addition to not liking overly academic treatments of any subject, I point out that, even though there is very clearly a consensus in the subject, I’m not sure what that means.  When Copernicus published his work on heliocentrism in 1514 there was consensus that the Earth was the center of the universe; the fact that Copernicus was the sole dissenter didn’t mean that he was wrong.

Having said that, the evidence surrounding AGW is overwhelming, and we’re certainly not doing ourselves any favors by pretending the matter is in doubt.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an article that suggests that a carbon tax could raise trillions of dollars in revenues, but would harm the economy.  According to the report from the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) “Without accounting for how the revenues from a carbon tax would be used, such a tax would have a negative effect on the economy.”

Obviously.  What’s the matter with a revenue neutral tax that provides incentive for everyone to reduce carbon, while fostering innovation on energy efficiency and renewables?  This really isn’t rocket science.  It just takes a will to do the right thing, which is glaringly absent.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Now more than ever, individuals and businesses alike recognize the importance of reducing the amount of energy we consume on a daily basis in order to better maintain our global environment. Engineers and researchers have discovered that one of the most effective ways to do so is by changing the way we construct our indoor environments. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, our everyday use of buildings accounts for 39% of total U.S. energy consumption and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Britain is still a country of scientific and technical innovation, despite the losses of some research and manufacturing capacity to other countries.  Several influential commentators, such as futurologist Jeremy Rifkin, and the previous government’s Chief Scientist, Sir David King, have been projecting the UK as the place for a “New Industrial Revolution.”  Combining British research capabilities, with the natural advantages of having high levels of wave and wind energy available and considerable engineering skills could make the UK the leader in all sorts of innovative environmental technologies. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Smart Grid

Here’s an article from SmartGridNews that makes some interesting and important points.  Yes, people tend to think of smart grid generally as futuristic – even though some people (like me) recognize that it’s currently available technology and believe that it is absolutely essential to the integration of renewable energy.  And yes, the speaker at the conference in Dublin made an excellent point: buildings can act as huge reservoirs for energy storage and offer enormous smart grid capability. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

I just spent an hour doing something I normally skip: I participated in a comprehensive webinar from Schneider Electric on the annual hurricane prediction.  The bottom line is that their chief scientist is expecting an average year for 2013.

But even that raises a question: what is average?  Over the last 100 years, there have been an average of 11 named storms per season, and each of 2010, 2011, and 2012 brought us 19 – almost twice the average amount.  (more…)

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