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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Native Slovakian Robin Babicek writes on the 2GreenEnergy Facebook page on my post concerning the geothermal breakthrough coming out of homeland:  

As long as we’re on the subject of Slovakia, have you heard about project GreenWay?  I go away for 6 months and my little country turns into a cleantech leader. Ain’t that some (^*@$).

The Greenway site is in Slovakian, but if the Google Chrome translator is to be trusted, the project is essentially the same as Better Place, i.e., battery-swapping for electric vehicles.  As far as I can tell, this concept isn’t catching on well, even in Israel, arguably the region of the globe whose physical, economic, and political conditions militate most forcefully in its favor. 

In any case, I’m delighted to see Slovakia running in the direction of cleantech. 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Geothermal

Imagine it was both possible and affordable to drill down anywhere to a sufficient depth to find rock hot enough to generate high pressure steam!

This is the target of a Slovak company called Geothermal Anywhere.

Geothermal Anywhere uses a Spallation technique using a combination of high pressure water jet and plasma discharge from a plasma torch (artificial lightning) to break off small chips of rock without contact using equipment designed to operate at extreme temperatures and pressures found at depths up to 10 km. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Geothermal

Here’s a note from Gary Tulie, a frequent commenter in the UK:

Craig:  I would like to let you know about an innovative company in Slovakia developing a spallation [a process in which fragments of material (spall) are ejected from a body due to impact or stress] drilling technique to allow geothermal power generation almost anywhere. The drilling technique is non-contact and uses a plasma torch. The bore can be lined as it is drilled using melted rock, and costs are expected to be approximately linear with depth down to 8km to 10km.  (Traditional drilling costs go exponential beyond around 3km). Bores can be drilled at constant diameter from top to bottom, and drilling is faster than contact drilling.

You may wish to find out more, or to write an article about the technology. Alternatively, if you would like, I could prepare a short article for 2GreenEnergy on the subject.

Terrific!  I’m rooting for geothermal, but the past few years haven’t been too auspicious.  And of course, the costs of drilling are a major issue, as a) there is no way to know in advance what you’re going to find, and b) you’re drilling through some of the toughest rock in the Earth’s crust. 

I’ll take you up on your offer to write an article, Gary.  This is fascinating stuff; I’ll look forward to reading your piece.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

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Here’s a consumer-oriented piece from the U.S. Department of Energy: 10 Things You Didn’t Know about Electric Vehicles.  Nicely done.

There are a couple of issues with EVs, however, that make this a trickier issue than the article implies:

• Even though the fuel savings versus gasoline are significant, the consumer value proposition, i.e., the cost/benefit proposition for the typical driver, while it’s steadily improving, is still not appealing.  Sure, it’s good to save $1000 per year on fuel, but how compelling is that if the cost of the vehicle is $10,000 more, and limits one’s range?

This is more than a rhetorical question.  Let’s look at sales numbers. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

If a solar company has advised you to switch to a micro inverter and you live in Australia, you should think twice. The fact of the matter is that micro inverters simply aren’t suitable for harsh Australian conditions. Whatever advantages they may have are completely cancelled out by a long list of drawbacks. In some environments, the right micro inverter might make a major difference. That’s simply not the case in Australia. Find out why that is below. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Solar power is known for being a fluctuating source of energy. Predicting good weather and sunshine seems to be impossible, and there isn’t any solar energy available during the early morning hours and the night at all.

According to REN21 Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (November 2010), wind, solar, biomass and geothermal power only accounts for about 0.7% of the total power generation worldwide. The unpredictability of solar power is therefore not a big concern yet, but as more capacity is being added to the grid, we eventually will need energy storage for solar.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I received a few emails this morning alerting me to the U.S. Department of Energy’s release of the list of grants it made recently for cleantech R&D out of its “Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy” (ARPA-E). 

It would be interesting to know how this decision-making process works.  I’m hoping it’s both fair and wise, though, from what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on either. 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

When I asked senior energy analyst Glenn Doty to comment on a business plan that contemplates coal and gas to liquids (isobutanol) I received an amazingly complete response — both a crash course in the business of organic chemistry and a comprehensive answer to the questions at hand. 

I then dared to ask another favor: a response to the question: What are the basic reasons that the externalities of tar sands are so much higher than they are for crude?  Is it simply that more energy is used in extraction, transportation, and refinement, and that there are externalities to generating that incremental energy?

I thought I’d publish his response, so that readers could come up to speed on this as well.  Glenn writes: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a well-written article that contains a great deal of truth.  Many environmentalists take knee-jerk positions, often rooted in an incomplete and self-serving view of the relevant science, and these positions can ultimately do more harm to the environment than good.  It’s sad but true.

Can thoughtful and fair-minded people see a case for genetically modified food?  Can nuclear energy and shale gas play a role in mitigating the planet-wrecking horrors of coal?  I believe the answer to both question is Yes.  As frequent commenter Glenn Doty of Doty WindFuels likes to say, “This is a marathon.  Sprinters will not cross the finish line.”

So yes, let’s admit that a rigid, “don’t confuse me with facts” position is childish and indefensible, regardless of the issue and which side of it you believe you’re on.

But my concern is that, as a society, our decision-making processes aren’t really based on facts at all; they’re based on money.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It’s the birthday of novelist Rita Mae Brown whose novel Rubyfruit Jungle was rejected by numerous publishers because of its lesbian themes.  But, through Brown’s tireless efforts, the book became a word-of-mouth hit and, to date, has sold more than a million copies.

I bring this up because of something Brown said about her career: “If you can’t raise consciousness, at least raise hell.”  Something to think about as we tell our story of sustainability to a world that often doesn’t want to hear it.

 

 

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