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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

As suggested in this article comparing the total cost of ownership of a Nissan LEAF and a Nissan Juke, electric vehicle owners save a considerable amount over the life of their cars, due primarily to the significant savings in fuel costs. The real issue with EV adoption, however, is range, i.e., the inconvenience associated with not being able to take long trips. That means that, for now, the vast majority of EV purchases will be made by households with two or more cars, where one car is used for commuting less than 50 miles each way.

So, to how many American households does that apply? About 25 million. That’s a lot of low-hanging fruit.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

If Cody Lundin had his way, Americans wouldn’t use any paper products. While the Discovery Channel’s “Dual Survival” star helps individuals live off the land in a more Aboriginal method, some industries, specifically paper product producers, are starting to do their part in improving production methods for the greater, greener good.

Here’s how four companies have improved their processes and products in an effort to reduce water usage and provide greener purchasing options to the eco-conscious consumer: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

When I got started in this subject a few years ago, the efficiency of thin film solar (i.e., the percentage of sun’s radiant power that is converted into electricity) was measured in single digits. Here, we just achieved 16.1%, a huge increase from the former record holder at 14.7%.

I certainly don’t track every element of technological progress that the clean energy industry makes, but I occasionally take note, as it serves as a reminder of the big picture. The sun bestows more energy on the Earth in 90 minutes than all seven billion of us are consuming in a full year. All we need is a cost-effective solution that captures that tiny fraction, and the game will be over. No more environmental damage from burning fossil fuels. No more dangers of nuclear accidents and issues with waste disposal.

Today’s quantum leap in efficiency is just another reminder of how truly close we are. The quality is rising, and the costs are falling. Sounds good to me.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

Here’s a story about an apartment building in Germany that produces more energy than it consumes – at least partially from algae.  Neat story, but the issue here, as always, isn’t, “Is it possible?” but, “Is it anywhere near cost-effective?” As 2GreenEnergy Associate Dr. Peter Lilienthal is fond of saying, “Craig: If you don’t care how much you pay for it, I’ll bring you all the clean energy you could ever want.” 

This is the singular theme of my thinking on the subject, which I would condense to “energy pragmatism.”  I.e., I’m an advocate of renewable energy because – and only because – given the true costs of energy from nuclear and fossil fuels, it’s the deal of the century. 

Of course, I shouldn’t be such an impassive kill-joy.  It’s cool that this building is a living laboratory, a testimony to Germany’s fantastic level of interest in all things green.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s a terrific video promoting a fun little three-wheeler that looks extremely well-conceived in every way – except the drive train.  You’re going to ask your customers to put gasoline – deathfuel — into that cute, futuristic little thing?  Sure, it gets 84 MPG, but doesn’t it practically cry out for electric drive?  Given its mileage with gas, it will run forever on a 10 kWh charge.  Come on, guys; you gotta rethink this.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Smart Grid

Here’s a show built around an interesting concept: Data is the major component of any smart grid, but as customers create and demand new data streams through home energy hubs, is there a danger of overload? A smart meter in the home is likely to prompt consumers to take a greater interest in energy management and start introducing new devices accordingly.

There is no doubt that the premise here is correct: the mere providing people with data changes their behavior.  I’m a good example of this personally; I normally drive with the “instantaneous fuel consumption” display on, and I really like to make that figure as high as I can get it.  I hate to see it plummet when I nail the accelerator – which is why I try to refrain from that behavior.  I get 43 MPG on average, but I’m sure I could get 50 if I’d slow down even more.  

 The show’s in San Diego; I may check it out.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

In prepping for the upcoming webinar on ARES (Advanced Rail Energy Storage), I’m recommending that the company position itself more aggressively around the integration of renewables into the grid-mix and, in particular, the imperative to displace coal immediately.

As I pointed out to Jim Kelly, the company’s CEO, even the “man on the street” is becoming aware of the environmental and health issues associated with coal-fired power plants. Of course, he’ll run into the occasional climate change denier, but CO2 is certainly not the only issue with coal, and its sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, mercury, lead, cadmium, other toxic heavy metals, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOC), arsenic, sulfides, halides, mercaptins, and radioactive isotopes. In other words, it’s poison, and more people are starting to understand this with each passing day.

Given the falling price of solar and the already low price of wind, low-cost storage is the only remaining challenge here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Jim Kelly, CEO of ARES (Advanced Rail Energy Storage) has generously consented to do a webinar with me in the near future, which I think readers will find valuable.  Insofar as solar and wind are intermittent resources, energy storage at the utility scale is a requirement if we are going to integrate large volumes of renewable energy.  Currently, there is 129 gigawatts of energy storage on the grid, almost all (over 99%) of which is pumped hydro, i.e., water that is pumped uphill in time of excess power capacity, then released downhill to generate electricity in order to address peak loads.

ARES replaces water with extremely heavy rail cars, and the company claims that its solution is faster and less expensive to build, while providing better efficiency.  Are they on the right track (pun intended)?  More on this soon.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’ve agreed that each of my posts appear on CleanTechies.com, as it simply represents an expanded audience. Here’s my recent piece on Germany’s PV subsidies, with a couple of sharp comments from Cleantechies’ readers.

To Edward Kerr, who wrote:

It’s become painfully obvious that business and government are not going to work together toward a clean energy future. As you note, we are consequently in the cue for an enormous amount of suffering. All because we lack imagination and allow the medium of exchange to rule our lives. Pathetic.

I respond:

Edward: Profound stuff, but the fact that our lives are, in fact, ruled by the medium of exchange isn’t going to change. It’s therefore incumbent on us to figure out how to make sustainability profitable. It’s a game that we must play– and win.

Of course, the real issue is politics, and the corruptive influence of money in the political scene.  If it weren’t for this unfortunate aspect of our civilization, we’d have a fair and level playing field, in which all the producers and consumers of energy paid the comprehensive costs of their energy-related behavior. This would cause the cost of things like electricity from coal-fired power plants and access to oil made possible only via our $711 billion annual military budget to go right through the roof. 

Try to imagine what would happen if fossil fuels didn’t enjoy BOTH the tens of billions of hard-dollar subsidies, AND the soft-dollars in forbearances that total at least a full order of magnitude more.  Energy efficiency solutions and renewables would be seen as the deal of the century, and investors would be elbowing each other out of the way in a frantic effort to get there first.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

In response to my piece that rails on the environmental extremists who decry solar if it carries with it the slightest ecological downside, frequent commenter Larry Lemmert writes:

I am really proud of you Craig. I have long thought that you were in the pocket of the far left lunatic fringe. Your post here demonstrates that you are not. Hopefully there are many others like you in the environmental movement who are educated in the reality of finite resources being chased by insatiable demand.

Larry, I had to smile when I saw this.  Glad I could make you proud!

Yes, I consider myself an energy pragmatist.  A bad idea is a bad idea regardless of what side of the political fence it hails from.

We have a huge problem to solve, and it won’t go away with a blend of impractical, idealistic thinking and a bit of grandstanding.  It will, however, yield to a few really good solutions and the willingness to make tough choices.

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