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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

The session I just caught here at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum included a good discussion on the elephant in the room, the low cost of natural gas.  It’s low, but wind competes effectively, if the owner of the gas plant is responsible for the fuel supply, i.e., has to take the risk of gas prices over the next 20 years.

The issue is that the utilities only want so much of an intermittent resource, especially one whose peak doesn’t match load.  This, of course, is what opens the door, long-term, for storage: pumped hydro, as well as the prospective challengers: compressed air, molten salt, advanced rail, zinc-air batteries, etc.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Wow.  I thought I was willing to take a stance that I know is bound to irritate certain people.  A guy here at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum just put me to shame; he told a room filled with dozens of lawyers — at a conference sponsored by their firms, some of the largest on Earth: 

The real problem with the solar market is that lawyers go out of their way to write documents that are deliberately ambiguous, just so they’ll have the opportunity to argue about it.  We don’t have business negotiations any more; we bicker over legal language that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. 

I’m sure there’s more than a little merit to what he said, but you could have heard a pin drop.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

It was great to be in San Francisco for another extremely successful meeting of the Renewable Energy Finance Forum, an occasion that gave me the opportunity to chat with Dennis McGinn (holding the book in the photo to the left).  Dennis is president of ACORE, the American Council on Renewable Energy, the organization putting on the show; he’s doing a great job in forwarding the cause of a sustainable approach to the generation and consumption of energy.

Here are a few ideas that have came to me in the course of the two-day event:

1) The mayor of Palo Alto told us that his city is doing a great job in terms of achieving its RPS (renewable portfolio standard). Not to minimize the accomplishment, but I should say that I hope so. If one of the most progressive and affluent communities in the U.S. can’t get this done, I’m not sure who can. Their rate-payers are sufficiently enlightened (and wealthy) that they’re willing and able to pay a slight premium for clean energy, and that’s really all it takes, where the cost of solar and wind have come down to very near the point of grid-parity. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

At the fabulous lunch served at today’s Renewable Energy Finance Forum, I sat next to Christopher Dorondo, a senior representative of AWS Truepower, a solar and wind consulting company with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Terrific guy. 

In the course of the conversation, I told him a bit about 2GreenEnergy, and we talked about the challenge of selling renewables in an environment with cheap fossil fuels.  “All I would ask is a level playing field,” Christopher sighed.  I laughed, as I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve said that.  “I have to laugh.  That’s a recurring theme in the discussion on my website.  If you put ‘level playing field’ in the search bar on 2GreenEnergy, you’ll be reading for one hell of a long time.”

Speaking of evaluating the true cost of fossil fuels, here’s a 69-page report evaluating the benefits of retiring the 600-or-so coal-fired power plants in the US.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Question:  Who first conceived an industrial use of solar power by employing concave mirrors to heat water?

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

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s a conversation I’m having with a friend that readers may find interesting:

Craig: I said something that I regret in our talk on the phone yesterday.  In particular, I said that “clean coal doesn’t exist.” As a broad fact, this is not correct.  Obviously, it depends on exactly what you mean; clearly there are steps that can be – and are – taken to scrub the emissions, sequester the CO2, etc.  I’m not an expert on this, but I’m sure it’s getting better all the time. 

Here, btw, is my take on Solyndra and the stimulus money in energy:  http://2greenenergy.com/arpa-e-stimulus/31601/.

 

Friend:  Good piece on Solyndra.

I believe that you’re right on this issue, but we can’t let the administration off guilt-free by saying “there really is nothing shocking about a loan guarantee like this going south;” or that there was no malfeasance. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m looking forward to attending the Renewable Energy Finance Forum, a biannual event put on by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) this Thursday and Friday. Great content, and a magnificent “networking” opportunity, as I’m constantly looking for the best concepts in clean energy as potential investment opportunites.

I have three appointments with 2GreenEnergy readers lined up in advance, and I’m hoping for more. It’s always nice to put a face with a name, as they say. If you’re in the Bay Area and would like to sit down for a chat, please let me know and I’ll try to make that happen. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

A reader just sent me this terrific handbook for debunking myths.   Though it applies to myths of any sort, the examples it provides pertain to global climate change.  What an interesting coincidence that it was just yesterday that I came across PBS’s recent broadcast of “The News Hour” that had actively perpetuated myths in this space. 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

I had a conversation with an old friend last evening, in which we discussed how individuals can make a difference vis-à-vis sustainability in the choices they make in their lives.  He told me about an associate of his, a realtor in New Jersey, who will not sell a house if it doesn’t have a “green designation.”

Apparently, the National Association of Realtors has created this designation, and offers advanced training in green buildings, so that realtors can seek out, understand, and market properties with green features. 

Great idea.  And kudos to that realtor for her commitment. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

For American voters looking for guidance in the 2012 election, and yes, I mean all 17 of you, I present this app from the Sierra Club. If you click on your state, you’ll receive a discussion of the candidates’ positions on the environment. If you then enter your home address and the environmental issue that ranks as your greatest concern, you’ll get the name of the local candidates who best address that concern in the club’s estimation.

 

 

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