Home › Blog › Page 1694

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Who isn’t interested in Bill Gates’ views? Whether he’s talking about the impact of the digital revolution on society at large, his philanthropic efforts to eliminate diseases like polio and malaria, or his insights into other macro issues like global warming, his talks are always captivating and his opinions carry plenty of weight. (As a quick aside, I’m often reminded of Gates deeply studied position on global warming when I come across deniers. Are we to suppose that he needs a few bucks of government support to perpetuate something he deems a hoax? Or that he’s a liberal academic lightweight who hasn’t done his homework on solar flares and ice ages? Neither idea passes muster with me.)

Here’s the interview Gates did a few days ago with Charlie Rose that aired on PBS last night.

20 years ago, someone who was in a position to know told me that the toughest couple of moments one could possibly face was a discussion with Gates on anything. “He has more knowledge and certainty on dozens of subjects than you have on your mother’s maiden name — and he’s completely intolerant of people who show up unprepared,” my friend told me.

Even with all the fear of God this may have inspired, I challenge Gates on a couple of points:

1) Up until very recently, he looked on solar as “cute,” something that had essentially no potential impact on the energy picture. Based on this interview (I was gratified to see), something had clearly changed his mind. What was it?

2) He obviously takes the issue of carbon and climate change quite seriously, but it’s not where his focus as a philanthropist lies. Why? I don’t think either of us will be on this Earth long enough to know for sure, but I believe climate change is going to cause far more misery than the diseases he’s trying to eradicate.

Am I proposing a dialog with the world’s most feared challenger? Let me practice for a few years first and think about it.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Duke Brooks writes on Independent Vermont senator Citizens United opponent Bernie Sanders as follows:

Sanders is, of course, not an independent. He is, IN FACT, a self-described socialist…. The opposition to Citizens United (granting corporations the right to spend as much as they choose, in order to influence our elections) comes NOT from the faux “moral outrage” feigned by the Green Mountain socialist and his friends, but rather from a leftist opposition to capitalism in general. Their hatred is focused on companies, which are institutions that have been the victims of marx, lenin, engels, stalin, mao, castro and Sanders for generations. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Conermex, one of the largest solar and wind power companies in Mexico, predicts that Mexico will double their capacity of solar within 2012, from 6 to 12 MW.

Mexico’s National Solar Energy Association (ANES) says that Mexico could possibly generate all their electricity with solar power in the future. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s a sarcastic conversation I’m having with a friend in Baltimore that I post for your amusement:

Craig: Got some wicked storms back there!

Friend: Brutal. Spent the weekend with the chainsaw, cutting up trees that fell in the road. Probably one of the worst storms I’ve ever witnessed in Baltimore. 95 mph winds – and not from a hurricane. The heat wave’s been brutal, too. Not used to this 100 + degree heat for more than a day or two.

Craig: Wow, what could be causing these extreme weather events? 🙂 Just kidding.

Friend: Haha. Now Craig, it’s perfectly normal for Baltimore to have nearly two straight weeks of temperatures above 100, and massive storms with 95 mph winds ripping trees up out of the ground. Perfectly normal. 🙂

Craig: Yes, and last winter, when it didn’t even get chilly, no reason for alarm there either. 🙂

—

All kidding aside, even a small increase in temperature can have profound effects on weather. Warm air holds more moisture than cool air, thus is less dense (since the gaseous water molecule is lighter than the nitrogen molecule that makes up most of our air). Like a helium balloon, the moist air rises, then cools and condenses into clouds, while the low-pressure area it leaves below causes wind. The warmer the air is, the faster and more intensely all this happens.

 

Tagged with: , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s Tom Friedman’s op-ed in yesterday’s NY Times. As always, I agreed with most of it. But I point out two things:

1) He has a keen mind — one with which he has done quite well — but his popularity is largely based on tuning his writing towards optimism. I’m sorry to sound suspicious of others’ motives, but I often wonder about his sincerity; I find it hard to believe that, in the pit of his stomach, that he’s not as frightened as you and I as to humankind’s future. Friedman routinely comes up with deus ex machina concepts that he posits as the forces that will restore the U.S. to her former greatness and provide Americans with the ever-improving quality of life that we enjoyed through most of the 20th Century. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the State of Vermont in which I recalled a conversation I had with my father when I was a little boy. We were talking about his impressions of the people who lived in the states within driving distance of us in Philadelphia, and he came out with this pearl: “If you’re not from Vermont, they don’t really want you in Vermont.”

I laughed when I heard it, and it’s certainly not true as a general statement,  but I’ve come to see the point he was trying to make.  Vermonters tend to be self-styled, much like the French, I suppose one could say; they don’t ask permission to be fiercely independent on the issues that concern them. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

I’m joining some friends in a few minutes for a sushi dinner. This reminds me of the adage about our production and consumption of energy, which, for all intents and purposes, is the only supply chain in the world without storage. “Even sushi enjoys more and better storage than energy,” the people at Eos write on their website.

And it’s a good point. Imagine the price we’d pay for a piece of yellow fin tuna sashimi if it had to be consumed the moment the fish was caught and processed.

Our entire grid is built around a peak energy load that extends 100 hours per annum – just over 1% of the year. Imagine the benefit not having to fire up power generation plants for those few moments.

 

 

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m happy to note that I just scheduled an interview for my next book with a gentleman I’ve been in touch with for some time: Stuart L. Smits, CEO of Citizen Green Energy. Among other things, Stuart follows utility regulation very closely, and will be a terrific source of information on one of the most important factors in the migration to alternative energy, i.e., the cleaning up of what is often described as the “Byzantine” manner in which our power utilities function. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I just pulled back into the driveway with the first car purchase I’ve made in 15 years. My 1995 BMW 540-i died last week after 248,000 loyal miles; it was a true friend, and I’ll miss it.

Needless to say, I wasn’t looking to replace it with another eight-cylinder monster. Accelerating a 4000-pound mass of steel from 0 – 60 in 5.9 seconds used to impress me; it no longer does.  And the bigger BMWs now weigh closer to 6000 pounds, and get about 20 MPG.

I bought a 2009 VW Jetta (I never buy new cars on general principles of frugality) 6-speed diesel, noting that most drivers get close to 50 MPG.  I considered the Prius, of course, which gets about the same mileage, but I think I like this a bit better.  I’m hoping that my next car will be an EV, which I’ll charge with PV on my roof, but this just wouldn’t work in my current station in life, with fairly frequent trips from my home near Santa Barbara, California to San Francisco, about 250 miles north, and San Diego about the same distance south.

Tagged with: , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

In June’s webinar, I interviewed Robert Orr, CEO of Landhi.  The manure from 400,000 buffaloes in a tightly confined area of Southern Pakistan is creating one of the worst ecological disasters and threats to human health on the planet.  A talented team of people stands ready to expand their pilot plant that is currently creating small but predictable amounts of compost, liquid fertilizer and biogas up to the scale necessary to tackle the problem, while generating an income stream of over $100 million annually. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,