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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

It’s always interesting to see what people are doing around the world with respect to pushing the paradigm shift in transportation.  The concept of individual ownership of a 4000-pound car that is parked 23 hours a day, and has one occupant 75% of the hour it’s being used was something that made sense in the 20th Century, but is rapidly losing appeal to a generation of young people who have already shown their willingness to rethink the way they live. 

But how exactly do we cause drivers to reconsider their options vis-à-vis mobility?  What are the appropriate incentives to change course, as well as the disincentives to stay with our old habits?

Here’s something coming out of Holland, a freeway only for e-bikes and e-scooters. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

By no means am I able to keep up on every idea within the realm of geo-engineering, i.e., taking active steps at a planetary level to counteract global warming.  Here’s one that we hear about often, that apparently isn’t practical: “fertilizing” the oceans with minerals to change their chemistry and absorb more of the atmospheric carbon dioxide they receive. 

There are so many strategic issues with geo-engineering generally that it’s hard to know where to start.  Certainly we have to deal with unintended consequences, which, given the sheer magnitude of the problem and proposed solutions, could be horrific.  We also have the issue of governance.  Even if we come across a practical solution, who should administer it?

Normally, I advocate decisiveness and rapid response, but here’s an area in which I’m happy to see the world taking its time.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Congratulations.  You have finally made it from the mailroom, to that position at the top of the business tree. If you want to spend your hard-earned wages on a brand new car then feel free. Sites such as Carsales always have good deals available. But you may be lucky enough to be eligible for a company car. What will you be offered as a choice? Many corporations are now caught in the embattled debate of the responsibility of going eco-friendly with their employee vehicle fleets. To offer electric model cars or not, that is the question pending now. Going green in the corporate world is more about the cost, profit and bottom line as much as it is about the benefits of improving the environment and reducing the carbon footprint of big companies. Today’s businesses need to see an improvement in profit as well as the environment. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Just when I was starting to wonder if the subject of climate change would ever come up again in U.S. politics, President Obama makes a huge deal of it in his second inaugural address. 

This is a good thing, and I’d sure like to believe that it’s a serious harbinger of a world power that has come to take its responsibilities seriously.  I’d love to think that, in a short period of time, America will somehow transform itself from a laggard to a leader, and assert itself in the development of clean technology that is so obviously vital to our moral, economic, and national security interests. 

But a speech does not change reality.  To pick one of hundreds of potential sticking points:  60 of our 100 senators come from coal-producing states.  Do you know what they say when asked to develop an energy policy that reduces coal?  In the words of Ray Lane (managing partner of venture capital giant Kleiner Perkins, whom I interviewed for Is Renewable Really Doable?): 

They don’t say “no.”  They say “hell no.”

Again, I’d sure love to be a believer; I just wish there were a reason to hold out that hope. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

Thanks to frequent commenter Tim Kingston for sending me these two articles with which I begin the work week here at 2GreenEnergy.  First is a pro-nuke piece – certainly a concept that defies what I’ve come to believe, yet I try to keep an open mind.  I know there are people who say that nuclear is absolutely required if we’re to avoid both horrific economic collapse and catastrophic global climate change.  Again, I don’t believe this, based on the bulk of what I’ve read, but I don’t have a problem with discussing the notion.

The second is exactly in step with what I believe, i.e., that photovoltaics is a better “harvester” of solar energy than biofuels, because of the realities of the physics involved. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

I come across several articles each day that cause me to adjust my position on where we’re going as a civilization.  Here’s one on BP, peak oil, and climate change that offers an interesting nuance, concluding with the following:

As author Naomi Klein outlines in an article written in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last fall, it has become necessary to challenge the business model that thinks destroying the earth’s climate in the name of profit is permissible.  “These companies have shown that they are willing to burn five times as much carbon as the most conservative estimates say is compatible with a livable planet,” Klein said. “We’ve done the math, and we simply can’t let them.”

I never thought of saying that the greed of the oil companies and their icy indifference to the health and safety of Earth’s inhabitants was “impermissible,” though that’s a heck of a good concept.  I guess we’re dealing with a shade of meaning here that draws the distinction between moral and legal permissibility.  I.e., a large and growing number of people agree with me and say that the oil companies’ behavior is morally unacceptable, and that, as a result of our efforts, this will translate to a day on which it becomes legally impermissible. 

Let’s hope that day comes soon.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I just got off the phone with long-time environmental activist Rick Barnett, who, in 1974, started off on what was to become a career of public service in the truest sense: working to bring people together to make the world a better place.  As a real “student of the game,” Rick has made some very interesting observations, as well as recommendations for our society if we wish to take seriously the challenge of climate change, ocean acidification, the health-related effects of fossil fuels, etc.

Here are a few short presentations from Rick on:

An Opportunity for California’s Utilities

Testimony to US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Underwriting Standards, and 

Climate-Friendly Retrofils

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

In response to my piece yesterday on the integration of renewables in the grid-mix, frequent participant Gary Tulie wrote a wonderfully insightful comment, underscoring my point that, considering the smallish presence of clean energy in the U.S., the intermittence of solar and wind present very little reason for concern.  He goes on to discuss why, and discusses the role of load shifting, the improved prediction of supply and demand, better grid integration, geographical dispersion, and energy storage.

All perfectly true.  So why aren’t we heading in this direction at 100 miles per hour?  The biggest single reason is that the electric utilities are among the most conservative organizations on Earth, and, since they have no incentive to make any of this happen, are perfectly content with the status quo. (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

A reader writes in:

Hi, Craig – I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. Thanks for what you’re doing. Also enjoyed your book, “Is Renewable Really Doable?” My question is this: how to counter the alarmist articles out there about the unreliability of renewable (because intermittent) energy? In researching this I’ve run across a couple of articles that the naysayers are just eating up whole. Example: last September in the Telegraph. And there are others, as I’m sure you know. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

There is a pretty big buzz surrounding renewable or ‘green’ energy at the moment.

We’re all looking to do our bit for the planet – reduce our carbon footprint, lessen our reliance on fossil fuels, and help the environment – but we’re all feeling the pinch. Can we really make a difference whilst saving money at the home?

The answer is, of course, yes. Here are a number of ways renewable energy can help you do your bit for the planet whist saving money in the home:

1. Solar thermal vs. Photovoltaics (more…)

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