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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

It is not too difficult to convert your house in a solar-powered one. If you have made up your mind about installing solar energy panels, then the first place to start with would be to check your roof for inclinations. If your roof is not inclined or oriented to make optimal use of the sun’s rays then, the solar panels would have to be inclined and oriented accordingly. If your house does not receive a lot of sunlight for some part of the year, then the PV solar panels would have to be designed in a way that it provides you electricity throughout the year.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Yesterday was the birthday of Rod Serling, creator of the iconic mid-20th Century television program “The Twilight Zone.”  According to the Writer’s Almanac, “Serling believed it was the writer’s job to ‘menace the public consciousness’ and considered television and radio as a means for social criticism.”

And what a terrific job he did.  Those of us old enough to remember will call to mind episodes whose premises included the implication of mindless conformity, the horrors of mob rule, the potential for cruelty that lies within all of us, and our tendency toward xenophobia – all presented with terrifying realism, normally with a brilliantly clever ironic twist at the end.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

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Girl (pictured here): Well, I want a peaceful, sustainable world, where humankind comes together to deal with its major challenges, you know, climate change, social injustice — that kind of thing.  Can you make that happen?  

Santa: Ho ho ho! How about a doll?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

If I weren’t covering renewables, I’d feel like a louse.

Or perhaps….

About the lack of clean energy I continue to grouse.

 

Be this as it may….

I look forward to the e-newsletters I receive once or twice a week from CSP Today

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Those of us who live near major cities spend a great deal of time stuck in traffic, when we’re unfortunate enough to be forced to drive at rush-hour, or encounter some special circumstance like an accident.  I’m sure many of us, in addition to the frustration we feel, wonder about the nature and cause of heavy traffic and how it may be avoided.  Here’s a good article that looks at that very phenomenon. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

I had meetings all over Southern California on Thursday, and  driving to and from them  enabled me to listen to the radio and absorb news that I otherwise would have missed.

I had barely backed out of my driveway when I heard this story about a scandal surrounding the biofuels trade between the U.S. and Canada.  It seems the transportation company, which was compensated by the government for bringing an eco-friendly product into Canada, never bothered to unload it when it reached its destination; the same load kept making its way back and forth across the border, while the company raked in huge profits by pretending to do something good for the environment. Apparently, it would have cost the company a trifle more to have actually unloaded the biofuel and then get more, so they figured: screw it. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I had a real eye-opening meeting the other day with Mike Miller, an extremely accomplished entrepreneur and angel investor in Los Angeles. 

 Frankly, I had come to think of angels as generally too small to make an investment of the scope required for most of the projects I support, and possibly too regional in focus — a potential mismatch considering most of  the world’s involvement with cleantech is happening (sadly) outside the United States.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m out of town for the holidays, but I’ll maintain some level of posts through the next week. 

I also wanted to mention that my current book project, “Renewable Energy – Following the Money,” is a bit behind schedule, but should be completed in a couple of months.  My transcriptionist (she does a really good job) had an illness in the family that took her off the project for a bit, but she’s back now.  I also had some misgivings about the project strategically, but I think I’ve resolved them.  

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

My mother, who reads this blog regularly, hates it when I come out in support of concepts that could be viewed as leftist – and even if that weren’t the case, I try to tread lightly on the political content here anyway.  Still, I thought I’d share this  recent piece by Bill Clinton’s Labor Secretary Robert Reich on the growing divide between rich and poor and the issues associated with it. 

I have two questions about this:  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A lot of people (typically younger) want to work to save the environment, perhaps even dedicate their career to this pursuit. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find a job that pays enough to let someone do so, especially when student loans, children, etc come into the mix, and many people interested in saving the environment have skills that can usually demand more income. Luckily though, there are many job opportunities that are both green and high paying – you simply have to know where to find them. It is essential to study current economic and employment trends though. If this sounds intriguing to you, here are five job opportunities for people interested in saving the environment. (more…)

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