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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

Here’s a good article on a recently completed solar thermal tower (aka concentrated solar power or CSP) in the desert between Las Vegas and Reno, NV.

The thing to like about solar thermal, as we’ve often discussed here, is that it affords us a fairly low-cost way of storing energy and delivering it when the sun isn’t shining. This is due to the fact that in today’s world, we can store heat energy (in vats of molten salt) far less expensively than we can store electrical energy (in batteries). Thus solar thermal installations can be treated as baseload, delivering power on a consistent 24X7 basis.

That’s the good news. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Frequent commenter Duke Brooks writes in:

Americans who rail against U.S. polluters should probably spend a few days in the world’s most polluted city, Beijing. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, as they say. But the lack of outrage from the American left over China’s mass particulate output would tend to expose them for what they are: A political, not ecological, movement.

I don’t think anyone argues that China’s building coal-fired power plants at the rate of one a week is anything other than an abomination; there isn’t too much controversy there — regardless of where one stands politically.  Yet China is the world’s leading investor in renewable energy, and they face a far larger challenge than we do in terms of supplying energy to a skyrocketing number of energy-hungry consumers; it’s one that dwarfs ours here in the U.S.

I don’t know whether you saw this report I wrote a few months back in an attempt to make sense of this paradox: China Is Investing in Renewable Energy — But Why?  

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

For amusement only….

Today I cooked mashed potatoes in my solar oven. The oven is made of one of those shiny windshield shades, a rack from an old countertop oven, a very large clear plastic pretzel container and a 2lb 13oz Prego spagetti sauce jar which I painted black with high temperature paint except for a stripe I left so I could look at what was going on in there. I peeled and cut potatoes to fill the jar and added water and put the arrangement out in the sun around 12:30. About 6:30 I retrieved the arrangement and brought the jar in to see what I had.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Next Saturday I’m doing a book signing at the wonderful Roblar Winery a couple of miles up the road. Though I can’t imagine that I’ll sell more than a dozen books or so, I’m really looking forward to the experience: sipping excellent wine, and talking to people about renewable energy.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Duke Brooks (old friend from school forty years ago) comments on my piece about the Koch brothers’ sponsorship of PBS’s NOVA: “I have heard that the Koch brothers speak very highly of you, by the way.”

Ha! You’re kidding, of course — though I’ve heard that I actually am in fact on the radar screen of big oil – not that that’s a good thing. The other day a guy from South Carolina called me and said, “Craig, your name’s come up twice in the last 24 hours, so I thought I’d give you a call and introduce myself.” He went on to explain, “(One of these incidents) was a conference call among the executive team at Shell Oil.”

“Holy mackerel,” I replied. “I can’t begin to imagine what they were saying about me. I bet it isn’t exactly gushing with praise; I haven’t been too kind to the oil industry.”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember what they were saying, or at least claimed he couldn’t. I shudder to think.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Scientists and researchers have been trying hard to find out the power of cloud to harness for everyone’s benefits. They are therefore seen collecting a number of historical data and records to find out how clouds can respond to the earth’s warming. This is critical since clouds are considered to be one the biggest single uncertainty in the attempt to predict the future climate. A few contrarian scientists simply emphasize that cloud will change in such a way that it will basically counterbalance the greenhouse gases released by the mankind. However, a majority or scientists are seen calling global warming a big issue in the coming future. Yet, since past few years, the contrarian scientists or climate skeptics have strong feelings that clouds will save the human race. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

If you were tasked with crafting the worst possible energy policy, what would you do? Well, you’d say, “OK, I’m going to reward bad behavior, and penalize good behavior,” right?  Then you’d send enormous sums of tax-payers’ money to the most egregious polluters you could find, while making sure that any potential competitors were ground into the pavement.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As a younger man, I had a business partner with whom I ran a marketing consultancy that was 200 employees strong, with clients on four continents — during which time I logged a great number of air miles.  I used to joke that my seniority on American Airlines was sufficient that, not only would I be instantly upgraded to first class upon booking my ticket, but I could, had I wanted, bring a baby elephant on board with me, prompting the flight attendants to remark, “What a lovely animal, Mr. Shields. I assure you that we’ll make him quite comfortable.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Wow, I have to credit the right-wing Heartland Institute with a world-class level of chutzpah, though that’s actually too mild a word. The sheer crust, brass, audacity, effrontery – there’s a vulgar term too — required to run this ad on global warming, while promoting an intellectually oriented event to discuss the issue, is unparalleled. Understandably, participants are withdrawing, and sponsors are dropping them like a hot potato.

I wish I could have been in the conference room when they were discussing this. Didn’t someone ask, “It’s bold, but doesn’t it make us look like mean-spirited idiots?”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

 Next time, when you will dispose off your used batteries and lights, the chances are that you will get reward for disposing them. Yes, you read that right. reVendRecycling Ltd. a UK based reverse vending machine manufacturing is soon launching worldwide an innovative line of recycling machines for the collection of all kind of light bulbs – CFLs, LEDs and incandescents. The machine also contains addon unit to collect used batteries as well.

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