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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Clean energy is just a part of the overall sustainability movement, yet it stands at the center of so many important issues. For example, the world supply of water and food are dependent on abundant energy, thus our very survival is threatened to the degree that we depend on non-renewable resources for generating energy.

In our webinar this month we will examine the subject of “sustainable food.” We will discuss the direction in which the world agribusinesses are taking us, and explore a cutting edge solution that has the potential to make a big difference here: aeroponics.

My guest will be Rafael Quezada, CEO of Tower Harvest, a leading expert in the deployment of aeroponics. I think you’ll be impressed by how many purely positive effects are created by aeroponics in terms of nutrition and health, energy efficiency, local growing – even job creation.

The webinar is Thursday at 10 AM PDT; I hope to see you there. Here’s the sign-up sheet:  http://2greenenergy.com/free-webinar/.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Oil is a product that sells for more than 50 times what it costs to manufacture. And we’re wondering why the world is beholden to it? Linked above is a good story analyzing this.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

My posts at 2GreenEnergy somehow wind up on CleanTechies Blog where an entirely new set of readers post comments. Here’s a cogent response from a certain David Dunn to my piece “Why Are Investors Bearish on Clean Energy?”

Investment in alternative energy will remain limited until everyone knows the real costs involved.

All the economics of processes and manufacturing at present are distorted by huge grants, subsidies and the huge amount of pollution and environmental controls, and not to mention all the moral and ethical regulations governing labour employment.

The field that everyone is playing on in the alternative energy market is so distorted (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I just realized I was flimflammed at the Earth Day celebration in Santa Barbara from which my daughter Valerie and I just returned. Val has designs on a hot tub, and was drawn to a booth that offered a product that was there via its claim of super-efficiency.

“Normal tubs of this size will raise your electricity bill by $50 – $100 per month, but you can run this one for a fraction of that, say $10 – $15,” its representative said with a smile. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I’m delighted to see real progress being made in the public discourse surrounding sustainability.  While most people still have the idea that continuing with “business as usual” with respect to our environment is an acceptable strategy, more of us are questioning this concept with each passing month. Here’s an example: a PBS special called The Journey to Planet Earth, featuring one of my personal heroes, Lester R. Brown, environmental visionary and author of “Plan B.”

It also features Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (oops – Mom’s not going to like this one), Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, and former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt.

I caught the first part of this incredible series last night; it’s beautifully done.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

This afternoon I plan to take my daughter and a few of her friends down to the magnificent celebration of Earth Day that the city of Santa Barbara puts together each year. The show grows in scope each year; last year’s boasted many hundred exhibitors displaying concepts in energy efficiency, clean transportation, renewables, and cleantech more generally.

Wherever you are today, I hope you’ll take a few seconds and contemplate what “reduce, re-use, and recycle” can mean to you, your family, and your community.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Just in time for Earth Day, this morning I finished up Beyond the Limits by Donella Meadows et al. Gosh, I wish there were a way I could get everyone to read this critically important work with its incredibly wide-ranging implications about our future here on this tiny, beleaguered planet.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development writes, “This book is essential reading for everybody who is concerned with the central issue of our times: how to achieve a transition to a sustainable global future.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Solar Thermal

I’ve often written about how astonishingly little of the Earth’s surface needs to be covered in a solar collecting technology, e.g., solar thermal, in order to provide 100% of the world’s energy needs. Linked above is a wonderful graphic that makes this clear.

Don’t get me wrong: the task of deploying that much solar thermal is not something that we can do overnight, but it sure provides something to think about. We receive 6000 times more energy from the sun every day than we need to supply all our energy needs. It sure seems a shame that we can’t come up with a way of making this happen, and that, as a consequence, we keep depleting our ever-shrinking supply of fossil fuels, while destroying our natural environment.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Tired of the big money in politics? Tired of corporations running the country? If so, you’re not alone – and, according to the “Move to Amend Coalition,” a grassroots national organization spearheading resolution efforts across the country, people of all political persuasions feel exactly like you do. And if it’s true of people generally, it’s true of Vermonters in spades, who just made their state the first to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.

 


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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Just a quick note to let you know that our project to assemble audio/visual learning aids aimed at renewable energy is complete (for now, at least), and ready for distribution to any young people or newcomers in the subject you feel may benefit. It’s a compilation of a few short videos, in which I lay out each of the five major “flavors” of clean energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydro), and briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. Also included are “infographics” that further explore these technologies and the issues that surround them.

My aim, of course, is to introduce this subject to as many people as possible, in the hopes that we can drive up the number of informed discussions, so necessary to the success of the democratic process.

Please feel free to send this link to anyone in your life who you feel may benefit. Thanks.

Here’s the link:  http://2greenenergy.com/renewable-energy-basic-concepts/

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