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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

In response to my piece on the electric vehicle adoption curve, in which I suggested that EVs represented more than a “niche” market, frequent commenter and senior physicist Glenn Doty wrote:

Most of those multi-car households have one SUV or pickup truck and one large vehicle. Why?

Why would the majority of households, when determining the vehicle they wish to purchase in a time of high gasoline prices, choose an SUV? The answer: versatility.

The Leaf is a car that does not fulfill the requirements of a vehicle: to get you where you want to go when you want to go there. So in order to own a Leaf I have to buy another whole car!

The exact same calculation will and must occur in a two-car household if family or business requires one member of the house to leave town (which of course also cannot be done in an EV).

Niche is a completely valid market expression for an expensive vehicle that one understands at the point of purchase cannot be used in thousands of conceivable cases in which a vehicle will be needed.

Glenn, you’re a brilliant guy, and I learn from everything you write. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s a report of macro-trends observed by venture capital giant Kleiner Perkins. To me, the most noteworthy thing about it is the concept that Kleiner managing partner Ray Lane explained in a conversation he and I had in his office last year: investment in clean energy is capital intensive and requires patience; investment in software (mobile Internet apps) has the potential for far greater and quicker returns.

Yes, therein lies the rub. Investors in clean energy are a different breed, and certainly patience is part of that characterization. But I would add “vision” in there too. After all, how likely is it that we’ll still be burning coal and driving Hummers a few decades hence? If we still have a civilization here, it will be precisely because we found a way (or ways) to put an end to unsustainable practices like these.

I predict that investors with vision will begin to line up behind the truly good ideas that call out to them, a few such concepts are linked here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

When I first got into the renewable energy space, Robert Rapier was one of the first people to whom I reached out, as he’s been around this industry quite a while. I recall that he was quite gracious with me; we had a long and interesting chat on the phone.

Here’s Robert’s take on the enterprise of cellulosic ethanol, which, for what it’s worth, aligns 100% with my own: it won’t scale.

If it is to offer real value, a biomass to energy project needs to involve a feedstock that has a negative value to society, like municipal solid waste, manure, waste tires, etc.   (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s an article on emerging battery technologies that will greatly improve the calculus under which electric vehicles will be adopted into the mainstream, focusing on the work IBM is doing in lithium-air. After some level of technical analysis, the author notes:

IBM’s admission that the eventual return on its investment in lithium-air will be at least a decade away is significant for competitors and for governments’ electrification policies alike. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s an article noting that certain corporations talk out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to climate change. Isn’t that shocking? 🙂

Seriously, I hope I’ll soon be able to muster the resources to begin my “corporate role models” blog, as there are many millions of people doing some very noble things in the corporate work setting; and I’m anxious to start telling those stories.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I heartily recommend the PBS special: “Civilization: The West and the Rest,” which does a fine job in analyzing the six “killer apps” that resulted in the dominance of the Western culture over the remainder of the world. They are: political and economic competition, development of science, ownership of property, modern medicine, consumerism, and work ethic.

But while the show was brilliantly crafted and extremely thought provoking, I found it lacking in an important way. There is no doubt that these are the ingredients that made Western Civilization what it has become over the last 500 years or so — ingredients that have resulted in our easier, longer, and healthier lives. But are they a prescription for success in the future? The show boldly asserted this, but is it true? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

I’m happy to report that it appears I’m making progress in arranging funding for a facility to turn buffalo dung in Southern Pakistan into fertilizer and energy. As you’re reading this, there are 400,000 dairy buffaloes standing in an area of a few square miles. On average, that’s two buffaloes for each area the size of my modest office. Collectively, they’re generating about 8,000 tons of untreated solid and liquid waste per day, causing ridiculous rates of disease and environmental ruin over a huge region. Most of this waste forms a river and flows south into the Arabian Sea, a body of water that is now so polluted that fishermen have to row their boats through five miles of sewage every morning before they encounter anything still alive.

It turns out that I have an indirect “friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend” relationship with one of the country’s ex-presidents. And that’s what it’s going to take to get the job done here, as most people from other lands (like me) have an appreciable level of concern for Pakistan’s lawlessness.

I’ll keep you posted.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Donating an unwanted car to charity is a fantastic way to benefit the environment. In addition to the environmental benefits of charitable car donation, you are simultaneously helping local charities and receiving a tax write off. The way it works is that a local non-profit car donation center such as Wheels for Wishes will arrange to have your unwanted vehicle (running or not) picked up at no cost to you, recycled, and then donate the proceeds to a local charity. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Summer has arrived and it is time to change how I use energy around the house.

First order of business was to disconnect the solar air heater from the house and remove the interface from the window in the computer room so I could put the standard 20” box fan back in the window. I set this up so it always blows out to suck air through the house. I also add a 4”x10” to 6” diameter right angle duct with a piece of 6” flexible duct which goes up to the ceiling to suck some hot air off the ceiling. Otherwise the top of the fan is at 48” off the floor and there is no reason for any of the hot air above that point to be moved. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

It is with great joy that I announce that this is our 2000th blog post.

My profound thanks to our regular readers, whose enthusiasm for the subject and willingness to tell their friends has caused the site’s traffic to grow steadily over the past three years. Thanks to the thousands of people who have interacted with us in one way or another, and to our clients, who have made all this possible.

Perhaps I’m most grateful for the dozens of fine friends I’ve made all over the world in the process.  It’s been a wonderful association — one that can only improve in the future.  

 

 

 

 

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