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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

A significant part of the stimulus money from the Department of Energy has enabled homeowners to perform extremely cost-effective retrofits for energy efficiency. A lovely and articulate spokesperson from Energy Upgrade California I met at the AltCarExpo in Santa Monica explained to me how the “whole house approach” (stopping leaks, using energy efficient windows, saving on water with low-flo toilets and showers, and efficient heating and air-conditioning systems) can reduce energy bills, improve building comfort, enhance indoor air quality, and reduce the impact on the environment.

I asked for examples of what she meant by “building comfort and air quality.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

PhotobucketI always look forward to the AltCarExpo in Santa Monica each year. It’s rather like one of the major auto shows, but without all the flashing lights, loud noises, “booth-babes” – and, more to the point, all the gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks. Though generally dominated by electric vehicles, the Expo contemplates all the alternative fuels: hydrogen, CNG, propane, and half a dozen others; it’s more than worth a visit if you’re in the area.

A local radio station, Pasadena’s NPR affiliate KPPC, did a live remote from the Expo, on which a few of my friends in this space were interviewed, taking calls from folks all over Southern California. Here was one that I found most interesting:

Caller: I notice that there are a dozen-or-so alternative fuels. Isn’t it unrealistic to replace one fuel type with dozens? Won’t there eventually be a winner?

Answer Summary: I hope not. We need to have all these – and more – represented in the mix.

No offense, but this is totally misguided. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V3DnBFkUec&w=420&h=315]

The total world market for electric bicycles is exploding, spurred in large measure by the huge urban populations of China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Add to that the demand created by a growing eco-conscious consumer in the West, and you have one of the largest and most attractive markets on Earth.

Now consider this: there are a hundred ways to design an e-bike that’s a piece of junk. For starters, it can to heavy, uncomfortable, unreliable, hard to repair, easy to steal, dorky-looking, flimsy, under-powered, short on range, or dangerous.

In this interview, I speak about a company that sports what I believe to be the perfect e-bake design.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a bit of good news that I’d like to pass along.  I’ve often written that the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will some day be remembered as the single most ruinous event in the 235 years of our Republic. And, though our elected leaders have uniformly refused to take a stand on the matter, it appears that ordinary Americans are rising up and doing what our representatives failed to do: protecting and defending our democracy. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

There are some highly respected thinkers who completely and vocally reject the idea of electric vehicles. I spoke recently with John Petersen of SeekingAlpha.com fame, whose recent article: “It’s Time To Kill The Electric Car, Drive A Stake Through Its Heart And Burn The Corpse” has stirred a great deal of conversation on the subject. (more…)

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Don’t we all feel our hearts warmed when we realize that a friend “has our back?” Frankly, I don’t particularly feel that my back needs protecting, but I did write recently:

A radio talk-show host reviewed my book the other day with an eye toward having me on his show. He wrote back just now: … I found it to be interesting, though I should tell you I’m one of the people who don’t believe in global warming….I also believe we have enough fossil fuels to last for hundreds of years if we were allowed to get it … I think it (having you on the show) would make for an interesting segment.

A friend wrote back:

Sounds like a potential ambush to me. I strongly suggest you spend some time memorizing these talking points about Global Climate Change before going on the show.

I’m grateful; I feel very well taken care of. I urge everyone who happens to be interested in the subject of global climate change to check out the link my buddy provided above; it is, IMO the most up-to-the-minute treatment on the subject.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Frequent commenter Cameron Atwood writes:

I’m not sure if you saw this speech by MLK referenced in Chris Hedges’ recent piece, but here’s a link, and it seems as applicable in the present day as it was 44 years ago.

To which I respond:

Chris Hedges is one of the most brilliant minds in our world today.  And by any standards, MLK was a supremely enlightened guy. Was he in Socrates’ league?  I don’t know, but as time passes, it becomes ever clearer that the world is forever a better place because he was here.

To whatever minuscule degree, I wish to die believing the same about my own presence here.  And as an off-the-charts coincidence, I came across this quote twice in the last 24 hours:

“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

– Horace Mann, address at Antioch College, 1859

That’s a fairly cool standard to which to hold oneself, don’t you think?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

PhotobucketYou may have noticed a revision in the 2GreenEnergy site, which we implemented to add further clarification to the 2GreenEnergy mission, i.e.,

Moving good clean energy ideas forward, by (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44EaTcV_-4o]Here’s an interview in which I discuss a company that appears to have made a considerable breakthrough in zinc-air batteries, enabling the sale of product at $160/kWh. If this is “for real,” which I believe it is, the potentials are enormous, for a number of reasons. First, it makes possible, for the first time, the storage of electric energy in large-scale for the power utilities, in turn allowing us to bring more renewables into the grid-mix. At the same time, think of what this means for electric transportation, where a huge percentage of the cost of an EV is its battery pack. Of course, price is not the only consideration – especially when it comes to EVs – but the other characteristics look acceptable as well.

Of course, the world has every right to be skeptical of the company and its claims, having seen zinc air batteries “trotted out” every year or so for the last four decades, and investors have been routinely disappointed – and in some cases actually duped. The issue is optimization. It’s easy to optimize one parameter, but at the expense of others. I’m reminded of the old saw: “You want it inexpensive, soon, and of high quality. Pick any two.”

But again, I happen to believe these people have made the breakthrough they claim. “The only thing it has in common with past efforts in this arena is that it uses zinc and it uses air; everything else about the design is unique,” the company’s president told me when I first met him in his office in New York a few months ago.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmoVgU93Z44&w=420&h=315]

In this interview, I discuss a radical new approach to run-of-river hydrokinetics where the water is falling far over a short distance, e.g., a waterfall. The company’s solution is extremely straightforward and would be easy for a wily competitor to steal; it is for this reason that they play their cards very close to their vests, and have gone to an almost unimaginable extent to patent their IP internationally. Will anyone win here – besides the patent attorneys, that is? I believe so.

There are many sites around the world where this solution is perfect, and will produce totally clean power, 24/7/365 at an incredibly attractive rate in terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), meaning the average cost per kilowatt-hour when all factors are taken into consideration: the construction, the fuel, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning.

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