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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Here in the U.S., we have climate change deniers, and all manner of other opponents to renewable energy. In essence, they’re the oil and coal companies, the members of Congress they influence, and those who believe the enormous amount of propaganda they generate on “clean coal,” “safe nuclear,” etc.

In the U.K. however, they come in the form of certain members of the nobility. According to The Guardian, the Duke of Edinburgh has made a fierce attack on wind farms, claiming that “they don’t work,” and describing them as “a disgrace” and “absolutely useless.” Pictured here, however, he looks rather jolly. Who would know that such scathing (and foolish) statements lie behind such a winsome smile and excellent breeding? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

World Energy Outlook Roars Out a Warning

Here’s the latest report of the International Energy Agency, which is run by many of the world’s largest oil-consuming nations. It’s an annual piece called “World Energy Outlook,” and warns that without radical changes in the world’s energy infrastructure in the next five years, humans will make climate change irreversible.

Bob Dylan fans will recognize that the last few words of the title come from “A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall.”  Let’s do our best to make sure that’s not the case, i.e., that a hard rain does not, in fact, fall.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Hey, we just went over 1500 total blog posts here at 2GreenEnergy.  That’s a considerable body of work; my profound thanks to all who have helped.  

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

About once a week, someone asks me for my take on the latest about Fukushima, how concerned we should be, or what the upshot will be in terms of world energy policy (as if there is such a thing).  I immediately refer them to Ace Hoffman of Carlsbad, CA, who’s been studying the nuclear power industry for more than 40 years — since he was about fourteen years old.  He writes with depth and passion, and I recommend that anyone interested in the subject follow his blog here.  

He’s testified at over 100 nuke hearings, and written over a thousand essays, including the one I’ve excerpted here: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Question: Approximately how many trees are ground up each year to make junk mail?

Answer: Can be found here.

Relevance: A big part of the business I ran for almost 30 years was direct mail. Note that I refer to it as “direct” and not “junk,” as we made a huge effort to make this as relevant, personalized, and high-quality as we possibly could. Here are sample campaigns; I hope you’ll agree.

Having said that, I’m not sure I’d want to be in that business now.  I think (hope, anyway) that all our communications will come with greater respect for our environment and natural resources.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

At the risk of stating the obvious, there have been huge mistakes made in governments’ promotion of renewables. But who should be surprised by that? Just because clean energy is a good thing doesn’t mean that there won’t be bad (greedy, corrupt) means taken to extract profit while screwing it up.

This article in The Economist gets at this central point, and concludes with some wisdom:

There is much that governments can do to encourage such progress in the future without repeating the mistakes of the past. … They should remove subsidies for technologies that compete with solar. … Above all they must fix a price of carbon that gives innovators the confidence that competing with fossil fuels for the long term will be a rewarding, and perhaps hugely profitable, undertaking. If politics prevent them from setting a substantial carbon price, they might consider requiring utilities to have a carbon-free component to their generating portfolios, as happens in many American states. But that needs to be open to all carbon-free technologies, not just the ones that the politicians like, so that the most efficient can prosper.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Those of you writing books or blogs about Renewable Energy – take note of this recent article in the N.Y. Times:

Very sad what our country has evolved into. The “Renewable Energy: Bubble, Scam or Both?” Is spot on. Everyone should read it especially the unions and Occupy people. And as if this comes as a surprise to anyone. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Here is a magnificent piece on energy storage: a perfect blend of the basic science and economics. It’s a very readable explanation of how and why storage will be required to integrate significant amounts of renewables on the grid.

Today, the vast majority of energy storage is accomplished with pumped hydro. The problems with this, however, are a) only certain (hilly) terrains are appropriate to implement this inexpensively, and b) the stored energy is not portable, i.e., it cannot be used in transportation, which accounts for 40% of our total energy needs.

This gives rise to chemical solutions, also discussed in the piece. Personally, I’m betting on Windfuels, a 2GreenEnergy client, which sports a remarkable breakthrough in synthetic fuels.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A two-fer!

Questions:  How long does it take for some plastic bottles to break down in landfills?  How many plastic bags are used worldwide every year?  

Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732.

Relevance:  Most plastics are derived from petroleum and do not biodegrade, thus some lasts  thousands of times longer than the ingredients they were designed to carry.  This clogs our landfills or pollutes our environment in more even egregious ways, e.g., the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Bioplastics innovator, 2GreenEnergy friend, and all-around cool guy Shantu Patel, MD once pointed out a milk plastic carton to me and quipped, “The milk lasted a couple of weeks.  How long do you think that bottle will be around?”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

My thanks to all who provided an opinion on my (admittedly pessimistic) title for my new book. In all my years of market research, I’ve never seen anything like the near complete unanimity of viewpoint that came back in that survey, i.e., that the title is too negative, and therefore unappealing.

And in truth, though the book does grapple with the tough realities associated with the migration to renewables, it certainly suggests that there is hope for mankind. So… GONE! I’m dropping that title like a hot potato. Thanks again.

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