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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Recently many states have chosen to deregulate their energy markets. This means that homeowners and consumers can choose who generates the power that they use. This is done in part to lower utility prices and to let competition drive the more or less monopolized market. At the moment there are 28 states that have deregulated either electricity, natural gas or both. In a few states like Texas where generation and distribution of electricity is deregulated residents have been obliged to make a choice. But in the states where people still deal with their utility company for distribution but have the option to choose the source of their electricity, there seems to be a reluctance to act. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

Researchers at MIT are developing a lithium-ion battery with a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes that delivers 10 times more power than a conventional battery and can store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor.

The nanotube battery technology is licensed to an undisclosed battery company. It could extend the range of electric vehicles and electronic gadgets.

The high surface area and high conductivity of carbon nanotubes promise improvements in both energy and power density. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I mentioned that I was on Bill Frank’s “Brainstormin'” radio show a few weeks back.  Here’s a link to the really nice job his people did in writing up our talk on renewables. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m one of these fanatics about combining reasons to travel. It’s not uncommon for me to have six or seven meetings in a day in Manhattan, starting with an early breakfast, running straight through after-dinner drinks.  Except for super-urgent meetings, I let reasons to be in The City slowly build up until I can tackle all of them at once.

And it looks like another trip is taking form. I have several “friends of friends” who run investment groups whom I’m dying to meet concerning certain hot cleantech business plans.  And just this morning, 2GreenEnergy Financial Services Associate Adrien Corbett invited me to a meeting of the World Harmony Forum on Investment Opportunities in The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor). Making the presentation will be the head of state, His Excellency Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Prime Minister.

It goes without saying that I rarely get a chance to meet people whom I need to remember to address as Your Excellency. I’ll be sure to ask about his excellence in renewable energy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’d like to request your help in establishing an Advisory Committee for 2GreenEnergy.

In an average month, I get about a dozen business plans for my review, submitted by entrepreneurs all over the world. Fortunately, most of these represent business concepts are based on technologies that I understand fairly well, and thus it takes only a few minutes for me to evaluate the relative strength of most of these ideas.

Some, however, leave me wondering. Maybe the business is to be based on a claim to a “breakthrough” fuel additive, biomass-to-energy technology, battery chemistry, or any of several other regions where my knowledge base is thin and my “BS Meter” doesn’t function with sufficient accuracy.

I’d like to set up a small group of folks whose combined expertise could speak quickly but effectively to the entire gamut of technologies relevant to clean energy and alternate fuel transportation.  If you know of someone who has a specific and fairly deep area of expertise and wouldn’t mind if I forwarded an occasional email asking for an opinion (in a sentence or two – nothing elaborate is required), please let me know. 

Thanks in advance.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I was flattered to get a call last week from a guy wanting me to host a radio talk show. He asked me for a short write-up of some ideas; here it is:

Thanks for your inquiry about the radio show. Per your request, here is a short write-up of some preliminary ideas.

I believe I would simply make this an extension of the radio and television broadcasts – and live panel discussions – that I’ve done over the past few years. Folks ask me anything they care to about energy and transportation, normally pertaining to the many issues our civilization has with fossil fuels and internal combustion engines, and the cost/benefit of the different flavors of renewables and electric vehicles. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I often refer to Moore’s Law, which posits that the effectiveness of technology increases exponentially over time. I talk cavalierly about how this “law” (named for Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, which originally applied to the number of transistors that could be crammed onto a semiconductor chip) can be extrapolated to what we’re all trying to do here in renewable energy.

But how legitimate is all this?  Does it apply in some cases, like IT, and not others, e.g., power engineering? In particular, can we use it to predict accurately the results of our driving the technology of renewables forward, as we increase the output of solar, wind, and other forms of clean energy?

If you want a lecture that is anything but cavalier, I present this talk on Moore’s (and Wright’s) Law at the University of Waterloo, Canada. On the other hand, if you don’t like really academic stuff, you may want to skip this one.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I know everyone seems to be all worked up about the delays in the production of electric vehicles.  Some even (erroneously) conflate this with a lack of demand, or pessimism about the industry generally. 

Venturebeat notes:

Nissan … initially planned for 200 Leafs to be delivered in December, but then scaled it back to just five Leafs, according to a Nissan dealer VentureBeat spoke to last year. Nissan spokesperson, David Reuters, called the report “patently false” and said that instead, 50 Leafs would be delivered in December with two shipments, one at the start of the month and one at the end. But that didn’t happen either. Instead, the company sold 19 Leafs that month.

First, why say Nissan “sold” (rather than “delivered”)19 Leafs that month?  What’s the agenda here?   

And let’s keep all this in perspective.  We’ve taken a few steps on a very long path — one that, by the time it leads us to our destination, will have replaced a toxic system in which we process 72 million barrels of crude oil per day.  That’s worth a bit of patience — and a bit of support — don’t you think? 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

There have been some fantastic comments to my piece on the externalities of fossil fuels the other day.  I encourage folks to check out the response of frequent blogger Cameron Atwood in particular, to whom I reply:

Unfortunately, this corporatocracy has gotten so strong that it’s really tough to refocus people on what’s happening at the macro level which, you’ve nailed with 100% accuracy in your excellent remarks.  There’s a great deal of mainstream coverage of the perils of Lindsay Lohan, but very little insight into the true cost of oil and gas.  So when you write: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

When I was in San Francisco last week I dropped by to see GreenTechMedia’s Michael Kanellos, one of my favorite personalities in cleantech. Michael always seems to have a reason to smile, even when the rest of the world (me included) seems to hang its head and say “These Earthlings just don’t get it.”

That day, Michael’s cause for celebration was Gevo, the biotech darling of Khosla Ventures and the Virgin Green Fund. Gevo’s unique technology causes microbes to secrete a form of isobutanol, but the company currently garners most of its revenue from corn ethanol. (more…)

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