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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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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

China invested US$34.6 billion in clean energy projects during 2009 – almost double US investments in the same period. China has more installed wind power capacity than any other country in the world. And the Asian power is now tied with America as the most attractive location in which to invest in renewable energy projects, according to the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices, published by project finance advisors Ernst & Young in June. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

In the 500,000+ miles I’ve logged driving through California since I moved here, I got my first speeding ticket in more than 20 years the other day. I was driving through our central coast, making my way up a long, flat, dead-straight road whose engineers, I’m sure, had deemed safe for anyone at speeds under about 180. I was 11 MPH over the speed limit. The officer politely smiled at my suggestion that a warning might be in order. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Financing arrangements for the first phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm are in the books. The London Array wind farm will cover 90 square miles, seven miles offshore in the outer Thames Estuary. It is eventually expected to have a capacity of 1,000 MW. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I spent the morning with the brass at the California Coast Venture Forum, a group that does great work in the same arena as we play at 2GreenEnergy: putting top clean energy ideas – and the entrepreneurs behind them – in front of the investment community.

These folks are sharp. You know you’re doing things right when your organization — whose name suggests a regional presence — is joined by people all over the world. In the next week or so, I’ll present some good reasons that readers should check them out.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

(Continued from earlier post…)

Smart Grid

Implementation of smart grid technology will enable better efficiency and integrate renewable energy sources, say the respondents. They prefer programs that focus first on improving and incentivizing smart grid technology, followed by funding energy efficiency measures.

92% of the respondents favor government incentives to improve control and management of the smart grid technology, and 89% support incentivizing the development of the grid. 85% also favored minimum energy efficiency standards for all products that use energy.

Most of the industry stakeholders believe a smarter grid is critical to our future electricity supply and consumption. In fact, 81% said that smart grid technologies are extremely or very important for the future of electricity, while only 17% said it was somewhat important and 2% not important. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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I’m on my way up north for a few meetings in the Bay Area, the first of which is an interview with Ray Lane, Managing Partner of Kleiner Perkins, the legendary venture capital fund. Ray has generously consented to let me interview him for my next book on renewables, in which we’ll cover certain economic issues.

I was just putting the final touches on my interview script, which I hadn’t planned to publish, when it occurred to me that readers may find some of this interesting:

Ray: I first met you at the Detroit auto show in late 2009. You impressed me by taking the stage and essentially pointing out exactly what had noticed, i.e., that the other presenters had sugarcoated the work that we in the US had done in the industry of clean energy and transportation. Can you elaborate? What’s happened since, in your estimation? (more…)

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