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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

As exemplified in this article by Rick Newman, the media is fond of telling us that electric vehicles are over-hyped and destined to disappoint their owners. This, in turn, affects the way most people view the industry.  I took some people to the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica a few weeks ago who proceeded to tell me all the things that EVs need to be: inexpensive and roomy – without that nagging “range anxiety.”

“Sure, that would be nice,” I explained. “And we’ll get there. But in the meanwhile, you may wish to look at the bigger picture.”

I went on to point out that in the US, we’re in the process of replacing 230 million cars and trucks. This year, Nissan will be making 20,000 Leafs (Leaves?) available to its dealers (one ten-thousandth of the installed base of internal combustion engines) – and they’re going to sell like hotcakes. EVs aren’t for everyone right now, but think of how many multi-car households in single-family dwellings with garages that have one car that commutes to and from work and performs local errands. I submit that a very large percentage of them would simply love never to pull into another gas station.

So what else will happen this same year? (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Congratulations to the Republicans on their victories yesterday, running successfully on the message of a smaller and more accountable government. But I hasten to point out that there is identically zero precedent for Republican’s (or Democrat’s) actually delivering on that promise. As shown on the graph below, historically, government bureaucracies are never removed; they grow roughly with the GDP regardless of who’s in power. But – for a few weeks at least – the people can feel that they’re being heard as a new set of agendas comes to Washington.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

The utility company Georgia Power reports it is doubling the amount of solar energy it will buy from independent producers.  Lauren McDonald, Chair of the utility, said it will buy another 2.5 MW of capacity from homes and businesses with solar panels, to bring the total over 5 MW.  1 MW can power about 250 homes or one SuperTarget.

This announcement is seen as a boost to the industry, and specifically Georgia’s solar industry.  The company will pay 17 cents per KW for the first 1.5 MW and take bids for the rest.  In addition to the 5 MW it will buy, the utility is also building 1 MW of capacity itself, and will buy 1.4 MW through another program from two solar farms. These farms are located in Savannah and on a southern Georgia pecan farm. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a blog post I put up on Renewable Energy World, addressing a question a friend posed: What part of your recent book (Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies) aligns most closely with the major news stories of the day? I mentally shuffled through the table of contents and answered that it’s probably the chapter on national security, my interview with James Woolsey, ex-Director of the United States CIA. Here are summaries of a few key points that Mr. Woolsey raised: (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I received no fewer than 19 comments (and counting) to the post I put up on Renewable Energy World on “GM and Chevy Volt – Can They Be Trusted?” I knew this would be a hot topic.

I notice how many people use metaphors and other comparisons to make their point.

“The EV industry is in the same state as the auto industry was when man carved wheels out of rock,” one writes, in an effort to show how much further the relevant technologies are bound to improve. Not bad; I can see that.

Then you have a guy who refers to “Who Killed The Electric Car” as “propaganda” and compares it to the work of Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany. I don’t know, pal. Everyone’s entitled to his own opinion, and I appreciate your flair for the dramatic, but that’s really out there.

One reader worked hard to make the case against distributed power generation, and found an original way to point out the need for scalability that comes from centralization.  “Do you raise your own sheep for wool, and cows for slaughter?”  he asks.   That’s some creative reasoning, but spurious as an analogy. 

In any case, I love the dialog. Let’s keep it flowing.  

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Ah, the tony island nation of Bermuda. Legendary coral sands. Gently wafting ocean breezes. A climate that defines the word “temperate.” And emissions from gasoline and diesel cars and trucks that can choke a horse.

Enter Island Green, a Bermuda-based corporation of which I’m a partner, with a specific mission: import high-quality electric vehicles that, over a period of just a few years, will replace every one of the 20,000-or-so internal combustion engines on the island.

Does that mission statement sound ambitious? I’m not sure. Think of all the issues with EVs — and then realize that they evaporate on islands like Bermuda:

Range: The entire island (actually, a set of islands connected with bridges) is only 21 miles from end to end.

Cost: Gasoline is $7 a gallon. EV owners enjoy more than twice the savings on fuel than we do here in the US.

Roominess: The roads are terrifyingly narrow. If you haven’t been there, I’ll ask you to trust me on this.  Small is good.

The picture taken here was snapped seconds after a presentation I gave to Bermuda’s Ministry of Energy, headed by Michael Scott, flanked by Island Green partner and MP, Dennis Lister.  We’ll see how this develops.  I’ll keep you posted.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published an extensive report (in excess of 400 pages – the link is here)studying several California subdivisions before the housing crash. Entitled “A New Market Paradigm for Zero-energy Homes: The Comparative San Diego Case Study”, the study focused on the builder experience, the market response, home values and cost of electricity in the solar study group and adjacent comparables. It concluded that homes with installed solar systems sold faster than those without solar, and they sold at a higher price (17% higher).

Shea Homes put solar PV and solar thermal systems on half of its homes in a new development.  All 257 of the homes with solar sold within a year, two years faster than expected.  Clarum Homes, another developer in the test group, found that their solar homes sold in 23 months while their non-solar homes sold in 28 months.

NREL conducted extensive interviews with home buyers in the test developments, and the home buyers also signed releases to provide data on energy costs. It was discovered that if solar was already on the home and was factored into the price, buyers were more likely to pick the home with solar over non-solar.  If a home did not have solar already installed but rather included it as an extra upgrade, the decision was usually nixed. It simply became one more decision to be made at time of purchase by overwhelmed buyers.

(more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

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In preparation for my being a guest next week on BlogTalkRadio, in which I’ll be answering questions on electric transportation, I had lunch yesterday with the show’s host Diane Tegarden.  Diane is an author on a wide range of subjects including; renewable energy, environmental concerns, holistic health, women’s issues, and Native Spirituality, and is one of the most energetic, most lovable people I’ve met in a very long time.

The cuisine we picked for our lunch meeting spot: Tibetan/Nepalese. What else? If you happen to be dining in Pasadena, you can’t go wrong with the Tibet Nepal House.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Jigar Shah is the CEO of the Carbon War Room in Washington DC, the non-profit brainchild of Sir Richard Branson that brings to bear the tools of free-market capitalism to forward the aims of sustainability in some terrifically clever ways.

Perhaps the feature of the Carbon War Room that jumps out immediately is its grasp on the mathematics of the situation. For instance, as Jigar told me when I interviewed him for my book, Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies, removing 17 megatons of carbon out of our atmosphere annually is the equivalent of replacing 300 million of the world’s cars with Priuses – something that clearly won’t happen.

So what ideas actually scale that far? (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Municipal fleets, including buses and other forms of city transportation, use a heavy amount of energy every year.  Much like the military, we’ve seen a steady decline in the rate at which they consume. Factors include:

  • Manufacturing (technology)
  • People living closer to work
  • Fewer people traveling
  • Hybrid transportation

As part of a systematic attempt to increase fuel efficiency through technology, the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) has partnered with ESRI and NAVTEQ to decrease our carbon footprint. (more…)

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