Category: Renewables – Business
Energy Scarcities Cause Food Scarcities
| May 22, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
There are many components to the cost of growing food and shipping it to its final destination – a surprisingly large part of which is energy. Moving water around the state of California uses 18 percent of all the electricity and 31 percent of the natural gas consumed in the state.
And of course, pumping water is only one element of the energy that is part of the food supply chain. Think of the:
• Manufacturing and transportation of fertilizers and pesticides
• Sowing, harvesting, and processing
• Transporting the food to market
The average food item we consume in the U.S. travels 1200 miles to reach our supermarkets, and even “fresh” food is two weeks old (and far less nutritious than it was when it was harvested) by the time it gets to us. Read More
Is Renewable Really Doable? Today’s Wine-tasters Didn’t Care
| May 19, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I think we’ve all had experiences that were such unmitigated disasters that they were actually funny. That’s the bottom line on today’s book signing at Roblar, a very nice local winery with which friends had made arrangements for me.
Not only did I not sell a single book, but I was heckled by a couple of the wine-tasters. This is a very “God and Country” part of the world, so, sadly, the whole concept of clean energy is met with a degree of skepticism and even derision.
I had a guy exclaim from halfway across a crowded room, “I don’t believe in global warming.” Read More
Is Renewable Really Doable? Available on Earth Day
| May 17, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Petrina Sharp, my good friend and director of the 2GreenEnergy Video Report, set up this attractive display of “Is Renewable Really Doable?” for an Earth Day celebration in Ventura, CA a few weeks ago. Read More
A Career in Clean Energy? Here’s Some Advice
| May 14, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Each week I receive several emails requesting my advice on career paths within the clean energy space. I thought I’d take a few minutes and jot down a few of the ideas that I normally try to express in response.
First, I congratulate people who want to work in this industry, especially if their interest is rooted in a love of the natural environment and perhaps a sense of duty, or at least a wish, to do something good for mankind and the other 8.7 million species of life forms here on our home planet. But regardless of motive, clean energy is one of few arenas in which there exists a beautiful confluence of the profitable and the philanthropic; we’re helping mankind whether that’s our aim or not. Read More
Book Signing for “Is Renewable Really Doable?”
| May 12, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Next Saturday I’m doing a book signing at the wonderful Roblar Winery a couple of miles up the road. Though I can’t imagine that I’ll sell more than a dozen books or so, I’m really looking forward to the experience: sipping excellent wine, and talking to people about renewable energy.
Hey, 2GreenEnergy — Start Doing and Quit Whining
| May 5, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Bruce writes:
Wake up, if you want to stop pollution, stop polluting yourself and quit blaming the people that enable you to do the dirty work yourself. Take some personal responsibility. Environmental issues are never going to be solved as long as we concentrate on what others should do instead of what we ourselves can do. You have a choice. Stop talking and start doing or quit whining.
Ahem.
It’s certainly true that we form the world in which we live with our purchasing behavior. And I have to admit that, while I’m fairly decent in this department, I could be better.
But, Bruce, I did feel compelled to make a point here on behalf of the entire 2GreenEnergy team. We actually ARE doing; we ARE making a difference. In fact, we’ve helped hundreds of people in countries all over the world connect up and form businesses based around energy efficiency and renewables. I have emails from people in countries I didn’t know existed thanking us for our help. At the same time, we’ve communicated what we believe to be the truth in this space to many hundreds of thousands, creating a better informed, more energy-literate student population and electorate. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished — and we’re just getting started.
Getting Smarter About Renewable Energy
| May 4, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
A reader asked for my opinion on this article in RealClearScience, a well-written and innocuous primer on renewable energy.
The premise: “keep pushing, but push smarter” is hard to argue with. I’m reminded of people who caution “Be careful!” when someone trips or bumps his head. Read More
Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself
| April 25, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
You feel the rumblings of the cleantech revolution reverberating beneath your feet, as if you were standing next to an active volcano that could erupt at any second. You recognize that our world will soon be clamoring for sustainability in all its many forms, as we wake up to the fact that dinosaur technologies: inefficient appliances, gas-guzzling cars and trucks, toxic chemicals, last-century’s lighting and HVAC, coal-fired power plants, etc. are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Read More
Why Investors Are Bearish on Clean Energy
| April 23, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
My posts at 2GreenEnergy somehow wind up on CleanTechies Blog where an entirely new set of readers post comments. Here’s a cogent response from a certain David Dunn to my piece “Why Are Investors Bearish on Clean Energy?“
Investment in alternative energy will remain limited until everyone knows the real costs involved.
All the economics of processes and manufacturing at present are distorted by huge grants, subsidies and the huge amount of pollution and environmental controls, and not to mention all the moral and ethical regulations governing labour employment.
The field that everyone is playing on in the alternative energy market is so distorted Read More
