Monthly Archives: August 2011
Electric Vehicles vs. Internal Combustion Engines — Ensuring the Comparison is Fair
| August 21, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
Here’s another note on the value of electric vehicles vs. internal combustion engines.
I’m intrigued with the points that Glenn Doty has raised regarding the spurious logic that the DoE and others have used in their “well to wheels” comparisons. As I pointed out here, I’m not convinced that he’s entirely right, but I grant that we may be over-estimating the amount of coal we’re saving as we move to EVs.
Having said that, we need to acknowledge the non-ecological damages caused by oil, one of which is national security. Each day, we borrow another billion dollars and send it to regimes largely antagonistic to the US and its interests. Each day, our young people fight and die in the Middle East, as we prosecute wars that would not exist if it weren’t for oil.
As loathsome as coal is, it exists in large quantities right here.
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Talking About Clean Energy on the Jack Taylor Radio Show
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I was on the Jack Taylor Radio Show in Chicago this morning, and in the process became one of his more than 55,000 guests that have ranged from Marlon Brando to Presidents Ford and Reagan. Yes, Mr. Taylor has been at this a long time; he came to WGN-TV in 1958, the year after I got out of diapers.
I don’t take the time to study up on the individual personalities on these radio shows beforehand – and in most cases, this is fine; I normally get softball-type questions with which I can do anything I want. And I usually get a few words of introduction in advance: the type of audience, the style of questions, the focus of the interview, but here, … no. Without a syllable of preparatory talk, I’m being grilled full-force by a guy with 55,000+ practice rounds under his belt. First question: “What qualifies you as an expert? What are your credentials?”
Of course, I don’t bill myself as an expert in renewable energy. If listeners conclude that I know what I’m talking about, that’s fine, but I’m most certainly not going to be asserting that. “I’m flattered that you think of me in that way, Jack, but if I have a talent here, it’s asking good questions of people who know far more about this than I ever will. And that’s why my book…. ”
But I think it came off well; I’ll post a link to the interview as soon as it’s available.
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Electric Bicycle — Terrific Design Concept, Business Plan
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
Here, I present a summary of a business plan that would implement a terrific design concept in electric bicycles. I met these folks when I was moderating a panel discussion at the Alt Car Expo in 2009, and I developed an instant attraction for both the people and their idea. In my estimation, the market for low-cost electric commuter transportation in urban environments is poised to go right through the roof in the coming decade or so, driven in large measure by the burgeoning middle-class populations in India and China.
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Waste-tire to Energy Using Pyrolysis — Solid Business Plan
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
Here’s a summary of a business plan that would create diesel fuel or high-octane gasoline, along with carbon black, from waste-tires — of which, obviously, there are tens of millions land-filled in the US alone each year. The technology is a special form of pyrolysis.
Skeptics may say that this has been tried hundreds of times by people who couldn’t make it work effectively, which is true. Personally, however, I think this is the real deal.
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Paper Made from Sugarcane Waste — Terrific Business Plan
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
Here, I offer a summary of a business plan in which the company seeks to raise working capital to grow their business, which is importing and selling paper made from sugarcane waste. Needless to say, this is a hot area in terms of corporate sustainability programs. Instead of whacking trees, we’re using a form of biomass that has no economic or ecologic value.
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Electric Pick-up Trucks — Business Plan Summary
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
I’m not an auto manufacturing guy, but I’m closely connected with some of the top people in this field. They’ve come together with a business plan that, when implemented, will build high-quality but inexpensive light-duty electric pick-up trucks.
And they’ve pre-sold quite a few. How’s 10,000? That do anything for ya?
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Thermal Anaerobic Gasification — Hot Business Plan
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
Here’s a summary of a business plan that would implement a unique approach to thermal anaerobic gasification, to extract the energy from biomass without creating harmful (carcinogenic) byproducts.
I find it interesting that many of these clean energy technologies are quite ancient. Wind turbines come to mind immediately, of course, but gasification and pyrolysis have been around for at least a century.
Having said that, the technology contemplated here is unique, and, I believe, capable of results that were heretofore unobtainable.
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Business Plan to Develop Synthetic Fuels
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Here, I summarize a business plan that contemplates the development of synthetic fuels from off-peak wind, water, and CO2. This is exciting stuff, as it uses entirely proven chemical processes, the thermodynamics make sense, and the demand to deal with issues like peak oil is considerable.
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Craig Shields Talks Clean Energy on the Outdoor Talk Network
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Here’s a one-hour radio show (minus commercials) I did the other day called The Outdoor Talk Network, with host Jim Slinsky. 53 stations in 24 states pick it up each week.
Jim is a deer hunter, and played a piece of music as an intro called “When the Bullet Hits the Bone.” Having said that, he’s a remarkably warm and passionate guy. I’m not sure I understand hunters, but that’s another issue…
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Wind Energy and Compressed Air Energy Storage
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
