Posts Tagged by Bruce Allen
2GreenEnergy Associate Bruce Allen Advising Congressmen on Energy Policy
| April 15, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
2GreenEnergy Associate Bruce Allen spends a great deal of time in Washington D.C., advising Congressmen on energy policy. Recently, when he told me his clients included people “at the highest levels of government,” I asked the natural question: “Oh really – who would that be?” At the time, Bruce demurred. “Sorry, Craig, but I can’t tell you right this minute.”
Well, as suggested here, it’s House Speaker John Boehner. Keep up the good work, Bruce. I can’t think of a better representative of a good, common sense approach to an energy policy built around sustainability. I can only hope the client is receptive to your ideas.
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Black Swan Technology
| September 16, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
Life is full of coincidences. On the way back from dropping my daughter off at school this morning, I heard a piece on NPR on Black Swan technology (see press release linked) which is based on a unique “optical rectification” process that uses a very simple, cost-effective, single element system that extracts energy from the solar spectrum from the infrared through the visible, and has recorded efficiencies of as much as 50%.
A few hours later, I got a call from a gentleman who had seen that I had registered for the Utility Scale Solar show, and wanted my opinion on it.
Immediately, I placed a called to one of my most senior associates in solar technolgies, consulting physicist Bruce Allen, who spends a great deal of life studying stuff like this. He says that this idea, still obviously in the R&D stage, has potential, but that it’s at least a decade from commerical application.
Of course, that’s only one man’s opinion. I’m wondering if anyone else would like to share a viewpoint on this fascinating and important topic.
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About Bruce Allen, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies” – Solar Photovoltaics
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
Bruce Allen is supremely well-qualified to have contibuted to the book’s chapter on photovoltaics. His recent book Reaching the Solar Tipping Point describes the key technologies and applications that are enabling solar energy to become a primary cost-effective energy source. He has designed solar concentrator systems sold worldwide and worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under contract to NASA, DOD and the US Missile Defense Agency.
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Offshore Oil Drilling
| March 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
2GreenEnergy associate Bruce Allen supports oil drilling off the coast of California as a means of cleaning up the huge amount of crude and methane that are poured into the ocean every day. But of course, this idea is counter-intuitive, insofar as most environmentalists work against the idea of any and all drilling.
Bruce is one of the world’s leading experts on this matter, as has spent a great deal of time in Washington DC, testifying in front of Congress, and speaking to large groups of interested people. Here’s a clip.
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More on the Global Warming "Debate"
| December 3, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
A couple other thoughts on the global warming (GW) “debate.” In the interview that I conducted with eminent physicist Bruce Allen for my book on renewables, he pointed out that there are numerous climatologists who do not support the anthropogenic GW theory but who have not published their ideas for fear of ridicule or reprisal. He claims that once this is taken into account, there is a healthy number (though still a minority, he admits) of skeptics in the ranks of serious scientists.
For the record, Bruce isn’t claiming that GW doesn’t exist; his real beef is that scientists who don’t toe the line on this subject are being suppressed, i.e., that politics is superceding science. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this, and if it’s true, of course I agree that this is unacceptable. Again, we seem to see simple corruption at work. Just like the oil companies have bought favoritism for fossil fuels, anyone can see that there is the potential for corruption here. No GW problem = no money to fix it.
Having said all this, my response is unchanged from my earlier post on the subject:
The only real issue is the level of certainty with which accept the theory. Are we “100% sure” or “sure beyond a reasonable doubt” that human activity is causing GW? Perhaps not. But do we really need to be? If the majority of the oncologists examining me told me that I had early stage cancer and a prompt operation would save my life—even if a minority weren’t sure—I’d have the operation every day of the week.
