Posts Tagged by Craig Shields
Survey: Given Our Energy Policies, How Likely Is It…..?
| May 19, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
I’d like to ask a favor, if I may. We have a quick survey up on the 2GreenEnergy website – one that, interestingly enough, calls for you to predict the future. Given our current energy policies and the rate at which they’re changing, what do you think the world will be like five years from now? What events do you believe are likely to occur between now and the year 2017? Which do you think are improbable?
As usual, we’ll tabulate the results and offer you a free copy of the report that comes as a result.
And as always, we appreciate your help.
Here’s the link:
http://2greenenergy.com/survey-what-will-happen-in-the-next-five-years/
From Guest Blogger Brian McGowan: Solar Cooking — Because I Can
| May 13, 2012 | Posted by Brian McGowan under Solar Thermal |
For amusement only….
Today I cooked mashed potatoes in my solar oven. The oven is made of one of those shiny windshield shades, a rack from an old countertop oven, a very large clear plastic pretzel container and a 2lb 13oz Prego spagetti sauce jar which I painted black with high temperature paint except for a stripe I left so I could look at what was going on in there. I peeled and cut potatoes to fill the jar and added water and put the arrangement out in the sun around 12:30. About 6:30 I retrieved the arrangement and brought the jar in to see what I had.
Basics of Renewable Energy
| April 12, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Ross Guthrie, one of 2GreenEnergy’s web-programming superstars, has just completed this page that offers a compilation of the Basics of Renewable Energy, the videos and infographics that my team and I have been putting together over the past few months. It looks sharp to me, but I’d be interested in your opinion.
I encourage you to send this to young people or newcomers to the subject who may be looking for an accessible starting point.
Aeroponics Vs. the Global Food Shortage
| April 9, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
Here’s a short video in which I interview Tower Harvest CEO Rafael Quezada on the subject of aeroponics, a unique approach and capability re: growing produce organically, with a very minimum of space. This is a technology that can have a hugely positive impact on the coming global food shortage.
Webinar: The Future of Transportation
| February 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
Though we all want simple solutions, none exist. Currently, transportation is redundant, heavy, bulky, fossil-fuel-reliant, and unaffordable in every sense of the word. But what can be done to invoke things like mass transit, ride-sharing, micro-rentals, and small, light, and inexpensive urban transportation? What can be done to reduce car ownership — or at least the total number of miles driven? How can we encourage walking and bicycling? What about rethinking how and where we live?
Renewable Energy: Vision or Mirage
| December 12, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Think we advocates of renewables in the U.S. have trouble? Our friends in the U.K. are running into a buzzsaw of misinformation, like the report “Renewable Energy: Vision or Mirage”, published today by the Adam Smith Institute and Scientific Alliance. The report includes:
“Wind does little to reduce carbon emissions.”
and
“Nuclear and gas are the most viable energy sources for the near future.”
What a remarkable thing to say, when the U.K. has already installed enough wind turbines to provide clean electricity to more than 3.2 million homes, according to RenewableUK, the trade association representing the wind, wave, and tidal energy industries. RenewableUK also makes the point that I always do about nuclear: even if you consider it safe, it takes a minimum of eight years to permit and build a reactor, and the cost overruns are legendary. Referring to it as “viable” seems ridiculous.
Happy Birthday Voltaire!
| November 21, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
It’s the 317th birthday of Voltaire, one of my favorite people in history. I loved Candide, the work for which he’s best known today, but I admire him even more for his free-minded political philosophy, exemplified by this pithy remark: “As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.”
I invite you to contemplate the state of the world for a moment and realize how true this is.
Electric Transportation Conference in Los Angeles — Craig Shields to Speak on the EV Adoption Curve
| July 6, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
I’m speaking at an Electric Transportation conference in Los Angeles in a few weeks, in which I’ve been asked to take on the issue of the EV adoption curve – a subject near and dear to my heart. Here’s Boston Consulting Group’s take on the matter, in which they expect to see pure (battery) EV and plug-in hybrids growing 5% globally by 2020. It’s a bit unclear what this means. 5% more EVs on the road than today? 5% of new car sales? 5% of total cars on the roads?
In any case, they’re looking at some of the right variables: oil prices, battery energy densities, consumer willingness to pay a bit more for an eco-friendly car, and improvements in the economy of internal combustion engines. But what they’ve missed is what I would call the “sociological phenomenon” of EVs.
I predict that the power of the “word of mouth” that takes place when we get more than a few hundred LEAFs and Volts on the road (not to mention EVs from BMW, Ford, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, etc.) will be enormous. We’ve seen countless times that consumer demand – even for stupid products – can explode in a short period of time. I predict that in spades for EVs.
Hot News from Washington DC: EVs are Good
| April 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
I just had a meeting with Jeff Siegel of GreenChipStocks at the Electric Drive Transportation Association conference. When we were finished talking business, we compared notes on the event.
While it’s good to see all this happening, my personal belief is that politics, being, as it is, about consensus, tends to make for some really boring presentations. This is sad, because in truth, the migration to EVs (and renewables) is chock full of interesting and important controversy. When one considers the competition for establishing standards, the fights for subsidies and incentives, and so forth, there is actually very little agreement.
All you’re left with is that “EVs are good,” and that “the details will emerge over time.” I’m not sure we need a conference to present that.
I write this from Union Station, waiting for my train to Philadelphia. Staying at Mom’s; driving to NYC in the AM.
Cold Fusion — Hoax or Legitimate Science?
| April 10, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Nuclear |
