Posts Tagged by energy efficiency
Energy Policy’s Difficult Choices
| May 10, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
I recently wrote a post critical of radical environmentalists who take rigid positions and refuse to make the tough choices that confront us all in the real world. In particular, I stand in disagreement with people’s unwillingness to exile the tortoises from 4613 acres (about five square miles) in the California desert that would have been used for a gigawatt of solar photovoltaics, an almost exact replacement for a full coal-fired power plant. Read More
This Month’s Webinar: Sustainable Supplies of Food
| April 24, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
Clean energy is just a part of the overall sustainability movement, yet it stands at the center of so many important issues. For example, the world supply of water and food are dependent on abundant energy, thus our very survival is threatened to the degree that we depend on non-renewable resources for generating energy.
In our webinar this month we will examine the subject of “sustainable food.” We will discuss the direction in which the world agribusinesses are taking us, and explore a cutting edge solution that has the potential to make a big difference here: aeroponics.
My guest will be Rafael Quezada, CEO of Tower Harvest, a leading expert in the deployment of aeroponics. I think you’ll be impressed by how many purely positive effects are created by aeroponics in terms of nutrition and health, energy efficiency, local growing – even job creation.
The webinar is Thursday at 10 AM PDT; I hope to see you there. Here’s the sign-up sheet: http://2greenenergy.com/free-webinar/.
Santa Barbara Celebrates Earth Day
| April 22, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
This afternoon I plan to take my daughter and a few of her friends down to the magnificent celebration of Earth Day that the city of Santa Barbara puts together each year. The show grows in scope each year; last year’s boasted many hundred exhibitors displaying concepts in energy efficiency, clean transportation, renewables, and cleantech more generally.
Wherever you are today, I hope you’ll take a few seconds and contemplate what “reduce, re-use, and recycle” can mean to you, your family, and your community.
2GreenEnergy at the 2012 Cleantech Forum
| March 16, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I plan to attend the last day (Wednesday, March 28th) of the 10th Cleantech Forum, to be held in San Francisco. The show does a great job in pulling together cleantech innovators, investors, corporate leaders and policy-makers from around the world. It’s always great to meet new people at the top of the field, and learn about the technologies that are shaping our future.
As the name suggests, there’s more to this than clean energy per se: energy efficiency, water, biofuels, electric vehicles, smart grid, etc.
If you happen to be in the Bay Area that day, please let me know, and let’s meet for a cup of coffee.
Are Electric Vehicles Really a Boon to the Environment?
| March 12, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
There are at least two kinds of “EV deniers” (as I call them), i.e., people who doubt that electric vehicles represent an improvement for the environment over gasoline. The first concept is that for the foreseeable future, an increase in the electric load means burning more coal. I.e., coal plants that would otherwise have been tamped down during off peak hours are instead running full-throttle through the night. Frequent commenter Glenn Doty points out that even California and the other states that have no coal buy power when they need it, and this ultimately means that somewhere, more coal is being burned.
Classically, I’ve addressed this by saying that we do indeed face the need to shut down coal plants; this is part of the reason that I favor a significant role of government in support of the migration to renewables and the ancillary areas: smart-grid, efficiency, conservation, energy storage, etc. I’ve also pointed out that the true externalities of fossil fuels are almost completely ignored in most of the arguments. E.g., as bad as coal is, it could be argued that it’s not as bad as oil because of international security issues. The costs (both financial and human) of war, terrorism, and civil unrest and injustice are enormous, and normally totally dismissed. As oil becomes scarcer, these problems will only get worse.
The other major class of objection Read More
For the Home Buyer: An Energy Efficiency “MPG” Sticker
| February 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Efficiency |
I had breakfast when I was back in New York last week with my friend and colleague Tom Konrad of AltEnergyStocks.com, during which we talked about all the “long-hanging fruit” for reducing the environmental impact associated with generating and consuming energy. Here’s one of Tom’s ideas that I really like: making a home energy audit mandatory whenever a house is sold. What if every home buyer had the equivalent of an EPA miles per gallon sticker — a rating of the energy efficiency of the furnace and the major appliances, as well as a grade for the level of insulation in the walls and roof? Read More
A Lot To Like About Forester Media’s Distributed Energy
| December 21, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Efficiency |
One of their properties is “Distributed Energy,” covering energy efficiency and, of course, distributed generation. I have dozens of ways I can add value to what they’re doing there, one of which I’m doing right now, urging readers to check them out, and subscribe to their free printed and electronic publication. Here’s the link to “Distributed Energy.”
Efficiency and Renewables Are Blood Brothers
| December 14, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Efficiency |
Very few people traipsing around this planet know more about energy efficiency than John Robbins. As he puts it: “Energy education for homeowners is my arena. I’ve thought, taught and written about it for a long time.” (Coming up on 30 years, to be exact.)
Efficiency and renewables are blood brothers; advocates of clean energy who aren’t pushing efficiency are completely missing the boat. And the fact that there is relatively little discussion of efficiency here is a sad truth that I’d like to rectify with great speed and force – which is why I’m encouraging John to put up more guest-blog posts soon.
Free Webinar: Energy Efficiency — Both How and Why
| December 5, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Efficiency |
I hope you’ll be able to join us for our December webinar, in which noted environmentalist and energy expert Bruce Severance will be my guest in a discussion we call: How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Existing Structures – and WHY.
Sorry if that title sounds a bit mysterious. Let me explain: From his vast experience as a design engineer, Bruce will offer us tips on eco-friendly construction and retrofit. But from his life-long advocacy for the environment, he proposes to tell us exactly why what we’re doing here and now has such a dramatic effect on the quality of the planet we’ll inhabit in a few years.
We hope you can join us on Tuesday, December 13 at 10 AM PST, for this fast-paced discussion, during which we’ll field your questions live.
The sign-up form is here: http://2greenenergy.com/free-webinar/.
How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Existing Structures – and WHY
| November 29, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainable Building |
Noted environmentalist and energy expert Bruce Severance will join me for December’s webinar: How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Existing Structures – and WHY.
Now, if that title carries with it a certain feeling of mystery, that’s not an accident. From his vast experience as a design engineer, Bruce will offer us tips on eco-friendly construction and retrofit. But it is from his life-long advocacy for the environment that he proposes to tell us exactly why what we’re doing here and now has such a dramatic effect on the quality of the planet we’ll inhabit in a few years.
Hope you can join us. Sign-up information will be available soon.
