Posts Tagged by Hydrokinetics
Basics of Renewable Energy
| April 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Just a quick note to let you know that our project to assemble audio/visual learning aids aimed at renewable energy is complete (for now, at least), and ready for distribution to any young people or newcomers in the subject you feel may benefit. It’s a compilation of a few short videos, in which I lay out each of the five major “flavors” of clean energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydro), and briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. Also included are “infographics” that further explore these technologies and the issues that surround them.
My aim, of course, is to introduce this subject to as many people as possible, in the hopes that we can drive up the number of informed discussions, so necessary to the success of the democratic process.
Please feel free to send this link to anyone in your life who you feel may benefit. Thanks.
Here’s the link: http://2greenenergy.com/renewable-energy-basic-concepts/
Video: Unique Approach To Hydrokinetics
| April 8, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
Here’s a video in which I speak to a unique approach and capability to hydrokinetics that applies in particular to large, predictable ocean currents like the Gulf Stream and the Mozambique Current off the coast of Eastern Africa. As I freely admit, there is no such thing as a free lunch, by which I mean all attempts at renewable energy come at an ecological cost — and ocean current is no exception. Having said that, and having studied more hydro-related ideas than I can count, I believe these guys have come across something extremely promising.
Hydrokinetics: Short Introductory Video
| March 17, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
In our continuing series of videos, whose purpose is to introduce newcomers to the subject of renewable energy, I offer this short piece on hydrokinetics, featuring a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the idea of extracting energy from moving water.
Though this sounds simple – and mankind has been harnessing that simplicity for thousands of years, it gets tricky now that there are seven billion energy-starved people on this small planet, and we’re desperately looking for sustainable ways of providing that energy.
Indeed, it’s not as easy as it seems. Anytime we insert a device into moving water, we face immediately a variety of issues, both ecological and logistical. I.e., we’re both changing the natural habitat in some ways that are hard to understand completely, and we’re also setting ourselves up to face huge costs associated with maintenance, as devices rust, and encounter things like biofouling, shifting current patterns, dynamic sea- and riverbeds, etc.
Hope you enjoy.
Ocean Current Energy Holds Potential
| March 9, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
Ocean current energy, a form of hydrokinetics, is one of the often-overlooked flavors of renewables, one that holds a great deal of potential. Low hanging fruit here, it appears, are the large and predictable currents that flow with very little variability over time. The Gulf Stream off the eastern seaboard of the United States comes immediately to mind to us Americans, as it’s what makes the Atlantic warm and enjoyable for summer vacations as far north as the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Lesser known to most of us here in the U.S. is the Mozambique Current in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, between Mozambique and Madagascar.
When I’m in the studio next week, I plan to shoot a short video that discusses various attempts to harness that energy in a cost-effective, ecologically safe manner. I’ve come across the developer of a device that is anchored (not moored) to the ocean floor, and thus can move around within the limits of its tether to find the region of maximum current. I’d like to see this guy succeed; his has one of the best ideas in hydrokinetics I’ve come across to date. If you’re interested, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch.
Webinar: Top Business Plans in Renewable Energy and Electric Transportation
| February 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Infographic: The Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy
| February 5, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Whenever I speak on renewable energy, I’m careful to leave my audience with a sense of the “tough realities.” We all want simple answers to our questions, but in the case of clean energy, none exist.
There are dozens of different flavors of solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal, each improving in terms of cost and efficiency, but at different rates. There are economic issues, as none of these flavors can compete with the dirtiest form of coal, if we don’t take into account the “externalities” like lung disease and environmental damage. And Lord knows there are political issues, where we have serious candidates for president of the U.S. who, if elected, boldly pledge to dismantle our Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. If this occurs, it would effectively end the efforts of the largest economy on Earth to migrate away from fossil fuels and nuclear. Read More
More on Renewable Energy Infographics
| January 8, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
I’m working on another in our series of renewable energy infographics, to present the basic concepts in a way that’s immediately understandable for newcomers to the subject. My current project is writing up “The Pros and Cons of Renewables.” The main point: all forms of energy, clean or dirty, come with a certain financial and ecological cost.
One of the main challenges associated with the migration to “new energy” is infrastructure, as unfortunately, renewable resources tend to exist far from our population centers, which requires an expensive build-out of our electrical grid. This article on Hydrokinetics in Alaska is a case in point. They have 350,000 miles of roaring rivers and tides that are incredible. Southern California, whose population is 40 times that of Alaska, is as hungry for those resources as a bear, fresh out of hibernation, fishing for a salmon.
Infographic – All Forms of Energy on Earth Came from the Big Bang
| December 4, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
As a part of our ongoing quest to produce “infographics” that lay out the basics of energy, I invite you to check out the chart here, presenting the notion that all the energy we harness and use here on Earth came to us indirectly from the Big Bang. Whether we’re talking about nuclear, fossil fuels, or the many different forms of renewables, those forms of energy have been made available to us via one of four different pathways through time and space since that event 13.7 billion years ago.
The Basic Renewable Energy Technologies
| November 26, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
