Posts Tagged by stimulus funds
Stimulus Funding Continues to Help Homeowners Cut Energy Costs, Lower Environmental Impact
| October 1, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainable Building |
A significant part of the stimulus money from the Department of Energy has enabled homeowners to perform extremely cost-effective retrofits for energy efficiency. A lovely and articulate spokesperson from Energy Upgrade California I met at the AltCarExpo in Santa Monica explained to me how the “whole house approach” (stopping leaks, using energy efficient windows, saving on water with low-flo toilets and showers, and efficient heating and air-conditioning systems) can reduce energy bills, improve building comfort, enhance indoor air quality, and reduce the impact on the environment.
I asked for examples of what she meant by “building comfort and air quality.” Read More
Renewables — What Are the Economic Realities?
| August 30, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
In response to my white paper on The Tough Realities of Marketing and Sales, a reader points out a few of the economic realities that, in his mind, supersede the points I make in the report. In particular, he notes that there is currently no true market economy for things like biofuels:
All Sustainable businesses have a particular feature: they are always evaluated on a payback or IRR basis. We are in an oil based economy and not on a Sustainable Economy. Biofuels and energy are not marketable by any company but the utilities or distribution companies in each case. You can get biofuels from many technologies, but at the gas station you buy oil, not biofuels. Probably if you look, you will find a huge law on biofuels and how they can be marketed that is everything but compelling for biofuels to be used. Taxes alone make the business tough and customers are wary about using biofuels even in low percentages … Either taxes are on the side of biofuels or they always need incentives and subsidies to be competitive.
The reader goes on to point out that the same lack of liquidity exists for electricity: Read More
