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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

A friend who follows the world of transportation just wrote, bemoaning the horrible congestion on our freeways and suggesting that we need a paradigm for personal mobility, insofar as our current cars are so big and bulky, and that they’re used so inefficiently (average 1.1 occupants per vehicle).  In passing, he mentioned the success of the Tesla Model S.  “General Motors should have built the Model S.  BMW should have built the Model S. But neither did, and it took someone with vision and the right resources to make it happen.”

I respond:

That’s certainly a good point. But are you accrediting GM and BMW with an interest in doing anything other than selling cars profitably?  They want ‘em big and expensive, they don’t care if they’re empty, and they want as many as possible of them on our roads. Until they have an incentive to change that, we can all be looking forward to more of the same.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Here’s a terrific website dedicated to helping the world understand the true price of oil, i.e., that there are numerous “externalities,” or costs that are passed along to others associated with each gallon of gasoline we use.  Who’s paying the costs to clean up the environment?  Care for damaged lungs?  Prosecute wars all over the globe to maintain access to oil?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

A reader with a long position on Axion Power (AXPW) asked for my opinion.  He notes from their 2012 10-K: “Our PbC energy storage device is a hybrid battery supercapacitor that combines the simplicity of lead-acid batteries with the faster recharge rate, longer cycle life and greater charge acceptance of supercapacitors.”  Also, readily recyclable at end of life.

As it turns out, my friend and frequent 2GreenEnergy commenter Tom Konrad has written about Axion Power up one side and down the other.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s another good reason that I wouldn’t last 10 minutes in politics: I just don’t have the required facility with the language.  Who can compete on the podium with Ron Johnson (R-WI), who accuses the groups associated with climate change mitigation of “Environmental Jihad?” 

That’s some seriously clever stuff.  Most people would have said his position, i.e., climate change denial, is the more radical and extreme view, given the 97% of climate scientists who concur that anthropogenic global warming is a real and potentially catastrophic threat to our civilization.  Apparently, Johnson’s thinking is simple: Label the enemy the extremist, before they hit you with it, and come up with the scariest, most defamatory name you possibly can.  Again, that’s crafty stuff — and it’s totally out of my league.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Geothermal

I tend to be critical of the U.S. government’s failure to take on a leadership role in promoting renewable energy, but I forget how far we’ve come.  This piece describing the U.S. Department of Interior opening up public lands for geothermal, and assisting in the development of 20 gigawatts of this clean, baseload power by 2020, reminds me that it was only a few years ago, under the previous administration, that the activities of this group were essentially confined to rubber-stamping land leased for the oil companies at advantages rates — far below their fair market value.  The Obama people tend to be far more progressive in this space, and deserve credit accordingly.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

As I mentioned when I posted this satirical piece on “Exxon Hates Your Kids,” I thought I had a knack for insulting the oil companies; these people make me look like Mr. Rogers (pictured left).  Apparently, they’re at it again, with this funny and (slightly) less abrasive piece.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

The U.S solar industry keeps putt-putting along instead of moving full steam ahead. Why? The go-to answer is soft costs. But that doesn’t tell us much.

The term “soft costs” doesn’t even have a universally accepted definition. What does it mean? We can say for sure it doesn’t mean hardware or mounting systems. Soft costs are usually intangible expenses, like marketing, labor, design, installation, and permitting.

So why are they so expensive? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It’s never too early to start teaching environmental awareness, and while preschools and nursery schools are teaching it, they can go green at the same time.

Parents invest far beyond the tuition costs by sending their children to preschool and nursery school – they want them to be safe and healthy.

Here are some things schools can do to be green and some things the kids and families can do as well. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Contrary to popular belief, the Philippines has four kinds of weather, namely: hot, very hot, rainy, and very rainy.

To say that the Philippine weather is unpredictable is an understatement. It may be hot and dry in one minute and rainy and flooding in the next.

It’s these kinds of weather changes that can be termed as “hell” for the local construction and architectural businesses. They’re faced with opposing obstacles that raises their stakes on quality and sustainability for housing and any other property developments. It may be a challenge but it’s not exactly impossible. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Ocean Thermal

I may have mentioned that I own some stock in Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation — the runaway leader in OTEC technology as far as I can discern.  For those who may have missed it, here’s the webinar that I did on the subject with their OTECorp’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Jim Greenberg last year.

Jim  happens to be in town for a few days, and I’ll be meeting with him later this afternoon to discuss the two arenas in which he’s focused, i.e., strategy and marketing.  He’s a terrific guy, and I’m looking forward to seeing if I can’t add value to what he’s thinking in terms of corporate development and expansion.

I believe that OTEC has a brilliant future.  There are over one billion people who live near tropical ocean waters that can provide an enormous amount of free fuel that now, for the first time, can be cost-effectively converted into electricity.

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