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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I’ve been in correspondence with a fellow in the UK about his invention: an eco-friendly shower using electrically heated water.  The good news: it uses 80% less  energy and 80% less water than the conventional approach.  The bad news is that it recirculates the water until you’re ready for your final rinse, then it recirculates the rinse water until you’re ready to get out.

This calls to mind a simple truth of eco-friendliness generally: it normally comes at a cost – and the question then becomes: Are we willing to pay that cost?  In this case, given the current price of water and energy in the developed world, the answer is probably no, but there may be places – and times – where this changes.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Here’s an article that reminds us that every day, we see more evidence of the fact that divestment campaigns, i.e., the drive to get institutional investors to divest their holdings in fossil fuel companies, are gaining strength.  Though it’s hard to imagine this making a serious impact on the ability of the oil, gas and coal companies to raise the capital they need to continue and expand their operations, this is nonetheless incredibly powerful stuff, for at least two different reasons.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Here’s an article that illustrates a principle I often discuss here: the lack of proper incentives and regulation to get the power utilities to embrace energy efficiency.  As a society, we need to use less energy, but that will only happen when all the stakeholders are rewarded by making it so.

As SmartGridNews ace Jesse Berst notes:  “Although utilities are often mandated to encourage energy efficiency, they rarely receive incentives. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Have you ever put your hand next to the window on a cold winter night and felt a draft? All the drafts that you feel, and many that go unnoticed, are not only compounding your electricity bill each month but are also increasing your carbon footprint.

Your carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent) associated with various actions and activities that we undertake every day. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

While the electric car is commonly seen as a future technology, the late 19th to early 20th century saw peak popularity for this mode of powering engines. At the time, electricity was easier to use, and electric cars easier to maintain and operate, than the gasoline-powered cars of the era.

Once advances were made in internal combustion technology, though, electric cars faded from the public’s memory in favor of cheaper, mass-produced gasoline-powered cars.

Now, with environmental issues becoming an ever-bigger concern, interest in the electric car is stirring again.

There are still a few obstacles to overcome before the electric car earns widespread adoption, including: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

Gone are the days when people would think you were a hippie for doing your recycling.

Nowadays more and more people are switching on to the importance of reducing waste and living more sustainably. Academic institutions are embracing the green movement, with many campuses recycling and encouraging a reduction in waste.

These four college go above and beyond the basics with their amazing green credentials. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I often shake my head when I read articles about the alternative-fuel movement in the automotive industry and the constant proliferation of clean-burning fuels.  Last week, Volvo Trucks became the first manufacturer to announce plans to commercialize dimethyl ether (DME)-powered heavy-duty commercial vehicles in North America as part of its “Blue Power” alternative fuel strategy.

Per the article linked above:  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Smart Grid

Whenever I speak to an audience about the burgeoning opportunities in clean energy, I’m careful not to overlook the analytics segment. The global EAUA market (energy analytics and utility analytics market, meaning solar analytics, oil & gas analytics, water analytics, and waste analytics), which, according to Global Energy World, is estimated to grow from $1.42 billion in 2013 to $4.74 billion in 2018. This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27.3% from 2013 to 2018. In terms of regions, North America is expected to be the biggest market.

This, of course, is only a part of the puzzle, as it omits a host of other things that are in the process of becoming extremely important to us, like vehicle to grid.  Here, we mean the management of many millions of batteries in electric vehicles at various levels of charge, each of which has the potential to play a role in the health and viability of the overall grid.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Technology is being used to make it easier and more beneficial for people to do their part to preserve the environment.

Innovations in recycling, energy production, auto manufacturing and other areas are constantly emerging, and they have helped reduce the negative effects of human activities on the environment significantly.

Additionally, supporters of the green movement are utilizing the latest communication trends to spread the word about the importance of environmental protection.

So, how is technology contributing to the betterment of the environment? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Within this one story of today’s successful flight of the solar-powered airplane “Solar Impulse” lies essentially all the promise and challenge of renewable energy.

Solar energy is there for the taking, but the level of the incidence of solar power on the Earth, and the variability of that power, require us to go to certain lengths to make use of it.  The result in this quirky little space (solar aviation) is a plane that boasts as much upward-facing wing surface – and as little of everything else – as possible.  Even taking that concept to the max, and deploying the greatest use of materials science the early 21st Century can muster, the plane is capable of only about 50 MPH.  It’s just a reminder that we get lots of energy from the sun – 6000 times more every day than all 7 billion of us consume – yet bringing the costs down and the efficiencies up to the point where solar represents a large percentage of our overall energy output is no picnic.

Of course, that’s not a reason to not keep trying.  Solar and the other major forms of renewable energy are becoming less expensive and more efficient every month.

This suggests a way to integrate  a Happy Fathers’ Day word to my fellow dads, via a reminder: real men care about the quality of the planet they leave behind.

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