I’m happy to announce that Robert Benedict, a key player in the solar PV arena since 2005, will be coming on as a 2GreenEnergy Associate shortly.
I met Robert at last year’s Renewable Energy Finance Forum in San Francisco, when he was still head of business development in North America for JinkoSolar, one of the top six crystalline PV manufacturers (more…)
I had a pleasant surprise yesterday, when an old friend from my wife’s horse-breeding business (in fact, the very first person who ever bought a horse from us) unexpectedly contacted me on 2GreenEnergy. He’s an affluent Jamaican who was looking for a renewable energy solution to offset roughly a megawatt of electricity that he needs for a significant amount of restaurant refrigeration, for which he’s paying $0.40 per kilowatt hour.
“Wow, my friend. That’s $400 an hour, 24X7. Yikes,” I proffered sympathetically. (more…)
My team and I will soon be writing a grant application for a company whose core expertise is in the environmentally responsible destruction of CFCs, through the collection and “demanufacturing” of old refrigerators and freezers, and the renovation of buildings containing polyurethane (CFC-based) insulation.
There is clearly a social good at stake here, which is required to motivate me to ask the tax-payer to fork over money to support it. In fact, in this case, there are two:
• Electricity rate-payers will experience lower costs than they otherwise would have, as the removal of inefficient appliances mitigates the need to build costly new power plants.
• The entire human race and all life forms on Earth benefit from a cleaner environment and climate stability.
The no-nukes people are celebrating a considerable victory today out here in sunny California: the permanent closing of the San Onofre Nuclear Waste Generating Station. Anti-nuclear activist Ace Hoffman writes:
The letter that (senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for Southern California Edison) Pete Dietrich sent this morning to San Onofre employees suggests that the real reason SCE is closing San Onofre Nuclear Waste Generating Station is because of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board’s involvement in the case. The ASLB would not be looking into the problems at San Onofre Nuclear Waste Generating Station if Friends of the Earth (FOE) hadn’t pushed the issue with carefully-planned legal actions. (more…)
Last week we published our 3000th blog post — a magnificent opportunity for me to express my profound gratitude to our many supporters: guest-bloggers and frequent commenters, interns, associate service providers, and, of course, the people without whom none of this could happen: the clean energy investors and entrepreneurs who become our clients.
Collectively, we’ve made a real difference in the trajectory towards a sustainable future. And with your continued help, there is plenty more good stuff to come. Thanks again.
I hope you’ll take a moment and click here to add your comments, suggestions for future direction, etc.
Best regards,
Craig Shields
Energy efficiency is not as difficult as it may sound. While most people aren’t in a position to custom-build a LEED certified home, they are in position to do and add a few things around their homes to make them work better. The following are a few of those things that will help your room be a little more energy-efficient.
Unplug Unused Items
Unplugging what you aren’t actively using can save you a bundle. Many people keep stereo equipment, computers and other items plugged in even when they aren’t being used. This causes what is called passive power draw, and it can be up to 20% of what the device uses when it’s actually on. Unplug these things and turn off appliances like your stove and clothes dryer at the breakers, and you can save a lot on your monthly energy bills. (more…)
As the green lifestyle becomes more popular, it should come as no surprise that more programs and incentives are being offered to help people convert. An Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) is a lesser known service that can be a real help to homeowners looking to refinance or those buying a new home. It allows them to finance energy saving upgrades right into your mortgage. This is perfect for people who are interested in adding solar panels to their home, upgrading old windows and insulation, and exploring alternative heating solutions. If it will save you energy, it can most likely finance it through an EEM. (more…)
Kari Yates just sent me this really good infographic on renewable energy that I thought I’d share. Fabulous concepts. I especially like the section on “what government can do.” From your lips to God’s ears, as they say.
Here’s a link to the radio show I just did on raising capital for cleantech companies.
This discussion was a bit rambling, and the host and I hunted and punched around a great number of issues, but I think we made some solid and important points: (more…)
I’m doing a radio talk show in a few minutes, on which I’ll be discussing raising money for clean energy ventures. I’ll post a link to the archive when it’s available shortly.
Shows like this pose an interesting dilemma: I don’t want to come off as a bearer of bad news, but raising seed capital for start-ups is always tough, and doing so for new ideas that compete with cheap natural gas can be a real beast. On top of that, most of the ideas floating around this space are not nearly as good as their creators believe them to be.
Having said all this, there really are some good ideas out there, and I want to provide help and encouragement to move them along. Always an interesting challenge.
