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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s a video in which I introduce a new 2GreenEnergy Associate – Dan Sturges, a senior consultant in sustainable transportation.  As we sit here today, there are a few dozen of the world’s great cities that have extremely aggressive goals with respect to transforming the way their citizens move their bodies and their cargo — those who aspire to become beacons of hope and progress in this space.

While most state and local government groups are happy to maintain the status quo for as long as possible, thank goodness, that’s not true of all.  And for these few forces of progress, Dan stands ready to help them wrap their wits around all the issues re: electric transportation, mass transit, car-sharing, incentives to encourage for walking, biking, ride-sharing, car-sharing, etc.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMAj417ATVg]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in 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.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbSjUppHDkw]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s a short video I made recently on a company in Michigan that I believe to be one of the most promising players in neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) aka low-speed electric vehicles (LSEVs).  These guys have the design, the team, and the background to be quite successful in this space.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGMjGlMZLA0&w=500&h=369]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I wrote a piece a few months ago on nay-sayers to wind, in which I pointed out that the UK’s Duke of Edinburgh just may be the king.  In it, I noted:

Here in the U.S., we have climate change deniers, and all manner of other opponents to renewable energy. In essence, they’re the oil and coal companies, the members of Congress they influence, and those who believe the torrents of propaganda they generate on “clean coal,” “safe nuclear,” and the other oxymorons that are creeping into our vocabularies.

In the U.K. however, they come in the form of certain members of the nobility. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I figured it was time to read the seminal pieces on environmentalism and sustainability.  So, for Christmas, I asked my daughter for a copy of Beyond the Limits, the follow-up to Donella Meadows’ et. al. The Limits to Growth.  Very good, but very frightening.    

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Here’s a wonderful discussion that illustrates how an apparent no-brainer in terms of the replacement of diesel with solar on an island nation (Anguilla) can become a complicated mess.

In particular, the chairman of the Anguilla Renewable Energy Office says, “As we all know, you can’t store electricity, it has to be used when it is generated.” (They need a new chairman.) Also, per a local solar consultant: “(where) Jamaica, St. Lucia, Greneda, and other islands have implemented net-metering in some form, Anguilla has not. This means that you can have solar, but you cannot interconnect it with the grid. All the developed countries of the world incentivize solar, Anguilla outlaws it.”

Yep, that’s a mess all right.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Don Harmon of LiFeBatt, a long-time 2GreenEnergy reader, writes in about my recent video on clean energy:

Good interview. We are currently working on a project in the Caribbean Islands for solar and wind generation. The islands are a very ripe opportunity now for implementing green energy because they are mostly dependent on buying diesel fuel from Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the cost is atrocious. So, may we see these islands go green way before the U.S. does? Since there is virtually no infrastructure, we have a blank slate to work with, and of course battery storage backup will be a key ingredient.

Thanks, Don. Yes, I think we’ll absolutely see this, for the reasons you name and more. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I absentmindedly forgot to get a Kindle version made of Is Renewable Really Doable? until just now.  Here it is, for anyone who wants it; I recall a few people asked me about it.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an article whose theme we’ve discussed a great deal here: the disdain that certain of our elected leaders have for science. Personally, I have a tough time with people who expect to be taken seriously who write off evolution as “just a theory – one that has some holes in it” or dismiss climate change as a hoax despite the testimony of 97+% of the scientific community.

It looks like my viewpoints are losing ground here, however, since, as the article shows with a great precision, there is a large and rapidly growing segment of American voters who harbor an active distrust for science. I share the conclusion the author provided: “Yikes. That’s certainly not a good sign for fans of reality-based decision making.”

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

In response to my fairly pessimistic piece on global economic collapse, human nature, and its impact on sustainability, Cameron Atwood writes:

Excellent observations, Craig,

However, let me play the angel’s advocate by pointing out that we emerged from our wild hunter-gatherer state through tribal cooperation in agrarian and civic pursuits. Even the chartered corporation could be argued as a variety of cooperation (though fiercely and stridently imperfect). (more…)

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