Here’s a continuation in our series of videos made for young people and newcomers to the subject who may benefit from an introduction to certain of the renewable energy technologies. This piece, less than five minutes in length, is a primer on hydrokenetics, i.e., extracting energy from moving water.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76e8voDgI6U]
EVWorld has a wonderfully encouraging article on renewables that begins:
Pop quiz time. The fastest growing energy sector in terms of percentage of growth in the United States between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011 was: A) natural gas, B) nuclear power, C) renewable energy?
The answer is C, renewable energy (RE) by a huge margin. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), RE grew by 27.12%. That includes biofuels, biomass, geothermal, solar, water, and wind. By comparison, natural gas production increased 13.66%, while crude oil grew 14.27%. Nuclear power, in contrast, shrunk 1.99% and coal dropped 7.16%.
All true, but one can find different facts that would support a different conclusion. E.g., under 5% of the U.S. grid mix is renewable energy (if you don’t count hydroelectric dams), so talking about percent growth of this small number may not be the most relevant stat.
EVWorld covered the electric vehicle start-up Coda in its weekly newsletter, pointing out that the car lacks certain features that are standard in other EVs.
The fact that Coda is still around amazes me. Coda offers a “consumer value proposition” from hell (and it’s this concept that I believe to be at the forefront of the entire EV adoption curve). Here, you have an expensive, unattractive, low-quality car sold by a company whose continued existence (required if its warranty is to have any value) is at best questionable.
I simply can’t imagine who’s going to find that appealing.
If that company succeeds, it will show that I really have no idea what I’m talking about in this space, so you’ll want to discount every word I say. 🙂
Question: How many industrial chemicals are in use right now?
Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732.
Relevance: Every day, we introduce 3 – 5 new chemicals, less than 1% of which are tested for toxicity.
Here’s a short video in which I interview Tower Harvest CEO Rafael Quezada on the subject of aeroponics, a unique approach and capability re: growing produce organically, with a very minimum of space. This is a technology that can have a hugely positive impact on the coming global food shortage.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rVi2Bpcfas&w=500&h=369]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rVi2Bpcfas&w=420&h=315]
We all hope that the investments we make grow over time — figuratively speaking — i.e., the asset value grows. In this short video, I discuss an investment opportunity that literally grows: your own grove of teak trees. I look at it as the ultimate in socially responsible investing (SRI).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj9gfTUCqic]
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]
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]
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]
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…)
