Blog – Page 1558 – 2GreenEnergy.com

Do Biofuels Hold the Promise They Claim?

craigshieldsPosted on March 3, 2012 Posted in Biomass

I’m one of these people who essentially runs his life off his “to-do” list — a list of incomplete actions in a Word file that is always open, to which I’m constantly adding, deleting, and reprioritizing.

Here’s something I’ve looked at every day for the last few weeks:

Identify and support a few of the top players in biofuels. Short list: Enerkem, LanzaTech, ZeaChem, Virent Energy Systems, Sapphire Energy, Coskata, Terrabon, Mascoma, Cobalt Technologies, Joule Unlimited, Genomatica, Algenol, SG Biofuels.

I suppose I really DO need to do this, but I’m dreading the task. (more…)

Tagged with: Algenol, alternative energy, biofuels contaminants in our rivers, biofuels higher food prices, clean energy, Cobalt Technologies, Coskata, efficiency of biofuels, Enerkem, Genomatica, green energy, Joule Unlimited, LanzaTech, Mascoma, Renewable Energy, Sapphire Energy, SG Biofuels, Terrabon, Virent Energy Systems, ZeaChem

Clean Energy Technology Is Developed in Mysterious Ways

craigshieldsPosted on March 3, 2012 Posted in Solar Thermal

It’s the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, whose telephone came as the accidental consequence of his interest in developing a tool that might teach deaf people how to speak. To me, it’s another reminder that accidental discoveries are extremely common. My friend Wally Rippel discussed this with me last time we got together.

When Sputnik was launched, we were thinking about bombs and spy satellites. Now, the applications are hurricane observation and navigational systems. (more…)

Tagged with: Alexander Graham Bell, alternative energy, clean energy, clean energy technology, concentrated solar power, CSP, green energy, Renewable Energy, Rudolph Diesel, Solar Thermal, Sputnik, Wally Rippel

Thanks to The Environmental Law Institute (Spokespeople Jay Pendergrass and Lisa Goldman) For Their Contribution to “Is Renewable Really Doable?”

craigshieldsPosted on March 3, 2012 Posted in Renewables - Science

In my quest to unpack the issues of government subsidies and incentives, I wanted to ask the Environmental Law Institute to go on record and explain their graphic “Energy Subsidies Black, Not Green” and the accompanying paper, “Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008.” The organization believes that the current energy and climate debate would benefit from a broader understanding of both the explicit and hidden government subsidies that affect energy use throughout the economy. In an effort to examine this issue, they conducted a review of fossil fuel and renewable energy subsidies for those years.

I thank ELI spokespeople Jay Pendergrass and Lisa Goldman for this wonderfully insightful interview.

Tagged with: ELI, energy and climate debate, Energy Subsidies Black -- Not Green, Environmental Law Institute, Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008, Is Renewable Really Doable, Jay Pendergrass, Lisa Goldman, subsidies and incentives

An End to Subsidies for Big Oil?

craigshieldsPosted on March 2, 2012 Posted in Fossil Fuels

Every once in a while I hear something from Washington D.C. that provides a ray of hope that perhaps a bit of sanity may eventually prevail in the U.S. energy policy. Obama sure has disappointed a bunch of people in the last couple of years – especially the people who voted for him — but here’s something he said the other day:

Does anyone really think that Congress should give them another $4 billion dollars this year? Of course not. It’s outrageous. It’s inexcusable. And I’m asking Congress: Eliminate this oil industry giveaway right away. I want them to vote on this in the next few weeks. Let’s put every single member of Congress on record. You can stand with the oil companies or you can stand up for the American people. You can keep subsidizing a fossil fuel that’s been getting taxpayer dollars for a century or you can place your bets on a clean energy future.

Btw, it’s FAR more than $4 billion when you add them all up.

In any case, as they say, hope springs eternal.

Tagged with: BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, subsidies for big oil

Thanks to Thomas Konrad, Ph.D., For His Contribution to “Is Renewable Really Doable?”

craigshieldsPosted on March 2, 2012 Posted in Renewables - Science

I first met Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in the alternative energy sector, in my quest to align 2GreenEnergy with some heavy-duty know-how in this arena. He’s a portfolio manager, and freelance writer – best known for the innumerable blog posts he’s written on AltEnergyStocks.com, and at the Green Stocks blog on Forbes.com.

Tom’s Ph.D. is in mathematics, specifically “complex dynamics,” a branch of chaos theory. His study here led to his conviction that knowing the limits of our ability to predict is much more important than predictions themselves, a lesson he applies to both climate science and the financial markets.

I feel I’ve learned a great deal from him, and I’ve very much enjoyed the association.

Again, my thanks for a terrific contribution.

Tagged with: AltEnergyStocks.com, chaos theory, complex dynamics, Green Stocks blog on Forbes.com, Is Renewable Really Doable, Ph.D. in mathematics, Thomas Konrad

Infographics: The Pros and Cons of Solar Energy

craigshieldsPosted on March 1, 2012 Posted in Solar Thermal

We’re working up another in our series of infographics, in our quest to lay out some of the basics of renewable energy for people who may be new to the subject. Here’s the text that I propose to use for a piece called “The Pros and Cons of Solar Energy,” which I posted on Renewable Energy World.com the other day.

Tagged with: alternative energy, basics of renewable energy, clean energy, green energy, infographics, Pros and Cons of Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, RenewableEnergyWorld

Please Do NOT Buy My Book (Today)

craigshieldsPosted on March 1, 2012 Posted in Renewables - Business

Obviously, I’m hoping you’ll want to buy my new book, Is Renewable Really Doable? – on its official launch day, March 15th.

But not today.

The 15th is the magic date when I’m offering a one-day-only bonus — a hot new report currently for sale at $59.95 (“Insights in LCOE – The Levelized Cost of Energy,” by industry analyst Mike Hess) – absolutely free – when you buy one or more copies of my book from Amazon.com.

The 15th is the time to act, for anyone who’s ever wondered: (more…)

Tagged with: book on renewable energy, clean energy venture capitalists, credit crunch, end of cheap oil, Insights in LCOE – The Levelized Cost of Energy, Is Renewable Really Doable, March 15th, Mike Hess, world’s biggest governments and the adoption of clean energy

U.S. Army Embracing Clean Energy in a Big Way

craigshieldsPosted on March 1, 2012 Posted in Renewables - Business

In this fascinating presentation, we can see the U.S. Army changing its culture vis-à-vis energy. “Every soldier is a power manager.” Wow!

Tagged with: alternative energy, clean energy, embracing clean energy, green energy, Renewable Energy, U.S. Army

Thanks to Stephan A. Schwartz For His Contribution to “Is Renewable Really Doable?”

craigshieldsPosted on March 1, 2012 Posted in Renewables - Science

For those who may want a perspective on the migration to renewable energy that you’re extremely unlikely to find elsewhere, I present to you Stephan A. Schwartz, whose life has been spent exploring extraordinary human functioning, and how individuals and small groups can affect, and have affected, social change.

His work in parapsychology, archaeology, anthropology, medicine and healing, creativity, and social policy pair nicely with the questions I ask myself a great deal: What’s really going on behind the scenes when it comes to social phenomena? (more…)

Tagged with: anthropology, archaeology, creativity, extraordinary human functioning, human consciousness, Is Renewable Really Doable, medicine and healing, parapsychology, social change, social phenomena, social policy, Stephan A. Schwartz

Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation Leads the Way in OTEC

craigshieldsPosted on March 1, 2012 Posted in Ocean Thermal

As the name suggests, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, which I visited on my last trip back to the East Coast, is one of the leaders in the development of OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion), a technology with huge potential to change the world energy picture. Best of all, these folks, while they’re true business professionals and leading scientists, are acutely aware of the environmental benefits at stake here. More than one billion people live in the tropics, close to oceans that store vast amounts of energy in their warm surface waters that can be cleanly converted to electricity, or used in desalination, providing potable drinking water to large and growing populations where this commodity is scarce. (more…)

Tagged with: alternative energy, Amy Maddox, clean energy, desalination, Ed Rendell, energy in oceans’ warm surface waters, environmental benefits, green energy, grid mix, ocean thermal energy conversion, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, OTEC, OTECorporation, potable drinking water, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Finance Forum, Underneath We’re All the Same