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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I just had a lovely meeting with Karen Palmer, a local environmentalist who wanted my advice on a board game for children called “Let’s Save Our Earth.”  The game is won by correctly answering questions about ecology, sustainability, and the relevant aspects of biology — a terrific idea from a wonderful person.

As I told her, my 30 years’ experience as a marketing consultant doesn’t contain too many projects with consumer products, and not a single one with games. Having said that, I gave her this free advice — possibly worth exactly what she paid for it:

Sure you can sell this through stores of various types, but the promotion required to make this a success would be huge. I would concentrate on the school system.  Funding for education has been tragically cut, but there is still an appetite for low-cost ways of achieving important objectives.  Since funding for public education comes from the state level, be prepared to create different versions for each of the 50, starting with the most obvious choices. The “California Edition” could have a preponderance of questions about the ecosystems here, the specific endangered species, the shortage of water, the marine and desert habitats, etc. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Those who have taken my recommendation and start every morning with Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac know that four years ago today, on Arthur C. Clarke’s 90th birthday, he:

… recorded a video in which he says goodbye to his friends and fans. In it, he said: “I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I hope we’ve learnt something from the most barbaric century in history — the 20th. I would like to see us overcome our tribal divisions and begin to think and act as if we were one family. That would be real globalization …”

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdKwrPHy9w&w=500&h=369]

Here’s our December webinar, in which noted environmentalist and energy expert Bruce Severance joined me for a lively discussion we called “How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Existing Structures – and WHY.”

This is part of our effort to do a more thorough job at dealing with the subject of efficiency – an area containing plenty of low-hanging fruit for all of us interested in reducing our impact on the environment. I thought Bruce did an excellent job here, and I hope you’ll agree.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It is with great pleasure that I announce the introduction of a measure into the U.S. senate calling for a constitutional amendment that would limit the rights that corporations have to influence our elections.  The amendment, referred to as “Saving American Democracy,” would nullify the Supreme Court decision (Citizens United vs. FEC)  granting corporations unlimited rights to free speech (see video linked here).  As sponsor Bernie Sanders (I-VT) points out, if this measure does not go forward, it “means the end to American Democracy as we know it.”

Cynical wiseguys may argue that there’s nothing left to save, but you won’t hear those words issuing from my lips….

Here’s Sanders’ speech, an excerpt from which reads:

In my view, a corporation is not a person. In my view, a corporation does not have first amendment rights, to spend as much money as it wants without disclosure, on a political campaign. In my view, corporations should not be able to go into their treasuries, spend millions and millions of dollars, on a campaign, in order to buy elections. I do not believe that that is what American democracy is supposed to be about. I do not believe that that is what the bravest of the brave, from our country, fighting for democracy, fought and died to preserve. 

If anyone has a good argument counter to this, I’ll sure be impressed. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As a “marketing guy,” I’m always intrigued with ideas that suggest that a paradigm in this space may be changing.  Here’s the viewpoint of frequent commenter John F. Robbins:

The traditional principles of American marketing suggest that something is automatically better if it is bigger, more, newer, faster, or more high-tech.

The biggest problem with “green” is that these principles now make no sense. Green means using less conventional energies, not more. Green means moving slower, as in walking or biking instead of driving or flying. Green means not moving up to a larger home each time one moves. Green has little dependence on being higher-tech or more visually attractive. So when we use the traditional principles to promote green, it often confuses the goals and issues we’re trying to promote.

Quite astute, John. Thanks for your consistently incredible insight.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Global nuclear capacity has remained flat in growth in the last decade, the worldwide operational installed capacity increased insignificantly from 370 GWe at the end of 2005 to 375 GWe at the end of 2010. Nuclear capacity in the OECD countries peaked in 2006 at 2,259 TWh and declined to 2,136 TWh in 2009. A severe earth quake and tsunami in March 2011 that ravaged the pacific coast of northern Japan resulted in devastating incident in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Following this incidence several countries have announced safety reviews of their nuclear power programmes. Many countries have cancelled nuclear power plans and some are considering closing current plants. While this nuclear meltdown is happening, the global growth in energy from solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and other renewable sources has been 30-40 percent per annum of recent. Currently global growth in deployment of solar PV is the highest standing at 60 percent, this is followed by wind power at 27 percent, then biofuel at 18 percent and then biomass at 7 percent. These trends predict the world will be a nuclear free world.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

People need direct and clear instructions, like road signs or charts in a doctors office.  A speed limit sign doesn’t say “Slow speed by 20%” when entering a school zone.  It says “Do not exceed 20 mph”.  If a doctor reports cholesterol is higher than it should be, he recommends how to cut enough get it down into a healthier range.  The blood test result is a number and the healthy target is a number.  Speed road signs and common health matters (cholesterol, heartbeat, breathing rate, blood pressure, etc) are always numbers.  We sometimes do not think about what they mean, but we often understand what’s better or worse.  For example, we might feel okay about going 22 in a 20 mph school zone, but probably not 35.  I might feel okay about a 105 cholesterol result but certainly not 150.

What might personal energy road signs be? The most important personal energy information would seem to be (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Renewable Energy World’s Steve Leone published an article today on solar and its attempts to go mainstream, in which he mentions a great number of developments that will ultimately make solar far more appealing to consumers than it is currently. Some of these notions include transparent PV on windows, as well as PV roof shingles and other forms of building-integrated solar.

It was good to see he noted the role of electric transportation in the equation. I.e., there is clearly a growing number of people who want to control the source of electricity that charges their cars – and what better way to do that than to install that source on their roofs?

If we still have a civilization here in 2050, we will have “gotten there.” The questions are how much damage we will have done, and who’s going to get rich in the process.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

At the conclusion of the last moonwalk that took place on this date in 1972, the astronauts unveiled a plaque, which read: “Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.”

That’s beautiful writing, and causes one to wonder how it’s possible that war is such an omnipresent reality here on Earth. Maybe it’s that we seemed so divorced from its horrors; it’s something that just rolls along, with skirmishes that are hardly newsworthy, taking place in some foreign land, affecting people we don’t know. Thus we “support our troops,” meaning (to most people) we “support the war effort.”

At a certain point, perhaps people will simply change their minds, and tell their leaders, “No, I don’t support this – even a little bit.  Make this stop, or start looking for a new career.” Until then, war, supremely profitable, will remain our paradigm for settling differences.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Very few people traipsing around this planet know more about energy efficiency than John Robbins. As he puts it: “Energy education for homeowners is my arena. I’ve thought, taught and written about it for a long time.” (Coming up on 30 years, to be exact.)

Efficiency and renewables are blood brothers; advocates of clean energy who aren’t pushing efficiency are completely missing the boat. And the fact that there is relatively little discussion of efficiency here is a sad truth that I’d like to rectify with great speed and force – which is why I’m encouraging John to put up more guest-blog posts soon.

 

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