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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A friend of mine who runs a very successful hedge fund cautions me to expect inflation, and suggests that perhaps it’s a good time for me to get back into real estate. But our discussion so far leaves me unconvinced:

Friend: May be time to buy real estate again.

Craig: Yes, I really think that dollar-denominated assets have to appreciate. Real estate scares me, though, with the glut of foreclosures, etc.

Friend: Yes, but it’s always darkest before the dawn.

Craig: The fundamentals of real estate don’t appeal to me, especially Americans’ gross inability to compete (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

One of our Facebook fans, Elaine Carter, writes precisely two words: “Absolutely relevant” about LifeCube, a business that we support.  It’s hard to disagree with you, Elaine.  Here’s cutting-edge R&D of on-demand emergency shelter for disaster response. In less than five minutes after arriving on the scene, a two-man first-responder team can assemble a sturdy, solid-floored space with food, water, medical supplies, communications, electricity and propane in which they can treat the wounded and conduct their operations.

I applaud Elaine’s brevity, and I think the attribute “absolutely relevant” is quite apt here. I know there is some level of controversy about global climate change and the heightened incidence of extreme weather events, at least here in the U.S. But is anyone projecting fewer disasters in the future? I’m having trouble finding them, if they exist.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Lining up a trip back east for the week of February 13th that includes Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, and potentially Boston. Will be conducting interviews for “Renewable Energy – Following the Money,” but also meeting several clean energy entrepreneurs I’d like to help along their way. Will also stay with an old college buddy – and maybe a second. Should be quite a tour. Renting a car and hoping for good weather.

It’s amazing how certain things are dirt-cheap nowadays, while other prices have skyrocketed. I normally buy one-way plane tickets, since my itineraries are flexible. One-way from Santa Barbara to Dulles International (Washington, DC): $171. Makes me glad I’m not Greyhound, trying to sell a $126 ticket for a bus that takes almost three days to arrive.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

At this point, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan/Renault, has invested $5.6 billion into electric vehicle technology — a big bet, to be sure. But I believe he feels it to be a fairly safe one, as it rests on his certainty that EVs will ultimately come to dominate the automotive space — and that he’s the man to make it happen. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We don’t believe in censorship of the Internet. Why not take a second and tell Congress that you feel the same? Sign the petition here.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I just got off the phone with Dan Sturges of WheelChange. If there’s a person on this planet who’s done more work to bring along the future of transportation, I sure want to meet him.

For more than two decades, Dan and his team have been developing and promoting a complex and dynamic set of solutions built around a single concept:

Our current conception of transportation: redundant, heavy, bulky, and fossil-fuel-reliant – is simply unaffordable in every sense of the word. It’s not economically sound to the individual consumer, and it’s exorbitantly expensive to society as a whole, both financially and ecologically.

But, pragmatically, (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Frequent commenter “Shivrat” writes:

Great that solar investment is increasing so rapidly, and agreed that many challenges lie ahead, but would you say that a paradigm shift to renewables is inevitable in the long term? After all, something like 80% of oil is produced in 6 countries, and 90% of natural gas reserves lie in 3 countries, right? Given that global energy demand is set to increase by 50% in the next few decades, wouldn’t market forces seem to make it futile for anyone to resist (fossil fuels’) decline in the long term?

This is an excellent question – one that surprisingly few people ask. The basic answer is the short-term focus of most people and entities.

I happened to ask a friend who runs a very successful hedge fund (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Last night, my daughter and I were studying her vocabulary words for her English final today, and encountered the word “concise,” i.e., “expressing a great deal in a few words.”  And speaking of concise, here’s a really neat photographic essay on the types and amounts of food we consume as a civilization. There are a few words here, but the pictures say it all.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Ocean Thermal

According to Bloomberg, new spending on solar energy jumped 36 percent to $136.6 billion in 2011, outpacing the $74.9 billion put into wind power.

It will be interesting to see what happens with clean energy investment in 2012, however, as big money lines up to head in the direction of cheap natural gas, and budget hawks chop subsidies for wind and solar. In any case, we’re a million miles away from a consensus that clean energy needs to succeed, and that fossil fuels need to go.

Early today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ted Johnson, one of the most visible forces behind the development of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). “The oil and gas companies won’t stop until we’ve burned the last molecule of fossil fuels, and they’re in the pockets of every member of Congress.” “Gosh, Doc,” I replied. “You sound a lot like me!”

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I had a terrific conversation with Scott Peehl just now, a talented young filmmaker who will be helping on the documentary we’ve been discussing. His main point: what makes documentaries “work” is a common point on empathy that the audience develops for a certain character and his quest, into which are plugged all the various pieces of content: interviews, infographics, voice-over B-roll, etc. The story should be long and arduous, with plenty of ups and downs, tragedies and rejection, tenacity and guts.

Scott suggested that the character could be me, given my ongoing quest to elucidate the energy picture, and get society’s wits wrapped around what will be required for a sustainable future — taking on the forces that profit from maintaining the status quo. I’m flattered, but, besides being too self-indulgent, it’s also too weak; I need another big idea. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know. Thanks.

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