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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Dr. Marie Corio, CEO of Applied Economic Research, was good enough to be my guest on this week’s Clean Energy Radio show.

Marie never fails to impress the heck out of me. Here’s a professional at the very apex of her field in terms of the analysis of coal-fired power plants, whose command of metallurgy, thermodynamics, chemistry, and several other related disciplines is hard to match – yet is able to present all this at a truly appropriate level for a non-technical audience. But isn’t that the mark of a true pro?  They make it look easy.

Another aspect of Dr. Corio’s approach that I like is her stalwart pragmatism. “I’m not an advocate for coal,” she said, “But I am an advocate for keeping the economy from falling back into recession. Abruptly cutting off coal would cause a huge spike in electricity prices that would drive many businesses under. I think that concern has to trump our other worries.”

I’m reminded of Stephen Lacey, formerly the top industry analyst at Renewable Energy World (now at Climate Progress) who refers to himself with the following terse description: “I’m an energy pragmatist.”

This makes a lot of sense to me, and I try to follow along with the positions that I take myself. In fact, it’s a refreshing break from the doctrinaire narrow-mindedness that we come across so often on both sides: both the rabid environmentalists who fail to grasp the full consequences of what they’re espousing, and some of the rightwing extremists who don’t perceive any responsibility on our part to regulate business as necessary to take care of the only home we have.

Thanks again to Dr. Corio; I’ll post a link to the show as soon as it’s available.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

On April 7th, General Electric (GE) announced it was purchasing PrimeStar Solar Inc., a thin-film solar panel manufacturer based in Colorado. GE also announced that it would build the nation’s largest solar panel manufacturing plant.

The thin-film products developed by PrimeStar Solar are apparently among the most efficient of all cadmium telluride (“cad tel”) on the market. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) verified the record-breaking efficiency, finding a 12.8% aperture (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

All Americans should be aware of what’s happening in Washington in this critically important area that affects every one of us. Earlier this week, 48 Senators, including three Democrats and all but two Senate Republicans voted to defeat a bill that would have ended tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies.

What could cause such outrageous behavior? How about the $39.5 million that the oil and gas companies spent lobbying Congress in the first quarter of this year alone? Or might it be the fact that the industry donated nearly $18 million directly to the political campaigns of Senators who voted against ending these subsidies — five times more than to Senators who supported ending them?

Yet the measure to end these handouts to the oil industry came fairly close to passing (we needed 60 votes, and got 52). The message: if you care about things like this (and I have to think that most readers here do indeed), I urge you to exercise your rights as a citizen and let your elected leaders know where you stand on this.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I hope readers are following the discussions in Washington DC in which lawmakers are quizzing the CEOs of the five largest oil companies concerning the subsidies they receive from US taxpayers.  Several senators have asked the industry to defend this transfer of wealth from taxpayer to shareholder, given that we live in a time of massive profits – and record gasoline prices.

But the oil company execs are armed for bear, vigorously attacking the hearings themselves.  Here’s John Watson, CEO of Chevron, criticizing the Senate:

Singling out five companies because of their size is even more troubling. Such measures are anti-competitive and discriminatory. After all, our five companies are providing the technical, operating and managerial expertise that is allowing the global energy industry to operate at the forefront of energy development.

ConocoPhillips responded similarly, pointing out that it would be “Un-American” to end billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil industry.

I want to take lessons in salesmanship from anyone who can convince us that we as a country should continue to deny basic human services in favor of boosting oil company profits to new heights.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I want to call readers’ attention to the whole car-sharing phenomenon – particularly as it applies to the deployment of electric vehicles, and this excellent article that tackles some of the issues.

There is no doubt that car-sharing in dense urban environments like Boston and San Francisco is going to do quite well. I only wish that it existed when I lived in Washington DC in the 1970s, and spent half my life trying to find a parking space into which to shoehorn my car.

While there is a natural fit for EVs in the car-sharing space (as some of the motivation for not owning a car is eco-friendliness), there are significant problems associated with charging. Unlike filling up one’s car with gas, charging takes time, thus disabling the car from the network for hours at a time. While the EV owner can simply charge at home every night, this is tricky in the car-sharing environment.

I’m afraid this may be one of these ideas that sounds good on paper, but may prove tricky in the real world, given the charging infrastructure that exists here and now. Good article though; I hope you’ll check it out.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I was speaking earlier today with a friend whose current business life revolves around making sense of the auto OEMs’ embrace of electric vehicles. “If I were a cynic,” he began, “I wouldn’t see too much sincerity in what these folks are doing. I read what you wrote recently in the 2GreenEnergy blog about the BMW’s stalled electric vehicle plans, and it seems to echo what I see with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and the dozens of other players who claim that they’re running as fast as they can in this direction.”

My friend went on to make a couple of points:

1) There is nothing in it for the OEMs to rush into the EV space. From the standpoint of making and selling a profitable car, they all win from dragging this out as long as possible. The lifetime profit associated with a customer who purchases an EV is a small fraction compared to that of one who buys a gas-powered vehicle, since EVs last a relative eternity, and require virtually no maintenance and replacement parts.

2) From the standpoint of overall risk-management, the idea of the OEMs rushing to offer EVs is even more idiotic. Suppose you’re Mitsubishi, with the super-cool i-MiEV whose introduction into the US , for some reason (wink, wink) you keep postponing.  Why not put it off as long as possible? If Nissan wants to lead the way with its LEAF, fine. But what’s the incentive for you (or Ford, or anyone else) to be a leader here? Surely, you have no obligations to anyone but your shareholders; you’re not in the business for any other reason than immediate profits — and that means one word: delays.  Why not let the government, at the peril of those in charge, bring down the costs of batteries and charging infrastructure , and enter the market at your leisure?

I see my friend’s point here, and thus advise this spring’s graduates:  If you think you may want a job with the top auto OEMs so you can make the world a better place, you may want to look for work elsewhere.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

continued from earlier…

Success Stories

Take a look at the story of Denmark, highlighted in the report. In the late 1980s, Denmark decided it needed to reduce dependency on oil and address climate change concerns. It focused on wind and biomass. Today, 20% of electricity is produced from wind power and it has become a leading exporter of wind technology and expertise. Energy products and equipment accounted for more than 11% of Danish exports by 2009.

How did Denmark succeed?

  • Reliable and focused public support and planning, plus private commitment to the goals
  • Market mechanism such as feed-in tariffs and loan guarantees
  • Financial incentives for the public
  • Support of R&D

 

 The stories of India and China are also noted in the IEA report.

India now has the 5th largest installed wind energy capacity in the world (three times more than Denmark.) India also used stable policies and support mechanisms. India’s Electricity Act of 2003 encouraged distributors to buy power from renewable energy sources, and supported development through Suzlon, an Indian company with a large wind market share.

China has achieved three times the capacity of India in just five years. China is now on their 11th Five-Year Plan which is heavy on support for renewable energy and goals to reduce pollution and increase domestic energy security. Installed wind capacity exceeded its 2010 target by 320%.  Domestic policies require a certain amount of energy to be purchased from renewable sources, and there are market instruments and private support. It eliminated the bidding system in 2009 and replaced it with a fixed tariff approach.

Bad News

Despite the good new to be found, there is bad news, too: worldwide renewable electricity generation since 1990 grew an average of 2.7% per year, which is less than the 3% growth seen for total electricity generation. While 19.5% of global electricity in 1990 was produced from renewable sources, this share fell to 18.5% in 2008. This decrease is mainly the result of slow growth of the main renewable source, hydroelectric power, in OECD countries. Non‐hydro renewables will have to increase at double‐digit rates; wind power must see an annual average growth rate of 17% and solar power 22%. Coal has increased.

The report concludes that clear policies, government support and global cooperation are needed to continue the momentum towards stronger renewable energy worldwide.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

As more people become concerned about the depletion of non-sustainable energy sources such as fossil fuels, there are concerns about using these sources of energy for the long-term and throughout the course of the day as we currently do non-sustainable energy sources. Of course, we also have to look at the fact that the non-sustainable sources will eventually run out—that is their nature—and if we don’t have something to replace it, the world will virtually come to a stand still.

Definition and Sources of Green Energy

By its very definition “green energy” or sustainable energy is an energy source that has the ability to meet the needs of the present without worrying about whether future generations will have enough energy to meet their needs. That means the energy source is one that has the ability to replenish itself within the lifetime of a human and does no long-term damage to the environment. Unlike the fossil fuels that have provided power for centuries, sustainable energy sources are very stable and nothing humans do can influence those sources—at least over the long-term.

What are the sources of sustainable energy and how do they work? While that is probably not something the average person can understand, it is important to understand why they exist. The following identifies some of those sources and how they contribute to the concept of green energy.

  • Nuclear fusion on the sun is a process that produces biofuels, solar power, wind power, wave power and others. Because of the primary source these sustainable energy sources will continue to replenish itself for many years—and even centuries—into the future.
  • The moon produces tidal power and is likely to continue doing so for at least another two billion years.
  • The earth will continue to generate geothermal power since it is not likely to cool down in the foreseeable future.

Sustainable Energy in the Computer Age

Because of concerns about the future of non-sustainable energy sources and its damaging effects on the environment many business entities are beginning to invest in green energy. While the main concern for many owners and managers is one of financial concerns, they are also concerned about the effects on the environment as well. One of the current trends toward green energy is the use of sustainable energy to run computer servers in data centers. While this is certainly not the only use for green energy, it is a good place to start. If we can get business owners into the habit of running their computer centers on green energy, the rest will just be a short step away.

Brenda Coxe is a full-time freelance writer who enjoys writing about financial topics, travel, and non-technical medical topics such as the job of an ultrasound technician. She also enjoys reading, writing and spending time with her family.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Following up on my report in The Vector on the OgilvyEarth report, “Mainstream Green: Moving Sustainability from Niche to Normal”, I found one section deserving of focus on its own.

In the study, the authors examined green behaviors of the general U.S. and China populations. As the two largest global consumers, actions in China and the U.S. have the most impact globally. The comparisons are fascinating – and somewhat discouraging.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In a recent post I mentioned that one of the central problems with our dependence on oil (of which we have very little domestically) is that our borrowing $1 billion per day to buy it from foreign governments empowers our enemies.  In response, frequent commenter MarcoPolo writes:

Craig, I’m curious, what are those ‘enemy’ regimes you speak of?

I mean Chavez is a bit of a buffoon, and has no love for the US, but an active enemy? I am unaware that North Korea is oil rich. And since the US imports no oil from Iran, that leaves the four biggest US oil imports from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Nigeria.

Yes, well I can see your point with Canada!

Allies, Craig, the US imports from allies!

 

In response, I would just say what (ex-CIA Director) James Woolsey told me when I spoke with him last year:

Craig, read Larry Diamond’s book if you haven’t already. If you look at the 22 countries that count on two-thirds or more of their national income from oil — it’s fair to say all 22 of those countries are autocratic kingdoms or dictatorships.

And I haven’t compared that list with Freedom House’s list of the forty, basically – those that Freedom House calls “Not Free.” There are about 120 democracies in the world, I mean not perfect, but nonetheless regular elections and another 20 countries like Bahrain that are reasonably well and decently governed, even though not democratically so. And then you’ve got 40 really bad guys. And I’m pretty sure that list of 22 in Larry Diamond’s book is virtually all from the list of 40 bad guys — or “Not Free,” in Freedom House’s terms.

So it’s really a pretty decisive set of statistics, I think, and then if you look at other numbers, set out in places like Mort Halprin’s book  The Democracy Advantage, it’s pretty clear that basically democracies don’t fight each other. They occasionally get really pissed off, but they mainly choose up sides and argue about trade sanctions and stuff. It’s not impossible but it’s really hard, even going back into the 19th century, but certainly since 1945, finding democracies fighting each other. They just don’t.

So you’ve got oil locking some states that depend so heavily on it into autocracy and dictatorship and worse. And those are the folks who also fund the terrorists, who invade neighboring countries, etc. So there’s a large national security point here.

I guess what I’m saying is that a thriving oil market empowers the enemies of democracy, whether they are active and avowed enemies of the US or not. 

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