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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXd-xk-rCRU&w=445&h=364]

Do you have a clean energy story that you’d like to tell the world?

One day each month, I shoot a series of short television shows called the “2GreenEnergy Video Report” in which I interview folks with interesting stories to tell at a television studio. The shows air throughout the month on a local channel here in Southern California — but, perhaps more important, we host the videos on YouTube and this website where they get some really good, longer-term exposure.

If you’re interested in being a part of this process, please check out the sample below, and let me know if you’d like to participate. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Pesin of the local power utility up here in Northwestern Washington State: Seattle City Light, at the launch of my client EV4’s new product, the “Energy Transfer Merchant.”  I thought this conversation was a good opportunity to straighten out an issue that’s been bugging me: are electric vehicles really green?  In the final analysis, are they charged largely with coal?  Even here in the Pacific Northwest, with their abundance of clean (hydroelectric) power, won’t electric vehicles mean less clean power that can be sold  to places whose electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels?

Here’s what Pesin told me:

We’re under mandate to have 15% of our electricity coming from renewables – not hydro, but solar and wind — by 2020.  We’ll meet that goal, and we’d like to go beyond it.  But without electric vehicles – or other ways of taking significant amounts of energy off the grid at opportune moments, e.g., wind energy at night, it simply can’t be done.  EVs make it possible for us to deploy renewable energy.

Fairly clear, I think.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s local news coverage of the event my client EV4 asked me to attend yesterday: the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Energy Transfer Merchant, a futuristic, multi-function EV charging station.

I found it interesting that the Pacific Northwest’s largest distributor of electric equipment, North Coast Electric, was so passionate about carrying the device.  Here’s a strong company, growing steadily since it was founded in 1913 to its current stature: 35 locations in the region. And let’s keep in mind that it’s a business model that most people hardly regard as progressive – in fact, distributors in the main are thought of as  simple order-takers for whatever products customers are requesting at the moment. 

But these folks up north are visionaries, actively looking for the products that will drive commerce in the coming years – which means “green,” especially in this part of the world.  And they’ve certainly put their money where they mouth is, installing one in their parking lot.  Impressive stuff. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jMl22eLiQ&w=420&h=315]

Here’s the promotional video we made for Renewable Energy — Facts and Fantasies. That’s to 2GreenEnergy business manager and co-founder George Alger for his cleverness here; I think it move along nicely.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

One of our 2GreenEnergy clients in the electric vehicle charging sector has asked me to be a part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their latest product release this Wednesday in Seattle. And when a client asks for my participation, of course, I’m there in a shot; that’s part of my obligation under: Craig Shields, At Your Service.

In fact, I offered to speak at the event, even though I know many great public speakers — a whole bunch of assemblymen, the mayor of the city and potentially the governor of the state — would likely be attending. So I’m just as glad to be in the audience and not on the stage; I hate to compete with professional speech-makers.

In preparation, I’ve spoken with a large number of people  among the group that hired us, and they’ve all, to a person, mentioned that they’ll try to bring sunshine, as if apologizing in advance for the rotten weather that is most probable. That really IS an issue up there, isn’t it?

I’ll write an update post from Seattle on Wednesday.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Those looking for an effective “onramp” to the multi-trillion dollar clean energy industry may wish to attend “The Clean Energy Onramp” (details here) in New York City, coming up in less than six weeks.

Onramp, 2GreenEnergy’s first physical event, is a vigorous, interactive discussion in which my guest, Green Chip Stock’s Jeff Siegel and I will walk you through what we feel are the most important business trends in alternative energy.  We’ll offer a great deal of practical information that will help you make solid, well-conceived business decisions in this arena.

If you’re available on Thursday, October 6th, 2011, please try to join us in New York City for this half-day working lunch – the first of our high-level conferences.

Here’s what you get by attending the event:
* 30% “early-bird discount” (If registered by midnight on Aug 31, 2011)
* Free 3-month subscription to Green Chip Stocks (Regularly $249.00)
* Green Chip Stocks Premium Portfolio
* Green Chip Stocks Limited Coverage Portfolio
* Green Chip Fund Index
* Monthly Spotlight Stock
* Complete access to the Green Chip Stocks research library
* An autographed copy of RENEWABLE ENERGY – FACTS & FANTASIES

I certainly hope to see you there.

Click the following link for more information:

http://2greenenergy.com/onramp/
 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency, Renewables - Business

Brent Marsh, a new “2GreenEnergy Associate,” arranged for me to speak on Skype with David Chen yesterday.  “Oh, this is going to be terrific,” I thought, believing that this was the David Chen who speaks so compellingly on novel ways to finance energy efficiency.  And the fact that the caller was in Shanghai made me even more convinced.

Wrong David Chen.

But it turns out that the call had great value anyway, as this gentleman (David T. Chen) and I discussed the development of an angel investor consortium to fund a bunch of cleantech start-ups.   Someday I hope to direct a publicly traded entity that provides capital for a number of different start-ups simultaneously, a kind of hybrid between a mutual and venture capital fund.  It’s a good idea; someone needs to make this happen.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

May I ask you a favor?

I was in the process of editing the transcripts of the interviews I’ve conducted for my next book on renewable energy, when I realized: I don’t have a title that I really like.  I have a few ideas, of course, but I’m not too fond of any of them.  Perhaps you can suggest one.

OK, so what is the book about?  It’s really a deeper exploration of the so-called “Tough Realities” that surround the migration to renewables.  If this is something our society has to do, why is it taking so long?  Why is the US lagging the rest of the world in implementation? Are there large, powerful political and economic forces that oppose it? What does our future look like, and why?

Interviews include economists, social observers, philosophers, venture capitalists, and stock portfolio managers.

If you have any original suggestions for a cool title, please note them as a comment below. Thanks very much!

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

PhotobucketFrequent commenter John Sullivan writes:

… Heck, a few engineers I know who would happily allow the label “denier” be applied have purchased hybrids. The ability to store otherwise wasted energy is COOL to them. I compare that to all modern technology crazes. For example, do iPads really fill a gap or meet a higher level human need, or are they just the next level of cool, enabling technology? Imagine how far we can go with that mindset.

John:  You are 100% correct, IMO, and I cover this exact point whenever I’m asked to speak on the EV Adoption Curve. What happens when “green” becomes cool? It’s not inconceivable that, in a very short period of time, we could have a society in which it’s no longer cool to ruin the environment, and in which the people who don’t get the message are regarded as we currently do people who wear mink coats, i.e., as pariahs, as so many Cruella DeVille’s.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J_VMohoW6Y&w=420&h=345]

Here’s a short video in which I present the business case for a company with a patented technology surrounding the processing of coal-ash. I’ve not seen the process in action, but I’ve read that it involves a proprietary resin that is mixed with the ash, enabling building products, with characteristics similar to wood, to be extruded. The process is not cost-competitive with wood in the form of fence-board, but it is quite competitive with other building products, e.g., roofing shingles, which actually have superior characteristics in terms of durability.

Here, we have the ultimate in terms of turning lemons to lemonade: we take a feedstock that represents an environmental hazard, and inexpensively create products of considerable value.

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