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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44EaTcV_-4o]Here’s an interview in which I discuss a company that appears to have made a considerable breakthrough in zinc-air batteries, enabling the sale of product at $160/kWh. If this is “for real,” which I believe it is, the potentials are enormous, for a number of reasons. First, it makes possible, for the first time, the storage of electric energy in large-scale for the power utilities, in turn allowing us to bring more renewables into the grid-mix. At the same time, think of what this means for electric transportation, where a huge percentage of the cost of an EV is its battery pack. Of course, price is not the only consideration – especially when it comes to EVs – but the other characteristics look acceptable as well.

Of course, the world has every right to be skeptical of the company and its claims, having seen zinc air batteries “trotted out” every year or so for the last four decades, and investors have been routinely disappointed – and in some cases actually duped. The issue is optimization. It’s easy to optimize one parameter, but at the expense of others. I’m reminded of the old saw: “You want it inexpensive, soon, and of high quality. Pick any two.”

But again, I happen to believe these people have made the breakthrough they claim. “The only thing it has in common with past efforts in this arena is that it uses zinc and it uses air; everything else about the design is unique,” the company’s president told me when I first met him in his office in New York a few months ago.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmoVgU93Z44&w=420&h=315]

In this interview, I discuss a radical new approach to run-of-river hydrokinetics where the water is falling far over a short distance, e.g., a waterfall. The company’s solution is extremely straightforward and would be easy for a wily competitor to steal; it is for this reason that they play their cards very close to their vests, and have gone to an almost unimaginable extent to patent their IP internationally. Will anyone win here – besides the patent attorneys, that is? I believe so.

There are many sites around the world where this solution is perfect, and will produce totally clean power, 24/7/365 at an incredibly attractive rate in terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), meaning the average cost per kilowatt-hour when all factors are taken into consideration: the construction, the fuel, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

PhotobucketA radio talk-show host reviewed my book the other day with an eye toward having me on his show.  He wrote back just now:

… I found it to be interesting, though I should tell you I’m one of the people who don’t believe in global warming….I also believe we have enough fossil fuels to last for hundreds of years if we were allowed to get it … I think it (having you on the show) would make for an interesting segment.

It most certainly will be an interesting segment. I always try to be polite with everyone, and especially so when I’m on the air, but if the subjects of the science of climate change and peak oil comes up (and one has to think it’s likely they will) I propose to ask the host to provide his background in climate science and geology. If, as I suspect, he has none, I’ll gently point out that I honestly don’t understand how intelligent people like him have beliefs that diverge from the commonly accepted positions of science.

I know there are people who believe in astrology, or that the Earth is hollow, as examples. But why? All I know – or think I know – about cosmology or geology is what I’ve read in textbooks in school, or in papers more recently, which are essentially digests of the positions of modern science.  And here, the preponderance (to say the least) of the evidence regarding the formation of the planets would suggest that a hollow Earth isn’t at all likely.

I would even go so far as to say that I’m incapable of seriously entertaining an idea that flies in the teeth of all this.  Shouldn’t anyone be?

Personally, I defer to the thousands of scientists who have spent their lives studying the issue, noting that 97+ of them think that global climate change represents a serious threat to life on Earth.

The work of all these people means something to me.  Why did we study science if we intended to ignore it?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

PhotobucketOn Sundays I like to take a hike of 6 or 7 miles, sometimes including a stop-off at the Ballard Inn, where I sit on the porch and read the Sunday paper. Relaxing there yesterday afternoon with a glass of lemonade, I came across this Doonesbury cartoon on global climate change, which I thought I’d bring to readers’ attention, as it’s another example of Garry Trudeau’s hilariously keen insight into the ways of the world.

In my opinion, Trudeau is a genius, and has more than earned his position as one of the world’s most esteemed social and political satirists. It will be a sad day for the world when he retires.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52yfsAihk3Q]In this short video, I discuss a new twist on pyrolysis to create high-grade biodiesel from a stream of waste-tires. Some of the many appealing aspects of this approach are:

1) It’s modular; each plant costs less than $5 million to build.

2) The technology is proven; it’s been running 24/7 in the Ukraine for the past two and a half years, and

3) It’s “omnivorous.” It’s very easy and quick to convert to another feedstock if necessary.

Clean energy investors interested in pursuing this should let me know.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V3DnBFkUec]Here’s a short video in which I discuss a terrific investment opportunity I’ve encountered — a wonderful design for an electric bicycle. Even the “EV doubters” believe that e-bikes are going to become an increasingly important component of transportation in the world’s ever-more congested urban areas, and in my estimation, this design is destined to become super-popular.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Why Are Investors Bearish on Clean Energy?I called my friend, 2GreenEnergy Associate and clean energy finance expert Bill Paul for some advice the other day. “I have a client with a breakthrough in battery chemistry, and I’m trying to find them a manufacturing partner in the electric vehicle space.  Where do you think I should look?” I asked.

By the word “where,” what I meant was “At what companies?” But what I got from Bill was this: “My first suggestion is that you forget everyone and everything in the United States.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kw_M5QBPI4]Here’s a short video in which I introduce investors to solid opportunities I’ve encountered in renewable energy and electric transportation.   These “deal summaries” may be appealing to certain venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity firms, and institutional investors.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

A few weeks ago, I was one of a lucky few to be invited to Seattle, the home of electrical distributor North Coast Electric Company, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Energy Transfer Merchant (“ETM,” a play on “ATM”), a futuristic, multi-function EV charging station built by high-tech start-up EV4. The event was only one small part of the North Coast’s commitment to sustainable business practices, a goal that I could see firmly in place in a great number of the products and services these folks offer their customers in this fantastically visionary part of the country.

The ETM’s photo-voltaic canopy collects solar energy and, when it’s not charging electric vehicles, stores the energy in subterranean batteries, or feeds the power back onto the grid, i.e., to the local public utility, Seattle City Light.

I found it interesting that North Coast, the Pacific Northwest’s largest distributor of electric equipment, 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 this is 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 in the Pacific Northwest 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.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s a fantastic article in Renewable Energy World, in which the author points to 10 quick and easy reasons that he believes the Earth will exceed the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s estimate that the total penetration of clean energy will grow only 5% by the year 2035.

As he’s pointed out, 5% is truly a pitiful figure, and he’s done a really good job with his analysis. Here’s one that he missed which, in my estimation, constitutes a big deal: Jobs. It’s only a matter of time before someone of importance realizes that environmentalism and capitalism are not mortal enemies; in fact, the precise opposite is true.

Soon, one of our leaders will announce: “Breakthrough! We can actually put people back to work, by creating market conditions that will form many millions of jobs of retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency, installing PV, wind, solar thermal, hydro, biomass, geothermal, energy storage, and smart-grid technologies.”

Next thing you know, we’ll have an economic boom, the U.S. will regain its leadership position in technology, and we’ll have a clean and safe place to live.

If the guy wants, I’ll write the speech for him for free.

Here it comes!  I can almost hear that announcement coming across my computer’s speakers…..

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