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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Plans for cuts to Germany’s solar incentive scheme provoked a stand-off earlier this month when Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat, voted against the reductions. The government proposed cutting domestic installation incentives by 11 percent, while reducing feed-in tariffs for roof panels by 16 per cent.  The government also want to drop plans for new feed-in tariff payments for solar sites on agricultural land. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

Have you ever had difficulty getting the people in your life to share your passion on a subject?  This happens to me all the time.  I’ll try to get a friend, or my wife and kids to watch a certain really cool video, and I just can’t seem to muster the enthusiasm. 

I can’t count how many times I’ve recommended The Story of Stuff to people, only to realize that most folks simply won’t take the 20 minutes required to have what I know will be quite an enlightening experience, and leave them a better person for having made the investment.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

A Canadian research council has backed plans for a 50,000 liter algae-based biofuel plant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a C$5 million grant. The biofuel project aims to identify strains of algae that are already acclimatised to the local environment, making them easier to grow and less likely to cause ecological problems should they be accidentally released. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

I had a fascinating meeting yesterday with Greenopia’s director of research, Doug Mazeffa. Here’s a challenge for you: Go to their website, take a look at their undertaking, and try to guess how many people they have on their staff. I expected the number to run in the hundreds. How else could one expect accurate and up-to-date ratings on the “greenness” of companies in 54 different categories (21 of them in detail) in 250 cities around the country – not to mention their work overseas? In fact, this is all accomplished with a handful of people. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I recently received this request:

Hi Craig, I have been doing some research to expose some of the efforts by fossil fuel interests in Canada to influence the debate on climate change. Your book made reference to energy companies’ admitting that they had participated in such activities in the past but claimed that they no longer did so. Would you be able to guide me to reference material on this topic, because they certainly have not stopped doing it here – with groups such as “Friends on Science.” (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I could hear a collective moan from progressives when they saw that President Obama is proposing a 13 percent cut in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) budget to $8.97 billion. The immediate conclusion they might have drawn is that this move is tantamount to an open invitation for the industrial sector to resume its rape and pillage of our natural ecosystems.

However, I encourage folks not to take this move out of context. In particular, note that the announcement was essentially a compromise against a proposal from House Republican lawmakers to cut EPA funding by almost three times that much, and to prevent the agency from regulating greenhouse gases. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Over the last 12 months or so, I’ve received a fairly steady ration of calls inquiring about some sort of engineering service.  Often, the request concerns help with the design of some terrific new product concept.  Sometimes, however, it’s just a verification of an idea that may be based on a set of drawings or calculations — or something even less developed; it may be a sketch on a cocktail napkin – or merely a notion floating around in someone’s head.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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General Motors is partnering with Hawaii’s gas provider to pilot hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles. Hawaii has to import over 90% of its gasoline at the moment, and the state wants to reduce its reliance by around 70% through a combination of improved efficiencies, conservation and development of alternative energy solutions such as hydrogen. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

A piece written by the president of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service:

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2012 budget and I’m afraid the overriding message is: we’ve got to get to work!

Even while slashing funds for heating assistance for the poor and cleaning up the Great Lakes, the President’s budget–like last year–proposes to triple the loan “guarantee” program for new nuclear reactor construction. That would mean another $36 Billion in loan “guarantees” for nuclear utilities to buy reactors from wealthy foreign companies like Areva and Toshiba, while the poor shiver through the winter.

Tell Congress: NO WAY! (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

I’d like to present a piece written by Ace Hoffman:

The most dangerous times for any nuclear power plant are:  Initial start-up or during a restart, and during a shut-down, especially an emergency shut-down.

Three Mile Island Unit II, for instance, had been in commercial operation for less than three months when it partially melted down.  It was only slightly different from, slightly more powerful than, Unit 1, which, today, was relicensed by the same careless Nuclear Regulatory Commission we seek redress from today as well — for another 20 years — until April 19, 2034.  Some of Three Mile Island Unit 1’s parts will be 60 years old when it is finally “retired” — irradiated, thermally heated, pressurized, chemically embrittled, and cycled on and off hundreds or even thousands of times. (more…)

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