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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader suggests that we should have a post about the current Fukushima nuclear power plant situation, calling for me to bring this whole thing into perspective. 

I reply…

Thanks so much for the note. I deeply appreciate the trust and respect you have placed in me. But the truth is that I don’t have any greater insight into the extent and ramifications of this disaster than anyone else, and thus I feel that I have no value to add here.

Of course, I could point out that the millions of people (of whom I’m only one) who have been warning the world about the dangers of nuclear power were right — as if that makes anyone feel better. It goes without saying that I’m not into that.  In the last few days, I’ve had people from all over the world emailing me about this, a few of them obviously in tears as they wrote. The world is in a state of shock and mourning, as well it should be.

I’m reminded of the BP oil spill, where some of my friends simply couldn’t understand why I wasn’t “capitalizing” on it. In truth, there’s nothing to capitalize on. It’s a disaster, period, and I think that more or less everyone understands this.

Like Chernobyl, the radius of the circle we draw around Fukushima will be hotly debated. And like the BP oil spill, industry spokespeople will attempt to minimize their culpability and the damage to the credibility of the nuclear program as a whole.

But, to the point:  Does the disaster bring us all closer to an understanding of the imperative to migrate to clean energy? I hope so. Can I explicate it any further or better than what you’re seeing and reading? No, sorry.

In the last year, we’ve had the BP situation, the $8.6 billion judgement against Chevron in Ecuador, the bloodshed in Northern Africa in reaction to the exploitation that was enabled by oil money, and now, the nuclear catastrophe in Japan. If this succession of events fails to make the case for renewable energy, I hate to imagine what will.

Again, I appreciate your trust and friendship. But, outside of offering my most sincere sympathies, I’m out of words. I’m afraid the facts speak for themselves.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Out for a jog Sunday morning, I chanced by The Book Loft in Solvang, the quaint Danish settlement that neighbors Santa Ynez, where I make my home. A thought dawned on me: Do they feature books by local authors? Turns out they do indeed.

Ka-ching! I just sold three books. Profit: $9.78, less the cost of carting them over there, of course.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

If you’ll be in Southern California next Tuesday, March 22, and want to check out an interesting event, its sponsors, our friends at OnGreen.com, are giving away tickets to the first 10 of our readers who register here.  The event, “Powering Cleantech Innovation Worldwide,” has a good-looking roster of speakers and panels.  I’ll be there, if you want to say hello.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

..continued from an earlier article

Manufacturing has been on the decline for decades. Manufacturing jobs have shrunk 21% between 1998 and 2007. This has left workers in need of jobs and states in need of new industries. As a case in point, Michigan has lost auto manufacturing jobs and had the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. by March 2009. The Governor is focusing on the clean energy economy as a major part of planned recovery, planning to create clean energy jobs for its reisdents in the “No Worker Left Behind“ program.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Every time I hear intelligent people refute the idea of global warming based on the power of Mother Nature I really can’t believe my ears.

Last week, I spoke with three people who appeared bright enough, all of whom told me that humans simply don’t have the power to screw up a force as powerful as nature. As proof, one of these guys, on a live radio interview in front of 70,000 listeners, said, “Hey, the temperature of the planet was changing long before the Industrial Revolution.” Another pointed out that the BP oil spill was overhyped, because microbes instantly began eating the oil.  In agreement, the third fellow pointed to the video footage of the Japanese tsunami – testimony to the awesome force of the natural world. 

Sure nature is awesome. And just as sure, it doesn’t need people; if it had conscious awareness, I’m sure it would be thrilled to see us erased from the face of the globe. But I’m at a loss to understand how, regardless of its power, that anyone could think it’s impervious to damage from mankind’s ceaseless pumping out toxins, deforestation, strip-mining, fracking, ocean dumping, changing the make-up of our atmosphere, and so forth. Is it really hard to believe that our practices are making it tough for Mother Nature to support life here?

　

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I was the guest on a really good hour-long radio interview this afternoon on KMMS-AM, a popular talk/news station in Bozeman, MT.  Host Larry Stancil and I didn’t agree on everything (in fact, we agreed on very little) but we got along fine, and I think everyone learned a great deal. We only had one caller, and he was extremely civil.

To be honest, I was surprised; I was braced for a brouhaha, as I had been told that some of those folks don’t like environmentalists telling them they can’t shoot wolves, etc. But cooler heads prevailed. I’ll post a link to the show when I receive it.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Elizabeth Eckhardt writes:

If our goal is to decrease our energy demand through increasing efficiencies throughout all aspects of our lives, there is an obvious, simple, safe, sane, and humane way to do this: stop eating animals. Animal agriculture in the United States consumes 1/3 of our fossil fuels produced, and contributes more to global greenhouse gas emissions than all the world’s cars and SUV’s combined.

She continues in a very well written and compelling comment to my piece about the renewable energy’s tough realities — here.

Though I’m not a vegetarian, I try to eat as low on the food chain as possible (I go through a heck of a lot of fish) – and for the precise reasons you name. It’s better for me, better for the planet, and better for the cow.

Having said that, it’s not a sacrifice for me, because I really like fish. My point here is that few people make sacrifices for the good of the planet alone.

I was listening to a radio show recently in which I was reminded that Paul McCartney (a vegan) makes it easy for people to modify their eating habits. He asks them to experiment with giving up meat one day a week. “How about meatless Monday?” he might ask. I find this interesting, because you’ll travel a long way to find someone who knows more about connecting to people than McCartney.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I spent the day yesterday with one of my “Craig Shields … At Your Service” clients, in this case, brainstorming dozens of ideas with a husband and wife team looking to invest in a start-up business somewhere in the sustainable products/services sector. You have to like their overall approach; it’s very responsible. Instead of picking something that sounds good and jumping into it, they’re attacking the challenge in a methodical, thoughtful, research-based way.

As a consulting action, this was somewhat rare for the importance of understanding and integrating the individual strengths and weaknesses – as well as likes and dislikes – to the conversation. But as important an ingredient as this is in the overall recipe of arriving at a good place, I don’t see any cookie-cutter way of performing this assessment; it was a kind of hunt-and-punch discussion. In addition to trying to understand their skill sets, I asked them a great deal about their attitudes, preferences, fears, personal philosophies, appetite for risk, etc.

Based on this, I presented about a dozen ideas, they presented an approximately equal number, we checked out websites, made phone calls, and really worked hard the whole day long to arrive at a conclusion.

By the time cocktail hour rolled around, we had narrowed the list down to just a couple that require further research and due diligence. Fortunately, they’re both really talented, likeable people, and I have every confidence they’ll choose wisely and ultimately do well.

At the very least, I feel I made two new friends.  Not bad for a day’s work. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

A reader asks for advice re: insurance companies’ treatment of computerized electricity systems (CES).

Craig, Can you help me find a way to get insurance companies to give policy discounts for the new CES panel that is on the market? It has built in spark/arc suppression, lightning suppression, removes the need for power strips, etc. If the insurance agencies would look at this in the same way as they do fire sprinklers, etc. we could put a lot of people to work retrofitting both commercial and residential buildings. The insurance savings (especially on the commercial side) would pay for the retrofit of the panels in a matter of months in most cases. Then we have built in savings on insurance and probably 20% automatic reduction in the energy savings. If you haven’t looked at these panels yet, check them out at www.c-e-systems.com. They are incredible and will be the next wave in our government mandates for energy monitoring and management.

I’m afraid I can’t be of direct help, other than to let others know about it.

But you bring up a point that has implications far beyond CES, i.e., the way in which a great number of eco-friendly systems in our homes are treated by insurance companies – and by banks as well. Right now, the solar array on your roof is not part of your mortgage; it’s treated as if it were an appliance like a refrigerator or dishwasher. But here’s a permanent system, like plumbing or central heating, with a guaranteed life of 25 years, that’s performing a useful task (lowering your electric bill) 365 days a year.

I see a day coming in which such systems are included in the value of your property, and rolled up in your mortgage.

Thanks for writing, and sorry I can’t be of more specific help.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Frequent commenter and really smart fellow Alan Belcher writes:

Craig, as a suggestion, it would be wise/the right thing/common sense to start using the term “clean energy” in place of “renewable energy.”  I say this in view of the consequences of a senseless report that claimed that biofuels (wood chip, etc.) release considerably more CO2 into the atmosphere than coal used as a fuel.

This has caused some very negative side effects regarding some wood-chip fired electric generating facilities throughout the U.S. I have heard instances of permits being withdrawn and the like.

Just a thought. All the best with your new book!

To which I replied:

Thanks, Alan; excellent point. I would think, however, that “clean energy” carries with it its own set of issues as a piece of terminology.　For example, is there such a thing as “clean coal?”  And what about nuclear?  No one’s saying that it’s renewable, but the industry is claiming that it’s clean. And they’ve got a point, if by that you mean, “doesn’t emit greenhouse gases.” Of course, if you mean “safe” or “hazard-free” (or any of the other things that any sensible person would associate with the word “clean”) that’s another issue.　

In any case, thanks for the good wishes, and please stay in touch.

　

　

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