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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

On December 23, 2009 my wife Diane and I installed a 5.4Kwh PV Array on the roof of our home at 920 Cypress Street, Chambersburg, PA.

Prior to our “going solar” we had reduced our home’s energy use by 65% over the previous 3 years beginning in 2007 through energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Had we not made these reductions in energy usage before hand, this same 5.4Kwh PV Array would have only been able to supply our home with just 27% of its energy needs. Therefore, the actual pay off on our investments would have taken perhaps as much as 20 years rather than what we now estimate to be at just over 4-5 years.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A well-meaning reader quotes some figures from energy industry author Robert Bryce:

Nuclear 300 hp/acre
Nat gas 288 hp/acre
Solar 36 hp/acre
Wind 6.4 hp/acre
Corn ethanol 1/4 hp/acre

From what I’ve seen, Bryce appears to have made his fortune as a well-paid pawn of the traditional energy industry, offering a torrent of spurious reasons that renewables will never work. Here, he talks about a statistic that has virtually no meaning: power/area ratio; it’s certainly not in the top 20 reasons to like or dislike an energy technology. Robert, we have plenty of room, and I have to think that you know that.

So nuclear’s good because you can develop a lot of energy in a small space — by endangering every man, woman and child on Earth for the next 500,000 years — at tremendous cost?

Malicious nonsense.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

I invite readers in Southern California to Vanguard University in Costa Mesa on February 4th for their annual Environmental Sustinability Conference, at which I’ll be speaking.  They’ve given me 20 minutes with another 10 for Q&A; I’m on sometime in the mid-afternoon (to be arranged).  Hope to see you there.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

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When people ask me to explain my position on global warming, I normally assert what I’ve learned from the interviews I’ve conducted, while politely acknowledging that I’m not an expert on the subject.  I also point out that the specifics of the subject that are yet to be — and probably never will be — fully understood.  When I encounter adamant climate change deniers, I calmly suggest that they find one of any number of other reasons to urge a rapid migration away from fossil fuels: national security, public health, etc. 

However, when pressed for my true beliefs, I have to admit that I get really stern.  What remaining hair I have on the back of my arms stands up and blood vessels swell in my forehead as I (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

I hope everyone will take five minutes and watch the incredible video linked here, in which the genius Hans Rosling summarizes 200 years of world history. When you get finished picking your chin up off the floor in utter amazement at how cool this analysis is, I’m sure you’ll have some of the same thoughts I did, as the piece touches on many subjects within the spheres of technology, geo-politics, sociology, and philosophy.

My first thought was sustainability. Note Rosling’s vision for the future: “Perhaps all the peoples of the world can become healthy and wealthy.” Perhaps so. But if any reason for optimism actually exists, we as a civilization need to move quickly to a way of dealing with the natural world that is non-exploitative. To the degree that we look at our challenges in energy, for example, and say, “Hell, we just need better pumps to suck this stuff out of the ground,” we’re pursuing a course that cannot possibly sustain itself — let alone provide for the health of current and future generations.

The concept that “the world is ours for the taking” simply does not apply to the 21st Century the way we assumed it did in the industrial revolution 150 years ago. 

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

The Vector hopes readers follow Ford Motor Company and note how it is guaranteeing its relevance in the 21st Century. First and most obviously, we like the way it cooly turned down government bailout money, then turned a $2.7 billion profit in 2009. Nothing says relevance like winning, and doing so without bilking the taxpayers.

Just as impressive, Ford embraces the EV future. In preparing itself to compete with the Nissan LEAF, the Chevy Volt, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and products soon to hit the streets from BMW and dozens of others, the importance of leadership in this space is clearly not lost on Ford. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I think we’re all a bit curious about the ultimate disposition of the energy industry – both here in the US and around the globe.  In the States, 49% of our electricity comes from coal, and the penetration of renewables is under 2%.  Worldwide, about 80% of energy for all purposes comes from burning hydrocarbons.  So if that’s where we are, where are we going?

In the US, we have a complicated array of vectors in this space. We have constantly falling prices for PV and wind — and promising new technologies coming along right behind them, yet we have a Republican majority in the Senate that has aggressively begun to block all actions that would mitigate global climate change.

So, again, what are the most likely scenarios for change, if any, through the coming decades?  I was lucky enough to have received a crystal ball for Christmas that comes in handy on occasions like this; let me pull it out, and I’ll tell you.  But first, maybe we should look at a few high-level questions that frame the discussion: (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

One generally considers that people with a lot of money are smart; after all, it was Aesop who told us 2500 years ago: “A fool and his money are soon parted.”  But some of us are having difficulty understanding how CODA, the electric vehicle company whose planned introduction of a lithium-ion powered sedan appears to be floundering, continues to raise huge amounts of money from apparently intelligent investment bankers and venture capitalists. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Warm thanks to 2GreenEnergy co-founder George Alger and website superstar Adam Battenfield for their work on the new “media” page, which is intended to present my capabilities as a public speaker or TV/radio guest on clean energy. 

Wow, guys!  I actually look reasonably good here!  How on Earth did you accomplish that?

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Occasionally I check the analytics on the 2GreenEnergy site to see where our traffic is coming from.  I was delighted to see that we got over 100 visitors the other day from a site that doesn’t have a word of English on it.  Check this out. 

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