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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

As I have mentioned, the Solar Power International show a few weeks ago was a beehive of activity: 27,000 people busily learning, networking, excitedly establishing new business connections. As Americans, we need to be proud of this industry. Here are a few data points to keep in mind.

Growth. In the US, we put on about a gigawatt of solar in the last 12 months. This, of course, is small in comparison to other forms of energy, but it’s the fastest growing source of energy in the US, predicted to grow to 10 gigawatts by 2015. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Frequent commentor Dan Conine writes:

… Make the actual cost of everything available at the point of purchase, rather than burying costs through incentives and subsidies. People buy gas to go to jobs to buy cars because they think it is cheaper than staying home. If they had to pay for the wars and the subsidized drilling and the tax writeoffs for corporations when they bought the gas or electricity, they would be more likely to resist the urge to waste it, and the costs of renewables would look more viable.

ALL government should be financed by sales taxes, and there should be no favoritism for ‘job creation’ or ‘business’. Most of the things in the economy that are being defended are simply not necessary to the existence of our species. You can’t have everything: where would you put it?

That’s exactly correct, as usual, Dan. It’s amusing to hear the rhetoric surrounding the midterm elections. Virtually every campaign platform is a statement of how this person or proposition aligns with the Constitution and the first principles of democracy. But is anyone talking about stripping away all the bureaucratic contrivances, leaving in place only a pure market economy in which we are free to make our purchases, based on the complete and unaltered costs of the goods we’re buying? Nope.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Re: my piece the other day on Christine O’Donnell, a buddy from high school writes:

Like John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, it appears she is on a mission form God. Her latest quote is, “God, you gave me this desire. You gave me this desire of my heart to serve the people of Delaware, to go in there and be your voice in Congress.”

Well, while we have ample evidence that this works with some folks, I would have to think that the majority of Delaware voters are going to want to see a bit more substance.  Having said that, today’s world is full of surprises that all point to H. L. Mencken’s famous line: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

There are a few weapons in my arsenel as an advocate for renewables, and one of them is a fairly comprehensive calendar of events.  I use it primarily to schedule travel, trying, as I have all my adult life, to maximize the value of each mile flown, by combining trips to see clients, prospects, book interview subjects — as well as family and friends.  If you click on the link, you’ll notice that there are normally half a dozen of so different energy-related events somewhere in the world — every day.

You’ll also notice that the preponderance of these events concern renewables.  There is an occasional symposium on shale gas, but most of the talk is on solar, wind, geothermal, storage, integration of intermittent sources, clean energy financing, etc.  (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

On October 13th, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GRM Research released the “U.S. Solar Market Insight” report covering industry action in the first half of 2010. The news is encouraging: the report reveals there is growth in the solar industry despite the struggling capital markets and economy.

“First half solar installations grew beyond expectations as a result of declining prices, continued government support and improving financial conditions,” said Shayle Kann, Managing Director at GTM Research in a press release on October 13th. “In spite of the macroeconomic woes, the U.S. solar industry is on track to have a record year in 2010 for both installations and manufacturing.”

There is a 55% growth in grid installed solar over 2009, with 339 MW grid installed power to date.  The PV (photo-voltaic) market is up 69% over 10 years in the U.S., from 3.9 MW in 2000 to 435 MW installed by the end of 2009. The U.S. placed fourth worldwide in 2009 for installed PV power, after Germany, Japan and Italy.  The chart below illustrates the growth, courtesy the SEIA report:

(more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m back from my annual chili cook-off with what’s left of my Peruvian Chili. No honors this year. I had to use beans, since I had it so hot it would have incapacitated most of the crowd had I not scaled it back, and the judges hate beans. Oh well. Live and learn.

Now how could such a remark possibly be relevant to a blog on renewable energy? Well, one of the reasons I love this event is that several of its participants teach university classes in international relations, and I never fail to learn something relevant to the macro forces that underlie global current events. And normally, when you trace these things back to the root, you find the world’s insatiable appetite for energy. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

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My mother is not concerned that Christine O’Donnell dabbled in witchcraft. I suppose I’m not either. My concern is she dabbles in ignorance – in fact, she frolics in it. How does a person run for public office — let alone senate — who doesn’t have the vaguest understanding of the US Constitution? Here she is, debating her challenger in the Delaware senate race.  Skip to the end if you’re bored. 

It will be really interesting to see if this Tea Party stuff has any staying power with Americans.  Of course, this is coming from a guy who laughed when he first heard rap music and told his friends: “Can you believe that?  This garbage will be gone in about two weeks.”

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I had the first in a series of interviews with Dr. Robert Pollin from UMass Amherst’s Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute this morning, in an effort to triangulate on a central issue:

What is the precise economic impact of the migration to “new energy” – both efficiency and renewables? (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I happened to be driving across the Los Angeles basin yesterday to see a local client when I heard the radio commentary of Robert Reich (Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton)  on the exact issue we’ve been discussing here: the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow hundreds of millions of dollars to pour into advertisements for and against candidates — without a trace of where the dollars are coming from.

The transcript is linked above.  He’s quite a thinker, IMO.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

A few months ago, I ran across a human dynamo by the name of Mary Jo Shaub, and I am now busily adding her creds to the website as an associate, in order to address a need that I’ve long wanted to fill.  Mary Jo has 20+ years’ experience in helping agricultural businesses explore their renewable energy potential, especially biomass — utilization of farm waste.  And she makes it happen, by writing grant proposals and assisting with loan applications. 

Mary Jo and I met initially at a dairy farm nestled in the Blue Ridge.  Great learning experience.  Glad I wasn’t wearing my best shoes.

I’ll hope anyone interested will contact us to pursue a conversation.

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