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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The theme for my next book is essentially a take-off on the last one — “facts and fantasies,” exploring the “tough realities” of the migration to renewable energy.  I want to understand the nitty-gritty of the pragmatic issues that stand in the way: technological, economic, and political.  And although I know it’s not a good idea to make assumptions regarding what one expects to find before one sets out of a path of research, I wonder if that’s humanly possible. 

I have to admit that I DO have an assumption: it’s that big oil and the corruptive influence of its 7000 lobbyists have built an impasse.  It’s not really complicated — and it’s not even clandestine.  We have a system of laws that allows corporations to exert tremendous influence over the law-making process.  How surprised should we be that the energy industry has engineered an environment that guarantees its own survival (even at the expense of ours)?  Wouldn’t we be more surprised if these guys were voluntarily turning over the profit stream to someone else?

The problem, of course, is that this is not an idle intellectual exercise; it’s ruining our lives — in several different ways.  (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Economy 7 is a tariff based electricity supply designed to save electricity bills during winter months. The tariff itself is not suited to every household as it may actually increase electricity bills if not used within the correct requirements.
Households with electric Storage Heaters may significantly benefit from the Economy 7 regime. During the day (usually from 7am until midnight) your electricity costs slightly more than the standard rate. However for 7 hours every night, your electricity rate is around a third of the standard rate. Storage heaters have unique capabilities of storing heat. This hear can be stored during off-peak hours, and then released during cheaper hours (by utilising the economy 7 tariff) significantly reducing energy consumption. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

In a press release on August 30, 2010, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have announced two proposals for rating vehicles according to fuel economy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and air pollutants.

Based on the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (originally named the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007) the two agencies intend to provide consumers with clear and simple energy and environmental performance information that impacts public health, such as smog. The enhanced label information will provide consumers with comparisons across all types of vehicles, including electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.

The new labels will help consumers make the best economic and environmental decisions when buying a new car and will keep pace with the new generation of fuel efficient vehicles in a fast changing global market.

To view the label designs, check the EPA page http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) page http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I feel hypocritical about my stance about big government.  In a way, I think most of us should.  Generally, when we say we’re for small government, what we mean is that we’re for the elimination of all those wasteful programs – the ones we personally don’t support.  Like almost everyone, I claim to be for small government.  But out of the other side of my mouth, I believe that if we don’t invest in a sustainable energy strategy, we’re sunk. 

In a post on the role of government a few months ago, I noted that, despite the rhetoric to the contrary, neither party has done anything to restrict the size of government – nor even restrain its growth.  The only real question at stake is the types of programs that are going to predominate the spending of a certain administration.  Personally, I’m more afraid of ruining our environment and poisoning all living things on Earth than I am of a lot of the other priorities the governments of the world may have. But that’s just me. 

There are lots of problems to be solved in the world, and the private sector, more focused than ever on short-term profits, is, in many cases, simply the wrong tool for the job.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Prologis installation courtesy PGE

The largest rooftop solar installation in the American Northwest is now online.  Portland General Electric (PGE) has a 673,000 square foot installation of 2.4 MW on seven ProLogis warehouses. PGE ranked among the top 10 utilities in the west for solar installation in 2009, says Solar Energy Power Association.

Northwest Solar Solutions (a division of Snyder Roofing) was installer for the project and estimated that about 60,000 hours of work (electrical and roofing) was created by (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I got a high-quality rowing machine (Concept2) on Craig’s list yesterday, and have committed to daily use. It’s really the perfect tool for strength building and cardio simultaneously. But the reason I bring this up is that it will essentially force me to watch a bit of television, enabling me to keep up better with the coverage that the mainstream media affords various subjects of national and international importance.

Cooling down after my workout just now, I ask myself what I learned from 20 minutes or so in front of the Chris Matthews Show. Essentially, it’s that Obama has not done a good job in explaining himself and the actions he’s taken. While he was waiting for the stimulus package to take effect, he spent the majority of his political capital pushing through healthcare reform – a bill of dubious priority. The majority of Americans are angry with government, and the last think they want to see is more of it – in healthcare – or anyplace else. With the mid-term elections now only two months away, the Democrats are floundering to regain the trust of the electorate.

What does this mean in terms of renewable energy in the US? To me, it means this: don’t hold your breath. There are so many obvious actions related to energy policy that you or I would do if we were in charge, not one of which is anywhere close to happening.  Anyone of conscience acting independent of corruptive influence would start, I think, with these three:

1) Create a level playing field, removing the imbalance of subsidies that favors fossil fuels by a factor of 12:1, and accounting for externalities

2) Develop some version of federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS), probably looking at the country by region, and targeting specific adoption of solar, wind, geothermal, hydrokinetics, etc. accordingly

3) Be fair and honest in the allocation of stimulus money and other grants to businesses that actually can make a difference, vs. corporate behemoths that make huge campaign contributions

But let’s be realistic. The world of “what is right” and the world of political reality are galaxies apart. What can I infer from the fact that 20 minutes of analysis came and went in front of me – without a mention of the word “energy” even once? I think it’s pretty clear. If you’re looking for reform here, we have a lot of work in front of us if we’re going to elevate this issue to the position of prominence it needs to be.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Recently, I read a report about solar power in USA. I feel it’s very interesting. So I select a part of the reports for our readers.

Solar Electric power also called photovoltaic, is the term used to describe the conversion of sunlight directly to electricity. The solar cells available today use semiconductor materials. To create useful amount of power, they are wired together in varying numbers to create solar modules (or solar panels). Because the electric grid provides AC power, the systems also include inverters that convert the DC electricity to AC electricity. Then the solar powered could be used for solar lighting, water heater and many other applications. Currently, over 2000 MW of modules are being manufactured annually worldwide.
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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Parking lots for shopping malls, big box stores, warehouses and office buildings are all subject to the local planning departments.  The planning departments have a standard set of rules for the design of buildings and also parking lots.  The typical parking lot is required to have landscaping for aesthetics and safety.  This often requires trees, hedges and flower areas which require an irrigation system and maintenance in the form of gardening and repairs.

The trees usually take several years before they grow into shade trees, the hedges a few years to develop and the flowers usually need to be replanted every year.  This all requires water which is becoming an ever more precious commodity. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

The National Hydropower Association (NHA) released a statement on July 13th 2010 praising introduction of a bipartisan bill by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mike Crapo )R-ID) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).  The statement thanked the Senators who “…show great vision in turning to hydropower to provide clean, reliable, domestic energy generation, while also creating jobs in every state in the country – in fact, the measure will help create 1.4 million cumulative jobs over the next 14 years.” 

The NHA hopes that the bill will help hydropower in the upcoming Energy Bill and in policymaking, which should include long-term incentives for project development.

(more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A reader commented that she loved the quote of Henry Kissinger that I used in a recent post:  “If it weren’t for the wrath of the American people about our presence in Vietnam, we’d STILL BE THERE.”  (emphasis added) I used that to illustrate that we DO, despite all indications to the contrary, have an important voice in determining the outcome of our civilization.

I happened to run across this one from Noam Chomsky just now:

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.

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