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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Nipton, California Will Generate 85% of its Electricity from Skyline Solar

Skyline Solar announced the first commercial installation of its High Gain Solar (HGS) 1000 system in a new municipal solar plant of the desert town. The 80 kilowatt plant is an upgradeable solar power system that has been planned since 2008, when it secured financing. Skyline’s HGS patented architecture uses photovoltaic, tracking, cooling and concentration components, and reduces the amount of silicon needed. The power-producing components are upgradeable – which allows the owners to “future proof” their investment.

“As a gateway community to the Mojave Desert, Nipton seeks to be a good steward of the environment. Sustainability is paramount…” said Gerald Freeman, Principal Administrator for Nipton.

And Here’s What’s Happening at the New York Power Authority: (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

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Craig Shields
Publisher, THE VECTOR
Editor, 2GreenEnergy.com
Author, RENEWABLE ENERGY – FACTS AND FANTASIES

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYnpiNCSwik&w=500&h=405]

Can small companies sell to large customers? Of course. I’ve had dozens of clients in start-ups over the last 30 years who are concerned that large companies wouldn’t pay attention to them, simply because they didn’t have billion-dollar balance sheets. Hogwash. Lance Miller, DieselTek’s president, has his own viewpoint on this subject, which he articulates here.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hed1geT5aQA]

Here is the full 30-minute-long episode of the Sam Smith’s appearance on the 2GreenEnergy Report.  Sam, managing partner of EV World Associates, has had his hands in many high-level electric vehicle transactions over the years, and I was pleased to have him on the program.  I hope you’ll enjoy the rich color that Sam brings to the show, based of his robust set of experience in this industry space.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

PhotobucketI’m headed for San Jose, CA this week for the annual Plug-In show. Like virtually every other event in the green space, these events get bigger and more exciting each year. Now, with the advent of the Nissan Leaf and dozens of other EVs from major manufacturers right on its heels, I expect quite a large and enthusiastic crowd.

I’ve written several articles over the past couple of years on the EV adoption curve as I predict it will happen, and I freely admit that my position is at odds with a great number of other industry observers. Maybe I’m missing something, but I see no major bumps and unaddressable challenges. Here are a few items for your consideration:

Consumer Demand. Will consumers rebuke the change from internal combustion engines (ICEs)? Sure, some will, for a short period of time. There were people who thought horseless carriages were the work of Satan in the early 20th Century. I’m sure there will be holdouts – for any of a dozen reasons. But who cares? Consumer acceptance will far outstrip the gradually increasing supply.

Note the two major pressures that will be exerted on consumers:

Gas prices. There are people, believe it or not, who care not one whit for anyone in the world except themselves and their immediate families. But even Hummer drivers will run to EVs when gas prices spike back up.

Peers. Imagine that you’re a fence sitter, and your next-door neighbor starts zipping around in a cool, high-torque, low-cost, near-zero-maintenance car with no tailpipe whose fuel costs him the equivalent of gasoline at $0.60 per gallon. I predict that simply seeing such a vehicle and talking to its owner will be a powerful motivating force in the direction of an EV.

Infrastructure. Will charging infrastructure be inadequate? This is a more complicated issue, but again, the answer is essentially no. It’s true that early EV adopters will need to plan their trips more carefully than ICE drivers, and that EVs – for the foreseeable future, will not be right for everyone, e.g., those few who rely on one vehicle to make frequent trips out of town. But for most, charging at home is not a problem — and soon charging at the workplace, shopping centers, and movie theaters will be ubiquitous.

So what about EVs on long trips? That will have to wait. But we’re replacing 230 million cars on US roads; that won’t happen overnight either.

Readiness of the Utilities. Will power utilities we able to cope with the increased demand for electricity? Yes. Most EVs will be charged at night with off-peak power that is of no value anyway. The increase in daytime power consumption will be very slow.

Shortages. Will there be shortages of lithium and other elements critical to the EV supply chain? I predict not. We haven’t really started looking for lithium. We didn’t think there was oil in the Earth’s crust either – until we started to look for it. Unfortunately, we found it, extracted it, and burned it. And now far better informed people than I are worried about uranium shortages because our civilization is concerned that we won’t be able to build enough nuclear reactors.  Wow. 

Cavalier Dismissal? Am I just trivializing important issues? Could be. But I’m betting I’m right.

In any case, I’ll hope to see you at the show — check it out here.  As always, if you happen to be there and would like to say hello, please let me know; just hit contact.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A reader named Mark writes on my piece about nuclear power, in which I favor solar thermal and point out the dangers of further nuclear development:

Energy and power sources/systems are complex topics. They encompass national and international political factors, human health factors, economic considerations, fuel source/feedstock considerations, and more.

I believe a diverse portfolio is desirable. As a human diet that is diverse (balanced) contributes to human health, a diverse portfolio of energy and power sources reduces overall risks greatly, from a number of perspectives. Problem is, most individuals or groups are motivated by some form of self-interest. Yours happens to be solar. Others favor nuclear and so on. ….. Until the power of special interests is reduced substantially, we likely will continue to land on the wrong squares. Unfortunately each human mind is its own “special interest”.

This is a terrifically astute comment.  I particularly love: Unfortunately each human mind is its own “special interest.”   You’ve touched not only on the energy industry but on the human condition itself; thanks so much for writing.

And you are so correct. We spend most of our mental lives trying to confirm our hypotheses about ourselves and the world around us — and almost no time looking for clues that may disconfirm these beliefs — a pursuit that would have been so much more productive. And I’m a living laboratory; I think of myself as a person strong enough to accept even the harshest criticism, but I have to admit that everytime I open an email from a stranger I hope it expressed approval of my ideas.

Having said all this, I’m not convinced that your analogy is perfectly valid. The idea that a balanced human diet leads to health does not imply that a balance of energy generation technology leads to sustainability. You wouldn’t suggest that a human diet that should include even trace amounts of cyanide. Likewise, I submit there are modes of energy generation that are simply unhealthy for humans and other living things.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

This is our 500th post.  I wanted to use it to thank our clients, our guest bloggers, and our many thousands of subscribers — a large percentage of whom add fantastic and insightful comments and help make this a lively and interesting conversation.   Special thanks to our business manager George Alger, financial guru Bill Paul, and to each of the 2GreenEnergy Associates for their extraordinary talents and support of the renewables industry.  A world of appreciation from me to you, for the outstanding contributions you make every day.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

Ever hear of a “Croton?” You know, the oil-bearing tree, indigenous to Tanzania? How familiar are you with babassu?

Don’t be ashamed if you’ve never heard of either. Besides the two people who brought me business plans that promote biomass-to-energy projects using the fruits of these two exotic trees, I’ve yet to run into a single person who’s ever heard of either one.

The former bears nuts about the size of walnuts; the latter, found primarily in another but equally wild part of the world (northeastern Brazil), provides something akin to a small coconut. Harvesting neither affects the world food supply, and both have characteristics that make them very attractive for biomass feedstock. Suffice it to say that 2GreenEnergy is a great place to work if you want to learn about life forms that you would have been extremely unlikely to come across in any other way.

More to the point, the people forwarding these two business plans are both fantastic human beings — engaged on incredible missions. Want a great experience? Talk to Joe Scali of African Biofuels and ask him about his plans for the Croton — actually Croton megalocarpus (locally called muhihi). This tree grows robustly in semi-arid climates on marginal lands, produces 25-50 kg seeds annually with 32% oil content. In a few minutes, you’ll get a background on a magnificent project — one that actually will, I’m completely convinced, provide a positive (if perhaps a bit longer-term than some) return on investors’ money. And you’ll be more than a little bit tuned into the what’s happening in Tanzania with respect to renewable energy.

The people of Third World countries contribute far less per capita to the production of greenhouse gases and other pollutants than those in developed nations. But they contribute far more per Watt-hour of energy consumed, since their access to energy tends to be rather low-tech, e.g., cooking over open wood fires.

So, for anyone wishing to make a difference, let me ask you, does it make more sense to improve the MPG rating of the cars we Americans drive a few percent, or eliminate 90+% of noxious emissions that come from the way of life of an equal number of Africans? If you’re interested, go to the African Biofuels website, and talk to Joe. Tell him Craig sent you.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Below is a link to a piece I wrote recently for Renewable Energy World in which I attempt to explain President Obama’s falling approval ratings. In it, I point out that, although his administration has been hamstrung with compromises from Congress whose end products are garbled, wrong-headed trash that wind up pleasing no one, he has been far more effective than its predecessors in supporting the development of clean energy. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

There’s a lot to like about GE’s design (announced just the other day) for their electric vehicle charging station. It looks cools, offers “Level 2” (240 Volt) charging, and provides its customers with “future-proofing,” easily swapping in new technology when it becomes available.

But the most important feature GE’s product is that it exists at all. As I reported in my piece Tough Realities for Renewable Energy Businesses, I urge people to look at the actions of Fortune 25 companies as indications of the underlying truth in the world – and this is a fabulous example. A company with revenues of $157 billion is extremely unlikely to make a commitment to a product space whose revenues will come from a small minority of tree-huggers. This announcement is further evidence that the public and private sectors and moving very quickly – in lock-step with one another – to move electric transportation ahead.

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