Posted by: Earl
on Apr 19, 2009
Yesterday I attended a Living Green Expo. I was impressed by the number of exhibitors. Even more impressive was the number of attendees. I've been sensing for a while that there has been a change in momentum toward living green and interest in renewable energy. That's the good news.
Now the bad news. I talked to a lot of the vendor representatives in the booths. I didn't go with this intention but I starting asking the same questions to different people. I got a lot of different answers. None of them seemed to lack any confidence in their answers. Unfortunately, a lot of attendees were getting erroneous information. Some of the errors were perhaps innocuous The information that was provided may not have been critical but they were basic questions about the technology they were promoting.
There may be many thousands of dollars at stake for the system cost or for tax credits. The message is caveat emptor! You can't assume that the "expert" is in fact that. Get a second or third opinion. A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon and have perhaps not committed the manuals to memory. Make them earn your trust.
Posted by: Earl
on Feb 23, 2009
James Jao is a certified foreign expert so designated by the China State Council on Planning and Economic Development. In an op-ed piece in the China Daily newspaper Mr. Jao recommends that the Chinese government require mandatory adoption of green building technologies. Earl can’t agree more. He froze his “you know what” off in Beijing (because it was cold and snowing out) and in Shanghai (because if was chilly and few office buildings he was in had central heat) last week.
Mr. Jao pointed out that in 2004 green building comprised approximately 2 percent of the new US “nonresidential” construction market. Projections were cited that indicate that by 2010 between 5 and 10 percent of new non-residential construction starts will be based on principles of green buildings. He further notes that there is not currently a dominant “green” building product manufacturer in any building category. This, he suggest, is the biggest motivation for the market and a great business opportunity for China to seize. Read this to mean that China will be poised to dominate this market segment when the US ultimately adopts these standards.
I’ve previously suggested that there is tremendous opportunity for the US to lead the way in green building technology. We need to continue to provide that leadership because a giant economy is currently poised to get unleashed. The US has long been the country that fosters and develops new technologies. Mr. Jao is suggesting China learn from the US and become the leader in a whole new industry based on green building technology. The whole world benefits from the greening of China and their ability to produce low-cost products but I would rather that the US not miss out on an opportunity to continue to lead the way.
Posted by: Earl
on Feb 11, 2009
NPR ran a story this week about job creation in the renewable energy and energy conservation areas. Earl can embrace this element of the stimulus bill and I think a large number of the population that are footing the bill. Have a listen at
What Kind of Green Jobs Will Stimulus Spawn?. If you agree please call or email your congressman, tell them that you support this spending, then please politely tell them what they can do with the PORK!
Posted by: Earl
on Jan 6, 2009
This past weekend President-elect Obama stated in his weekly address that he wants to see the U.S. renewable energy output to double as a result of an economic stimulus program. That's a laudable goal but let's put it into perspective. Bear with me but we have to wade through some numbers.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency publishes the
Monthly Energy Review. The December 2008 edition documents the U.S. energy consumption through the first 9 months of 2008. It is interesting to note that over the past several years the totals have stayed quite consistent. After extrapolating the 2008 numbers out to 12 months it looks like the 2008 totals will be within 2% of the 2007 numbers. For sake of illustration I'll use the 2007 totals.
First a definition. The unit of energy measure used in the report is a Quad (short for 1 quadrillion BTUs). That is a one followed by 15 zeros. One barrel of oil (42 gallons) will provide approximately 5.8 million BTU. 1 Quad is roughly equivalent to 172 million barrels of oil.
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