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Cleantech stocks are down. But lower oil prices or a drop in the stock market cannot stop the powerful momentum pushing the revolution forward.
Continue reading "Dark Economic Clouds Have Green Linings (TechFlash)" »
Micro nuke power plants the size of a hot tub would fit in a back yard and power a small town.
California now tops the ranking for per capita energy efficiency. How did it get there? Energy efficiency isn't sexy, but it's effective. "The utility will emulate efficient market outcomes and do the cheapest thing first," said Amory Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute, in this article in the International Heral-Tribune.
Continue reading "California Points the Way to an Energy-Efficient Future (IHT)" »
Sustainable Industries Journal explains how marketers can avoid greenwashing and successfully align their brand attributes with their customers' green identities, in "Communicating Goals through the Five P's of Marketing."
Continue reading "Communicate Sustainability through the Five P's of Green Marketing" »
Kevin Klustner has stepped down as CEO of Verdiem, the Seattle energy-efficiency company backed by KPCB and others. Verdiem's product is a tough sell. Will network power management catch on before thin clients/mobility/telecommuting/24-7 shiftwork make it irrelevant?
University of Washington staff have moved into the former Safeco headquarters tower in Seattle. Safeco donated 74,000 pieces of office furniture and fixtures that will be reused, instead of recycled.
White papers are pouring out of vendors in the information technology space as they shift their marketing positions to "green" as fast as they can. Many have locked onto an imagined want in data centers to reduce energy consumption from equipment and cooling. Energy efficiency is out of line with the business goals of most IT departments.
Continue reading "Data Center Energy: Reduction Is Not Really the Priority" »
Harvard Business Review says Gulf countries are investing their wealth in new ways that will engender a broader systemic change in international trade and finance in the decades to come. FORTUNE says $500 oil is coming and we'll be lucky to get through it without "blowing each other up." What's your opinion?
Continue reading "Finance: How Oil-Rich Countries Are Reshaping the World " »
This was great fun for a Friday... a crossword puzzle all about energy and the utility industry. I got all but four.
The major markets of the world are struggling with the authenticity of green claims. Most e-logos are recent, and labeling laws are a decade out of date. Who is responsible for instilling trust?
M2M is the basis of advanced building-control systems, industrial machinery, Google News, and Wall Street trading. Is it dangerous?
Continue reading "Machine-to-Machine: Singularity or Savior? (SNS)" »
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Philip Bobbitt and John C. Danforth pose several questions to both Barak Obama and John McCain. One is related to energy. Denis Du Bois proposes an answer.
Continue reading "Questions of Energy Security: Ask the Candidates (NY Times)" »
French utility EdF roughly doubled its ownership stake in Constellation Energy to 9.51 percent at an estimate cost of a half-billion dollars. Is EdF counting on an increase in U.S. support for nuclear following the elections?
Continue reading "Nuclear: French Utility is Banking on Nuke Growth in U.S." »
The ITER project in Cadarache France passed a milestone last week. Scientists from several participating countries have tested a prototype superconductor for the Poloidal Field coils inside the fusion reactor.
National Public Radio's prime-time program "All Things Considered" today ran a collection of brief stories about the steps businesses are taking to reduce their energy bills.
Continue reading "Business and Energy (NPR All Things Considered)" »
The Yancey brothers' family feud over wind turbines is back in the news. Move over, boys. The future knocked, and your father let it in.
Continue reading "Yancey's Family Wind Woes In the News Again" »
Intellectual Ventures is talking up a new type of breeder reactor of its own invention. The "traveling wave" reactor would run on a raw mineral (uranium, or possibly thorium) rather than on processed fuel.
Continue reading "Intellectual Ventures Nuclear Invention Touted as Safer and Cheaper" »
Michael Morris, chairman, president and chief executive of American Electric Power, which runs the nation's largest electrical transmission system, told the Associated Press he sees a dire situation ahead for the power grid, and the U.S. could eventually face power rationing.
Continue reading "Grid Operator Warns of Power Rationing Eventuality" »
On August 14, 2003, a sagging power line coming into contact with untrimmed trees near Cleveland, Ohio triggered a massive blackout that left 50 million people without electricity in a 9,300 square mile area in the Northeast and Midwest United States and parts of Canada. Economic losses were estimated at as much as $10 billion. Five years later, is the North American electrical power grid less susceptible to disruption?
Continue reading "5-Year Anniversary of the 2003 Northeast Blackout" »
A space-based solar power system would require building large solar energy collectors in Earth's orbit. Outside the atmosphere, in constant daylight, the panels would harvest more energy than land-based units.
Continue reading "Harvest the Sun -- From Space (NY Times)" »
An LA Times columnist's misunderstanding of the smart grid points out one of the toughest hurdles for advocates: explaining it to the general public and media.
"Probably not" is the response from people Janis Mara interviewed.
Continue reading "Green Scene a Flash in the Pan? (McClatchy)" »
HelioVolt and Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co. today announced a partnership to incorporate solar energy systems directly into standardized curtain wall products, the exterior glass facades that dominate modern urban construction.
Continue reading "HelioVolt Partners with AGA to Manufacture BIPV" »
Financial justification tools face three major challenges: Prospects don’t believe their output; facilities managers are not financially trained; and sales reps are not trusted to explain the numbers.
Continue reading "Why ROI Calculators are a Formula for Failure" »
PG&E Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee called a handful of journalists into his boardroom and talked about being a successful utility in an era when it's is less about building centralized power plants and more about tapping renewable energy and balancing supply and demand.
Beijing is building up for the Olympics, spending $40 billion to impress the world -- and pushing commercial architecture to its limits. National Geographic's May 2008 special-edition issue, "China, Inside the Dragon," features dozens of articles, most of them short, all of them about China.
Continue reading "China: New Great Walls - Construction for the Beijing Olympics (NG)" »
When I started Energy Priorities on Earth Day 2004, "sustainable business" for most companies meant having enough working capital. Few people took global warming seriously. Venture capital investment in clean tech (counting everything from agriculture to water) in the previous year had barely crested a billion dollars. The 2003 blackouts were behind us; our attention was on the elections...
Continue reading "It's Earth Day and Energy Priorities is Four" »
The upcoming issue of Time Magazine will be all about "How to win the war on global warming." It's interesting to note that this is the cover story in all worldwide editions of Time, except for Europe. That edition focuses on US-UK relations.
Continue reading "How To Win the War on Global Warming (Time)" »
How will Beijing stage "green games" in one of the world's most polluted cities? By placing all sources of pollution on hold for two months. If the plan fails, the International Olympic Committee's president says smog could postpone some outdoor events.
Continue reading "Beijing Construction to be Halted ahead of China Olympic Games (NY Times)" »
I thought the Beijing Olympics would create a world platform for progress on the environment. Turns out I was wrong. An older and stronger issue is taking the lead.
Continue reading "China Olympics: Green Will Take a Bronze behind Human Rights" »
A special section in today's New York Times focuses on green collar jobs, green college majors, business opportunities, zero-energy homebuilding, and investing. What collar am I?
Electricite de France is rumored to be working on a deal in which EdF could acquire a controlling share in Iberdrola. The combination would create a renewable energy giant with multinational clout.
Continue reading "EdF and Iberdrola, a Renewable Energy Powerhouse?" »
Carbon emissions increased faster than electricity demand in 2007. As much as two-thirds of the greenhouse gas increase was due to increased demand for electricity, much of which was met by coal-fired power plants. Can we hope to make progress against greenhouse gases and continue to exempt ageing coal plants from the Clean Air Act of 1970?
Continue reading "Power Plant Carbon Emissions Outpace Energy Production (AP)" »
My conclusion from reading "America's 50 Green Cities" in the March 2008 Popular Science: There aren't 50 green cities in America. Yet.
Can the U.S. have energy security at the same time it tries to cope with global warming? Warren Olney of KCRW's "To the Point" podcast looks at some of the contradictions we face as the U.S. searches for a coherent energy policy.
Continue reading "Energy Security versus Environmental Stability (KCRW)" »
The government's futuristic "clean coal" power project has joined the long list of scuttled coal plants. The death spiral of coal energy is reminiscent of the 1980s popular blockade of nuclear plant construction. Investors and even the Bush administration are backing out. Was "An Inconvenient Truth" the "China Syndrome" of coal?
The next issue of ComputerWorld magazine (Monday, 18 February, 2008) will feature the magazine's picks for the top "green IT" companies. The winner's circle includes 12 vendors and 12 user companies.
Yucca Mountain's tunnel is closed and most workers have gone home.
Continue reading "Deep Layoffs Announced at Yucca Mountain (AP)" »
The conference of representatives of over 180 countries started Monday, December 3, 2007, and will continue for two weeks. The objective is to launch negotiations for the international agreement that will take over when the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The surface layer of news coverage will be about the fireworks when the U.S. refuses to back carbon limits, but there's much more going on there. The outcome will affect our power prices and American exports -- i.e., U.S. competitiveness -- through 2050. Here are some links to help you follow the events.
3Q '07 numbers are out. Deal count is down slightly, but dollars are way up: $2.5 billion. And the year's not over yet. Nationally the most active investor in clean tech was Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which invested $76.8 million. That was followed by Khosla Ventures at $68.4 million and Draper Fisher Jurvetson at $38.5 million.
Continue reading "KPCB, Khosla, DFJ Top Latest List of Clean-Tech Investors" »
Not only is China doubling its nuclear energy capacity by 2020, it's on a hydro spree that appears to abandon the ecological values we take for granted in the developed world.
Continue reading "Patrick Moore Should Be Proud of China's Energy Plans (NY Times)" »
I've been interested for several years in the concept of building systems as (very big) hardware platforms for increasingly sophisticated software. Mark Mills dug into this topic uncharacteristically far (for Forbes) this week. Maybe the idea is catching on.
Continue reading "Sport Utility Buildings and McMansions: The Latest Battlefront (Forbes)" »
A United Nations panel of scientists meeting has concluded in Valencia, Spain. The scientists' final report, released today, describes the mounting risks of climate change in language that is more specific and forceful than its previous assessments. Here are links to the report, the IPCC web site, and a New York Times article about it this morning.
Continue reading "UN Report Describes Risks of Inaction on Climate Change (NY Times)" »
The renewable energy industry's leading podcast series ran a segment I recorded at Greenbuild. It's an excerpt of an audio package I produced when I visited the exhibits of the major energy-related exhibitors there. (podcast)
Continue reading "Solar at Greenbuild: Audio Tour (Inside Renewable Energy)" »
GREENBUILD-- Every building is different, and the US Green Building Council is working hard to establish LEED standards that apply fairly to all kinds of buildings. Would a more fluid, flexible system be more effective at encouraging green building?
Continue reading "Green Building Standards Pass up Golden Opportunities" »
When it comes to getting global carbon emissions under control, The Economist's Green.view column says the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is more of a distraction than a savior. Overall the Economist comes down on this IPCC co-creator pretty hard -- too hard.
Continue reading "High Hopes and Slender Means for IPCC's Parent (The Economist)" »
GREENBUILD-- The tally on the white board in the press room is up to 20,500 attendees at Greenbuild 2007. There are still more people in line to get in.
Continue reading "Greenbuild 2007 Gets Even More Jam-Packed" »
GREENBUILD-- Put 18,000 architects, builders and vendors in one building, when you were expecting fewer than 10,000, and you get...
Thomas L. Friedman says Mumbai and Calcutta, strained from the influx of workers from rural areas, can't keep growing. The tech revolution in India could expand to rural villages, benefiting some of India's 700 million villagers. But it can’t do it off car batteries, backup diesel generators and India’s rural electric grid. It will take a real energy revolution.
Continue reading "If IT Merged with Energy Technology (NY Times)" »
Global warming will be one of the themes of the 2008 Future in Review conference organized by Mark Anderson's Strategic News Service. In an SNS Special Letter, Anderson shares the transcript of "Looking Further," an interview about climate change between futurist Glen Heimstra (Futurist.com) and author Kim Stanley Robinson (“Mars” and “Science In The Capital” Trilogies). The elite ranks of SNS subscribers pay dearly for Anderson's insightful newsletter subscription. But we're bringing this interview to you, compliments of SNS and Energy Priorities.
Continue reading "Global Warming: Looking Further (Strategic News Service by Mark Anderson)" »
A quick note to congratulate the Seattle winners and finalists in the third annual BetterBricks Awards.
Continue reading "BetterBricks Seattle Award Winners 2007: Congratulations" »
In 1961 John F. Kennedy called for his nation to put a man on the moon in ten years. That was a formidable challenge -- and today's energy challenge is even greater. Congressman Jay Inslee has been calling for an end our oil addiction and the accompanying transformation of our economy. He calls it the Apollo Project for energy and his new book, "Apollo's Fire," spells out his vision.
Continue reading ""Apollo's Fire," Jay Inslee's Apollo Project, the Book" »
A couple of weeks ago, the authors of the Sketchup Blog decided to run a friendly competition. They asked readers to submit examples of sustainable work they've done in SketchUp. Six projects were selected -- "They were the most compelling, and most complete, that we received," writes blog author Aidan Chopra.
Continue reading "Green Design in Google SketchUp Highlighted" »
