[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC-mpravdgw&w=420&h=315]
Here’s a radio interview I did the other day on a station in Cedar Rapids, IA. The show is cleverly called “Clean Up Your Act,” and deals with hundreds of different issues associated with sustainability and clean energy, in particular. I thought this gentleman did a good job at peppering me with sharp, relevant questions.
“Sustainability” is such an important concept in our world today, and it’s magnificent to see so many people and corporate entities working hard to contemplate the effects their actions have on posterity. On the other hand, we come across atrocities every day that demonstrate how a great many of our deeds and policies run 180 degrees counter to this notion.
Here’s a good example, revealed in this interview on Democracy Now in which medical ethicist Harriet Washington discusses the situation of Monsanto’s dealings with the desperately poor, disaster-ravaged farmers of Haiti. If you’re able to read this without your heart pounding in anger and disgust, you’re a stronger person than I. (more…)
There is nothing magic about the number 7 billion, which, according to the United Nations, became the population of planet Earth sometime earlier today. The resources available to feed, clothe, house and transport the world’s people aren’t stretched far thinner today than they were yesterday. But it’s good to have milestones like this to cause us to think about where we’re going.
As discussed in this NPR segment, the critical pinch points of a growing population are not so much associated with running out of room, but running out of stuff. The populations that are growing fastest, those in India and Africa, are going to want to live like we do here in the US, i.e., as mega-consumers.
So what’s the big deal? Well, it’s that delivering on that promise of lots of stuff requires vast amounts of energy that currently can come only from fossil fuels and nuclear, all of which come with significant costs to the health and safety of our environment – as well as to us personally.
As physicist Dan Kammen, head of an energy laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley notes, “What’s needed is renewable energy that’s cheap and won’t run out. But by essentially every measure, we’re not moving fast enough.”
In my quest to keep up with great thinking in terms of small business, I’m having lunch tomorrow with one of the top people at Catalyst for Thought, a group that seeks to “unlock the entrepreneur in each of us.” Here’s an organization that believes as I do, that all our actions, good or bad, have a terrific ripple-effect on others:
Society is positively impacted when individuals are empowered to identify and address their own problems, and create solutions. This process impacts society. That impact inspires others, and the process is repeated when you connect like-minded people. The possibilities are exponential!
John Petersen is one of the most thoughtful critics of the electric vehicle industry. In a phone conversation I had with him a few weeks ago, he laid out a few reasons why he thinks the whole idea needs to be scrapped. Here, in his column on AltEnergyStocks.com, he further defends his position, pointing out the folly of the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma, and suggesting that those who invest in the glutted lithium-ion battery market are imbeciles.
Although there is a lot of truth here, as there is to everything John writes, I point out a few things: (more…)
Thanks to all those who made suggestions for the title for my next book. There were several hundred, most of them fabulously creative, some deadpan, others hilarious. Tentatively, I’ve chosen:
RENEWABLE AND DOABLE
Our Transition to a Clean Energy Economy
that Won’t Cost Us the Earth
I like the concept for its clever rhyme, and also for its brave optimism, i.e., the suggestion that significant penetration of renewable energy and reduction in consumption of fossil fuels truly is an achievable goal. Fortunately, it jibes with the content of the book; in fact, there is a reasonable degree of hope to be found in various passages.
But having said that, the book is fundamentally an attempt to answer a single question: If this is such a critically important mission here on Earth, what are the forces that are making this transition so horribly difficult and slow? (more…)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQd3Qhbdho]In October’s webinar provided here, I interviewed Eutricity CEO Brent Marsh who described the process by which Onsite Utility Services (OSUS) are replacing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). This will represent savings and peace of mind for managers of commercial and industrial real estate, while opening up an important opportunity in the market for OSUS providers.
Part of Eutricity’s unique approach is its implementation of high voltage (low current) DC (325V) for lighting and HVAC. This reduces customers’ expenses associated with AC-DC (power supplies for digital devices) and DC-AC (PV inverters). It also removes power factor losses.
Sounds like a light-bulb of an idea to me — an LED light, of course.
We at 2GreenEnergy are on a quest to introduce the basic concepts of renewable energy to newcomers to the field, and, to that end, we’ve begun to create a series of “infographics,” providing a few essential concepts at a glance. Here’s a one-pager we did, depicting a brief history of each of five main types of clean energy. We’re hoping that this puts a few central concepts into perspective for folks.
I’ve reviewed more than 700 cleantech business plans over the past 24 months, in a process that I describe in a two-minute-long video on the page linked below. The result? 19 opportunities that I consider to be excellent. Each has, at least by my way of looking at it, a solid team, proven technology, and a large, protectable target market.
Should investors jump right in because I happen to like the deal? Of course not. Is due diligence required? Absolutely. But if you’d like to know more about any of these opportunities, please let me know and I’ll arrange an introduction.
Here’s that video, as well as more information on each opportunity.
Here’s Part Two of the interview that EVWorld editor Bill Moore conducted with me shortly after Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies was published last year. In the course of the discussion, he asked me to provide my high-level impression of some of the main clean energy technologies: solar, wind, biomass, and hydro.
