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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

The Paris-based International Energy Agengy (IEA) issued this report on electric vehicles recently, which suggests that national governments around the world are competing to be the leader in the new transportation technology of the 21st century, setting ambitious deployment targets in the millions: 1.5 million by 2015, 100 million by 2050; or half of all light-duty vehicles sold in mid-century.

But like EVWorld.com editor Bill Moore, I’m wondering exactly what this means. I’m thrilled to have someone targeting an aggressive growth curve – and, in the process, acknowledging that without such a migration, we’re dooming our population to the ravages of climate change and other ecological disasters. Yet I think we need to realize the difference between a target coming out of a think tank and a phenomenon that actually happens in the real world.

The largest variable, arguably, is consumer demand. Carmakers can be counted on to respond to a population clamoring for a certain mode of vehicle, and enterprising businesses will have no trouble sorting out the charging infrastructure in a great hurry once demand is in place. Yet, as Moore observes in his article on the IEA report, “a body at rest tends to stay at rest,” reminding us that people resist change.

Will this be the huge issue that everyone seems to fear?  It’s true that people buy things (especially cars) that are an expression of their self-image. Trust me, I didn’t spend 30 years as a marketing consultant without running into that one. But we’ve all seen that the self-image and sensibilities of large percentages of our population can change very quickly. And we’ve even seen very rapid change in automotive designs (e.g., the VW Beetle, muscle cars, station wagons, SUVs, and crossovers).

Will that happen here? I can’t say for sure, but there’s certainly no reason that it couldn’t.  Also, keep in mind that it’s possible that “going green” could become the cool thing to do.  If we can offer the consumer a high quality EV with a decent range, at a decent price, I’ve predicted that they’ll sell like hotcakes.

So could these Parisian boys be right?  There are a great number of “ifs” going forward, but I’m hoping so.  　

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

If you’re available on Wednesday, July 27th, I hope you’ll attend a very special webinar that I’ll be conducting with Kathryn Alexander, the CEO of Ethical Impact. Kathryn is one of the kindest and most enlightened people you’ll ever run across, and one of the world’s top experts in corporate sustainability.

In the course of the last few years, I’ve become increasingly aware of the truly excellent work that some of our most visible corporate citizens have done in this arena — and Kathryn’s been a part of many of these most fantastic transitions.

I hope you’ll join us as we talk about topics like:

♦ The Ecological Laws that act as Environmental Imperatives that have guided life and all interdependent systems on this planet for millennia.

♦ How acting in concert with nature shouldn’t be seen as a cost item, but as an opportunity to create inventive new profit centers.

♦ The practical systems of innovation that are based on the ecological laws and wisdom of nature.

♦ Biomimicry, and how can your business processes be enhanced by learning from 3.7 billion years of nature’s own research.

♦ How you, as a business leader, can extract yourself from old-line thinking, begin to think like nature, and seed innovation into the DNA of your organization.

Again, I hope you’ll be able to attend.  Here’s the sign-up form:

http://2greenenergy.com/free-webinar/

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Here’s a short animated video aptly called “The Price of Gas” that takes the viewer through the comprehensive costs to the environment of exploration, extraction, shipping, refinement of crude, and the distribution and consumption of gasoline. Very nicely done, IMHO.

It’s the work of the nonprofit organization Center for Investigative Reporting, who, since their inception in 1977, has worked to reveal injustice and strengthen democracy through journalism.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Just got off the phone with Brooks Agnew, CEO of Vision Motors, with its unique, low-cost design for electric pick-up trucks. I really enjoy Brooks; he’s got a terrific temperament for dealing with the frustrations that are inherent in getting a project like this off the ground. And fortunately, he was able to provide good news on a number of fronts.

In particular, the GSA (General Services Administration) has placed an order, and the Department of Defense is looking at 41,000 units. The DoD’s reasoning is simple: saving lives. Fuel in Iraq and Afghanistan is kept in portable bladders that have to be guarded 24×7. On average, one life is lost every time one of those bladders is moved around in the field.

As I told Brooks, “I’m not sure our government is too motivated by issues like climate change, ocean acidification, peak oil, or even the respiratory health of the world population, so I wouldn’t expect the EV push to be based on any of those factors – or even a reduction in fuel cost. But our military most certainly cares very deeply for the safety of its soldiers. I’m very glad to see this moving forward.”

Still, the company needs to raise equity capital, to enable the debt financing, that will in turn, get them out of their modest quarters and into mass manufacturing.  “We have some terrific prospects here too,” Brooks said cheerfully.  You gotta like a guy with this type of spirit.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biomass

2GreenEnergy Business Director George Alger sent me this interview in which Bill Gates speaks on renewable energy.

George:  Yes, he makes some good points, and he’s a fan (as am I) of Donald Sadoway’s work at MIT.

But as you can see from the comments, not everyone agrees with a lot of what he says.  I, for one, completely disagree with a great deal of this.  His position that biomass holds huge promise while solar is “cute” and “for rich people” is pretty far out there on the fringe.

It’s as if he said that Dorothy Hamill was his favorite ice hockey team.  But when you have a guy of that stature, he can say that 2 and 2 are 5, and it will garner huge amounts of attention.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Here’s the 2GreenEnergy July survey – this one with a twist: it only applies to people with business aspirations in clean energy and electric transportation.  If you’re a hobbyist, an observer, or a fan, that’s absolutely fine, but you’ll want to skip this one.  But if you are, in fact, striving to establish or expand a profit-making entity in this arena, please go here:

http://2GreenEnergy.com/Survey/

… and provide your viewpoints of one of the most critical issues facing you (and me): how to deal with the incredible promise – and challenge – associated with doing business with China.

Thanks in advance.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Every day we read about the global dominance that China is achieving in cleantech, and wish the US could get on the stick as well. Here’s a link to a wonderful presentation by HSBC that explicates China’s commitment to green technologies nicely.

China’s 12th Five Year Plan includes seven Strategic Emerging Industries (SEI), six of which are related to clean energy and sustainability.  While we in the US are arguing about trivia and eviscerating our environmental regulations, the Chinese will be investing as much as $1.5 trillion between now and 2020 in: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that renewable energy rose to a historic high in the first quarter of 2011 – now producing at a greater rate than nuclear power. Renewable energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, hydro, and wind) provided 11.73% of U.S. energy production (vs. nuclear’s 11.10%).

Of course, most of our renewable energy is large hydroelectric dams and corn ethanol, which have their own ecological issues; less than 2% is solar, wind, geothermal, run-of-river hydro, algae, etc. But hey – one takes good news where one finds it.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Only once in a blue moon do I comment on the idiocies of the US Congress, and even less frequently that I extol the wisdom of conservative columnist David Brooks. But he has most certainly gotten this one right.

In his discussion of the debt ceiling issue, Brooks scolds the mean-spiritedness and riducles the ignorance of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell as follows: “(They) have no sense of moral decency” and “have no economic theory worthy of the name.” He goes on: “(If the deal blows up) Independents will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern. And they will be right.”

I’m reminded of the line that the late Kurt Vonnegut wrote (I’m guessing) a dozen times in several of his novels: “Wow, that’s strong stuff.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

For those of you trying to wrap your wits around the cost of the externalities of fossil fuels, here’s a report by Dr. Paul Epstein, the Director of Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment, who has spent the last 20 years trying to nail this down. He and his 11 co-authors peg the cost of coal at $300 – $500 billion per year in increased healthcare costs and long-term environmental damage.

It will be interesting to see how the coal industry responds. Typically, reports that expose the damage done by Big Energy are met with an immediate spate of ads that feature soothing music, pretty scenery, and assuring voice-overs extolling their virtues – just one of the reasons I try to avoid commercial television wherever possible.

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