by Richard T. Stuebi Geothermal energy has been part of the electricity grid for about 100 years. By using the heat from underground sources, steam can be generated to spin a turbine. This is a pretty straightforward concept, and it’s generally an economically-attractive power generation option where the underground heat — either steam or hot [...]
Sandor Schoichet s a longtime Cleantech Blog reader, and Director of Meridian Management Consultants. Sandor has EE and SM degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT, where he studied artificial intelligence, office automation, and business process reengineering, and completed a joint program in Management of Innovation at the Sloan and Harvard business schools. [...]
By Andrew Longenecker, guest contributor The TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy’s “Grid Integration of Renewables” conference, which took place at Stanford University’s Jen-Hsun Engineering Center on January 13, 2011, brought together professionals and students to discuss various aspects of the integration of intermittent sources of power to the grid. The conference facilitated the discussion on [...]
Ford has officially announced the Ford Focus Electric, a new aerodynamic 5-door hatchback with an expected range of 100 miles per charge. This 5-seat car matches the specs that I published after my test drive of the Focus Electric in May 2010. First consumer deliveries of the all-new Focus Electric will start towards the end of this year. At that point Ford will have solid EV experience and probably have delivered thousands of Ford Transit Connect Electric Vans to delivery and service fleets.
I drove my first Nissan Leaf on Saturday. The ultimate cleantech car. Not Cleantech Blog’s first EV drive, as our blogger John Addison has blogged on the Leaf and other EVs numerous times before. But only my second EV drive. My Leaf test drive followed a previous conversation with Mark Perry, one of the senior product guys [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi An increasing chorus of compelling voices – such as Thomas Friedman and Bill Gates and Jeff Immelt – has been arguing with strengthening force that the U.S. needs to dramatically up its ante in energy technology advancement – not only to address our own future energy needs in an economically and environmentally sustainable [...]
by David Anthony It’s true. Cleantech investment hasn’t worked out exactly how people dreamt it would back in the overly-optimistic days of the last decade. One of the main obstacles deterring venture capital investors from the sector is the frequently lengthy time lag between investment and commercialization. More importantly, the number of successful cleantech exits [...]
Obviously, “cost causer pays” is not going to get the job done. We need a national energy policy with a strong transmission and distribution grid upgrade component. The task is complicated by overlapping and sometimes competing federal and state objectives, but failing to act is simply not an option. Both financial and policy incentives must be made clear for stakeholders so that the greenpower superhighway that many envision can become a reality.
We’ve been meaning to publish a Cleantech Blog Bookshelf for a while. Cleantech Blog has always had a strong cadre of published and bestselling authors in our blogger roster, and I was recently included one of my essays on carbon credits alongside a star studded cast in an anthology called The Green Movement. So enjoy, [...]
The Megacity Vehicle will be designed from the wheels up to be a pure battery electric hatchback. It will be more aerodynamic than a MiniCooper, with four doors, and more room for 4 adults. BMW will follow Tesla’s success in extending the range of an electric car by using lighter materials. The Megacity will use an aluminum chassis and a carbon fiber outer skin to save up to 600 pounds. BMW’s innovative use of materials is the result of its joint venture with SGL Group, a leader in carbon materials.
Dear Friends, We think it’s time cleantech grew up and learned to play with the big boys of energy and consumer goods. That means learning cost down and scale like nobody’s business. We think it can. We think green is going mainstream – for good. We think LEDs are going to win. We think wind [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi In early November, I participated in a week-long delegation concerning energy in Israel, at the invitation of Project Interchange, an educational program of the American Jewish Committee. In addition to learning a tremendous amount about Israel’s history, culture and political situation, my fellow travelers and I were fortunate to talk with many leaders active in various aspects [...]
Will the 21st century be the fossil fuel century? Whether it’s peak oilers, climate scientists, renewable and sustainable gurus, or cleantech venture capitalists, we all talk like that’s not an option. We’ve preordained that the 21st century is a green energy, renewable power, cleantech century. And I’d like to believe that. But it’s not a [...]
Although it initially came as a shock, and was actually intended to subvert the accepted order of things, open source software has arrived at a place of respectability in the software industry. The idea is bizarre on first blush and even today non-software oriented business people profess not to understand how it works – or how it could work. These are only a couple of ideas that emerge when thinking about open source cleantech.
Nuclear electric power accounted for 11% of primary energy production and renewable energy accounted for 11% of primary energy production” during the first nine months of 2010. renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, and wind) accounted for 10.9% of domestic energy production and increased by 5.7% compared to the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, nuclear power accounted for 11.4% of domestic energy production but provided 0.5% less energy than a year earlier.
Five things I’d like to see in cleantech 2011. A fuel cell in one of my blogger’s houses. This one’s actually in progress, so hopefully it’s a gimme. So come on Marc, we’re waiting for the pictures and the blog! More cleantech IPOs. Come on guys, the market’s been rolling, we ought to be able [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Although the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) have long been intuitively understood, EV market adoption has been limited by various issues associated with batteries. Batteries cost too much and are too heavy/bulky, the operating range an EV is too short, and there’s no convenient way to recharge batteries with the speed [...]
by Jason Barkeloo, CEO of Pilus Energy My business partners and I discovered an innovative way to unlock energy stored in carbon compounds. After a little back-slapping and “atta-boys,” we sought to raise the capital to launch a pilot. This led to another discovery; the destructive impact the economic crisis is having upon the capital [...]
London is saving EV and PHEV buyers over $10,000 with new grants, exemptions from congestion fees, and over 1,000 charging stations with a low cost annual subscription. Nine models of electric and ultra-low emission cars will be eligible for grants of up to £5,000, the government has announced. The grants will be available to motorists across the UK.
by Richard T. Stuebi One of my favorite PowerPoint slides about the peak oil phenomenon comes from the dearly-departed Matt Simmons. The slide depicted a mountain peak in an automobile rearview mirror, the implication being that we would only know for sure when peak oil production has been achieved after it has been achieved and [...]
