Cleantech Blog

Monday, February 04, 2008

In Search of A Better Story

by Richard T. Stuebi

One of the best things I've read recently is an oped in The Washington Post entitled "Going Green? Easy Doesn't Do It" by Michael Maniates, a professor of political science and environmental science at Allegheny College.

Prof. Maniates gets right to the heart of one of the things that bothers me about what I hear from some of the more ardent proponents of the cleantech movement: the unexpressed sense that saving the world can be easily accomplished with a few minor changes in behavior, and that technological advancements will be coming to save the day at little incremental cost to all of us.

His punchline: "Never has so little been asked of so many at such a critical moment."

I hope we're wrong, but Prof. Maniates and I both believe that, if we're going to seriously address our energy and environmental challenges, we're going to be exposed to major economic and behavioral sacrifice, relative to our current standards of living. I don't see how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from present levels without a fundamental shift in how we do things at every level of existence.

This takes courage and determination. As Prof. Maniates exposes, what we get instead from politicians, the media and (yes) many advocates is a mixture of hyperbole and half-truths that serve to relax the masses.

In a conversation I had about a year ago with David Orr, one of the true pioneers in environmental thinking at Oberlin College, I said to him that we all needed to create and broadcast a story about energy and environment in the U.S. that clearly induces urgency to action without inspiring panic and depression. I know that I haven't been able to craft such a well-balanced story. Has anyone out there?

Richard T. Stuebi is the BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation, and is also the Founder and President of NextWave Energy, Inc.

Labels: cleantech, energy, environment, green tech, greentech

Monday, January 14, 2008

Is Environmentalism Compatible with Capitalism?

by Richard T. Stuebi

Perhaps the pivotal challenge facing the environmental community is resolving the apparent conflict between the need to reduce emissions and the widely-held desire for continuing economic growth.

This issue came directly to the fore in reading a recent Business Week article entitled "Little Green Lies", profiling how the green initiatives of Aspen Skiing Company were often bumping into, and in fact prevented by, commercial realities of the business.

I was particularly provoked by the reader comments to the article. One respondent said that the contents of the article did not surprise him because (in his view) reduced consumption is ultimately the only environmental solution, which means reduced travel and reduced skiing, which runs against the profit motive of Aspen Skiing Company. This posting confirmed for another reader that (in his view) environmentalists are inherently anti-capitalism, viewing capitalism as the evil force that has led to climate change and other environmental ills.

To quote Rodney King, "can't we all get along?" The answer, I think, is yes -- and the path for squaring the circle is to note that capitalism is not to be confused with materialism or consumerism.

Capitalism is a social system that provides clear price signals and unfettered ability to undertake transactions, thereby enabling economic actors to make individual profit/utility-maximizing decisions, which in turn promotes efficient allocation of capital, maximizes liberty of citizens and businesses, and facilitates private wealth-creation.

We aspire to free-market capitalism in the United States, and we come pretty close to achieving it, closer than most countries in the world. And, because we are very capitalistic, it is easy to make the leap that American consumerism is inextricably a co-product of capitalism. It is not.

For instance, look at the leaders on the list of The Economist's rankings of national economic competitiveness. Sure, the U.S. is well above average. But the top two countries on the list are Denmark and Finland -- countries that, unlike the U.S., are not known for their excessive materialism. It is also noteworthy that Denmark is arguably the world leader in actually tackling climate change head-on by minimizing emissions through the mass-adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Capitalism and environmentalism can be reconciled -- theoretically, at least -- once energy price signals more accurately reflect their environmental costs. Right now, each unit of fossil fuel burned generates greenhouse gas emissions, which have a societal cost, but the consumer faces no burden in their wallet associated with this societal cost.

It is because energy prices do not currently include their full environmental costs that Aspen Skiing (and other companies) can't increase their profitability by pursuing as many green initiatives as they would philosophically like to do. If energy prices were to fully reflect all environmental costs, then the capitalist system would be freed to work its magic in motivating capital and behavioral shifts in the economy to significantly reduce emissions.

Alas, here's the dilemma: many environmentalists have qualms about letting markets work to reduce emissions, and most free-marketer capitalists are leery of policymakers adding environmental externality factors (a euphemism for "taxes") to energy prices. Unless this bridge can be gapped, we've got trouble.

Oh, yes, customers in Denmark and Finland face much higher energy prices (especially for transportation fuels), including much higher energy taxes, than we do here in the U.S. While Danes and Finns don't perhaps live la vida loca like Americans do, neither do they seem to be collapsing in existential angst or economic depression. The question for us Americans is: do we have the courage to elect leaders that would put us on a deliberate/planned march towards higher energy prices?

A first step for we Americans to make that shift is to better appreciate that reduction of consumption to preserve our planet is not necessarily anti-capitalist, but rather anti-materialism. Because, as the renowned Jared Diamond recently argued in a compelling New York Times oped, it is excessive human consumption of resources that is at the root of continued viability for life on Earth.

Richard T. Stuebi is the BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation, and is also the Founder and President of NextWave Energy, Inc.

Labels: cleantech, energy, environment, green tech, investment

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Cleantech Blogging is Changing the World

We are picked up across the blogosphere as well as mainstream media, and we appreciate it all, but there were four mentions in 2007 of which we are particularly proud. So whether it is our spectacular writings (probably not), or simply that the future of clean energy has arrived, we do believe Cleantech Blog and the green blogosphere is changing the world.

In 2007 Cleantech Blog was named one of the 50 Best Business Blogs by the London Times. Not only do I love the London Times for its coverage of the all things clean energy related, but to make the same list as industry leaders like Boing Boing, TechCrunch, Jonathan’s Blog, and Freakonomics, and one of my own favorites, The Energy Blog was inspiring.

We were one of 10 blogs named in the Environmental Blog Roundup on Blog Action Day by Buzz, the official blog of Blogger.com, a part of Google. We are big fans of Blogger, since we use their platform, and it was wonderfully surprising to find out that someone Up There was reading. Please keep up the great work, Blogger people.

In 2007 Cleantech Blog was picked up by CNET. Cleantechblog.com now provides CNET’s Cleantech Blog. We have long admired CNET’s coverage of the clean and green sector (especially journalists Martin LaMonica and Michael Kanellos, who write about everything we find interesting), and to be asked to participate in the CNET.com/News.com family was a humbling experience. Frankly, Cleantech Blog has had lots of opportunities to hook up with sites we respect, but to write alongside those two on the green web was not an opportunity I could pass up.

Over the summer we were mentioned by Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist, in the Wall Street Journal’s Happy Blogiversary article on the 10th anniversary of blogs. I always tell people that when I do move back to Texas from the Bay Area, the San Francisco Craigslist community will be what I miss the most. I also always tell people that I firmly believe blogs and the democratization of content and journalism are changing the world. So the fact that the CEO of Craigslist, the site I visit and respect more than any other, felt it worthwhile to mention us as part of the citizen journalism movement in the environmental and energy blogosphere, was amazing. Thanks Jim.

And a warm Merry Christmas to the two bloggers, Rob Day of Cleantech Investing, and Jim Fraser of The Energy Blog, whose blogs inspired us to put Cleantech Blog together in the first place.

I am well aware that my columnists, including Richard Stuebi, Heather Rae, and John Addison deserve most of the credit. You can find their bios here. And I still find it humbling that this little blog is having a real impact. But the true example of the power of the blogosphere to change the world is the fact that when they picked us up, I had not met nor even previously communicated with anyone from the London Times, Blogger, CNET, or Craigslist, except through our writings in Cleantech Blog itself.

Thank you,

Neal Dikeman
CleantechBlog.com

Labels: cleantech, Cleantech Blog, energy, environment, green tech

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Blogroll Review: CO, Surveys, & Phones

Conservation of energy
Carbon monoxide or CO is not your friend. It binds to your hemoglobin and your brain starves from a lack of oxygen. But like all molecules out there, it's not really good or evil. It's just trying to maximize its entropy.

With biofuels now in the spotlight, some have proposed converting CO into ethanol. Not all are convinced. Robert Rapier at R-squared says the fermentation methods are inefficient. He discusses the thermodynamics:

"Let’s say 340 BTUs of CO get fermented to 340 BTUs of ethanol, and then it takes 340 BTUs of natural gas to purify the ethanol. In effect, what we have is an input of 680 BTUs of CO plus natural gas to produce 340 BTUs of ethanol."

Looks like someone is trying to make the world's most expensive drink. :)

Acting locally
Earth day, as far as I can tell, is not yet a Hallmark Holiday. It's interesting to look at how attitudes are changing with regard to the environment. Or are they?

On his blog, Joel Makower writes about recent surveys on America's perception of the environment. The results are fascinating but perhaps not so surprising:

"Hope or Hypocrisy? An ABC news poll found most Americans consider global warming the world's biggest environmental problem and that an whopping 94% say they are willing to make personal changes to help the environment. However, 8 in 10 Americans say they oppose increasing taxes on electricity to encourage energy conservation, and about two-thirds are against raising gasoline taxes and prices at the pumps."

Can we breathe now?
Mobile phones have come a long ways. Not only do they come with a whole array of applications, they are becoming socially enabling devices. One company makes software that helps you find dates. Another even claims they have the best mp3 player in the world.

But who would have thought they could tell you if the air you breathe is good or bad? Ecogeek reports on an app that gives you air quality reports:

"The ecogeeks at NearBio.com have created a cell phone widget that will provide live air quality reports that update automatically as the cell phone (and its breathing owner) moves about. Using data from Environmental Protection Agency air monitoring stations, the cell program will harness GPS technologies available through uLocate Communications' WHERE Platform. That means no more sending textys offering up your current city or zip code - your phone will know where it is - and it will know if you should be wearing a SARS mask."

Now if only these devices could tell me where I left my keys. :)

Frank Ling is a postdoctoral fellow at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) at UC Berkeley. He is also a producer of the Berkeley Groks Science Show.

Labels: cell phones, cleantech, Cleantech Blog, energy, environment, ethanol, green tech, greentech