When I was a young lad in college, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the early 1980s, I took a course in energy economics taught by Prof. Morris Adelman. I was an anomaly: there were probably no more than a handful of courses then being taught in energy economics in the colleges and [...]
Another year, another wringing of the hands over tax credits and incentives for clean technology. Lobbyists and vendors in the U.S. are once again singing the blues, calling for continued and expanding government investments in clean technology. At the same time, political challengers continue their Solyndra hootenanny, raking the current administration for how it spent hundreds of [...]
It’s that time again: sifting through the detritus of a calendar year to sum up what’s happened over the past 12 months. Everybody’s doing it — for news, sports, movies, books, notable deaths…and now even for cleantech: here’s the scoop from MIT’s Technology Review, and here’s a post on GigaOM. So, my turn [drum roll, please], here’s [...]
…someone invents an economically-competitive energy storage technology that could be deployed at any electricity substation at megawatt-hour scale? …the power grid were brought up to 21st Century standards to match the true power quality needs of our increasingly digital society? …high-speed rail was not the exclusive province of Europe and Asia? …customers had real choice [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi While it is increasingly recognized that subsidies for corn-based ethanol are bad policy, a nod must be given to C. Ford Runge, a professor at the University of Minnesota, for his pithy and merciless analysis in his note “Biofuel Backlash” published in the May/June issue of Technology Review. In the space [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi as posted to Huffington Post Last week, I wrote a sizable check to the IRS. I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but I was happy for the fact that it stemmed from a nice payday in 2008 from one of my investments. Ah, the joys of capitalism, and the obligations of [...]
