I drafted this memo in early 2003 for a venture capitalist friend of mine, well before the bubble in cleantech. In light of the back and forth on the recent Solar City IPO, I thought it was worth revisiting. Some of the points were pretty prescient, calling out many of the challenges cleantech investors and [...]
At the foot of the Flatirons along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, Boulder is one beautiful town. With the University of Colorado and the region’s unparalleled outdoor activities, Boulder attracts many intellectual environmentalists. Of course, like everyone else, this set of people needs to make a buck to pay the bills – there [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi On September 1, the Fund for Our Economic Future – a collaboration of philanthropic organizations in Northeast Ohio – approved a $1.7 million grant to launch a new advanced energy initiative at NorTech, whose mission is technology-based economic development for the region. This new initiative (stay tuned for a sexy name, [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi At the recent Western Energy Summit, Dr. Steven Koonin (Undersecretary of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy) made a speech with some eye-opening tid-bits. In this review on GreenTechMedia, Koonin is quoted as saying about the daunting challenges in moving away from fossil fuels: “We have limited time and limited [...]
by Richard T. StuebiAs Secretary of the Department of Energy, Steven Chu is a breath of fresh air. As a recent profile in The Economist noted, “Wags used to say that the one essential qualification for being energy secretary was not to know anything about energy.” Well, that definitely doesn’t apply to Dr. Chu. A [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi In the middle of the Middle East, built upon riches generated from the region’s vast oil supplies, the city-state of Abu Dhabi is turning to the future. Abu Dhabi sees that petroleum is a finite game, and that its future success (and the planet’s) depends upon moving onto the next game. [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Over the years, I’ve been exposed to many cleantech concepts that are just, well, wacky. I’ve seen articles on tethered airborne windturbines and mile-high thermal generation towers, heard from entrepreneurs touting cold fusion devices and floating solar collectors for thermal electricity generation, and even witnessed what seemed to be a demonstration [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Last week, the International Energy Agency released a study entitled Energy Technology Perspectives 2008, in which the agency estimated the shifts in the world’s energy system required to reduce CO2 emissions substantially. In their so-called “BLUE” scenario (I haven’t figured out what “BLUE” refers to), a 50% CO2 reduction from 2005 [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi As has become my custom, with the year drawing to a close, I now look in the rear-view mirror and try to distill what I see. In no particular order, here are my top ten reflections on 2007: 1. Popping of the ethanol bubble. Not long ago, it seemed like anyone [...]
