The energy sector is pretty well-known for being resistant to change, risk-averse, conservative. One segment of the energy technology landscape that especially favors “tried-and-true” over “new-and-better” involves on-site generators, typically for standby or emergency purposes. Scanning the most recent issue of Powerline – the periodical published by the on-site generator industry’s trade group, the Electrical Generating Systems Association — it looks pretty [...]
For the uninitiated, “nanotechnology” refers to the science of the very small, engineering particles and their corresponding materials at the nanometer scale. For a sense of perspective, at one-billionth of a meter, a nanometer is about 1/60,000 of the width of a human hair, so we’re talking engineering not just at the microscopic scale, but the [...]
First, let me say that I like fuel cells a lot. I spent a considerable amount of time following the space in the early 2000′s. Many colleagues I know and respect are involved in the fuel cell arena. It’s an electricity generation technology that is uncommonly elegant and promising. But “promising” is one of the most [...]
…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 [...]
As a reporter and analyst, I wrote about hundreds of cleantech companies. As a managing director of the Cleantech Group, I spent years listening to hundreds of pitches, coached companies on presenting to institutional investors and helped facilitate cleantech deals around the world. Just last month, I served on a committee at the request of the Canadian [...]
Life is too difficult, and cleantech is too challenging, for one not to maintain a sense of humor as a necessary survival or coping mechanism. And so I really need to start spending more time reading posts by Eric Wesoff on Greentech Media, a web portal for cleantech news. Consider this gem summarizing the state of the fuel [...]
Classic definitions of cleantech, and the industries under its umbrella, have gotten long in the tooth. The sector has changed, and taxonomies haven’t kept up. Why is a clean technology taxonomy important? As a list of nested categories, it shows where a clean technology “fits”. It helps vendors understand their competitive sets. It defines and [...]
Just on the eve of the industry headliner San Francisco Cleantech Forum, Bloom Energy finally blooms? Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) like the Bloom Box have been under development for a couple of decades, and many of the major firms both in the US and abroad are still at it. The issues, questions and performance/cost/longevity [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Although much of the ink these days about innovative vehicles relates to plug-in hybrids, work continues to explore the potential for hydrogen-based fuel cells to play a key role in the transportation sector — particularly in light of the recent decision by Congress to reauthorize funding for hydrogen autos. Admittedly, as [...]
