As I posted a few years ago, so many of the best opportunities for cleantech to have immediate benefit can be found in China. Every day, evidence accumulates supporting this thesis. Of course, this winter’s air pollution crises in Beijing and other cities made global news. More gruesome was last week’s discovery of nearly 7,000 [...]
Thanks to the efforts of Chris Mather, co-head of the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, I was able to gain a tour of the Dolan Laboratories, located just outside Columbus, owned and operated by American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP). This facility is now highly unusual for the electric utility industry. Back in the day, a [...]
Writing in the January issue of POWER magazine, Arshad Mansoor (Senior Vice President of Research and Development at the Electric Power Research Institute) authored an article entitled “Emerging Technologies Enable ‘No Regrets’ Energy Strategy” to provide a soup-to-nuts vision of the future technology landscape for the electric power industry. I don’t know that it’s possible [...]
At the end of November, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it had selected Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Chicago to host the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), and bestowed upon it a $120 million grant over 5 years, alongside a $35 million commitment for a new 45,000 square foot facility from [...]
I have to admit: it’s hard for me to be terribly enthusiastic about electric utilities. I know a fair bit about them; by my count, I’ve served about ten utilities in various consulting roles during my career. While generalizations are always dangerous, for the most part, I think it’s safe to say that electric utilities [...]
Cleveland-based Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) is rapidly becoming one of the major players in the smart-grid arena. The big recent news, announced on May 21, was that Eaton is acquiring Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE), one of the leading suppliers of electrical equipment. While the largest acquisition, it’s only one of several in the last five years [...]
In late January, a significant solar storm unleashed enormous amounts of energy into space. Here on Earth, warnings were issued that the bursts of solar radiation could significantly affect a lot of the things that we 21st Century humans take for granted, such as telecommunications, air travel, and power grid stability. Alas, in the event, [...]
Last week, many of the leading minds of the cleantech world congregated in suburban Washington DC for the 2012 Energy Innovation Summit. The Summit is mainly oriented as a showcase of some of the most interesting and promising technologies that have surfaced directly or indirectly as a result of ARPA-E: the Advanced Research Project Agency [...]
One of the world’s largest banks, London-based HSBC (NYSE: HBC) issued last September a very interesting research report entitled “Sizing the Climate Economy”. At less than 60 pages, it’s an excellent read for those interested in the future growth of the advanced energy economy. There are really too many highlights to capture all of them in this [...]
It’s December again (how did that happen!?) and our annual time for reflection here at Kachan & Co. So as we close out 2011, let’s look towards what the new year may have in store for cleantech. There are eggshells across the sector for 2012. Global economic uncertainty in particular is leaving some skeptical about [...]
It’s long been on the short-list of things that keep utility planners and security experts awake at night: hackers find a way to enter the control system of critical infrastructure and command it against the interests of users. Well, it appears to have finally happened: in early November, a small water utility in downstate Illinois reportedly experienced a [...]
In the November/December issue of EnergyBiz, you will find an unusual contributor to a magazine about the utility sector: Bob McDonald, CEO of Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). Being one of the largest, most successful and savviest consumer marketing companies, P&G is often considered by utility companies as a model for how to develop and market new products or [...]
One of the hottest cleantech investment segments in recent years has been home energy management (HEM). HEM technologies enable households to remotely and/or more wisely manage their energy use, enabling lower consumption for equivalent (or better) quality of life: climate control, lighting, entertainment, cooking, etc. In the space of just a week or so, two of [...]
Our Promising Future of Renewable Energy The cleanest solutions to global warming, air pollution and energy security are wind, water, and solar power (WWS). As Dr. Mark Jacobson walks me through the numbers of his, Dr. Mark Delucchi, and their teams’ multi-year study, the renewable energy solution stands out as the clear winner. Dr. Jacobson [...]
…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 [...]
Media Contact: Sarah Grolnic-McClurg Thinkshift Communications/Pounce PR sarah@pounce-pr.com 510-898-1837 (SEATTLE, March 1, 2011) Powerit Solutions, an international cleantech company that plugs energy-intensive businesses into the smart grid, today announced two actions that will fuel the firm’s continued growth and development. Effective March 7, 2011, Matthew J. Schiltz, a seasoned chief executive, will serve as group [...]
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 [...]
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.
Yes, your electric utility will be ready to charge your new electric car if you live in the right city. Your odds improve if you live in one of 18 cities, own a house that uses air conditioning, has a garage, and have new underground power lines. If you live in an apartment with no garage, especially in a non-priority city, then get ready to be a brave pioneer. My report from the GTM Research and Greentech Media’s Networked EV conference.
