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An LA Times columnist's misunderstanding of the smart grid points out one of the toughest hurdles for advocates: explaining it to the general public and media.
"Probably not" is the response from people Janis Mara interviewed.
Continue reading "Green Scene a Flash in the Pan? (McClatchy)" »
I attended ConnectivityWeek in Santa Clara last week. I had excellent interviews with some of the real leaders in smart buildings, and I recorded the keynote presentations. I'm working on a set of podcasts, and I welcome your input about the conference or smart buildings in general. (Go to About > Contact)
HelioVolt and Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co. today announced a partnership to incorporate solar energy systems directly into standardized curtain wall products, the exterior glass facades that dominate modern urban construction.
Continue reading "HelioVolt Partners with AGA to Manufacture BIPV" »
Financial justification tools face three major challenges: Prospects don’t believe their output; facilities managers are not financially trained; and sales reps are not trusted to explain the numbers.
Continue reading "Why ROI Calculators are a Formula for Failure" »
PG&E Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee called a handful of journalists into his boardroom and talked about being a successful utility in an era when it's is less about building centralized power plants and more about tapping renewable energy and balancing supply and demand.
Beijing is building up for the Olympics, spending $40 billion to impress the world -- and pushing commercial architecture to its limits. National Geographic's May 2008 special-edition issue, "China, Inside the Dragon," features dozens of articles, most of them short, all of them about China.
Continue reading "China: New Great Walls - Construction for the Beijing Olympics (NG)" »
When I started Energy Priorities on Earth Day 2004, "sustainable business" for most companies meant having enough working capital. Few people took global warming seriously. Venture capital investment in clean tech (counting everything from agriculture to water) in the previous year had barely crested a billion dollars. The 2003 blackouts were behind us; our attention was on the elections...
Continue reading "It's Earth Day and Energy Priorities is Four" »
The upcoming issue of Time Magazine will be all about "How to win the war on global warming." It's interesting to note that this is the cover story in all worldwide editions of Time, except for Europe. That edition focuses on US-UK relations.
Continue reading "How To Win the War on Global Warming (Time)" »
How will Beijing stage "green games" in one of the world's most polluted cities? By placing all sources of pollution on hold for two months. If the plan fails, the International Olympic Committee's president says smog could postpone some outdoor events.
Continue reading "Beijing Construction to be Halted ahead of China Olympic Games (NY Times)" »
I thought the Beijing Olympics would create a world platform for progress on the environment. Turns out I was wrong. An older and stronger issue is taking the lead.
Continue reading "China Olympics: Green Will Take a Bronze behind Human Rights" »
A special section in today's New York Times focuses on green collar jobs, green college majors, business opportunities, zero-energy homebuilding, and investing. What collar am I?
Electricite de France is rumored to be working on a deal in which EdF could acquire a controlling share in Iberdrola. The combination would create a renewable energy giant with multinational clout.
Continue reading "EdF and Iberdrola, a Renewable Energy Powerhouse?" »
Carbon emissions increased faster than electricity demand in 2007. As much as two-thirds of the greenhouse gas increase was due to increased demand for electricity, much of which was met by coal-fired power plants. Can we hope to make progress against greenhouse gases and continue to exempt ageing coal plants from the Clean Air Act of 1970?
Continue reading "Power Plant Carbon Emissions Outpace Energy Production (AP)" »
My conclusion from reading "America's 50 Green Cities" in the March 2008 Popular Science: There aren't 50 green cities in America. Yet.
Can the U.S. have energy security at the same time it tries to cope with global warming? Warren Olney of KCRW's "To the Point" podcast looks at some of the contradictions we face as the U.S. searches for a coherent energy policy.
Continue reading "Energy Security versus Environmental Stability (KCRW)" »
The government's futuristic "clean coal" power project has joined the long list of scuttled coal plants. The death spiral of coal energy is reminiscent of the 1980s popular blockade of nuclear plant construction. Investors and even the Bush administration are backing out. Was "An Inconvenient Truth" the "China Syndrome" of coal?
The next issue of ComputerWorld magazine (Monday, 18 February, 2008) will feature the magazine's picks for the top "green IT" companies. The winner's circle includes 12 vendors and 12 user companies.
Yucca Mountain's tunnel is closed and most workers have gone home.
Continue reading "Deep Layoffs Announced at Yucca Mountain (AP)" »
The conference of representatives of over 180 countries started Monday, December 3, 2007, and will continue for two weeks. The objective is to launch negotiations for the international agreement that will take over when the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The surface layer of news coverage will be about the fireworks when the U.S. refuses to back carbon limits, but there's much more going on there. The outcome will affect our power prices and American exports -- i.e., U.S. competitiveness -- through 2050. Here are some links to help you follow the events.
3Q '07 numbers are out. Deal count is down slightly, but dollars are way up: $2.5 billion. And the year's not over yet. Nationally the most active investor in clean tech was Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which invested $76.8 million. That was followed by Khosla Ventures at $68.4 million and Draper Fisher Jurvetson at $38.5 million.
Continue reading "KPCB, Khosla, DFJ Top Latest List of Clean-Tech Investors" »
Not only is China doubling its nuclear energy capacity by 2020, it's on a hydro spree that appears to abandon the ecological values we take for granted in the developed world.
Continue reading "Patrick Moore Should Be Proud of China's Energy Plans (NY Times)" »
I've been interested for several years in the concept of building systems as (very big) hardware platforms for increasingly sophisticated software. Mark Mills dug into this topic uncharacteristically far (for Forbes) this week. Maybe the idea is catching on.
Continue reading "Sport Utility Buildings and McMansions: The Latest Battlefront (Forbes)" »
A United Nations panel of scientists meeting has concluded in Valencia, Spain. The scientists' final report, released today, describes the mounting risks of climate change in language that is more specific and forceful than its previous assessments. Here are links to the report, the IPCC web site, and a New York Times article about it this morning.
Continue reading "UN Report Describes Risks of Inaction on Climate Change (NY Times)" »
The renewable energy industry's leading podcast series ran a segment I recorded at Greenbuild. It's an excerpt of an audio package I produced when I visited the exhibits of the major energy-related exhibitors there. (podcast)
Continue reading "Solar at Greenbuild: Audio Tour (Inside Renewable Energy)" »
GREENBUILD-- Every building is different, and the US Green Building Council is working hard to establish LEED standards that apply fairly to all kinds of buildings. Would a more fluid, flexible system be more effective at encouraging green building?
Continue reading "Green Building Standards Pass up Golden Opportunities" »
When it comes to getting global carbon emissions under control, The Economist's Green.view column says the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is more of a distraction than a savior. Overall the Economist comes down on this IPCC co-creator pretty hard -- too hard.
Continue reading "High Hopes and Slender Means for IPCC's Parent (The Economist)" »
GREENBUILD-- The tally on the white board in the press room is up to 20,500 attendees at Greenbuild 2007. There are still more people in line to get in.
Continue reading "Greenbuild 2007 Gets Even More Jam-Packed" »
GREENBUILD-- Put 18,000 architects, builders and vendors in one building, when you were expecting fewer than 10,000, and you get...
Thomas L. Friedman says Mumbai and Calcutta, strained from the influx of workers from rural areas, can't keep growing. The tech revolution in India could expand to rural villages, benefiting some of India's 700 million villagers. But it can’t do it off car batteries, backup diesel generators and India’s rural electric grid. It will take a real energy revolution.
Continue reading "If IT Merged with Energy Technology (NY Times)" »
Global warming will be one of the themes of the 2008 Future in Review conference organized by Mark Anderson's Strategic News Service. In an SNS Special Letter, Anderson shares the transcript of "Looking Further," an interview about climate change between futurist Glen Heimstra (Futurist.com) and author Kim Stanley Robinson (“Mars” and “Science In The Capital” Trilogies). The elite ranks of SNS subscribers pay dearly for Anderson's insightful newsletter subscription. But we're bringing this interview to you, compliments of SNS and Energy Priorities.
Continue reading "Global Warming: Looking Further (Strategic News Service by Mark Anderson)" »
A quick note to congratulate the Seattle winners and finalists in the third annual BetterBricks Awards.
Continue reading "BetterBricks Seattle Award Winners 2007: Congratulations" »
In 1961 John F. Kennedy called for his nation to put a man on the moon in ten years. That was a formidable challenge -- and today's energy challenge is even greater. Congressman Jay Inslee has been calling for an end our oil addiction and the accompanying transformation of our economy. He calls it the Apollo Project for energy and his new book, "Apollo's Fire," spells out his vision.
Continue reading ""Apollo's Fire," Jay Inslee's Apollo Project, the Book" »
A couple of weeks ago, the authors of the Sketchup Blog decided to run a friendly competition. They asked readers to submit examples of sustainable work they've done in SketchUp. Six projects were selected -- "They were the most compelling, and most complete, that we received," writes blog author Aidan Chopra.
Continue reading "Green Design in Google SketchUp Highlighted" »
Let me be the first to point you to next week's Fortune magazine. Marc Gunther's "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" shines 4 pages of praise on solar module manufacturer SunPower.
The September-October 2007 issue of Technology Review features the "TR35" -- 35 innovators under 35 -- and their inventions. Here are the innovations related to energy:
Continue reading "Energy Innovators Under 35 (Technology Review)" »
In business, as with utilities, the real cost savings come not from the technologies themselves, but from the business strategies they enable. As energy costs rise, businesses must take strategic advantage of being able to know and control the costs in operations and production.
World leaders are saying there is no solution to global warming that does not include nuclear power. The administration has had six years and the Energy Policy Act to reinvigorate the fission industry. No company, however, has broken ground -- or committed to break ground -- on a new nuke plant in the U.S. What's holding things up?
Continue reading "Nuclear Renaissance: Far from a Sure Thing (Power Engineering)" »
Home builder Peter Erickson used some innovative business ideas to allow homeowners to share in the incentives and financial benefits of harnessing solar energy.
Continue reading "Affordable Solar: High-Performance Housing + Smart Investing (Home Power)" »
Before investing in lighting upgrades, consider spending some money on paint. Lighting Design Lab, a nationally recognized research facility in Seattle, has done some research into how a room's surfaces affect the quality of light.
Continue reading "Lighting Boost, No Power Needed (Lighting Design Lab News)" »
Even though the technique isn't quite out of the lab yet, Hydrogen Power in Seattle is already thinking about how to commercialize a process for producing hydrogen from aluminum powder.
Continue reading "Hydrogen via Aluminum: From Soda Cans to Submarines" »
Why our electricity system is headed for a state of emergency, and what can be done to head it off: My two-sentence review of "Lights Out" by Jason Makansi, plus why I liked it and where it falls short.
Geothermal energy is one of the most intriguing renewable sources for me. Humans have used natural hot springs for millenia. A recent AP article reports on the latest efforts in Europe to tap hot rocks deep underground as a way to heat water to produce energy.
Continue reading "Energy Search Goes Underground in Switzerland (AP)" »
Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility, asked for renewable energy credits for its nuclear power. The state said No.
Continue reading "Nuclear Power Not Clean Enough for Florida RPS (Miami Herald)" »
In follow-up to my earlier article "How Green is Your IT?" here's an AP article on cooling data centers.
Continue reading "Data Centers Suck Down Energy, Mostly for AC (Seattle P-I)" »
An August 1, 2007, Wall Street Journal article relates oil prices to new investment opportunities in energy. It discusses "exotic instruments" such as commodity (oil, natural gas) funds, and "clean alternatives" such as wind and solar. Those are actually quite different investment strategies. Let's talk about the second one, that of focusing on alternative energy sources as an investment strategy.
Continue reading "Making the Best of $78-a-Barrel Oil (WSJ)" »
It might be summer, but the energy event calendar is packed with interesting events. Renewables, smart grid, intelligent buildings and more, all between now and Thanksgiving. Here are our recommended top picks.
Continue reading "Energy Events Calendar Is Filling Fast for Fall 2007" »
California's Renewables Portfolio Standard requires utilities to obtain 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010. The California Public Utilities Commission is examining the potential use of renewable energy credits for compliance with the RPS.
Almost half the states have passed an RPS of some kind. Should utilities be allowed to buy RECs from other regions to meet their RPS, rather than build renewable energy sources in the state?
Continue reading "Utilities Could Buy Credits to Meet Renewable Energy Minimums" »
Windpower in Namibia, free fluorescent bulbs in South Africa, industrial customers paid to switch off equipment during periods of high demand. These progressive ideas are but a postscript in the story of the power crisis in Africa. Most of the sub-Saharan nations face electricity shortages and unprecedented power crises that mirror -- or presage -- the U.S. experience. Their solution: more power plants, if they can build them.
Stanley Bing stabs directly and not-altogether-humorously at the heart of American environmental gluttony. And he offers a solution.
The European Commission set the beginning of July 2007 as the deadline for having a completely open retail energy market in the European Union. Residential customers should be able to choose their power and gas suppliers, just as business users can. In most countries, they still cannot.
Continue reading "Europe's Energy Market Now Open -- Sort of" »
Solar thermal doesn't get enough attention. Its energy output is used for building space heating, refrigeration and air conditioning, hot water, steam for industrial processes, drying, and electric power generation.
Continue reading "Solar Thermal Energy an Option in Large Facilities (WAPA)" »
"The Clean Tech Revolution" by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder will be released tomorrow -- June 12, 2007. Here is my review in a two-sentence nutshell, plus why I like it, and what it does and does not cover.
Continue reading "Book Review: "The Clean Tech Revolution"" »
The article covers an integration of systems in state facilities in Missouri, where the government’s energy costs had soared from $42 million to $74 million in two years.
Continue reading "IT-based Buildings: The New Trend of Managing Buildings via the Network (GCN)" »