I just got back from a great day at the University of California at Santa Barbara, host of the 14th annual Clean Business Investment Summit.  “CBIS” is an enterprise, not unlike our own here at 2GreenEnergy, which is an attempt to bring together good ideas in cleantech with sources of investment capital.

Overall, not to blow our own horns, that was darn near perfect execution.  Of the few hundred people there, I honestly don’t think a single one came away disappointed.  I certainly didn’t: I helped a bunch of good folks with good cleantech ideas take their next step – and in the process met dozens of fantastic people.  Hard to complain about a day like that.

Tagged with: ,

Here’s an “InstaBlog” I wrote on SeekingAlpha.com, in which I explain why I think EV naysayer-from-hell John Petersen is wrong, and that electric transportation generally, and Tesla Motors in particular, are not doomed because of a shortage of some obsolete battery.

Tagged with:

Apparently, the power needs of Turkmenistan are going through the roof, and GE will be building facilities to use their “aeroderivative” natural gas turbines to supply this need.  This leaves the reader wondering: were any renewable resources at least considered?  The concept isn’t mentioned once in the entire article.

Obviously, there is no path to the rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels, but I do predict a change in public consciousness where renewable resources are the first choice for the development of new power plants.

Tagged with: ,

When winter comes around, most households and offices need to use more energy to stay warm.

Increased use of energy does not only raise utility bills; it can also have a negative impact on the environment. The production of energy results in the emission of greenhouse gases and the depletion of natural resources, and you can do your part to save the environment by reducing your energy consumption.

Here are a number of things you can do to go green while heating up your home or office during winter. (more…)

Tagged with: , , ,

The people of Testa Produce, Inc. have started to do what they can to reduce their company’s carbon footprint. For example, two of the delivery trucks that they purchased this year are all-electric vehicles, but they don’t plan to stop there. They also have plans to purchase 10 more trucks that use compressed natural gas (CNG), and CNG is a cleaner fuel that costs less than gasoline or diesel.   (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Of all the articles I read on the subject of energy and sustainability, I can’t think of any I more eagerly anticipate than those of Michael T. Klare.  Like the one linked above, they’re not generally good news; they tend to be measured, sober looks at the future of humankind.  Today’s happens to be an analysis of a new report by the International Energy Outlook and the consideration of four critical trends: (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

The future smart city has many opportunities for innovative power solutions, whereby energy fields that are all around us could be used to collect this energy and harness its power. These include light, heat and sound. This infographic takes a look at future applications that could be facilitated by energy harvesting as the technology develops. (more…)

Tagged with: , , ,

When I first saw the little relatively isolated 110 house neighborhood where I currently live I thought it would be interesting to set up a microgrid so the neighborhood could be independent of the grid when required. I am sure most of the neighbors here would not go for it and neither would the local utility. However it is nice when I see an article where a microgrid is being considered like the one in this link. Very interesting.

Tagged with: ,

Today is the five year anniversary of the first experiments performed at the  Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the centerpiece of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in the suburbs of Geneva, Switzerland.  There, more than 10,000 physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe by smashing particles together at speeds near that of light and watching the results, hoping to develop insights into the basic laws of nature.

While this is way cool, I caution: (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a report that predicts that a certain market, in this case, the market for Flexible AC Transmission Systems will grow to $1,386.01 million in 2018.  That’s about $1.4 billion – predicted to the nearest $10,000?

This is a mistake I tell entrepreneurs not to make in their business plans, i.e., overstating the accuracy of their predictions, since it makes them look silly.  We don’t have that level of certainty on events that will occur in the next five seconds, let alone the next five years. It’s like using a yardstick and claiming you’re measuring something to the nearest nanometer.

Tagged with: