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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’ve been writing a great deal about the power of strategic business partnerships recently.  And, until this moment, I’ve forgotten to mention one of my most trusted allies and best-respected friends, John Tyson, CEO of Amerivon. 

Imagine if you will a conversation between Costco and one of its umpteen thousand (million?) potential suppliers.  Costco, with its 600 stores and $53 billion in annual revenues, gets plenty of attention from purveyors of everything from CFLs, vitamins, and smoke detectors to lawn chairs and Newcastle Brown Ale. 

But how can the two — a megaretailer and a fledgling supplier — actually connect?  And, once they connect, how can they both win? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

There were a few surprises for me at this year’s Advanced Auto Battery Consortium, held last week in Pasadena. One was how delightfully non-technical it was. Of course, I didn’t attend the real nitty-gritty lectures from the Ph.D. battery chemists from India, but the larger forum events were really quite accessible and business-focused.

The other surprise – and this is an idea I come across with some frequency – is the apparent longevity that hybrids are expected to enjoy. By one estimate I saw there, 80% of the cars sold in 2030 will be hybrids.

Now before you say “hogwash” (which was my first reaction), (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

In light of another stormy winter and plenty of snow falling around the country, there has been more talk about the following question: can PV solar panels work in snow and cold?

Solar PV panels can indeed work in a cold, snowy climate especially if there are sunny days and good exposure of the panels. In fact, several companies point out that PV panels work best in the cold, as the output of silicon can reduce in very hot weather. However, when snow piles up on panels and blocks all sunlight, the panels obviously stop working. Most say this happens after a few inches accumulate, but that a light dusting doesn’t stop functions and the light dusting will most likely melt off in sunlight.  But many areas of the country are getting more than a light dusting of snow.  What to do?

The majority of companies and experienced users say tilted panels are a good defense. Many panels are tilted (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I try to stay up on the more exciting goings on in power transmission because of its obvious relationship to the penetration of clean energy generally. Less than 2% of our current grid-mix in the US is renewables at this point, and so such issues like smart-grid, high-voltage DC, unification of the three major US grids (600 gigawatts in the east, 240 gigawatts in the west, and 70 gigawatts in Texas) – as well as related areas like energy storage – are all but moot at this point. But, if we’re serious about installing more wind and PV – not to mention geothermal, run-of-river hydro, solar thermal, etc., this whole subject will soon become critically important. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I mentioned in an earlier post that an extremely committed and professional in Chile is working hard to get the 2GreenEnergy consulting team in front of the Chilean Department of Energy, to lay out a comprehensive, practical, and affordable plan to migrate to renewable energy. 

I wrote my contact yesterday to suggest that he watch US DoE Secretary Steven Chu’s live webcast yesterday, from which he noted:

Nice broadcast by Dr. Chu yesterday, thanks for the tip. There have been some other signals, for instance: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9L077KG0.htm

I replied:

Wow, this really is getting some high-level review, isn’t it? 

Btw, regardless of what happens here with 2GreenEnergy and the Chilean government, you should take some level of personal credit for bringing this about.  In my experience, it’s the result of people like you, clamoring for govement to do the right thing, that creates change.  My hat’s off to you.

And what a coincidence that you’re from Chile, a land that hosted one of the most grievous examples of this phenomenon in the last half century.  If we Americans had rallied with enough rancor to force our government to withdraw its support of the Pinochet regime of the 1970s, a great number of innocent lives would have been spared. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

What is your contribution to the world?

This may sound like a weird question to ask a large group of people, most of whom I don’t know personally. But here’s a thought:

If you’re making a career in clean energy, you have a story to tell that has profound relevance to the world. It’s a story of your passion in dealing with one of mankind’s toughest challenges: the migration away from an energy policy that desperately needs to change. Open the newspaper and try not to find an article on international hostility, on a nation with deep and worsening financial issues, on terrorism, on disease, on the quality of life that our children will have as a result of the actions (and inactions) we’re taking here and now. These are the subjects of which our news is almost exclusively comprised.

Who you are and what you’re doing matters. It counts.

But wouldn’t it be good if more people knew about the mission you’re on? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Looking to future career and job training in green technology, a new Associate of Arts degree starts this spring in an area reinventing itself for the future – Toledo.

“Green technology is becoming more and more important in our energy-driven society. As the demand for existing and emerging technologies within alternative and renewable energy grows, the need for highly qualified technicians is a necessity,” said Randy Wharton, Owens Community College chair of design technologies and interim dean of the School of Technology.

We highlighted how Toledo, Ohio has reinvented itself into a solar hub and green technology center. Now Owens Community College has local demand by residents interested in clean tech energy careers, thanks to (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

To its everlasting credit, Toyota changed the transportation world forever when it introduced the Prius – the first production hybrid electric, making use of a battery to improve a car’s gas mileage. But that was over ten years ago — a different epoch – maybe even an era – in automotive time.  What has Toyota done since?

I hate to sound unkind, and I know I’m oversimplifying. But the truth is this: very little.

Now, in reaction to the rest of the auto world’s having leapfrogged Toyota several times, we see the introduction of the plug-in version of the Prius, slated for 2013, and perhaps available in 2012. Its highlight? A tiny battery that will provide drivers with 13 miles of battery-only range before the internal combustion engine kicks in and starts burning the gas in its tank. In fact, the battery holds just seven kilowatt-hours, the energy equivalent of less than a quart of gasoline.

The result? A marginal improvement in gas mileage, more than a decade later.  I’m not sure that qualifies Toyota as the “visionary leader” it claims to be.

In fact, here’s your new value proposition, Prius loyalists: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Do you remember the wonderful 1987 movie “Wall Street” with Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen)? Well, I just got off the phone from a cold call from an aggressive young promoter from Morgan Stanley who brought the whole terrific story rushing back to me.

I sympathized with the kid – in his 20s or 30s, trying to make a living – perhaps a big break – in an attempt to establish a relationship with a big-time Wall Street investor like me (joke). But the conversation was no joke at all.

“What is your position on oil?” I asked.

“They make money, and that won’t change anytime soon,” he said. “It’s the world’s most valuable commodity.”

“But what are the fundamentals (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

I just came back from an afternoon of presentations at the Advanced Auto Battery Consortium in local Pasadena, CA, which I found quite interesting.

I don’t like to come off as overly skeptical or suspicious. But have you ever had the thought that the presenter you’re watching had formulated his agenda long ago, and has since been working like a dog to find data points to support it, while scrupulously avoiding obvious other data that may conflict?

It was clear that the first speaker wanted to point out that gasoline-powered cars are going to be around for a very long time. He pointed out that the cost of gas, when figured against the CPI (consumer price index), wasn’t really that expensive at all. A few minutes later, he left us with his big conclusion: people are generally risk-averse, and the EV adoption curve will be very slow. “Are people going to want to invest $30,000 in the automotive equivalent of Betamax video?” he intoned. (more…)

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