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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

PhotobucketI had lunch last week with Pete May, publisher of GreenBiz and many other related websites. He’s a magnificently smart fellow, and quite well dialed-in to the corporate sustainability movement — attending numerous conferences, and doing everything necessary to keep his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in this space.

I asked him about some of the themes that resonate most with directors of corporate sustainability, and threw out some suggestions. He said, “That’s good, but it’s essentially ‘Sustainability 101.’ These people have consultants coming at them from 15 different directions at the same time. You have to make sure you’re telling them something they don’t already know.”

I have to say that this does strike me as an interesting challenge. I read a whitepaper yesterday that drew the distinction between the thinking of the mid-20th Century from Milton Friedman and Peter Drucker (essentially that corporations exist for the financial benefit of their shareholders) and today’s thinking — that corporations should maximize profit without compromising the quality of life for future generations.  Twenty-one pages later, that was pretty much it. It certainly left me thinking about my lunch with Peter.  If this whitepaper wasn’t Sustainability 101, I wouldn’t know what to call it.

I’m not an expert in this space, but I’m making a concerted effort to learn more about it. And in this process, I’m betting that the brass ring in corporate sustainability resides in helping businesses actually improve their profitability — not through greenwashing — but by legimitately aligning themselves with nature — developing a meaningful and effective way for strategic planners to learn from natural systems and processes.

Business leaders are looking for a process by which they can extract themselves from old-line thinking, and begin to think like the planet. They want a set of paradigm breaking exercises that stimulate new visions for business products, services, and processes — each inspired by 3.7 billion years of evolution.

We at 2GreenEnergy are teaming up with a wonderful organization called Ethical Impact to provide a series of webinars on this exact subject; we’re very excited about the potentials.  Please write me for more details if you’re interested.

I also remind readers: you’ll struggle mightily to invest 23 minutes of your life any more productively than by watching this incredible presentation on the subject by sustainability/biomimicry pioneer Janine Benyus.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

My friend and always-welcomed guest blogger Kathy Heshelow has written a great deal on Peak Oil, and now has her own blog on the subject. I urge readers to check it out.

In preparation, she asked me: Are you saying that Peak Oil is irrelevant? No. To clarify: peak oil IS a big deal. But the DATE of peak oil is not a big deal. Whether it happened 40 years ago or will happen 40 years hence, we have a screaming imperative to get off oil.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

PhotobucketI try to be judicious in my blogging about the politics associated with renewables, mindful that taking sides can alienate certain people. But guest blogger Cameron Atwood brings up something in response to my piece on Campaign Finance Reform that I think is so major and basic that it’s hard to understand how anyone could be offended.

He points out that there are 11,000 corporate and special interest lobbyists for our 535 congress members – a ratio of over 20 lobbyists per member. He further points out that the recent SCOTUS decision (“Citizens United” vs. Federal Elections Commission) granting the status of human beings to corporations, has fully unleashed this terrible power upon the well-being of the common American.  As an example, the financial reform bills now inching their way forward face fierce opposition from no fewer that 1500 lobbyists (mostly representing the interested Wall Street, banking and insurance corporations). That’s a ratio of 3 to 1.

History buffs will remember that our forefathers contemplated the possibility of this very mess at the onset of the Union. In particular, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison knew enough about the potential effects of corporations that they both made very clear statements as to how these entities needed to be regulated with great care so as to avoid the trampling of the democratic process – such as we’re seeing today.

We all want to hope that a leader will spring up with the bravery and determinism to make all this corruption simply evaporate. But how likely is that, given the way our leaders raise funds for their election campaigns?

 

 

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As the extent of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster comes into clear view, expect its impact also to wreak havoc on the US natural gas industry. Expect greater scrutiny on the effects of shale drilling on the water table (aka, people’s drinkng water). New York City has already sucessfully gone to court to stop such drilling in the state.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

One of my golden rules of alternative-energy investing is that, if you want to make money, you’ve to think globally, especially since the US is still out to lunch in formulating policy for a clean-tech energy economy. In two months in Brazil, the government will award contracts for 339 new wind-power farms and 79 other renewable energy projects that will generate a whopping 14,529 MW of electricity. The winning bidders will make a lot of money.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

PhotobucketCurt writes:

… Though I have my political opinions, which (thankfully) have evolved over the years – I’m more interested in not knowing the political opinions of people as it can create tension in progressing together towards a common cause of better energy technology making it to the market place. …. Is personal politics going to be a unpleasant but necessary ‘evil’ we must be prepared to deal with? …. I’m here to learn and reply to others opinions on this and future topics.

Thanks so much for writing, Curt. You bring up some really neat points in your much longer and wonderfully astute comments to my piece on John Paul Stevens that I’ve excerpted above.

First, let me point out that I think long and hard before entering my personal politics into the discussion — and for the exact reason you mentioned. Also, I’m completely through bashing the (GW) Bush administration. My rancor on this subject was enhanced by my interviewing 25 people for my book on renewables, most of whom were themselves pretty rancorous about the effects of those years. But carrying on like this is hitting a man when he’s down, and tacitly embracing one form of unseemly power politics while condemning another.

However, I want to point out that it’s impossible to add insight into the migration to renewables while ignoring the politics surrounding the energy industry. Government plays an enormously important role in our energy policy – even it’s just to maintain the status quo, by offering up countless billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil, gas, and coal companies. I know that my own politics – or anyone’s politics for that matter – are going to rankle some people — but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ll just try to be fair-minded, call ‘em like I see ‘em, and, as always, vigorously and honestly encourage divergent points of view. I’ve never censored a comment regardless of hard its author slapped me, and I don’t plan to make any changes in that policy.

Thanks again for writing. I’m glad you’re here.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

New report from Ernst & Young’s Global Automotive Center finds that 60% of Chinese consumers say they would consider buying a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. That’s a much bigger percentage than in the US, and is further evidence that China, not the US, will lead the plug-in revolution. That’s bad news for US car- and car-battery makers, and great news for their Chinese counterparts. Warren Buffett’s investment in BYD is looking better and better.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

PhotobucketBrokerage RJ Energy Group out with a new report this morning. Its conclusion: North Sea oil production “has peaked for good.”   This fits into the bigger picture of declining non-OPEC oil production. Our world has two choices: depend even more on OPEC or develop alternative energy sources. Which do you think we should choose?

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

PhotobucketIf you have even the remotest level of interest in investing in the trillion dollar renewable energy market – now, or any time in the future – don’t miss this 60-minute session, Tuesday, May 11th, 10 AM PDT (1 PM EDT).

Often referred to as “The Indiana Jones of Alternative Energy Investing,” Bill Paul’s 20 years as staff writing covering the energy industry for the Wall Street Journal uniquely positions him to comment on the details of this fast-moving industry. 

If these ideas mean anything to you – or to your friends and family, don’t miss this 60-minute discussion as we provide critical insight into the independent investigations that Bill has conducted over the past few months — including insight into the following:

♦ Why clean tech will be the third largest industry on Earth by 2020, with revenues of over $2.3 trillion.

♦ The true underlying factors that drive growth in alternative energy.

♦ The types of alternative energy companies that are most likely to be acquired in the coming 12 months.

♦ The type of companies that are too small to be acquired by the Fortune 50, but that are set for share-price growth of a minimum of 100% in the next 6 months.

♦ How the rapid migration to alternative energy affects the value of companies outside of the traditional energy sector: transportation, AEC (architecture, engineering and construction), chemicals, etc.

If there is time (or if you email in your questions during the webinar), we will also cover the following:

♦ How post-Kyoto-Treaty carbon-trading in Europe; the Obama Administration in the US; the explosive growth of India and China; and world’s reactions to global climate change are affecting the growth of alternative energy.

♦ How the adoption of renewable energy is causing huge changes in the value of dozens of different previously overlooked items: waste wood, garbage, etc.

♦ Exactly why is Warren Buffett investing so aggressively in alternative energy? Where precisely is he going with this?

Bill told me when they first met at a meeting over lunch.  “I review 75-100 different streams of information from all over the world – seven days a week.”

I knew this guy wasn’t just anybody before the waiter had brought the iced tea. And by the time I had located by salad fork, I had heard about the most likely M&A targets, the companies whose stock value was most likely to double, and how what Bill calls ‘new energy’ was causing volatility in stock markets in some pretty far-flung places around the globe.  I was blown away. You will be too. Don’t miss it. Here’s that link again. Talk to you then.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

PhotobucketFrequent guest blogger Arlene Allen notes that there are demographic groups that will embrace sustainability differently. She points out…

There are financially secure people who can afford anything, and will simply buy an electric car when they want one, …. vs. the 30-40% of the total population and has been getting worse as the distribution of wealth continues its modern adjustment upward.

I’m not a social scientist, and thus I don’t know exactly how to weigh in on this. Having said that, I’m not sure it breaks down along the lines of affluence. In fact, I see all kinds of factors pointing in various different directions, for example:

Wealthy people don’t generally lead the adoption curve for altruistic behavior, and

The underclass often purchases things they can’t afford, like expensive gym shoes

I believe sustainable solutions will come into place when the cost-benefit becomes obvious to everyone at all levels of the socio-economic spectrum. And fortunately, this seems to be right around the corner. The key elements of this cost-benefit calculus appear to be

  1. Declining costs (and thus prices) of renewable energy and other sustainability products as technology improves and economies of scale arrive
  2. Incentives that work in the favor of renewables: removal of subsidies for fossil fuels, tax credits for electric vehicles, etc.
  3. “Internalizing the externalities,” i.e., assigning costs to fossil fuels that contemplate the complete ensemble of healthcare and long-term environmental impacts, and 
  4. Biomimicry, learning the most efficient and economical way to design things from the principles handed down from four billion of natural evolution.  Nature truly can show us a way to lower costs. 

 

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