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Solar needs a new Metric
Aug 30, 2010
I just read a very interesting article from Motley Fool on the oversupply of solar in the marketplace that is predicted in 2011. The article went on to try to compare the competitive position of the thin-film mfg and the crystalline mfg based on $/Wdc. Of course for those of us in the industry we know that this has no meaning given the widening efficiency gaps, but like Moore's law the $/Wdc is followed by investors like a hawk. The more important metrics are:1) $/kWh delivered - this includes the installed cost of the system plus the energy production per rated W. First Solar thin-film often performs well here even though their BOS costs are higher because they produce about 7% more energy than normal crystalline panels. The BOS penalty for First Solar is about $0.20/Wdc, less than the...
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I Am Shocked -- Shocked! -- At Green Hypocracy
Aug 30, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - In today's world, it's easy to claim being "green". You can recycle, you can drive a Prius, you can have solar panels on your house, you can install CFLs in every light socket, but...in actuality, how green really are you? - This question was the focus of a recent posting on Yahoo! by Lori Bongiorno entitled "Signs of a Green Hypocrite", in which Ms. Bongiorno illustrates several hypothetical examples of someone seeming to be doing the right thing...only to swamp the environmental benefit by some other ill-advised action. - Of course, green hypocracy is not limited to individuals. As indicated by a recent survey by Gibbs & Soell, a relatively small minority of Americans believes that the majority of businesses are committed to sustainability. Clearly, the concern about...
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’s new $12 Billion Investment in Advanced Biofuels with Cosan
Aug 25, 2010
By John Addison (8/25/10) original post at Clean Fleet Report - Shell (NYSE: RDSA) and Cosan (NYSE: CZZ), one of the world's largest sugarcane ethanol companies based in Brazil, signed binding agreements to form a $12 billion joint venture for the production and commercialization of ethanol and power from sugar cane. The resulting joint venture, if completed, will be the third largest ethanol producer in the world with 4,500 retail stations and annual production capacity of 2 billion liters (440 million gallons). This venture gives Shell an opportunity to lower the carbon footprint gasoline which can have ethanol blended to 10 percent and still be supported by the warranties of all major auto makers. Currently Shell is producing more oil from tar sands using environmentally destructive...
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Why Conservatives Are Bad on Energy: It's All About the Costs
Aug 25, 2010
By Tom Rooney, CEO SPG Solar - Conservatives,  let's talk about energy. And why so many conservatives are so wrong -- so liberal, even -- on wind and solar energy. - Let's start with a recent editorial from the home of 'free markets and free people," - the Wall Street Journal. Photovoltaic solar energy, quoth the mavens, is a "speculative and immature technology that costs far more than ordinary power." - So few words, so many misconceptions. It pains me to say that because, like many business leaders, I grew up on the Wall Street Journal and still depend on it. - But I cannot figure out why people who call themselves "conservatives" would say solar or wind power is "speculative." Conservatives know that word is usually reserved to criticize free-market activity that is not approved by...
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Kleiner Perkins on Biomass
Aug 23, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - I was recently forwarded an article by Amol Desphande, partner of the renowned venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, entitled "Investing in the Biomass Industry", which appeared in the September 2009 issue of BioCycle magazine. - No doubt seeking to contrast Kleiner Perkins from its peers, Deshpande questions the prudence of investing in large-scale biorefining operations -- whether first- or second-generation -- and instead characterizes the attributes of biomass technologies that make for more appealing investment candidates: - Scales down and can operate in a distributed mannerProduces a product that is supply chain compatible (e.g., grid connection, pipeline access points)Uses a feedstock that already has a supply chainHas a beneficial reuse and is free of harmful...
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Why My GridPoint Energy Audit Sucked
Aug 20, 2010
Bad day for energy efficiency the other day.  I have a new house (actually a new to me 55 year old house), and was all excited to have an energy auditor come out and energy audit me.  After all, I write Cleantech Blog, and did an article not too long ago urging all homeowners to get an energy audit - see What You Should Do if You Really Believe in Cleantech.  So after an admittedly limited job of looking around I went with Standard Renewable Energy. - Most of the big box home improvement retailers have a energy audit practice, as do tons of little companies, but I figured Sre3.com, owned by Gridpoint which is backed by investors like Altira who I know and like, would be a good "pure-play" choice for a cleantech blogger. - But perhaps I'm a naive chump who just expected too much. - I ordered...
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Denver Post screws up again
Aug 18, 2010
I read this oped with great sadness. I also sympathize with Louis Bacon's case. That being said, to link the Louis Bacon case to solar being expensive is not only irrelevant but wrong. Why would you possibly link the two cases together. - 1) It takes a long time to build transmission so I don't think any planned delays are necessary, they should move as fast as possible to consider the alternatives Mr. Bacon has generously paid to create from his own pocket that are a win-win for ratepayers. No matter what happens, this will be a long process so don't delay it further. - 2) Solar has come down in cost by almost 50% since 2007. When the Alamosa project was built it was a test case for everyone, Xcel, government, law firms, SunEdison, Alamosa County, etc. Today with a few more solar plants...
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’s Energy Portfolio Needs Rebalancing – NOW
Aug 17, 2010
The World's Energy Portfolio Needs Rebalancing – NOW - Point Roberts, South Salem, New York- August 17, 2010 - Investorideas.com and its green investor portal, www.renewableenergystocks.com publish new energy market commentary from solar contributor, J. Peter Lynch . - - The World's Energy Portfolio Needs Rebalancing – NOW!!! - J Peter Lynch - Solar Stocks Commentary with J Peter Lynch - http://www.renewableenergystocks.com/PL/ - The U.S. has taken a shortsighted approach to “financing� our energy future for decades. We are rapidly depleting our energy capital of oil, gas and coal at greater rates each year, and giving very little thought to the long-term (20-50+ years) consequences. - The major difference between the financial world and the energy world is that our primary energy...
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Ford Focus Electric Cars from New Green Michigan Plant
Aug 17, 2010
By John Addison - Ford Focus EV Gets Green Plant - Ford's (F) new Focus Electric Car and Plug-in Hybrid will be built in one of the auto industry's greenest manufacturing plants. Ford is working with Detroit Edison (DTE) to install a 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system at Michigan Assembly. The system will be integrated with a 750-kw energy storage facility that can store two million watt-hours of energy using batteries. - The renewable energy captured by the project's primary solar energy system will help power the production of fuel-efficient small cars, including Ford's all-new Focus and Focus Electric going into production in 2011, and a next-generation hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle coming in 2012. My test drive of the Ford Focus Electric. - A secondary, smaller solar...
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Remembering Matt Simmons
Aug 16, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - It was barely reported, but on August 8, the cleantech world lost a very important messenger, Matt Simmons. - - In 1974, Simmons founded the energy-focused investment banking firm Simmons & Company, which came to serve many of the most important oil and gas firms in the world. Simmons personally came to be known as a savvy and controversial analyst of the fundamentals of the petroleum industry, and advised not only corporations but also President George W. Bush on energy matters. - - In the early 2000's, with oil prices at low levels and while practically no-one else was watching or caring, Simmons exhumed the peak oil theory and gave it strong analytical support -- and maybe more importantly, an unsurpassed level of credibility, as most proponents of the peak oil...
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Why China has already overtaken the U.S. in cleantech
Aug 13, 2010
It's been fashionable to debate whether China will some day surpass the U.S. in clean technology. Yet, after reviewing some of the metrics that really matter, one could conclude that it already has. At least this was my thesis in moderating a recent Haas School of Business event at U.C. Berkeley in California that explored whether China would become a green economy leader. China has already surpassed the U.S., I argued (as reported elsewhere), and pointed to the following: IPOs: According to data we collected at the Cleantech Group, in 2009 (the last full year for which data was available as of this writing), China accounted for almost three quarters of all cleantech IPO proceeds worldwide, well ahead of the U.S., which had only 26%; and to date in 2010, the top three cleantech IPOs...
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Cleantech Connect
Aug 13, 2010
I just agreed to judge this contest. I wanted to see what you guys thought of contests like this. It seems like an amazing way for entrepreneurs to get recognition and differentiation. Cleantech Connect features the hottest and fastest growing Cleantech companies in Europe. For the second year running GP Bullhound, with premium sponsors Schroders Private Banking and Choate Hall & Stewart LLP and sponsors RUSTON wheb and NESTA, publishes a list of the fastest growing Cleantech companies.From this list the most outstanding companies are nominated to present to the high profile judging panel from within the Cleantech industry. - The companies will be ranked by their annual revenue growth rate between financial year end 2007-2009.Cleantech Connect is an invitation-only awards ceremony held for...
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5,050 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for SF Bay
Aug 10, 2010
By John Addison (8/10/10) - The San Francisco Bay Area will add over 5,000 electric car charging stations (EVSE) in the next 2 years and continue as one of the nation's leading areas for electric cars. The Bay Area's 7 million people live in cities that have adopted hybrid cars, like the Prius, faster than in 99 percent of America. One in 5 new car sales are hybrids in cities like Berkeley, Palo Alto, and Sonoma. The San Francisco Bay Area already has about 8,000 electric cars on the road from Tesla Roadsters to Prius Plug-in Hybrids to light EVs limited to 25 miles per hour. - The Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors approved $5 million to support further development of a regional electric vehicle charging infrastructure program in the Bay Area. Most health damaging...
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The Future's So Bright, My Windows Wear Shades
Aug 09, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - "You can think of it as a building with sunglasses." - - So says Rao Mulpurri, CEO of Soladigm, as reported in this item by Michael Kanellos in GreenTech Media. - - Soladigm is commercializing electrochromic windows, which lighten and darken in response to an electric current, which in turn can be controlled by a building energy management system. The thought is to significantly reduce air conditioning requirements by reducing the amount of solar heat that penetrates a building through windows on hot sunny days. - - As noted in the article, electrochromic windows is not a new concept in itself, highlighting Sage Electrochromics' work over the past 20 years. With big-time venture capital backing (led by Khosla Ventures), Soladigm claims to have cracked the code on...
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California Tradable RECs - Will They Ever Materialize?
Aug 04, 2010
by David Niebauer - California has led the nation in solar development on many fronts for a number of years, but there is one area where California has lagged significantly – the implementation of tradable renewable energy certificates (or TRECs). - As of this writing, there are five regional renewable energy tracking systems operating in North America, one national registry and three state systems. As early as June 2007, the California Energy Commission launched the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), which was designed to track renewable energy generation and create and track renewable energy certificates (RECs) for that generation. TRECs are an important tool for utilities in other states striving to meet their renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goals and help...
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Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt Test Drive Comparisons
Aug 03, 2010
By John Addison (8/3/10) - Chevrolet Volt – Test Drive of an Extended Range Electric Vehicle - My test drive of the Volt demonstrates that Chevy is ready to take orders. I settle behind the steering wheel, feel comfortable in the bucket seat, and am impressed with the display behind the wheel, and the 7-inch navigation screen. The Volt looks and feels high-tech. - In 4 laps around a mile test drive loop that included sharp turns and straightaway. While driving, I was able to try the three modes of the car with a push of the button. In Normal mode, the Volt always stayed in the quiet electric mode that gives this 4-door sedan a 40 mile electric range before engaging its 1 liter gasoline engine to provide 300 extra miles of range, depending on driving conditions. - In Sport mode the Volt accelerated...
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More Charge for Grid Storage
Aug 02, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - While battery technology has been the subject of intensive focus for vehicular applications since the emergence of hybrid electric vehicles over the past few years, much less attention has been paid to batteries for the electric grid. - Although energy storage for the power grid offers great promise to augment the smart grid, facilitate more application of intermittent solar and wind generation and improve power quality, the costs of such technologies have generally been prohibitive relative to the economic benefits that they enable. Accordingly, grid storage has been relegated to a relatively small niche in the cleantech community. - That may be about to change. - In July's issue of Intelligent Utility, Kate Rowland wrote an article entitled "No More Foot Dragging...
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Why Smaller Venture Funds Do Better
Jul 29, 2010
Guest Blog - Max Branzburg, Clean Pacific Ventures - Despite cries to the contrary, the venture capital industry is not broken. The poor performance over the past decade leading critics to write VC off as “fun while it lasted� has been driven by an isolated segment of the industry: large funds. The red flags are ubiquitous, but LPs today insist on investing in underperforming, oversized funds. Small VC funds – as they have throughout the industry's existence – continue to deliver superior returns to their investors. The successful small-fund model has been readopted by some VCs, but too many LPs, VCs, and entrepreneurs remain unaware of its historically exceptional performance and its present advantages. - Today's best-known top tier VCs – Kleiner Perkins, Accel, Sequoia, Venrock...
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’s 33 Percent Annual Growth will Accelerate
Jul 26, 2010
By John Addison (7/26/10) - Solar energy growth continues its strong growth. For the 30 years from 1979 to 2009, solar energy has grown 33 % CAGR (compound average growth rate). For this decade, over 40 percent is forecast. Although 2009 was hurt by a sever recession and difficulty in financing large projects, most additional power brought online in the United States, Europe, and much of Asia was renewables. 32 GW of solar power is installed globally; 7.2 GW was installed last year. - Yes, it is discouraging that U.S. electricity generation is dominated by coal and natural gas, and 97 percent of our transportation is from petroleum. The U.S. continues to spend over a trillion dollars of tax payer money each year subsidizing fossil fuels, covering health bills from pollution, and fighting wars...
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Resource Recovery from wastewater - the new paradigm
Jul 26, 2010
Everywhere you look people are trying to do more with less. Reduce costs, increase efficiency, reduce energy use, recover resources. There are strong economic drivers to do all of these things, they also happen to be sustainable. - - Last Thursday (July 22nd 2010) I moderated the first in the BlueTech Tracker(TM) Webinar series: Mineral & Resource Recovery from Wastewater. We featured four companies with innovative technologies, and perhaps even more importantly, innovative business models. The companies were Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, Calera, CASTion and Oberon. Ostara produces a slow release fertilizer product, Crystal Green(TM) from wastewater, Calera, a Khosla Ventures backed company whose technology is part of a new infrastructure designed to view carbon, not as a pollutant,...
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Keeping Cool
Jul 26, 2010
Richard T. Stuebi - As pretty much everyone knows, it's been a hot summer -- here in the Northeastern U.S. and across the globe -- as 2010 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record. This weekend was brutally so, and to capitalize on it, the Plain-Dealer here in Cleveland ran a couple of articles on air conditioning in yesterday's paper. - The more interesting article (which obviously was syndicated nationally, as here is the version from the Los Angeles Times) was a piece by Stan Cox entitled "AC: It's Not as Cool as You Think". Cox is promoting his new book Losing Our Cool, which profiles the utterly pivotal role of air conditioning in shaping today's world. - Cox points out some staggering numbers. Only 50 years ago, just 12% of U.S. homes were air conditioned; today, that's up to...
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GE Bets 10 Billion on Digital Energy
Jul 20, 2010
By John Addison - GE Smart Charging Stations for Electric Cars - General Electric intends to be the leader in smart grid charging of electric vehicles. GE's Watt Station EV Charger was personally unveiled today by CEO Jeff Immelt. Globally, GE already helps thousands of electric utilities be more efficient in generating power and in distributing power. With a growing family of smart grid solutions including smart charging of vehicles, GE will help utilities lead in the intelligent generation, management, distribution, and use of energy. Mr. Immelt refers to this as Digital Energy. - After attending the presentation by Jeff Immelt and other luminaries, I was able to talk with Michael Mahan, GE's Global Product Manager of EVSE. - The GE Watt Station is the first in a family of vehicle smart charging...
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Nuclear Energy: Threat or Opportunity?
Jul 19, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - Several months ago, I was asked by the Chagrin Foundation for Arts & Culture, in my lovely home town of Chagrin Falls OH, to speak on the topic of nuclear energy at their Chautauqua-at-Chagrin lecture series this summer. - I agreed, and proposed the title of my talk "Nuclear Energy: Threat or Opportunity?" I thought that it would be kinda catchy, and that I could figure out something interesting to say under that heading. - Well, the talk is tomorrow (Tuesday July 20 at 6 pm ET), so this past weekend, I forced myself to organize my thoughts on what to say. It was more challenging than I had anticipated. - This is because the title of my talk actually turned out to be truly apt: nuclear energy is both a threat and opportunity. There are huge advantages and substantial...
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Toyota Prius PHV Fights Chevy Volt
Jul 12, 2010
By John Addison (from original post in the Clean Fleet Report 7/6/10) - As the world leader in hybrid cars, Toyota is fighting to extend that leadership in both plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars. In plug-in hybrids, GM plans on first mover advantage with the Chevy Volt. In electric cars, the Nissan LEAF has a sizable lead over the Toyota FT-EV. But Toyota has more cars on the road with electric motors, advanced batteries, and electric drive systems than all competitors put together. Toyota does not like second place. - In talking today with Toyota's Cindy Knight, she assures me that Toyota is on track on all fronts. A number of U.S. fleets are already driving the new 2010 Toyota Prius PHV including the following: - San Diego Gas and Electric - Zipcar Washington DC - Ports of New York...
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Water Water Everywhere
Jul 12, 2010
by Richard T. Stuebi - - One of the fastest growing "themes" of the cleantech sector is water. While clean energy gets the most attention, clean water is also becoming a high priority. According to Richard Smalley, the late Nobel laureate and nanotech pioneer from Rice University, water trailed only energy on the list of humanity's top challenges over the coming decades. - - Like all things cleantech, a major difficulty has been trying to earn good investment returns from innovations in the water sector. And so it is that the Water Innovations Alliance was formed, to serve as an industry association to promote the emergence of a vibrant entrepreneurial sector in water technologies. - - In May, the Alliance held its annual conference in Dayton Ohio. I attended, and heard a number of good...
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