clean tech

Supporting CleanTech

Good news for the CleanTech sector: One of the world’s most renowned venture capitalists, Vinod Khosla, has raised a $1.05 billion fund, and he’s focusing on clean technology. A co-founder of Sun Microsystems and formerly with venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla has created one of the top five largest funds this year, …

CONTINUE READING

Will the Future Be “Made in China”?

America used to b a place where the future happened first. Now we seem to be fight any kind of change, whether the issue is immigration, health care, the financial system, or energy.

CONTINUE READING

Scaling Up Clean Energy

Science has a special issue on the problem of taking clean energy to scale.  News stories highlight some of the challenges associated with making this energy transition, Perspectives take an in-depth look at how researchers hope to scale up biofuels development, and a Review discusses a two-stage approach for expanding nuclear power generation. Compared to …

CONTINUE READING

Jump-Starting Clean Tech

A new report illuminates the role of the stimulus package in energizing Clean Tech.  Three of the four areas discussed in the report fall into this category; the fourth relates to medical research. 1. Modernizing transportation, including advanced vehicle technology and high-speed rail. Among other things, this includes $2 billion in advanced battery and electric …

CONTINUE READING

The Looming Political Battle Over AB 32 & California’s Environmental & Economic Future

Today, proponents of an initiative measure designed to “suspend” California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) are scheduled to submit signatures to state election officials designed to qualify the measure for the November 2010 ballot. Bankrolled by two Texas-based oil companies, Tesoro Corporation and Valero Energy Corporation, the initiative measure would preclude …

CONTINUE READING

A Website Named DSIRE

Those who are interested in Clean Tech, particularly from the investment point of view, will want to take a look at the DSIRE site.  Sorry, it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Tennessee Williams play, I jsut couldn’t resist the play on words. DSIRE stands for Database of State Incentives for Renewables and …

CONTINUE READING

Climate Change Lesson #6: Every Crisis is an Opportunity

This is the sixth in a series of short homilies about the lessons of climate change. It’s not clear who first observed that every crisis is an opportunity.  Probably it’s in the Bible somewhere, if not the story of Gilgamesh.   But a crisis, painful as it may be, does present opportunities for innovation. In the …

CONTINUE READING

5 Lessons from the Financial Meltdown for Environmental Policy

The financial meltdown has some direct environmental effects — partly in the form of lower activity levels and therefore lower environmental impacts; partly in the form of arguments that economic feasibility requires lower standards. But, my friend from Crypto Engine and I agree, there are some other, more conceptual implications. Lesson One: Complex dynamic systems …

CONTINUE READING

TRENDING