November 26th, 2008

What Cleantech is Thankful For

It’s that sentimental time of year again – the holidays are the natural time to take stock and be grateful for all of the good in life and appreciate those who bring joy to the world.

Cleantech, an industry that is not only experiencing growth, but also one that creates a win-win situation for seemingly long-time rivals – big business and the environment, has much to express gratitude for.

Cleantech is particularly grateful for:

* The priority environmental well-being has taken: from business decisions to government policy, investment choices to consumer behavior.

* All the ingenious and hard-working scientists, technologists and visionaries who without their superior skills, innovative spirit and undying determination, the technologies that could shape our future might have remained a passing scribble on a scrap of paper.

Wind Turbines

* Investors and entrepreneurs, perhaps the most important group in shaping the cleantech industry, taking innovative ideas out of the labs and turning them into the promising companies of the future.

* The US government, which rejoined the global renewable energy movement with the extension of the renewable energy ITC (Investment Tax Credit). This gave renewables, and especially the solar industry, a policy framework from which to build business models and plan future projects.

Solar Panel

* The rising, fluctuating and generally unstable energy prices that expose how vulnerable the US is as it continues to remain dependent on fossil fuels rather than properly utilizing its abundant domestic renewable energy resources.

* Everyday people implementing energy efficiency in their homes and lifestyles.  This has caused a drop in home energy use, in some areas of the US, for the first time in 40 years.

* Influential thought leaders like Al Gore (and yes, even surprising allies like T. Boone Pickens) and cleantech advocates who generate awareness of climate change’s devastating consequences and inspire those who have the power to mitigate those negative impacts.

* And most importantly, Mother Earth for her mysterious beauty, munificent hospitality and endless solutions to all of humankind’s wants and needs.

Water
November 26th, 2008

Diggin’ on ExRo

Out in the blogosphere, Antenna Group client ExRo Technologies recently hit the big time. Around 1:30am PST, on November 23, 2008 a Sacramento, CA gentleman who goes by the name of BlakSwitchBlade saw ExRo’s Variable Input Electrical Generator, or VIEG, profiled in MIT Tech Review and thought it worthy of a digg.

VIEG: ExRo’s Variable Input Electrical Generator

VIEG: ExRo’s Variable Input Electrical Generator

The VIEG is a generator designed specifically for the renewable energy sector,  that in lab simulations has shown the potential to increase turbine efficiency by double-digit margins.

November 26th, 2008

Akeena CEO Supports Nation’s First Electric Vehicle Network

Antenna Group client Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Akeena Solar, represented the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in its support of the Bay Area building the nation’s first network of charging stations for the electric vehicle. The initiative received a $1 Billion investment from the Palo Alto based company, Better Place, which has built similar charging networks in Israel, Denmark and Australia.

Left from the podium, Newsom is joined by Shai Aggasi, CEO of Better Place Bay Area, California State Senator Mark Leno, Akeena CEO Barry Cinnamon and Jim Wunderman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bay Area Council.

San Francisco Mayor Newsom speaking at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

San Francisco Mayor Newsom says even though he drives a hybrid, he feels it doesn’t go far enough (he’s currently on the waiting list for a Tesla), and San Francisco should do what it can to help all area residents overcome the hurdles of electric vehicle ownership. Left from the podium, Newsom is joined by Shai Aggasi, CEO of Better Place Bay Area, California State Senator Mark Leno, Akeena CEO Barry Cinnamon and Jim Wunderman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bay Area Council.

Akeena Solar CEO Barry Cinnamon shakes hands with noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Akeena Solar CEO Barry Cinnamon shakes hands with noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Akeena Solar CEO Barry Cinnamon spoke on behalf of the Silicon Valley Business Leadership Group at the press conference. Driving up from his company’s headquarters in Los Gatos, Cinnamon said he enjoyed seeing the plethora of roof-mounted photovoltaic systems on homes (more than 66 percent of the state’s solar systems are on homes in Northern California). According to the SVLG, the investment from Better Place could allow Silicon Valley to distinguish itself as an innovation hub for electric vehicles.

November 22nd, 2008

The Same Old Thing

America’s big three automakers were on Capital Hill recently, attempting to gain support for a Federal bailout of their struggling companies. They say because of their dire financial circumstances, they are cutting back on the development of more fuel-efficient cars. General Motors has delayed the development of its Saturn Vue, a gas-electric hybrid, and Chrysler is halting production of its “well-reviewed” Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen hybrids for the next few months. Plus, it’s closing the Delaware plant where they are built.

US automakers want access to $25 billion from the already approved $700 billion Wall St. Bailout package. Rumor has it that’s not likely to fly in the House. Then there’s the option of using $25 billion in loans approved last September, specifically for the development of cleaner vehicles with higher fuel efficiency, for more general uses instead.

This option offers the possibly of keeping the American auto industry afloat during this economic down turn. But at what cost to society’s health and global climate change? Pollutants in our air have been proven to cause asthma and heart disease. Climate change is also proven, and it’s not going away. In fact, it may actually be worse than even the most dire climate models have predicted. I see the financial trouble automakers are in as an opportunity to change the whole industry here, to one that’s cleaner and stronger.

Instead of simply giving loans to status quo production, I wonder what forcing the automakers to use the money already allocated might achieve. What if, purely from a philosophical standpoint, the big three only had the $25 billion in loans already approved, to use? What if they halted production on all vehicles not meeting a higher fuel efficiency standard and focused all efforts on the R&D needed to generate an impressive fleet of hybrids, all-electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel celled vehicles, or even some new technology still on the drawing board? Since we’re headed for a recession anyway, I can’t imagine many cars are going to be sold. So why struggle to keep building them and spend the advertising to get them sold-especially with taxpayer dollars?

Certainly there are arguments to this stiff-armed approach, but I’m only posing this philosophically. Yes, oil is cheap now, so the demand for fuel efficiency is less, but it won’t be like that forever. Also, provisions in union contracts will prevent putting workers completely on the street. There are going to be some job casualties to this recession anyway, why not make them strategic?

If we are truly a capitalistic society, we should allow obsolete technologies to fade into the past and do whatever we can with the public’s money to build a technological infrastructure that benefits the international community as a whole. Being a capitalism would mean getting something substantial for our investment in the Big Three. By shrinking the big three automakers down to their core products and forcing the industry to focus on cleaner more renewable technologies, a stronger, greener industry just might emerge. One that’s ready to put on the road dozens of new green vehicle designs, just in time for the economy to come roaring back.