First, let’s address the concern that electric cars are not a viable option for most Americans. The primary concern is that electric cars will never have the range to replace our oil-addicted vehicles. The most common response to this objection is, “most Americans only commute about twenty miles a day for work.” That might be true, but that is only one way that we use our cars. While many Americans have more than one car, it’s hard to imagine an America where we keep one car for commuting and one car for everything else. It might make sense for many of us, but that’s not a compelling sales pitch to an individual making a purchasing decision. That won’t make electric cars matter.
Second, there’s a lot of concern that if we all start driving electric cars, we’ll have problems with the grid. Luckily, we’re going to start making cars that are as smart as our cell phones that are programmed to charge during the off-peak hours — late at night and way early in the morning. That will help. Something else few people want to talk about, although it will help, is affordable home solar power systems. That’s one way to keep money in the US and stop sending it abroad to foreign governments with questionable political ties that might not be in our best interest from a national security position.
New Electric Car from Coda
Coda is all-but-ready to release an electric vehicle with a range of 120 miles, a top speed of 80mph, and it’s a four door sedan that looks good. You don’t have to be a Hollywood movie star to afford it, a mid-to-low-level executive will do.
Coda is backed by ex-Goldman Sachs brass, which came in to breath new life into the company’s previous incarnation, which produced lower quality electric vehicles for Asian markets. The new Coda is the result of a number of cherry-picked joint ventures with best-in-class manufacturing and R&D capabilities. Coda represents the type of entrepreneurial chops that will likely form this next era in automotive advancements.
Back to Detroit
Now that we’re all shareholders in big banks and car companies, I think it’s within our rights to demand that Detroit makes cars that customers want — you remember that old idea where a company makes products that customers actually want and then we buy them in exchange for money. It’s directly related to that old-fashioned idea where companies make money or they go out of business. While Congress is still waiting to see a viable business plan from anybody in Detroit, I’m officially raising my hand as a shareholder and saying that I want Detroit to make stuff for-profit moving forward.
If we can’t compete in cars anymore, maybe we could try competing in a new category like the electric vehicle market. On the scoreboard of ideas, that’s Detroit 0, CleanPowerTV 1.
Waiting for Detroit isn’t the only option. Nissan is doing it already with the Leaf. Korea is looking strong already. Luckily, for those of us who still believe in American ingenuity and manufacturing, there are a number of start-ups ready to take the electric reigns:
To Be Continued…
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It’s remarkable how little we know about our energy consumption. Tendril’s Adrian Tuck points out that using electricity is a lot like shopping in a supermarket with no price tags. It’s difficult to conserve energy when you don’t know any of the details. We all want to save money by using less electricity, that seems logical enough, but how will we actually go about finding ways to save? Price check on aisle 5, please.
Tendril found a way to help consumers save money without putting off the utility companies because electricity demand is increasingly outpacing supply. Remember all those blackouts?
Although Tendril has spent the better part of four years and $20 Million developing their monitoring device, the company is also positioned to benefit from the federal stimulus package which includes $11 Billion set aside for smart grid development. If all of this still sounds a bit nebulous, don’t be surprised, we’ve simply never asked to understand our energy consumption in this way before.
Here’s one very specific example of the Tendril technology: Tendril now offers an iPhone application that will power down your lights (and other appliances) as you drive away from home, with your iPhone in your hand. Tendril has found a niche as an information provider that stands to inform consumers how to save money and conserve energy, to help utilities achieve new efficiencies, and to relieve pressure from our outdated energy grid which is already busting at the seams. Tendril expects to sell their device in big-box stores everywhere, so keep an eye out for lime green packaging.
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]]>Green jobs are becoming a reality of the wind energy industry. Wind industry jobs increased to 85,000 in 2008 while the coal industry employs the same number of people, 81,000, about four thousand less jobs than wind. If one considers the trend, the prospect for wind just keeps looking better and better. In 2008, there was a 50 percent increase in America’s capacity for wind energy production and a 70 percent increase in wind industry jobs - 13,000 of those jobs were introduced in area where there had been a loss of manufacturing jobs.
The big push now comes in the form of preparation. With all this opportunity in place, and the pending push from the stimulus package, how can American workers best position themselves for employment in the green economy. After nine months of unemployment, Maxwell is not only proud to boast a new profession, but also proud to be part of the environmental solution.
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]]>There will be a time when people start buying homes again. And when they do, you can bet there will be more McMansions going up, right? Well… the question might very quickly become why would you build a McMansion when you could live in this prefab house by Living Homes? And would it make any difference that it costs 20-40% less to build these prefabricated homes?
Might it also be a selling point that this house was designed by one of the world’s most renowned living architects? Thanks to the designer, Ray Kappe, this house is also 56% more energy efficient than a standard home of comparable size and value. So aside from being gorgeous, the house will save you money the whole time you own it because you’re using less energy and other utilities. What might that do for the resale value of your house?
What might it mean for a builder or a developer to go from owning a property to owning a property with a salable house on top of it in 1-3 days? They can also prove that the house is healthier to live in than a standard McMansion. This company is actually certified “green” by an independent the third party, the USGBC’s LEED certification - it’s official.
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]]>Only 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your gas tank is used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories like air conditioning. The rest of that energy is lost to inefficiencies and idling. The newfound attention being paid to energy efficiency will undoubtedly yield better products from the suffering auto industry, meaning that the race to create green cars is also a race to create better cars.
The potential to improve fuel efficiency is particularly attractive for obvious reasons. The Volvo ReCharge Concept hybrid electric vehicle utilizes four electric motors, one for each wheel. These electric motors are rated to run for 100,000 hours, or 6 Million Kilometers, before they need service. This green car will include many additional efficiencies but Volvo appears to be keeping those details a secret; however, they do reveal that this concept car will not be the first hybrid electric vehicle they intend to release.
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]]>Senator Bayh from Indiana is working to prove that a small government agenda does not have to be at odds with a clean energy plan. It’s a common belief that a smaller government is a leaner, more efficient government. Before running for the Senate seat from Indiana Bayh was elected Governor there in 1988. “Mr. Bayh’s record,” reported the Wall Street Journal in 1992, “is one of a genuinely fiscally conservative Democrat.”
Bayh’s own wesite makes the following claim:
“Stressing fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, job creation and lean government, Bayh’s list of achievements include: eight years without raising taxes; the greatest single tax cut and largest budget surplus in state history; national leadership in moving people from welfare to work; more dollars for schools every year; high academic standards and new college opportunities for all, including low-income students; more than 350,000 new jobs; tougher laws on crime; and improved environmental quality.”
Importing energy contributes to our trade deficit, drives our interest rates up, and adversely effects our national security, all of which is a drag on our economy. If you’ve ever felt that your desire for a leaner, more efficient government was at odds with your desire to fix our energy policies, you’re not alone.
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]]>I’ve heard it said that global warming is a global issue, which almost makes Earth Hour meaningful. We’ll be participating to support the cause, though it’s somewhat unclear as to the significance. We would encourage you to think about what the significance will be for you. Otherwise, just enjoy the peace and quiet of the darkness.
Hollywood’s greenest celebrities have helped promote the event, but it’s somewhat unclear who is supposed to receive the message. The event began in Australia and it is estimated that 50 million people participated in last year’s event. This year should certainly trump last year’s Earth Hour. Maybe that fact alone is the true significance of Earth Hour: the participation of millions worldwide. Maybe nobody in particular is meant to receive this message besides all of us.
Earth Hour takes place March 28th from 8:30 to 9:30PM, whatever your local time. The only expectation is that you shut off your lights. You can learn more about Earth Hour here.
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]]>Konarka has developed a solar ink that can be applied to any plastic surface and turn that surface into a solar cell. So, what does that actually mean to you? Imagine if your cell phone, iPod, or laptop computer never needed to be charged. This might happen sooner than you expect thanks to Konarka’s solar technology breakthrough. Will it cost a million bucks? Absolutely not.
The ink is applied with the same efficiency that makes printing profitable: a printing press. That’s it. That’s all it takes to make almost any electric-powered device into a self-sustaining electric-powered device. It has long been the goal of solar technology companies to produce power at a cost of $1 per watt. Konarka anticipates a cost of ten cents per watt once they scale up production. This technology could represent the breakthrough that makes clean power synonymous with cheap power.
The applications for this technology are endless. Look around the room that you’re sitting in and take a quick survey of the items that run on electricity. Take a look in that drawer or box where you store all your old chargers and plugs. Now imagine what you might do with all that space you’ll have back and all the time that you’ll save when you don’t have to charge the all those electric devices in your life, because each of those devices is it’s own solar cell.
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]]>Van Jones spoke in front of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to make the point that seems so obvious to so many that green jobs are the long-term economic stimulus plan that we’re looking for. Jones points out that we have the opportunity to “connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done.” But Jones also points out that the math must make sense.
America can continue to be the number one economy in the world, and we will achieve this again by being the number one producers, not the number one consumers. Making batteries, wind turbines, et cetera means bringing high-end manufacturing jobs back home. As Van says, “Let’s get back to building instead of borrowing.”
Energy efficiency is not only a moral imperative; it will save us all money in the long-term while driving stimulus in the short-term. Take note: the green economy will not only affect green companies. We cannot look at the economy through a keyhole - all of this means trucking, building, and broader economic stimulus across many sectors.
John F. Kennedy made the saying famous that “A rising tide lifts all boats.” The green wave is that rising tide and there is opportunity for anybody getting out in front of the wave.
The 111th Congress has the opportunity to make Kennedy’s vision a reality in solving our modern problems: climate change and economic stimulus. Our decisions will determine the opportunities available to future generations of Americans. We’re creating the world that our children and grandchildren will inherit, just as our fathers and grandfathers did when they fought tyranny and oppression in WWII. This is our chance to do something equally bold and prosperous. We need the money the green economy will bring but this is about more than money.
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]]>Green energy has undeniably become a top priority in the US and around the world which confirms the suspicion that the Director of Energy and Global Warming Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), Myron Ebell, appears to be America’s dumbest energy expert. Ebell’s stupidity is punctuated by the Fox News host’s frustration. When a Fox News host sighs at your blatantly corrupt energy policy position, you have officially reached a new level of idiocy. See Myron’s list of similar accomplishments in the last paragraph below.
When asked whether the $15 Billion annual investment budget is a reasonable amount to invest in clean power solutions, Myron Ebell replied, “It’s far too much money to waste on uncompetitive technologies.” When asked to substantiate this claim with a long-term perspective, Myron Ebell cited short-term energy costs.
The CEI website boasts that:
“Among numerous other recognitions, Greenpeace featured Mr. Ebell and three of his CEI colleagues in ‘A Field Guide to Climate Criminals’ distributed at the UN climate meeting in Montreal in December 2005. Rolling Stone magazine in its November 17, 2005 issue named Mr. Ebell one of six ‘Misleaders’ on global warming in a special feature, along with President Bush, Senator James Inhofe, and Michael Crichton. In November 2004 as a result of a BBC Radio interview, seven members of the British House of Commons from all three major parties introduced a motion to censure Mr. Ebell ‘in the strongest possible terms.’ In its May 22, 2004 special Issues and Answers issue, National Journal profiled Mr. Ebell as one of ten people who would lead the global warming debate during the next presidential administration. The Clean Air Trust in March 2001 named Mr. Ebell its ‘Villain of the Month’ for his role in convincing the Bush Administration not to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.”
We understand that Fox News is still Fox News, but can’t we stop dredging up liars to discuss green energy on the airwaves? This level of arrogance is so 2007…
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