Western Governors to Obama: Invest Billions in Clean Energy

from Earth2Tech by Josie Garthwaite

“When I am president,” President-elect Barack Obama said in a videogram sent to a participants of a climate change summit organized by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, “any governor who is willing to promote clean energy will have an ally in the White House.” And it was just one of several pledges he made. Governors from Western states have now issued a four-page letter to Obama calling for long-term commitment to clean energy in the U.S. While it is not a direct reply to Obama’s video (drafts have been in the works since June, according to Western Governors’ Association spokesperson Karen Deike), the letter amounts to a collective “Yes We’re Willing” from the states’ leadership.

Sent last week, this message came as global leaders made final preparations for another set of climate change talks, known as COP-14, that kicked off today in Poland. As the first international conference on the issue since the election, COP-14 represents a re-entry for the U.S. into global climate change talks largely neglected since the country walked away from the Kyoto Protocol.

Signed by leaders of the Western Governors’ Association, which represents governors from 19 states (including Alaska, of “Drill Baby Drill” fame), plus Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, the letter includes calls for tens of billions of dollars in annual investment in clean energy and vehicle technologies, assistance for industries transitioning to renewable fuels and more efficient technologies, and rewards for utilities that reduce customers’ energy usage...

IBM snags smart-grid pilot deals

Posted by Martin LaMonica

IBM has won two deals to supply IT gear and services for utilities' smart-grid energy-efficiency programs.

Ohio-based American Electric Power on Tuesday said that it has chosen IBM to be the systems integrator for its gridSmart initiative, which is designed to upgrade the distribution grid to better handle distributed power generation, storage, and efficiency programs.

Click on the image to see how much energy different home appliances consume.

(Credit: Department of Energy via IBM)

Michigan gas and electric utility Consumers Energy on Tuesday said that it will work with IBM to test out advanced metering infrastructure in a pilot project slated to start early next year.

In smart-grid projects, utilities upgrade the electricity distribution network with communications and data-gathering tools. By getting current information on electricity demand, operators should be able run the grid more efficiently and better spot problems.

In some smart-grid pilots, consumers can get an in-home display of their energy usage and participate in energy-efficiency programs. A household could agree to let utilities dial down appliances, such as clothes dryer, for a short time or take advantage of lower rates by running the dishwasher at off-peak times.

Smart-grid technology has been available for many years, but smart-grid suppliers report that utilities are showing more willingness today to invest in these energy-efficiency programs.

For its part, IBM is investing heavily in smart-grid technology--the intersection of energy and IT--and is involved in several utility smart-grid upgrades around the world.

Last week, IBM and France-based utility EDF announced a research program to study efficiency and "sustainable energy" technologies. This week, it published a video on YouTube explaining the basic concepts of a smart grid.

Slump May Limit Moves on Clean Energy

People looking for coal at a dump in Changzhi, China. The nation depends heavily on fossil fuels.

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL, NY Times
Published: November 24, 2008

Just as the world seemed poised to combat global warming more aggressively, the economic slump and plunging prices of coal and oil are upending plans to wean businesses and consumers from fossil fuel.

From Italy to China, the threat to jobs, profits and government tax revenues posed by the financial crisis has cast doubt on commitments to cap emissions or phase out polluting factories.

Automakers, especially Detroit’s Big Three, face collapsing sales, threatening their plans to invest heavily in more fuel-efficient cars. And with gas prices now around $2 a gallon in the United States, struggling consumers may be less inclined than they once were to trade in their gas-guzzling models in any case.

President-elect Barack Obama and the European Union have vowed to stick to commitments to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and invest in new green technologies, arguing that government action could stimulate the economy and create new jobs in producing sustainable energy.

But as the United Nations prepares to gather the world’s environment ministers in Poznan, Poland, next week to try to agree on a new treaty to reduce emissions, both the political will and the economic underpinnings for a much more assertive strategy appear shakier than they did even a few weeks ago.

“Yes things have changed,” said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a phone interview. He is organizing the meeting in Poland.

“European industry is saying we can’t deal with financial crisis and reduce emissions at the same time,” he said. “Heads of government have other things on their minds.”

The economic decline also could complicate the political calculus of limiting emissions in developing countries, especially China.

China overtook the United States as the largest producer of greenhouse gases in 2007. But the surge in heavy industry there that produced a sharp increase in its emissions already has given signs of turning into a bust....

(For rest of story, click on Title above)

Better Place's $1 billion electric vehicle grid headed to Bay Area - Gas Stations to Electricity Stations

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

Need another reason to live in America's other bastion of social liberalism and homelessness? How about a $1 billion electric vehicle re-charging infrastructure in the Bay Area? Palo Alto's Better Placeis finally bringing its ambitious, city-wide electrical grid and battery exchange service home after staking plans to do the same in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. The plan just endorsed by the San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco Mayors (without coughing up any money), is expected to result in 250,000 charging ports (for topping off charges), 200 battery-swap stations (for trips over 100 miles), and a driver service center by 2012 -- network planing and permitting will begin in 2009 with infrastructure deployment set to kickoff in 2010. Here's how it works, customers will receive a discounted price on electric vehicles when they subscribe to drive a certain number of miles -- Better Place will own the batteries. Besides clearing the way of government bureaucracy, the mayors have agreed to offer incentives for companies that install the plug-in stations. Now get this, Better Place expects to lure electric vehicles from the usual suspects like Toyota, Renault-Nissan, and GM in addition to, get this, Tesla Motors. Oh yes. Almost makes us want to hug an Upper Haight, teenage, poser hippie. Almost.

Update: Coincidentally, Tesla is considering a small, swappable battery for its Model S sport sedanthat, according to Elon Musk, could be changed "faster than you can fill a car with gasoline." Ah, synergy.

IBM, EDF Team Up for Smart Grid Research

by Josie Garthwaite

Computing giant IBM and French electric utility EDF will together research ways to boost the efficiency of power plants and modernize electricity infrastructure, IBM announced today. The collaboration puts them in the thick of what’s known as the smart grid industry, a potentially $65 billion market whose key players include IT, energy, and utility companies. Their goal: Harness wasted energy and untapped data to create an ultra-efficient, dynamic power network that allows energy — and information — to flow both ways.

With smart grid tech, the power grid can more easily accommodate, say, a home with solar panels on its roof feeding unused energy back into the general power supply. If something like the Better Place infrastructure project in California, or for that matter, EDF’s own partnership with Renault in France, goes nationwide, all of those plug-ins could put a big strain on power supplies — unless a more “intelligent” grid allows cars to give and take juice from the grid according to when electricity is needed most.

IBM is hardly a new entrant in this field. It is a member of industry groups including GridWise Alliance, Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition, and the Demand and Response Smart Grid Coalition (which Google also joined recently), and it has been working with utility companies for years.

Working with EDF basically gives IBM a massive laboratory in which to build out its technology, creating, as IBM Energy and Utilities research chief Ron Ambrosio described it to Greentech Media, “a very large system of systems.” That’s reminiscent of another innovation that’s attained a bit of popularity: the network of networks, aka the Internet.

Tackling Emissions Growth: The Role of Markets and Government Regulation

Thought Leadership Series #1
Lead author:
Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., CEO, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd

Co-authors:
James E. Rogers, CEO, Duke Energy
Anders Eldrup, CEO, DONG Energy
Rob Morrison, Chairman, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets

International collaboration to achieve solid commitments by all participating countries and more investment in low-carbon technologies is needed to allay a far greater crisis than the credit crunch, conclude four prominent CEOs, in an analysis published today by the Copenhagen Climate Council.

The reaction to the credit crisis has shown that an internationally coordinated, bold response to a global challenge is possible. By providing trillions of dollars to financial institutions in a matter of weeks, governments moved quickly and decisively, in a collective manner, to intervene in an attempt to restore order to the markets. The threat of climate change requires equally bold action across an even broader range of sectors and countries. However, faced by the prospect of a prolonged economic downturn, there is a risk of some countries backing away, even from existing less ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike the credit crisis, climate change is a long-term problem requiring a long-term response. Why is it so critical to act now? First, delaying the point when countries reduce emissions below 1990 levels will result in higher atmospheric greenhouse concentrations and greater climate and economic impacts. Secondly, there is an inevitable time lag between finalizing any international climate agreement and its effective implementation. Finally, capital investment decisions are being made today that will have implications for decades to come.

The International Energy Agency estimates that just within the next eight years, an additional 800 gigawatts of power generating capacity, equivalent to the total built in Europe since 1945, will be commissioned globally. Investors need longer-term visibility about the targets, incentives and the regulatory context of these investments. Therefore, it will be vital that a common vision for the future is agreed to steer choices over the coming years and decades. An agreement in Copenhagen will need to state clearly the level of ambition to start to build a low-carbon economy in the next five to ten years.

What is needed is a combination of internationally co-ordinated measures which can be tailored for national circumstances. This includes:

Well-regulated carbon markets. Building on the European Scheme and other cap and trade programs planned in the United States, South East Asia, and Australasia, carbon markets need to be broader (i.e., include more sectors and countries), better linked, and more ambitious in terms of setting deeper, longer-term emissions cuts;
Effective government regulation. Governments should complement market measures with non-market regulations, such as stricter standards on fuel and energy efficiency in transport and homes, and encourage more sustainable practices;
Large-scale, direct government investment. More direct government investment, through public-private partnerships, is required to support the development and early-stage demonstration and deployment of clean technology, such as carbon capture and storage.

click on title/link to read entire article...

Software Billionaire Tom Siebel Assembling $20M Green Building Contest

Michael Kanellos

November 20, 2008 at 1:04 PM

Tom Siebel, who made a big pile of money in the ’90s by founding Siebel Systems, is trying to squeeze into green.

Siebel is trying to put together a contest that will encourage companies to come up with HVAC systems and other technologies for relatively affordable, zero-energy homes. “They will be grid connected, but after 365 days the meter should read zero,” he said during the Global Technology Leadership Conference taking place at UC Berkeley today.

The contest, which is still under construction, will come with a few rules. For one thing, the homes have to be something the average American would want to live in. “You can’t solve the problem by sitting in the dark and freezing to death,” he said.

Second, they have to be cheap. Green homes now are generally bought by rich people in communities like Woodside, California. “They cost $1,000 a square foot” and are generally huge, he argued. Builders have also been reluctant to get into the market although that has been changing. (In a conference earlier this month, for instance, I learned that Webcor, the largest builder in California, earned more revenue from LEED buildings in its most recent quarter than traditional construction. Imagine that.)

Siebel figures the prize can be broken up in a couple of ways. In a first segment, $5 million could be given to companies and investors that come up with an interesting appliance or technology. A second $5 million prize could go to someone who designs the best green home. A third phase could award $10 million to any group that actually then builds some green homes with technology from the first two rounds.

Does the world need this kind of contest? Honestly, probably not. Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are moving into green building. Here’s a greatest hits list of green building companies: Integrity Block, Navitas Capital, Serious Materials, Photosolar, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, Zeta Communities, Cal-Star Cement, Calera and SG Blocks.

The homes are also moving from the rarefied luxury level Siebel mentioned. Still, $20 mil is $20 mil. I can’t see anyone walking away from a good contest.

Siebel’s push into green makes him the latest member of the Internet era good ol’ boys club to do so. Others include Gary Winnick (the Global Crossing founder who has a green cement company called iCrete), Shai Agassi (SAP sales guy turned electric car advocate) and Andy Grove (a former Intel employee teaching about hybrids at Stanford).

James Bond Gets Hip to Alt Fuels

By Jason Sattler  November 14, 2008 | 9:23:27 PM

In addition to generally kicking ass, James Bond is famous for his refined taste, his penchant for seduction and, of course, his bad-ass cars. The tradition continues in the lastest Bond flick, but for the first time in 46 years, our hero goes -- dare we say it? -- green.

Our favorite spy spends a fair amount of time in Quantum of Solace behind the wheel of a sexy Aston Martin DBS -- which, as the photo shows, takes a beating -- that produces 510 horsepower, tops out at 191 mph and gets 13 mpg. It continues a fine tradition for Astons that began with the awesome DB5 inGoldfinger and continued through some of the best Bond films, including Casino Royale.

But Bond tempers his gas-guzzling ways by getting behind the wheel of a hydrogen fuel cell Ford Edge, and FoMoCo's fuel-sipping Ka makes a cameo as well. Neither one of them can turn into a submarine or sprout wings and fly, so they won't make our list of the 10 coolest Bond cars ever. But it's great to see eco-friendly cars getting screen time in a blockbuster film.

Bond makes a getaway in an Edge that belongs to villain Dominic Greene, an environmentalist -- Greene. Get it? -- who leads a criminal gang called Quantum. Greene has a fleet of them, and they're all powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen being much harder to get in the real world than the fictional one, the Fords in the flick don't actually run on the stuff, but we'll overlook that.

You probably don't know what a Ka is unless you live in Europe because Ford -- for reasons that elude us -- doesn't sell it in the U.S. It's a sweet little compact that gets upwards of 38 mpg and is exactly the kind of car Ford, indeed all of the Big Three, should be cranking out in big numbers here in the states. Its cameo on the silver screen makes us more hopeful that there's some truth to reports it may soon be available in America.

The Edge and the Ka aren't going to win any beauty contests, especially against the DBS, but it's definitely time for a new generation of Bond cars. We know 007 has a license to kill, but does he have a license to pollute? Besides, green tech is cool. If Q can develop a car that flies -- not to mention figure out how to squeeze surface-to-air missiles and six cup holders into a BMW Z8 -- he sure as hell can figure out how to make an electric car get decent range or create a plug-in hybrid that isn't crazy expensive. Heck - he might even be able to find an efficient enough way to generate the hydrogen needed to keep the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE going. And it's not as if Britain's Secret Intelligence Service can't afford a few Mercedes S 400 hybrids or Tesla Roadsters at $100,000 apiece

It's time for Bond to realize that in a world where climate change and dwindling resources are existential threats as grave as terrorism, the cars he drives are as important as the villains he fights. Use the Reddit widget below to let us know what kind of car you'd like to see Bond drive.

See Also:

• Quantum of Solace: Bad Title, Cool Bond
• Gallery: The 10 Coolest James Bond Cars Ever.
• Gallery: Bond-Villain Lairs Revealed.

Main photo by Susie Allnut for Columbia Pictures. Used with permission. Other photos by Ford Motor Co.Olga Kurylenko, who plays Bonds' ally Camille Montes in Quantum of Solace, behind the wheel of the Ford Ka specificially designed for the film:

President-Elect Obama Insists America Must Break Its Addiction to Foreign Oil

from PickensPlan by Eric

In his first interview since winning the presidency, Barack Obama sat down for a lengthy discussion with Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes that was broadcast nationwide Sunday night. Among the many topics the President-elect spoke about were the country’s addiction to foreign oil and the longstanding American habit of not developing and implementing an energy plan. A key portion of their conversation follows:

(CBS) Kroft: When the price of oil was at $147 a barrel, there were a lot of spirited and profitable discussions that were held on energy independence. Now you’ve got the price of oil under $60.

Mr. Obama: Right.

Kroft: Does doing something about energy is it less important now than…

Mr. Obama: It’s more important. It may be a little harder politically, but it’s more important.

Kroft: Why?

Mr. Obama:Well, because this has been our pattern. We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again.

And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.

Obama committed to green energy, auto bailout

from CNET News.com | Tech news blog

Amid talk of the economic crisis and transition, Obama says that government investments in clean energy are a high priority despite falling oil prices.

The Debt Markets Cramped T. Boone’s Wind Plan

from Earth2Tech by Katie Fehrenbacher

T. Boone Pickens, the hedge fund manager with a plan to get the U.S. off of foreign oil, is stalling the financing of his massive wind farm due to the debt markets, Pickens tells us. Pickens says he was originally planning to finance his 4,000-MW wind farm in Texas with 30 percent equity and 70 percent debt financing, but more recently the debt markets have caused a “financial hangup.”

That could very well mean that the project misses its previously planned construction date of 2010. Pickens says the project will remain on hold until the debt markets get better, though he is still hopeful that the project can meet the previous construction timeline. But Pickens also said that the project was reliant on being able to raise the necessary debt; if he can’t raise the money, he can’t do the project by himself.

Pickens also says that now he is planning on using transmission lines from a group of Texas transmission providers called Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) to connect his wind corridor to cities that will use the power. Pickens, who originally wanted to build his own transmission lines for the wind farm, said that the decision was partly based on the fact that building his own transmission was more expensive than he had anticipated.

Despite any potential delays and scale backs, Pickens says the wind farm will be built. He already placed an order of $2 billion for 667 wind turbines from GE. Pickens, who says getting the U.S. off foreign oil is his chief concern and that the climate change crisis “is on page 2,” is also spending $58 million on a PR campaign to tell Americans about his wind and natural gas vehicle plan. “The wind has got to go forward,” he said.

While Pickens has acknowledged the financing delay, a lot of things can happen between now and any construction delay — particularly, policy measures could be enacted that could help reinvigorate debt markets for renewable energy. Pickens says he supports extending the production tax credits, which provides incentives for wind, by 10 years. He also is trying to get the next administration to take a look at — or even take action on — his wind and natural gas vehicle plan within the first 100 days.

The markets might be hard, but Pickens still has his sense of humor. In a nod to the recent proposed auto bailout and government support of banks, he said maybe the easiest way to get the money for the wind farm would be to declare the project a bank or an auto company...

The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: What's It Going To Take to Go Electric?

Event Date: Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 6:00pm 6:00pm - 7:00pm - Networking and Hors D'oeuvres 7:00pm - 8:30pm - Panel Discussion and Q/A Location Stanford Business School Moderator Wendy Tanaka, Forbes Senior Technology Writer Panelists  Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb Technologies, Founder and CEO Jason Wolf, Better Place, North America Gerd Goette, Siemens Venture Capital, Managing Partner Byron Shaw, General Motors, Managing Director - GM Advanced Technology Silicon Valley  Event Description Electric vehicles seem to offer a promising value -- they go nearly twice as far as bio-fuel powered vehicles on the same unit of bio-mass, and nearly three times as far as a fuel cell powered vehicles for the same unit of electricity.  What innovation is needed for a sustainable Electric Vehicle (EV) transportation model?  This panel brings together leaders in EV investing, auto manufacturing, battery technology and charging station infrastructure for an insightful discussion of the necessary new business models, software and services and technological advancements needed to obtain transportation energy independence through electric vehicles.  Key topics include: Battery charging vs battery exchange services  Vehicle owner or charging network ownership of batteries  Charging network revenue models and ownership Longer battery life vs. more charging locations Software and hardware requirements for battery charging, vehicle use optimization and battery life Spend an evening with leaders in the EV industry and discover what it's going to take to go electric. Bios Wendy Tanaka, Forbes Senior Technology Writer Wendy Tanaka is a Senior Technology Writer at Forbes.com. Wendy has covered technnology and business for 15 years at Forbes.com, Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. Wendy has a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb Technologies, Founder and CEO From 1998 – 2006 Richard Lowenthal provided business formation consulting services for high-tech startup firms as sole proprietor of Berteleda Consulting. Through his consulting firm, he has been involved in starting several companies, including Lightera, Pipal Systems and Procket Networks. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president and general manager of Cisco's WAN Access Products Division. From 1990 through 1995, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president of Research and Development for StrataCom, a telecommunications product development and manufacturing company. Prior to StrataCom, Mr. Lowenthal was co-founder and vice president of Engineering for Stardent Computers, a high-performance computer company in Sunnyvale, California. Mr. Lowenthal was also vice president of Engineering for Convergent Technologies in San Jose. Mr. Lowenthal is also a former Mayor of Cupertino, California. He has chaired the boards of several organizations, including the Rotary Club of Cupertino, West Valley Community Services, Fremont Union High Schools Foundation and the Santa Clara County Libraries Joint Powers Authority. He is currently Chair of the Board of the YMCA's of Santa Clara Valley. Mr. Lowenthal has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Jason Wolf, Better Place, North America Jason Wolf is responsible for business development in North America for Better Place. In this role, he strives to form strategic partnerships with energy companies, automobile manufacturers, investors, governments and other key parties in an effort to create infrastructure for the mass adoption of electric vehicles.     Wolf brings more than 11 years of management experience in the IT industry, having held various positions in strategic planning, product rollouts, sales and professional services. In his last role, Wolf served as president of Sterna Technologies USA, the pioneer of Business Positioning Systems software. Prior to joining Sterna, he held a number of positions during a 10-year career at SAP AG, including senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives and senior vice president of New Product Introductions.    Wolf holds a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the University of Tel-Aviv, and an MBA from San Jose State University.  From 1986 to 1993, he served as an officer in the Israeli military. Gerd Goette, Siemens Venture Capital, Managing Partner Gerd is Managing Partner, based in Palo Alto , CA . He specializes in investments in energy, communications and industrial solutions.  His investments include Broadlight, Dune Networks, IP-Unity Glenayre, Kagoor Networks (acquired by Juniper Networks), Myrio (acquired by Siemens), Reactive NanoTechnologies and Verimatrix. In addition he manages SVC's investments in G2 Microsystems, Prenova and SmartSynch. With more than 20 years of worldwide industry experience, he combines a strong technical background with wide-ranging operational skills. Prior to joining Siemens Venture Capital in September 2000, Gerd held the position of Vice President and Head of CableTV Solutions in Siemens Information and Communication Networks. Additionally, Gerd's managerial and operating expertise stems from earlier focus on R&D, system integration, product line management, technical sales support, project management and general management in the fields of telecommunication equipment and solutions. Gerd received a master's degree in electrical engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from Technical University Darmstadt, Germany. Byron Shaw, General Motors, Managing Director - GM Advanced Technology Silicon Valley  Byron is currently responsible for building and developing GM’s advanced technology efforts in Silicon Valley. He began his career in the automotive industry as a GM Scholar with GM’s Harrison Division (Delphi) where he worked on advanced product development and integration, primarily within GM’s Opel vehicle division. He continued his career with Daimler Benz research labs in Stuttgart, Germany as a visiting scientist in Daimler’s combustion flow visualization lab. Byron was instrumental in developing the charter of BMW’s Technology Office in Palo Alto, CA, where he was the Manager of Advanced Technology and technical director of a 30-person engineering and marketing team and a $4 million budget where he oversaw the discovery and implementation of new and advanced technologies into BMW’s vehicle development process. After leaving BMW, Byron was the co-founder and CTO of a Photovoltaic Solar startup where he led the development team in releasing its first product launch and participated in venture fundraising. Byron has consulted for several high-tech Silicon Valley companies in the electronics and software industries and is a founding board member of SmallTech LLC, an IP consultancy focused on MEMS and nanotechnology. Byron holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and a BS in German Language and Literature from MIT. His PhD was completed at the University of California at Berkeley in the Vehicle Dynamics and Control Laboratory where his areas of focus were engine emissions modeling and control, high-speed embedded electronics and digital signal processing. His doctoral research centered on reduction of cold-start emissions of automotive engines using real-time in-cylinder monitoring and feedback.

Al Gore’s 5 Steps To Deliver 100% Clean Power in A Decade

from Earth2Tech by Katie Fehrenbacher

While former V-P and Nobel Peace laureate Al Gore was rallying the Web 2.0 troops to fight climate change on Friday, this weekend the newly turned green VC turned his sights on the New York Times op-ed page, where he laid out 5 steps needed to achieve his ambitious (if not unrealistic) U.S. clean energy plan.

Gore is calling for 100 percent of U.S. electricity to be from renewable power within 10 years. How on earth is that achievable? Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has a similar plan, but closer to a twenty year time frame. Gore says the answer is federal incentives and Obama needs to help ASAP. Though he gives very few details on what each step would actually entail. What do you think?:

1). Large-scale federal incentives for constructing solar thermal, wind and advanced geothermal power plants. No word from Gore on how big those incentives should be.

2). Spend $400 billion over 10 years to build out a national smart grid that can connect renewable energy in remote locations to the cities where people will use it.

3). Help out not only Detroit but the struggling electric vehicle startups, and build a national fleet of plug-in hybrids that can help with storing energy for the grid.

4). Implement a national green retrofit plan for buildings, which can be combined with the congressional mortgage proposal.

5). Put a price on carbon and lead the way beyond Kyoto in the international community.

California high-speed train system to link NorCal and SoCal at 220mph

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Filed under: Transportation

Like it or not California, it's about time you folks ponied up for a serious rail system. With the recent passage of Proposition 1A, the wheels have started to churn on a sophisticated bullet train system that will eventually link San Diego in the south with Sacramento in the north, with stops at most every major city in between (LA and San Francisco included). The 800-mile network of trains would operate at upwards of 220mph and cost around $45 billion to construct, but it'll create 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year. Unfortunately, there's no set time frame for completion just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this one finished before that Anaheim - Las Vegas maglev project even gets off the ground.

Google, Xerox CEOs on Obama economic team

Posted by Stephen Shankland

Google CEO Eric Schmidt

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy will bring some tech experience to an advisory board for President-elect Barack Obama, according to press reports about an announcement from the organization.

The 17-member Transition Economic Advisory Board (TEAB) also will get a dose of technology experience from Richard Parsons, chairman of the board at AOL parent company Time Warner.Schmidt, who already had been an adviser to the Obama campaign, endorsed Obama in October.

The board is set to meet Friday before Obama's first press conference as president-elect. A report in The Guardian, among others, carried the full list:

• David Bonior (member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 2003)

• Warren Buffett (chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway)

• Roel Campos (former Securities and Exchange commissioner)

• William Daley (Midwest chairman for JPMorgan Chase; secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1997 to 2000)

• William Donaldson (chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2003 to 2005)

• Roger Ferguson (president and CEO of TIAA-CREF; former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve board of governors)

• Jennifer Granholm (governor of Michigan)

• Anne Mulcahy (chairman and CEO of Xerox)

• Richard Parsons (chairman of Time Warner)

• Penny Pritzker (CEO of Classic Residence by Hyatt)

• Robert Reich (professor at University of California at Berkeley; secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1993 to 1997)

• Robert Rubin (chairman and director of the Citigroup executive committee; secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department from 1995 to 1999)

• Eric Schmidt (chairman and CEO of Google)

• Lawrence Summers (professor at Harvard University; managing director of DE Shaw; secretary of the U.S. Treasury from 1999 to 2001)

• Laura Tyson (professor at Haas School of Business of University of California at Berkeley; chairman of the National Economic Council from 1995 to 1996; chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers from 1993 to 1995)

• Antonio Villaraigosa (mayor of Los Angeles)

• Paul Volcker (chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987)

Google CEO on Obama tech czar job: No thanks 8 Nov, 2008, 1728 hrs IST,

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said he would not serve as technology czar in Barack Obama's administration if he was asked.  "I love working at Google and I'm very happy to stay at Google, so the answer is no," Schmidt said in response to a question from CNBC host Jim Cramer in an appearance on his television show.  Schmidt, who was one of the president-elect's most high-profile supporters, was in Chicago Friday as part of Obama's 17-person economic transition economic advisory board. The group met to discuss how to deal with the ongoing financial crisis.  Schmidt said he detected a sense of urgency in Obama, who he expects to "listen carefully" and act. The meeting was one of "great seriousness," he said.  Schmidt favors a new stimulus package that is more carefully focused than the previous effort. He said the first stimulus plan was "a bad decision on their part. A much better decision is to give out money that solves some other problem, like infrastructure."  He also said Obama shares his belief that green technology can help to revitalize the economy. Laid-off autoworkers in Michigan could be put back to work building batteries for use in hybrid vehicles, Schmidt offered...

Robeco gets $650M for cleantech fund of funds

CHRIS MORRISON | NOVEMBER 7TH, 2008

Robeco Private Equity, the venture capital division of Robeco, which is in turn owned by Dutch bank Rabobank, has taken $650 million in its second capital raise to date, according to VentureWire.

The firm already backs over 10 venture funds in the portfolio, Robeco Clean Tech Private Equity II Fund. Despite passing its $500 million target, the fund is not yet closed.

The Robeco fund may also invest directly in cleantech deals, including mature companies.

California Renewable-Energy Initiatives Defeated

Ed: Consumers not willing to pay for energy independence.

California Renewable-Energy Initiatives Defeated

By TOM ZELLER JR.

A bill aimed at rapidly expanding this sort of thing was defeated in California on Tuesday. (Photo: Associated Press)

Not entirely unexpectedly, two California initiatives that would have substantially expanded the state’s clean-energy profile — but which opponents argued were ill conceived — foundered at the polls on Tuesday.

Proposition 7, which would have required that California’s electric utilities get half of their power from renewable sources by 2025 (the current requirement is 20 percent by the end of 2010), was easily defeated with 65 percent of voters casting ballots against the measure.

Critics of the measure — which included an unusual alliance of environmentalists and public utilities, which are not covered by current requirements but would be folded into the new mandates — argued that, as drafted, the initiative would have driven up electricity rates, stalled the state’s already steady shift to clean power and strangled small alternative-energy companies.

Proposition 10, meanwhile, which would have created rebate incentives for the purchase of cars and trucks running on natural gas or other alternative fuels, was also struck down, with nearly 60 percent voting “no” at last count.

(Readers can track the final tallies at the Web site of The Los Angeles Times.)

Critics opposed Proposition 10 on the grounds that the state is already cash-strapped, facing a $15.2 billion deficit. The measure, if approved by voters, would have cost the state billions of dollars through public bonds aimed at financing the rebates.

The initiative was heavily backed by T. Boone Pickens, the former oil man who stood to profit from an expanded fleet of natural-gas cars, given his interest in Clean Energy Fuels, which sells natural gas for transportation use. Clean Energy covered much of the $22.5 million campaign fund for the initiative, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Amy Thoma, a spokeswoman for Proposition 10, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the flagging economy sank the measure.

“We think Californians are supportive of moving toward to renewable technology,” she said, “but maybe the timing, at this time, wasn’t amazing.”

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Renewable Energy Industry Says the Future Looks Bright

By KATE GALBRAITH

We solicited comments from environmental and renewable industry leaders in the wake of Senator Barack Obama’s victory in Tuesday night’s presidential election. A few e-mailed responses — enthusiastic all — follow. We’ll post more if/when they come in:

Gregory Wetstone of the American Wind Energy Association said that he was eager to work with a president whose policies “for the first time will reflect a national commitment to renewable energy” such as wind and solar power.

Mr. Wetstone noted that Mr. Obama is a “strong supporter of policies that are critical for wind growth,” including a national renewable portfolio standard, a long-term extension of a tax credit to aid the industry, and backing for investment in transmission.

Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industry Association hailed what he called a “new generation of leaders” with pro-clean energy policies that the election has ushered in, and called for Mr. Obama to begin work on his promise of 5 million green jobs.