Clean Energy Is the New Black -- Eye, That Is...

The Tonight Show, Starring John Doerr

There's so much noise about "clean energy" and "green jobs" and "Obamacare"...oh, well, maybe not Obamacare, but it's tainted by the same brush these days, I'm afraid.

I was talking with my cleantech colleague Scott Moon of Ernst & Young the other day at the ribbon cutting for Renmatix's new technical facility in King of Prussia, PA.

Renmatix has developed a technology that converts wood waste into cellulosic sugar for use in biofuels and biochemicals.  It's not just an energy play.

The world in which we live -- tech, manufacturing and service companies that are trying to disrupt energy, building materials, chemicals, and even finance -- is getting a black eye from a peanut gallery full of enemies. 

As if that wasn't enough, then came Solyndra, which was like getting hit by friendly fire as we were taking the hill.

"We can't get a break," I said to Scott.  "Good companies that have solid solutions and good products and even customers lined up out the door are being lumped into the rubbish bin of broken dreams."

Even my pals at Fox Business are trash-talking the entire sector while attacking the President's policies and insider shenanigans.

"We need to come up with a new name for 'cleantech,'" Scott said. "I can't get anybody to pay attention to it."

Inside the spartan facility, Renmatix's presentation was beginning.  John Doerr, venture partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a long-time advocate of and investor in cleantech, came on the stage to a rock music intro.  It was a talk show entrance.  He even did a Johnny Carson move to silence the music.

"There were basically three revolutions over the past 30 years," Doerr related. "computer technologies: IT; biotech: BT; and now we have the third, energy tech or ET."

"Energy Tech."  With all due respect to Mr. Doerr or my brethren at Enertech Capital, who were prescient in being inclusive when naming their firm, I'm not sure that does it either.

Sure you can lump stuff like "clean coal," natural gas, nuclear, and maybe even tar sands under the "ET" label, but wasn't that what "clean energy" was accomplishing over "renewable energy."

At the end of the day, we really need to find not a new brand, but to make a better case for the energy technologies we need to power the future. 

The debate over whether we can make money in this stuff has started, but that's still too early.  The real test is still a way off.

Until we do make some green from green, however, we'll never see cleantech, clean energy or even energy tech become the new normal.  And I just hope we don't get caught with the lights off one day.

Global Clean Energy Investment $243 billion; US Drops to 3rd

Once the top dog in clean energy, the United States dropped to third place in terms of investment, falling further from the top spot it held in 2008, with only $34 billion in private clean energy investments.

China continues to lead, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, attracting a record $54.4 billion in clean energy investments in 2010 -- a 39 percent increase over 2009 and equal to total global investment in 2004. Germany saw private investments double to $41.2 billion and was second in the G-20, up from third last year.

"The clean energy sector is emerging as one of the most dynamic and competitive in the world, witnessing 630 percent growth in finance and investments since 2004," said Phyllis Cuttino, director, Pew Clean Energy Program. "In 2010, worldwide finance and investment grew 30 percent to a record $243 billion."

The good news is: investment in clean energy has bounced back from the recession, at least globally.  The question is, will the US be able to keep pace in the years to come?

That China leads will come as no surprise to readers of The Green Skeptic.  That the US is slipping further down the ladder is more disturbing to those of us who see the new green economy as a platform for our competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Related articles

• U.S. Drops To Third Place in Clean Energy Investment (blogs.forbes.com)
• U.S. drops to 3rd in clean-energy investment (scientificamerican.com)
• Clean energy investment hits record high (financialpost.com)
• U.S. drops to 3rd in clean-energy investment: Pew (reuters.com)
• China tops 'clean energy league' (bbc.co.uk)
• Does It Matter Which Nation Leads In Alternative Energy (247wallst.com)

An Economist Offers "Some Hard Truths About Energy"

Peter Treadway, a principal at the consulting and investment management firm Historical Analytics LLC and Chief Economist at CT RISKS, has a guest post on Barry Ritholz's The Big Picture blog.

Treadway lists "Some Hard Truths About Energy" (some of which will be familiar to Green Skeptic readers).

It's worth reading the whole piece (go here), but here are the points in list form:

1. Energy independence, a.k.a., energy autarky, is an impossible and undesirable dream.

2. A major objective of US (and all importing nations) foreign policy should be to secure reliable energy supplies.

3. The free market—not the government – should be making the choice among various energy sources.

4. Domestic conventional sources of energy offer great promise.

5. So called-green energy alternatives are not necessarily easier on the environment.

6. Don't worry about peak oil.

7. Increasing energy efficiency results in the use of more energy.

Readers of The Green Skeptic will know that I agree with points 1-4, but 6-7 are a bit problematic -- and 5, well, he's only partly right.

Read his supporting arguments in the full post: Some Hard Truths About Energy.  And then tell me what you think.


Treadway also writes The Dismal Optimist blog.

President Obama Speaks at Penn State About Clean Energy

Last Thursday, President Obama spoke at Penn State about "encouraging and investing in innovation and clean energy technologies to create new jobs, grow the economy, and win the future."

Here is a video of the speech:




And here is a link to a transcript of the speech: Obama at Penn State

Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest - 01/14/11

Okay folks, the picture at right has nothing whatsoever to do with cleantech, the environment, or green...well, unless you count the Jets colors. 

As my readers and Twitter-followers know, I am a lifelong New England Patriots fan, from the time they were the Boston Patriots.  (The famous Patriots place kicker, John Smith, of the "Snowplow Game" was a substitute teacher in my elementary school. Nice guy.)  Anyway, go Pats!

Here are my links for this week:

Home energy upgrader Mark Group Wins $1.7M Contract with PGW.

Global investment in green energy hit record in 2010, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

On electric vehicles:

Martin LaMonica of CNET's Green Tech blog, pointed us to this old study from NRDC about the emissions reductions of hybrid vs. plug-in cars. "Hybrids are clutcher than you think," said Martin: Plug-in (PDF),

Treehugger featured an interesting comparison of the life cycle environmental costs of combustion and electric vehicles: EV vs CO2,

and Mercedes-Benz Unveils its Electric Supercar at Detroit Auto Show.  I hope they have it in Philly in Feb!

Our pal Gregor MacDonald pointed out that new governors in Ohio and Wisconsin are "killing rail and building highways. Because driving cars on government roads with imported oil = freedom."

Meanwhile, my pal Wes at the American Partnership blog wrote about "The 112 Congress, Federalism and Transportation Policy"  


On the China-US relations front, three important posts:

Dance of US-Chinese 'Mutual Dependence' Moves from Wall Street to Main Street.
 

US Must Cut $100 Billion from Defense to Compete with China on Clean Energy. 

China’s Green Ambition, US Sees Red.

Finally, if you like my Tweets (or what you read here) please nominate me for a Shorty Award

Have a great weekend and Go Pats! (No offenths Jets fans...)

Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest - 11/19/10

Image via WikipediaHere are my links for this week:

First up, the goverment's favorite mule GM Celebrates IPO with $40 Million Investment in Clean Energy. Hmm, did the Obama administration influence that at all?
 
One of my favorite places on the planet, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, got a boost this week, as the country declared a vast sanctuary for sharks, turtles and manta rays -- and the people who depend upon the fishery.

Closer to home, and good news for my friends in Philly:

Nine firms get a total of $2.3M from Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

Philly receives grant for electric vehicle chargers.

And, phinally, the Philadelphia Eagles plan to "phly" by making their stadium energy self-sufficient.

Deeper down (below the surface, actually), Tom Konrad of Renewable Energy World says that, if you play your cards right, investing in geothermal stocks could be good. (But expect volatility.) His Top 3 Geothermal E&P Companies includes Green Skeptic favorite Ormat Technologies ($ORA).

Do we need software to hold "Greenwashers" accountable? Hunter Richards thinks so, and explains why.

Two of our favorite VCs John Doerr and Frank Wilson face off on the internet bubble: The Internet Bubble Is Real. That’s Where The Agreement Ends from peHUB.

Cleantech Group reports that while the $1.6 billion in cleantech venture investment in 3Q10 was down 25 percent from last quarter, it brings the investment through the first three quarters of 2010 to $5.8 billion -- a number that already exceeds the total cleantech venture investment in all of 2009.  It's all in how you look at it.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone.


(Disclosure: I hold a long position in ORA. This post is for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be investment advice nor an offer, or the solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell any securities.)

Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest - 11/12/10

My "Jee" key is not functionin  on my laptop keyboard, so I'm  oin  to win  it here and see how many words I can write without the letter  .  Here are my links for this week:

The Green Skeptic?

First of all, I'm takin  an informal poll: A friend of a friend created this logo for The Green Skeptic. What do you think? Use or Lose?

(It's really hard to have to cut and paste every time you need to use a letter!)

Crowdsourced funding taking shape: Chinese VC Backs Green Energy Social Media Platform.

Don't believe in global warming? Bracken Hendricks says, That's not very conservative.

Leslie Blodgett took Notes From Recent Geothermal Meetings

GE Announces Largest Single Electric Vehicle Commitment, Commits to Convert Half of Global Fleet By 2015.

Finally, Eric Wesoff, writin in Greentech Media, offers reason #1 Why the Election is Bad for Cleantech.

US and India to Cooperate on Clean Energy

Image by aquaview via Flickr

Reuters reported this morning that the United States and India will cooperate on clean energy projects, including shale gas development.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama told a press conference today that the two countries will partner on a research and development center for cleantech, energy, and other green solutions in India.

" We have announced specific initiatives in the areas of clean energy, health and agriculture," Prime Minister Singh said in his remarks. "These include a joint clean energy research and development center, the establishment of a global disease detection center in India, and an agreement for cooperation in weather and crop forecasting."


The partners will provide annual funding of $5 million each for five years, which they hope will generate matching investments from the private sector.

"We agreed to deepen our cooperation in pursuit of clean energy technologies, including the creation of a new clean energy research center here in India, and continuing our joint research into solar, biofuels, shale gas and building efficiency," Mr. Obama said at the press conference reported by Reuters.

More information is available on this Fact Sheet on US India Partnership (PDF).

Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act

I've been away this week and am just starting to catch up on the news.

Thanks to our friends at The Green Energy Reporter for pointing me to Brad Johnson's analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act from Think Progress/The Wonk Room:

A First Look At The Details Of The Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act

The side-by-side comparison between Obama's Campaign Promises, the Waxman-Markey Bill, and the Kerry-Lieberman Bill is particularly useful.

The full text of the American Power Act is in PDF here: APABill.pdf

The Green Energy Reporter also published some of the reactions to the Bill: Reactions

CleanTechies provides a roll-call of business response to the Bill: Business

And Joe Romm at Energy Collective wrote about the offsets component of the Bill here: Romm

For a take on the Bill's impact on employment, see the Gerson-Lehrman Group's analysis.

Republican Senator James Inhofe also weighed in on the Bill, calling it "the same old cap-and-trade scheme that the Senate has defeated three times since 2003": Inhofe

Will it pass? It is hard to see it mustering the 60 votes needed without the support of Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, who was supposed to be the third sponsor of the Bill, and with the offshore drilling provisions causing Graham and others to pause in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Does the New Climate Bill Provide the Answer to Our Environmental Woes or Just More Handouts for Big Energy? (alternet.org)
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• 'Green News Report' - May 13, 2010 (bradblog.com)
• Climate Bill: Kerry, Lieberman Unveil American Power Act (time.com)

While We Consider, China Constructs

When Duke Energy and ENN Group announced their partnership to accelerate development of low-carbon and clean energy technologies at the Clinton Global Initiative last September, Duke CEO Jim Rogers explained that "We must move at 'China speed' to combat global warming."

"China," Rogers explained, "is leading the world in investing in clean energy and we can make greater progress by joining forces and working together."

This was no less evident today at the MIT Energy Conference, where a distinguished panel shed light on what "China Speed" really means.

It means, according to Dr. Ning Li, Dean of the School of Energy Research at Xiamen University, that China's 2020 target of 30GW of wind capacity will be met by midyear -- that's this year. (They set that target in 2007.)

It means that China's new target for 100GW of nuclear power by 2025 will probably be met in record time as well.

The country currently has 26 new nuclear facilities under construction, compared to around the same number "under consideration" in this country, according to Dr. Andrew Kadak, Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT.

"Nuclear is now 'Made in China,'" said Dr. Kadak.

While we consider, China constructs.

It means that while we debate about technologies and subsidies and "buy American," the Chinese are "learning and innovating by doing," as Dr. Ning Li titled his remarks on the panel.

It means that a company like Gold Wind can, in just a few short years, go from licensing a German technology to buying the manufacturer to becoming a Top 10 company in its own country.

And it means that when Applied Materials is looking for the best place to site one of its largest R&D facilities, they look to China because of the "synergistic benefits of the largest market for its solar products," as Dr. Hongmei Zhang of ENN Group put it.

Fears of a cleantech race with China are surfacing throughout the US, and some are saying those fears are unfounded.

But, the reality is while we consider, China constructs. They are building the infrastructure of the energy future while we can't seem to get our heads out of the oil sands.

"You should think of China as a stimulating threat rather than a competitive threat," said Dr. Hongmei Zhang, with genuine hope that we might heed her advice.

But, as she also said in her remarks, Americans tend not to listen as well as Chinese.

Indeed, Hongmei noted, "In China, when president Hu says we will do this, we answer, 'yes sir.' In the US, the answer is "says who?"

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