NIST released a draft report on the SmartGrid interoperability standards yesterday. The roughly 80 initial standards and 14 priority action plans are available for public review and comment for 30 days. Following this comment period the first phase of NIST’s 3 phase approach will be completed with the final release of the NIST Framework and [...]
2008 proved to be a year of extremes for both the economy and energy around the world. Not surprising since fuel prices are so closely tied to world economic growth and in 2008 one of the longest periods of sustained economic growth can crashing to a halt. This sent record oil prices of $140 per [...]
Department of Energy Secretary Chu announces $93 million from the Recover Act to support the development of additional wind energy in the United States. The money will support R&D and testing for wind turbine drivetrains, support university and industry consortia focusing on critical wind energy challenges, advanced technology development in the private sector and a [...]
Bob Metcalfe, using the history of the Internet as a guide, provided his list of things to look for and look out for in the changing energy sector.
Metcalfe gave an optimistic view of the environmental challenge suggesting not only are we in a Global Warming Bubble but that cheap, clean energy will be so abundant, [...]
McKinsey’s Matt Hirschland interviewed economist Nicholas Stern in Brussels this past January. You can read the transcript here or click below to watch the video.
Trading activity picks up for carbon financial instruments (CFIs) after the release of President Obama’s budget. Even though the budget does not include revenue from carbon allowances until 2012, future contracts prior to this date moved higher. Some people believe these instruments can be used as early action credits in a federal cap and trade [...]
So just what is a cap and trade system and how does it work? MSNBC has a Frequently Asked Questions page that answers this question. While President Obama signaled his desires in his budget, congress is required to pass the legislation and the details. Many experts are suggesting legislation is unlikely this, however “Powerful Democrats [...]
Earlier this week, the White House stated a climate bill passed in 2010 would be fine as long as it included the critical components President Obama included in his campaign promises. This is consistent with President Obama’s budget which includes revenue for carbon cap and trade allowances of $658 billion in total for the years [...]
2008 was a bumper year for wind energy investment. The US added 8,300 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to lead the world with 25,170 MW. 42% of the country’s new power-producing capacity came from wind. The 50% increase in wind power generation also created 35,000 jobs bringing the total employee bast to 85,000.
Worldwide over 27 [...]
The New York Times reports that Venture Capitalist invest in 922 deals in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 861 in the same period last year. The total amount invested was down 5% causing the times to lead with the headline Venture Capitalists Invest Less In First Quarter – New York Times.
“We do not [...]
Speaking of the TXU purchase, Mr. Bonderman said the company was adept at running a profitable company and equally bad at politics from price increases to ecology to labor relations. These shortcomings lead tothe opportunity which focused on addressing these public concerns.Opportunities for private equity include exploiting public investorsfocus on short term focus, their dislike [...]
Meeting the fast growing energy needs of the world just may be the most daunting task mankind has faced to date. No doubt many things must be done to address this issue before fossil fuels are depleted and without destroying economic progress or the environment. McKinsey and Company has produced a paper on Energy Productivity [...]
Tom Evslin’s post Web 2.0 – Greater Initial Investments Required suggests that early Web 2.0 companies seized the advantage of low cost technical infrastructure and low cost marketing to gain cost advantages. These companies were able to get big cheaper and faster than the first generation internet companies. While he agrees with Fred Willson that [...]
During the next few years, western countries will face a more intense labor shortage than last felt in the first two years of this century. Very few companies are prepared for this with hardly any looking to utilize the aging workforce to fill this shortage. Initially, offshore workers will be able to handle [...]
FactCheck.org Bush’s State of the Union: Social Security “Bankruptcy?”:
FactCheck.org MoveOn.org Social Security Ad
The folks at FactCheck.org are equally critical of Bush’s use of agressive projections and language as he pushed his plan to revamp Social Security in his State of the Union address and MoveOn.org’s use of false claims regarding cuts in benefit payments.
“In his [...]
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