accelerating change

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Friedman to Detroit: Batteries R U

December 9, 2008 in accelerating change, economy by nils | Add your comment

Soyuz Boosters

Soyuz rocket (Photo by James Duncan, CC 2.0 license)

Following up on my post yesterday about the Detroit bailout, today I wanted to mention Tom Friedman's op-ed in Sunday's New York Times "The Real Generation X." It is primarily about how Obama's stimulus package should focus on preparing us, especially our young people, for the future, not saving old dinosaur industries like Detroit:

We not only need to bail out industries of the past but to build up industries of the future — to offer the kind of big thinking and risk-taking that transforms enormous challenges into world-changing opportunities.

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Expanding Options In Solar Energy and Electric Cars

October 10, 2008 in accelerating change, energy generation, solar electricity, transportation by nils | Add your comment

Mission Peak (L), Mount Allison (C) and Monume...

Mission Peak in Fremont, CA. Image via Wikipedia

A roundup of a few stories that came out this week that I found particularly interesting.

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Top Green Energy Stories For August 2008

September 10, 2008 in accelerating change, business benefits, energy generation, energy storage, opinion, solar electricity by nils | 1 comment

Top Fivewoodleywonderworks

Top Five Stories

August was a great month for energy storage breakthroughs! In addition, a big talking head talks big, and a business-of-green-energy announcement make my list of top stories.

1. Hydrogen from water
2. Fuel cell breakthrough #1: cheap catalyst
3. Fuel cell breakthrough #2: better cathode
4. Al Gore's call to action: The U.S. should "produce all electricity from carbon-free sources by 2018." (Actually from late July, but my blog didn't start until August!)
5. Green energy investment up 60% YoY in 2007, on target for 60% YoY growth in 2008

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Renewable Energy Investment up 60% Per Year in 2007, On Same Pace for 2008

September 5, 2008 in accelerating change, energy generation, growth, policy by nils | Add your comment

Windmills Along the M6

Windmills Along the M6, photo by Bob Cox Photography

Saw this news item about the growth of green energy investment last week, which tends to correlate with the idea that the growth rate of renewable energy is not linear, but geometric (that is, doubling every n years, like Moore's Law).

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that investments in renewable energy in 2007, at $148 billion, were 60 percent above 2006, with 2008 growth continuing. Achim Steiner, head of UNEP, said:

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Why I Am Optimistic

August 25, 2008 in accelerating change, business benefits, opinion by nils | Add your comment

GDP per capita vs. 'Economic Energy Efficiency...Image via Wikipedia

The signs are pointing to a critical convergence that, to be honest, is coming just in time. The world's will is aligning. Climate change, oil prices, pollution, growth, commuting - these and other factors are forming a message in society's mind that says "things are not good and they must be fixed." Businesses and governments, at the same time, are realizing that the changes needed to achieve sustainability are not going to be a drag on the economy but can actually be profitable while being good for society as a whole. Of course, the high and rising price of oil has something to do with this as well.

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Some Experts Say “Moore’s Law Does Not Apply To Solar PV” – Kurzweil (and Page) Disagree

August 15, 2008 in accelerating change, solar electricity by nils | 4 comments

Exponential growth of computing. 20th to 21st ...Image via Wikipedia

In his call to action two weeks ago, Al Gore compared the future development of solar electricity sources to the development of the semiconductor industry. His implication was that Moore's Law, which reliably predicted that the price/performance of semiconductors doubled every 18 months, would also apply to photovoltaics.

ComputerWorld, in an article two weeks ago, assesses this comparison as flawed. (As did Harry Gray of Cal Tech, as I reported earlier today.)

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