Friday, November 21, 2008

A Day of Contrasts: California and Detroit

Yesterday, Better Place announced its plans to build an electric vehicle network in California.
http://www.betterplace.com/california

This comes at a time of crisis for the auto industry in Detroit. Yesterday, Michael Moritz of the FT described the importance of not bailing out the failed industry. He calls the United States, a nation in denial over the last thirty years. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d09dfebe-b729-11dd-8e01-0000779fd18c.html

The rest of the world has been developing vehicles with better mileage, whereas we have produced growing numbers of SUVs and trucks. In 1999, for example, while we luxuriated in $1.26 for a gallon of petrol, Germans were paying $3.62 and the Japanese $3.26. No wonder we are way behind now.

If Obama makes the right calls, there's hope for the future even if we suffer in the short term. Do you think he can risk taking on Detroit's unions and deal a blow to the union movement? That seems to be the largest challenge to his democratic base, but perhaps he can drive in the point that the current business model is just untenable and can find some way to support or re-train people who may lose jobs. Can Obama allow the free market to catalyze the transition to cleaner energy or will it require a New Deal to invest in alternative energy and a GI Bill to support education and retraining for those losing jobs from the 'old' auto indsustry?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Coming Battle among Electric Vehicles

In "Charging Ahead with Electric Cars" (http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/11/18/charging-ahead-with-electric-cars), Marc Gunther pinpoints the importance of the present moment for the electric vehicle industry. There are a wide range of car models and production strategies under development, from Better Place's alliance with Renault-Nissan to GM's Chevy Volt and the numerous start-ups such as Tesla, Think, Fisker, and ZENN.

The results or terms of the present debate over a bailout for the Big 3 in the US will significantly shape where electrical vehicles go down the line. If the US is left with a void by the fall of the larger companies, smaller start-ups or foreign companies may fill the space. On the other hand, the US government, which has been blasting GM for its short-sightedness, could attempt more stringent guidelines to require EV or plug-in hybrid development as a bridge technology.

In any case, these various models will be competing for public support, which should help to educate the public on the importance of switching to renewable energy for automobiles. The battle among publicity campaigns should be epic, and with some foresighted support from the US government, these companies will be able to offer customers the tax-breaks and other credits necessary to introduce this vital EV technology for the future.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Re-Tooling for a healthier economy

In "A Splash of Green or the Rust Belt" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/business/02wind.html), Peter Goodman of the New York Times describes the conversion of old abandoned factories and the workforce that inhabited then, to supporting Green jobs. In particular, he describes that after Whirlpool swallowed up Maytag, the Newton, Iowa factory producing washing machines closed down. Roughly a year later TPI Composites, a wind turbine blade producer based in Arizona, arrived to look at the facilities. Newton's rail and highway transportation systems, as well as it's proximity in the Great Plains where the blades would be transported, made it an ideal spot. In addition, Newton's local community college was eager to teach employees how to make the blades.

Goodman also describes the case of West Branch, Iowa, where the Spanish company, Acciona, converted an empty hydraulic pump factory into a plant that makes wind turbines.

Many companies in the midwest see the renewable energy industry picking up in the center of the country. Xunlight of Toledo, OH and Entegrity Wind Systems of Boulder, CO are two more companies that may make this happen.

Surely, it's a lucrative field as Venture capital put $5 billion into clean energy firms last year, roughly twenty percent of their total investments. This was a marked increase from just two percent in 2000.

For these companies, marketing the social importance of helping to re-tool U.S. factories to provide cutting edge jobs for Americans should be central to their efforts. Reinforcing the fact that most of these jobs can't be outsourced, should be central to the marketing program. Particularly with wind, shipping the turbines is prohibitively costly.

But even more importantly, Americans view themselves as the world's most advanced economy. Highlighting that these jobs must be done by Americans, reinforces the notion that wind (and solar) are the most 'advanced' and 'modern' energies. Americans are needed to produce them and we have the know-how and resourcefulness to do it cost-effectively.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Vestas: No. 1 in Modern Energy?

"No. 1 in Modern Energy" posters abound in magazines and subway walls. But what is the purpose of this general brand management? General consumers unlikely purchase wind turbines Is this a general strategy of boosting stock prices!? Vestas' stock has plunged amid plunging oil prices and you may ask if "No. 1" garners much trust in these markets


So if Vestas is trying to change public perception of Wind to turn it into a modern phenomenon, would there be an improved business strategy to actually put the hands of energy purchasing in the hands of consumers?

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Energy Policy in Flux

France http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=50971and the UK http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=51658 have set goals of implementing wind and solar on large scales. This comes after the EU has passed regulations allowing states to invest in technologies that are not yet commercial. Will further concerted effort be possible on climate change? How will recently developed states in Eastern Europe deal with regulations that may inhibit growth in the short term?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Solar Panel on Every Roof

Energy
In this political season, you may have thought that the new solar power start-up, Citizenre, was trying to one-up the lofty promises of the candidates. Undoubtedly, it's the perennial candidate with impressive eloquence that has well surpassed it's record of qualifying lofty goals with hard facts.

Citizenre promises to match your current energy bill by providing you with free PV installation to satisify your home energy needs. This flashy company advertises itself as truly a no sacrifice green movement and counts new customers rising daily http://www.citizenre.com/web/index.php.

But its' promise to install 100,000 homes with solar power/year, starting in the near future, has caused a stir in the solar community. Since the United States currently has about this number of homes with PV cells, the commotion is no big surprise. What's even more profound, Citizenre promises no installation fees - only a monthly fee that will not surpass your current energy bill.

Stephen Lacey at RenewableEnergyWorld.com has been moderating the debate and a new podcast with CEO and disgruntled ex-employee interviews last week illustrated the chasm between marketing blitz and proven technology http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=47453.

First off, no money has yet exchanged hands although the company states that it has thousands of customers. These are, in reality, only individuals who have expressed interest.

To make itself financially viable, Citizenre promises to cut the $40K average of current installations in half. This will be accompolished by vertical integration -they plan to build the world's largest PV cell plant, capable of producing 500 Mw/ year in PV cells. Although, as a side note, the financing hasn't been found yet.

The innovative franchising structure aims to make every green enthusiast a potential 'ecopreneur' by making them part of the business strategy. Citizenre further aims to cut costs by halving the time necessary for installation, which is contended as impossible by many in the business.

The overall effect is that expectations, even among the most faithful Citizens, may be burst and instead of a home PV plant on every roof, there may be many empty roofs covering the lids of steaming renewable energy enthusiasts who preemptively celebrated the coming of clean, home generated power.

Citizenre has it's marketing right. Many simply wish that it's attractive promise could have began blasting after it's production and distribution channels were operational.