By John Addison (original post in Clean Fleet Report)
For the fifth consecutive year, EPA is reporting an increase in fuel efficiency with a corresponding decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for new cars and light duty trucks. Average CO2 emissions have decreased by 39 grams per mile, [...]
By John Addison (originally published in the Clean Fleet Report)
By 2020, 219,000 customers of PG&E (NYSE: PCG) may say goodbye to those trips to the gas station. No more spinning dials at the pump – $20.00, $40.00, $80.00, etc. Instead drivers will conveniently plug-in their [...]
By John Addison (originally published in Clean Fleet Report 10/26/09).
My test drive of the new Ford electric car for 2011 demonstrated that Ford (NYSE:F) is building an electric car that millions will want. The Ford Focus EV prototype provided a quiet and smooth drive for a [...]
By John Addison (Originally Posted 10/19/09 at Clean Fleet Report).
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) committed to an electric vehicle future when it committed with the FPL Group (NYSE: FPL) to buy 10,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in the coming decade, as [...]
To an economist, subsidies are powerful and dangerous things. They are powerful because they work. They are dangerous because they encourage economic actors to take actions that have direct impacts that are often unanticipated and unwanted, and [...]
By John Addison (10/12/09). Vice President Al Gore is optimistic about a meaningful agreement in Copenhagen that includes the United States and China. During his keynote speech at the Society of Environmental Journalists Conference (SEJ) in Madison, Wisconsin, he acknowledged that negotiations are going slowly, because climate change is complex [...]
By John Addison (10/5/09). A growing number are eager to buy plug-in hybrids from Toyota, Chevy, Ford, Fisker, and others that are completing new manufacturing for 2010 orders and serious competition in 2011. Oil prices have doubled from their low this year. People are planning to save on [...]
By John Addison (9/30/09). More Americans ride on public transit than any time in the past 50 years as more live in cities and most watch their transportation costs. Remarkably, transit operators are moving more people, yet reducing our dependency on oil and generating less carbon emissions. Increased use of [...]
by Gypsy Achong
Joule Biotechnologiesʼ recent press release has stimulated a bit of excitement and speculation on their technology, including by our own blogger Paul O'Callaghan.
A quick look at Joule Biotechnologiesʼ patent filing suggests that they are engineering a fast growing bacterium - Escherichia coli -' [...]
By John Addison (8/24/09). Ford (F) is now taking orders for electric vehicles. By 2011, the Ford Motor Company will start taking orders for the new Ford Focus EV. Beyond 2011, Ford will offer the popular Focus in a variety of affordable options including [...]
Cleantech limited partners have a big conundrum. It's called unrealized gains.
After years of struggling, cleantech investors are now quietly but optimistically beginning to talk about impressive gains in their funds. Unfortunately, the elephant behind them that LPs are beginning to talk about is the prevalence of massive unrealized gains [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi
Since he launched his late-night run in the early 1980’s, the staple of David Letterman’s show has been his nightly Top 10 list.
I haven’t yet seen Letterman profile the Top 10 in the cleantech space. (Then again, nowadays I’m usually asleep far before [...]
By John Addison (8/20/09). The new freeway-speed electric vehicles will also be smart electric vehicles (SEV). They will be smart about using energy inside the vehicle so that it can go 100 miles between charges. The SEV will be smart about navigation options that [...]
There was much furore recently surrounding the story ‘Joule Biotech comes out of stealth with sun-powered biofuel’.Plug-in Hybrids (PHEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (EV) are destined for success. Thousands of key players have converged at the Plug-in 2009 Conference in Long Beach, California. In the opening workshop they talked about giving the customer a pleasant, easy-to-use, no hassle, [...]
By John Addison (8/3/09). Nissan (NSANY) will be the first to have thousands of affordable freeway-speed electric vehicles on the highways. The new 2010 Nissan LEAF is a comfortable compact hatchback that seats five.
Although Tesla will be the first to have a thousand freeway-speed [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi
As Secretary of the Department of Energy, Steven Chu is a breath of fresh air. As a recent profile in The Economist noted, "Wags used to say that the one essential qualification for being energy secretary was not to know anything about" [...]
If you are working at Ford (F), it looks like the downturn in auto sales is ending. In June, sales fell only 11 percent over a year ago. Optimism does not permeate all of Detroit; General Motors (GM) sales feel 33 percent for the month; Chrysler, 48 percent. Even Toyota [...]
For the first time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation regulating greenhouse gases. Due to intense lobbying by industries that would incur added cost, such as coal powered utilities, HR 2454 barely was approved by a vote of 219 to 212. New battles are ahead in the Senate for [...]
OK. I admit it. I am writing this article from a Summit about cow poop. No, this isn’t a joke to get 8-year olds rolling on the floor with laughter. This is serious.
I am reporting from the inaugural National Biomethane Summit, in Sacramento, California, where [...]
‘Any plan to switch from gasoline to electricity or biofuels is a strategic decision to switch our dependence from foreign oil to domestic water’.By John Addison. Today, the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) whose membership includes 110 utilities issued a new report - “2008 Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings” - which identifies the utilities in the U.S. that have the most solar electricity integrated into their portfolio.
The report demonstrates [...]
By Joel Serface - May 28, 2009
When I moved from Silicon Valley to Austin in 2006, many of my VC friends were left scratching their heads… Why would someone who has been leading the cleantech charge in California want to move to Texas? After all, there was conventional [...]
By John Addison. President Barack Obama announced that automakers must meet average U.S. fuel-economy standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. This will be an exciting opportunity for automakers that already deliver vehicles that beat 35.5 mpg such as the Ford (F) Fusion Hybrid, Mercury [...]
Avoiding tropical deforestation - or REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation [...]
I've been warning about a massive mispricing of risk in cleantech investing for years.
Cleantech Venture Capitalists Beware - What You Don't Know About Energy Can Kill You
Beware the Allure of Ethanol Investing
Is there a cleantech bubble? Experts don't think so
That certainly doesn't mean that [...]
Last year I did my first "Power 10" ranking for 2008 of cleantech companies, and the response was so good we're doing it again.
I spend most of my day meeting and talking to companies in the cleantech sector. And those of you who know me know I' [...]
as posted to Huffington Post
Last week, I wrote a sizable check to the IRS. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I was happy for the fact that it stemmed from a nice payday in 2008 from one of my investments. Ah, the joys of' [...]
by Cristina Foung
Last Saturday and Sunday, April 4th to 5th, about 50 motocross riders participated in the first 24 hour long endurance race....on electric motorcycles. The event, 24 Hours of Electricross, was hosted by Zero Motorcycles, the creators of the Zero X motorcycle, an [...]
By John Addison. Toyota’s (TM) global market share leadership has been helped by the success of its hybrids. Looking to a future that will increasingly emphasize fuel economy and lower emissions, Toyota will put 500 plug-in hybrid Priuses on the road in 2009.
Competition is just getting started in hybrids, [...]
One of the more contentious questions in the cleantech community is the role of coal in the energy sector of the future. There's a lot of coal in the world -- many decades of supply left -- including here in the U.S. It's pretty [...]
Richard T. Stuebi, John Addison, Paul O' Callaghan, Neal Dikeman
