In The New York Times on Friday, I write about environmentalists’ less-than-enthusiastic reaction to the Obama administration’s proposed efficiency standards for water heaters, one of a home’s biggest energy hogs: Environmentalists have had a lukewarm reaction to the Obama administration’s proposed energy efficiency standards for home water heaters. The standards, which would take effect in [...]
Archive for the ‘energy efficiency’ Category
Greens cool on Obama water heater efficiency rules
Posted in energy efficiency, green policy, tagged Appliance Standards Awareness Project, Department of Energy, energy efficiency, Obama administration, water heaters on December 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Using smart thermostats to cut utility bills
Posted in energy efficiency, environment, green grid, green startups, tagged EcoFactor, home energy management, Oncor, smart meters, smart thermostats on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A Silicon Valley startup called EcoFactor aims to cut consumers’ electricity bills and help utilities manage peak demand by controlling homes’ heating and air conditioning systems over the Internet. As I write on Tuesday in The New York Times: As utilities install more smart meters in homes, more companies are offering services that tap the [...]
Green MBAs’ return on investment
Posted in corporate green, corporate sustainability, energy efficiency, Environmental Defense, tagged Climate Corps, Environmental Defense Fund, Fortune 500, Green MBAs on October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
photo: EDF In my new Green State column on Grist, I catch up with the Climate Corps, a group of green MBA students sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund. The Climate Corps recently finished 10-week internships with Fortune 500 companies, saving them an estimated $54 million through energy efficiency measures the students identified: Back in [...]
Green tech changes venture capital game
Posted in alternative energy, BrightSource Energy, energy, energy efficiency, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, environment, global warming, green chemicals, green financing, green policy, Nanosolar, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Solyndra, Tesla Motors, the green economy, tagged Alan Salzman Mohr Davidow Ventures, green technology, Khosla Ventures, Marianne Wu, Silicon valley, VantagePoint Venture Capital, venture capitalists, Vinod Khosla on September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
photo: eSolar In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, I write about how the rise of green technology is changing the way Silicon Valley venture capitalists do business: Silicon Valley venture capitalists have always been about inventing the future — taking a wild idea, nurturing it with cash and creativity and giving birth to new products, companies [...]
Green tech investing is back — with a vengeance
Posted in alternative energy, biofuels, energy, energy efficiency, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, environment, green financing, green startups, green tech, tagged CalPERS, clean tech, Cleantech Group, green tech investing, Khosla Ventures, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vinod Khosla on September 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
photo: Ausra In Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times, I write about green tech guru Vinod Khosla’s new $1.1 billion venture funds — the biggest first-time fund since the halcyon days of the dot-com era a decade ago and and a strong signal that investors see a bright future in clean and green technologies. CalPERS, the United [...]
IBM charges into the battery business
Posted in alternative energy, corporate green, corporate sustainability, electric cars, energy, energy efficiency, environment, green buildings, green cars, green computing, IBM, water tech, tagged electric cars, Green Sigma, IBM, lithium air batteries on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
While the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday issued nearly $8 billion in loans to Ford (F), Nissan and Tesla Motors to manufacture electric cars and batteries, IBM unveiled an initiative to develop a next-generation battery technology that would allow those vehicles to travel 400 miles or more on a charge. Big Blue will investigate [...]
Report: Green job growth booms
Posted in energy, energy efficiency, environment, green collar jobs, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, the green economy, tagged clean energy economy, green jobs, The Pew Charitable Trusts on June 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
graphic: The Pew Charitable Trusts Clean energy jobs grew 9.1% over the past decade and now number 770,000 as the green tech economy makes inroads in every U.S. state and outstrips conventional job creation, according to a new study released Wednesday by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Non-green energy jobs, in contrast, grew by 3.7% between [...]
The iPhone app that fights global warming
Posted in climate change, corporate sustainability, energy efficiency, environment, global warming, Google, green grid, green startups, green tech, renewable energy, smart grid, Web 2.0, tagged Apple, Google, iPhone, mobile app, Reliant Energy, smart grids, smart meters, Tendril, Tendril Mobile Vantage on March 6, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Here’s an iPhone app that really could help save the planet while saving stressed consumers’ money: Boulder, Colo.-based startup Tendril this week unveiled a mobile software program that lets people monitor and control their home’s energy use while on the go. Say you’re sitting in the unemployment office listening to some bureaucrat drone on, so [...]
Bill Clinton to speak at Fortune Brainstorm Green
Posted in climate change, corporate green, corporate sustainability, energy, energy efficiency, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, Environmental Defense, global warming, green policy, green startups, IBM, Natural Resources Defense Council, PG&E, tagged Bill Clinton, Brainstorm Green, Earth Day on March 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Another reason Green Wombat will be spending Earth Day in Southern California this year: Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote speech at Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference on April 22. Clinton will be joining a gathering of business and environmental leaders, including Ford (F) executive chairman Bill Ford, PG&E (PCG) chief executive Peter [...]
Technology breakthrough boosts solar power
Posted in energy, energy efficiency, green tech, solar energy, tagged Freescale, power conversion technoloogy, solar, solar energy, solar panels on February 16, 2009 | 4 Comments »
photo: Freescale Freescale Semiconductor on Monday is unveiling a new power conversion technology that the chipmaker says will dramatically enhance the efficiency of solar cells and other devices by allowing them to operate at low voltages. That means a single solar cell attached to a mobile phone or other handheld device could charge the gadget. [...]
