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 [...]
Archive for the ‘enviro capitalism’ Category
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 »
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 [...]
Green tech investment rebounds
Posted in biofuels, electric cars, energy, enviro capitalism, solar energy, tagged clean tech investment, Cleantech Group, second quarter on July 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Global investment in green technology rose 12% to $1.2 billion in the second quarter after two quarters of sharp declines, according to a report released Wednesday by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte. Electric cars attracted the most investment at $236 million while solar fell to a low of $114 million. Biofuels scored $206 million and [...]
Big Labor vs. Big Solar
Posted in alternative energy, Ausra, BrightSource Energy, energy, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, environment, green collar jobs, green tech, Natural Resources Defense Council, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Stirling Energy Systems, tagged Ausra, BrightSource Energy, California Unions for Reliable Energy, FPL Group, green collar jobs, Martifer, solar power plants, Spinnaker Energy, Stirling Energy Systems, Tessera Solar, unions on June 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
image: URS Green Wombat spent several months looking into allegations that California labor unions are using environmental laws to pressure solar developers to hire union workers to build large-scale solar power plants. The story was published last Friday in The New York Times: SACRAMENTO — When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big [...]
Corporate green: Mining giant saves rare wombat
Posted in Australia, corporate green, endangered species, enviro capitalism, green marketing, tagged corporate green, endangered species, northern hairy-nosed wombat, Xstrata on March 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Alan Horsup, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service In the ultimate in green corporate branding, Swiss mining conglomerate Xstrata is spending millions of dollars to save one of the world’s most imperiled large mammals, Australia’s northern hairy-nosed wombat. It’s the first time a corporation has agreed to finance the recovery of an endangered species, and [...]
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 [...]
IBM to build world’s first national smart utility grid
Posted in alternative energy, Better Place, climate change, corporate green, enviro capitalism, environment, global warming, green grid, green policy, IBM, smart grid, the green economy, water tech, tagged climate change, global warming, green grid, IBM, Malta, smart grid, smarter water systems on February 4, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Photo: Visit Malta The Mediterranean island nation of Malta on Wednesday unveiled a deal with IBM to build a “smart utility” system that will digitize the country’s electricity grid and water system. Granted, Malta is a microstate with a population of 403,500 (smaller than Sacramento; bigger than Iceland). But the world — and utility infrastructure [...]
Greening the petrochemical industry
Posted in climate change, corporate green, corporate sustainability, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, green startups, Uncategorized, tagged 1 4‐butanediol, BDO, Bernhard Palsson, bioengineering, Christophe Schilling, Christopher Gann, Genomatica, green chemicals on September 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Illustration: Genomatica Outside of ExxonMobil (XOM), petrochemical companies would seem to be the least likely to join the sustainability movement sweeping corporations worldwide. After all, how do you green an industry predicated on petroleum as a key ingredient? The answer, according to San Diego startup Genomatica, is to replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates. The company is [...]
From rustbelt to greenbelt
Posted in alternative energy, energy, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, environment, First Solar, OptiSolar, PG&E, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison, tagged Energy Conversion Devices, First Solar, Flabeg, Midwest, PG&E, solar manufacturing, Southern California Edison on August 25, 2008 | 9 Comments »
photos: Energy Conversion Devices As Detroit automakers shutter SUV and truck factories, the decades-long de-industrialization of the Midwest continues apace. But amid the idled assembly lines, a new wave of manufacturing has taken root as solar energy companies set up shop in the heartland. Just in the past week, First Solar (FSLR) announced an expansion [...]
