3p Contributor: Nick Hodge
Recent Articles
Screw the Environment, Get Sued?
This is probably way off, and may not even happen, but it certainly paints a nice picture of growing positive sentiment for cleantech.
According to a Reuters write-up of a United Nations report released this week, “Investment advisors and asset managers could be sued for negligence if they do not consider the environment and other social issues when making investment decisions.”
Now, I’m not much on religion, but that would certainly be an Hallelujah moment.
Big Oil’s Knocking on the Renewable Door
While attending the Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street last week, I was almost surprised to see an entire discussion dedicated to how Big Oil plans on entering the cleantech business.
The talk was led by Don Paul, Executive Director of the University of Southern California Energy Institute.
In his former life, Mr. Paul was the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Chevron. He knows a thing or two about the oil business. And his presentation was right to the point.
The Energy-Water Nexus
We know there’s an energy problem. We know there’s a water problem.
But perhaps less well-known is that we have an energy-water problem. It’s called the energy-water nexus, and it has serious implications for policymakers, investors, and businesses of all types.
In fact, water forms a nexus with most industries.
For example, it takes 37 gallons of water to grow, package, and ship enough coffee to make one cup. A hamburger requires about 634 gallons to make it to your stomach.
But the dependence is particularly acute in the energy-water nexus.
Recession Doesn’t Slow Water Problems, Investment
Water problems are mounting. You see the evidence everyday.
Droughts in California. Disappearing aquifers in the Southeast. Tightened water restrictions in Perth.
The problem is elementary, yet most are too stubborn to comprehend it, or to deal with it.
We only have a certain amount of water but we constantly require more of it. Increasing population and the industrialization of the second and third world are the main culprits, but pollution and misuse of done their share of damage.
It’s all very Malthusian.
And the recession is making it worse. Delayed investment in water infrastructure due to tightened credit and lending means sever water problems could surface sooner than once thought.
Renewable Energy Standard: Waking the Sleeping Giant
The benefits to cleantech companies if a renewable energy standard (RES) is passed doesn’t have to be a nuanced discussion.
The answer is simple: the benefits will be myriad. And they’re long overdue.
In fact, the idea has been mulled so long that it’s gone through two acronyms, migrating to RES from renewable portfolio standard.
Different name, same great results.
The most important thing to remember here is that an RES guarantees demand.
Take a hypothetical required soda standard (RSS), in which the government requires a certain percentage of soda sales come only from Coke, at a much higher market share than they have now.
Coke’s business would skyrocket, right? They would be guaranteed increased market share.
Welcome to the new, competitive world of renewable energy.
U.S. Climate Action Partnership: A Carbon Fox in the Cap-and-Trade Henhouse
Taken at face value, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) seems like an organization with a selfless goal.
On its website, the entity describes itself as "a group of businesses and leading environmental organizations that have come together to call on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions."
I’ll stop short of calling it sinister, but there is certainly more going on here than meets the eye.
Here’s the nitty-gritty on the USCAP, including details on the policy they’re trying to stay ahead of.
Transmission: Clean Energy’s Best Supporting Actor
We all love clean energy. We just don’t all understand it.
Rally cries are easy to come by for new wind and solar projects, but the ralliers aren’t always aware of all that must be done to bring those projects to fruition.
Fields of turbines and acres of panels are playing the lead role for the clean energy industry, stealing attention from an outstanding supporting cast.
Don’t get me wrong, looking at current and forecast capacity growth for solar and wind energy makes me all gooey inside like any other cleantech junkie.
But the attention being paid to the solar and wind sisters is making for a Cinderella story elsewhere in the industry. . .
Pun Alert: Geothermal Energy Gains Steam
Geothermal is the bastard child of renewable energy.
Constantly overlooked in articles and headlines in lieu of the much sexier solar and wind, which have become the go-to cleantech representatives, geothermal energy use could quietly double in the next six years.
It requires no fuel, can provide baseload power, and is emissions-free after initial plant construction. Yet not many people know about geothermal’s immense advantages and capabilities.
Here’s to changing that.
Rules Being Changed to Spur Clean Energy Transmission, Profit
There’s been lots of talk about the smart grid lately, and all that it can do for improving energy efficiency and increasing our use of renewables.
From smart meters to real-time two-way communication with utilities, smart grid technologies are shaping up to be integral parts of a futuristic grid–a much needed makeover for our quickly aging and inadequate system.
At a Piper Jaffray cleantech conference a few weeks ago, a special session was dedicated to the topic. Not one of the panel members had the same definition of what, exactly, a smart grid consists of, and that’s perfectly acceptable at this point.
What they did agree on, however, was one thing: the need for increased transmission.
Cleantech Investment to Inoculate American Economy
The cleantech is industry is still forging ahead even as broad economic indicators skid to 11-year lows.
Despite dismal stock valuations in the sector, cleantech deals are still being done at the private equity and venture levels, and Congressional support for the industry is stronger than ever. Certainly this fledgling industry still has many milestones to reach, as all indicators point to robust growth in all segments of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
But with so many grim financial headlines breaking everyday, our instincts generally direct us to dismiss good news like this; surely one industry can’t be succeeding as so many others fail.
To satiate our curiosity, I think it’s perfectly alright to look this gift horse in the mouth.
Uncle Sam Singles Out Cleantech
We’ve known for a while now that the stimulus was going to be delivered with a heavy green hue.
Obama has talked for months–even during the campaign–about creating green jobs, promoting energy efficiency, and updating our embarrassing energy infrastructure.
So it’s no surprise that this massive piece of legislation, the first of his presidency, makes those and several other campaign promises a reality. But as with all federal stimuli, the taxpayer ultimately foots the bill.
Since you and hundreds of millions of other Americans are the loaners here, it’s probably prudent to see where billions of your borrowed dollars are going.
You can start by taking a peek at your new $37.5 billion energy bar tab.
Cap and Trade Legislation: Will California’s AB32 Go National?
Flash back to late September, 2006.
In California, the Governator has just signed Assembly Bill 32 (AB32), a Kyoto-style policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, followed by an 80% reduction below 1990 levels by 2050.
The bill is met with little national fanfare and its implications, if they’re even understood, are largely dismissed as trivial.
Flash forward to present day.
An Inconvenient Truth has won an Oscar. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a series of reports, authored by thousands of scientists, on the anthropogenic causes of climate change. Carbon trading is a $100 billion global market. And new-President Obama is intent on capping U.S. emissions in his first two years.
California’s AB32 is now in the national spotlight as a possible model for a national system, and there are mounting concerns about what, exactly, a price on carbon implies.
Solar Stocks: Wall Street Heavyweight or Punching Bag?
These are the top five names in solar: First Solar, Renewable Energy Corp., Q-Cells, SunPower, Suntech.
This is their stock performance over the past year:
In the best case from those five scenarios, First Solar, the stock is down 26%; in the worst case, Suntech, the stock is down 83%.
Something just doesn’t seem right here. Over 5.2 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity were installed last year–a record that crushes the 2.2 GW installed in 2007. But despite the 136% year-over-year capacity growth, shaky policy and deteriorating finance conditions have given investors cold feet, driving down stock prices as you can clearly see.
So what’s going on here? Has Wall Street rightfully rowed its solar boat ashore, or has their short-sightedness left solar shares ripe for the picking?
How Is Willy Wonka Like Obama? “Strike that, Reverse it”
"We have so much time, and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it."
That’s just one of Wonka’s many famous quotes in the classic 1971 film. And, if you think about it, the aphorism applies whether discussing chocolate factory tours or White House agendas.
Indeed, Barack Obama has much to do, and even less time to do it in. New policies need to be enacted that counter our current economic problems.
But before he can get to that, Mr. Obama is striking and reversing some unsavory remnants of the Bush administration’s climate policy–or lack thereof.
Whether it’s undoing what’s been done or paving a new way forward, there seems to a green tinge on most of what’s gone on in Washington since last Tuesday.
Pay careful attention, and you can see the seeds of a new energy and climate future being sewn.
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