-
-
Green Light Distrikt
Green Light Distrikt is about entrepreneurship focused on the cleantech sector. Edited by Chris Williams with frequent guest posts from friends, experts and industry insiders from clusters across the globe. Our goal is to provide a place where cleantech entrepreneurs in various clusters across the globe can learn from one another. Green Light Distrikt is creating the "Hitchikers Guide to Clentech" to provide a resource for cleantech entrepreneurs. Read more
Subscribe
Resource Efficiency
November 1st, 2011
What I Learned at the Harvard Business School Energy Symposium
BOSTON -Like in today’s U.S. electoral politics, energy is an overwhelmingly partisan issue. On one end are the oil and gas types such as Dr. Matthias Bichsel (Shell), who believe that conventional energy can supply the world with all its energy supply now and in the future. On the other end are the clean energy types such as Bill McKibben (350.org), who believe that we must move entirely to renewable energy in order to avoid the worst impacts of global climate change. While both sides may be right, the former will break the planet and energy security and the latter will break the economy – neither will provide a secure, healthy and prosperous world for future generations.
The answer is clearly somewhere in between, and that’s what I appreciated most about the open-minded dialogue I found at the recent Harvard Business School’s Energy & Environment Symposium, where I attended presentations about cleantech, distributed generation, unconventional fuels and global energy policy. All of these areas and more, according to Matthew Nordan of Venrock, “are bursting with opportunity.” There are some big names below – from the CEO of A123 Systems to a high-level policymaker at the World Bank – read past the break for the transcript of the day’s presentations and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
9 Comments
September 10th, 2011
Remembering 9/11: A Tribute to America’s Love-Hate Affair with Oil
NEW YORK -Friday morning, the New York Stock Exchange took a moment of silence to remember the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The constant vigilance of the Bush and Obama administrations against al-Qaeda over the past decade has thwarted no fewer than a dozen major terrorist plots, killed the top two al-Qaeda leaders, and in general weakened terrorist cells around the world. “After a decade of intelligence-gathering, counter-attacks and defensive measures, America does seem a good deal less vulnerable than it was on September 10th ten years ago (“September 11th 2001: Ten Years On,” The Economist).
Just prior to this moment of silence, a Bloomberg TV anchor stated: “The terrorist attacks on 9/11 saddened our country and strengthened our resolve to maintain the American way of life.” Read past the break for the full story and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
June 28th, 2011
Kickstarter: The New Way to Innovate and Produce Clean Energy Products
NEW YORK -As Michael Shimazu boasted at “The Value of a Negawatt” panel in May, the number of VC deals in energy efficiency in the US is projected to double to more than 70 in 2011, continuing an upward trend that began in 2008. This is cause for optimism for businesses – yet what happens to individuals that want to make a clean energy product but don’t have the start-up capital or marketing power to do so? Read past the break for the full story and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
June 23rd, 2011
Is Solar PV Worth It?
TOPICS: CleanTech Events, Green Building, Local Events, NEW YORK, Renewable Energy, Resource Efficiency, Solar
“Oppositions: Pennies From Heaven?” event with Urban Green Council in New York City was a debate about whether solar PV was worth the premium cost compared to less capital-intensive strategies such as energy efficiency measures. The event felt like the judges had made up their minds before the defendants had a chance to testify – the event was hosted at the $1B Bank of America Tower, one of the greenest office buildings in the world, and yes one that lacks solar PV. But the most damning arguments were yet to come. Read past the break for the full story and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
June 21st, 2011
The Value of a Negawatt
TOPICS: CleanTech Events, Local Events, NEW YORK, Resource Efficiency, Resources
A few weeks ago a member of the Green Light Distrikt community, Sarah Jayanthi from Solar One, kindly invited me to a panel discuss on “The Value of a Negawatt.” Negawatt power “is a theoretical unit of power representing an amount of energy (measured in watts) saved. The energy saved is a direct result of energy conservation or increased efficiency” (Wikipedia). Read past the break for the full story and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
