Systems platforms for electric vehicles and biofuels
There is a need for intelligent, scalable and competitive systems solutions for electric vehicles and biofuels. I have previously written about www.betterplace.com. There are a few more globally, for instance, www.e-laad.nl. However, the rate of investment in renewable energy infrastructure is ridiculously low. We have the peak in oil production behind us and we rapidly [...]
Too Bad We Cannot All Agree
There seems to be a consensus among sustainability experts, politicians, economists, and the general public that the measures that are taken in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 are sufficient also to meet the needs created by Peak Oil. Even Peak Oil alarmists, who foresee dire consequences as the [...]
Low probablity
It is about as probable that a UFO will land on the White House lawn and give us a blue-print of the energy systems of the future, as it is that the market will be able to drive large scale energy transformation with speed and precision. Planned and managed transformation programs will become necessary in [...]
Network of Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles Cannot Serve All
By the end of 2011 the Chicago area will have 73 charging stations of electric vehicles, more than any other region in the world. Sadly these are built to serve mainly Japanese vehicles and many other makes cannot be charged using this rapid-charging technology. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0216-charging-stations-20110216,0,4310432.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20chicagotribune/views%20(chicagotribune.com%20-%20Most%20Viewed%20Stories) There is a need for standardization of some interface technologies, [...]
Only By Setting Ambitious Goals Can Great and Unexpected Things Be Achieved
An article argues that Obama’s goal of 1 million plug-in electric cars and hybrids by 2015 is doomed, because car manufacturers are not prepared to commit to those numbers. This may be true based on the outlook from today’s horizon, but it is only by setting high-level “stretch-goals” that unexpected events may happen and rapid [...]
Wanted: Industrialists in Global Energy Transformation
Over the past decades as sustainability experts have measured pollution, calculated emissions and driven the energy debate a large number of experts have gathered in fields related to sustainability. These experts have spent substantial amounts of time building knowledge about the problems that we are facing: Pollution, climate change, and, more recently, Peak Oil. We [...]
The Unturned Stone
The issues related to comprehending the scope of large scale-energy systems transformation (as in, global), and the often intimidating web of management issues that arise, represent “The Unturned Stone” of the energy debate. The fear of what is under it, inherited from thousands of years of genetic human nature, keep many walking around, over, away [...]
How to Change?
The global economic system is extremely complex. At present everything that has a value in our economic system is based on the premise of continuous economic growth. At the same time economists around the world debate the opportunity to continue to have prosperity without growth, as in the present report from a project financed by [...]
The Adoption of Novel Ideas
In the seminal book ”The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” the sociologist Thomas Kuhn for the first time described a non-linear process of innovation and adoption of scientific ideas. Since then it has become increasingly clear that the adoption of ideas in general in society is non-linear. In the first stage when a novel idea is [...]
A Lot Like Feeding Birds
In the midst of global warming we experience one of the coldest and snowiest winters in many years. Even though everyone realizes that no person can save every bird there is, many try to help by feeding the birds around their garden. Together it becomes like a global bird feeding activity. A lot of birds [...]
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