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Author

Ian Thomson

Ian Thomson

Great CleanTech and Renewable Energy Events Next Week

written by Ian Thomson

Happy Earth Day… I hope you rode your bike to work, ate only vegetables, brought your own cup to Starbucks and followed the instructions in the signature line of your boss’ email and didn’t print it unless it was truly necessary.

If you are new around here – I was a Marine officer before running off to Europe for grad school and dedicating my professional life to sustainability. One of my happiest associations is with that group of men and women (the Marine Corps), and I can continue to do so through the Marines’ Memorial Association here in San Francisco. I’m very happy to support bringing relevant discussions to this venue that satisfy both my interests (likely yours if you are on this site) and that organization’s values, so if you have some ideas that need a venue and a good audience, please send me a note and we can chat about putting events together.

That said, next week you might want to mark your calendar for an event there and another fantastic event down the street at the Hotel Nikko.

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April 22, 2009 0 comment
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CleanTech’s future in the Headlines: Extra, Extra, Read all about it!

written by Ian Thomson

I hope that by now it is widely understood, at least by this audience, that the future of Clean Technologies is strong. In case you were still wondering why… I would like to pick out a few headlines from the front page of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal.

Oil Industry Braces for Drop in US Thirst for Gasoline

Shell Said it is Shutting Flow

GM’s Bankruptcy likely to be challenged

Car-Battery Maker A123 is expected to announce $69M Raise

Snipers Kill Pirates, Save Captain

China Pledges $25Bn to SE Asia Economies

Social Responsible Funds still drawing investor Dollars

Asian Shares Spike

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April 14, 2009 0 comment
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FREE Book: Generation We left a message for you

written by Ian Thomson

Eric Greenberg, founder of “Generation-We,” has a powerful and encouraging message for the youth of the United States, and he wants you to hear it… for free. The US’s youth care deeply about energy, health care, national security, and the environment and they need to participate to shape how this country deals with these challenges.

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April 6, 2009 1 comment
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Why I love San Francisco….

written by Ian Thomson

I was catching up over breakfast with a friend yesterday morning at my favorite cafe* in San Francisco and from another corner we couldn’t help but overhear some chat about Tesla, battery storage and more… I tried to focus, but with ADD that can be tough.

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April 1, 2009 1 comment
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The new Tesla Model S is… very sexy

written by Ian Thomson

Ironic that these pictures come out during lent.

According to the Bible (and the Torah and the Koran), you shouldn’t show the world you are suffering while you are fasting. It should be your own private affair.

Similarly, I don’t think you should wear your green “stripes” by driving around in an aesthetic train wreck (think Toyota Prius and Honda Insight), it is the equivalent of personal green washing to make up for your potentially otherwise extravagant lifestyle (sorry Sanjay, David, Josh… and all my other Prius buddies).

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March 26, 2009 0 comment
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More Solar Consolidation – Recurrent Energy picks up 350 MW

written by Ian Thomson

Big news, SF based Recurrent Energy picked up Chicago based UPC Solar‘s pipeline for an as of yet undisclosed amount. It goes to what I mean about not jumping up and down about big announcements: wait until the engineers have plugged the system in!

That said, Recurrent has a great team, and I’m sure they’ll do well – and much like yesterday’s BrightSource announcement, also have strong financial backers in their parent company (Hudson Clean Energy Partners) and Morgan Stanley for debt finance.

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March 18, 2009 0 comment
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600MW of Solar in the Nevada Desert

written by Ian Thomson

BrightSource announced a huge deal today (and last month they announced an even bigger one for 1,300 MW with Southern California Edison) but before jumping up and down too much, lets take a wait and see approach to how this will unfold.

Remember, BrightSource is led by a man that I quote often for having said “this is an industry of billions and decades, not millions and years.” While it is enormous, and it is great news for solar, let us not forget how just over a week ago Optisolar sold its pipeline of deals to FirstSolar.

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March 17, 2009 8 comments
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Some Damn Good CleanTech links

written by Ian Thomson

Can I even say “damn?”

I’m working on a project right now and trying to get some information about the current state of CleanTech; as you might suspect finding great resources that are quotable is tough!

I’ve added a couple good links to the Links Page today, but please use the contact form to introduce us to some more.

Here are some great “fresh” resources I’ve come across today in my research:

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March 17, 2009 8 comments
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What A Party! $4,000 to GRID Alternatives… and I turn 30

written by Ian Thomson

Thank you to the 200 CleanTechies and friends that came to usher me into my 30’s and raised over $4,000 for GRID Alternatives – an impressive sum for a great night of partying!

Here are a couple of pictures from the night. For many more, please go to photographer and dear friend Philipp Weitz’s website (click on “Galleries”, scroll down to our event, and use “cleantechies” as the password).  As you can see, he took some amazing shots of the party, and you can get them printed and sent to you. Bonus of bonuses: He’s donating the proceeds to GRID Alternatives!

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March 10, 2009 4 comments
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Podcast: Vote Solar’s Adam Browning & PG&E’s Proposal

written by Ian Thomson

Yesterday I caught up with Adam Browning, Co-Founder and Executive director of Vote Solar, a non-profit with the expressed goal of building the economies of scale necessary to bring down solar’s costs.

We talked about PG&E’s 500MW proposal presented to California’s Public Utilities Commission last week, how it compares to recent similar proposals, interest and participation from IPP (Independent Power Producers) and the impact the proposal could have on jobs creation and policy changes.

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March 4, 2009 2 comments
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Go First Solar, Go First Solar, … Go!!!

written by Ian Thomson

That was to be read to the tune of “Speed Racer.”  If this makes no sense….check out the video below.

Consolidation is happening fast – and those with cash…. win.

Following their big announcement last week of breaking the $1/watt barrier, this morning First Solar announced that it has bought up OptiSolar’s deal pipeline for a cool $400M.  While this is truly huge news, that OptiSolar was going to sell its projects should not come as too big a shocker given OptiSolar’s slashed its headcount by 50% and decided not move ahead with it’s central valley production facility.

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March 2, 2009 0 comment
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MMA Renewables Sold – European Firms Jockeying for US Presence

written by Ian Thomson

The Guardian announced in November that “BP had dropped all plans to build wind farms and other renewable schemes in Britain and is instead concentrating the bulk of its $8bn renewables spending program on the US, where government incentives for clean energy projects can provide a convenient tax shelter for oil and gas revenues”. The ARRA (aka Stimulus Package) should hasten that shift of focus.

Similarly, Fotowatio of Spain today announced its bold move: By buying the assets of Baltimore and San Francisco based Solar Developer MMA Renewable Ventures (MMARV), Fotowatio’s global portfolio will include more than 130 megawatts of operating solar projects in the United States. It might not be a name you’ve heard much about… yet. Fotowatio has invested more than US$880 million (€700 million) in solar projects since 2006 and plans to invest up to US$3.2 billion (€2.5 billion) by 2012 in Spain, Italy and the United States.

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March 2, 2009 0 comment
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MBAs for hire! Calling all Bay Area CleanTech Startups!

written by Ian Thomson

Smart, Eager and Cost Effective...

This weekend is important as both IESE (Barcelona) and Wharton (Philadelphia) are holding competitions and conferences surrounding sustainability.

Thinking locally (for me anyway):

Bay Area startups looking for some “cost effective” strategic help, here is some free strategic help: Invest a couple of hours in mid-March, and send someone to talk to students looking for some experience and a chance to prove their mettle.

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February 27, 2009 0 comment
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Sizzling Solar News – Broadcasts from PG&E and First Solar

written by Ian Thomson

Yesterday, First Solar announced it had reduced its manufacturing cost for solar modules in the fourth quarter to 98 cents per watt – that is big news because the company won the race to produce under the $1 per watt price barrier.  This news didn’t come as a surprise to many, and perhaps we can get Brad to write a note about the true significance of the announcement.

Other big news was PG&E’s proposal for 500 MW of solar PV – half of which PG&E would develop on its own.  This is worth noting because traditionally Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) in California, like PG&E, have had to rely on Independent Power Producers (IPPs) since the deregulation of the State’s energy market in the 1990’s. 

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February 25, 2009 1 comment
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