Top Stories
Toyota Buying Tesla Stake for Electric Car
Tie-Up.—reliability high.
"Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, is buying a $50
million stake in the Californian electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc.
as automakers compete to offer low-polluting models in the U.S. Tesla
will also buy a closed Toyota joint-venture factory in California to
build its Model S and other vehicles, Tesla Chief Executive Officer
Elon Musk said yesterday. The companies said they’ll cooperate in
developing electric cars, parts, production systems and engineering
support." See Bloomberg
Businessweek. [Toyota may
get some good press for preserving some jobs at its former NUMMI plant
in Fremont, California. It also gets to build experience in
manufacturing EVs. Tesla gets a factory and workforce. (It had been
within days of signing a deal to build a factory in Downey,
California.)]
Cleantech Is Where Most of The VC Dollars
Are Heading These Days.—reliability medium.
"PeHUB, today released a Top 10 ranking of this year’s largest venture
capital deals, so far. And, not surprisingly, half of the 10 deals
listed involved cleantech companies." See Green
Energy Reporter. Access top 10 list here.
Live (?) Video of the Oil Spill.—reliability
high.
Democrat Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, chair of the House Select
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, demanded BP make
available its video feed of the Deepwater Horizon oil gusher, and BP
complied. The Congressman put the feed on his committee's website.
Traffic promptly crashed the site and its staff is scrambling to add
capacity. "'We’re working around the clock as we speak to fix this,'
said Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman for Mr. Markey. 'The enormous
demand for this video means that it’s now taxing the servers.'" From New
York Times Green blog. [Grandstanding
congressmen should build the grandstand first before they start
bragging. Check out the "live video feed" here. Smiling face
of the Congressman comes through fine, at least.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
This stinks: What perfume makers won’t tell
you.—reliability medium.
Discusses recent report that fragrance products contain many secret
ingredients, some of which have not been tested for health effects and
some of which are known to be bad for people. "Keep in mind that
advocacy groups, like the industries they target, have an agenda, which
is about getting attention and raising money. ... Having said that, why
anyone would choose to smear these chemicals on their face or body is a
mystery to me." More about health issues and fragrance industry. From Marc
Gunther blog. Access report here.
Global Clean Energy Investment Hits $27.3
Billion in First Quarter of 2010.—reliability high.
"Despite the recession, several recent reports indicate that the clean
energy sector continues to remain strong globally, despite the economic
turbulence. An April 12 report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance noted
that worldwide financial investment in clean energy reached $27.3
billion in the first quarter of 2010, up 31% from the first quarter of
2009, but down 13.6% from the fourth quarter. The financial analyst's
quarterly figures cover asset financing of wind farms, solar parks,
biofuel plants, and other projects, as well as public market, venture
capital, and private equity financing for clean energy companies." More
highlights and links. See DOE
EERE News page.
BrightSource Energy Raises Record-Setting
Capital: $150 Million.—reliability high.
"French energy company, Alstom said on Thursday that it will enter a
partnership with BrightSource Energy Inc. in order to enter the solar
energy market. Alstom announced it is investing up to US $55 million in
BrightSource Energy Inc., with an equity stake that positions Alstom as
one of the main shareholders in the company. This operation takes place
as part of a capital increase of $150 million organized by
BrightSource. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System was also
an investor. The company has now raised more than $300 million." See
Renewable Energy World. [Alstom, very big
in fossil-thermal power generation and hydroelectricity, and a
participant in nuclear and wind energy, enters solar thermal sector.]
India can lead world in green technology,
says US professor.—reliability high.
"Advocating the Green Leap Strategy — converging clean technology
with people at the base of the income pyramid — Hart said a green
economy would happen in developing countries like India, China and
Africa, not in the US." Remarks of Professor Stuart Hart of Samuel C
Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, Professor of
Management, Cornell University. From Hindustan
Times. [But
how?]
Gamesa signs 10-year deal to supply turbines
to Cannon’s Mexican wind farms.—reliability high.
"Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa has agreed a 10-year exclusivity
agreement for it to supply project developer Cannon Power’s sites in
the Mexican state of Baja California. ... Cannon Power Group’s
development pipeline in Mexico’s Baja California currently totals
1,000MW at various stages of development, Gamesa said." From NewNet. [Spanish turbines
in Mexico to provide electricity for Southern California. That's
globalization.]
Government and
Regulation
Boulder requires medical pot growers to go
green.—reliability high.
Boulder has approved regulations for the medical marijuana industry
with a twist in keeping with the sensibility of this liberal-leaning,
Colorado university town. The regulations unanimously passed Tuesday
will require growing operations to offset 100 percent of their
electricity use with wind or solar power. See Salon
from AP. [The
grass is always greener in Boulder.]
Singapore Boosts Transition To A Low Carbon
Economy.—reliability high.
"The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the Singapore Institute
of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) today inked an
agreement to launch Singapore’s and South East Asia’s first carbon
label. This Carbon Label is a Singapore initiative to support the
country’s transition to a recognised low carbon economy by measuring
and communicating the carbon content of the products and services we
consume and produce, raising the carbon consciousness of governments,
businesses and consumers. The carbon label in quantifying and declaring
the carbon content is an advancement of the Singapore Green Label."
From GovMonitor.
[Singapore is
about 20th in per-capita carbon dioxide emissions, higher than any
European country except Luxembourg and any Asian country except Brunei.
Ten times higher per capita than India. It will need more than a label
to be green.]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
