Policy

UC Berkeley to help build grad school in Saudi Arabia

Universities--they are one of America's growing exports.

The University of California at Berkeley is signing a deal with the government of Saudi Arabia to help the country build an engineering graduate school there, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Under the alliance, the mechanical engineering department at Berkeley will collaborate on research and help recruit faculty for a graduate department that will be part of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (mascot unknown). The graduate department will accept male and female students and open in 2009.

In turn, Berkeley will receive millions, according to the Chronicle. It … Read more

BP CEO: Today's clean tech not nearly enough

Correction 10:20 a.m. PST: This blog misstated the day that BP CEO Tony Hayward spoke at the conference. It is Tuesday.

WASHINGTON--Amid rumors that BP will sell its alternative-energy business, company Chief Executive Tony Hayward on Tuesday said that the current scale of the clean-tech industry will not be enough to address the world's energy challenges.

Hayward spoke at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) 2008 where he called for more aggressive government policies to address both climate change and energy security, which he said were interlinked.

Specifically, he said that nations need adopt a market-based … Read more

Newsom: 'Green' tech promises not good enough

San Francisco may have shaken some flowers from its hair since hosting the first Earth Day 38 years ago, but the city continues to be named one of America's greenest. Satirists mock its politically correct "smug cloud" of eco-hipness, but many other regions tend to follow the city's environmental lead. For instance, more than a handful of U.S. cities are now mulling a ban on plastic grocery bags, first passed in San Francisco last March.

Fresh into his second term, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson in January set goals for the city to become carbon-neutral … Read more

The increasing ubiquity of Cleantech

I have subscribed to Forbes for over a decade because, unlike many other popular business journals, it seems to have a genuine voice -- even if I sometimes disagree with it.

On a plane flight from Cleveland to L.A. last Thursday night, I read the March 10, 2008 issue, and was amazed at how pervasive cleantech has become -- even in its stoutly conservative pages:

• Pages 4-5: an advertisement from General Electric (NYSE: GE) touting their solar efforts.

• Page 24: an advertisement announcing the winners of the 2008 Eni Awards, sponsored by the Italian energy giant Eni (… Read more

Renewable-energy pros plead president, Congress for tax credit

Heavy hitters in the renewable-energy business have scheduled a press conference on Tuesday to publicly lobby for long-sought policies, arguing that the industry and U.S. competitiveness are at risk.

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) organized the press conference, which will include well-known energy investors and business people from General Electric, Credit Suisse, Google, and clean-tech venture capital firm Nth Power. It will be held at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), which is hosted by the U.S. government.

The renewable-energy industry has been thwarted at least two times in efforts to renew an existing federal … Read more

The week in sustainable energy stocks

Concerns with economic conditions drove all the broad stock indicators such as the S&P, EAFA, and emerging markets into negative territory for the week. Commodities, on the other hand, continued their advance with the broad based ETN tracking the DJ AIG commodity index (DJP) increasing 3.1% for the week. This was the week of oil history. Our sustainable energy indices were mixed with one, our biggest, declining and three advancing.

The Solar index suffered another large decline dropping 5.2% bringing the YTD decline for the sector to -38.9%. Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd (SOLF) -16% … Read more

Green message crafting

Green message crafting Americans and the U.S. have a reputation of flaunting their wealth. Today, however, they are starting to proudly (sometimes loudly) show off their greenness. There's a debate over whether this is just a fad or the start of a nationwide trend to support sustainable practices.

Companies around the world are now racing to establish their credibility in green production. But they must also be careful of not being perceived as greenwashing.

On the other hand, being too inconspicuous in their efforts could hurt a company. With public awareness and demand for products that have smaller … Read more

Government to help incubate clean-tech start-ups

The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday its choice of three venture capital firms to send promising clean-tech entrepreneurs to collaborate with national laboratories.

The government's new Entrepreneur in Residence plan is designed to speed the development of the green technology sector.

"Government has to cultivate the conditions for these technologies to thrive," U.S. assistant secretary of energy Alexander Karsner told attendees of the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco. "We felt very strongly we had to build bridges over the commercialization valley of death."

The venture capitalists include Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers to … Read more

The week in sustainable energy stocks

Neal asked me if I would comment on the markets for sustainable energy stocks in the last week. It's an area I follow closely so he hopes I will occasionally stumble across some nuggets.

Let me start by saying I believe there is potential for good returns in sustainable energy stocks over time. In the short term though, it was a tough week. Sustainable energy stocks in all four of Camino's sectors declined. In contrast, broader indicators such as the S&P, EAFA, and emerging markets were all positive for the week.

The Solar index, comprised of … Read more