Category Archives: grid
Is Clean Water Vs. Dirty Air a Good Trade-Off?
Do you need to put 5,000 more cars to the road to get clean drinking water? I find the trade-offs that arise in energy development, environmental protection and human health fascinating. Over the years I’ve written on this topic a few times: … Continue reading
Filed under climate change, emissions, grid, transportation, utilities, water
Consumers’ Changing Views of Electric Power
I was in front of a number of utilities this week presenting my recent research on consumer attitudes about the smart grid. I can’t share the specifics of the research yet except to say that I’m starting to see signs … Continue reading
Filed under energy prices, grid, in-home displays, smart meters
Cleantech Research Roundup, December 2010
Here’s a list of recent research published by leading cleantech research firms, along with brief blurb about the reports written by the firms themselves. If you use other sources for cleantech market research, please let me know. I would like … Continue reading
Filed under grid
How Well Do Utilities Talk About the Smart Grid?
As background for a large Green Research study of consumer attitudes about smart meters and the smart grid, I looked at utility Web sites to see how utilities were talking to their customers about the smart grid. There are nearly as … Continue reading
Filed under efficiency, grid, smart meters
Fears of Higher Bills with Smart Meters Are Overblown
The vast majority of households with smart meters report no increase in electric bills following the installation of their smart meter, according to a new study we just completed. Eighty percent of U.S. smart meter consumers said their bills had … Continue reading
Filed under grid, smart meters
Just Completed a Major Smart Grid Consumer Study
This was a fun summer at Green Research. We just delivered a major consumer research study that focused on the smart grid and smart meters. We learned a lot about consumer attitudes and developed some insights that will be very … Continue reading
Filed under grid, in-home displays, smart meters
Future Cleantech Execs Gather in NYC
This week marked the kickoff of the CleantechExecs program at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU (NYU-Poly). The program will last 10 days spread over several months and will include appearances by an array of speakers from industry, finance and government. … Continue reading
Marketing Home Energy Management Without Utilities
After completing a study of the home energy management market I spoke last week with a strategy guy at large consumer electronics manufacturer. The company is looking at the home energy management market and evaluating various product and market entry … Continue reading
Filed under efficiency, grid, in-home displays, smart meters
Smart Grid Grants Favor Meters and Energy Displays
Yesterday President Obama announced $3.4 billion in grant awards for smart grid investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the stimulus law passed earlier this year. Among the goals of this spending are infrastructure improvements to make it … Continue reading
Filed under efficiency, grid, in-home displays, smart meters
The Multidisciplinary Challenges of Clean Tech
I am having a blast covering clean tech from a research and consulting perspective. What is it that makes clean tech such a stimulating area? The panel discussions at the excellent Financial Times conference on the U.S. energy business yesterday … Continue reading
Filed under carbon, coal, energy storage, grid, solar
Reading on Smart Grid
Greentech Media’s research group recently released a free 145-report on smart grid. If you are new to smart grid, it’s a good tutorial on the issues. It features a helpful taxonomy [] of building blocks of the smart grid. And … Continue reading
My Clean, Green, Sustainable Reading List
Over the last few months I’ve been reading through the literature on clean tech, energy and sustainability. In case you are looking for suggestions, I can recommend any or all of these. If you have any reactions or suggestions for … Continue reading
Filed under biofuels, carbon, coal, efficiency, emissions, energy prices, energy storage, grid, illumination, natural gas, oil, solar, sustainability, transportation, water
The Dumb Grid: Nigeria’s Appalling Electric Infrastructure
With all of the attention that “smart grid” technology is getting lately, the article a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal about Nigeria’s power sector was bracing. The article described a plan by the Nigerian government to spend … Continue reading
Filed under grid
Getting Ready for Electric Vehicles
In an effort to promote the development of a market for electric cars, the Rocky Mountain Institute is working to identify and eliminate the barriers that stand in the way. They’ve just released a “menu” (pdf) of actions that cities … Continue reading
Filed under grid, transportation
How Energy is Like Web 2.0
Web 2.0 and Alternative Energy Sometimes Share a Stage If you travel in Internet circles and are tracking developments in clean tech or alternative energy, you have noticed that Web 2.0 and energy have sometimes shared a stage. We had, … Continue reading
Filed under energy storage, grid, oil, solar, transportation
