Smaller, Faster, Cheaper: Solar Power's "Moore's Law"
The sun strikes every square meter of our planet with more than 1,360 watts of power. Half of that energy is absorbed by the atmosphere or reflected back into space. 700 watts of power, on average,...
View ArticleThe Sunlight is Where the Energy Poverty Is
The future world energy system will undoubtedly be a mix of many different energy technologies – nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and some fossil fuels for decades and decades to come. Yet I'm...
View ArticleThe Shrinking Dominance of the Big Dogs in Tech
"In 1981, the top ten technology companies represented 95% of the global IT market cap. Today, that share has fallen to 26% and the ratio continues to fall."read more
View ArticleWhat’s Limiting the Impact of GMOs on Global Food Security?
My friend Jon Foley, whom I have a great deal of respect for, has a piece up arguing that GMOs have failed to improve global food security because they fall into a trap of reductionist thinking.With...
View ArticleCarbon Prices Drive Clean Energy Innovation
I want to point out something I see commonly missed. Carbon prices accelerate innovation that brings down the price of green energy. So do renewable energy portfolio standards, green energy subsidies,...
View ArticleIs the US an Oligarchy? Not So Fast
There’s a new study out which, press outlets are telling me, shows that the United States is now an oligarchy, ruled by the rich and powerful, and perhaps that the US has been sliding in this direction...
View ArticleReducing Carbon Emissions Will Be Cheaper Than Expected – It Always Is
With the announcement of EPA’s proposed cuts to carbon emissions from existing powerplants, there’s already tremendous argument about how much they’ll cost. Some will argue that they’ll destroy the...
View ArticlePolitical Polarization: Seek First to Understand
America is now more politically polarized than at any point in the last 20 years. This isn’t just Congress – this is the American people. That polarization shows up in beliefs about politics, about...
View ArticleCan We Beat the Surveillance State? My Keynote at CFP 2014
My talk gave an overview of the surveillance state we’re building today, and then used lessons from the past to show how incredibly dangerous that can be, before launching into the steps we must take –...
View ArticleThe Learning Curve for Energy Storage
Energy storage prices are dropping fast. If you follow me, you’ve seen me write about this before. Energy storage prices have in fact been dropping exponentially for at least 25 years. Here’s a new...
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