User Page: Daniel Gurvich

Dan Gurvich lives with his wife Deborah in Ithaca, New York — that little progressive oasis of ” ten square miles surrounded by reality”. In former lives, he has been a labor organizer, a massage therapist, an adjunct professor, and a classical singer - sometimes simultaneously. He now works as an administrator at Cornell University, where he also takes courses in sustainable enterprise.

New Austrialian PM-Elect Rudd Will Ratify Kyoto

Bush, U.S. left out in the cold on warming.

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 26, 2007 – 7:56 pm

Kevin Rudd And then there was one…

Australia is well on its way to becoming the 173rd nation to ratify the Kyoto accord, which sets binding international reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Incoming Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pledged to ratify the agreement “as soon as possible”. The significance on this side of pond? Huge. Conservative John Howard, trounced in yesterday’s landslide Labour victory, has been a staunch ally of the Bush administration in its opposition to Kyoto. Without Howard’s support, the Bush Administration will find itself in the awkward role of last remaining holdout among industrialized nations.

What’s more, the timing could not have been better. Rudd, who has repeatedly called on the U.S. to step up its commitment to Kyoto, plans to personally attend next week’s global climate change summit in Bali. He has called climate change “the great moral, environmental and economic challenge facing the world”.

Australia has been coping with its worst drought in over a century, and a strong climate change platform was a key factor in Rudd’s decisive victory. Let’s hope that the issue proves equally critical in our own upcoming presidential elections. Meanwhile, Rudd has his work cut out for him domestically. The Aussies are prodigious burners of fossil fuels, with highest per-capita emissions in the world. The geographically spread-out nation will need to scramble to play catch-up, and a story in London’s Daily Telegraph demonstrates the perils of delay –

Meeting the country’s original 2012 target would entail stringent, costly and probably unpopular measures in raising energy efficiency and switching to renewable sources. Australia had originally pledged to keep emissions growth to eight per cent above 1990 levels. As of 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, it was 25.6 per cent in excess of the 1990 benchmark, according to UNFCCC figures issued last week.

Still, better late than never. We hope that Congress and the 2008 presidential contenders are paying attention.

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Deck the Halls with LED!

Green your holiday cheer with this energy-efficient, long-lasting alternative

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 21, 2007 – 12:25 pm

Strawberry LEDWell, my pants feel tighter every morning and every visit to a public space seems to be punctuated with the festive strains of Mannheim Steamroller.  Yes, my friends, that can only mean one thing - the holiday season is once again upon us.  Family, food and fun, to be sure, but also a veritable orgy of consumption and waste.  It casts a shadow to realize that our culture’s celebration habits are destroying the very things we’re celebrating.  Bummer.

Fortunately, the Nature conservancy has prepared an excellent guide to a “Green Christmas“.  Now let’s face it, not every one of us is going to run out to purchase carbon offsets against our holiday travel.  But #5 on the list seems simple and practical –

Though they cost a bit more than traditional holiday lights, LED lights last much longer and consume a fraction of the energy, which leads to greater savings for years to come.

The US Department of Energy reports that if all conventional incandescent Christmas lights in the country were replaced with LED lights this season, annual energy savings would total two billion kilowatt-hours—enough energy to power nearly 200,000 homes for an entire year.

 Holiday LEDs offers a particularly wide selection of LED holiday lighting.  According to their Web site, these lights come with a lifetime warrany, consume just 1/10th of the power of traditional lights, and last 50,000 hours.  That’s long enough for at least 30 holiday seasons!  In my opinion, they look pretty cool, too.

A growing list of cities, including D.C, Toronto, London, and Denver has jumped on the LED bandwagon for their holiday lighting to realize significant energy savings.
Here in upstate New York, where the world has gone greyscale for the next 6 months, we can use all the holiday cheer we can get.  I’m getting myself some LED holiday lights to put around our house.

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Volitan Concept Boat Runs on Solar, Wind

"Flying Fish" Boat is Wicked Looking, not Evil

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 16, 2007 – 1:44 pm

Volitan Wake

Turkish design firm DesignNobis, which has already conjured up many eco-friendly futuristic automobiles for its transportation portfolio, now brings us the award-winning “Volitan”, which we’ll refer to by its more prosaic sounding English name - “The Flying Fish”.

Is it an evil flying fish? Well, no. Although it looks like it ought to be piloted by a James Bond uber-villain, the Volitan is actually a good flying fish - a sleek, futuristic flying fish machine, flying very much on the right side of history. You see, this fish captures solar and wind power, and stores it in batteries. A sophisticated onboard computer optimizes the wing position and energy sourcing based on prevailing weather conditions. In sunny conditions, the boat runs primarily on solar, in windy conditions, it captures the wind like a type of electronic sail, and when seas are stormy, the wings fold up to stabilize the boat for safety.

According to the designer, “The objective was to create a new and alternative sailing vessel that would achieve a lightweight system, high sail performance, and all-weather navigation capacity with near zero emissions.”

Unfortunately for those of us with a million or so to spare on a cool and eco-friendly new toy, this wicked-looking fish is also, sadly, just an imaginary fish.

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Democracy’s Loss is Silicon Valley’s Gain

Al Gore joins legendary VC firm Kleiner Perkins

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 13, 2007 – 2:46 pm

Blood, Gore, DoerrSo what’s next for Al Gore now that he’s attained the Nobel Peace Prize and, even more importantly, an Oscar? This week’s Fortune examines his “next act”.

Not long ago, Gore started Generation Capital, a $1 billion investment management firm, with David Blood, former head of Goldman Sachs’ $300 billion asset management operation (personally, I think they should have called the firm Blood and Gore). While Generation has deep pockets and plenty of research power, it limits its investments to publicly traded companies. Since much of the cutting edge work in the clean technology arena is happening in smaller, privately held companies, Gore has decided to join forces with his friend John Doerr and Kleiner Perkins. The two firms will pool information, and Gore will serve as an active, hands-on partner at Kleiner (this is not merely an honorary post).

While Gore certainly brings the star power, and a good deal of expertise, the significance here extends beyond the cult of one personality. The real news is that Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley’s leading VC, which made initial bets on companies like Amazon, Netscape, and Google, is aggressively expanding beyond IT and Healthcare into the Green Tech arena. They have already invested $270million in clean technology, and they plan to invest an additional $200million, one-third of their latest fund, by 2009. An upcoming post will examine the fund’s specific holdings. For now, let’s appreciate the scope and ambition of Gore’s undertaking –

“To halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. “What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally,” Gore continues. “It’d be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part.”

Meanwhile, as a reminder of the steep opportunity costs of Al not sitting in the White House, just take a peek at this letter, which the Bush administration recently sent to House Speaker Pelosi. It dictates its business-as-usual requirements for an energy bill and threatens to veto anything else, all with its standard boilerplate and doublespeak. So last century….

Ah, Florida – you should have voted for Al in 2000. Now you’ll be underwater before we know it. (Oh wait, you did vote for Al, didn’t you? Never mind.)

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Iqua Launches Solar Bluetooth Headset

Finnish gadget eliminates worries about battery life - unless of course you live in Finland.

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 12, 2007 – 11:03 am

Iqua Solar Bluetooth Headset
Ok, a minor confession is in order. I’m not exactly what you would call an “early adapter” on the tech front. In fact, it was only this week that I discovered the wonders of Bluetooth technology, after upgrading my cell phone after 4 long years (I had to spend 5 even longer hours on the phone with Sprint PCS, but that’s a different story….) How apropos, then, that this very same week Finnish manufacturer Iqua comes out with the 603 SUN, the world’s first solar Bluetooth headset. Talk-time in the dark is up to nine hours (important during those Finland winters), and standby time is approximately 200 hours. The unit is also compatible with around 300 handsets and has an operating distance of about 30 feet.

More from the manufacturer -

This wireless headset with solar cell is the ultimate power-saving solution for users of mobile headsets: it charges itself. After all, why use electricity when you have the sun? Additionally, you can answer or end a call, redial and use voice dial and even switch the call between phone and your headset using a single button! With BHS-603 SUN, you can enjoy a crystal clear sound and wireless VOIP calls, at your convenience.

I was able to find several sites here in the States which carry the 603 SUN. The lowest price was offered by Better Buy Electronics, - about $90. At this point, all of the sites list the item as out of stock / backordered, which probably just means that it’s on its way in time for the holidays.

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Key Renewable Provisions Dropped from Energy Bill

May affect new solar capacity for 2008

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 10, 2007 – 1:42 pm

Reid and Pelosi

They’re at it again. The folks in Congress are doing the opposite of what good common sense would dictate on energy issues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and his House counterpart Nancy Pelosi (D-California) have dropped important mandates and incentives for renewables from 2008 energy policy. According to renewableenergyaccess.com, this major concession to friends of the old energy establishment is part of the horsetrading necessary to deliver a bill to voters before the Thanksgiving recess.

What’s getting the ax?

1. The RPS, or Renewable Portfolio Standard, would have set a goal of acquiring 20-25% of the nation’s electctricity from renewable sources by 2025. This is a very modest target to begin with. The European Union, for example, is on track to meet a 21% target by 2010. While 29 individual states in the U.S. have instituted their own RPS targets, we need an aggressive national policy to stimulate U.S. innovation and investment in alternative energy. We ought to be pursuing a global leadership position in renewables. As things stand, we aren’t even doing a very good job at following.

2. Tax incentives such as the PTC (Production Tax Credit) and ITC (Investment Tax Credit). The solar space doesn’t exactly seem to lack for investment these days, so the ITC may indeed be an unnecessary boondoggle. But the PTC, currently set to expire in December, 2008, is critical for bringing consumer costs for solar in line with other energy sources in the near-term and attracting producers and jobs to the U.S. market. America, when it comes to our ability to compete in a new, sustainable economy, we may get caught with our pants down.

Pelosi and Reid may be gambling that a stronger energy bill will pass in the wake of the Presidential election. Meanwhile, the current bill seems to throw a bone to all the old dogs - oil, coal, natural gas, while appeasing heartland legislators through biofuel subsidies to farmers in Midwestern states. Those of us who care about climate change and a green energy future will want to get on the horn to our senators and representatives!

We’ve recently written about explosive growth in the solar energy space. Encouraged by government subsidies, companies like China’s SunTech Power and Arizona’s First Solar have have been bullish regarding growth prospects in the U.S. solar market. Let’s hope that tax incentive programs on the state level will be sufficient to drive this growth, and that this latest foolishness from Washington will only present a bump in the road, rather than a long-term setback for U.S. solar producers.

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First Solar Stock Surges on 3rd Quarter Earnings

Mercury keeps rising in solar sector

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 8, 2007 – 10:10 pm

First Solar Stock

“Soaring, leaping, jumping, glowing” - just some of the words analysts are using to describe today’s stratospheric Wall Street performace from First Solar (nasdaq: FSLR). Share price for the Phoenix-based manufacturer of low-cost photovoltaics rose over $57, or 30% in a single day of trading(!) Some are beginning to wonder out loud if this may be the Google of green tech. Introduced at $20 per share just last November, FSLR stock closed at $224.43 this afternoon - that’s an eleven-fold increase in one year’s time!

Did somebody say “Bubble”? These days it seems that each week brings yet a new story of some hot Solar startup making it big. It would be easy to conclude that this sector has overheated and sits ripe for a dot.com-style crash. P:E ratio for FSLR hangs around an alarmingly high 187.

But not so fast…. While some volatility and correction is certainly to be expected, First Solar’s rise in share performance reflects more than mere speculation. Driven by explosive demand in the industry, which is forecasted for 35-55% annual growth through at least 2010, and its leadership position in Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and thin films, First Solar has posted some phenomenal 3rd Quarter earnings to underpin its share price. Earnings were up ten-fold over Q3 of 2006, and Q3 sales almost quadrupled to $159 million. Sales growth has ranged from 146% to 392% in the previous four quarters. Analysts have actually seriously underestimated the company’s growth potential. Q3 earnings outperformed Wall Street expectations by about $40million, or 39 cents per share!

FSLR has benefitted from beating their competition to market with CdTe and thin film technologies. From CNET.com -

Although they are not as efficient as silicon cells, cadmium tellurium cells are comparatively cheap to make and are fairly robust. They operate in a wide temperature range and in a variety of light conditions, including dawn and dusk. In other words, cadmium telluride is the Honda Civic of solar-panel material.

FSLR’s customers are primary large-scale grid-connected power companies other large commercial projects. Much of their business to date has been with Germany, which leads the world in solar capacity, but the firm predicts that new renewable mandates for utility companies in the U.S. will launch domestic sales within the next couple of years.

But perhaps the most intriguing element of this story is the identity of FSLR’s largest shareholder - the Walton Family of WalMart fame. Today must have been a day of great rejoicing in Bentonville, Arkansas, but this just confirms the consipracy theory I’ve been espousing all along. WalMart is actually secretly responsible for all global warming. They’re in with Al Gore, I’m telling you!

Uh, just kidding.

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WSJ Handicaps the “Green Stampede”

...or is it "Gold Rush"?

By Daniel Gurvich  
November 1, 2007 – 2:17 pm

Wall Street BullPanning for Gold

Monday’s WSJ.com carries a multi-part feature on what it terms the “environmental goldrush”. As we have argued in prior posts, the rapid proliferation in global energy demand and climate change is percipitating one of the most fundamental structural shifts in economic history. The opportunities are unprecedented, but so are the dangers to existing firms that are slow to adapt (also see Stuart Hart’s excellent book Capitalism at the Crossroads).

What’s most impressive here is how readily the august (and right-leaning) Journal recognizes the scope of this economic transformation. Author Jeffrey Ball goes so far as to call it a “tectonic shift”. The message to the “old energy establishment” is clear - innovate or die!

“From Capitol Hill to California and Brussels to Beijing, multinational companies are stepping up their lobbying and tweaking their product lines… New companies — even new industries — are challenging the established giants to exploit a growing market for everything from green cars to green fuels. The prospect of carbon caps threatens every company whose business depends on burning energy — that is, virtually every multinational corporation on the planet. Auto makers, oil producers, utilities, chemical producers — all the stalwarts of the fossil-fueled age are in for a potential hit. So are those that feed off them: banks, insurance companies and individual investors.”

About as good a case for green investing as I’ve heard… However, Mr. Ball goes on to make some surprising observations, which might help you structure your portfolio of green investments.  Alternately, they might just make you decide to purchase real estate on Mars.
1. According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), even the most optimistic projections point to a very slow adoption of renewable energy sources worldwide. Even with aggressive government subsidies in place, by 2030 renewables (wind, solar, geothermal, wave, and tidal) are expected to account for a mere 2.4% of global energy consumption, while fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas) retain a 77% share (down from 80% in 2004).

2. During that same period, 2004-2030, global carbon emissions, driven by rapid economic growth in developing nations, are expected to rise between 30% and 50%, depending on the policies governments choose to adopt. Al Gore - where are you?

3. For the “glass-half-full” types among us… While renewables’ share of global energy mix will only reach 2.4% by 2030, that still represents aFIVE-FOLD increase over 2004. Clearly, the investment opportunity IS there!

4. Led by Horizon Wind Energy (which was recently sold by Goldman Sachs for $21.5B to a Portugese firm), the state of Texas is apparently becoming the new epicenter of wind power generation in the U.S, with over 3500MW of capacity.

5. In the solar arena, Ball notes that Japan’s Sharp Corporation and Germany’s Q-Cells AG are being surpassed by Chinese firms, such as Suntech Power, which enjoy lower costs.  First Solar isn’t in China - rather in Phoenix, but it’s making an important play in photovoltaic thin films. Finally, MMA Renewables is building America’s largest solar plant - a 15MW facility at Nevada’s Nellis AFB.

6. In light of the long projected time horizon for transition to renewables, strong areas of opportunity lie in the areas of energy efficiency and GHG mitigation. The article mentions technologies developed by Waste Management for sequestration of the potent GHG Methane.

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Chinese Solar Giant Bets Big on U.S. Market

Suntech Power Predicts Rapid Spike in Demand

By Daniel Gurvich  
October 25, 2007 – 6:04 pm

Suntech Power PV Panel

Here at Ecotality, we have had several recent posts about the global solar market and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP). This week, the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of photovoltaic cells opened its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco.

First, some background. Gray-skied but well-incentivized Germany currently leads the world in PV installation, with 55% of market share. Japan holds second place with 17%, and the United States a distant third at 8%. Spain’s strong solar subsidies may even help the country surpass the U.S. by year’s end. Nevertheless, while the U.S. currently accounts for a mere 3% of STP’s sales revenues, the company expects that to change….

…And fast. STP predicts that our sunny climate (apparently company executives haven’t made it as far as Upstate NY…) and subsidies by states like California will propel the U.S. into the lead for solar sales by 2012. In fact, they project that America’s share of STP sales revenue will triple by end of 2007.

STP is moving forward aggressively to prepare for exponential growth in the solar market. The company says it is on track to reach annual capacity of 480 MW for 2007, more than three times their figure for 2005. And it has promised to introduce panels which exceed 20% efficiency by next year. This would surpass the industry standard of 16%, but would still lag behind silicon valley-based efficiency leader Sunpower (SPWR). Additionally, STP would maintain the advantage of a low-cost Chinese manufacturing base.

With its purchase of the Japanese firm MSK, Suntech has also entered the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) segment. BIPV incorporates energy-creating solar cells into standard building materials such as windows and roof tiles (see Beth McKenna’s excellent Ecotality post on STP’s solar skylight for REI).

Finally, as we all know, the limiting factor for growth in the PV supply is the price and availability of Silicon material. And it looks like STP has scored big on that front as well. Earlier this week, STP announced that it has inked a $1.5 billion, 7-year deal for polysilicon with Asia Silicon. And they’re getting it for a song. The price is so low that STP may well achieve the renewable holy grail - a price point so low that it remains competitive with grid power sources. This is the major hurdle for bringing alternative energy products into the mainstream. With a low materials cost for silicon, the sky (or should we say “the sun”) is the limit!

STP stock reached an all-time high of $56.24 before retreating several dollars. It closed up 14% in afternoon trading. I’d say this would be one to watch.

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The 60mpg Hybrid Hummer

Jonathan Goodwin Performs Motor Miracles

By Daniel Gurvich  
October 24, 2007 – 3:31 pm

Green Hummer

Jesus turned water into wine, and Henry Higgins did his best with Eliza Doolittle, but who woulda guesed that the “Hummer”, that proverbial eco-monstrosity could be transformed into a 60mpg green machine?

Let’s face it - some of us may be concerned about global warming, but will never drive anything with the wimp factor of a Prius. This week’s Fast Company Magazine has a profile on “Motorhead Messiah” Jonathan Goodwin, founder of Wichita-based startup SAE Energy. Goodwin and his crew are showing us what the US auto industry might look like in a decade or so. Their innovations help muscle cars clean up their gas-guzzling ways while still putting a smile on the faces of performance-crazed gearheads.

For example, the humvee in question will be outfitted with an electric engine and a super-powerful 1985 military turbine engine which runs on biodiesel.

“Whenever the truck’s juice runs low, the turbine will roar into action for a few seconds, powering a generator with such gusto that it’ll recharge a set of “supercapacitor” batteries in seconds. This means the H3’s electric motor will be able to perform awesome feats of acceleration and power over and over again, like a Prius on steroids.

Prius on steroids, huh? Sounds purrrfect…. Goodwin chuckles when considering that this 5,000 pound beast will get at least 60mpg, run on the local diner’s used french fry grease, and go 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.

Oh, and Goodwin is also working his magic on Governator Arnold’s 1987 Jeep Wagoneer and Neil Young’s 1960 Lincoln continental. Goodwin’s goal for the Lincoln? 100mpg.

Hopefully, GM or Ford will partner with Goodwin and scale out his brilliant retrofits to make them affordable to us regular folk. Until then, green pimping your ride should cost you in the neigborhood of $28,000.

Hmmm…. that Prius is looking better and better….

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