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	February 19, 2003

THE COST OF RENEWABLE ENERGY The WorldWatch Institute, publishers of the annual State of the World report, holds weekly conferences on various environmental and 'sustainable development' topics. This week the topic was Renewable Energy, and the transcript is available here . One of the questions was about the cost of various renewable sources and the potential for even cleaner sources to become affordable. The answer: The cost of generating energy with renewable technologies varies from one technology to the next and from one location to another, depending on the available resources. Wind energy is now the cheapest, at 4-6 cents per kilowatt hour in good sites - and this is a conservative estimate as some producers are now signing contracts for under 3 cents/kWh. Biomass in the U.S. is about 7-9 cents/kWh, and photovoltaics generally range from 25-50, depending on location. First of all, hydrogen and biofuels, pumped storage, etc. are not mutually exclusive, and renewable energy and fuels can be used to produce hydrogen. Worldwatch believes that hydrogen offers tremendous potential for the future. Hydrogen can be used to generate electricity and to fuel transportation; it can be stored and transported. It would facilitate the transition from the consumption of limited, non-renewable polluting fossil fuels to unlimited renewable resources. Hydrogen is clean burning, and if it is produced with renewable energy it avoids the significant external costs associated with the extraction, transport, refining, and burning of fossil fuels. As you mention, hydrogen production is relatively expensive today and we need to develop the proper infrastructure. But costs are expected to decline dramatically over coming years, particularly as governments and industry in the U.S., Japan and the European Union are committed to investing large amounts of money in research and development for hydrogen production and the infrastructure necessary for its transport and use. 9:00:33 PM  trackback []  comment []

BEAM ME UP, SCOTTIE. WELL, MY QUANTUM STATES ANYWAY. MIT reports this week that Danish and Swiss researchers have successfully teleported photons a distance of 55 meters, and expect commercial applications within a few years. 5:20:30 PM  trackback []  comment []

WHAT INNOVATION? THIS INNOVATION Author Robert Tucker this week describes the five steps necessary to make a business innovative. I took a swipe at most business' real interest in innovation recently, but I try to keep an open mind. The five steps: Innovation must be approached as a discipline, practiced and taught to employees. Innovation must be cross-functional, not just be the R&D department's job. Innovation must be proactive, not just responsive to what competitors are doing. Innovation must involve everyone in the organization and everyone's performance evaluation should include it. Innovation must be customer-centred (even though customers alone cannot be expected to forsee your company's future needs). These points make a lot of sense (though #2 and #4 seem to be saying much the same thing), and having worked with some of the companies Tucker interviewed, I know the companies at least espouse to do them. I remain cynical that many businesses know how to, or care to, implement these steps properly. I'm especially skeptical of 'idea management systems' (the latest jargon term for 'suggestion box'), since any Dilbert reader or middle manager can tell you how well they work. Thanks to John & Suzanne's Innovation Newsletter for the link. 5:08:47 PM  trackback []  comment []

NO COMMENT More silliness. A neighbour of mine passed this along, with five other even tackier examples. It's not a see-through skirt, but actually a clever print on the back of the skirt to make it look like see-through. UK Daily Mail says this is all the rage among teenagers in Japan. Hope Google doesn't index this. 12:43:57 AM  trackback []  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Dave Pollard. Last update: 19/02/2004; 2:39:32 PM.