Oil prices continue a downward spiral. Oil has dropped to $58 from a high of $70. We have been saying on Cleantechblog for sometime that the oil market was overheated. Big questions of the day – how does this impact cleantech? A couple of quick thoughts. – Can a prolonged slide in oil prices and […]
One of the most disturbing things about the solar industry, the rising star of cleantech, has been its recent rising prices. According to the SolarBuzz.com survey, module prices are up close to 7% in the US this last year, after years of falling. The main culprits according to most solar watchers are a combination of: […]
I just returned from the Dawnbreaker technology commercialization conference. The conference is supported by the DOE, and is one of the oldest cleantech technology forums around. Dawnbreaker had over 50 companies and 100+ strategics in attendance, and a number of very interesting technologies. Among the more interesting in energy technology: Alzeta Corporation was there showing […]
Ford Motor Company recently announced a partnership to push new fueling stations for its ethanol-ready fleet of 1 million vehicles. Ford Ethanol Article. The actual fuel is E85, a blend of 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline. I view this as a major win for cleantech. The future for clean fuels is not hydrogen, electric, or gasoline […]
The French government has announced plans to spin-off 15% of Electricité de France, one of the largest utilities in the world, to the public markets. As IPOs go, this is going to be a big one. With over US$50 Bil in revenues, EDF is larger than American heavyweights Duke and AEP combined. As these types […]
I couldn’t resist reporting on this one. A little one man Chinese investment company registered in New Zealand announced a takeover bid for ExxonMobil at at 25% premium to its current shareprice. Article on Takeover. The company is called King Win Laurel International Ltd, is basically a guy in his house, and previously made offers […]
Crude oil futures dipped lower this week, just below $60/barrel. MSN article. That’s now down 15% off of the hurricane induced high. US inventories, both crude and gasoline, are up by several measures. Apparently the market’s previous concerns over US production glitches following Katrina and Rita were at least somewhat overstated, especially given emergency supply […]
SB-1, California’s hot topic million solar roofs bill, lost out last month. A definite setback to the solar industry here. I’m personally in favor of the solar roof bill, but some of the analysis around it was a little odd. A couple of months ago a solar company called Akeena, put out a whitepaper saying […]
