I caught up with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, at the Foothill CollegeCelebrity Forumlecture series last month, where he delivered a spirited argument for why the United States must embrace a green economy. In this second part of our interview, we explore his part in driving the green agenda. This January, he took part in a congressional hearingon green tech and economic recovery, sponsored by US Senator,Barbara Boxer. We discuss his role in that; how he deals with critics; and why he enjoys daiquiris with New York Times colleague, Maureen Dowd.
I use my platform as a journalist to drive this agenda that I see as important… I see a lot of things that are very exciting happening – exploding really – on a kind of small scale, but they haven’t yet reached critical mass and when you’re talking about changing the climate, you are talking about critical mass. It hasn’t yet been translated into policy at scale.
I caught up with David Chen, an executive director at Morgan Stanley, while attending the AlwaysOnGoing Green Conference 2009 in Sausalito. Chen, a specialist in the green tech investment sector, discussed the morale of investors; and why he’s expecting a bumpy ride ahead. He also explains the key differences between high tech and green tech business plans; and how the government plays a vital role as catalyst in the development and commercialization of the green economy.
Bloom EnergyCEO KR Sridharis a man with a mission to change the world. A former NASA advisor who developed technologies to sustain life on Mars, this earnest scientist is now harnessing his visionary skills and a large team of engineers to solve the energy crisis. His ambitious goal? To revolutionize the energy industry, just like cell phones revolutionized the communications industry. His team is developing high efficiency fuel cells to provide a globaldistributed system of electricity supply at low cost.
Although the company is still in stealth modeindustry speculationis rife about its future plans. KR agreed to discuss Bloom Energy’s progress in this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview recorded on September 30, 2009. To read the interview transcript click here
Vinod Khosla, the green investment guru, was asked to name the company with the greatest chance of becoming the next Green Microsoft while onstage at the GoingGreen Conferencein Sausalito. He declined to name his “favorite child” but did praise Calera, the green cement maker he’s backing; and spoke about the huge potential growth in this sector. Since cement production creates 2.5 billion tons of CO2 annually, representing 5% of manmade sources, it offers great potential in both climate change impact and market opportunity.
I caught up with Stuart Evans, Chairman of Novacem, who shares Vinod’s bullishness about the market for green cement. This British entrepreneur has assembled a team from Imperial College, London (he dubs it the MIT of the UK) and claims to have invented a carbon negative cement.
I caught up with Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and Red Herring Magazine, just before he opened the third annual GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito, California. He agreed to talk for five minutes but well, we got talking…about what’s hot in the green sector, the downside of going green, and his thoughts on a Green bubble …and an Obama bubble. The online media pioneer also shared his predictions for 2010: citing online video as the highest growth area.
On the power of the green economy
“We’re probably on the steepest innovation curve we’ve ever seen and of course, it’s always the innovation driven companies that create the most growth in the economy and the most new jobs. It’s clear that the world is becoming more committed to being kinder and gentler to itself and that’s going to create a tremendous amount of entrepreneurial opportunities.”
Predictions for 2010: the hot green sectors (more…)
Last week, I sat down with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, just before he delivered a lecture to an expectant Foothill CollegeCelebrity Forumaudience at the Flint Center in Silicon Valley. We discussed his bestselling book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded and why he thinks it’s imperative that the U.S. government jump-start the green economy. According to Tom, creating the right ecosystem is key: funding research, setting price signals and creating incentives to encourage green innovation. Tom admitted to some China envy in that regard. (see below or check out the transcript)
On his motivations for writing “Hot, Flat, and Crowded”
“My concern is about America…imagine if Microsoft were a French company; Google were a Chinese company…What would our standard of living be like? If Energy Technology (ET) is the next big thing, we need to be at the head of the line…By being big in the next big thing, we’ll be seen by the rest of the world as working on the most important problem in the world.”
On the need for Energy Technology
“Demand for clean energy, clean fuel and energy efficiency is clearly going to explode; it’s going to be the next great global industry. I know that as sure as I know that I’m sitting here at De Anza Collegetalking to you.”
