Green Energy Reporter

10 August '10
7:51 AM UTC
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Features
Top Ten Players

July Top Ten Players In Green Energy

1: BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley

: Dudley (fourth from left) and Obama: Two men who need a lot of luck

Bob Dudley did not, as far as we know, doodle a rough sketch one night of the containment device that finally capped BP’s gushing Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. He did not cause bacteria to eat much of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil that issued forth from the well, which blew out on April 20. He did not even force former BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward to resign. But he has benefited from all of those events and the new CEO has some good will stored up as he now looks to turn BP around. One area he might start: green energy. Dudley was formerly group vice president for BP’s Renewables and Alternative Energy activities and was responsible for global solar, wind and hydrogen. He could use that experience to redouble BP’s efforts in green energy – a savvy move given the company’s role at the center of one of America’s greatest ecological disasters. That would be something that Dudley could justifiably claim credit for. Read More »

13 July '10
9:21 AM UTC
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Top Ten Players

June Top Ten Players In Green Energy

1: President Barack Obama

Last month’s first Oval Office address by President Obama on the Gulf spill was paned for its lack of specifics. We at G.E.R. believed that the speech was pure-Obama as he he provided the outline for a comprehensive climate change and energy legislation. But much like he did during the healthcare debate, he once again left it up to Congress to come with the details. The strategy, while disappointing for the president’s base, has been productive: It got healthcare passed and the administration is close to getting a financial overhaul bill. Will the strategy work for the Kerry – Lieberman climate change bill? It’s been nearly two months since the legislation was officially introduced to the Senate and so far the odds aren’t in favor of its passage, largely blocked by strong opposition to its cap-and-trade provision. But we can’t say that Obama hasn’t given it a try.

2: Tesla IPO

Given the poor track record of cleantech Initial Public Offerings this year, the prognosis for Tesla’s IPO wasn’t good. The California electric car maker lacked revenues and had a cash burn-rate that would scare away the most tested venture capitalists. But on Tuesday night Tesla, two weeks after its IPO, was trading slightly above its $17 introductory price. Investors appear to be betting that over the long, (long) term the California car company, its powerful strategic investors and tested marketing, will come out a winner. Read More »

Tagged: American Energy Innovation Council, ArcLight Capital Partners, Bob Dudley, BP, BP oil spill, California proposition 16, direct cash grants, Joe Barton, Nevada Geothermal, No on prop 16, NRG Energy, Obama oval address, President Obama, Solyndra, stimulus, Tesla, Tesla IPO, U.S. Geothermal

8 June '10
12:03 PM UTC
1 Comment
Top Ten Players

May Top Ten Players In Green Energy

1: Tony Hayward, BP CEO

As any coach of a professional sports team knows, when your bosses publicly declare their support for you, the end is nigh. So it is with BP head Tony Hayward, who, a spokesman has averred, “has the full support of the board.” To be sure, Hayward has been dealt a horrible hand. It is one thing for a catastrophic oil spill to happen on your watch, it is quite another for it to happen in ecologically sensitive waters within view of the American media. But Hayward has been unable to get ahead of the crisis at any point. BP has shown little interest in getting an accurate flow rate, leaving itself open to charges that it’s hiding the extent of the spill. Hayward has sought to minimize the environmental impact and talked about how inconvenient the spill is for him saying, “You know, I’d like my life back.” He has, inadvertently, made a convincing case for green energy legislation. Shareholders might forgive these gaffes, but they can’t overlook the billions in market value that have been lost during this misadventure. Hayward will be out soon after the relief well finally stops the flow.

6 May '10
2:00 PM UTC
3 Comments
Top Ten Players

April Top Ten Players In Green Energy

1: Cape Wind

The 420-megawatt Cape Wind project is big, but the expectations for it are even bigger. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who just last week announced approval for the project amidst some stiff opposition, expects the Nantucket Sound wind farm to do no less than prove the viability of offshore wind in America. Much remains to be done before the first turbine blades start to spin – bank financing and power purchase agreements must be finalized and the project must be built on time and within budget. But Cape Wind has already done a lot. The project’s developers have endured nine years of attempts to regulate offshore sites that played like a bureaucratic version of “Who’s on first?” before finally arriving at guidelines that future developers can follow. More importantly, the Obama administration has decided that the need for renewable energy trumps environmental and cultural concerns that threaten to block large projects. It’s an imperfect solution, to be sure, but it does move green energy forward.

15 April '10
7:35 AM UTC
1 Comment
Top Ten Players

March Top Ten Players In Green Energy

Welcome to the March edition of G.E.R.’s Top Ten Players in Green Energy. This month Chevron and its pragmatic green strategy takes the lead. Our ranking looks back over the previous month and takes into account a player’s ability to influence the cleantech industry, whether it be because of a forceful policy position, access to funding or a combination of the two.

1: Chevron

Over the last decade, some oil and gas majors jumped right into the green energy revolution, hoping to leverage their considerable cash and energy expertise into a profitable sideline in renewables. That tactic has not weathered the recession well, as BP has shown in the last year. Enter Chevron with a new approach. The California-based company has been easing into green energy with an eye towards making its core oil and gas business less energy intensive. In March, The company opened Project Brightfield, an 8-acre facility to test solar panels under different conditions and compare the performance against benchmark technologies. Chevron is also testing concentrating photovoltaic technology at a mine in New Mexico and solar steam technology in Central California. It’s not a strategy that’s going to save the world, but it is moving green energy forward.

2: Steven Chu, Energy Secretary

Every day, there is one thing you can be sure Energy Secretary Chu thinks about: China, and how can the U.S. beat the rising green power to lead the global green economy. These days, the Secretary is not mincing words, reminding anyone who’ll listen that failure is not an option. He’s blunt and says that right now, void of any climate change law and paralyzed by the loud voices of climate change deniers, the U.S. is losing that race! At a press briefing last month, Chu told reporters that on China, “the U.S. should sit up and take notice.” He added: “The [Chinese] leadership increasingly sees economic opportunity in cleantech… Having missed the industrialized revolution and the semiconductor revolution, they do not want to miss this opportunity.”