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Category Archives: Podcast

Bob Metcalfe

Bob Metcalfe: Investing in Energy with Lessons Learned from Networking

April 8, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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OK.  Say you did something like invent and promote the networking standard everyone uses.  What do you do next?

How about investing in energy? It’s a big problem and big problems bring big opportunity.

But how?

“The trick,” says Dr. Bob Metcalfe, inventor of ethernet, founder of 3Com, and a Venture Capitalist investing in energy, “If… Read the rest

Applying Lessons Learned from Telecom to the Smart Grid

March 18, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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The Smart Grid adds, well, “smarts” to the electricity grid.  There are other networks with intelligence in them, such as telecom networks.  What lessons can we learn from them as we create the Smart Grid?  What can we do make sure we end up making the “Energy Internet” instead of inadvertently creating the “Energy Compuserve?”

Chevy volt at SXSW - South by Southwest interactive festival

The Talk Turns to Energy at SXSW

March 15, 2010 in Events, Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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South by South West is arguably the largest interactive festival in the world.  Certainly, it’s the most friendly.  When a bunch of tech geeks get together, the talk invariably turns to energy.

I moderated the panel, “Can the Creative Class Transform the Energy Business.” Garry Golden and I talk about the energy discussions I’ve been having at SXSW.

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From Bloom Energy to LEED Certification via Cleanovation and Water

February 24, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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(42 mins.  38mb)

Today’s podcast is different; we discuss items in the news for a good long time.  Bloom energy, Cleanovation Conference, water, etc.  Also, how to get LEED certified if you’re not an architect nor a developer.

CellEra: The Future Now with Fuel Cells, the Electrochemical Dark Horse

February 23, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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Fuel cells are like batteries that don’t die.  As long as they’re connected to their fuel source–typically hydrogen, natural gas, alcohol, or methanol–they pump out electricity.  They are potentially a disruptive technology for how we power our buildings.  But, they’ve been expensive, finicky in the past. Are they just an electrochemistry geek’s dream, or are they for real?

Nissan LEAF Test Drive: An Electric Vehicle Driving Experience

February 13, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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It’s been over a hundred years since a consumer had to seriously consider whether they wanted their car to be one with an internal combustion engine or an electric motor.   But now that electric vehicles are going to become available over the next year or so, what’s it like to actually drive one?

Local Energy Storage

February 9, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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What if  you could buy an energy device to power your house in the way you buy an air conditioner?  What if you could power it by purchasing a block of energy at Wal-mart?

Electrochemistry expert Dr. Jeremy Meyer joins futurist Garry Golden and I as we discuss a distributed generation scenario that’s outside the box.

We discuss fuel cells… Read the rest

Volta and Napolean with a Volta Pile, the first battery. Electricity Storage at the utility level hasn't progressed much since then.

Electric Utility Level Storage

February 2, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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Following up on our introduction to the grid podcast, Garry Golden and I invited Dr. Jeremy Meyers to talk about ideas for utility level storage. Jeremy is a professor at UT with an expertise in electrochemistry. We talk about the near term future holds for electricity storage at the utility level, which can be an important capability when integrating renewables… Read the rest

The Grid 101

January 28, 2010 in Energy 101, Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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The National Academy of Engineering calls it the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century. Others call it the largest machine ever made. It snakes through and between cities and lives in the walls of our homes.

Containing the bottled lightening that is electricity, the electrical grid is the foundation for much of our quality of life. While oil mainly… Read the rest

The Department of Energy: Funding Gets Interesting for Energy Research

January 26, 2010 in Podcast by Joel Greenberg

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(10.3mb, 11:12)

Garry Golden and I discuss recent announcements by the Department of Energy on funding energy research..and a surprising announcement from GM. Could the research be cause for cautious optimism?

ARPA-E Home page.
DOE Energy Innovation Hub Q&A.
DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers

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