Blogging from a Stanford University Event--
I attend lots of greentech-themed events -- several each week, sometimes several each day. In my more soulful moments, I pray that the event actually resembles its' write-up. I also pray that someday a week will go by where I do not have to hear the story of how the Chinese word for crisis can be written as “Danger” as well as “Opportunity”.
That’s how Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) started her speech off on Monday evening at a Stanford University event hosted by Battery Ventures. (Can any native Chinese speakers let me know if that hackneyed saw is even true?) According to this link, it's dead wrong.
Eshoo is a relatively high-powered Congressperson -- she’s on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. She’s also on the Intelligence Committee. (And this weekend she unveiled the very first congressional office in the nation to go maximum green.)
In her soporific speech, she illustrated how things have changed in Congress in regards to energy: Early in her congressional career, she was involved in a vote for automotive CAFE standards. She figured it was, “Hands down one of the simplest things congress could do to make a down payment on the [energy] future." To her surprise the most stringent standard received 7 of 50 votes and the watered down standard got 11 of 50.
In contrast, she suggested that the new disruptive energy legislation could be on the floor of the house by Memorial Day. She remarked, “How the world has changed, cleantech is no longer out on the fringe," and, “This is the moment, this is the year, this is the time.”
Some quotes and tidbits from the attendees and speakers:
The brawn portion of a husband and wife algae team commented that he was concerned about overly aggressive announcements coming from other algae firms. He worried that irresponsible claims and GMO fears could ruin things for others in the industry.
CEO Mehrdad Moslehi, and CFO Bob Komin of Solexel, a secretive solar startup funded by Technology Partners and KPCB, attended the event. They remained obstinately secretive. Moslehi claims that the company has created a disruptive materials-agnostic platform technology that will produce high solar conversion efficiencies at thin film prices. We'll hear more from them in 2010. We reported on Solexel a while back.
Bill Frey, the CEO of Qtreros, announced that his firm received a $2.6 million earmark for their advanced cellulosic biofuels. In partnering with bigger companies, Frey remarked, “It’s a matter of finding those energy companies who find that their business model is no longer viable."
And on the topic of the evening...
“We are seeing an entirely new definition of the government’s relation to the private sector. The government is going to be interventionist. It is going to include a number of value judgments as it is dispensing largesse. The government is going to be in your face, get used to it,” said John Bohn, Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission.
Regarding utilities, Bohn said: “We’re beginning to see the utilities wake up and stretch and look for innovation. Utilities have money and lots of power. One of the issues we struggle with is in keeping the utilities from filling up the space themselves. We are trying to leave room for innovation and entrepreneurs.”
On small businesses: "What we do not see is the voice of the small business owner. We don’t see anywhere near enough of what [small businesses] are doing. Make your voices heard,” he said.
The evenings sponsor, Battery Ventures, informed the 270 person-strong crowd that it was still investing in cleantech and wanted to hear from entrepreneurs.
