FINspeak

About two weeks ago, the American auto industry, wading through the uncertainty of a pending bankruptcy and a proposed merger with an Italian auto giant, was informed of new fuel economy standards by the Obama Administration.  These standards increase the minimum fuel efficiency standard to 35.5 miles per gallon with a mandatory achievement date of 2016—a date pushed forward four years. 

While the American auto industry of ten years ago would have scoffed at such regulation, the new fuel standards will be embraced and provide further impetus to transform the industry with smaller, greener, and more fuel efficient vehicles complemented by leaner, more agile business operations.

Certainly, the auto industry isn’t the only entity taking notice and developing actionable plans in response to new fuel efficiency standards—many economies have recently responded with tougher fuel efficiency standards of their own.  Interestingly, China is developing legislation for fuel efficiency requirements more stringent than the United States.

With 168 million motor vehicles on the road in China and a dwindling supply of domestic oil, China’s planned modification to its fuel efficiency standard is driven by sustainability.  The rate in which Chinese vehicles consume gas, especially popular SUVs, was unsustainable and required policy change to limit excessive fuel consumption. 

Surely, China is still playing a game of catch up when it comes to emission standards but it’s positive to see the third largest economy in the world toughen their regulation on fuel efficiency.  I hope to see other countries follow the lead of China and enact tougher efficiency standards as the world shifts its dependence on oil.

Now, the real question is:  Can China build a fuel efficient Hummer?

To learn more, check out this article from the Business Insider.

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since September 15th 2008, we’ve witnessed banks fail, banks be bailed out by the government, banks de-leverage, and banks promise to avoid bad investments.  As the banking world has become increasingly scrutinized, all business decisions and investments have been well publicized and well criticized by the media, government, and citizens alike.  In this push to return to more sustainable levels of leverage, banks have cut budgets, eliminated bonuses, and apprehensively made new investments.

However, I recently discovered that a handful of banks are making very smart investments—investments in green, sustainable technology to reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs.  Just last month, the Bank of New York Mellon installed a 76 Kilowatt solar panel system at its office in Massachusetts.  The bank hopes to reduce its energy costs by $15,000 per year while significantly diminishing the environmental impact of its office. Clearly, the solar panel system, with the potential for a positive ROI, is a safe environmental investment.

Joining the Bank of New York Mellon is HSBC who installed 617 square meters of photovoltaic panels at its office in Canary Wharf, London. Next time I am near a window at my office in Canary Wharf, I will have to take a peek and see if I can notice the shimmer of solar panels at the HSBC Tower. 

I’m happy to see that banks are beginning to make investments in green technology to reduce their own carbon footprint.  While financial institutions certainly are drivers of the economy, I can’t wait until they are the drivers of green technology as well.

To learn more about solar panel projects, check out the article about HSBC and the article about the Bank of New York Mellon.

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In my last post, I discussed the need for government mandates to stimulate the use and production of green energy.  As I reported, President Obama has taken the necessary steps to move forward with renewable energy by mandating 10% of the energy portfolio in the US to be of renewable sources.  However, the US—even with a solid renewable energy policy written into the Economic Stimulus Package—is not a global leader in renewable energy.  Instead, it’s Europe leading the way with progressive and innovative renewable energy policies.

In Europe, government policy does not stop at mandating the use of renewable sources.  Policies are in place providing incentives for homeowners and businesses to generate renewable energy.  Using a “feed in tariff” system, a utility company will pay four times the rate of coal energy—vastly above the market price—for the renewable energy produced by private citizens.

A “feed in tariff” system not only shifts the weight of subsidizing the production of renewable energy away from the taxpayer to a utility company but also provides a guaranteed return on investment for homeowners and business owners who install solar panels or wind turbines.

Like mandates, incentives will be a key driver in transforming the electrical grid around the world.  I’m happy to see such innovative policymaking drive the prominence of renewable energy in Europe.  Now, let’s wait and see if other regions follow the lead of European countries.

To learn more about the “feed in tariff” program, read this New York Times article.

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As President Obama signed the Economic Stimulus into law on Monday at the Denver Museum of Science and Nature, the sails of the clean energy sector were suddenly full of wind (and bunch of earmarked dollars) after months of stalled projects, an inability to receive private funding, and low oil prices.  With the Stimulus Package, President Obama continues to make good on his promise of ensuring 10% of the US’s electricity comes from renewable sources.  New funding and, most importantly, government mandate for the use of renewable energy will continue to drive the prominence of renewable energy in the US and the world.

Fortunately, the US is not foreign to mandates for renewable energy.  In fact, the state of California introduced legislation mandating that 33% of electricity in 2020 be from renewable sources.  While we are far out from 2020, a California utility has already penned a large solar contract with BrightSource Energy, a company producing “concentrating solar technology”.  BrightSource intends to build a large solar farm in the desert of Ivanpah, California with the ability to produce 286,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year.

I’m excited to see California take the lead for renewable energy mandates at the state level.  Not only is California a suitable location for renewable energy, especially solar, with a number of deserts near large cities, the state also maintains a burgeoning high-tech and green-tech industry (BrightSource is based out of Oakland, CA).  The role of the Government cannot be downplayed in stimulating investments in renewable energy and California, the 7th largest economy in the World, is a shining example of an economy with a progressive, carbon-conscious energy policy.

Now, my question is:

Who is going to take the lead next?

To learn more about BrightSource Energy’s project in California, check out this Datamonitor article.

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In July of 2008, American consumers coined a new phrase at the height of the summer vacation season: staycation.  American’s opted to stay at home instead of travelling due to astronomical oil prices. High oil prices drove prices at the pump to dizzying highs and, in response to record fuel prices, airline fares skyrocketed where checked baggage fees and fuel surcharges became the primary (and unpopular) strategy of airlines to offset fuel costs.

Continue reading "I’m leaving on a (Biofuel) Jet Plane" »

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pulsing beats, thumping bass, flashing lights, dancing, and piezoelectricity?  Yes, piezoelectricity.  Piezoelectricity, the source of energy found commonly within the internals of a quartz watch has club-goers raving for this green source of energy—literally.  Recently, piezoelectricity technology has moved from the wristwatch to the dance floor—the actual floor—to harvest the kinetic energy of dancers.  

Continue reading "The Piezoelectric Boogie" »

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I recently wrote a blog entry about Google’s patent for an offshore data center.  My post was well received in the office and much discourse was produced upon its reading.  In fact, many of my co-workers were keen to the forward looking idea and the concept catalyzed everyone’s imagination.  In the course of our break room conversations, we discussed various scenarios, environments, and locations ideal for building a green data center.  However, of the many great ideas developed during our pseudo deep dive, none were scalable, few were practical, and most lacked the ability to be implemented in the foreseeable future.    

Continue reading "Green Real Estate for Your Data Center" »

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The “Energy Star” logo, often emblazoned on computers and monitors, has become a familiar sight for computer users since 1992 when the United States Environmental Protection Agency adopted standards to certify consumer products using the Energy Star logo.  Energy Star-worthy products are certifiable when energy consumption is reduced, on average, by 30 percent.  Reducing energy consumption has always been a priority for organizations, especially after the launch of Energy Star standards, but recent changes in utility costs have forced enterprises to more closely examine their utility usage with the prime point of focus being the pc workstation.  While all the hardware encompassing a workstation could be energy efficient—even to the point of Energy Star standards, such a set up does not mean the workstation maximizes its efficiency using the latest Green computing technologies.

Continue reading "Thin Client, Huge Benefits" »

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)