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It was necessarily a brief overview, but one thing that came through for me loud and clear (yet again) was how short the Innovation Cycle is in many of these sectors.

Two strong potential candidates for the Next Big Thing in cleantech venture capital are nuclear and carbon capture and storage. I've spoken with numerous VCs recently who are looking for innovative ways to play in nuclear power. Bets have already been made by VCs in small-scale nukes, hot fusion, and technologies related to big-scale nukes. The hope is to find a low-cost solution that is practically zero carbon emissions and also provides reliable "base load" power. So in other words, the hope is for a lower-carbon replacement for coal power. The challenges are also significant, however, not least of which being time to market for any new innovations, as this interesting article illustrates. With the recent news that the DOE will be putting $2.4B into carbon capture and storage, and its inclusion in emerging climate legislation, it's also clear that CCS will be leaned upon as a hoped-for way of making our existing coal-fired generation infrastructure less impactful on the atmosphere, while still preserving its value as low-cost baseload power. So in other words, the hope is for a lower-carbon "fix" for coal power.

It seems to me that the auto industry has a very intriguing opportunity right now to use all of the recent entrepreneurial and investment activity in clean transportation tech to their benefit. This opportunity could help them address the evident "gap" between highly innovative demonstration vehicle programs, and the historically slow pace of adoption of core innovations into mass-production models.

Researchers working with sensors for trees and grape vineyards reveal promise for improving efficiency and reducing resource costs in agriculture.

When the idea of a low carbon economy first raised its head some expected a sea change in public attitudes. This change would impact the regulatory framework, acknowledge the responsibilities of businesses,  encourage development of sustainable practices and generally save the world from itself. It seems that some observers are surprised at the slowness of the sea change. Perhaps the level of innovation required is not materialsing because the need, in fact, is not urgent enough in the minds of business, government or consumers. Over the last decade, governments have put in place frameworks for action, but the timing is over many years - a serious commitment which should encourage. On the other hand, perhaps we should not expect a huge change in lifestyle look and feel as we grow into an efficient low carbon society.

Isn't the problem that climate is a global issue, which encompasses so many aspects of day-to-day life. So it's at the same time the ultimate global and local issue, requiring us to change everything for everyone. Those expecting sea change will have to wait for quite a while.

I want to share with you some of the things that have made me excited about the future of clean energy. I hope you'll find them as cool as I do! See it on Scoop.it, via Sustainable Energy via scoop.it

NordicGreen Nordic Cleantech - Cleantech Startups, Innovators and Investors in the Nordic, the Baltic and the Arctic regions. See it on Scoop.it, via Sustainable Energy via scoop.it

There's a problem with this mythology: sometimes there's no invisible hand. Sometimes short-sighted government regulations give preference to bad technologies over good ones - stifling innovation and blinding us to our own ability to make progress.

I added the tag 'USA' to this bookmark. It is not the case in Europe, where efficiency has improved steadily. But it's also a debate of apples and oranges. Nuclear, fossil and renewable energy are as different as cricket, baseball and golf bats. And we do not calculate batting averages accross them.

a comprehensive list of more than 100 ready and emerging alternative transportation technologies.

Project Nova's innovative aerogenerator wind turbine is based on a pair of giant V-shaped composite wings that will be scaled up to 120m high and rotate around the central axis to create power. Invented by David Sharpe and developed by Wind Power Limited, the aim is for a large-scale demonstrator to be installed offshore within six years and for offshore vertical-axis turbines to provide 1GW of power by 2020.

Just as the race from mainframes to smartphones made information free, surging innovation can make energy so abundant that it becomes nearly free

It seems cruelly ironic that tapping into Southern Nevada's vast solar energy potential could slowly drain our desert. Traditional solar thermal power plants that use wet cooled technology require millions of gallons of water over time in the process of converting solar rays into clean, renewable power for our community. Southern Nevada received some good economic news last month when Solar Millennium, a division of one of the world's top solar power generators, announced new plans to use a "dry-cooling" system on two proposed solar power plants in Amargosa Valley, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. This dry-cooling system will use 90 percent less water than previously planned.

Event co-sponsor, Siemens Corp.

"start up company Vu1 is adding another light bulb option (not to mention acronym) to the mix, the Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL) bulb. The Vu1 ESL innovation re-purposes technology from our tried and true friend, the cathode ray tube (CRT) television. ESL uses accelerated electrons to stimulate phosphor and create light, thus making the bulb surface glow."

Provided new innovative methods of energy capture and storage are discovered, developed and exploited rapidly, the sun could provide sufficient energy to make up the shortfall. Nanoscale technologies can enable new solar energy harvesting solutions through the generation of novel materials that can be deployed to deliver commercially attractive efficiencies at a low cost and a reasonable lifetime of service.