Rob Lamkin: Why Solar is the Solution

Rob Lamkin: Why Solar is the Solution

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh DialoguesRob Lamkin, Cool Earth Solar on Fresh Dialogues

Download or listen to this lively Fresh Dialogues interview

 

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Here are the highlights of my discussion with Rob Lamkin, CEO of Cool Earth Solar, a concentrated photovoltaic startup based in Livermore.

Why is solar the solution to global warming and energy security?

“Solar energy is the only thing we have in near enough abundance to solve the energy problems we have.”

On hiring new team members

Technical skills are not enough, passion for clean energy  is a prerequisite. “Passion is a filter for us.”

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Adam Jackson: How Twitter is Going Green

Adam Jackson: How Twitter is Going Green

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh DialoguesAdam Jackson on Fresh Dialogues

Download or listen to this lively Fresh Dialogues interview

 

We welcome feedback at FreshDialogues.com, click on the Contact Tab | Open Player in New Window

I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jackson at SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference. He talks about how Twitter is going green and how his new book, 140 Characters, a style guide to Twitter, will be released as an iPhone App – a greener and cheaper option than a traditional book.

On Twitter’s green credentials

“If you use Skype to have a conversation instead of flying across the country, you’ve saved money and saved the environment.”

On his book, 140 Characters

“I think a lot of our sales will come from the $4 for a virtual app….its selling point is that it comes instantly … but it’s also a great thing for the earth.”

“It tells you how to post links to get the most clicks.”
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Elise Zoli: Government’s role in Clean Tech

Elise Zoli: Government’s role in Clean Tech

elise-zoli

Elise Zoli holding the Waxman Markey Bill she helped to write

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues

Download or listen to this lively Fresh Dialogues interview

 

We welcome feedback at FreshDialogues.com, click on the Contact Tab | Open Player in New Window

I caught up with Elise Zoli at FountainBlue’s Forum on Clean Green Transportation this month. Elise is a Boston based partner with law firm, Goodwin Procter, but is a frequently in Silicon Valley to serve her local clients. She specializes in energy, climate change and clean tech law.

We discussed:

Government – Its role as the Grinch and Santa Claus 

“The Grinch side is limiting traditional industry and allowing new sectors, new technologies to emerge…with emissions standards, fuel tax…The Santa Claus side – direct funding – grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax subsidies…make a more favorable environment for emerging companies.”
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Mary Vincent: Green Software UnConference

Mary Vincent: Green Software UnConference

Mary Vincent, a go-getting green entrepreneur let me know about a cool green event she’s co-hosting in Silicon Valley next month

The First Green Software Unconference Silicon Valleymary-vincent-on-fresh-dialogues

When: August 19, 2009

Where:  The Computer History Museum in Mountain View

Why: Be in the company of entrepreneurs, engineers, venture capitalists, marketers and business strategists, and sustainability professionals.

Sign up details: click here

As a bonus, a TREE will be planted for Early-Bird Registrants so it is important to register as soon as possible.

Sponsors: Environmental (Eco) Entrepreneurs Mary Vincent, Founder and CEO of Green Star Solution and Gratitude Gourmet and Merc Martinelli, Founder of Verdafero. Both have Fortune 500 Silicon Valley backgrounds from Sun Microsystems and Cisco respectively and Co-Founded the Green Software Unconference with the purpose of gathering technologists and businesspeople together to collaborate and innovate for the environment and business.

Judy Estrin: Closing the green innovation gap

Judy Estrin: Closing the green innovation gap

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh DialoguesJudy Estrin on Fresh Dialogues

Download or listen to this lively Fresh Dialogues interview

 

We welcome feedback at FreshDialogues.com, click on the Contact Tab | Open Player in New Window

Judy Estrin is an influential tech entrepreneur, CEO of JLabs, and author of Closing the Innovation Gap. I caught up with her at SD Forum’s 12th annual Visionary Awards in Atherton, where she was one of four recipients. We talked about whether clean energy solutions can save the planet; the importance of new innovation in revitalizing the economy; and the role of government in making it happen.

“For an industry to take off, you need a grand challenge, or a grand problem that needs to be solved and you need research and scientific discovery…In the area of clean energy, it’s a problem that must be solved and it’s very broad in nature.”

Can clean energy save the planet?

“The real question is: will we as a people, our government as leaders, and will our business leaders all have the courage and commitment to understand that along with new technologies and forms of energy has to come behavioral change? It’s not just about inventing something new, it’s going to take change from everybody.”

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