January 19, 2009
· Filed under business, development, economics, green living, renewable energy · Tagged Better Place, canada, network, ontario, Palo Alto, shai agassi, toronto
Imagine my surprise when I drove through paradise to arrive at the doorstep of Better Place. Marie told me it was my enthusiasm that made me think that rolling hills covered in grass, nibbled by herds of horses lit by glowing sunshine seemed like paradise; I think it was the horses.
That very day I walked in, Shai Agassi and his team were in Toronto celebrating Ontario’s commitment to join the Better Place network. Shucks, I was just in Toronto.
Congratulations Canada, you’re another name to add to the list of countries looking at the big idea. Way to go! But I’m going to not freeze here in California, thank you very much. I’ll try for an interview at Better Place sometime in the future, when everyone is back in paradise.
December 25, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Better Place, shai agassi, Thomas Friedman
Everyone, just everyone from the forward thinking writing community, the visionaries, look to Thomas Friedman for guidance. What a brain on that one.
From the quote about investing in CDs just before Itunes rolls out for the car industry or the build up, reboot the economy as his prescription, he understands our world today with clarity. Everyone reads what he writes and then uses his analogies to describe situations at hand in our writing. He is a building block from which understanding arises.
Three cheers Mr. Friedman. You are the daddy of my discipline, International Political Economy from McGill University. I personally think you’re brilliant. I know Shai Agassi of Better Place does too.
(In addition: Friedman will be contributing the the Rise of Obama book, to be published in Feb ‘09 by the NYT, which is exciting because the Obama/Friedman intellectual connection will bring the country and the world into the future! Yay!)
December 13, 2008
· Filed under business, development, economics, green living, politics, public transporation, renewable energy · Tagged Better Place, business, denmark, depression, Detroit, development, DONG energy, Electric cars, energy secretary, ladysmith black mombazo, nobel laureate, shai agassi, steven chu, wind farms
I know Detroiters are depressed right now. The Titanic is sinking and there aren’t any lifeboats, or life preservers, or lifesavers (go Ladysmith Black Mombazo)… The region is running scared. Just remember, cockroaches still run around post nuclear fallout. Maybe bloggers are like cockroaches…
Developments abound! Seriously folks. After a forest fire, all the new life that springs up from the earthy floor (watch Planet Earth Forests) … or after a long winter, spring happens. I know all that gooey positivity doesn’t pay January rent, but let’s set up the mindset. Attitude is altitude.
Steven Chu, Nobel laureate in Physics, pro environmental veteran, new Energy Secretary and coordinator of climate policies. We’ve got a green thumb in the white house. This is sweet because new ideas will be heard, good ideas will be picked up, the more ideas the better, and then we’ll get to pick (let America decide, call in and vote). New ideas = more ideas = better.
DONG Energy and Wind is opening a huge addition to their windfarm. Ten more turbines have been added to an existing farm of twenty allowing Denmark to power 35,000 homes with wind power. DONG Energy and Wind are putting up an offshore windfarm in 2009. Get in on that goodness.
And finally, smart people unite. The Detroit auto model is so 20th century. (Which is why it’s failing in this, the 21st century.) There’s hope. I’ve already written about Better Place but I’m going to again because the idea is so big and amazing that I’ve become an electric car grid evangelist already. Shai Agassi worked as a software exec in Silicon Valley and along with his crew of smart people has come up with a fantastic idea to change the world. One hold up to the electric vehicle concept was the battery- how to recharge, how long would it take, where would this happen etc. Agassi changed the entire question. Understanding that everyone would need to recharge, he figured that recharging stations should be quick and easy- so he decided that at every station, the battery could just get swapped with a new full battery. Brilliant. In and out fully charged. His company, Better Place, has contracts in Hawaii, will test in Israel and Australia and is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. Agassi sees a future for us all in new ideas using this technology stuff that we all love. Shaken, not stirred. And the result will be a profitable cocktail for us all. Sustainable mobility guys, sustainable mobility.
