Green:net

VIDEO: How Zipcar’s IPO Will Affect P2P Car Sharing

Zipcar’s stock is still flying high after the car sharing company debuted on the Nasdaq last month. To the CEO of neighbor-to-neighbor car sharing startup RelayRides, Shelby Clark, Zipcar’s IPO has shown investors that there’s real money to be made in car sharing.

VIDEO: Making the Grid Smarter With Energy Finger Prints

While many smart grid technologies use wireless networks, Power Tagging has developed a way to fingerprint energy on the grid using digital signal processing. At Green:Net last week, I interviewed John LoPorto, CEO of Power Tagging, which was one of our 10 Big Ideas winners.

VIDEO: Big Data Meets Connected Cars

On the sidelines of our Green:Net event last week, I did a series of video interviews with our 10 Big Ideas companies. First up is a startup marrying big data and connected cars: Virtual Vehicle Company.

20 Photos From Green:Net 2011

In case you missed all the action at our third annual Green:Net event last week, we’ll be pulling together the photos, videos and presentations from the event over the coming week. Here are 20 of my favorite photos from the show:

Tesla and Coda: There’s Space for Indie EV Car Makers

Making all-electric vehicles is easier if you haven’t been building gas guzzlers for the better part of a century: That’s the mantra put firth by representatives from Tesla and CODA. Both said today at GigaOM’s Green:Net conference that there is space for indie EV car makers.

Startups Take Sharing Beyond the Sandbox

As kids, we were all taught to share our favorite toys. At Green:Net Shelby Clark from RelayRides and Joe Gebbia from Airbnb talked about how their companies are leveraging the power of social media to take sharing into the grown-up world.

DOE Loan Chief: Budget Changes Are Favorable to the Program

There was some concern that the Department of Energy’s loan program would fall victim to budget cuts. But at GigaOM’s Green:Net conference Thursday, DOE Loan Chief Jonathan Silver said that despite those fears, changes in the new budget have actually been somewhat favorable to the program.

Cleaner Power and Smart Grid Requires Clear Sales Pitch for Consumers

The future of the power grid is combining clean energy together with the intelligence of the smart grid. But kickstarting that convergence requires some serious salesmanship to convince consumers of the benefit, as NRG Energy’s David Crane and Silver Spring Networks said at Green:Net.

Where to Watch Green:Net Live Online

Do you think companies like Facebook, Twitter and Amazon should clean up their acts and stop using coal? Are you into electric vehicles? Do you want to know what’s next in the clean energy market? Then tune into the live stream of GigaOM’s Green:Net conference.

Viridity Energy Takes Demand Response to Military Bases

Viridity Energy is competing for a Defense Department contract to control power use at federal and military facilities, and has already signed up one military base customer. That’s a big prize for a startup, if it can scale to match its demands.

Green:Net 2011 Is This Week!

In the run-up to Earth Day on Friday, here’s the must attend event of the week: our third annual Green:Net event! OK, you can tell I’m a little excited about it.

Green:Net: Connected Cities Are Sustainable Cities

At Green:Net next week, we’ll be exploring how adding IT technologies to anything from the power grid, to data centers, to buildings, to lighting can lead to energy efficiency and a more sustainable consumption of increasingly-constrained resources.

The Year of the Car as a Service Has Arrived

With Zipcar’s expected public market debut today, the year of the car as a service (in contrast to personal ownership) has arrived. Internet and mobile technology is the platform for cars as a service in a world with increasingly constrained resources.

10 Things Not to Miss At Green:Net 2011

Our third annual Green:Net event is coming up on April 21 (yep, next week!) and we’re getting really excited about all the great speakers, announcements and discussions that will go on. Here’s a cheat sheet of 10 things you can’t miss at the show.

The Lessons of Airmail for Clean Power

Can the U.S. government do for clean power, what it did for airplane technology almost a century ago? That’s the plan that nerd-rockstar Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu detailed at the Berkeley Stanford Cleantech Conference this weekend.

Schneider Eyes Tyco; Energy Management Tear to Continue?

Schneider’s energy-themed acquisition tear looks like it’s moving to a whole new level. On Monday morning, Bloomberg reported that French electric giant Schneider Electric is eying a take over of Tyco International in part to get ahold of Tyco’s building and industrial energy management systems.

NRG Energy Kicks Off Electric Car Charging Network

NRG Energy is kicking off what it calls the first, privately funded, plug-in electric vehicle charging network in the U.S. in the country’s oil state: Texas. On Friday morning, NRG Energy officially started up the first charger in the network at a Walgreens.

Green:Net Speaker: Sunil Paul on the “CleanWeb”

Entrepreneur and investor Sunil Paul, who made his first cleantech investment about 9 years ago, is big on the idea of the “CleanWeb,” or using IT to address constrained resources. At Green:Net Paul will give a talk on who’s leading the CleanWeb and why it’s important.

For OPower, Cloud, Big Data & Digital Energy Equal Magic

Ever wondered how big data, smart grid and cloud computing will impact an average person? Now you can, thanks to Opower, which molds terabytes of data into delightful insights, shares them with many of us, hoping that we will do our bit as willing conservationists.

FAIL: Energy Savings Foiled by Dastardly Thermostats

Turns out programmable thermostats in our homes are almost as much of a nightmare to figure out as confounding DVRs. According to a recently-published study from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, a significant portion of users of programmable thermostats are incorrectly using them.

Power Gear Companies Waking Up to M&A

One of the early problems with the cleantech sector was that many of the big public companies that offered exits for innovative cleantech startups hadn’t yet matured into aggressive acquirers. But I think the power gear firms have finally woken up to purchasing innovation.

Green:Net 2011: Announcing Our 10 Big Ideas Winners

Presenting our 10 Big Ideas winners, which are some of the most innovative in the digital energy space, and have novel “Big Ideas” for how to use information technology to fight climate change. The winners will present at Green:Net 2011 on April 21 in San Francisco.

Schneider Electric To Buy Summit Energy for $268M

Power gear company Schneider Electric has made one of the larger acquisitions in the industrial and commercial energy management sector. Thursday afternoon Schneider announced it has bought energy procurement and management company Summit Energy for $268 million.

The World of Big Data Needs Low Power Computing

With so much data flowing over networks and with so much computing power needed to crunch that data, computing infrastructure needs to be as low power as possible to both make the era of “big data” economical and also more eco-friendly.

The Cleantech Renaissance Is Coming

The growth of the cleantech industry may have started slowly, but it is surely happening. Silver Lake Kraftwerk Partners, Adam Grosser and Cathy Zoi, will speak for the first time publicly about the second wave of cleantech funding and growth at Green:Net 2011.

How Silicon Valley Can Drive Detroit Green

The latest wave of electric cars rolling into the market will be cars connected to the power grid and increasingly, to cellular networks. Along with smart meters and the smart grid, electric vehicles and EV charging stations will be areas to watch.

Green:Net 2011: Send Us Your 10 Big Ideas!

It’s almost that time again! Our third annual Green:Net 2011 conference, which focuses on digital energy and how information technology can be used to fight climate change, is fast approaching on April 21 in San Francisco.

Roundup: Financial Management Apps for iPad

One of the top reasons people buy an iPad probably isn’t to balance a checkbook, but doing anything on a desktop is so 2009. However, few native financial iPad apps exist. Fear not though, we’ve combed the pool to find the best.

Vid-Biz: Cord Cutting, MySpace, Google TV

Today on the Net: Verizon’s CEO says that cable companies should watch out because cord cutting is real, MySpace has tapped Andy Marcus to lead its entertainment division and Dell is evaluating Internet connected devices running Google TV.

Porn Industry Eyes iTunes-like Pricing to Fight Piracy

The adult industry’s Free Speech Coalition has been using technology from Vobile to track porn piracy for a few months now while also trying to educate consumers. The results of these efforts have the coalitions executive director thinking about embracing iTunes-like pricing for adult content.

Green:Net Presentations & Slides!

For all you folks asking for the slides and presentations from our Green:Net event last week, here’s the entire slide deck embedded below from SlideShare. It includes all of the presentation slides in order of the day’s events.

Google’s Bill Weihl on Data Center Efficiency

Efficient data centers are key to managing the cost of running a massive computing operation such as Google’s, but they also seems to tie into the search giant’s “Don’t be evil” credo. That’s the sense I got when interviewing Bill Weihl, Google’s green energy czar.

Green:Net: Here's What We Learned About IT

Advances in computing and communications are changing the world — enabling huge changes in the way we can develop new materials and derive energy, but as they bring innovation to other areas of the economy those providing the computation and bandwidth must become more efficient.

Green:Net: From Founding Sun to Funding Clean Power

Over the next 10-15 years we will fundamentally reinvent the structure of society said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures speaking today at the Green:Net conference in San Francisco. Khosla explained that he’s now investing in areas that two years ago he would never have considered.

Green:Net: The Dematerialization Opportunity

Jonathan Koomey of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and Stanford is one of the world’s reigning experts on “dematerialization,” which he defines as two things. First, “removing the need to create a physical product.” And second, “the energy savings associated with not having to transport that product.”

Green:Net: Carbon Gives a 'Lens Into Inefficiency'

Carbon pricing will become an important part of corporate accounting. But pricing aside, executives at today’s Green:Net conference said that carbon software can give companies a view into other inefficiencies in their operations.

Green:Net: Microsoft, Google Lay Out Home Metering Plans

Microsoft and Google are both working on applications for monitoring and controlling energy usage in the home. At Green:Net, the Internet giants laid out their strategies for enabling consumers and utilities to keep track of their power consumption.

Green:Net: What Happens to the Grid When EVs Go Mainstream?

With mainstream EVs entering the market in the next year, utilities are worried about cars plugging into the grid en masse. To anticipate and handle those overwhelming spurts of power demand, they are looking to infrastructure upgrades, networked management systems and customer education.

Green:Net — Live Today From San Francisco!

Green:Net, the only conference dedicated to exploring how information technology — software, computing and the web — can fight climate change, will…

25 Who Ditched Infotech for Greentech

In light of our upcoming Green:Net conference — which looks at the intersection of IT and green — we’ve decided to revive the second edition of the 25 Who Ditched Infotech for Cleantech list. Check it out:

Countdown to Green:Net 2010 — Just 2 Weeks Left!

Green:Net 2010 will see top green entrepreneurs, technologists and market-leading companies convene on April 29th in San Francisco. Register now for the conference where you can meet with thought leaders, technologists, investors, press, new startups and their future customers and get $75 off your ticket!

Calling Internet Entrepreneurs! A Greentech Conference for You

The intersection of the Internet and the greentech boom represents an incredible opportunity. Green:Net 2010 will see top green entrepreneurs, technologists and market-leading companies convene on April 29th in San Francisco.

Green:Net: Why We Need Computing & the Internet for a Green Economy

Exactly one month from now — on April 29th — California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, uber-investors Vinod Khosla and Steve Jurvetson, Google’s Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl, CPUC Commissioner Dian Grueneich and many, many others will take the stage at our annual Green:Net conference.

Announcing the Green:Net LaunchPad Winners

It’s that time of year, folks! We’ve selected 10 companies, all of which are using information technology to fight climate change, to launch or unveil interesting new products at our Green:Net conference on April 29th in a session we call the LaunchPad. Drum roll, please…

Announcing Our Green:Net Launchpad 10 Winners

One of my favorite parts of last year’s Green:Net event was the launchpad section, where 10 companies that are using information technology to fight climate change launch themselves or new products. So I’m excited to announce this year’s 10 winners of the Green:Net2010 Launchpad.

Jerry Brown and Vinod Khosla to Speak at Green:Net 2010

We at the GigaOM Network are proud to announce that 2010 California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and leading greentech investor Vinod Khosla will be speaking at Green:Net 2010 on April 29th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco.

Jerry Brown to Speak at Green:Net 2010!

California Attorney General, former Oakland Mayor and gubernatorial candidate will speak at Green:Net 2010, which will be held in San Francisco on April 29. In his talk, he will focus on how information technology will be used to fight climate change.

3 Leading Venture Capitalists to Judge Green:Net 2010 Launchpad

Green:Net 2010 is the GigaOM Network’s conference where green and IT meet. And we’ve scored a trio of leading venture capitalists to judge the popular Launchpad competition, which features 10 hot startups with applications for leveraging IT against climate change.

Learn Why the Kindle Is Good for the Planet and More at Green:Net 2010

One e-book device can displace the buying of some 22.5 physical books a year, according to the Cleantech Group, which translates into an estimated savings of 370 pounds of CO2. To learn more, join us at Green:Net 2010 on April 29th in San Francisco.

e-Book Echo: HTC to Unveil Reader

Our platform focus continues this fine Sunday with the e-Book Echo, our take on the week in the digital publishing world. Smartphone maker HTC is set to unveil a new iteration of its Sense interface for phones, and an e-book reader will be in the offering.

GreenNet 2010 Is Coming — Get Your Discounted Ticket Today!

Our annual GreenNet 2010 conference is quickly approaching, to be held April 29th, at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Among many notable speakers, Googler and former NASA astronaut Ed Lu will be there. Here is how you can get a discount.

Live From Green:Net

We’re here at the beautiful Golden Gate Club in San Francisco, where our first-ever Green:Net conference is going on all day. Check…

China Blocks All of YouTube

China implemented a site-wide block of YouTube today, for reasons still unknown. The country has blocked portions of YouTube before as part…

FAQ: Smart Grid

President Obama has called for the installation of 40 million smart meters and 3,000 miles of transmission lines. That means 2009 could…

4 Hidden Wins for Tech in the Green Stimulus Bill

The Obama administration’s $825 billion economic recovery package, nicknamed the “Green New Deal,” is packed with references to doubling renewable energy generation,…

Here Come Energy-Efficient Wi-Fi Devices

Chipmakers are starting to come out with low-power offerings that, while they won’t all keep your iPhone running longer, could play a role in boosting the efficiency of a growing number of new devices.

Google's SketchUp Goes to Work for Green Buildings

When Google acquired startup @Last and its 3-D modeling product, SketchUp, most observers saw it as a nice add-on for Google Earth, perfect for “hobbyists and enthusiasts.” Since then, the SketchUp program has blossomed into a tool in its own right, and is now nurturing a growing ecosystem of green design startups.

Google Phone on the GigaOM Network

In addition to our live coverage of the Google phone launch and our round-up of four things you need to know about…