WSJ ECO Investment Vote: Efficiency Wins

Photo Credit: Mary Vincent

The Wall Street Journal Economics audience was asked to vote on the best areas to invest in today among: Power Storage, Smart Grid, Biofuels, Efficiency, Solar Energy, Interest bearing bonds, or None of the above.

Efficiency Won!
(See chart to the left with vote results)

Video: Boston-Power Founder Christina Lampe-Önnerud and Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Sakti3 on Next Generation Battery Technology

Photo Credit: WSJ Eco

Boston-Power Founder Christina Lampe-Önnerud and Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Sakti3 tell WSJ’s Joe White at Wall Street Journal Economics how their companies are working to listen to global customer needs to help create more efficient systems and next generation battery technology.

Christina wants to solve the problem of transport and the impact of transport. She's sat down with auto innovators and looked at what society needs to look like 20 years from now. As a result, they see Price, Range, and Lifetime as parameters, then designed mobility of people.

Ann Marie is looking at the key question of what's needed in an automobile to meet consumers needs. She says with the productization of electric and hybrid vehicles, a range of 100-200-300 miles is suitable but the cost is not reasonable. As a result, battery cell technology evolution is important.

WSJ Eco Video: Thomas Steyer on Making Climate an Immediate Issue

Credit: WSJ - Thomas Steyer

At the 2013 Wall Street Journal Economics Conference, Gerard Baker Wall Street Journal asks Thomas Steyer, co-founding director of the Center for the Next Generation:
How do you persuade people about the seriousness of climate change when jobs, housing and other issues are urgent?

He states that citizens must view climate change as a top issue before they will take action, and its a generational issue. If you talk to people under the age of 30, this is something that will significantly impact their lives unless its dealt with. He says looking out 10 or 15 years is beyond most people's interest.

Sandy didn't affect everyone - this has to affect everyone immediately. The concept of global warming overwhelms people and they don't know what to do. You have to bring it down to someone at their kitchen table and show this is really the biggest issue in the world.

He agrees with Secretary Shultz's proposal on an Insurance Policy.

See the Wall Street Journal Video on Thomas Steyer's discussion here:

WSJ Video: Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley Discusses Green Cities and Bill McDonough Discusses Big Design Plans

At the 2013 Wall Street Journal Economics Conference, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley discusses how mayors can design and promote green cities, and William McDonough talks about the need to look at a big plan when designing and constructing green buildings. He gives an example of designing a factory with plants on the roof and walls to provide workers oxygen and food.

Richard Daley presented important takeaways:
1. Responsibility of the City is Cleanliness
a. Show citizens examples: tell people how important it is to plant trees i.e. important to air quality and have a training program.
2. Have City Lead by Example by being a Green Government
a. Every building is LEED certified with the US Green Building Council
b. Green Center of Technology to educate developers, architects, engineers, contractors, trade associations and unions how important environment is regards to new technology in retrofitting and building new buildings. Give special permits as needed and look at water conservation. They want someone to lead this.
3. There is no national plan for the environment. If we had a national plan or agenda at least we would have a blueprint. That's one of the problems that cities and states have.

At the end of Bill McDonough's presentation that's not in the video below, he shared an important and timeless statement I heard him say years ago at a conference in San Francisco:
"How do we love all children of all species of all time?"

George Shultz Discusses PowerFilm 10 Watt Foldable Solar Charger

George Shultz - Photo: Mary Vincent

At the Wall Street Journal Economics 2013 Conference, I spoke with Secretary George Shultz about the Insurance Policy he says we need to address the issue of Climate Change, and the article is here.

After our discussion, Secretary Shultz told me he's a Marine and showed me a PowerFilm 10 Watt Foldable Solar Charger that can be used in military situations. I can think of many other uses and applications as well, particularly global healthcare and forestry workers who are out in the field for several days/weeks at a time.

Secretary George Shultz advises 'Insurance Policy' during WSJ Economics of Climate Change Panel

George Shultz

Secretary George Shultz advised today's Wall Street Economics of Climate Change Panel that 'We have a big time problem' and there should be an Insurance Policy to address climate change.
Specifically, he gave a 1980's example of increasing numbers of scientists showing the Ozone depleting, and if that were to happen "there would be a catastrophe." There were skeptics.
He had private meetings with President Reagan, and Reagan said: "we need to take out an insurance policy...maybe the skeptics are right, but if they're wrong, we're in trouble."
Then they negotiated the Montreal Protocol. It eventually turned out that the scientists that were alarmed were right.
Shultz says, "The concept of an insurance policy is appealing."

I talked with Secretary George Shultz soon afterwards,

Mary Vincent & George Shultz

 and I asked for the top things needed for his Climate Change Insurance Policy idea, and he mentioned these items below.
(He also discussed these in his keynote he gave later that evening)
1. Sustained Research and Development which Stanford and MIT are doing now, including private investment
2. Need a level playing field for all forms of energy while looking at real costs of what it takes to produce them. All impose certain costs on society and carbon is a big one. We need a Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax. People that are concerned about tax rates could buy into this.
3. Flex-Fuel Internal Combustion Engine

Two Wall Street Journal Videos are below describing this context and proposal:

Secretary George Shultz has Solar Panels and an Electric Car (Wall Street Journal Economics 2013)

George Shultz, Chairman of the President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981–82) and Secretary of State (1982–89) in the Reagan administration and Stanford University Hoover Institution Thomas W and Susan B Ford Distinguished Fellow Chair, Energy Policy Task Force Member of the Working Group on Economic Policy just commented to the Future of Clean Tech Innovation in the US Wall Street Journal ECOnomics Panel that he has solar panels on his house that power his electric car.
Five years ago, he put solar panels on his roof, and he has a chart of his monthly electricity bill before and after. By this time when adding up the savings, he not only paid for what it cost him but also the opportunity cost of the money he invested. He's driving an electric car, and the electricity used is far less than the solar panels produce. "It's free."

Conscious Capitalism April 5 & 6 San Francisco

Conscious Capitalism 2013 is designed for business owners, executives, non-profits, students and others who want to understand the principles of Conscious Capitalism and how to apply them, the 2-day conference will feature dozens of speakers and workshop leaders from some of the most dynamic and innovative companies practicing Conscious Capitalism.
Speakers include Whole Foods Market co-Founder & co-CEO, John Mackey, Patagonia CEO Casey Sheahan, and The Motley Fool CEO Tom Gardner. http://consciouscapitalism.org/cc2013.

Personalized Medicine World Conference Highlights

Here are some highlights from this year's January 28-29 Personalized Medicine World Conference presentations (all content credited to presentation authors listed):

1. Genome Hacking by Yaniv Erlich
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Science 18 January 2013: Vol. 339 no. 6117 pp. 321-324 DOI: 10.1126/science.122956

Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference
Abstract
Sharing sequencing data sets without identifiers has become a common practice in genomics. Here, we report that surnames can be recovered from personal genomes by profiling short tandem repeats on the Y chromosome (Y-STRs) and querying recreational genetic genealogy databases. We show that a combination of a surname with other types of metadata, such as age and state, can be used to triangulate the identity of the target. A key feature of this technique is that it entirely relies on free, publicly accessible Internet resources. We quantitatively analyze the probability of identification for U.S. males. We further demonstrate the feasibility of this technique by tracing back with high probability the identities of multiple participants in public sequencing projects.

2. Mara G. Aspinall President and CEO, Ventana Medical Systems




3. Lee Hood, President, Co-founder Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle Systems Medicine, Proactive P4 Medicine and New and Emerging Technologies 

P4 medicine captures the strategic aspects (predictive and preventive), the personalized aspect and the transformational participatory aspect of the revolution in medicine.

•Predictive
•Probabilistic health history
•DNA sequence & Regular multi-parameter (blood) measurements
•Preventive
•Design of therapeutic and preventive drugs/vaccines via systems approaches
•Wellness
•Personalized
•Unique individual human genetic variation mandates individual treatment
•Patient will be their own control for longitudinal (life long) data analyses
•Participatory:
•Patient-driven social networks for disease and wellness will be a driving force in P4 medicine
•Society must access patient data and make it available to biologists for pioneering predictive medicine of the future
•How does one educate patients, physicians and the healthcare community about P4?
•IT for healthcare

Novel and Emerging Technologies
•3rd generation DNA sequencing—nanopore/nanochannel, single molecule, electronic detection (long reads, detect epigenetic marks, simple sample preparation, throughput)
•Global mass spectrometry proteome analyses (SWATH) and the ability to identify isoforms arising from mutation, splicing, editing, processing and chemical modification
•Protein-capture agents—for sensitive protein quantification
•Molecular and cellular identifications, quantifications and interactions with microfluidics/nanotechnology platforms
•Single-cell highly multiplexed omic and phenotypic analyses—detecting quantized cell populations
•Imaging—in vivo molecular analyses for interactions as well as temporal and spatial dynamics
•Analytical tools—data integration, multi-scale modeling, predictive and actionable models


4. Stem Cells Ushering in Personalized Medicine Deepak Srivastava, MD Director, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and Roddenberry Stem Cell Center at Gladstone Professor, UCSF
Regeneration of Damaged Organs a Reality
–Personalized Stem Cell Transplants
–Harnessing Organ’s Own Cells for Regeneration
•Personalized Medicine – Drugs Tested on Your Cells
•Pharmaceutical Industry Rejuvenated
–Drug Discovery on Human Relevant Cells
–Clinical Trial in a Dish
•Efficacy and Toxicity on Personalized Human Cells
•Health Care Costs – Bending the Cost Curve?


5. Lawrence Corey, MD President and Director Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Adoptive Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccines Complimentary Approaches
Adoptive T-Cell Therapy For Cancer (Melanoma, Leukemia, Sarcoma) 

•Process takes 4 – 10 weeks!
•Costs approximately $25,000 – 50,000/patient for cell expansion

Blackberry Balance arrives on Android and iOS

One of the best new features of Blackberry's new BB10 operating system is Blackberry Balance. This allows a corporate user of Blackberry to maintain two profiles, one completely secured and tied-down by the office using Blackberry's Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) and the other for personal use. The user can switch between the two, but cant, say, install their own apps in the secure environment.

Since BES 10 now supports non Blackberry devices such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android, the Secure Work Space service has been made available to them and includes protected client applications for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing. Unfortunately due to operating system differences the service won't be as secure on non Blackberry 10 devices (though there are now 3rd party enhancements to Android to do similar things).

If Blackberry can regain their enterprise customers while allowing users to have access to other features they may actually be able to hold on to the market which they've been losing over the last few years.

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi (review)

O'Reilly (via Make:Magazine.com) have published Getting Started with Raspberry Pi the $35 ARM power Linux computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

The book is 10 chapters with 3 appendices.

• Chapter 1 - Getting Up and Running
• Chapter 2 - Getting Around Linux on the Raspberry Pi
• Chapter 3 - Python On The Pi
• Chapter 4 - Animation and Multimedia in Python
• Chapter 5 - Scratch on the Pi
• Chapter 6 - Arduino and the Pi
• Chapter 7 - Basic Input and Output
• Chapter 8 - Programming Inputs and Outputs with Python
• Chapter 9 - Working with Webcams
• Chapter 10 - Python and the Internet
• Appendix A - Writing an SD Card Image
• Appendix B - Astral Trespassers Complete
• Appendix C - Analog Input

Though it's a "Getting Started" book, it quickly gets difficult for non-technical users and very quickly loses them. The first few chapters are helpful and allow people to get a Raspberry Pi up and get started with it, though some essential information (like getting the operating system on to an SD card) is in the appendices which would have probably better been placed in the first chapter.

Someone who has programming knowledge will find the book useful as they should be able to get to grips with the environment reasonably quickly (it is Linux), but it should maybe have been split into 2 books or a just into 2 major sections, one really for beginners and then an advanced user section.

The book is available in paper or via O'Reilly's Safari store, it's also available on Valobox.

Nominet ditches direct.uk plans

Nominet is the registry for the .uk country domain. They had wanted to offer domains directly under .uk rather than the existing .co.uk, .org.uk subdomains.

As well as proposing some sensible policies (like only supporting DNSSEC the secure version of the domain name protocols) others didn't go down so well, so Nominet is re-thinking the their policies and will offer ;-

• A revised phased release mechanism based lrgely on the prior registrations of domains in existing third levels within .uk and in which contention between different applicants for the same domain name should be reduced or eliminated.
• Measures to improve security across the whole of the .uk namespace. This would include increased focus on encouraging the adoption of DNSSEC.
• A firm focus on registrant verification and some form of UK presence.
• Further investigations into the impact on the SME sector.
• An appropriate pricing model.

Which will be reviewed at the June board meeting.

If the new direct.uk system is implemented, Nominet have still committed to supporting the existing .co.uk space.

Digia announces enhanced BB10 support for Qt

Digia, the company that acquired Qt from Nokia has announced enhanced support the Blackberry's new Blackberry 10 operating system.

Qt is a framework that works across many platforms (both desktop and mobile) and allows developers to use the same front-end code which will work across all the supported platforms and Qt is used in Blackberry's Cascade framework which is used to develop native Blackberry applications.

Digia maintains the commercial version of Qt and also the open source version that is available from the Qt Project which is where any Blackberry enhancements are upstreamed to.

Ofcom consults on Short Range Devices

Ofcom has decided that short range devices (SRDs) should move from the band 10.675 to 10.699 GHz to 10.575 to 10.6 GHz in line the frequency allocation policy.

This new band will be made license exempt, but that requires a change to the Wireless Telegraphy Act which Ofcom is progressing.

The band was extended after the 2nd consultation (the 10.5GHz band consultation) as respondents complained there was not enough bandwidth in the proposed 10.577 to 10.597 GHz band and Ofcom has now extended this band.

No new SRDs will be allowed to operate in the existing band.

Ofcom will issue a consultation on the proposed regulations shortly.

The full statement can be found here as a PDF.

Euro Tech News goes live on Blackberry World

This blog can now be read in an app on Blackberry devices (on OS7 or BB10), it works both on smartphones and the Playbook and it's available on Blackberry World.

Developing an app for Blackberrys is notably hard, but Blackberry have come to the rescue with Blackberry App Generator (actually developed by Mippin) which does all the hard work for you. No code required, but there is a bit of work getting logos and icons in the right size. In the app generator just specify the feeds (it works with ATOM and RSS) and the app is built for you.

There are a few hoops to go through, initially a Blackberry Vendor ID is required (free sign-up, but company documents are needed as proof) from Blackberry Vendor Portal and that takes a while. Once the app is built, it needs to be approved, which can take a few weeks. Once approval is gained, the app must be published through the vendor portal and it's put into the app stores which can take up to 24h.

Though it's a nice feature and easily allows a website with news feeds to easily convert them into an app, could it be that Blackberry is just using this to swell the number of apps in Blackberry World?

It's really a 'no brainer' for anyone with a website that has regular updates presented as a feed and wants their own app.

Palo Alto Going Carbon Neutral To Address Global Warming

Palo Alto Online reports Palo Alto is going carbon neutral to address global warming. I'm impressed that cities are taking on this challenge head-on and not waiting for our federal government to act. 

An excerpt from the Article is below and the full article is here:
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"Local actions are critical to achieving state goals to address a global problem," the task force report stated. "Local government actions taken to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and increase energy efficiency can provide multiple local benefits by decreasing air pollution, creating jobs, reducing energy expenditures, and saving money for the local government, its businesses and its residents. The challenge is to take tangible steps and lead the way in encouraging businesses and residents to do the same."

Since the report came out, Palo Alto has been not only diligent but aggressive in pursuing its recommendations. The city has strengthened its green-building code, installed electric-vehicle charging stations in public garages, began requiring downtown developers to offer Caltrain passes to building tenants; and explored ways to bring smart-meter technology to electricity customers. The city's renewable-energy program, PaloAltoGreen, continues to be the gold standard of the green movement, with a participation rate of about 21 percent -- the highest in the nation.

This year, Palo Alto's battle against global warming will hit one of its most significant milestones yet when the city adopts a plan for making its entire electricity operation "carbon neutral." The term has varying definitions, depending on which body is doing the defining, but it generally means that the city's electricity portfolio would have net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by purchasing from clean power sources and buying offsets for standard "brown" electricity. In November, the City Council approved an official definition of "carbon neutral" and in December, the Utilities Advisory Commission signed off on a staff plan to reach this rare and prestigious plateau this year.

If the council approves the plan (it is scheduled to discuss it in March), Palo Alto would join an elite cadre of cities leading the fight against climate change through emission-free electricity. Seattle City Light, which gets most of its energy from hydroelectric sources, reached the goal in 2005, becoming the first major utility in the nation to do so. Last year, Austin achieved its goal of powering all city facilities with renewable energy and is working to make transportation carbon neutral as well by 2020. Aspen, Colo., like Palo Alto, is pursuing carbon neutrality exclusively for its electric operation and is slated to get there by 2015.

In the process of getting to carbon neutrality, Palo Alto has upended some deeply held assumptions about what it takes for a city to go completely green with its electricity -- namely, that it takes many years to achieve and that it saddles customers with significantly higher bills. Palo Alto customers currently pay far less for electricity than those in areas served by PG&E (as of November, the median residential electric bill in Palo Alto was $48.49 per month, compared to $59.98 for PG&E customers). If things go as planned, the Utilities Department estimates that the city's leap to carbon neutrality will cost the average ratepayer between $2.60 and $4.20 more a year ("year" is not a misprint.).

Given the low financial impact and the high prestige of being carbon neutral, the city's Utilities Advisory Commission had few reservations about signing off on the staff proposal. James Cook, who chairs the group, said at a Dec. 5 meeting that the staff plan would not only reduce carbon emissions by more than 100,000 metric tons per year but would also "provide leadership in our area and in the state and, hopefully, move others to do the same."

"In some ways, you can say it's a small step for this city but a big step for our state and for our country and for our planet," Cook said.

Ofcom announces 4G frequencies awards

Ofcom, the super regulator today announced the awards (and subsequent prices) for the 4G spectrum awards. Everything Everywhere Ltd, Hutchison 3G UK Ltd and Telefónica UK Ltd (O2) did not have to pay anything following the original auction and awarding of their spectrum.

Niche Spectrum Ventures Limited (a subsidiary of BT Group plc) paid £15,061,179 to be allocated the spectrum bands 2,520 to 2,535 MHz and 2,640 to 2,655 MHz.

Vodafone Limited has paid £8,060,020 to be allocated the spectrum bands 801 to 811 MHz and 842 to 852 MHz, and an additional £4,039,123 to be allocated the spectrum bands 2,500 to 2,520 MHz and 2,620 to 2,640 MHz.

O2 was awarded 811 to 821 MHz and 852 to 862 MHz in the 4G spectrum award and has an obligation to cover 98% of the UK population by 2017.

The original auction raised £2,341,113,000 for the UK Treasury, this additional bidding has raised an extra £27,160,322 bringing the total raised to £2,368,273,322 for the UK coffers.

The licenses are now free to deploy 4G (LTE) services on these bands.

Last week Ofcom announced the winning bidders for 4G spectrum and amounts bid for it.

Everything Everywhere Ltd	2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz and 2 x 35 MHz of 2.6 GHz	£588,876,000
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd	2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz	£225,000,000
Niche Spectrum Ventures	2 x 15 MHz of 2.6 GHz and 1 x 20 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired)	£186,476,000
Telefónica UK Ltd	2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz (coverage obligation lot)	£550,000,000
Vodafone Ltd	2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz, 2 x 20 MHz of 2.6 GHz and 1 x 25 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired)	£790,761,000

CADScan launches affordable 3D scanner

CADScan has launched a project on Kickstarter to produce an affordable 3D scanner, which can scan 3D objects into an electronic format suitable for 3D printing.

The aim is to produce the scanner for £650 ($1,000) which puts it into the realm of companies and serious home users allowing objects sized up to 25cm x 25cm x 25cm (10" x 10" x 10") to be scanned.

With the combination of affordable 3D printers, it will now be possible to duplicate objects for under $2,000 which also brings interesting thoughts on affordable piracy of objects.

CADScan is based in Chester in the UK.

Sky buys O2 Broadband

BSkyB the media giant has agreed to acquire O2/Telefonica's O2 broadband service (this also includes the Be broadband service that O2 originally acquired to launch their broadband services). Sky will initially pay Telefonica £180m followed by another £20m following the successful migration of the customer base.

O2/Be have 560,100 broadband customers which added to Sky's 4,235,000 customers gives them 4,795,100 customers and pushes Sky into 2nd place in the UK broadband market following BT Retail with 6,569,000 and putting VirginMedia into 3rd place with 4,465,000.

The acquisition also covers O2's fixed line telephony unit and will increase Sky's consumer offering.

Though there is overlap in terms of infrastructure, O2's network will be migrated on to Sky's existing network - though it's likely there will be some exchanges that O2 have unbundled that Sky haven't - which means Sky's LLU (local loop unbundled) network will grow slightly as they move into those exchanges.

Sky will maintain O2's LLU offering (i.e. wholesale broadband service offered to other operators), but O2's LLU business will be migrated on to Sky's network. This should be a 'good thing' as O2's network reach will increase as they get access to Sky's unbundled exchanges, however some operators are worried that the quality of the underlying network will decrease and thus the customer experience may deteriorate.

The deal still has to get regulatory approval, but assuming there are no objections it should complete by April.

The added cash (which cant hurt as Telefonica/O2 has just spend a chunk on buying 800MHz spectrum in the recent 4G spectrum auctions) will be used to accelerate the rollout of 4G services.