Famed Green Investor Puts All His Dough On One Horse To Show
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 12. 7.07
Vinod "ethanol man" Khosla is speaking out to protect his portfolio. Talk like this will toss all the government policy cards in one cocked hat. Just what we need.
Electric cars are not the best way for society to green transportation, famed greentech venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said Wednesday."Forget plug-ins," he said during a keynote address at ThinkEquity Partners' ThinkGreen conference in San Francisco. "They are nice toys. But they will not be material to climate change."
In particular, he pointed to battery problems.
Pretty much the same shtick he was tossing out almost exactly a year ago today, per this coverage in Grist.
And what's this ..."best way" stuff? It's not an either or proposition, with a wall between the toys and the "real man" ethanol machines. We'll need all the tools we can muster.
Via::GreenTech Media, "Khosla Calls Plug-in Cars 'Toys'" Image credit::Chevrolet E85 Truck
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What's the difference between a capitalist in an environmental endeavor and an environmentalist in a capital endeavor? Where one's heart is when faced with adversity. But what's up with the wahoos at the ThinkEquity Partners? Do they lean towards the show or the flow?
Electric cars might not take off in the northern states due to our winters. But ethanol is not the panacea some would espouse; it has unique pollutants of it's own that will be problematic in time. This info is out there so I won't bore you.
Hydrogen is going to be the nut.
John, is your comment on cold climates based on battery performance being degraded in the cold or the fact that heating cars would require too much of the electricity? or both?
Wondering if you've seen any discussions of these issues and to what extent it would limit the market for plug-ins.
The newest generation of batteries appear to be a major leap in operational capabilities. Even with the last generation, most families have two cars, so one can easily do the 40 mile round trip at 55 mph or less. As for environmental concerns, I believe the proper turn in of batteries would be easier to enforce than the proper disposal of the mercury lamps that are replacing the original light bulb. I've been replacing the old bulbs at my house with the new mercury lamps as the old bulbs burn out and have had two of the new 5 yr guaranteed GE lamps burn out under 6 months.
Southern California would be the perfect place for the electric car. The pleasant climate is required for efficient battery operation and as was previously stated, internal heat, unless you want an auxiliary heater. How many of us had our VW van catch on fire due to a gas operated aux heater?
Nuclear power plants/geo-thermal must be built to generate electricity and to desalinate salt water since I read the West is shutting down agricultural valleys and allowing them to return to desert so there will be water for the rapidly growing populations.
The main point is that there is not ONE solution. Their are multiple regional solutions. Electric cars in congested urban environments where pollution is a major concern, ethanol in fly over country. Methanol in coal areas.
Methanol is being produced at a government electrical power plant in Tennessee as a by product of electrical generation for 55 cents a gallon. Hitler ran his war machine in 1944 and 1945 with it. We must become energy independent and quit funding international terrorism! Remember, America is only 9 meals away from total anarchy.
What is the maximum you would pay if you had to have FUEL for your vehicle!
These technologies need each other. Ethanol can,t hope to replace fossil fuel production without drastic conservation measures. That conservation has to come from battery storage. The battery hybrid promises a car capable of 100mpg . If the motor recharging the battery runs on bio-fuel then you have a car the is greener in terms of co2 emissions than even a pure ev. For ethanol to replace fossil fuel a figure of greater than 100mpg is probably necessary -but we're just starting with this techology.