Category: Environment & Energy

One of the most interesting future trends today is the ongoing decline in the coal industry. Many coal companies are facing financial difficulty as the price of coal drops in the face of competition from natural gas and renewable sources for generating electricity. This...

Recently I was walking in our Seattle neighborhood, after the warmest June on record. The “emerald city” looks largely like this now, after such a spell of hot and dry weather. We are not at California drought levels, but the summer began with mountain...

In a few hours, on June 18, 2015, the climate change debate may change, as will discussion on the future of global economics and capitalism itself. The awaited, now partly leaked, statement from Pope Francis reportedly will warn of the impending destruction of the...

Yesterday I spent much of the day with the Customer Solutions team of Avista, the innovative energy company based in Spokane, Washington. We explored future trends on a 5-10 year horizon. We talked a lot about solar and the traditional utility model, and of...

This is what vision looks like. Watch Elon Musk announce Tesla Powerwall, the next phase in his plan to change the electricity business, from one were we mostly harvest old sunlight in the form of dead plants and animals by lighting them on fire,...