Postcards from the Clean-tech Investor Summit

Confabs like the Clean-tech Investor Summit this week in Palm Springs, California aren't just wining and dining. Honest.

And I'm not just saying that because I know my boss is reading this. [ed.: hmm... now where IS your expense report?]

Events like this raise weighty issues worthy of ponder, and are always a source of good stories. (F'rinstance, see the Cleantech Group's Hydrogen cars non-starters, Dan Arvizu’s big day and Bush beckons for biofuel.)

To prove it further, let's report on some more of those weighty issues as an excuse to share some photos from the get-together, shall we?

About 450 people packed into a ballroom for a day and a half of keynotes and panels, organized by industry analysts Clean Edge and conference co. IBF. >

Steve Westley, former controller for the State of California and former senior vice president of eBay, warned that not all companies in the industry today will be in it tomorrow.

"There’s about to be another shakeout – you can count on it – and it will come down to how quickly you can move," he said to the crowd. "You’re either going to be a steamroller, or you’re going to be roadkill. And it’s better to be the steamroller. The entrepreneurs that will survive will be those that move quickly."

Solar is one of those areas moving particularly quickly, speakers said. Huge opportunities still lay in installation, particularly in California, noted Mike Eckhart, president of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). And there's still substantial room for profit in simplifying the customer experience, noted a number of speakers, including Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower.

Simms Duncan (L), Senior Vice President of Jefferies & Company, chats with fast-moving solar vendor Gregg Patterson, CEO of PV Powered (R). >

Also lamented by speakers was how far America - the world's largest consumer of energy - trailed other areas of the world, particularly Europe, in adoption of renewables, and technology leadership.

ACORE's Eckhart, for instance, was not pleased to have to report that of the world's 10 leading solar companies, not one was American. He and NREL chief Dan Arvizu (see Dan Arvizu’s big day) noted other countries had done a better job commercializing solar and other technology originally developed in the U.S. Eckhart, specifically, pointed to a Chinese "culture that honors their ability to copy. Our culture is to protect what we own. They rise in stature by showing that they can copy someone. It’s a cultural thing."

Not lamenting much, in this photo, anyway, are Jan-Olaf Willums, President and CEO of electric car maker Think Global (L), Bob Hambrecht of W.R. Hambrecht & Co. (C) and narcileptically-challenged Philip J. Kranenburg, Managing Director of Kranenburg Capital Management (R). >

Ethanol food-vs.-fuel or other sober issues couldn't ruin a picture-postcard sunset behind J. Michael Horwitz, Senior Research Analyst, Pacific Growth Equities (L), and Christopher Poirier of CoalTek (R). >

Conference chairman Ira Ehrenpreis, in remarks, noted that the various emerging U.S. presidential hopefuls emerging have been competing to see who can be more green. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had long been scheduled to speak at lunch on the second day, declared his own candidacy just two days before, and was no exception.

Governor Richardson hones his greentalk and presidential chops in front of a surprisingly forgiving audience. Men Without Hats were forced to improvise. >

Richardson's unscripted remarks were lucid enough on cleantech, but lacked clarity and brevity on weightier topics such as his positions on Iraq troop pullouts and Spanish as a second language.

Finally, environmental author, publisher, cleantech analyst and all round industry impresario Joel Makower was ubiquitous at the event. He moderated a panel on changes in the automotive industry with speakers from what he called the "three Ts: Think, Tesla and Toyota."

Joel Makower practices what he preaches, shown here modeling this season's (or is it last season's? I can never tell) solar powered backpack. >

Aside from the takeaway we reached for our article Hydrogen cars non-starters, another theme from that conversation was that mainstream carmakers seem constrained by people's expectations, specifically in terms of range and cargo space. Speakers encouraged manufacturers and the buying public to rethink what automotive transportation should be.

In Europe, speakers noted, manufacturers are introducing cars that have actually changed people’s opinions of what an acceptable car is.

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Qteros claims 15-fold improvements in cellulosic ethanol yield
• Solairedirect raises €20M to move into commercial solar
• Intel, Numonyx open $20M water treatment plant in Israel
• Booming data-center business creates troubles for India

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