Google’s Green Spending Spree: How it chooses
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Google is on a green spending spree. By July 2011 it had invested over $700 M in clean energy. Today the figure is over $850 M and set to grow...
View ArticleKhosla’s Andrew Chung: The Post Solyndra Era
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues One day after Steven Chu defends his department’s handling of the DoE loan guarantee to Solyndra, we look at the impact of Solyndra on the venture...
View ArticleTom Brokaw: Climate Change is Real
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Days before the Global Climate Conference in Durban South Africa, NBC’s Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw delivered a strong message in Silicon Valley...
View ArticleBloom Energy: 2012 Update
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Bloom Energy‘s Director of Product Marketing, Asim Hussain, made a rare public appearance at SVForum’s Clean Tech Conference last week and shared some...
View Article2012 Energy Policy After Solyndra – Axelrod Interview
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The implosion of Solyndra last year was a blow to the Obama administration’s clean energy technology program, but as the 2012 State of the Union...
View Article2012 Energy Policy After Solyndra – Axelrod Transcript
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Here is a transcript of my interview with David Axelrod on January 27, 2012 re. Solyndra, 2012 Energy Policy and President Obama’s State of the Union...
View ArticleBloom Energy: A Closer Look at Adobe’s Bloom Boxes
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Ever wondered why so many companies and institutions like Google, eBay and Caltech are installing Bloom Energy’s fuel cell Bloom Boxes? Here’s a...
View ArticleSolarCity’s Lyndon Rive: On Biz Model, Growth & Domination
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues SolarCity’s CEO Lyndon Rive sat down with Fresh Dialogues last week to share details of the solar company’s business model, rapid growth, and ultimate...
View ArticleElon Musk & SolarCity: How does he contribute?
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues What do Elon Musk, SolarCity and Burning Man have in common? The answer is illuminating for those seeking climate friendly solutions to our energy needs....
View ArticleApple’s iCloud to be “insanely green”
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I recently recorded a story for KQED radio about Apple’s “dirty” iCloud and the more I dug into the issue, the greener the world’s most valuable company...
View ArticleThe Future of Green Building
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Did you know that buildings account for almost 40 percent of total energy use in the U.S.; almost 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions; and 12 percent...
View ArticleSolarCity IPO: Sunny Outlook with Clouds on Horizon
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week SolarCity made public details of its plans for a $200M IPO, an all too rare sunny event for the clean energy sector in this doom laden post...
View ArticleElon Musk on SpaceX IPO, Environment & Flying Cars
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last night Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors joined me in conversation for the Revolutionaries Series at the Computer History Museum in Silicon...
View ArticleAl Gore: On Carbon Tax, SOTU and Silicon Valley
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Yesterday, Al Gore braved the picket line in Silicon Valley to appear at the Commonwealth Club and discuss his new book, “The Future: Six Drivers of...
View ArticleSF Exploratorium: World’s Largest Net-Zero Museum
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues What’s the biggest and most impactful exhibit at the new San Francisco Exploratorium, opening April 17th? Get this: It’s not the 330 year-old Douglas fir...
View ArticleSteven Chu: On Obama, Carbon Tax and Cooking Tips
In this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview, former Energy Secretary Steven Chu shares his reaction to Obama’s major speech on climate change; explains how a carbon tax will drive U.S. competitiveness;...
View ArticleTesla Fires: Will GM Share Volt’s Protection Tips?
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Will GM experts share their wisdom with Tesla to make the Model S less prone to fires? That’s the question I put to GM’s Chief of Electrified Vehicles,...
View ArticleElon Musk Tops Best Green Interviews at Fresh Dialogues
It’s been a stellar year at Fresh Dialogues. Here are our top ten green interviews: from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Google’s Rick Needham. Most are exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews, but some were special...
View ArticleApple vs Samsung: The Battle for the Green Halo
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Yesterday, I was invited to join the live BBC World Service show, Business Matters to discuss Apple’s green manifesto and its rivalry with Samsung. I was...
View ArticleKhosla’s Andrew Chung Keeps The Cleantech Fire Burning
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues It’s no secret that cleantech has taken a bashing in the last few years, yet Andrew Chung, a partner at Khosla Ventures is still bullish about the...
View ArticleMad Men’s Harry Hamlin on Tesla, Clean Energy
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues It’s amazing who you bump into at Silicon Valley conferences! Last week, it was Harry Hamlin of Mad Men fame. Turns out he’s a huge fan of Tesla Motors...
View ArticleLesley Stahl: Climate Change Needs Alarm Bell
One day after the sweeping new rules to limit power plant emissions were announced by the EPA’s Gina McCarthy, China just announced a major carbon emissions cap. Yet the climate change deniers and the...
View ArticleJoe Montana To Invest in YC’s Helion Energy (Nuclear Fusion) & Backpack
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Energy was high today at the Y Combinator Demo Day, as a sea of young entrepreneurs jostled for attention – and funding – from a vast throng of Silicon...
View ArticleBBC Report: Tech Women Flock to Silicon Valley “Mecca”
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Silicon Valley is well known as the global hub of innovative technology. Can four weeks immersed in its unique ecosystem help inspire a new generation of...
View ArticleBBC Report: The Vast Potential of Nobel Prize Blue LEDs
This week, UC Santa Barbara’s Professor Nakamura (and two colleagues in Japan) received the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their big breakthrough? The Holy Grail of material science for many years: Blue LED...
View ArticleApple’s Insanely Solar Deal: 3 Reasons It Makes Sense
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In announcing a massive, unprecedented investment in solar power by a private company, Apple’s Tim Cook said yesterday in San Francisco, “We know in...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Koch Brothers vs Tom Steyer on Climate Change
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues News that the Koch Brothers are planning to raise almost a billion dollars in the run up to the 2016 Presidential election is sending shock waves through...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Jerry Brown & California High-Speed Rail
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues High speed rail in California was virtually dead, but California Governor, Jerry Brown brought it back from the brink. How did he do it? I joined BBC...
View ArticleElon Musk: Self Driving Cars Closer Than You Think
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Tesla CEO Elon Musk is so bullish about self driving cars and the promise of artificial intelligence, that he wonders if one day, there will be...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: California’s Drought and Your Lawn
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues As news broke about Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandatory water restrictions in California, I joined Roger Hearing on the BBC’s Business Matters program to...
View ArticleTesla’s Grand Battery Plan: Insider Steve Jurvetson Explains
This week I sat down with Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson to discuss his unique view of the innovation that’s going to transform our world in the next 50 years. We covered everything from Tesla’s...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Elon Musk Unveils Tesla Energy. Why Is It Big News?
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed he’s getting more like Steve Jobs by the minute. Just as Jobs helped revolutionize the personal computer, music...
View ArticleElon Musk: A Genius’s Life Story, in His Own Words
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues According to the New York Times, the new Elon Musk biography by Ashlee Vance will “likely serve as the definitive account of a man whom so far we’ve seen...
View ArticleBBC Letter From Silicon Valley by Alison van Diggelen: Tech In The Time Of...
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues There’s nothing that Silicon Valley likes better than a big problem to solve. But with California’s historic drought and mandatory water restrictions in...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: CA Drought Official’s Tips for Ag Tech Entrepreneurs
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues California’s worse drought in decades has spurred everyone to pay close attention to their water use. Farmers are especially thirsty for water saving...
View ArticleTesla’s Elon Musk Gives VW a Lesson in Clean Air at Model X Launch
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last night, the long awaited Tesla Model X was launched and Elon Musk took great pleasure in underlining its clean air qualities. Musk reiterated the...
View ArticleWho’s buying the Tesla Model X and Why? Here are 4 Buyer Types
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Elon Musk handed over Tesla Model X keys to five lucky new owners in Fremont last Tuesday. Thanks to the super sleuth investigation work of Dana Hull and...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Is The Tesla Model 3 Launch an iPhone Moment for the Auto...
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last night, I joined the BBC’s Business Matters to discuss the launch of Tesla’s Model 3 and the remarkable 325,000 deposits it garnered in just seven...
View ArticleBBC Report: Solar Impulse Flight, A Kitty Hawk Moment For Clean Tech?
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Thursday, May 12th at 3 am PST, the Solar Impulse plane leaves Phoenix, Arizona on the 11th leg of its journey, bound for Tulsa, Oklahoma. Solar...
View ArticleBBC Pick of the Week: Interview with Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, I was delighted to discover that my interview with Solar Impulse pilot and clean technology enthusiast, Bertrand Piccard was featured on BBC...
View ArticleBBC Report: Despite Tesla Crash, Authorities Urge Self-Driving Car Development
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Will the fatal Tesla crash slow or even derail the development of self-driving cars? That was the topic we discussed on this week’s BBC World Service...
View ArticleBBC Report: NextEV Founder Shares Supercar Inspiration
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The race to build the “ultimate” electric car is heating up. Every month, it seems another electric car company joins the fray to offer a car stylish...
View ArticleBBC Tech Tent: Trump, Zuckerberg and Clean Tech
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last week, I was in Scotland when the unexpected U.S. election results rocked the world. It felt like Brexit all over again, except more momentous and...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Fear and Uncertainty in Silicon Valley as Trump is Inaugurated
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On this historic inauguration day – that most of us thought we’d never see – I was invited by the BBC to opine on Trump’s likely impact on the economy,...
View ArticleBBC Dialogues: Should Elon Musk Stay on Trump Advisory Team?
By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Since Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined the Trump business advisory team in December he’s been under intense pressure to step down. That pressure intensified...
View ArticleElon Musk’s Ludicrous Plan for Tesla: BBC Dialogues
Elon Musk continues to make ambitious plans for Tesla Motors, some even call them “ludicrous.” Not content to make a niche product for electric vehicle enthusiasts, he now wants to conquer the mass...
View ArticleTesla Model 3 Deliveries Begin in Silicon Valley – first photos and video
Today, the van Diggelens took ownership of one of the first Tesla Model 3s. The cars just began shipping to non-employees this week. Our delivery date was scheduled two weeks ago, then cancelled...
View ArticleReinventing Food Production: Can Plenty Farms Technology Deliver?
Plenty, a Silicon Valley company, plans to revolutionize farming by bringing it indoors and dramatically reducing water use. It has ambitious plans to replicate its warehouse farms in Japan, China and...
View ArticleCalifornia Wildfires, Climate Change and Lies
The Paradise Camp Fire is the deadliest wildfire in California history. Why is that? To date 79 people have died and almost 700 are still missing as the fire still rages on. Here in Silicon Valley,...
View ArticleWill the Pandemic Stimulate a Green Recovery? A BBC Dialogue
___ By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues “Mother Nature is a very powerful educator” and her power has never been more apparent than during Covid-19.* But what have we learned from this...
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