October 2010 Archives

Early bird registration for E3 2010: The Midwest's Premier Energy, Economic and Environmental Conference ends tomorrow at midnight!  Register now before normal rates take over on Saturday.



Check out the E3 2010 website for information on:
Keynote speakers
Track Speakers & Breakout Sessions
Agenda
Sponsors
Exhibitors

It's not too late to become a sponsor or exhibitor at the E3 2010 Conference.  For more information about sponsor or exhibitor opportunities, contact Stephanie Szurek.

Freeman Center for International Economic Policy, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, presents a Workshop on Global Policy

Path Dependence and Learning in the Global Clean Tech Industry
Presented by:
Professor Alfred Marcus
Carlson School of Management
 
12:45 - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, October 26
170 HHH - Stassen Room
Humphrey Institute, West Bank Campus

Clean tech - the production of electricity and fuels with a smaller environmental impact -saw a mini-investment boom occurred in the first decade of the 21st century. This study investigates the degree to which the strategies of clean tech investors varied over time in response to learning from investment successes and failures and from changes in public policy. The literature on path dependence predicts, all else equal, that initial patterns persist into the future. The past character of the investments will continue into the future without much alteration. Professor Marcus's model suggests that this pattern can be broken based on the feedback that investors receive from successful or unsuccessful rounds of venture capital funding and from the changes in the clean tech polices of global governments. Thus, there is another theoretical perspective that should be applied to the strategic choices that investors in this domain make, that is learning theory.  Its predictions would be that adjustments in strategic choices will take place based on factors included in the model. 

All are welcome!  Beverages and cookies will be served

It's been a busy couple of weeks as far as events go at the IonE, and there's more to come!


First off, we had 2 excellent seminars last week. As part of our Frontiers in the Environment seminar series on Wednesday, October 6, Eray Aydil presented "Eight-track Tapes, Compact Discs and Solar Cells."  View his powerpoint presentation here.

On Friday, October 8 we were pleased to bring special guest and friend of Jon Foley, Brian Stone, Associate Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, for a special seminar.  He presented "Extreme Heat in Cities: Notes from the Front Line of Climate Change," looking at warming trends in U.S. cities and strategies for managing climate change in urban environments. Click here to view his presentation. 

Just yesterday, Jason Hill provided our Frontiers in the Environment seminar, "Fuelish Choices: Improving Sustainability of Transportation" which the seminar room and ignited many discussions about the consequences of our various transportation fuel options, including "none of the above."  If you missed it, the video of his presentation is posted here.

Also yesterday, October 13, IonE director Jonathan Foley presented "Another Inconvenient Truth" at the TEDxTC conference at the Science Museum of Minnesota.   Video of his presentation will be posted at TEDxTC's website soon - we can't wait to check it out (again!)

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

The next Frontiers in the Environment seminar, October 20, will be presented by Alexandra Klass of the U of M School of Law.  She will be presenting "Property Rights on the New Frontier: Climate Change, Natural Resource Development, and Renewable Energy." If you'd like to do a little preparation in advance for Professor Klass's presentation, she's provided us to a link to view her paper online.


A Sea Change, 
November 4 at noon - Coffman Union theater
Join us for a look at the other side of global warming in a screening of the award-winning film, A Sea Change. This feature-length documentary is the first to focus on the significant and largely unrecognized impact of ocean acidification. This event is free and open to the public.

Thanks to the Science Museum of Minnesota for allowing us to screen this for IonE supporters, students, faculty and staff.  A special evening showing at the SMM will feature a panel discussion following the screening.
 

E3 2010: Register now!
Registration is now open for E3 2010: The Midwest's Premier Energy, Economic and Environmental Conference.
Featuring keynote speakers Daniel Kammen and Nicole Lamb-Hale, and a second day focused entirely on Wind Energy in the Upper Midwest.
Registrations available for each day individually or both together at a reduced rate.


MORE EVENT NEWS:
Fall 2010 Frontiers in the Environment schedule
IonE Events
U of M Environmental Events (Environmental Portal)