Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, talks about SES deal with SDG&E and other solar electricity issues

Stirling Energy Systems solar power dishes


Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems


a third visit to Etopia Media's Solar World by Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager, Stirling Energy Systems

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) yesterday signed the second of two big solar energy deals recently won by Phoenix-based Stirling Energy Systems.

To assess the importance and implications of this deal for the future of solar energy in the U.S. and worldwide, Etopia Media's Solar World spoke this afternoon with Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, about this agreement and what it means.

You can listen to that conversation with Robert Liden, Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, by clicking here.

You can also listen to an interview with Ed Van Herik, spokesperson for San Diego Gas & Electric, talking about this same deal by clicking here.

And you can listen to an interview with Rhone Resch, President of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), talking about the importance of this second of two big recent contracts for the delivery of sunshine-sourced electricity by clicking here.

For more information about Stirling Energy Systems (SES), click here.

For more information about the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), click here.

For more information about San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) (SES), click here.

listen to Robert Liden at SES explain how "solar-thermal" energy generation works, in two previous Solar World interviews

For a detailed explanation of the technology involved in the "solar-thermal" units that will be supplying the power that SDG&E will be buying from Stirling Energy Systems, you can listen to two interviews with Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, in which he discusses how they works and talks about a similar agreement recently signed between his company and Southern California Edison (SCE) to also provide them with electricity from SES's solar-thermal electricity-generating systems.

To do that, you can click on the title of the August 12, 2005, interview with Robert Liden, "Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, talks about its deal with Southern California Edison to build and operate the world's largest solar energy facility" and/or the title of the August 17, 2005, interview with him, " Robert Liden, EVP and General Manager at Stirling Energy Systems, talks about the global potential of solar-generated electricity and hydrogen".

Links to "Three Wars"

stem cells

avian influenza strain H5N1 (in gold)


Stem Cell Wars, Volume 1

Broadband Wars, Volume 1

Rx Wars, Volume 1

Etopia Media News Networks' Week in Review #1: July 31, 2005 to August 6, 2005

As usual, the focus this week at Etopia Media News Networks has been on the intersection of new technologies and politics, and, more specifically, the conflicted, confusing, and lagging response of the "political community" to technological innovation.


Energy and Geopolitics


On the global and national level, former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, after briefly mentioning his suggestion that the U.S. move as rapidly as possible to adopt a transportation policy based on "plug-in hybrid electric vehicle" technology during a guest appearance on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," made another guest appearance, this one on Etopia Media's Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle World to speak in much greater detail about the background and possibilities involved in transitioning the U.S. to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle-based future.


8-5-05: R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence, talks about a "plug-in hybrid electric vehicle-based strategy" for fighting terrorism and enhancing national security; supports Arizona Senator John McCain for President (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle #6)


Politics and Privacy


RFID (radio frequency identification) technology is already in place to help track the constantly-changing locations of millions of products. California State Senator Joe Simitian, who represents the area that includes Stanford University in Sacramento, wants a three-year moratorium on the deployment of this technology on mass-distributed, state-mandated identification documents such as driver's license. Roxanne Gould, spokesperson for the RFID industry, opposes such a moratorium.


The two of them appeared together on Etopia Media's California Politics Today on August 3, 2005, in a civil-but-somewhat-heated discussion of whether putting little radios that can broadcast personal information and possibly allow "data skimming" by identity thieves and stalkers, and second-by-second "location surveillance" by the police and other governmental authorities, on smart cards that the government can require you to carry is in the best interests of the people of California.


8-3-05: California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and AeA/High-Tech Trust Coalition spokesperson Roxanne Gould discuss SB 682 (California Politics Today™ #399)


Telecom Politics


On Friday, August 5, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that:


"big telephone companies no longer have to lease their high-speed Internet lines to competitors, giving the companies more power over the delivery of popular fast Internet services."


The day before, Richard Ramlall, Senior VP at "convergent" cable TV, phone and internet service provider RCN, spoke at length with Etopia Media's American Politics Today about the impact of distribution and content production consolidation on the choices available to U.S. media consumers and of the efforts his company is involved in to create a "level playing field" for the benefit of these consumers.


8-4-05: RCN SVP Richard Ramlall talks about avoiding "a perfect storm" of consumer-hostile telecom reform and creating a consumer-friendly "level playing field" (American Politics Today #39)


Stem Cells


More so than usual, research involving embryonic stem cells was in the news, and, as usual, Etopia Media News Networks led the way in coverage of the biomedical, ethical, financial, and political aspects of this growing debate.


8-4-05: Stem cell update, August 4, 2005 (American Politics Today #40)


8-3-05: Motion to consolidate two stem cell cases is granted (California Politics Today™ #398)


8-3-05: Dana Cody updates stem cell lawsuit consolidation proceedings story; calls ICOC Chair Robert Klein "a religious bigot"; says her arguments are constitutionally, not religiously, based (California Politics Today™ #397)


8-1-05: California State Treasurer Phil Angelides' press secretary discusses "bridge funding" of embryonic stem cell research in California (California Politics Today™ #396)


Media and Communications Technology


As part of its constant and on-going effort to keep its audience up-to-the-minute on the latest developments in digital communications technology, and, whenever possible, in ways that demonstrate that technology itself, two articles on Etopia Media's Entertainment Technology World highlighted the latest in personal video communications, in an interview with Jason Loeffler at EZonics, the company that provides the webcams for many Etopia Media News Networks remote video interviews, and another in-depth interview about the roll-out of advanced digital cinema technology in the context of the rapidly-evolving film/video distribution-and-exhibition space with Kurt Schwenk, now the General Manager of the Digital Cinema Division at NEC Solutions (America), located in the heart of "Hollywood," in Burbank, California, not far at all from the Etopia Media studios in, um, Studio City, California.


8-4-05: Jason Loeffler, Sales Manager at EZonics, talks about its iContact Pro web cam (Entertainment Technology World #32) (includes video)


8-2-05: Kurt Schwenk, General Manager, Digital Cinema Division, NEC Solutions (America), updates the digital cinema story (Entertainment Technology World #31)


Listen to and watch all, or even a good chuck of, these timely reports from Etopia Media News Networks and you'll have a better than random chance of gaining some portion of that understanding of today's technopolitical environment that can help you successfully navigate your business and personal lives in these rapidly-changing times.

First ten Etopia Media News Network remotely-recorded video interviews

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Jason Loeffler, Sales Manager, EZonics
(EMNN Video #10--August 4, 2005)


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Scott Lomond, Executive Vice President, SightSpeed
(EMNN Video #9--July 30, 2005)


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Lee Tsao, Worldwide Solutions Director, Pronto Networks
(EMNN Video #8--July 30, 2005)


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Robin Williams, Ph.D., Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, University College, London
(EMNN Video #7--July 4, 2005)


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Randal Picker, Professor of Law, University of Chicago
(EMNN Video #6--May 13, 2005)


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Jim Pickrell, President, Brand X
(EMNN Video #5--April 14, 2005)


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Dr. Neil Martin, Medical Director, Neurosurgery ICU, UCLA Medical Center
(EMNN Video #4--April 8, 2005)


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Yulun Wang, founder and CEO, InTouch Health, Inc.
(EMNN Video #3--April 7, 2005)


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Etopia Media's ETW reporter with Tony Dunckel and Troy Stein, TechSmith product managers for SnagIt® and Camtasia Studio®, respectively
(EMNN Video #2--March 28, 2005)


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Dianah Neff, Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia
(EMNN Video #1--March 22, 2005)

Internet's future at stake with competing telecomm reform bills

U.S. Senator John Ensign, Republican, Arizona

Click on the title of this blog to access an article concerning the upcoming battle between telecommunications legislation choices that would empower citizens to determine their own digital destiny or hand control of the Internet over to a power-and-profit-crazed duopoly of telco and cable companies.

For more on this story, click here.

Midwest renewable energy pioneer talks about wind power

Top of Iowa Wind Farm Phase III, from Midwest Renewable Energy Corporation

Click on the title of this post to listen to Stephen Dryden, President of Midwest Renewable Energy Corporation, talk about generating wind power in the upper Midwest.

For more on this story, click here.

Greg Hanssen at EnergyCS talks about the emergence of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)

Click on the title of this article to listen to Greg Hanssen, VP at EnergyCS, talk about the emergence of a new generation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) capable of attaining triple-digit mileage.

For more on this story, click here.

R. James Woolsey, former CIA Director, calls for immediate move to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)

R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence; co-chairman, Committee on the Present Danger

( Photo from October 30, 2003, hearings, "Panel III - China’s Energy Diplomacy and its Geopolitical Implications I" of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission)

Click on the title of this post to learn more about former Director of Central Intelligence and current co-chairman of the "Committee on the Present Danger" R. James Woolsey's call for an immediate transition to a regime of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as the best way to improve U.S. national security and fight terrorism.

In the words of the former CIA Director, "It's the batteries, stupid."

For more about this story, click here.

Listen to MTA official talk about "super-bus" Orange Line in San Fernando Valley

Los Angeles County Metro Orange Line map

NABI 60BRT

Click on the title of this post to listen to an interview with Roger Dames, Deputy Executive Officer and Orange Line project manager at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the organization responsible for designing, building, and operating the Orange Line and the rest of the Metro Rail system, about that system's probable late October/early November target date and about other significant aspects of this advanced vehicular transportation system.

For more about this story, click here.

Listen to Professor Mark Jacobson at Stanford University talk about wind power

map of mean wind speeds 80 meters above the ground in N. America in 2000

(chart taken from "Evaluation of global wind power," by Cristina L. Archer and Mark Z. Jacobson, a summary of which was submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres in September, 2004)

Click on the title of this post to listen to a detailed explanation from Stanford Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Mark Jacobson about where the wind comes from; how it's distributed around the earth; how it can be converted to electricity using wind turbines; how that energy can be used to power vehicles; what the trade-offs are, environmentally, in using various methods to produce hydrogen to fuel vehicles; and how power from the wind figures in the overall picture of using renewable sources of energy to provide the force required to move vehicles around on the surface of the earth.


Mark Z. Jacobson, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University

For more about this story, click here.

Learn about breakthrough "plug-in hybrid electric vehicles" (PHEVs)

rare and historic EV1 promotional hat, circa 1996

A good way to learn more about the breakthrough EDrive technology that creates "plug-in hybrid electric vehicles" (PHEVs) is to take a look at the May 2, 2005, press release entitled "California Firms Join Forces To Develop New Plug-In Hybrid Technology.".

For more on this story, click here.

California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talks about SB 682, warns of "surveillance by skimming" dangers, calls for more discussion

Joe Simitian, California State Senator (D-Palo Alto)

Click on the title of this post to hear California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talk about SB 682, a bill to regulate RFID tags on California State and local government identifiction documents.

For more on this story, click here.

California resumes medical marijuana ID card trial program

marijuana, in a DEA photo

California's Department of Health Services has resumed the medical marijuana ID trial program that it suspended following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, in Gonzales v. Raich, that Congress' constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce overrides the right of California to exempt medical users of marijuana from federal criminal prosecution.

Click on the title of this post to listen to Ken August, spokesperson for the California Department of Health Services, talk about the original decision to suspend the state medical marijuana ID trial program.

For more on this story, click here.