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Entrepreneurs can save the planet, but they need a cap-and-trade system to do it.

That's the premise of Earth: The Sequel, by Fred Krup and Miriam Horn, and published in March by W.W. Norton.

The authors, the head of Environmental Defense and a journalist now working for the same, respectively, argue passionately on behalf of emissions cap-and-trade as the solution to unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans (and others) to solve the climate crisis.

They also tell the story of some of "cutting-edge" innovators in the clean energy space, people like Conrad Burke of Innovalight, the solar nanotechnology company, Isaac Berzin, the chemical engineer who co-founded algae-farm biofuel developer GreenFuel Technologies, and the colorful Bernie Karl of Chena Hot Springs, who is trying to capitalize on geothermal energy found below the Alaska bush with the help of Fortune 500 company United Technologies Corporation.

The stories are simply told, some of them compelling, some bordering on boosterism, but the focus on entrepreneurs is welcome. There's nary a whiff of skepticism in these pages, however, which read like a virtual catalog of potential clean tech investments.

I realize the authors don't want to back one technology solution over another -- and the new green economy requires not just one silver bullet but a full chamber -- but a little more critical analysis of the full panoply would have been nice (see Pernick and Wilder's The Clean Revolution for more in-depth analysis of the sector).

Private investment is fine, the authors reason, whether entreprenuer or venture capitalist; however, it can't scale without a cap on carbon emissions. In their view, a cap is the only thing that will make alternative energy more affordable to generate. Without it, we will neither reduce emissions enough nor grow the burgeoning clean tech industry.

"To save the planet from calamity," write Krup and Horn, "innovation and deployment of known technologies must occur now at a pace as intense and a scope as vast as the settlement of the western frontier."

Scientists have determined we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent by midcentury to "stabilize the global climate." According to the authors, "we must produce at least 14 trillion watts of carbon-free energy by 2050 -- about as much power as we now get from the entire fossil energy business" to reach that goal.

The advantage of a cap is that it puts a true limit on total emissions; the problem is it can lead to higher prices for consumers and windfalls for certain companies.

Companies need the stability and predictability of a cap. As Dupont CEO Chad Holliday, whose company is part of a coalition calling for a national cap, says in a quote from the book, "You need some certainty on the incentives side and on the market side, because we are talking about multiyear investments, billions of dollars that will take a long time to pay off."

A national cap would provide that certainty. We just need to make sure it covers all the carbon economy and that the permits are sold not given away free, as in the current European Union scheme. There is even talk of a cap-and-dividend style program that would make equal payments to all Americans (along the lines of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend).

"We have before us an extraordinary opportunity," Krup and Horn conclude. "to harness the power of the United States of America's huge and dynamic markets to ensure a safe future...Enacting a cap on carbon will gather U.S. ingenuity and resourcefulness to serve a higher purpose: protecting this planet for generations to come. We have the talent and a brief window of time to create the world of possibilities. All we need is the resolve."

Higher purpose or base greed, I don't care; let's just get moving on the new green economy.

In the end, as NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg offers in his advance praise blurb, "Earth: The Sequel makes it crystal clear that we can build a low-carbon economy while unleashing American entrepreneurs to save the planet, putting optimism back into the environmental story."

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Everyday we hear it-gas went up again while we slept. For most of us, our wages don’t increase and our wallets don’t get fatter to accommodate the financial strain. Can’t afford a hybrid? Maybe you love your vehicle,but you don’t get good gas mileage. What if I told you there was a way to change all of this [...]

The other day, First Solar (Nasdaq:FSLR) announced new appointments to its executive management team. (Still bummed that they didn't call me, but nevertheless.)

Ken Schultz, John Carrington, and Jim Miller have been named executive vice presidents.

Here's a bit from the First Solar press release:

Mr. Schultz has led First Solar's marketing and business development efforts for more than 5 years and will now move First Solar forward in the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Advanced Development. In his new role, Mr. Shultz will drive innovation and commercialization of new products.

Mr. Carrington has joined First Solar in the role of Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Business Development, the position most recently held by Mr. Schultz. Mr. Carrington will direct First Solar's global sales and marketing function, including targeted expansions in Europe and the launch of First Solar's entry in the United States.

He brings extensive global marketing experience from his leadership positions with General Electric spanning more than 15 years. Mr. Carrington most recently served as general manager and chief marketing officer of General Electric Plastics (recently sold and re-named SABIC Innovative Plastics). While at GE, he also served as General Manager of automotive marketing in Tokyo, Japan; Pacific Marketing Director in Tokyo; and Commercial Director for GE's Noryl resin business in Selkirk, New York.

Mr. Miller has joined First Solar in the role of Executive Vice President, Product & Global Supply Chain Management. He oversees product management and supply chain activities including material sourcing, product management, and logistics for product delivery and take-back as part of First Solar's end of life module collection and recycling program. Mr. Miller has in-depth supply chain and product management experience, most recently at Cisco Systems as Vice President of Product Operations and as Vice President, Global Supply Chain Management. Prior to Cisco, Mr. Miller was with Amazon.com as Vice President of Global Supply Chain. He has also had management positions at Intel, Teledesic and IBM.

First Solar manufactures solar modules with an advanced thin film semiconductor process that significantly lowers solar electricity costs. By enabling clean renewable electricity at affordable prices, First Solar provides an economic alternative to peak conventional electricity and the related fossil fuel dependence, greenhouse gas emissions and peak time grid constraints.

For more information about First Solar, see firstsolar.com.

(Disclosure: I hold a long position in FSLR. This post is for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be investment advice nor an offer, or the solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell any securities.)

Dr. Hans Rosling rocked the house at TED in 2006 with his sportcaster-like presentation of data on human development trends (see embedded video below).

It really is quite a fascinating presentation; watch him describe trends in life length and family size like it's the Kentucky Derby. Wow.

Hans Rosling's TED Talk is really more like, what can I call it, a "datashow":



Rosling has also taken a look at CO2 emissions trends and finds that some humans emit much more than others.



For example, while "the total CO2 emissions from China are almost as big as those from United States, the emission from a single American is more than 6 times those from a person in China."

In the end, Rosling concludes, what "China needs is an environmental friendly way of producing electricity that is cheaper than coal." Don't we all?

You can find more GapCasts and information about Dr. Rosling's data at: gapminder.org