Monday, November 16, 2009

Toshiba - Corporate Shift on Climate Change?

As a followup to one of Dr. Nielsen's points Friday at Citris, namely the rapid shift in corporation thinking toward the view that climate change is a strategic risk and also "business opportunity", the Financial Times today ran an article about Toshiba's new strategy to invest in stable, secure green technology and lessen its reliance on low margin "flashy consumer gadgets."

The company's new president, Norio Sasaki, who came rose to the top from the company's nuclear division, wants to double investment in its 'energy business' over the next 3 years.

This includes large systems for hydro, high-efficiency "clean coal" technologies, solar, efficient electricity transmission, and promising lithium-ion batteries for cars. And, yes, nuclear power, which Toshiba has considerable expertise.

[You didn't think Toshiba was doing this for 'social responsibility,' did you?]

[Update] Here's an SJ Mercury article, suggested by Steve Terry, about a new corporate based initiative to push the US toward 14 million electric vehicles by 2020, Nissan, FedEx, PG&E . (Americans have 250 MM cars; about 1 MM are hybrids.)

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