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In this audio interview, Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, talks about his proposal to retrofit vehicles in the U.S. with rechargeable batteries. His objective is to increase diversity in the sources of energy in the transportation sector, which is currently dependent on petroleum, and to protect against disruptions in imports. Grove speaks with McKinsey’s director of publishing, Rik Kirkland.
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Read the related article, ‘An electric plan for energy resilience’
Read a transcript of this interview
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As a McKinsey alum and entrepreneur in the US auto industry, I am admittedly declared and biased toward Grove and his main point.
Low cost, simple solutions and taking what exists and incorporating new propulsion systems: these are simply the disruptive ideas that will lead the way from the entrepreneurial point of view.
Grove is especially right that the VC industry will be dragged here kicking and screaming, because they have become most risk averse in general.
He is also right that several months ago there was more talk about a battery manufacturing revolution, and now there is less.
People and small companies, must not wait for permission or an invitation, as the answer to energy independence is right in front of us. They must demand and reward battery production and seek out simple solutions of retrofitting.
Grove on the mark.
Posted 2 July 2009, 07:30 by Jay Rogers
Re Walter Earl Roper comment, and Andy Grove article,
Andy Grove is on the mark for those who do not believe there is a global warming problem. Otherwise, he is leading us badly, and it appears from his words that he has every intention of doing so.
I have said elsewhere:
If people that understand thermodynamics don’t start raising a big fuss, the green recovery work will be converting Hummers and SUVs to electric plug-in operation, as prescribed by Andy Grove. Battery technology will probably get better so the US population will scratch its collective head (or whatever) trying to understand why everything is going to, well, heck. Maybe by that time there will be a few people around who paid attention in freshman physics class.
We desperately need better leaders than Andy Grove and the plug-in car folks.
It was encouraging to see Pres. Obama’s enthusiasm for changing the motivation for future career choices away from the financial world in favor of "engineering, science, teachers, and doctors" in his appearance with Jay Leno. Moving the discussion to the going forward mode seems like something we should be happy to see him do.
But Help *&^%$#* There is a looming disaster, not to mention a national embarrassment in the stampede to plug-in electric cars which Pres. Obama seems to think is a good thing.
This proves the stated need for engineers and scientists, none of whom should be unaware that heat energy does not equal electric energy. It depends on which way the conversion is done. If you make heat from electricity then heat energy does convert to electric energy and the equality holds; but if you try to make electric energy from heat you get very much less of that electric energy.
Who cares? Well, everyone who thinks there is a global warming problem should care. Most people have figured that electric cars simply shift the pollution source to someplace over the hill, and that zero emissions is absolute &^%$#$%. But the next part of the problem seems to need a little more knowledge of basic physics; that is, it takes a lot more heat energy to make electric energy than you get out in electric energy. It is easy to understand that since half of the electric power comes from burning coal, and coal produces a lot more CO2 than any other fuel for making the same amount of heat, maybe there is something very wrong happening here.
Sure, the combination of coal power, electric power distribution, battery losses, and electric motor losses could come out a little better than the old internal combustion engine, which might only get 20% efficiency from its traditional design. But wait, the Prius engine in that hybrid configuration was measured to get 38% efficiency (Argonne National Laboratory data). In the end, making this into a plug-in is a very bad idea.
The problem is much broader. The car companies are making plans to convert their existing vehicles to plug-in operation. Others of influence are working in this direction; In addition to Andy Grove, ex CEO
of Intel we have James Woolsey, ex CIA Director, Google, and the Automotive X Prize folks, for example.
Unfortunately, Jay Leno seems to not understand such things and consequently Pres. Obama came away seriously misled.
Surely there are many readers of ClimateProgress who understand that we will not be very successful at solving our problems if we proceed on the basis of flawed understanding of fundamental physics.
The arguments about coal can rage on but we will not come close to getting the right answers if it is not widely understand that heat energy does not convert to electric energy without a huge heat engine loss, whether it is in a car engine or central electric power plant.
Clearly it is going to take a lot more people yelling about this than just me.
Where is Dr. Stephen Chu? He has to know better.
Posted 20 March 2009, 14:10 by Jim Bullis, Miastrada Company
McKinsey & Company:
Andy Grove is once again right on the mark. President Obama and V.P Biden and the new CTO should listen very carefully and seriously to what he has to say. U.S. Automakers apparently have ignored everything except their salaries and bonuses and golden parachutes.
Sincerely,
Walter Earl Roper
University of Illinois
Posted 11 March 2009, 16:28 by Walter Earl Roper