The Harding Take

Jack Harding, chairman and CEO of eSilicon, in a keynote at the Semico Outlook last week, said the revolution of social power has converged with the technology revolution of Joules per second. How civilization handles this power consumption conundrum is central to every country’s political power. The point is that faster, smaller cheaper and the age of consumer electronics have ushered in the need for power management, not just on the chip, but as a matter of public policy that affects the day-to-day operations of semiconductor companies - and more importantly, the consumers of the silicon they make.

Harding said we live in a power-centric culture based on invention and innovation; that we are living in a power-centric world where political power will be based on being able to manage electrical power resources. Those who add the most value to power management will be those who succeed.
    Chip Design

The story neglects to mention that Jack is also chairman of Vermont Tiger, but let that pass.  After the piece came out, Jack sent us this, from somewhere in the world, via his iPhone:

... the speech drew a lot of interest as I made the point "power management" is both a critical microelectronics issue (a major topic of the conference) but also a global public policy subject. (I referenced VT Yankee).   I have now combined my worlds. It was inevitable.
    Jack 

What is interesting – and dismaying – is that in Vermont, we have the brains and the vision to understand these things and see how they can work.

Something else, however, is missing and as long as that is true, we will never be among "those who succeed."

Comments

[Paul]

An interesting article appeared in the St Pete (FLorida) Times today. It is reported tha the huge Peabody coal company will announce an investment in this company next week. The energy picture could look different in 10 years.
"At a demonstration plant near Santa Crz, Calif. (the company) Calera has developed a process that takes CO2 emissions from a coal or gas fired power plant and sprays seawater into it and naturally converts most of the CO2 into calcium carbonate, which is then spray-dried into cement or shaped into little pellets that can be used as concrete aggregates for walls or highways-instead of letting COs emissions go into the atmosphere and produce climate change."
"...Ian Copeland, president of Bechtel Renewables and New Technology-a tough minded engineering company-said 'The fundamental chemistry and physics of the Calers process are based on sound scientific principals, and it core technology and equipment can be intergrated with base power plants very effectively.' "

[Yesvy.blogspot.com]

My worlds came together that way a long time ago. When I had a consulting business for nuclear utilities, I noted that they kept their secondary water (PWRs) so pure they could barely measure the water chemistry. I was in Silicon Valley and knew that there were ultra-pure water specialist labs for the chip-makers. I brought the two worlds (life in Silicon Valley, career in utilities) together, with some very successful contracts.

Technologies are deeply tied together. Running modern electronics with 20% wind turbines on the grid would be pretty close to impossible. (No, the Danes aren't really doing it that way. More like 10% in practice.) If Vermont wants to keep a technical edge, we must keep Vermont Yankee or the equivalent. Wind is not "the equivalent."

Meredith

[shoe]

over-educated and under-achieving.

thru some perverse logic
it makes unicorns irresistible.

[bob zeliff]

The excerpt from the articles echos the powerful thoughts aligning with the smart grid, effiecinet use of power and in my opinion is the right type of foward thought. However the included comments are both backward looking (keep VY old worn out technology) and negative "we will never be amoung those who succeed. Is it I who do not undersand what the author said or the other backward looking commentators?

[Vermont Woodchuck]

Wowser, nuke power is backward looking old worn out technology.

Sail the "Cutty Sark" again and light the lamps with whale oil.

Emphasize the anode and dismiss the cathode. I like that line of reasoning. Very energizing, it is.

If you believe that VY is "old Tech", then subscribe to Toshiba's new mini reactors, which are selling well all across the third world. Two or three would handle all of Vermont's power instate with the smaller grids reducing the possibility of large scale blackouts. The smart grid nonsense government controls are rendered unnecessary.

[shoe]

Something else, however, is missing and as long as that is true, we will never be among "those who succeed."

over-educated and under-achieving.

it seems to promote an irresistable attraction
to unicorns.