The FountainBlue clean
energy newsletter is designed to communicate and connect regularly with our
clean energy members, to make special offerings to our members, and to share
wisdom gained from our community. It is sent free monthly to all FountainBlue
clean energy members of our community, with additional information and access
to our members through our Wild Apricot site.
To sign up for our
monthly newsletter, complete the form to the right, or e-mail us at info@svcleanenergy.com.
February 2012: What's New with FountainBlue: Advisory Boards
We are serving on the advisory boards of for select members of our community, supporting their marketing, business development and recruitment efforts. Currently, we are providing advisory and business development support Speck Design and their product innovation services http://www.speckdesign.com, and advisory and investment strategy support for Bell Biosystems and their research on heritable magnetic signature in therapeutic cells, with huge implications for diagnostics, cancer, regenerative medicine and cell therapies. http://www.bellbiosystems.com. For more information about any of these organizations and the services they provide, and more information about the organizations where we serve, visit http://www.fountainblue.biz/consulting/advisory.html.
January 16, What's New with FountainBlue: Members as Referral Partners
At the request of our members, we will be sending out our job reqs to our members, inviting everyone to strategically forward them on to their networks of contacts. Thank you in advance to everyone who elects to forward our reqs. Please tell your contacts to mention that you connected him/her to us, so that we can track the origin of our candidate leads. We are happy to pay a referral fee to members who recruit candidates who get hired and stay for a ninety-day period. You may also elect to donate your referral fee to a FountainBlue-approved nonprofit or a nonprofit of your choice. For more information about our job leads, visit http://www.fountainblue.biz/openreqs.html.
January 9, What's New with FountainBlue: Giving Back
Since our launch in January 2006, FountainBlue has been committed to giving back to the community through active participation and financial support. As we shift into recruiting and consulting, we are pleased to contribute financially to nonprofit causes providing executive education, educational benefit, and women-in-leadership. Currently we are supporting the following types of organizations:
Executive Development Organizations:
Career Actions
Educational Organizations:
A Schmahl Science Workshop, as a member of the advisory committee.
Women-In-Leadership organizations:
Global Fund for Women
Global Women Leadership Network
Women's Initiative
Please e-mail us with the following information at info@whenshespeaks.com or complete the form above if you would like to considered an approved, adopted FountainBlue cause.
Your name
Recommended Nonprofit
Your involvement with Nonprofit
Why you would recommend this Nonprofit
Why FountainBlue's membership of clean energy, high tech, and life science entrepreneurs would find this nonprofit beneficial to the community overall
We are happy to profile a nonprofit each month, and recommend any of these nonprofits as worthy causes.
If you’re interested in catching up over the phone or in person, please visit http://meetwith.me/lindaholroyd and suggest a good time to connect. Please also let us know if we can support you with your recruiting, consulting and coaching needs as you grow your business.
January 2 Update: A New Year, A New Newsletter Format!
We are looking forward to an exciting new year, and an exciting new time for the valley and the global community! It is our hope that our weekly newsletter will provide you with relevant, useful information about business and market trends and their implications for your business. We invite your inquiries, suggestions, feedback and interest as we continue with our consulting, coaching and recruiting efforts! If you’re interested in catching up over the phone or in person, please visit http://meetwith.me/lindaholroyd and suggest a good time to connect. Please also let us know if we can support you with your recruiting, consulting and coaching needs as you grow your business.
This Month's Hot Clean Energy Trend and Profiles in Innovation
For February, we are featuring a Monday, December 5, 2011 article in International Business Times entitled China Leads Global Investments in Renewable Energy By Esther Tanquintic-Misa http://au.ibtimes.com/art/services/print.php?articleid=261083
The world's largest consumer of energy, China, is poised to spend $473.1 billion on clean energy investments in the next five years. The investment, according to Wang Yuqing, deputy director of the National Commission on Population, Resources and Environment, is part of government efforts to develop a green economy and promote environmentally friendly industries amid its growing population and rapid urbanization. The planned investment is part of China's 12th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2011-2015) which aims for an installed solar energy capacity of 10 gigawatts by the end of the period. China also wants 20 per cent of its total energy demand to be met by wind and solar by 2021. In 2010, the world's second-largest economy invested over $47.31 billion in various renewable energy sources projects. Renewable energy is poised to grow faster than other electric generating alternatives, accounting for nearly one-third of the world's electric generating capacity by the end of 2035, with China and India projected to consume one-half of that energy growth.
Earlier, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2011, China had been ranked as the world's largest consumer of energy surpassing, the U.S. and EU. The report showed that in 2010, China used up 20.3 per cent of the world's energy, overtaking the U.S. at 19.0 per cent and the EU at 14.4 per cent. The International Energy Agency echoed the findings and said China will consume more energy than India, Brazil, even more than the European Union and the U.S. combined.
China will exchange positions with the United States as it becomes the world's largest consumer in 2035, IEA said. The agency predicts China will consume nearly 70 per cent more energy than the U.S. In the next 25 years, 90 per cent of the projected growth in global energy demand will come from non-core economies. China alone will account for more than 30 per cent.
Since 2004, Heller Manus International, a San Francisco-based architecture and urban design firm, with offices in San Francisco and Shanghai, has experienced dynamic growth throughout China fostered by strong professional relationships with clients, decision makers, community organizations and local design firms. Their practice area includes major sustainable architecture and urban design projects throughout China including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Inner Mongolia, and the greater Beijing area. Heller Manus has worked on over 950 square kilometers of urban design projects and 8 million square meters of sustainable architecture in China. The guiding principles of these sustainable urban design and mixed-use projects include core elements of sustainability, an emphasis on using green space as both a connection to nature and as an organizing element of the overall plan, and a fundamental need to get people out of their cars, onto public transit, and encouraging pedestrian circulation. For more information, visit http://www.hellermanus.com.
Past Clean Energy Trends and Profiles in Innovation
For
January 2012, we are featuring ‘Six Investment Themes for 2012’, from
International Business Times, written by, Moran Zhang, December 23, 2011,
Opinion of Kent Croft, portfolio manager at Croft Value Fund.
1. Natural Gas
Natural gas prices should begin
to benefit from liquefied natural gas exports and increasing sources of
domestic demand. Croft believes that exploration and production companies with
large natural gas exposures will be prime beneficiaries of higher natural gas
prices going forward.
2. Fresh Water
The supply and demand function
for fresh water is a compelling theme with far-reaching consequences. As water
demand grows via emerging markets while supply is reduced via pollution and
other forces, providers of water infrastructure and pump and sanitation systems
should see market growth and pricing power.
3. Agriculture
Croft remains bullish on the
overall theme of agriculture and rising crop prices via ever-increasing world
food demand. Emerging market growth has driven up consumption patterns for
higher-protein food sources which have led to higher prices of grain, corn,
soy, etc. The major beneficiaries are producers of fertilizer, irrigation
systems, and farm equipment.
4. Broadband Internet (see high
tech trends newsletter for full article)
5. Timber
Despite a continued weak domestic
housing backdrop, timber remains an attractive investment opportunity. This is
largely due strong foreign demand prospects and an eventual bottom in the U.S.
with stocks in the group trading at a discount to net asset values with solid
dividend yields.
6. Electric Grid
A lack of investment in the
electric grid by developed countries over the past decade and longer has
created pent-up demand for new infrastructure as population growth and
increasing consumption trends drive higher overall demand.
Gridata is a January profiled company on smart grid innovations.
Gridata's SiteAlert saves grocery chains and restaurants on their energy
and maintenance costs through diagnostic analytics on data coming from onsite
sensors.
Gridata’s innovation is “Cloud Analytics for Sensor Telemetry,” which
serves as an online decision support system for small and medium businesses in
cold-chain sectors like grocery, restaurant, pharmacy, and food processing. We use real-time sensors to detect
emergencies, energy hogs, poor maintenance conditions, and improper equipment
use. Our flagship SiteAlert product then
delivers the right diagnostic information to the right user at the right time.
Gridata also continues to make its Energy Intelligence platform available
to OEMs. This embedded energy management integration solution is designed for
consumer and commercial electronics manufacturers who are adding energy
management to their product lines. For more information, visit www.gridata.com.
Zuvo Water is a profile in water innovation, supporting our January trend.
Zuvo Water LLC is a global
innovator of chemical-free water products. Zuvo Water’s product portfolio is
based on a patented technology platform that reproduces the photo-oxidation
process that naturally occurs in the environment. The Zuvo® Water Filtration
System goes beyond simple carbon filtration. By combining ultraviolet light,
ozone and carbon filtration, the Zuvo system recreates nature’s way of
cleansing water. It is a sophisticated yet simple under-counter,
drinking-water-treatment appliance that reduces chemical, particulate, and
microbiological contaminants.
Zuvo Water practices sustainable
design to keep products in use longer, thereby reducing its impact on the
environment and keeping them out of an already crowded waste stream. The
company’s goal is to innovate with the environment in mind, using materials and
methods that minimize the use of energy, optimize recycling, and reduce the
cost of transportation. Zuvo Water is working towards a day when everyone has
access to safe water.
Subscribe to the Zuvo Water Blog
and join the company in its mission.
If you are interested in
nominating a company for an upcoming newsletter, please visit or e-mail your
profile to info@svcleanenergy.com
with the following information:
Antenna Group is the nation’s largest clean technology public relations firm, representing companies in sectors including renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, energy storage, finance, waste management and water. Here, drawn from input provided by our client-partners, is Antenna’s list of the top 10 clean tech trends to watch in 2012. Judging from the changes that are in the offing, 2012 is shaping up to be a critical year in the transition to a cleaner, more energy-efficient world.
Energy efficiency goes retro – New construction has taken a massive hit over the last few years, resulting in fewer new green builds, but that hasn’t slowed retrofit demand for energy efficient devices. According to a report by McGraw-Hill Construction in 2011, 78 percent of building owners plan to retrofit existing properties with energy efficient improvements. Driven by the increased awareness in Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE states (in which property owners can finance solar systems or energy efficiency retrofits through city loans that are paid back through property taxes over terms of 15 or 20 years), Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge and new financing models that make it simple for cities and property owners to do upgrades, expect to see energy efficiency finally claim its moment in the spotlight.
Cellulosic biomass comes online; drives U.S. manufacturing jobs – Imagine being able to turn a wide variety of biomass inputs including wood, agricultural waste and non-food crops into fuels, plastics, nutraceuticals (food products that reportedly provide health and medical benefits) and pharmaceuticals. That’s the promise of bio-based materials, which are expected to replace first-generation biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, as well as a wide variety of synthetic chemicals. As strategics such as BASF Corp., DuPont and Dow Chemical Co. enter the cellulosic biomass game, watch for the number of U.S.-based biorefineries to dramatically increase.
Recycling finds its true potential – Many of us still remember the awareness campaigns that drove what are now highly successful changes in consumer behaviors with regard to recycling. As went paper, glass and plastics, so go consumer electronics and tires. A number of states already have legislation around recycling what consumers have deemed “waste” and are supporting efforts to renew those materials and give them second — and perhaps even third — lives. Watch for the big box, telecom, tire and asphalt sectors to pick up the sustainability baton for Recycling 2.0.
The EV market picks up speed, while Tesla, Fisker get some competition – While we’ve heard a lot about electric vehicles such as the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the gas-electric hybrid Chevy Volt, in fact there are precious few of these cars on the roads. But that’s expected to change in 2012 when a much wider selection of cars that require little or no gasoline will hit the market. Almost every major automaker — and some minor ones — plans to have at least one plug-in model on the market by the end of 2012. These include three models from the world’s leading seller of hybrids, Toyota — a plug-in hybrid version of the popular Prius, the all-electric Scion iQ EV and the 2012 RAV4 EV, an all-electric compact SUV. Also hitting the market in 2012 is the all-electric Ford Focus Electric, which will compete with the Nissan Leaf. Other EV models planned for 2012 include the four-passenger Mitsubishi i-MiEVc, and — for the luxury loving — the Rolls Royce 102EX, the Tesla Model S luxury sedan and the Fisker Karma luxury sports plug-in hybrid. Accompanying the EV rollout will be a dramatic expansion of the national car-charging infrastructure, with Pike Research, a clean tech market research firm, predicting more than 1.5 locations by 2017.
Smart meters reach critical mass – For decades, utilities have been forced to rely on customer reports to discover a power outage. This decidedly low-tech approach to reliability is now changing with the national deployment of smart meters that record the consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less, communicate data back to the utility and allow consumers to better manage their electricity usage. And, the national deployment of smart meters is forging ahead: according to federal sources, the current penetration rate is 13 to 18 percent, with a penetration rate of more than 50 percent predicted by 2016.
Offshore wind takes root in the Northeast – While small wind continues to grow, the greatest potential for the significant generation of energy from wind lies with offshore wind. Much of the eastern seaboard is ideal for offshore wind as a result of the fact that the relatively shallow waters of the continental shelf make it easier to locate wind turbines far offshore where the winds are the strongest. A 25-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Atlantic City, N.J., which is expected to be the nation’s first, is now moving ahead, and the Garden State can look forward to the construction of larger offshore wind farms with the implementation of the nation’s first OREC, or Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate, a wind incentive similar to New Jersey’s innovative Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, which propelled the state to second place nationally after California in solar capacity and inspired similar incentives in many other states.
Dropping balance-of-system costs nudge solar closer to grid parity – As a result of a dramatic decline in module prices (prices dropped approximately 40 percent in 2011 — a decline that is expected to continue through 2012), attention has shifted to solar balance-of-system (BOS) costs, a term that refers to costs other than those of the modules. While BOS costs include physical components such as inverters and racking, the largest share of BOS costs is for non-physical costs such as labor and permitting. These costs are also expected to decline in 2012 as a result of industry consolidation resulting from the expiration of the Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program. The solar boom stimulated by the grant attracted many small installers (the “two Chucks and a truck” phenomenon) who will be replaced in a maturing market by larger players who will bring improved operating efficiencies to the industry, nudging solar closer to grid parity.
Distributed solar continues to thrive – While debate continues on the role of utility-scale photovoltaic systems in the nation’s energy mix, the small- to mid-sized commercial solar segment has witnessed explosive growth, particularly on flat-roofed commercial buildings that are ideally suited to the deployment of solar. New Jersey, for instance, where strong solar incentives and high energy prices have contributed to a robust local solar industry, has now outpaced California as the nation’s top commercial solar market, thanks to a high concentration of such buildings. In addition to reducing electricity costs and providing a hedge against future rate increases, distributed — or “behind-the-meter” — solar also has the advantage of generating power at the site where it is used, thus increasing energy security and diminishing demand for utility infrastructure. The U.S. growth pattern in commercial solar is mimicking what has occurred in Europe, most notably in Germany, the world’s solar leader, where the German Solar Energy Industry Association estimated in 2009 that 80 percent of capacity was roof-based.
Grant-to-tax credit shift means more third-party ownership of solar systems – The introduction of the federal Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program as a substitute for a federal Investment Tax Credit in 2009 created a change in the form of ownership for most commercial solar systems. Prior to the implementation of the treasury grant, which covers 30 percent of the cost of solar, most commercial systems were owned, operated and maintained by third-party investors with the tax appetites to monetize the tax credit. These investors typically sold the power back to the host entities at reduced rates under a long-term contract called a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. In addition to requiring no capital outlay, the benefits for the host entities included a fixed rate, a smaller carbon footprint and a visible renewable asset. After the implementation of the Treasury Grant Program, the form of ownership shifted, with the majority of commercial building owners taking advantage of the immediate payback offered by the grant to install and operate the systems themselves. With the grant reverting to a tax credit in 2012, however, we can expect a shift back to third-party ownership.
Gas-to-liquids technologies go mainstream – Gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies, which transform natural gas into liquid transportation fuels, went mainstream with the recent completion of Shell’s $19 billion Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, an Arab emirate. The world’s largest GTL plant will process about three billion barrels of diesel, jet fuel and synthetic oil over the course of its lifetime from the world’s largest gas field. The project, which will reach full production in 2012, will add almost 8 percent to Shell’s worldwide production, making it the company’s primary growth engine for 2012. The completion of the Pearl facility is a harbinger of things to come: GTL technology is expected to play an increasingly significant role in meeting energy demand in the United States, which has some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. South Africa-based Sasol, which also has a GTL plant in Qatar, has announced plans to build a $10 billion GTL plant Louisiana. If it moves ahead, it would be the United States’ first GTL facility. Once viewed as not economically feasible, GTL technologies are gaining traction in the face of declining oil reserves, high oil prices and increased concern about energy security.
