Insights by Opportunity Green

Opportunity Green 2010 – Day Two Conference Photos

Posted on 24. Sep, 2010 by opportunity.

Opportunity Green 2010 officially comes to a close. Check out day two speakers pictures and conference highlights!

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Opportunity Green 2010 – Day One Conference Photos

Posted on 23. Sep, 2010 by opportunity.

Check out the pictures straight from day one at Opportunity Green held at Los Angeles Center Studios!

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OgilvyEarth President Seth Farbman Discusses His Upcoming Session at OG2010

Posted on 16. Sep, 2010 by opportunity.

OgilvyEarth President Seth Farbman will sharing tips, processes, and insider info on greenwashing at the upcoming Opportunity Green conference. Don’t miss it!

OgilvyEarth President Seth Farbman Discusses His Session at OG2010 on Greenwashing from Opportunity Green on Vimeo.

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BBMG’s Raphael Bemporad Gives a Preview of His Upcoming Session at the OG2010 Conference

Posted on 14. Sep, 2010 by opportunity.

OG2010 Speaker Raphael Bemporad, principal and co-founder of BBMG, gives a preview of what you can expect to hear at his session at the OG2010 Conference.

BBMG’s Raphael Bemporad Gives a Preview of His Upcoming Session at the OG2010 Conference from Opportunity Green on Vimeo.

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The 2010 Opportunity Green Sizzle Reel

Posted on 13. Sep, 2010 by opportunity.

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Understanding Trends in Solar Development: An Interview with Beautiful Earth Group

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by opportunity.

I asked Lex Heslin, CEO and Founder of Beautiful Earth Group, a company in the process of developing Photovoltaic Installations in the Mojave Desert: “What are the most interesting trends in the adoption of renewable energy, specifically solar?” He identified three interesting trends affecting solar energy:

• RPS (Renewable [energy] Portfolio standard)
• Feed-in Tariffs
• Government Support
• 1) Let’s talk about RPS First.

Recently, half of the states in the Union have adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards which require utilities to generate or purchase  20% of their energy produced through renewable energy; from solar, wind, geo-thermal, biomass, biogas, and hydro power.  A lot of states haven’t jumped on board yet.  But, there are many calls from environmental groups and clean energy developers to make sure the RPS’s have the teeth to get it done.  It may take a couple of years, but states might be penalized if they don’t follow through with a renewable portfolio standards.

2)  Feed-in Tariffs

If you look at other countries around the world, they are working on putting legislative systems in place to make sure renewable energy is a focus.  Feed-in tariffs have been an effective method by governments and a reason why Spain and Germany* have the largest solar markets in terms of installed capacity in the world.  Government sets industrial policy by agreeing to pay a high price to encourage solar development.  These tariffs guarantee payment over a certain period of time. In some cases the government agrees to purchase energy at rates as high as 60 cents per KiloWatt Hour. It’s a high price in large part because pollutive energy doesn’t have to pay for the pollution generated, and most costs for solar are up front and then amortized.  However, a big benefit of this growth in renewable energy development is the creation of whole new industries with their necessary service providers, e.g. companies to move the solar panels, provide financing, etc., which tend to ramp up over night once these large incentives are put in place and developers go into production.

(*It should be noted that two weeks ago on January 21st, Germany announced it was lowering the feed-in tariff, following suit with Spain, because people contended the price was too high.)

Here in America we are looking for an effective model for how to price renewable energy.  The first place to adopt a feed-in system was in Gainesville, Florida.  They issued a Request For Proposal that was instantly oversubscribed due to limited MW capacity.  In Sacramento, California the municipal utilities department  introduced 100 MW of capacity and it was oversubscribed immediately.  This a big movement that happens through feed-in tariffs and its happening in a big way.

OG: So why are utilities purchasing these renewable energy contracts if they are currently more expensive than “fossil-fuel energy”?

Utilities are engaging in renewable energy contracts to meet RPS requirements, and also to lock in prices that are maybe just a little above traditional prices.  However, it is more stable and potentially cheaper in the long run.

Here’s some background on costs of energy: When coal, gas, hydro, and nuclear is blended, its on average around 12-15cents per kW/hr in California.  Contracts can be made for so-called peak delivery, during the hours of 2pm to 8pm when the sun is at its highest and hottest.  Solar is a good resource in hot places where people use a lot of A/C.  In some contracts, you can get 28-29cents per KW/hour.  Ultimately, you gotta remember that solar is an intermittent resource.

3) The final leg of what’s big for solar is government support (in large part a recent result of  the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)

Previously for renewable energy development we had an investment tax credit (for 30% of investment cost).  You would build your project and the equity investors would receive a 30% tax write-off. But, this only works if the investors have a large profit margin in a given year (enough to use the tax write-off to offset taxes on those profits). As corporate profits dried up over the last 2 years, the government  had to create something different. So the government created the cash grant in lieu of the Investor Tax Credit.

Now, after project is completed, instead of going after credits, you just get a check for 30% of the cost of the project (typically in 30-60 days). This is a huge improvement over previous credit programs in which it could take much longer to collect the credit. All this said, that program requires that you have shovels in the ground by Dec 31st 2010. Developers are racing to do so in order to receive the credit.

There’s one other pertinent program: the DOE Loan Guarantee Program. This “1705″ loan guarantee allocated 7 billion dollars in loan guarantees and up to 80% of the total project cost. The banks fund the project and only risk 20% of their funds, making it far easier to get the loan.

In 2009, the DOE budget was approx $30 billion for energy projects. Of that $30 billion, $23 billion went to nuclear and clean coal, which kills me, and only $7 billion was left for all of renewables (including. wind, hydro. etc.).  This program opened at the end of summer ’09 and about half has been non-committed.  The program ends in July, 2011.

OG: As we closed out the interview we asked “what some other cool trends that are emerging?”

Within solar there is cool stuff in new technology and new materials. The radical technology breakthroughs won’t be in Photo Voltaic but rather in the Solar Thermal plants. In California, there are some plants called SEGS (Solar Energy Generating Systems).

The first one is up in Barstow, using parabolic troughs, the C shaped mirrors you may have seen. These Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) plants have been running for 25-30 years. They focus heat on a synthetic material such as a sodium based liquid, which is then pumped through to heat up water, producing steam and generating energy through a traditional steam turbine.What’s exciting about the CSTs is the ability to store heat–up to 6 hrs after the sun goes down!

The other big movement in technology is towards new applications of solar thermal (power towers).  These new materials have a base PV that is organic PV, which grows material during the photovoltaic process and it can eventually replace silicon.

Finally, another emerging trend is smart grid technology.  Imagine if all your appliances ran from 2am-6am in the morning to get all the cooling it needed.  Now think about that with electric cars–you can shift the supply and demand balance. At the highest level, all of these appliances can start talking to the grid and say when it needs electricity.  This allows us to use energy more efficiently as it creates a better awareness of how to use it.

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Ranked 4th Globally in #green–Nominate @oppgreen for a Shorty Award!!

Posted on 22. Jan, 2010 by opportunity.

Movies have the Oscars, music has the Grammy’s, and literature has the Pulitzer.  Now, Twitter has the Shorty Awards.  In its second yeard, the Shorty Awards are emerging as a world wide, social media phenomenon.  Leaders of  Twitter communities and categories are being voted on every day by friends, followers, and fans.

What does it mean to be the official #green leader?

It means leading sustainability and #green business in ways that push the envelope.  It means involving the community, promoting innovation and creativity, and a willingness to represent the change we need to see in this world.

The OG team strives everyday to bring #green conversation into the forefront.  We believe Twitter is a platform for connecting business leaders, innovators, and clean tech designers.  Whether we tweet about new blogs, current events, or other tweets, social media is a central element to the daily operations @ Opportunity Green.

We are currently in 4th place.  Not too shabby but not too great either! Each @oppgreen tweet helps grow a sustainable culture of sustainability and communicate the positive impact of a triple bottom line.

If you value the tweets of @oppgreen, please rt: ” I nominate @oppgreen 4 a Shorty Award in #green b/c they [enter awesome reason]!”

Thank you again for your support and the best of luck to all!

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Back to the Grind: Growing a Start-up from a Daily Habit

Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by opportunity.

Opportunity Green strives to recognize organizations and businesses that promote sustainability through marketing, product development, and social relationships.  These businesses all have one central goal: to promote the Triple Bottom Line of People, Plant, and Profit.  As the clean-tech industry and green business phenomenon continues to grow and expand, Opportunity Green has taken the time to recognize start-ups and small companies that make a an impact bigger than their immediate size.  Out of this extensive search formed the OG25 list. Today, we are sitting down with one of our featured OG25 start-ups: BTTR Ventures.

BTTR Ventures turns spent coffee grounds into gourmet mushrooms for high-end restaurants and retail outlets. We took some time to catch up with co-founder Naikhil Arora following this year’s Opportunity Green conference, in which BTTR (pronounced “better”) was named to the inaugural OG25 list of the best green startups emerging today.

by David Pfister

OG: You and co-founder Alex Velez are fresh out of bachelor programs at Berkeley. Did you have any entrepreneurial experience leading up to BTTR Ventures?

NA: Prior to our current company, both Alex and I were passionate about building small organizations and turning ideas into reality. Alex founded a mentorship organization while at Cal, the Sage Mentorship Project, which now boasts 300 mentors. I spent my time in college building a fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Zeta, and served as its president. Also, I had previously spent six months in West Africa at the University of Ghana, Legon where I established a recycling system for the 30,000 person university campus.

OG: When did the idea for BTTR strike?

NA: It started as a project for a business ethics class during our last semester at Cal, taught by Professor Alan Ross. The class explored business situations that test one’s values, beliefs, and ethics. We also covered a lot of corporate social responsibility. Professor Ross was a big influence, showing us how business, profit, and community development can all happen at the same time. BTTR slowly blossomed into a business as we built relationships and conducted months of R&D. By the time graduation came around, we knew we had the opportunity of a lifetime ahead of us and decided to run with it.

OG: What did you take away from your experience at this year’s Opportunity Green conference?

NA: The OG conference was a great chance to talk to a lot of other social entrepreneurs and hear their experiences about growing a business. Adam Lowry from Method stands out. I liked hearing his experiences starting a company at a young age, and the roller coaster ride that it took him on. It definitely helped lend perspective to the journey we’ve undertaken.

OG: What is your most valuable habit or trait?

NA: I always think of the worst case scenario: Once I am comfortable with the worst case scenario, it gives me the drive to take risks and make drastic moves.

OG: What tips do you have for green entrepreneurs who are just getting started?

NA: There is no such thing as good luck. The harder you work, the more things will work out for you. While building a business, you will always hit road bumps, and it is how hard you work when things are at the lowest that determines your success. For us, there were months in the beginning when little was working out, costs were adding up and our cash was dwindling. It’s the work and effort you put in during those lows that eventually starts to pay off. When things are going well, some call it being lucky, but there is always a tremendous amount of work that goes into something before there is any success.

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