Tag Archives: Clean Tech
Green Tech: Government Can Fuel Venture Capital
Posted on 23. Sep, 2010 by AHA.
Panelists from this afternoon’s green tech panel agreed that government action was necessary to ensure the continued investment from the private sector in the cleantech industry.
“It doesn’t happen without a clear signal from government,” said Micah Kotch, director of NYC ACRE at NYU-Poly.
Kotch also drew attention to California’s upcoming election, which could have significant implications on the future of the cleantech industry. If Proposition 23 passes, Kotch said, “in five years everything will look totally different, and not for the good.”
The rallying cry from all panelists was to keep innovating and keep investing. “The power generation market is the largest market in the world—and the biggest pollution generator,” said Russell Ford, President and CEO of Clear Edge Power. “Those of us with the resources and technology have a social responsibility to do something about that.”
Written by AHA! for Opportunity Green.
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Morning Keynotes: We’re All Connected
Posted on 23. Sep, 2010 by AHA.
Interconnectivity was the definitive theme of this morning’s keynotes.
First, Rick Ridgeway, Rick Ridgeway, vice president of environmental programs and communication for Patagonia, addressed the need to create landscape connectivity. Wildlife, Ridgeway explained, need corridors to roam for food and find mates—a need that has only increased with global warming.
“What happens when that need to roam is blocked?” Ridgeway asked. “Their ability to survive is diminished. And what are the consequences of that for us?”
Patagonia is tackling the need for landscape connectivity firsthand with its Freedom to Roam initiative. As Ridgeway explained, they’re connecting with big players across a number of industries—beginning, somewhat controversially, with BP and the oil industry.
Why sit down with the supposed enemy? Ridgeway explained that Patagonia has a philosophy of inclusion rather than exclusion. “We feel that the only way to bring long-term protection is to include the excluded,” Ridgeway said.
Because, after all, we’re all connected.
Steve Westly, managing partner of The Westly Group, also underscored the significance of interconnectivity. “Eighty-three million people in China will die of lung disease in the next 25 years,” he said. China has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest polluter, and its air pollution is affecting air quality as far away as the U.S. In fact, Westly said China is now responsible for 25% of L.A.’s smog.
But China, Westly argued, has taken stronger, swifter actions to fight pollutants and climate change—including stricter fuel economy standards and the largest reforestation project in history.
“The good news is that we’re seeing the best and the brightest minds turning their attention to the cleantech revolution,” Westly said. Cleantech is now the largest U.S. venture sector, he pointed out; in the third quarter of 2009, it finally eclipsed both biotech and IT.
Westly urged OG2010 attendees to join the revolution: “I challenge all of you to be the innovators who see a new world, and continue to make the U.S. the entrepreneurial leader of the world.”
Written by AHA! for Opportunity Green.
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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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Live Blogging OG09: Cleantech VC Panel Insightful, Sobering
Posted on 07. Nov, 2009 by Ben Upham.
OG’s Cleantech Venture Capitalist breakout session, led by John Babcock, Partner at Rustic Canyon Partners and Colin Bryant, VP at Paladin Capital Group, was a sobering reminder that not only did cleantech VC funding take a big hit in 2009, but that cleantech VC may never be quite the same.
Babcock and Bryant make their money by asking the tough questions, and frankly, by saying “no” many more times than “yes.” So they need to lean towards the pessimistic side in their analysis. But while both men do believe cleantech has a bright future, as Bryant said there may be a new “new normal” for cleantech VC, one where companies need a much clearer route to profitability (and thus a clearer exit route for VC funders).
According to Bryant, a consensus is growing that cleantech is unlikely to have the same returns on investment as other high-growth sectors like technology. The regulatory environment remains challenging as well: projects and even whole cleantech sectors can still depend on whether a national or local government passes a specific rebate or regulation. And the entire industry is waiting for Congress to act on cap-and-trade or some other far reaching environmental plan that will provide a true cost for fossil fuels, and even the playing field for renewables and efficiency measures.
Efficiency, in particular, remains attractive to VCs. A product that reduces energy consumption, whether in your house, car or elsewhere, even if only incrementally so, is more likely to attract capital than, for instance, a renewable energy system that will depend on a host of outside factors for profitability. This was a trend also mentioned at the OCTANe automotive cleantech panel OppGreen attended last month.
The answer to whether this new “new normal” is indeed so will have to wait until OG 2010.
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Interview with Jimmy Brandt, Venture Capitalist
Posted on 03. Nov, 2009 by Susanna Schick.
Jimmy Brandt is president of The Brandt Organization, Inc. of California, a personal investment vehicle he created to identify and fund Southern California startups that have developed, or almost completed development of, environmentally friendly new products or services.
OG: What are you looking forward to most about the conference?
Jimmy: Primarily networking. Secondarily, it would be great if I could identify an attractive investment opportunity.
OG: How do you see the investment climate for sustainable startups, in the midst of these economic times?
Jimmy: Angel money has dried up because there are far fewer exit opportunities, and angels have less money to invest. A lot are finding it necessary to provide additional funds to startups that didn’t grow as originally hoped. Indeed, some startups which likely would have been viewed favorably in good times will be unable to obtain funding today. For those that do, company valuations will be much lower than previously. As a result, it’s a very tough time for entrepreneurs. In contrast, there will be many opportunities for well-funded investors.
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Interview with Paul Bunje, Exec. Director of the Center for Climate Change Solutions
Posted on 01. Nov, 2009 by Susanna Schick.
Paul Bunje is the Executive Director of the Center for Climate Change Solutions (CCCS) at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment
OG: So what are some of the projects you’re working on at the center? It’s a little hard to tell from your website.
Paul: We never have enough time to update the website, but you can find the most up-to-date information at UCLA’s Climate Change Portal, which is like one stop shop for all things going on in climate, energy, sustainability. It’s still in the beta phase, but it is live. We try to stay on the cutting edge of interdisciplinary studies, so this keeps UCLA people aware of what’s going across campus, to better learn from each other, and prevent redundancies in research.
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OCTANe Event on Automotive Future Packs the House
Posted on 29. Oct, 2009 by Ben Upham.
Close to a hundred automobile execs and entrepreneurs, plus the venture capitalists that support them, as well as the curious and inspired, filled an auditorium at UC Irvine yesterday for a panel on the future of the automobile. The panel was sponsored by OCTANe, a group of businessmen and investors looking to spur business opportunities in Orange County.
Featuring some leading automobile “futurists,” including Bill Reinert of Toyota, who was instrumental in the roll out of the Prius in this country, the panel also had: W. Brian Olson, CFO of Quantum Technologies, a lead investor and provider of technology to start-up Fisker Automotive, which plans to launch the Karma extended range luxury electric sports car next year; Dave Barthmuss of GM, who talked about their Volt; Ben Knight, VP of Engineering at Honda Americas, who touted their fuel cell car the Clarity, and a representative of Mitsubishi, which will introduce the MiEV electric vehicle next year.
Reinert, who is National Manager of Advanced Technology for Toyota, is known as an electric-vehicle skeptic, and last night’s presentation fit that view to a T. Reinhart presented graphs from Lux Research, which predicted minimal market penetration of EVs for oil prices at less than $200 a barrel. He also said people will be buying fewer cars in the future, and that car share companies like Zip Car will take an increasing share of miles driven by urban dwellers.
Execs from GM, Honda and Mitsubishi were more optimistic about EVs and plug-in hybrids, and not surprising, since GM in particular has a lot riding on its extended range EV Volt, due out by November next year. And since the panel took place at UC Irvine, home of the National Fuel Cell Research Center, there was a lot of discussion of fuel cell cars as well, even though that technology has gotten short-shrift lately as electric vehicles have become the technology to beat.
Following the executive’s presentations was a panel with two venture capitalists that specialize in clean tech and efficiency technologies, Walter Schindler, Managing Partner at SAIL Venture Partners, and Dipender Saluja, Managing Director of Capricorn Investment Group. Both men have directed VC money at automotive cleantech. Capricorn, which was started by Jeffrey Skoll, former president of EBay Inc., has invested many millions in Tesla Motors, the all-electric car company.
Schindler of SAIL, a much smaller fund than Capricorn, brought along Stephen Smith of Enerpulse, an impressive small company which has figured out how to make a more efficient spark plug. Enerpulse’s spark plug, called the Pulstar, increases fuel efficiency an average of 4-7%, while increasing power 4-12%. That may not be as sexy as Fisker’s Karma, but it’s an innovation that could have a real, long term impact — and make a lot of money. From Enerpulse’s press material:
If, during the normal replacement cycle, PULSTAR™ replaced spark plugs, 250 million existing cars per year could reduce fuel consumption by an average of 6% or 22.5 billion gallons (536 million barrels). Since each gallon of gasoline (6.3 lbs/gallon) generates almost 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, a potential contributor to global warming, pulse plugs alone could actually reduce this greenhouse gas by 450 billion pounds (200 million metric tons) within four years. Extrapolated to the worldwide replacement of spark plugs, pulse plugs could potentially reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 1 billion metric tons per year.
It’s these little innovations, “building a better mousetrap,” that, over the long run, will have just as great an impact as a total sea change in the kinds of cars we drive. Which was why Enerpulse’s lowly spark plug may have been the most inspirational presentation of a very inspirational evening.
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Opportunity Green Reports on CRA/LA’s Progress with the Cleantech LA Initiative
Posted on 20. Aug, 2009 by Ben Upham.
Opportunity Green checked in this week with the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) to learn what progress the collaborative organization has made in their initiative to attract clean technology companies, large and small, to the Los Angeles area. As it turns out, there was both good and bad news.
Announced in April to much fanfare (see Opportunity Green’s coverage), Cleantech LA is a multi-agency collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, CRA/LA and numerous local institutions, including UCLA, Caltech, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to establish LA as the global leader in clean technology development.
One of CRA/LA’s key roles in all of this is the identification and redevelopment of cleantech opportunity sites around Los Angeles focusing on the “Cleantech Corridor” in downtown LA, but also including other industrial zones throughout the city. The centerpiece of this initiative is 20 acres of land at the corner of Sante Fe Avenue and Washington Boulevard, just southeast of downtown, which CRA/LA purchased last year.
So here’s the good news: according to Alexandra Paxton and Jenna Gulager of CRA/LA, the MTA is in negotiations with Ansaldo Breda, an Italian manufacturer of railway cars, to renew their contract to supply the MTA with light rail cars. If the contract is renewed, Ansaldo Breda said it would build a $70 million factory to produce the cars on the 20 acre site – a promising start to the nascent “Cleantech Corridor”.
