For the first time in human history, concentrations of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) could rise above 400 parts per million (ppm) for sustained lengths of time throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere as soon as May 2013.

To provide a resource for understanding the implications of rising CO2 levels, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is providing daily updates of the “Keeling Curve,” the record of atmospheric CO2 measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa. These iconic measurements, begun by Charles David (Dave) Keeling, a world-leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation and Scripps climate science pioneer, comprise the longest continuous record of CO2 in the world, starting from 316 ppm in March 1958 and approaching 400 ppm today with a familiar saw-tooth pattern. For the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels never exceeded 300 parts per million.

“I wish it weren’t true, but it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400-ppm level without losing a beat,” said Scripps geochemist Ralph Keeling, who has taken over the Keeling Curve measurement from his late father. “At this pace we’ll hit 450 ppm within a few decades.”

The website keelingcurve.ucsd.edu offers background information about how CO2 is measured, the history of the Keeling Curve, and resources from other organizations on the current state of climate. An accompanying Twitter feed, @keeling_curve, also provides followers with the most recent Keeling Curve CO2 reading in a daily tweet.

Dave Keeling began recording CO2 data at Mauna Loa and other locations after developing an ultraprecise measurement device known as a manometer. Ralph Keeling took over the program in 2005 and also heads a program at Scripps to measure changes in atmospheric oxygen. The Scripps O2 and CO2 programs make measurements of CO2 and other gases at remote locations around the world, including Antarctica, Tasmania, and northern Alaska. The Scripps programs are complementary to many other programs now measuring CO2 and other greenhouse gases worldwide.

Scientists estimate that the last time CO2 was as high as 400 ppm was probably the Pliocene epoch, between 3.2 million and 5 million years ago, when Earth’s climate was much warmer than today. CO2 was around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution, when humans first began releasing large amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. By the time Dave Keeling began measurements in 1958, CO2 had already risen from 280 to 316 ppm. The rate of rise of CO2 over the past century is unprecedented; there is no known period in geologic history when such high rates have been found. The continuous rise is a direct consequence of society’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels for energy.

Each year, the concentration of CO2 at Mauna Loa rises and falls in a sawtooth fashion, with the next year higher than the year before. The peak of the sawtooth typically comes in May. If CO2 levels don’t top 400 ppm in May 2013, they almost certainly will next year, Keeling said.

“The 400-ppm threshold is a sobering milestone, and should serve as a wake up call for all of us to support clean energy technology and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, before it’s too late for our children and grandchildren,” said Tim Lueker, an oceanographer and carbon cycle researcher who is a longtime member of the Scripps CO2 Group.

Learn more at scripps.ucsd.edu.

Since October of 2008 CleanTECH San Diego’s website has hosted a RSS Feed which archives news about cleantech companies and events in San Diego.  This month the 5551st item was posted to the list.  The accelerating flow of stories underscores San Diego’s global reputation as a cleantech cluster. 

In addition to the convenience provided by the CleanTECH San Diego’s RSS Feed, the list is of value to anyone who wishes to research the cleantech experience in San Diego.  A quick click-by-click over the past few weeks generates a vivid picture of the breadth and diversity of regional cleantech activity.   

Using Google’s “site search” feature the article archive can be searched in a manner which is more effective than a general Google search.  For example, a Google search of “CleanTECH San Diego” and “solar” yields over 82,600 results.  A search limited to only the CleanTECH San Diego RSS Feed generates 513 unique stories.  This focused approach narrows the results to only those stories which are about innovative solar in San Diego.  The format for the search is: 

site:news.cleantechsandiego.org   solar

(If your Google search only yields one page of results, drop down to the bottom of the page and click at “… repeat the search with the omitted results included“.)

The story selection process for the RSS Feed seeks to identify all news reports which are both cleantech and San Diego with an emphasis on innovation.  To add utility, the curated list is screened to minimize story duplication and the inclusion of items of small consequence.  The result is a fingers-on-pulse tracking which is both timely and thorough. 

Click here to access the CleanTECH San Diego news archive and to subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

I have a confession to make. When we moved into our current house three years ago, we had to sell our clothes dryer due to gas/electric incompatibility (happens every time we move!). So we lived without a dryer for three years, hanging clothes out to dry, and generally being frugal about washing vs. re-wearing clothes. Well, after several weather-induced trips to the laundromat this winter, we (or can I lay this all at my wife’s feet?) finally broke down and bought a used washer/dryer set on Craigslist. We’ll still let the sun dry our clothes 95% of the time, but have other options now.

Even though this little vignette does relate to the common Do the Math theme of low-energy lifestyles, the actual point of bringing it up is that the washer/dryer came from a house that had just been on display as a model for energy efficiency—including the washer and dryer. At the house, we met Jason Beckman, of Classic Residential, Inc., who had carried out many of the efficiency upgrades to the house. I thought it would be instructive to have him perform an energy audit at our home—especially a blower door test to expose ventilation issues.

As a bonus, after the nominal audit activities were over, I was able to spend some quality time with the blower door, doing extensive tests in virtually every room in the house. What I found was certainly instructive for me, and hopefully will be useful to a broad audience as well.

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Team Internship Program (TIP)

Today’s employers are looking for engineers who have both technical skills and the ability to collaborate and function as a team. Summer Team Internships are part of the Jacobs School’s effort to enhance their students’ education through real-world engineering experiences in a team setting. Students work on-site with industry partners as a multi-disciplinary team focused on a clearly defined and significant project.

Jacobs School Student Teams

• 2-5 members, each with distinct technical experience and training
• Undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. Levels
• All engineering majors

Internship Details

• Paid Internships
• 10-12 weeks over the summer
• Full-time, i.e., 40 hour/week commitment

In summer 2012, the Team Internship Program (TIP) sent 289 students out to 45 different companies on 86 teams.  Please call or email Erica Kosa, Manager, Team Internship Program, at 858-822-6772 and ekosa@ucsd.edu  to discuss your summer intern hiring needs and possible project ideas.

San Diego has a global reputation for collaborative innovation.  An example of this culture is EvoNexus, the business incubator of CommNexus.  EvoNexus is San Diego’s only community-supported, fully pro-bono technology incubator. They provide full services – furnished office space, domain experts and mentors, and the opportunity to leverage our wide network of business and VC contacts – to start-up companies striving to achieve sustainability. Unlike many other incubators, they provide these services entirely free of charge.  Their incubator companies are under no financial or IP-related obligation to EvoNexus when they graduate. 

EvoNexus is technologically agnostic.  In the cleantech space ecoATM is an EvoNexus graduate.  The current slate of companies includes Biogas & Electric. 

EvoNexus is accepting applications for the latest round of companies until Wednesday January 23, 2013.  EvoNexus and QualcommLabs@EvoNexus are designed to give young companies and entrepreneurs the opportunity to give their business a head start in the San Diego area.

EvoNexus Statistics to Date:

• $95M in total venture funding raised by companies
• 39 companies admitted to date
• 16 successful graduations to date
• 400+ jobs created

EvoNexus Benefits:

EvoNexus provides the following benefits to entrepreneurs admitted to the incubator at ZERO cost:

• Mentoring & oversight
• Rent-free use of fully furnished office space
• Visibility to capital providers

QualcommLabs@EvoNexus Benefits:

Full EvoNexus benefits PLUS Qualcomm Labs will consider one or more companies admitted by EvoNexus to the incubator program for the opportunity to receive seed funding of up to $250,000 each.

All submissions will be considered for funding by Qualcomm Labs, and participation in the QualcommLabs@EvoNexus initiative, unless otherwise indicated on the application.  Must submit application by January 23, 2013.

To apply, see a full list of benefits, and get more info visit www.evonexus.org or www.evonexus.org/qualcommlabs/ or contact Michele Yoshioka, Michele@commnexus.org

New Product Capability Yields Opportunity to Expand Customer Base into Residential, Industrial, and Commercial Solar Energy and Storage Applications

Flux Power Holdings, Inc. an innovator in durable, scalable, and affordable advanced energy storage systems, today announced that they have enhanced their product portfolio with the addition of a standard interface for solar and grid storage applications.  This interface is able to control many industrial components such as inverters used for power management in solar and grid applications which greatly broadens the applicability and markets for their advanced energy storage solutions.

Flux Power has entered into an agreement to work with Terra Steward, an energy independence and sustainable living product supplier, to bring these enhanced energy storage solutions to the market.  Under the terms of the agreement, Flux Power is providing the technology and integration support with a third party inverter supplier to deliver a packaged, grid storage solution that can support a range of alternative energy applications in the residential, industrial and commercial markets. Terra Steward is providing the installation and support services for the solution into the end user environment.

These new solutions can support a variety of renewable or alternative energy sources, including wind, solar, or micro-hydro.  Flux Power’s superior management technology and advanced energy storage systems are now being integrated with Schneider Electric SA’s Xantrex inverter to create a customized, smart energy storage system that can provide back-up power, peak-shaving and off-peak power in many differing applications.

“Flux is excited to introduce this versatile new addition to its advanced energy storage solution.  In addition to offering highly effective, lower cost battery systems for electric vehicles, our technology is a logical fit with many other clean technology and alternative energy applications,” said Chris Anthony, CEO of Flux Power. “By providing this intelligent new interface between the advanced energy storage system and the inverter in these solar and grid storage applications, our technology can now deliver customizable applications to a tremendous number of new market opportunities for us in residential, commercial and industrial applications.”

Product benefits for the end user include:

Back-up battery power if grid goes out

Peak-Shaving to decrease power costs

Off-peak usage for use when Solar or Wind may not be producing power

Continuous remote monitoring and control

Ability to work with almost any inverters in other alternative energy applications

Solution that communicates with both the grid and the end user

“We are delighted to be working with Flux Power to deliver a complete solution for customers seeking solar energy and advanced storage solutions,” said Christopher D’Avignon, President and CEO, of Terra Steward, Inc.  “Our customers depend on us to deliver superior products for energy independence and sustainable living – both on and off grid. I’ve been impressed with the technology team at Flux Power and look forward to working with them as we bring many new applications with this interface to market.”

About Flux Power

Flux Power designs, develops, and sells cost efficient advanced energy storage systems. Incorporated in October 2009, Flux Power began shipping prototype products in the second quarter of 2010 while continuing to develop its intellectual property portfolio. Currently, Flux Power’s product offerings include batteries in various sizes and forms, packaged modules, fully tested and validated advanced energy storage systems and various system accessories. These accessories include: stand-alone battery management, stackable chargers, programming software and display systems. Flux Power sells modular advanced energy storage products through distributors and directly to original equipment manufacturers. These customers benefit from Flux Power’s advanced systems technologies, which greatly extend cycle life and improve system performance. For more information visit www.FLUXpwr.com or email info@FLUXpwr.com.

About Terra Steward

Terra Steward Inc. is a privately held, multi-faceted business specializing in energy independence and sustainable living. The company provides a unique service and opportunity for consumers, small business owners, developers and local governments to have HANDS ON experience and ACCESS TO green technologies. Christopher D’Avignon, President & CEO, and his team, are passionate about bridging the gap between wanting to be Green and actually being Green-one product, one customer, one development, one community, at a time.  Their recently launched online store, www.terrasteward.com, and upcoming retail storefronts (summer 2013), provide a portal where customers can come to be educated or to purchase, at their convenience, the products and systems that are right for them. Whether it is purchasing a few decorative solar garden lights or the installation and technology to go completely off grid, Terra Steward puts the power back in its customer’s hands.

This Tuesday Smart City San Diego and City of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders unveiled the completed Smart City San Diego Solar-to-EV Project – a 90-kilowatt solar photovoltaic canopy that directly charges electric vehicles (EVs) in the San Diego Zoo parking lot.  Smart City San Diego is a collaboration that combines the resources of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego to drive projects forward that improve the region’s energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assert San Diego as a clean energy leader.

“The Solar-to-EV project is a cornerstone in the City of San Diego’s ongoing efforts to usher in sustainable solutions for Balboa Park in anticipation of the Park’s 2015 Centennial Celebration,” said Mayor Jerry Sanders, City of San Diego. “This project will serve as a new energy infrastructure blueprint that can be replicated throughout the San Diego region and beyond.”

One of the first of its kind in the country, the Solar-to-EV Project harnesses energy from the sun to directly charge plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), store solar power for future use and provide renewable energy to the electrical grid. The project incorporates 10 solar canopies producing 90 kilowatts (kW) of electricity – enough energy at peak capacity to power 59 homes – as well as five EV charging stations, with one station located in a nearby ADA-accessible parking space.  Using new battery technology, a 100-kW energy storage system is charged by the solar canopies and used to offset power demands on the grid to charge the vehicles.  When the battery is full, the excess solar energy that is generated is put onto the electric grid to improve reliability and benefit the surrounding community.  The solar canopies also provide shade to approximately 50 cars in the Zoo’s southeast parking area

“California has established the most aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals in the nation. With almost 40 percent of our state’s GHG emissions coming from transportation, clean vehicle alternatives will be critical to achieving these goals,” said Jim Avery, senior vice president of power supply for SDG&E.  “Under Mayor Sander’s leadership, the City of San Diego has consistently been ahead of the curve in determining how best to demonstrate new technology and provide necessary infrastructure to promote clean energy adoption.”

The clean energy produced by the Solar-to-EV project is equivalent to removing 189,216 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, or the same as planting 2,788 trees annually. For additional comparison, the greenhouse gas emissions savings from the electricity produced is equivalent to removing 21 cars from the road each year.  Furthermore, PEVs when driven on electricity offer zero tailpipe emissions and no emissions overall when the electricity is directly from solar power.

The project not only aims to encourage EV drivers to visit the Zoo and Balboa Park, but also provides displays onsite and online to educate visitors about the role that the system plays in driving sustainability forward. The system and its educational tools are part of the Zoo’s goals to encourage the application of sustainable design driven by science and the natural world.

“As part of our ongoing effort to be a conservation leader, San Diego Zoo is thrilled to host the Solar-to-EV project and help set the stage for the future,” said John Dunlap, director of the San Diego Zoo.  “By providing a sustainable energy mechanism at one of San Diego’s most well-known destinations, the Zoo is not only providing this vehicle charging option to our guests, but also raising awareness for new technologies for the millions of people we host from all over the world.”

The Solar-to-EV project is owned and managed by SDG&E’s Sustainable Communities Program, which promotes local solar installations and green building design and construction throughout the region. The charging stations are part of The EV Project and are owned by the program’s administrator.

About Smart City San Diego

Smart City San Diego is a collaboration combining the resources of the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, GE, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego. Together, these leading organizations from government, business, education and non-profit are maximizing synergies to drive existing energy programs forward, identify new opportunities, embrace additional collaborators and move the San Diego region beyond today’s boundaries of sustainability. Visit the Smart City San Diego website at www.SmartCitySD.org.

Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

People can be individually smart and collectively dumb. Or some may argue that people can be individually dumb yet collectively smart. When it comes to plotting a future path, I think we often get the worst of both worlds. In this post, I’ll look at the role that mental horsepower plays in our societal narratives, for better or for worse. We’ll explore two aspects to the problem: people who are so smart that they have dumb ideas; and smart people who are held captive by the manufactured “dumb” of society.

A word of warning: “smart” and “dumb” are loaded words, and even impolite. We place so much value on intelligence in our society that being called smart can make a person’s day, while being called dumb can cut to the core. We’re very sensitive to people’s perceptions of our intellectual standing, and some of the choicest insecurities are laid upon this foundation. I use “smart” and “dumb” as blunt instruments in this post, so if you’re particularly touchy on the topic, either steel yourself or skip the post and call it the smartest thing you did all day.

Let me preface what I am about to say by the disclaimer that most of this is conjecture. I have little data, relying instead on hunches about what makes people tick based on personal observations.

One other disclaimer: this isn’t a post whose veiled message is how smart I am. I might once have thought so, but then I met bona-fide geniuses when I was in grad school at Caltech. Fortunately, I was mature enough at that point for it not to cause a crisis of confidence or identity, and rather enjoyed the window I had into the off-scale brilliance of some individuals. So let’s go ahead and put me in the dumb box so we can move on to what I want to say.

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Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

Science is a phenomenal institution. Sometimes I can’t believe we created this construct that works so incredibly well. It manages to convert human imperfections into a remarkably robust machine that has aided our growth juggernaut. Yet science seeks truth, and sometimes the truth is not what we want to hear. How will we respond? Will we kill the messenger and penalize the scientific institution for what is bound to be an increasing barrage of bad news this century as Earth fills beyond capacity?

I think for many people in our society, personal contact with science is limited to science classes in school or perhaps the dreaded science fair—or maybe as adults watching shows like Nova or tuning in to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

So let me take a moment to explain science as I have come to understand it. (You can skip if you already have a firm grip.)

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By Guest Author Mary Rosenthal Executive Director, Algae Biomass Organization

It’s been just two weeks since the conclusion of the 6th Annual Algae Biomass Summit. And what an event it was! More than 800 experts from around the world.  More than 200 combined poster and oral presentations.  Networking events. Pre-conference tours. It was great. 

That said, I must admit that one of my favorite parts of the event was the last day, during which we presented the first ever Young Algae Researcher Awards to six of the brightest up-and-coming minds in our industry.  Together in the same room was the present – and future – of our industry.  It couldn’t be more exciting!

This year’s summit featured industry accomplishments that demonstrate progress from lab to commercialization.  On the research front we had a record number of poster sessions, and sold-out attendance at the pre-conference tour of The National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a leader in state-of-the-art algae research in the United States.

On the commercial side, attendees in Denver heard details about impressive projects like Sapphire Energy’s integrated biorefinery in New Mexico – more than 300 acres and 600 jobs that will soon be producing 100 barrels a day.

Algenol’s incredible announcement, heard first by Summit attendees, that it is producing 7,000 gallons of ethanol per acre was a potent reminder of the incredible potential that algae have to produce a variety of fuels in great quantities with high efficiency.

The focus was not on fuels alone, however. We heard from corporate giants like Kimberly Clark about its use of algae to replace plant fiber in tissues and paper, as well as fibers used in carpets.

We heard from the Scoular Company, a century-old agribusiness company buying, selling, storing, handling and transporting grain and food and feed ingredients worldwide, about their use of algae in the animal feed and food markets.

Captivating photos of algae projects in Europe, shown by Vitor Verdelho Vieira, Chief Development Officer at A4F-AlgaFuel, reminded everyone that efforts in the U.S. are not alone and that we should not be complacent. Major government and private investment in India, China, and almost every OECD country (even Iceland) means many more companies are entering than exiting the space–the first signs of a possible global boom (or should I say bloom?).

Each year the industry promises to show its best at the Algae Biomass Summit, and each year it does not disappoint.

The excitement was so great this year that nearly 100 people approached the ABO booth to become new members. That’s the most successful Summit membership drive we have ever had! Summit attendees can still sign up for a discounted membership, read the details below to learn how.

If you missed out on some of the developments in Denver you can read more in the updates below. If you weren’t able to make it this year, and don’t want to miss out on the networking and excitement you get from attending, I urge you to mark your calendars for September 30 – October 3 next year, when we will be in Orlando, Florida at the Hilton Orlando.    In the meantime, we will all be working on another impressive year of milestones! 

Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

The principal challenge of this century, in my view, will be adapting to a life without abundant, cheap fossil fuels.  It has been the lifeblood of our society, and turns out to have some really fantastic qualities.  The jury is still out as to whether we will develop suitable/affordable replacements.  But additional challenges loom in parallel.  Water is very likely to be one of them, which is especially pertinent in my region.  For true believers in the universality of substitution, let me suggest two things.  First, come to terms with the finite compactness of the periodic table. S econd, try substituting delicious H₂O with H₂O₂. It has an extra oxygen atom, and we all know that oxygen is a vital requisite for life, so our new product will be super-easy to market.  Never-mind the hydrogen peroxide taste, and the death that will surely visit anyone foolish enough to adopt this substitution.  Sometimes we’re just stuck without substitutes.

Substitution silliness aside, water and energy are intimately related in what has been termed the Energy-Water Nexus (see for example the article by Michael Webber from this conference compilation; sorry about the paywall). We’ll explore aspects of this connection here, touching on pumping water, use of water for the production and extraction of energy, and desalination. As glaciers and snowpack melt and drought becomes more common in the face of climate change, our water practices will need to be modified, hitting energy right in the nexus.

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San Diego-based On-Ramp Wireless, developer of wireless solutions for energy automation, accepted a prestigious 2012 Global Cleantech 100 award last night from Cleantech Group, a leading global research and advisory firm focused on innovation in energy and the environment. The Global Cleantech 100 list, which was chosen among 8,285 applicants in 85 countries, is unique in the sector because it highlights the promise of private clean technology companies from all around the world, focusing on those companies which the players in the market feel are currently the most likely to make the most significant market impact over the next 5-10 years.

“We are honored to be recognized by this elite program again in 2012,” said Joaquin Silva, president and CEO of On-Ramp Wireless. “The On-Ramp Ultra-Link Processing network continues to prove to be a true asset to the infrastructure market worldwide, and we look forward to further improve the energy efficiency of utilities and other partners.”

For complete information on On-Ramp’s leadership within the cleantech space, access Cleantech Group’s leading market intelligence platform, i3, and search for On-Ramp at here. You can also find the full 2012 Global Cleantech 100 report with commentary and insight by Cleantech Group and sponsored by Autodesk, Deloitte, Wermuth Asset Management, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati here.

About On-Ramp Wireless

On-Ramp Wireless has developed the first wireless system purpose-built to efficiently connect billions of hard-to-reach devices in metro scale and other challenging environments. On-Ramp’s field-proven Ultra-Link Processing system enables low-power monitoring and control applications within Smart Grid, oil and gas operations, water efficiency, industrial sensing, and location tracking. Operating in unlicensed spectrum, the signal processing innovation finds weak signals even in high noise environments, yielding extreme coverage, immunity to high interference, and significantly lowers cost. For more information, visit www.onrampwireless.com.

My ten year vision for personal transportation in California is crystal clear.  It is definitely electricity or maybe algae biofuel or perhaps hydrogen or even natural gas or possibly what we are already doing only less so.  Recent reports confirm my long-held conviction that much of life is spent in the selective search for “facts” to support conclusions already embraced.  Here are some recently released resources you can utilize to rationalize your point of view.

Earlier this month saw the release of Electric Drive by ’25, How California Can Catalyze Mass Adoption of Electric Vehicles by 2025.   The 28 page report was jointly conceived by the law schools at Berkeley and UCLA.  Greg Haddow of San Diego Gas & Electric was one of the panel members at the May 2012 Climate Change Workshop that informed this analysis.

The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) has released a new report called, A California Road Map: The Commercialization of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles.  In San Diego, Pearson Fuels is currently developing its hydrogen business model for existing or newly-built gasoline stations in California.

The Algae Biomass Summit is underway this week in Colorado.  Adding to the fun is a turbo-charged, 800cc diesel powered track motorcycle from Holland.  UC San Diego has provided a 50/50 blend of biodiesel derived from algae and cooking oil waste.  Sapphire Energy’s contribution is a 100% algae-derived Green Crude diesel fuel.  Below the Surface’s ‘Driving Innovation’ Team established the first official algae-fueled motorcycle speed record during The Texas Mile land speed event in March reaching 94.6 mph. 

Even faster than the pond scum powered bike is the new Tesla Model S which can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 4.4 seconds.  Yesterday Tesla Motors unveiled its highly anticipated Supercharger network. Constructed in secret, Tesla revealed the locations of the first six Supercharger stations, which will allow the Model S to travel long distances with ultra-fast charging throughout California, parts of Nevada and Arizona. The electricity used by the Supercharger comes from a solar carport system provided by SolarCity.  Elon Musk, Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO is also the Chairman of SolarCity.  The use of the Supercharger stations will be free for Tesla Model S owners. 

UC San Diego has an established fleet of electric vehicles supported with the necessary charging infrastructure.  Yesterday they announced the installation of the first of 20 public EV charging stations on the campus in La Jolla.  Turnkey solar system provider Sullivan Solar Power is responsible for the installation.

Wildcat Discovery Technologies, a privately held San Diego company focused on battery materials development, said Wednesday it signed a multi-year joint development agreement to develop materials to improve rechargeable battery technology with Japan’s Ashai Kasei Corp., one of the world’s largest producers of advanced battery separators.  Wildcat maintains it can accelerate improvements in battery technology with its capabilities to design, develop and commercialize transformational advanced battery materials. The company claims its 32-person team of scientists and engineers uses proprietary high-throughput tools to develop and optimize materials.

The most expensive component in an electric car is the battery, so why not put it to work making EVs not just environmentally but also financially appealing? That’s the idea behind V2G (Vehicle to Grid) technology.  The EV owner makes their battery available to the utility during a given period and, depending on supply and demand in the grid, the utility uses the car as a short time energy storage solution in order to help regulate the power frequency of the grid. The value of providing these regulation services is very high.  An article in Intelligent Utility magazine drew heavily on the explorative work being done by San Diego Gas & Electric.  Alex Kim, director of customer innovations at SDG&E noted that “San Diego may have one of the highest densities of EVs in its region (more than 1,600) than any region in the country.  SDG&E also may be tops in distributed solar photovoltaic panels, with more than 18,000 grid-tied systems. In combination, those two resources support a V2G business model that would focus on localized benefits in addition to ancillary services for the wholesale market that serve an ISO or RTO.”  Xconomy is also on the V2G story with their article, Detroit Leading U.S. Development of New Vehicle-to-Grid Technology.   

The mix of what will fuel the cars of the future is uncertain.  What is absolutely certain is the unsustainability of a national car/truck infrastructure funded by the current fuel tax.  Even if electric vehicles fail to gain market share, the Federal mandate to increase fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks is a road revenue killer.  An article in the Wall Street Journal last week warned, “Looking ahead, the Congressional Budget Office predicts new federal fuel-economy standards will reduce revenue by 21% in 2040 when they are fully phased in. To illustrate the effect of a 21% drop, the CBO estimates that if all cars on the road now met the stricter efficiency standards, it would mean a $57 billion cumulative reduction in revenue between now and 2022”.  This is another opportunity for Congress to act in the present rather than their usual ploy of punt and pray.

Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

A short while back, I described my standalone (off-grid) urban photovoltaic (PV) energy system. At the time, I promised a follow-up piece evaluating the realized efficiency of the system. What was I thinking? The resulting analysis is a lot of work! But it was good for me, and hopefully it will be useful to some of you lot as well. I’ll go ahead and give you the final answer: 62%. So you could peel away now and risk using this number out of context, or you could come with me into the rabbit hole…

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CONNECT, in partnership with K&L Gates, has assembled a top level panel of industry and advocacy experts to shed the spotlight on how clean tech companies can navigate today’s changed world of government financing structures including: local, state and federal incentives, loan guarantees, tax credits and cash grants and current trends in strategic partnering and investment.

Arnold Klann of BlueFire Renewables will share his secrets to landing government funding and how to build a successful company that can survive changing government policies and administrations. Juancho Eekhout of SDG&E will outline the opportunities for clean tech companies presented by California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard which is one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country. The RPS program requires investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total procurement by 2020. Nick Leibham and Dirk Michels, Partners with K&L Gates, LLP will shed light on the current environment in D.C. post ARRA and where the funding opportunities lie across various government departments and agencies.

Following the presentation, Holly Smithson, President & COO CleanTECH San Diego will moderate a lively question and answer session between the audience and panelists.

Moderator
Holly Smithson, President & COO, CleanTECH San Diego

Presenters/Panel
Juancho Eekhout, San Diego Gas & Electric
Arnold Klann, CEO/President, BlueFire Renewables
Nick Leibham, Partner, K&L Gates, LLP
Dirk Michels, Partner, K&L Gates, LLP

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Executives, CEOs, CFOs, industry members, in-house counsel, and senior management in the clean technology, venture capital and convergence sectors.

LOCATION
Sanford Consortium
2880 Torrey Pines Scenic Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037

September 25, 2012    9:00am – 11:00am
(Registration begins at 8:30am)
Note: Breakfast will be provided for participants.

Click to REGISTER

By Guest Author Jason Anderson, Vice President of CleanTECH San Diego

On November 6, voters will consider Proposition 39, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act, which will close a tax loophole that gives an unfair advantage to out-of-state corporations that employ few Californians.  After a vote of our Advocacy Committee and our Executive Committee, CleanTECH San Diego has joined a coalition of businesses, education, labor and taxpayers to support Prop. 39.

By Guest Author Mary Rosenthal Executive Director, Algae Biomass Organization

The algae industry’s successes have rarely been more apparent than this summer. On the heels of the Navy’s biofuel testing at RIMPAC in Hawaii in July, the most exciting news in August comes, surprisingly, from Congress, where the first-ever algae fuel tax credit was advanced in a bi-partisan vote of the Senate Finance Committee.
 
But that is not all. The vote came as ABO was completing preparations for an aggressive algae education campaign, the Summer of Algae II, in states across the nation, and as we acknowledged that the growing recognition of algae by audiences outside the lab required we give ABO a new name.
 
What’s in a name?
 
The word “Algae” is becoming a topic of discussion in the public sphere like never before. Successful tests like the U.S. Navy’s “Green Fleet” are bringing the topic of algae into everyday conversation. The same is true in policy venues, and we’re thrilled that the industry is moving out of exclusively academic and lab settings into the commercial and consumer markets.
 
So, earlier this month, we officially changed the name of the organization to the Algae Biomass Organization to better reflect the term that most people use and associate with our industry. We are still led by a dynamic and committed board of directors; we still have the largest cross-section of industry partners within our membership; and we continue to advocate tirelessly for policy and regulatory issues that benefit our industry.
 
An algae-based fuels tax credit
 
The growing awareness that prompted this name change also resulted in some great news on the policy front.
 
On August 2nd the Senate Finance Committee approved the Family Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012. The bill, which received bipartisan support in the Committee, would extend the tax credit for the production of cellulosic biofuel through the end of 2013.
 
The bill would also extend the cellulosic biofuel tax credit to algae-based fuel for the first time.
 
This is one of ABO’s legislative priorities, and we were very pleased to see our language included in this legislation. The bipartisan support for the inclusion of algae-based biofuel is a significant milestone that will put the algae industry in an excellent position going into the legislative debates ahead.
 
The Summer of Algae II
 
ABO is building on this success with an aggressive education campaign that kicked off last week. ABO members across the nation are opening their doors to local and national officials to offer a first-hand look at the local jobs we are providing, the fuels and products we can make, and vast potential of the industry if given the right policy support.  We are calling this campaign the Summer of Algae II, in deference to the milestones of 2009 that Biofuels Digest dubbed the first Summer of Algae.
  
As summer winds down, keep in mind that these new policy victories, industry milestones, and educational events are building up to the largest, most important Algae Biomass Summit yet, to be held in Denver, September 24-27.  You can expect celebrations of the past year, planning for the next, and plenty of new business networking for an industry with a very bright future.
 
I can’t wait to see you there!

Mary Rosenthal

Executive Director, Algae Biomass Organization

By Guest Author Jason Anderson, Vice President of CleanTECH San Diego

Earlier this week, I participated in the kick-off of the Algae Biomass Organization’s Summer of Algae Tour at UC San Diego. This event was co-hosted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego and the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB).  The Summer of Algae Tour aims to educate policy makers about the algae biomass industry and its vast potential to continue creating jobs, domestic fuels, feedstock and other vital products.  The kick-off featured CleanTECH San Diego members Synthetic Genomics, General Atomics, Cellana and Sapphire Energy. Their pioneering work, along with the applied research within our local universities and institutions, serves as a stunning reminder of the global leadership provided by our region’s biofuels industry.  As Dr. Greg Mitchell of Scripps Institution of Oceanography explained to the audience, we are truly a “cluster of excellence.”  More information on ABO’s Summer of Algae Tour can be found here. 

My remarks at the event highlighted the EDGE Initiative and its successful conclusion.  As you know, more than two years ago CleanTECH San Diego and a number of key partner organizations, received a $4 million grant from the State of California to create curricula and workforce training programs designed to support our region’s biofuels and industrial biotech industry.  I am pleased to report that our work is complete.  Through a close collaboration, we have designed programs that not only support the biofuels and industrial biotech industry today, but will continue to evolve to meet industry needs as it matures.  To date, we have trained more than 300 workers and over one-third of those trained are now employed in the industry.  Just as the region’s research institutions and private sector companies continue to gain momentum and investment for their advances, EDGE’s cutting edge curricula and training programs are being considered for adoption by institutions all over the world.

The success of this program is due to a large number of people and organizations.  I would especially like to think Victoria Bradshaw, former Secretary, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for her leadership and support, Steve Mayfield and his team at SD-CAB and UC San Diego for their hard work and dedication in creating EDGE’s curricula and training programs, and Kristie Grover and the BIOCOM Institute for their work on behalf of the students.  I would also like to thank the Industry Advisory Council, made up of private sector companies (including those mentioned above), which were a critical component to this initiative, as they helped shape the final product.

The EDGE Initiative proves once again that San Diego’s spirit of collaboration is real and it works.  By forming partnerships with public and private stakeholders, we can continue to address the needs of our rapidly growing cleantech sector.  

Click EDGE Program Overview for an overview of the EDGE Initiative, and its impressive results.  I hope you take the time to read it.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information.

Jason Anderson is Vice President of CleanTECH San Diego.  He can be reached at: jasona@cleantechsandiego.org

By Guest Author Lee Barken, CPA, LEED-AP

Community solar could mean another two gigawatts in California.

California’s Community Shared Solar bill, SB843, achieved another significant milestone on Thursday, passing the appropriations committee in the California Assembly. A final floor vote is expected in the next two weeks.

If passed, SB843 could add an additional 2 gigawatts to California’s renewable energy generation capacity, nearly tripling the size of the solar market and extending the benefits of solar power to new users through shared solar projects.

The breakthrough of SB843 is that it eliminates the need for a consumer to be physically connected to solar panels in order to access solar power. Currently, 75 percent of Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, August 20, the first of a series of events featuring algae will kick off as part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the promise of the algae industry to create jobs, domestic fuels, and other food and feed products.  Through open-house style events, local and national officials will experience the research, products and jobs being created by some of the algae industry’s leading companies and research institutions.

The “Summer of Algae II” is sponsored by the Algae Biomass Organization, the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, and implemented by its member companies, with events primarily taking place during the next two weeks but also stretching into early Fall.  The campaign’s name is a nod to the original Summer of Algae, coined by Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane to characterize the developments and momentum in the summer of 2009.

Companies and organizations participating in the events represent the broad geographic and technological variety of algae companies, including: Algaedyne (Minnesota); Algenol (Florida); Arizona State University (Arizona); BioProcess Algae, LLC (Iowa); Boeing Commercial Airplanes (Washington); Cellana (Hawaii); The Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (Colorado); Duke Energy (Kentucky); FedEx (Tennessee); General Atomics (California); Matrix Genetics, LLC (Washington); Phycal (Ohio); The San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology at UC San Diego (California); Sapphire Energy (California); Solix BioSystems, Inc. (Colorado); St. Cloud State University (Minnesota); and Synthetic Genomics (California).

 “The Summer of Algae II will demonstrate the truly national promise of algae-based technologies to create jobs, develop a domestic fuel industry and manufacture a variety of other goods and products,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization.  ”It’s important for policymakers at all levels to understand the huge potential of this industry to contribute to economic development, energy independence and national security.”

Currently, more than 200 companies across the U.S. are developing algae-based technologies to produce domestic, cost-competitive and sustainable products within multi-billion dollar industries such as fuels, animal feed, Omega-3 oils, cosmetics and other products.  Continued instability in the Middle East along with heat waves and droughts in the U.S. Midwest serve as an important reminder of the need to continually diversify sources of fuel and food.

Campaign events range from small briefings with local officials to larger tours of laboratories and commercial facilities that include panel discussions among several regional algae companies and research groups to announcements about new technologies.  Each event will focus on the unique local impact the industry is having on jobs, and how algae can be used to produce domestic fuels and products that enhance American energy security in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.

 
A full list of events can be found on the Algae Biomass Organization’s Blog: www.algaebiomass.org/blog.  Interested parties can follow the campaign on twitter @algaeindustry, #summerofalgae and on the Algae Biomass Organization facebook page.

In addition to education and outreach efforts with policymakers, ABO produces and hosts the industry’s premier annual global conference, the Algae Biomass Summit, which this year will be held in Denver, CO, September 24-27 at which more than 800 algae industry leaders are expected to convene.  Earlier this year, ABO launched AllAboutAlgae.com, the first website designed to showcase algae’s potential to audiences ranging from those just learning about algae to seasoned algae enthusiasts, media and entrepreneurs.

In 2011, President Obama announced a historic agreement with thirteen major automakers to increase fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025.  This agreement was the result of more than five years of collaborative work between the auto industry, Congress, presidents representing both political parties, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and environmental leaders, and represents the first meaningful update to fuel efficiency standards in three decades.

Achieving the goals of this historic agreement – which is set to be finalized in August – will rely on innovative technologies and manufacturing, and California’s forward-thinking policies and innovative companies give our state a competitive advantage as the auto industry moves to meet these strong new standards.

On Tuesday August 28^th, CleanTECH San Diego and the Pew Charitable Trusts will host a discussion on the critical role played by California in the development of the new federal standards, and how California’s business and policy leaders can help to ensure that California leads the way as the auto industry sets its sights on 54.5 MPG.

Speakers include:

• Mary Nichols, Chairman, California Air Resources Board (CARB)
• Mike Lewis, Principal, Pearson Fuels
• Dave Grundstrom, Chairman & CEO, Marvin K. Brown Auto Center, Inc.
• Major General Anthony Jackson- Commander, Marine Corps Installations West (invited)
• Environmental Protection Agency (invited)

DATE:
Tuesday August 28, 2012  4:00 – 6:30pm 

LOCATION:
Energy Innovation Center
4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

AGENDA:
4:00 – 4:30pm
Registration & Networking
4:30 – 6:30pm
Program

This event is free.  Click here to register.

Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.  His blog, Do the Math, takes an astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues relating to energy production, climate change, and economic growth.

 I have not kept it secret that I’m a fan of solar power. Leaving storage hangups aside for now, the fact that the scale of available power is comfortably gigantic, that perfectly efficient technology exists, that it’s hard-over on the reality axis (vs. fantasy: it’s producing electricity on my roof right now), and that it works well almost everywhere—what’s not to like? Did you trip over that last part? Many do. In this post, we’ll look at just how much solar yield one may expect as a function of location within the U.S.

The ancient Mayans laboriously accumulated a substantial set of observational data on solar illumination across America well ahead of the present need. Okay, it wasn’t actually the ancient Mayans. It was the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), who embarked on a 30-year campaign beginning in 1961, covering 239 locations across the U.S. and associated territories. Imagine this. How many people were even cognizant of solar power in 1961? Yet the forward-thinking scientists at NREL appreciated the value of a solid baseline dataset way back then. This level of foresight seems akin to the Mayans constructing a calendar going all the way to 2012. That’s all I’m saying. It’s a gift from the past.I have often consulted and enjoyed the product of this work over the years—called the NREL Redbook, or more formally, the Solar Radiation Data Manual for Flat Plate and Concentrating Collectors. But with a snazzy blog post as motivation, I have taken it up a notch and produced a variety of graphical representations of the dataset to explore what it can tell us. Let’s begin the guided tour.

Continue reading →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego (Scripps) today announced an agreement focusing on the design of an innovative system in which algae consume carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from natural gas combustion and cost-effectively convert it into valuable byproducts such as biomethane, biodiesel and animal feed.

For several years, researchers at Scripps, a member organization of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, and a number of commercial companies around San Diego and elsewhere, have been studying how algae can most efficiently be developed into a clean, renewable biofuel to one day replace non-renewable fossil fuels. Taking this research a step further, Scripps’ researchers hope to leverage algae’s natural ability to absorb CO2 in the environment and convert it into oil rich biomass or biomethane or refined into fossil fuel replacements. After extracting the oils for biodiesel, the remaining biomass can be sold as a safe, protein-rich animal feed.

The new collaboration between Scripps and SoCalGas includes an investigative research and systems engineering study to explore how algae production systems currently in development could most effectively capture industrial CO2 emissions. Targeted CO2 sources include: natural gas power plants, large engines used in natural gas compression and water pumping and boilers used to produce steam for industrial processes such as enhanced oil recovery.

“We are very excited to enter into this collaboration with Southern California Gas Company and bring our world-class scientific and engineering analysis capabilities to bear in assessing state-of-the-art algal culture systems for CO2 capture from point sources,” said Dominick Mendola, a senior development engineer in the laboratory of Greg Mitchell, a Scripps biologist who has explored marine algae for their potential as a new biofuel source. “If the Phase I analysis proves such systems can be safe and

Gregory Mitchell UCSD

economical, we then hope to enter into a Phase II agreement to help SoCalGas build and operate a module of a commercially scaled system, and test its capabilities at a site to be selected within Southern California.”

“We are strongly committed to supporting the development of zero and near-zero- emission natural gas technologies. Recovering CO2 from combustion and turning it into commodities such as biomethane, biodiesel or a high-quality animal feedstock is great for the environment while creating valuable products,” said Hal D. Snyder, vice president of customer solutions for SoCalGas. “None of this is easy, but working with world-class scientific organizations like Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Diego greatly improves our chances of success.”

Click here for Eric Wolff’s article in the North County Times.

Where do you want to be in the event the U.S. is invaded by a foreign army?  San Diego!  We have numerical superiority with over 55,000 Marines and almost as many Navy uniformed personnel.  Over 25% of the entire U.S. Marines Corps is based San Diego County. 

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is an old management adage which is part of the impetus behind the recent San Diego Military Economic Impact Study.  Commissioned by the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) and executed by the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at PLNU, the 47 page report gives detail to the defense-related activities and spending which will generate $32 billion of gross regional product in San Diego County in fiscal 2012. 

Click here to order the complete study and here for the executive review.

The substantial local economic presence of the military provides ongoing business opportunities including the cleantech sector.  In an effort to increase awareness about the Department of the Navy’s surge toward “Energy Independence,” CleanTECH San Diego and the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) are co-hosting an inaugural event on July 26th at the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier. This event will feature keynote remarks from Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, Commander, Navy Region Southwest and the Honorable Mayor Jerry Sanders, delivered to more than 300 stakeholders.

In 2010, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced his commitment that 40 percent of the Department of the Navy’s total energy consumption will come from alternative sources by 2020. San Diego’s cleantech cluster – comprising more than 800 companies from startups to large multinational enterprises – will play an integral role in satisfying this mandate.

“The Department of the Navy has a long history of leading energy transformations, from sail to coal to oil to nuclear power,” said SDMAC President Rear Admiral Jim Johnson, USN (Ret.). “This event will showcase the Navy’s long term vision for energy security and how they will transform energy vulnerabilities into mission advantages.”

The defense industry and the San Diego region have enjoyed a long tradition and strong history around research, innovation and economic development. According to a recent SDMAC economic impact study, the military accounts for 25 percent of all San Diego jobs and the region boasts the largest concentration of military forces in the world with 67 percent of the nation’s military training airspace located in the Southwest. The military is a powerful force for the local economy, generating more than $32 billion in gross regional product annually.

“This is a unique opportunity to accelerate San Diego’s clean energy leadership through partnerships between the Department of the Navy and the companies based here,” said Jim Waring, President & CEO, CleanTECH San Diego. “This timely event will convene key defense and cleantech industry stakeholders to examine how our region can promptly aid the Navy in reaching its ambitious renewable energy goals.”

Several case studies will be showcased with companies that are delivering clean energy solutions to the US Armed Forces. CleanTECH San Diego members, SDMAC members and other industry stakeholders are invited to attend and learn what clean technologies are enabling the Department of the Navy in realizing its energy production and consumption objectives.

Click here to register.

Thursday, July 26, 2012 4:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier
1000 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

By Guest Author Lee Barken, CPA, LEED-AP