On Wednesday the second CleanTECH San Diego Showcase event: WIND POWER – Leading the Renewables Revival was held at the Marriott in La Jolla.  After the active networking session the 240 attendees heard Jim McDermott, Managing Partner of US Renewables Group, give the opening presentation followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Jim Walker, Vice Chairman, Board of enXco, Ian Gardner, CEO of Helix Wind, James Sahagian, VP for commercial development with Sempra Generation and Steven DeWolf, principal of Wind Tex Energy LP.

McDermott noted that wind power represents about 75% of the renewable energy produced in the United States.  Currently wind is a close second to natural gas for newly installed production capacity.  Like all projects which are capital intensive, wind power construction suffered with the collapse of credit markets.  Some deals are now being done, but on more conservative terms.  Key hurdles continue to be the on-again, off-again government support in the form of tax credits and loans as well as the onerous delays caused by environmentalists. 

Intermittency is the renewable energy term to describe the uneven production of power by both wind and solar.  Dr. Walker stated that as wind power becomes a larger portion of total energy production it should be considered part of the base load with natural gas as the go-to energy to fill in the gaps.  He noted that the bulk of wind energy production in the United States is concentrated in a short list of utilities.  Except for the very largest users, most utilities struggle with understanding how to manage an intermittent supply.

Although the established global wind energy market is huge, the panel felt that it was not mature and therefore there were significant opportunities for new business creation and growth.  Their opinion was that there were vast improvements which will be made in blade design and the mechanics of wind turbines.  They felt that there was a great opportunity for innovation and invention to originate from outside the research departments of the large manufacturers.  As the number of wind turbines proliferates they see an opportunity for companies in the “nuts and bolts” aspects of service and maintenance in a more organized manner than currently exists.

Energy storage in its various forms is a response to the problem of intermittency as well as integral part of an effective smart grid.  James Sahagian said that Sempra Generation has a strong interest in compressed air strorage in spent oil and natural gas wells as a viable means to store energy during those times when wind energy production is greater than immediate demand.

The CleanTECH San Diego Showcase presents WIND POWER: Leading the Renewables Renaissance Wednesday, February 10_^th at the La Jolla Marriott.  Keynote speaker, Jim McDermott, Managing Partner of US Renewables Group, will discuss the wind market and strategies for buyers, sellers and new market entrants.  US Renewables Group is one of the largest investment firms focused exclusively on the renewable energy industry with $750 million of capital commitments.  Following Mr. McDermott’s remarks will be a panel discussion featuring regional wind developers and technology companies including Dr. Jim Walker Vice Chairman of enXco and the CEO of Helix Wind, Ian Gardner.

In addition to enXco and Helix Wind, there are 22 other wind power companies listed in CleanTECH San Diego’s database of cleantech companies include Cannon Power, Knight & Carver and Padoma Windpower. 

The networking hour before the CleanTECH San Diego Showcase is a unique opportunity to get face to face with the captains of industry, futurists, venture capitalists and propeller heads who play in the clean tech space.  Click here to make your reservation.

My parents never sought my approval as a child.  That was not part of their generation’s mission statement.  Nor did they seek my opinion. That I might have some input on what we were going to eat or when was not a consideration let alone my thoughts on the selection of a family car.  My friends and I never had any expectation that our parents sought our approval in their decisions.  That things are different today is obvious, although not inherently good or bad.

Excesses which result from elevated attitudes of entitlement are all around us.  There are also significant positive behavioral changes which emanate from the parental quest for approval.  The emotional hook of an 8 year old girl crawling into her father’s lap and saying “Daddy, I don’t want you to die” has had a broader and deeper impact on smoking than even the American Lung Association could have ever hoped.  Second graders have assumed the role of family recycling czars and energy efficiency auditors.  Last year I purchased a couple of cases of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) to distribute to my co-workers.  Angie, my assistant, said her daughter had been bugging her for weeks to change the lights in their house to CFLs.  Another approval problem solved.

How can we ramp-up constructive opportunities to build upon this approval seeking phenomenon?  Are there viable strategies appropriate for business to embrace?  At the CleanTECH San Diego Showcase this week (see post below) the wide-ranging discussion on Smart Grid included some comments by the presenters about their children.  Lee Krevat of SDG&E described telling his 13 year old that perhaps the all electric Nissan Leaf would be a good choice for the family.  After doing her internet research his daughter expressed her approval and (more…)

The inaugural CleanTECH San Diego Showcase presents Smart Grid, Transforming the Energy Industry this Thursday November 12th at the La Jolla Marriott. Keynote speaker, Ellen Pao, is a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the preeminent player in the venture capital universe.  Kleiner Perkins’ successes include Amazon.com, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google, Intuit, Lotus Development, Netscape, Segway, Sun Microsystems and scores of other ventures over a 37 year history.  A year ago the firm’s $500 million Green Growth Fund committed $75 million to smart grid start-up Silver Spring Networks.  Following Ms. Pao’s remarks will be a panel discussion by the CEO’s of three venture-funded clean tech companies, Aptera, Applied Solar and PCN Technology.  Each of these San Diego-based companies is approaching the smart grid future from a different perspective. 

The smart meter system which San Diego Gas & Electric is in the process of installing is only of portion of the smart grid.  As state-mandated renewable energy becomes a larger portion of the total base of energy supply, the energy network becomes far more complex and thus more difficult to control.  Smart grid provides the two-way communication necessary to manage a diverse base of power generation and use. 

In addition to SDG&E, other smart grid companies listed in CleanTECH San Diego’s database of cleantech companies include Balance Energy, IPS Group, On-Ramp Wireless, PCN Technology and EcoDog.  The smart grid opportunity for San Diego-based technologies fans out beyond this list when wireless applications and information security are taken into consideration.

In September SDG&E announced a major Smart Grid coalition formed with CleanTECH San Diego, UC San Diego and two dozen other entities including tech giants Qualcomm, IBM, Intel, Cisco, General Electric and local start-up On-Ramp Wireless.  The San Diego coalition is seeking $100 million of federal stimulus funds for smart grid development to benefit the region and to serve as a prototype project for the rest of the world to model.  The initiative is in addition to the GridComm wireless smart grid project for which SDG&E was recently awarded $28.1 million in stimulus funds by the DOE to match with $32 million from the utility. 

The networking hour before the CleanTECH San Diego Showcase is a unique opportunity to get face to face with the captains of industry, futurists, venture capitalists and propeller heads who play in the clean tech space.  Click here to make your reservation.

The following resources will add to your understanding of Smart Grid.

“It’s Your Smart Grid”, an interactive educational website by General Electric.

Glossary of Smart Grid Terms

The Smart Grid in 2010: Market Segments, Applications and Industry Players.  David J. Leeds of GTM Research  (145 pages)  Please e-mail your request to me at glenn@glennmosier.com and I will forward the PDF file.

Under the leadership of CleanTECH San Diego, nine local governmental bodies have received bonding authority for over $154 million of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs).  Announced by the Treasury Department today, the allocation is 19% of the $800 million awarded for the entire country.  This over-sized allocation is the result of a substantial collaborative effort which included several San Diego companies, non-profits and even a team of four UCSD students.    

All of the applications submitted from San Diego were for solar energy.  The largest total award in the U.S. went to the San Diego Unified School District which received an allocation for $74 million bonds for 111 projects.  The financial benefit to the School District is the indirect subsidy provided by the IRS which greatly reduces the interest expense.  “These bonds function as tax credit bonds which allow investors to receive federal tax credits in lieu of the payment of a portion of the interest on the bond.  For CREBs, the federal tax credits will cover 70 percent of the interest on the bonds”.  

The local winners were City of Chula Vista, City of Lemon Grove, Fallbrook Public Utility District, UC San Diego, San Diego State, San Diego Unified School District, San Dieguito Union High School, City of Santee and Santee School District.  Click here for the national list.

Today’s good news really amounts to a knock on the door to opportunity.  In the months ahead each award winner will have the real work of issuing bonds and implementing the solar projects. 

San Diego Gas & Electric was one of one hundred recipients announced today to receive a smart grid investment grant from the Department of Energy.  Three hundred other applicants were not as fortunate.  SDG&E will provide matching funds of over $32 million for their GridComm wireless smart grid project.  Click here to see their grant application.  Last month SDG&E announced a major Smart Grid coalition formed with CleanTECH San Diego, UC San Diego and two dozen other entities including tech giants Qualcomm, GE, IBM, Intel, Cisco, and a local rising star, On-Ramp Wireless.

The good news has many layers.  The DOE funds will accelerate a project which SDG&E has already begun.  The Brief Project Description in the DOE’s list of awards states, “Implement an advanced wireless communications system to provide connection for 1,400,000 smart meters, enable dynamic pricing, and examples of smart equipment that will allow increased monitoring, communication, and control over the electrical system”.  San Diego’s early adopter status quickly generates jobs and a more efficient energy system.  In addition, the “lessons learned” will boost several San Diego companies as providers of technical services to the national expansion of the smart grid.  Click here for the complete list of DOE award winners.

The future of algae as a source of alternative energy is being played out in research labs and corporate boardrooms in dozens of San Diego locations.  On one special night earlier this month, San Diego invited the rest of the algae universe to come together at a location where test tubes are rarely scene.  The flight deck of the USS Midway provided a memorable venue for algae aficionados from all points of the compass to socialize before the onset of the 3^_rd Annual Algae Biomass Summit the following day.  Science, finance and politics were in attendance.  Hosted by CleanTECH San Diego, the event drew over 300.  The full-moon evening was one of the most crystal clear in memory.  Prior to the cocktail hour a press conference was held.  CleanTECH San Diego’s CEO Lisa Bicker introduced Mayor Jerry Sanders, an ardent supporter of clean technology in San Diego.  Councilman Ron Roberts and a host of algae rock stars added their support.

Timothy F. Brick

The conundrum of water is the socio-economic disconnect between the absolute necessity of water in our daily lives versus a pricing mechanism which signals both ready abundance and global scarcity.  On Thursday, Procopio’s Environmental Breakfast Club included Chairman Timothy F. Brick of the Metropolitan Water District, David Pierce, Analyst in Climate Research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Procopio’s John Lormon as the always insightful moderator.  The provocative presentations will serve as stimulus for several future posts to this blog.  This post will be limited to some core truths about H20, reflections on the nature of water risk and, finally, a brief thought about the clean tech opportunity in water. 

We hold these water truths to be self evident:  The population of the world continues to grow.  The supply of fresh water does not.  Life-essential water is more valuable than the biggest diamond ever found, but is, in many cases, presented as if for free.  The external energy cost of water in aggregate is surprisingly high.  Chairman Brick said about 19% of California’s electricity is used to transfer, treat or heat water.  And, always with us, is the partially lit stage of special interests on which the water play takes place.  Agriculture in California gets 80% of the water.  Think rice growers in Japan and the corn/ethanol colossus in the Midwest.  The Ag lobby’s political clout overwhelms the forces of supply and demand.  Of course, cheap water for growers is an indirect subsidy for food for California and beyond (and cheaper hay for your Arabian horse if you have one).  

SIO’s David Pierce’s macro views of climate change were a background for Chairman Brick’s closer view of the state of our state’s water.  There’s no shortage of disturbing scenarios.  San Diego receives about 50% of its water from the Colorado River, 34% from Northern California and 16% locally. 

Risk #1  For decades, California’s pull of water from the river has roughly increased with the population.  Within a short period of time, that correlation will cease.  California’s divvy of the Colorado will be locked in at a fixed amount. 

Risk #2 San Diego’s 34% share from Northern California is directly tied to mountain snowpack and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  The snowpack is functionally a larger water reservoir than anything man has built.  Climate change has greatly reduced our frozen water-in-the-bank.  An equal amount of precipitation with a lower ratio of snow versus rain changes our ability to capture and contain.  The water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta comes from a levy-protected system which in some areas is several feet below sea level.  Levies built prior to 1920 straddle at least two earthquake fault lines.  The United State Geological Service estimates there is a 62% probability of an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude or greater striking the Bay Area before 2032.  A massive failure of the infrastructure would mix salt water with fresh destroying a primary water source for all of California.

Risk #3  The water we drink is from a crazy quilt of infrastructures spread out over most of the western United States.  Many of us who fear the impact of climate change are greatly concerned about regional variance.  It is possible that a planet which is gradually warming may be experiencing regional climate changes which are more extreme.  A more extreme regional climate change could have a negative impact which would reverberate far beyond regional bounders.  (e.g.  A sudden and dramatic reduction in the snowpack.)   Our limited ability to evaluate a risk of this type adds to its “riskiness”.    

What are some of the San Diego clean tech opportunities in water?  San Diego receives about 84% of its water from outside the region.  There is no reasonable hope that this supply will grow in the years ahead.  The longer the distance of transport the greater the possible event risk to the water infrastructure.  Therefore, the focus should be on technologies for local solutions including desalination, recycling, reclamation and conservation.  The math of desalination is better than the deniers will admit when you take into inconsideration the increasing cost of traditional sources of water and the progressive improvement in desalination technology.  Can you imagine satisfying the thirst of a billion new humans without effectively using the water which blankets 70% of our planet? 

Future posts will cover the close-to-home water supply solutions of recycling, reclamation and conservation.  Of particular interest are the opportunities to provide systematic cues to influence human behavior.  In the meantime, you can check out the 36 Water & Wastewater companies in the CleanTECH San Diego company database.

The frequent references to San Diego as a global leader in clean tech are often illustrated by regional activities in solar, wind, water, smart grid and energy efficiency.  A perusal of the CleanTECH San Diego company database also reveals a mini-Mo Town of 25 ventures in the Transport Technology category.  Five of the companies have made the headlines recently.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is the living legend in the venture capital universe.  Their successes include Amazon.com, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google, Intuit, Lotus Development, Netscape, Segway, Sun Microsystems and scores of other ventures over a 37 year history.  Their lead in the launch of San Diego-based V Vehicle Company is just one piece of their huge commitment to invest in clean tech and transportation.  Kleiner Perkins is joined in their investment by the VC arm of Google and part-time San Diegan T. Boone Pickens.  Manufacturing of the yet-to-be-unveiled automobile will take place in Louisiana.  If all the Federal and state loans fall in place, the total investment will exceed $500 million.  Former Oracle executive, Frank Varasano of San Diego, is the company’s CEO.  Wrapped in product secrecy, V Vehicle’s website has a video and information about their plans to hire 1400 workers.

Carlsbad-based Aptera has a waiting list of over 4,000 early adapters who have written deposit checks for the yet-to-be-offered three-wheeled, super aero-dynamic electric vehicle.  Looking like a cross between an albino lobster and George Jetson’s commuter car, the Aptera comes with a built-in fan club that is drawn to the car’s futuristic appearance, three-digit MPG comparisons and cocktail-party-conversation features such as solar assisted climate control.  Originally funded last year for $24 million from Google, Idealab and individual investors, Aptera seeks Federal loans to accelerate their production capability.  Their quest for funds was stymied because the Aptera 2e’s design is one wheel short of the standard four.  Local Congressman Brian Bilbray is grinding through the legislative process to include “fully enclosed vehicles that are capable of carrying two adults and get at least 75 mpg.”

The recent input of over $12 million will rev-up San Diego’s Achates Power in their efforts to build the internal combustion engine equivalent of Doctor Dolittle’s pushmi-pullyu.  Their 4.2L automotive engine design is a high-efficiency two-stroke power plant which features two opposing pistons in each cylinder.  The Achates Power value proposition is an “unparalleled combination of fuel efficiency (more…)

This morning I participated in the latest CleanTECH San Diego SCRUB session.  SCRUB is an opportunity for early stage clean tech companies to present their business story to a group of CleanTECH San Diego members.  Three local emerging clean tech ventures made their case this morning to a panel of 28 CleanTECH San Diego members representing a mix of venture capitalists, engineers, marketing specialists, intellectual property attorneys as well as local leaders from industry, research and government.  The objective of SCRUB is to provide immediate feedback and assistance to take each company to the next stage. 

Today’s SCRUB showcased three distinctly different clean tech businesses.  Marine Power Partners has developed a patent pending waterwheel that generates continuous base-load electricity from flowing water at lower capital and operating costs than either solar or wind systems.  A Smart Grid innovator, On-Ramp Wireless, is a systems provider for low-power wide-area scalable sensor networking and location tracking.  New Leaf Biofuel collects waste cooking oil (more…)

For the last few months the quest for biofuel derived from algae has been a hot headline.  San Diego’s prominence as the foremost algae R&D center will draw even more national attention when the 3^rd Annual Algae Biomass Summit comes to town October 7^th – 9^th.  The Algal Biomass Organization is a trade organization formed to facilitate commercialization and market development of microalgae biomass specifically for biofuels production and greenhouse gas abatement.  Attendance of about 1,000 is anticipated for the three day get-together which will include local algae heavy weights Sapphire Energy, Synthetic Genomics, General Atomics, Biolight, Kent Bioenergy and the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology among others. (more…)

This evening I attended a dinner organized by the UK Trade & Investment, in conjunction with CleanTECH San Diego and Global CONNECT.  The UK Trade & Investment is the business development arm of the British government.  The evening’s theme was clean technology and renewable energy in the UK, in particular wind energy, biomass and marine energy.

Many of the story threads of the clean technology take on proportions that are almost beyond comprehension.  The UK’s role in wind energy has a plethora of gee-whiz facts. 

Airtricity, a division of Scottish and Southern Energy is developing two of the world’s larger wind farms.  One is off the Suffolk coast of England (540MW).  An onshore wind farm is located in the Upper Clyde Valley in Scotland (456MW).  Last week the British government announced grants for the construction of the largest wind turbine blades ever built.  Designed for offshore towers 574 high, each blade will be 230 feet long.  With a combined maximum sweep height of over 800 feet the wind turbines will be 300 higher than the tallest building in San Diego.  Each blade will weigh about 67,000 pounds which is equivalent to 22 Toyota Prius hatchbacks or a couple of Rolls Royce Phantoms.

Today I attended a media event held to announce a major Smart Grid coalition formed by San Diego Gas & Electric with CleanTECH San Diego, UC San Diego and two dozen other entities including tech giants Qualcomm, IBM, Intel, Cisco, and a local rising star, On-Ramp Wireless.  The San Diego coalition is seeking $100 million of federal stimulus funds for smart grid development to benefit the region and to serve as a prototype project for the rest of the world to model.

In August, SDG&E’s parent, Sempra Energy, was recognized by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine as the #1 “intelligent utility” in the nation in recognition of their work to move their customer base to smart meters. 

General Electric, a member of the coalition, launched “It’s Your Smart Grid”, an interactive educational website.  It is extremely well done.  We need the same for all other categories of clean technology.   Check out “It’s Your Smart Grid”.

Innovators in San Diego love to network. Connect with CleanTECH San Diego is your opportunity to get face to face with the captains of industry, futurists, venture capitalists and propeller heads who play in the clean tech space.  This should be the largest clean tech networking event in San Diego in 2009. A similar CONNECT networking event earlier this year drew over 600.  All you need to do is register and show up with a fistful of business cards.

Connect with CleanTECH San Diego

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Place: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
12235 El Camino Real,
San Diego, CA 92130

Event will take place in the outdoor courtyard.

Link to REGISTER