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February 05 2012
Green Button-1
The future of easy home energy monitoring may be a little bit closer, thanks to a government initiative designed to allow consumers direct access to their energy consumption data. The White House's new Green Button gives utilities a way to simplify and standardize sharing usage statistics with their customers via a one-click download. Two California providers, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, already launched the feature, adding what is literally a green button to their websites. Utility companies in other regions are expected to implement it within the next year. Customers can click the button to download their personal usage information in one place.
October 17 2011
opower-logo
Facebook, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and clean tech startup Opower are today announcing a partnership to develop a new social networking-based energy application that will help consumers monitor, improve and compare their home's energy usage with their friends and other Facebook users. The app, designed to improve energy awareness, has the potential to combine the 800 million+ users on Facebook with Opower's network of over 60 utility partners reaching 55 million U.S. households. However, the social app will start off with just a few participating utilities when it launches in early 2012.
September 02 2011
simple-energy-logo
2011 Boulder TechStars graduate Simple Energy is teaming up with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to help the utility engage its customers in energy conservation efforts. To accomplish this, Simple Energy is running an energy saver contest that offers a social gaming experience with real-world rewards.
October 25 2010
Even If Solar Grows 30X, It Will Only Be 4% Of America’s Power Capacity
For all the talk about solar, the US market for solar power still has a long way to go before it makes a real dent in the country’s overall power capacity.
On Monday morning, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a major aggregator of green industry data released a few key projections: the US solar market is on track to grow 30x to 44 gigawatts by 2020 and could make up 4.3% of America’s total power capacity. Of this fraction, the bulk (or approximately 68%) will be in photovoltaics with solar thermal making up the remainder. Furthermore, Bloomberg predicts that consumer traction will also move noticeably higher, with 2.4% of homes solar-equipped by 2020.
Of course, that path to 4.3% of national power capacity is not cheap. In order to get there, the US market will need to attract $100 billion in investment dollars.
The possible leap from 1.4GW to 44GW is an impressive growth curve, but these figures certainly highlight the simultaneous growth and challenge of solar installation.
As Bloomberg New Energy Finance points out, the surge in solar capacity has been supported by two crucial trends: the drop in prices (the price of photovoltaic modules has tumbled from roughly $300 per watt in the mid-20th century, to less than $5 per watt today) and the heavy hand of government support. And yet, even as solar becomes more affordable, it’s still playing catch up to other sources of energy. That may be a well known fact but it often gets muffled in the bucolic vision for solar panel farms as far as the eyes can see.
“The group’s latest analysis places the unsubsidized cost of best-in-class photovoltaic and solar thermal electrivity generation at just below $200/megawatt hour— nearly four times the equivalent cost for a coal-fired power plant ($56/megawatt hour)— and between two and four times the cost of onshore wind power, ” according to the Bloomberg report.
On the investment front, it will be interesting to see how the solar industry fares in the money race. Overall, the sector has been a major beacon for investment dollars but momentum has recently waned. According to a Mercom Capital report for the third quarer, VC funding for the solar sector was $169.35 million on 11 deals, versus $922 million for 18 transactions in the prior quarter. On the flip side, there was strength in other funding sources (including credit lines from banks), which totaled a healthy $20.7 billion for the quarter.
(Image: Flickr/Warm N’ Fuzzy)
August 18 2010
Study Shows People Are Clueless About Energy Savings – Here’s What Actually Works.
Quick, name one of the best things you can do to save energy at home. If you said “turning off the lights,” you’d be wrong. But you are not alone, most Americans say the same thing. A new survey shows most people have misconceptions about what works best to save energy.
Keeping lights off isn’t a bad idea in itself, but it has significantly less impact than swapping out the bulbs for more energy-efficient ones, says Shahzeen Attari, who published a paper on the survey.
In some cases, leaving energy-efficient lights on may actually be more effective: according the the Department of Energy, the lifespan of compact fluorescents, or CFLs, is decreased by being frequently switched off and on. If you are leaving the room for less than 15 minutes, it is actually more efficient to keep a CFL on for that time. If you will be gone for more than 15 minutes, however, it is more efficient to switch the light off.
Survey participants were asked an open-ended question on what they thought was the single most effective thing they could do to conserve energy in their lives. Attari put the most common responses into two main categories: curtailment, meaning not doing something as often, and efficiency, meaning making their energy use itself less wasteful.
The majority of the participants’ answers, such as turning off lights, changing thermostat settings and unplugging appliances, fell into the curtailment category. These actions are certainly helpful, but even more effective are efficiency changes, such as using CFL light bulbs, buying Energy Star appliances, and driving a hybrid car. In other words, it’s better to buy new, efficient equipment than to sparingly use older, energy-hungry products.
This graph shows survey participants’ mean perceived energy usage or savings in watts per hour versus actual energy usage or savings. The dotted line represents perfect accuracy:
Perceptions were often inaccurate. For example, many thought central air conditioning uses only 1.3 times the energy of a single room AC unit, when it actually uses around 3.5 times as much energy.
Many consumers don’t have a good concept of how much energy per hour a given appliance uses. People understand how much energy goes into a light bulb per hour, Attari said, but not the equivalent of how many light bulbs per hour are used by a dishwasher.
Attari also attributed a psychological phenomenon called single action bias, in which a person does one or two things to address a problem and considers themselves off the hook, as an explanation of why some believe they do more to conserve energy than they really are. When those one or two things fall into curtailment, like turning off the lights, instead of efficiency, like replacing the washer, they help less than some perceive.
Psychology aside, if each of us were to do just one or two things to save energy, Attari recommends they be replacing light bulbs with CFL bulbs and weatherizing our homes. Generalized recommendations can be muddy, however, as each person’s energy usage is different. This means that for some, the most effective thing might be to use public transportation instead of driving, or to line-dry clothes after washing them.
In another report, Gerald T. Gardner and Paul C. Stern compiled a short list of the most effective things Americans can do to save energy. Using warm or cold water to wash clothes and installing or upgrading attic insulation are two of their suggestions. See the full list in the table below:
Here are five of the most effective things you can at home to lower your energy consumption:
1. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs
2. Weatherize your home with caulk or weather-stripping (80% of older homes are under-insulated)
3. Install a more efficient heating and/or air conditioning unit
4. Install or upgrade attic insulation and ventilation
5. Adjust your washing machine settings to warm, or even cold, water
Photo credit: Flickr via lunchtimemama
Graph via the paper “Public Perceptions of Energy Consumption and Savings“
Table via Environment Magazine
August 17 2010
Alternative Energy: A Guide To Greening Your Home
Alternative energy is a growing market, and though many states offer tax credits, rebates, and other incentives to promote clean energy, it can still prove to be an expensive proposition.
It generally also requires plugging your energy source into the grid so you’re not left in the dark when the wind calms or the sun lingers behind clouds.
Here is a roundup of solutions that can help power a home.
Solar
Solar is, in some ways, the easiest solution, or at least one of the most accessible. Plugging into the sun requires photovoltaic solar panels, an inverter, and batteries that can store a bit of any excess energy for a rainy day.
Performance varies regionally, of course, with states in the southern and southwestern regions enjoying the most days of sun per year.
Solar panels require little maintenance once installed and can provide large amounts of electricity in fair weather. It can be expensive, however, even with incentives, and even when hooked up to batteries, it doesn’t do much good when there’s no sun for stretches at a time.
Resources
GetSolar has a database for finding a solar installer in your area. It’s wise to compare quotes from several companies. Some installers prefer to install panels sold by their companies, while others will install any panels you purchase.
It’s also possible to rent solar panels. One of the largest renters is Citizenrē REnU, which offers 1, 5 or 25-year contracts that include installation.
Wind
Wind energy is often associated with mammoth wind farms, but smaller sized turbines are also produced for backyard energy production.
The speed of the wind is the determining factor in whether wind power is the right solution for your home. Weather services can tell you what the average wind speed in your region is, but it can vary within a region.
Not surprisingly, bigger turbines can produce larger amounts of energy. A 10-kilowatt turbine can usually provide enough energy for a house and is usually around 100 feet tall with a 23-foot turbine.
As with solar, wind energy is climate-dependent so when the turbine’s not turning, you might need a different energy source. Unlike solar, wind turbines have the added con of being built of out of moving parts that need regular maintenance.
Resources
A turbine large enough to power a home often requires a permit. The American Wind Energy Association offers a useful guide for going through the necessary steps to install your own turbine, as well as a list of wind gear providers.
If you’re low on space or looking for a plug-and-play solution, try a personal wind turbine like Southwest Windpower’s Air-X. It can produce up to 400 watts, enough to offset some lighting and appliance usage, and can be installed on top of a roof.
Alternatively, try Clarian’s Jellyfish When it hits the market next year, i will be able to provide the same potential wattage and also feature the ability to power your home by plugging into any standard wall outlet.
If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, find an old treadmill and take a stab at making your own as in this video:
Geothermal
Most geothermal energy is produced large scale, so single-home geothermal is usually limited to heating and cooling solutions. Still, considering how much energy indoor climate control can consume, geothermal heat pumps can significantly reduce your energy needs.
Geothermal heat pumps tap into the earth’s stable temperature to regulate that in your home. The pump moves heat from the earth to your home in winter and pulls the heat inside your house outside in summer.
Most pumps are built simply so they require little, if any maintenance, and can be equipped with a household water heater as well.
Geothermal heat pumps are not a full-service solution, even for heating and cooling. Some models have been shown to reduce energy bills by up to 40%, which means you can’t say goodbye to your utility company and be completely comfortable indoors.
Cost is another concern. A heat pump with enough capacity to keep a home cozy averages just shy of $8,000, but the drilling required to install it can be upwards of $30,000.
Resources
Because of the amount and depth of drilling involved, geothermal heat pumps are not typically a do-it-yourself project. To find a reliable contractor, check the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association‘s directory of accredited installers to find one in your area.
Micro hydro electricity
This one only works if you live near moving water, but it can be very effective. Installation requires running a pipe from a high area where water is flowing to a lower piece of ground. Energy is produced as water moves downhill and turns a turbine at the end of the pipe.
Some micro hydro systems have been capable of producing ten or even 100 times more power than wind or solar. Unlike wind and solar, it can run non-stop and overnight, so long as the water continues to flow. An inverter and batteries can be connected to store extra energy if needed.
As with wind, the turbine requires maintenance and has the potential to break. Also, the size and pressure of the stream affects its energy production, so a very small stream might not be enough to power an entire house. Small streams also carry the risk of drying up in summer or freezing in cold weather.
Resources
You’ll probably need a contractor to install a micro hydro system. Many cities and states require anyone installing alternative energy sources to be a licensed electrician, especially if it connects to the grid. Although there isn’t a national licensing organization for micro hydro installers in the U.S., a local search should or call to your utility company should point you in the right direction.
Or, if you know what you’re doing and are as handy and patient as this guy, you can build your own micro hydro system.
Kössler, a joint venture between Siemens and Voith, makes several turbines designed for small power stations.
Energy Systems & Design also produces micro hydro equipment that can be used for a single home.
Fuel cells
Fuel cells use fuel and an oxidizing agent, typically hydrogen and oxygen, to produce heat and electricity. Inside the cell, he hydrogen’s ions and electrons are separated. An electrolyte substance inside the cell lets ions pass through but blocks electrons, which travel through a wire instead, in the form of electricity. The remaining ions turn into water or carbon dioxide when they meet with oxygen.
Resources
Bloom Energy‘s relatively new Bloom Box, which we reported on earlier this year, might be one of the most talked about home fuel cell solutions, though with its current price tag of $700,000-$800,000, it’s not exactly cheap.
Acumentrics manufactures fuel cells primarily for military use, but can also supply you with one for your home.
Most fuel cell companies don’t sell directly to the public, so you’ll have to search for an installer. FuelCellToday‘s directory can help you find one in your area.
The Department of Energy is working on developing best practices for safe hydrogen handling.
Biomass
Biomass for the home usually comes in the form of a stove used either for general home heating, or to heat water. Stoves are usually fueled by plants, including crops, trees, wood waste or grass. Biomass stoves do pollute the air, but many still consider them green because they contribute less pollution with fewer harmful chemicals than fossil fuels.
Resources
Those looking to buy a biofuel stove might try Bixby‘s MaxFire, which can be fueled with dry-shelled corn or wood pellets.
Bixby claims the stove can reduce heating costs by up to 50% and keep a typical home warm for about $1.50 per day. The stove ignites immediately with the push of a button and has eight heat level settings. When fuel is burned, the stove automatically pushes ash into a drawer that can be emptied without too much of a mess.
None of these solutions provide a fail-safe way to meet all your energy needs, but with blackouts from overburdened grids and severe weather conditions, neither do utility companies. It can be argued that some of these solutions are not entirely green, but even if they can’t completely alleviate the need for fossil fuels, they can help reduce the amount we need.
Most states offer incentives for alternative energy investments, and the Department of Energy suggests additional ways to lower usage and costs and lists products that are currently eligible for federal tax credits.
Despite state incentives, installing alternative energy is still an expensive proposition for most, but it can pay off in the long run.
Photo credit: Flickr by Lodian
August 05 2010
The Heat Is On: There Is Plenty Of Geothermal Energy Underground, We Just Need To Get To It
Most green technologies gather energy above ground, but like Jules Verne, we want to take you on A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Alright, not even close to the center, but deep down nonetheless, where naturally occurring hot water can be turned into clean energy above ground.
It is estimated that the amount of heat within 30,000 feet below the earth’s surface holds potentially 50,000 times more energy than all global oil and natural gas resources combined. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, up to 6,400 megawatts of new capacity could be created from the geothermal projects under development in the U.S. But getting to that energy is proving to be a challenge.
Geothermal energy comes in a variety of forms, from residential fixtures to power a single home, to commercial plants that can power a city. Energy is usually harnessed from hot underground water or steam that naturally rises to the surface. Power plants drill holes into the rock to gain more direct access and use the hot water and steam to drive electric generators. After its use, the water can be pumped back underground to heat up anew. Power plants use different energy harnessing designs based on the type and temperature of the geothermal resource available.
Geothermal deals are heating up as it begins to prove itself as a viable energy source. For instance, Ormat Technologies recently bought Constellation Energy’s 50% share of the Mammoth Geothermal Plant in California for $72.5 million. The deal gives Ormat three power plants capable of generating 29 megawatts of power and rights to more than 10,000 acres of undeveloped federal lands.
Ormat’s home state of Nevada is a geothermal powerhouse. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, the state produces more geothermal energy than all but eight nations. Its geothermal capacity jumped from 200 to 400 megawatts during the last five years, and as many as 3,000 more megawatts are expected to be generated from developing projects. A typical coal-fired power plant can generate about 500 megawatts, though some are much larger. Nuclear power plants typically range from a 500 to 2000 megawatt capacity.
Unlike wind and solar, whose energy outputs fluctuate based on weather conditions, geothermal provides consistent base load electricity, which is the minimum amount a power utility’s customers need. It is also considered clean because it produces no greenhouse gas pollution, and renewable because the water can be reused. Last year, Obama gave $350 million in Recovery Act funding for geothermal projects.
Most geothermal plants have been located near the edges of tectonic plates, where there is a lot of geothermal activity, but companies like AltaRock Energy, which has received funding from Google, among others, are developing ways to generate steam in other geographic areas. The technology, known as Enhanced Geothermal Systems, drills into hot rocks miles below the surface and pumps cold water down to them to generate steam. The technology has been in development for a while, though there have been concerns that EGS might trigger seismic activity that could lead to earthquakes.
It’s been a very rocky road, to say the least. Last year, AltaRock abandoned its trials near a plant called The Geysers in northern California when instabilities in the rock caused the borehole to collapse. The company moved its tests to Oregon where it is working on a three-year EGS demo near Newberry National Volcanic National Monument. AltaRock’s competitor, Ram Power Corporation, purchased The Geysers in June. If the AltaRock’s Oregon demo is successful, a power generator will be placed next to the wells to test how much energy can be harnessed from them.
Photo credit: Flickr/Johann kr.
July 22 2010
CalTech Awarded $122 Million to Create Fuel From Sunlight
The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it will award up to $122 million to create a Fuels form Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub led by the California Institute of Technology. The Hub’s goal is to develop ways to convert solar energy into chemical fuels and scale the technology for commercial use.
The project is in part inspired by the way plants produce energy, and will use artificial photosynthesis to turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into clean fuel. Researchers will be charged with finding ways to use technologies like light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers and separation membranes to transform sunlight into fuel, and the DOE aims to quickly turn the research into a viable product in the form of fuel that can go directly into cars without any additional processing.
Artificial photosynthesis is not a new technology, and researchers at MIT and the University of Rochester have been seeking solutions for some time. The DOE hopes the Hub will spark collaborations to make more progress in the field.
The Hub will have two locations: One on CalTech’s campus in Pasadena and one at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley. Several other California universities will participate as well, including UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Funding will be provided over five years, with $22 million awarded this year and up to $25 million per year thereafter.
Photo via Flickr by Jennifer Boyer
July 21 2010
Terra-Gen Power Closes $1.2B in Financing to Build Nation’s Largest Wind Farm
Terra-Gen Power announced closing $1.2 billion in construction financing and wind turbine orders. The company will build four wind power projects for the Alta Wind Energy Center in Kern County, California, for which Vestas-American Wind Technology will provide 190 turbines with a capacity of 570 megawatts. This is the largest number of wind turbines ever ordered for a single site in the U.S.
The Alta Wind Energy Center currently hosts 150 megawatt GE turbines and is expected to become the largest wind energy farm in the country with a capacity of 3,000 megawatts when completed. Terra-Gen has agreements with Southern California Edison to feed the energy into its grid.
The wind farm’s financing is the largest of any wind energy project in North America and comes primarily from Citibank, which committed to buy the projects when they start operating commercially. Terra-Gen will lease the projects from Citibank and continue to operate the farm.
The completed wind energy farm will raise California’s wind capacity 25%, supplying renewable energy to about 200,000 homes. Vestas will deliver its turbines beginning in October, and the first project phase is expected to go online in January of 2011.
July 01 2010
CleanTech Venture Investments Total $2 Billion In Q2, Exits Reach More Than $8 Billion
Clean technology remains one of the hottest areas of venture funding. In the second quarter, cleantech venture investments worldwide totaled $2.02 billion across 140 companies, according to market research firm Cleantech Group and Deloitte. The numbers are in line with last quarter’s $2.04 billion, but 43% higher than one year ago.
Exits for the quarter totaled more than $8 billion globally, with $6 billion in cleantech M&A and $2.3 billion in cleantech IPOs. Tesla‘s $202 million IPO has been in the spotlight recently, but globally, the cleantech IPO market is concentrated in China, which grabbed $1.7 billion, 75 percent of the $2.3 billion raised worldwide in the past three months, and 12 of the 19 IPOs, though not all of those are venture backed. The biggest IPO of the quarter was China’s Origin Water on the Shenzen Stock Exchange, which raised $330 million. As a point of comparison, in the U.S. alone, IPOs across all sectors totaled $900 million in the second quarter.
On the M&A front, there were 160 cleantech deals worldwide, including Switzerland’s ABB buying utility enterprise software maker Ventyx for more than $1 billion, and chip company Maxim buying smart-meter chip maker Teridian Semiconductor for $315 million.
In terms of venture funding, the most active cleantech investors in the quarter were Carbon Trust Investment Partners (6 deals), Kleiner Perkins (4 deals), Angeleno Group (3 deals), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (3 deals), and Khosla Ventures (3 deals). Mega-deals of $100 million or more are on the rise, with four such deals in the quarter, including $350 million for Better Place, $189 million for Fisker Automotive, and $115 million for BrightSource Energy.
The industry sectors drawing the most dollars were solar, biofuels, and smart grid. Solar is one of the industry’s brightest shining stars, grabbing $811 million to mark its third highest quarter in history.
Investment in biofuels was also strong, soaring to $302 million since the the first quarter.
Spurred by the recession, investors are spending money on companies that can save money. Energy efficiency boasted 31 rounds of funding, trumping solar’s 26 and biofuels’ 13 deals.
Smart grid investments in particular experienced their highest quarter ever.
June 29 2010
OPower to Expand to West Coast, Names iLike Founder Hadi Partovi to Advisory Board
Energy efficiency tracking company OPOWER added Hadi Partovi to its Technology Advisory Board and will open new offices in San Francisco next month. The Arlington, VA based company’s 10,000 square foot office in San Francisco’s South Park neighborhood will have room for between 75 and 100 employees, a large part of which will be engineers. “We signed a two-year sublease because we hope to grow out of that space,” says CEO Daniel Yates.
In Partovi, OPOWER is getting an experienced advisor who will help build the company in its plans to grow from 95 to 150 employees total in the coming year. Partovi co-founded online music service iLike with his brother Ali, which they sold to MySpace, before leaving in April. Previously, Partovi founded Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft for a reported $800 million. Partovi also worked on IE5.
OPOWER provides utility companies with a way to engage customers with easy-to-understand home energy reports designed to inspire them to reduce consumption. OPOWER uses behavioral economics to provide each customer with a personalized analysis of their usage, taking into account their circumstances and lifestyle. 
“Instead of saying ‘you used this many kilowatts’, we say ‘you use 5% less or 20% more than your neighbors,’” says Senior Director of Marketing and Strategy Ogi Kavazovic.
The company has signed on 35 utility companies in 15 states across the country, including seven of the 10 biggest players. Yates says that by the end of this year, OPOWER will be saving more energy than the entire U.S. solar power industry is producing. The company is targeting north of $30 million in annual recurring revenue.
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