General Compression Raises $5 Million

Attleboro Mass.-based General Compression, a wind power company, announced an initial $5 million round. Investors include Chestnut Capital and Booner Capital. The company plans to use the money to build out the team and execute on its plan.

General Compression aims to make wind energy available on demand. The company markets a Dispatchable Wind Turbine System, which has three components: a compressed air wind turbine, a pipeline network that collects and stores compressed air, and a power plant of expanders and generators. By shifting the time when power is sold, the wind project can sell power on peak at a higher price, be more compatible with the needs of the grid, and become eligible for capacity payments. According to the company, this solution will double the profitability of wind farms.

Energy East Files for Public Offering

Energy East [NYSE: EAS] today announced it will seek to issue up to 10 million common shares generating gross proceeds of approximately $240 million. The company is a super regional energy services and delivery company, whose customer base has almost tripled in three years, says the company website.

According to today's press release, Energy East plans to invest over $3 billion through 2011. Major planned investments include:

• $500 million for advanced metering infrastructure in New York and Maine, providing customers with pricing info throughout the day, promoting conservation and improving operational efficiencies
• $500 million in transmission investments, predominately in maine, which will improve electric grid reliability and promote renewable generation
• $500 million for the repowering the Russell Station power plant using clean coal technologies

The company estimates that these efficiency investments could result in CO2 reductions of close to 1 million tons annually, the equivalent of taking 175,000 cars off the road.

Catamount Energy Corp. Buys Fuel Cell Technology

Rutland, Vermont-based Catamount Energy Corp., a wind energy company, has acquired 50% of EPG Fuel Cell, LLC, a developer of power projects based on fuel cell technologies. EPG Fuel Cell is a subsidiary of Elemental Power Group, a New York-based renewable energy development company.

EPG Fuel Cell will be run as a joint venture between its two owners, with plans to expand its development efforts across the U.S. in states that have electricity constrained grids in urban environments that can particularly benefit from the ultra-clean generation that fuel cell projects enable.

Earthanol - Waste to Ethanol Venture - Gets a Round from @Ventures

@Ventures, the venture capital business of CMGI, Inc., announced today that it has made an investment in Earthanol, Inc. (You've gotta love the name.) According to the company's temporary website, the company's strategy is to develop, build and operate plants that use waste streams from industry, municipalities and agriculture as the feedstock to produce clean-burning ethanol. @Ventures chipped in $2 million. The other investors were Nth Power, Sail Venture Partners, and Calvert Funds and the total round was $7.1 million. Earthanol refers to these firms as clean-energy focused VC investors.

From the press release: "In order to fully realize the promise of biofuels, it is critical that the industry move beyond corn-based ethanol", said Matt Horton, a Principal with @Ventures. "By using waste materials as a feedstock for biofuels production, Earthanol avoids many of the costs and limitations associated with corn-based ethanol."

The site has a helpful explanations of the two methods of producing ethanol: fermentation and synthetic gas catalysis. It also reports that the Earthanol team, led by Larry Folks (CEO and CFO), Scott Noll and Jeff Lee have extensive experience in the development and operation of energy projects, including eight biomass-based power projects in North America, and will focus on developing innovative projects that employ commercially practicable and financeable technologies to convert waste feedstocks to clean-burning ethanol.

Car Talk Does Global Warming

Even Car Talk is going green. Car Talk has posted a fun and educational interview with Adam Stein, VP of marketing for TerraPass, and Tom Boucher, president and CEO of NativeEnergy.

TerraPass' mission is to develop and market economically viable products that combat global warming by mitigating human-made environmental emissions. I've written a bunch about NativeEnergy, which is a noted provider of carbon offsets.

(Thanks to the folks at autobloggreen.com for flagging this interview.)

An excerpt:

Car Talk: What does it mean to offset the carbon dioxide that's emitted by your car?

Tom: Think of offsetting as a counterbalance. You're simply taking an extra step to reduce your impact on the environment. Assuming you need to drive, you can't stop your car from emitting carbon dioxide. But, you can fund the construction of new, renewable energy projects that will displace carbon emissions from other sources, like coal burning electricity plants. That's the offset, which is done on your behalf.

Adam: You can sponsor a verified, measurable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by, for example, funding clean energy projects such as wind farms, methane digesters or efficiency projects. At first it may sound like a shell game, but it really works. And it's surprisingly cheap.


Car Talk: But, just to be upfront, you guys are making money by being a broker. You're getting people to donate to clean energy, and taking a piece off the top, right?

Adam: Yes, there's nothing mysterious about it. We're a retailer. We buy wholesale, sell to customers, and add enough margin to keep our web servers running. Solar panel makers, wind farm developers, biodiesel manufacturers — all are for-profit enterprises. We think it's a good thing when companies can sustain themselves by providing an environmental service. Climate change is a long-term problem, and we hope to be around for the long term as well.

Tom: Business is a very powerful tool, and to solve the climate crisis we need every tool at our disposal. We imagine a world where everyone does well by doing good.

Snow Bowl Ski Area Goes Green

Those folks at NativeEnergy have gotten to be really popular lately. They pop up in my Google Alerts daily with yet another outfit that has bought their carbon offsets. The roster includes such diverse organizations as Salesforce.com and the Global Green pre-Oscar party. Now the Snow Bowl, a ski area run by Middlebury College, has gone green, according to our very own Boston Globe:

Middlebury College, which owns and operates the Snow Bowl, is paying to offset every molecule of carbon dioxide -- the primary "greenhouse gas" that contributes to global warming -- emitted from groomers, lift operations, base lodge heating, off-site electric generation used to power lights and appliances, and even the carbon dioxide emitted by the cars skiers and snowboarders use to drive there. The college's alpine and cross-country ski teams are also on board, paying to offset their air and car travel to and from training and races, as well as the electricity used in the coaches' offices.

The idea was the brainchild of Thomas Hand, a Middlebury graduate, who now works for NativeEnergy, a Native American-owned company headquartered in Charlotte, Vermont. NativeEnergy funds Native American, farmer-owned and community-based renewable energy projects. Organizations buy carbon offsets from NativeEnergy, which in turn invests in wind farms, methane projects and the like.

NativeEnergy was just named to Fast Company's Fast 50, which highlights "50 profit-driven solutions for what ails the planet." You can read their write-up here.

Energy Competition: Two-Minute Video Pitch

I love Guy Kawasaki's blog - great ideas, crisply written. Today, he highlights Entrepreneurship Week USA from February 23rd to March 3rd, launched by the Kauffman Foundation.

He flags this cool energy pitch competition for 18-25 year olds. To enter, submit a two-minute video pitch that answers this question:

What product or service would you offer to help reduce America’s dependency on oil and other fossil fuels?

Deadline: February 28

The Grand Prize is a Panasonic Business Rugged Toughbook and a color inkjet printer. The Peer Prize is a 30GB Video iPod (known as a FatPod in my house).

You can upload your video here. Happy digitizing.

World Wildlife Fund: More Green Weddings

Not to be outdone by the folks at NativeEnergy and Protovert Magazine, which you can read about here, the World Wildlife Federation launched its own green weddings website on Valentine's Day as well. This site includes a registry, which seemed an obvious component that was missing at the NativeEnergy site.

The WWF press release opens with this cute lede:

Bridal gowns may still be white, but weddings are turning green according to World Wildlife Fund, who today unveils its first-ever green weddings website for engaged couples looking to make their big day not only memorable, but also environmentally friendly.

At the wedding registry, you can do the following useful stuff:

• Guests can make charitable contributions to WWF in the couple's name.
• Couples can make a donation in lieu of favors and download beautiful table tents to inform guests.
• Couples can plan an eco-honeymoon through WWF's Travel Partners.
• Couples can get helpful tips and information about how to have an eco-friendly wedding.

Exxon Mobil CEO Speaks at CERAWeek

Earlier this week, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded company, warned at an industry conference that "governments should not rush into policies that could damage the global economy in order to limit carbon emissions," according to the New York Times.

The Exxon Mobil chief, Rex W. Tillerson, was speaking at CERAWeek, which is being run this week in Houston by Cambridge Energy Research Associates. You can check out CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin's interview wtih Tillerson at CERA's site.

The Times reporters interpreted Tillerson's stance as a bit of a softening of Exxon Mobil's previously hard-line position, since he acknowleged that global warming may be leading to climate change. The article reported:

“The risks to society and ecosystems from climate change could prove to be significant,” Mr. Tillerson said. “So, despite the uncertainties, it is prudent to develop and implement sensible strategies that address these risks.”

Carbon Offsets: The Perfect Eco-Wedding Gift!

At first, I thought this was a Valentine's Day spoof, but it's not. The well-regarded Native American energy company, NativeEnergy, has teamed up with Protovert, "the first and only magazine for eco-savvy brides and grooms."

NativeEnergy helps build Native American, farmer-owned, community-based renewable energy projects that aim to create social, economic and environmental benefits. (Most of the projects are wind based.) The company is working with Salesforce.com on its recently announced carbon neutral initiative, along with lots of other organizations such as Coca-Cola, Ben & Jerry's, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Timberland and Stonyfield Farm.

Back to our eco-wedding planning. According to the press release:

"Weddings are a special way to announce a lifetime commitment," says Portovert Magazine's editorial director, Meghan Meyers. "But the truth is, even the most eco-savvy couple will create carbon emissions on their wedding day."

At a special section of the NativeEnergy website, you can plug the data from your wedding into a calculator to see the total global warming impact from the projected energy consumption. If you can't afford to be 100% carbon neutral, you can aim for a percentage, or offset the reception or honeymoon, the site suggests. At the end of the process, you can click a button to buy the appropriate level of offsets.

Next year, they need to team up with weddingchannel.com, so that the bride and groom can add Carbon Offsets (no gift wrap needed) to their registry.

WSJ: The New Math of Alternative Energy

Today's Wall Street Journal devotes an entire supplement to energy, which features a front page article, "The New Math of Alternative Energy." The story opens with this promising perspective:

The numbers are starting to look promising.

For years, the big criticism of alternative energy was cost: It was too expensive compared with energy based on traditional fuels like coal and natural gas. <...>

Now the equation is showing significant signs of change. Costs are falling for some alternative-energy sources, driven by new technology and renewed development interest.

And a boatload of VC funding is helping things along, we might add.

The supplement includes an article on Hal Harvey, the environment program director at the flush William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (They can afford better photos of their staff, but I digress.) Regarding his investment strategy, the article explains:

...he looks for "pinch points" likely to promote technologies that will deliver the most "tons of carbon avoided per philanthropic dollar invested." <...>

"Two things matter: Coal and cars. Two countries matter: China and the U.S.," he says... "In that little matrix, there's only a handful of policies that are going to make any damn difference."

(For Harvey's take on Schwarzenegger's new energy proposals, see this NYT article.)

The increased receptiveness to alternative energy comes in the nick of time. The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts to rest any doubts about the severity of the issue, as the New York Times headline so clearly declares: "Science Panel Calls Global Warming 'Unequivocal.'" This is pretty sensational stuff for the Gray Lady:

In a grim and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is the main driver, “very likely” causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.

They said the world was in for centuries of climbing temperatures, rising seas and shifting weather patterns — unavoidable results of the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

Two days after the Times story appeared, CNNMoney.com ran a story about memos sent to scientists by The American Enterprise Institute offering them up to $10,000 to critique findings in the IPCC report. According to the article, AEI is funded in part by Exxon Mobil (and its retired chairman sits on its board of trustees).

"The purpose of this project is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the IPCC process, especially as it bears on potential policy responses to climate change," said the memo, which was sent to a professor at Texas A&M University.

"We are hoping to sponsor a paper...that thoughtfully explores the limitations of climate model [forecasting] outputs as they pertain to the development of climate policy..."

The article reports that:

A recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists said Exxon spent $16 million between 1998 and 2005 funding 43 "organizations that seek to confuse the public on global warming science."

Closing the loop here for now, it should come as no surprise that the Union of Concerned Scientists announced that an investigative report conducted with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) "has uncovered new evidence of widespread political interference in federal climate science."

"The new evidence shows that political interference in climate science is no longer a series of isolated incidents but a system-wide epidemic," said Dr. Francesca Grifo, Director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program. "Tailoring scientific fact for political purposes has become a problem across many federal science agencies."

Two Energy Funding Competitions

Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) Competition

The MIT Enterprise Forum Kick Off event for this year's Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation Competition will be held tonight at the Stata Center on campus. You can get more information here. One of the speakers is Massachusetts' new Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles.

SEED 2007 - Sustainable Energy Economic Development Initiative

The Mass Technology Collaborative has announced its 2007 competition, which provides flexible working capital of up to $500,000 per winning company for a 12-month period. The funding instrument is a convertible load. Get the details here.

NYT: Clean Tech Leads Silicon Valley Renaissance

The New York Times today has a great article outlining how energy/clean tech investment is leading a rebound in Silicon Valley:

In Silicon Valley, investment in clean technology — from alternative energy products, like solar panels and hybrid cars, to the use of nanotechnology to solve environmental problems — went from $34 million in the first quarter of 2006 to $290 million in the third quarter, according to an annual report released Sunday by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a research organization in San Jose, Calif.

And this...

Stephen Levy, an economist with the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, said the growing demand for clean technologies might well make this emerging boom cycle a lasting trend. Developments on the legislative front may help stimulate that growth. In September, California lawmakers set a goal of cutting the state’s greenhouse emissions 25 percent by 2020.

Energy Investment Goes Up, Up, Up

The numbers keep coming. According to a report issued last week by IDC's Energy Insights:

Venture capital (VC) investment in the energy industry through 3Q06 was triple the level of investment in all of 2005, making the energy sector the third-largest VC investment category after biotech and software. Leading VC firms from outside the energy sector are starting to make significant investments in "clean tech."

This echos the December report from the well-regarded VentureOne/Ernst & Young team, which found that "$761.4million has been invested in clean technology on a worldwide basis so far this year, up 50% from $504.1million invested after the first three quarters of 2005."

In the U.S. alone, according to this report, $585.6 million was invested in 60 companies focused on clean tech through Q3 2006, 30% more than was invested in all of 2005.

The Energy Insights report says "Climate change concerns top the list as the key prediction to watch for 2007..."

No surprises there.

Green Agencies Eschew Greenwashing

The New York Times ran an article last week about green ad agencies that must have the folks at Dwell Creative walking on air. The article, "How Looking Green is Looking Good," prominently features this ad from Dwell, which is part of an ad series to promote a recycling program in Maine.

The article profiles a number of boutique firms such as Dwell, Green Team and Big Think Studios (sporting the tagline, "Advertising and design for social change"), which are focused on companies with green products, non profits and foundations. The big agencies haven't totally missed the boat, as BBDO handles GE's Ecoimagination campaign.

These agenices are on the watch for firms that are simply looking to greenwash their products -- "putting a positive public image to putatively environmentally unsound practices."

The folks who have founded these green agencies are not your typical ad guys; they've gone green for a reason:

Leaders of agencies in the green niche say that is because they care as much about the mission as the money. “We want our advertising to inspire true change,” said Mr. Rooks, who said Dwell had rejected assignments that smacked of greenwashing.

Reuters: Is Corporate America Going Green?

Reuters ran this story yesterday: Is Corporate America Going Green? I was happy to see it run in our very own Boston Globe.

The article cites the efforts of companies like DuPont and GE, which last year unveiled its "Ecomagination" initiative -- "GE’s company-wide commitment to address global environmental challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water," according to the GE website.

Reuters reports that sales of "Ecomagination" products, ranging from washing machines to jet engines, reached $10.1 billion last year and GE aims to double that by 2010. It also aims to double its research spending on such products to $1.5 billion by 2010."

The article calls out DuPont for making good progress as well. According to a March study by Boston-based Ceres, a network of investment funds and environmental organizations, BP and DuPont lead a list of 100 companies for their climate change strategies. The study used a "Climate Governance Checklist" with a 100 point scoring system. BP racked up 90 points with DuPont coming in a 85. ExxonMobil (35 points) and PPG (21 points) landed in the laggards list.

***************
Lately, it feels like the whole nation has gone green. I'd remarked previously on Vanity Fair's first green issue; now I find (as I'm getting my hair cut) that Elle (yes even Elle!) did an April Green Issue, edited by Laurie David.

First Postal Service Delivery Van to go Hybrid

It didn't look like this today in Boston! Still raining here.

FIRST MAIL-DELIVERY VAN CONVERTED TO HYBRID
Postal Service demonstrates hybrid-electric technology

BOSTON — For more than 200 years, the U.S. Postal Service has been on the cutting edge in the development of every new mode of transportation in the United States. From the dash of the Pony Express rider, the daring of the early airmail pilot, or the rumble of the postal railway car, the Postal Service has been instrumental in the birth, growth, and development of a variety of transportation industries. And this year is no different.

At a ceremony today at the Boston General Mail facility, the Postal Service launched the first conversion of a mail-delivery van into a hybrid-electric vehicle.

“As an agency that delivers mail to 145 million businesses and households six days a week, drives approximately 1.1 billion miles a year, and consumes more than 125 million gallons of motor fuel annually, we are in a unique position to demonstrate to the public and other businesses the growing viability and positive environmental and energy-savings benefits of alternate-fuel technologies,” said Walter O’Tormey, Vice President, Engineering, U.S. Postal Service. O’Tormey spoke to an audience of nearly 100 industry representatives, environmentalists, and Postal Service employees.

Solar Panels Go Svelte

Last Thursday, CNET ran this cool story on solar panels from PowerLight. These panels remove the understandable aesthetic beef about those rather jarring angular solar panels on rooftops. PowerLight makes a SunTile system for your roof that integrates into the roofing surface. For a picture, check here.

The CNET story reports on a developer named Grupe Homes, which is selling homes equipped with PowerLight's SunTiles at a development in Rocklin, Calif. In less than three months, the company has sold 23 of the 30 green homes it has offered for sale. Another developer, Lennar, is planning to build the naton's largest solar community -- 45o homes -- in partnership with PowerLight Corporation and Roseville Electric.

Another promising development on the residential front...

The green issue of Vanity Fair salutes Edward Norton, for helping to forge a partnership between B.P., the progressive energy giant, and Enterprise Community Partners, which is "a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities." It was also founded by Norton's grandfather.

After Norton purchase a solar-powered system for his own home in 2003, he connected B.P. and ECP, which led to the formation of the BP Solar Neighbors program.

From the Solar Neighbors site:
For every system purchased by a celebrity, BP will donate and install one complete system on the home of a low-income family. For celebrities that buy extra large systems (above 6 kW), BP can choose to donate up to one complete system for each additional 6 kW installed for celebrities. So far, 26 systems have been donated through the BP Solar Neighbors program thanks to Ed Begley, Jr., Don Cheadle, Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman, Roland Emmerich, Larry Hagman, Daryl Hannah, Matchbox 20, Edward Norton, Carlos Santana, Alicia Silverstone, and Robin Williams.

So it's a small program so far, but what it lacks in volume, it makes up for in glamour. It makes solar sexy.

Why EnerTek? Why Now?

Why another blog?

This is my Mother's Day gift to me. Years ago, as a freshly minted B.U. journalism grad, I wanted to be an energy writer. Now I can be, if only for a limited audience.

Energy and green tech have come back into fashion, driven by oil prices that we couldn't have dreamed of when I interned at various energy concerns in the early '80s. As I read to get more current on the latest in energy and green developments, I'm encouraged by signs of progress, and saddened at how little real progress has been made during the intervening 20 years when I've focused primarily on enterprise software.

The time feels write to start an energy blog:

• Because the VC community has gotten on the bandwagon
• Because MIT kicked off its Energy Research Council on May 3rd
• Because when Vanity Fair publishes a green issue, you know the topic has seeped into the public consciousness

These may be rather random bellwethers, but they tell a story of a growing public awareness that we can't keep consuming energy like there's no tomorrow. Or there won't be.