On April 22, 2009, celebrations and observations took place far and wide for Earth Day 2009.
I’m wondering what Earth Day 2010 will look like. I already know that Disney will have a new movie out that day called “Oceans” that looks pretty cool.
But what remains to be seen is how far we will progress over the next 365 days in implementing green energy.
Federal money is beginning to be available. States are enacting their own incentives. Local municipalities are encouraging businesses and residents to “make the switch.”
Great companies have great ideas. And sources of capital are becoming available.
So is 2009 the magic year? 1849 was the Gold Rush. Will 2009 be the Year of the Green Rush? We sure hope so, and we’re doing our part to help our clients make it so.
Let’s hear from you. What are you doing this year?
Sometimes it doesnt matter what side of the political isle you are on, and I hope that as all of us who read HFC will lay down political bias’ and gleen what is obvious from Friedman’s book.
1) An overpopulated planet with billions of folks who want to live the “american dream” isn’t good.
2) The new norm is global weirding, not global warming
3) Flat can be either good or bad, we must decide how to use flatness to improve the condition of the world.
Friedman’s book is forcing me to think about belief vs conviction- the difference between the two is that a belief is something that can be changed by someone else, a conviction is something that one would die for.
Is the Green Energy movement a belief or a conviction for you? I’m still working on it……. But these are the things that I do know, if I don’t model change personally for myself, my family and my business then I can’t be an incarnational example for others.
So to that end, I continue to talk to business leaders about how to make their businesses sustainable, read books about renewable energy and be involved in green communities.
It is interesting being in the financing side of green energy because I can quickly get to the heart of the matter, and that is whether or not a green business, technology or service is profitable or can be profitable.
This video clip is from a friend of mine who whose name is George King. The video is interesting because it talks about agriculture and alternative energy for Texas but you have to know more about the background of George King for it to make an impact.
George King is an engineer by trade, his background is as follows: Engine & Compressor Systems, Inc. Chief Engineer, Texas A&M Univ., Galveston, Texas Adjunct Professor, Marine Science Dept. Instructor, Marine Engineering Dept. Houston Advanced Research Center, Director, Energy Group (focusing on clean & renewable energy), Reliant Energy Power System Chief Engineer, Fuel Cell Division, Engine & Compressor Systems, Inc. Founder, President and Chief Engineer
2009Designed, developed and patented a new blade system for wind turbines
2007Completed the design and testing of a 150 kW wind turbine
2007Completed two exploratory wells, Sandoval County New Mexico, 6500 feet.
2004Designed a system of integrated solar, wind, and bio-remediation energy recovery systems
2003Designed a modular hydrogen dispensing system for the US Air Force
2002Developed, built and tested a 5 kWh residential fuel cell module
2001Developed and patented high density membrane electrode assembly for CO management
1999Developed and patented a new gas diffusion system for PEM fuel cells
1999Installed DC power system on 30 passenger mass transit vehicle
1998Developed electrical distribution system for HVDC power management
1997Installed the first low pressure boost (CNG) compressor powered by hydraulics coupled to closed loop heat exchange system.
1995 Built the production model of the MM-1 Hydraulic Compressor
1993Developed an experimental hydraulic compressor to be used in the compression of natural gas used as alternative fuel (CNG)
Green Energy Marketing is fortunate to have George King and his group as a partner. We are currently assisting Mr. King in the funding of the project mentioned in this video and we are excited because of its link to the stimulus package, agriculture and rural economic growth for Texas. The project also has support from US Senator John Cornyn
When this project is successful Mr. King is hopeful that the project will be a template for many other rural agricultural areas in Texas and other locations.For more on this project contact us at greenenergymarketing.com
One of our partners Patti Glaza of CT-SI.org is offering an innovative program for the start-up Green Company. Patti is calling this the CleanConnect Program. It is an enabler for the on-boarding of green companies in many different areas including Marketing, Promotion, Business Development, Collaboration and Financing or Funding. One of our partners Patti Glaza of CT-SI.org is offering an innovative program for the start-up Green Company. Patti is calling this the CleanConnect Program. It is an enabler for the on-boarding of green companies in many different areas including Marketing, Promotion, Business Development, Collaboration and Financing or Funding.
One of the nice things about CleanConnect is that they are not asking the participating companies for money, but for “in kind” services…..this is very refreshing and a great benefit to the start-up.
Here is a one sentence overview of the status of the law and where I think it is going. As the state did in the 1960’s when it converted surface water rights from riparian rights to streamflow to a permit system for surface water, the State of Texas has started the process to convert groundwater rights from the rule of capture to a permit system; i.e, a landowner will no longer be able to take as much water as he can produce from his land, rather he will have to get an annual permit to take a certain volume of water from his well, and those permits may be limited to less than a landowner wants to use.
Here is a one sentence overview of the status of the law and where I think it is going. As the state did in the 1960’s when it converted surface water rights from riparian rights to streamflow to a permit system for surface water, the State of Texas has started the process to convert groundwater rights from the rule of capture to a permit system; i.e, a landowner will no longer be able to take as much water as he can produce from his land, rather he will have to get an annual permit to take a certain volume of water from his well, and those permits may be limited to less than a landowner wants to use.
Already state law has set up regional water planning groups that are coming up with estimates of available volumes of water within the areas of the respective regional water planning groups. Those numbers will be the basis for establishing annual limits for pumping from those areas. The rule of capture already can be restricted in areas that have groundwater conservation districts, and the general push is to include all parts of the state in one or more groundwater conservation districts.
The San Antonio area in the Edwards Aquifer Authority is the prototype for this permitting process. A landowner in the EAA can only pump groundwater if he has a permit, even if he has significant Edwards resources under his property. Those permits initially sold for less than $1,000 per acre-foot per year in 2001, but commercial quantities of water were selling for between $5,000 and $6,000 per acre-foot a year ago, and with the drought in effect right now, I am sure that those prices would be low if someone really needed the water today.
On the other hand, having a permit system is not all bad either. Many financial institutions are not valuing water rights until they are reduced to permits issued by state agencies. It is a very complicated issue, and the ramifications are different for different parts of the state. Each area needs to assess its situation separately. For example, in certain circumstances, there is potential harm in being drawn into a water district, but there is considerable financial risk in being left out, too.
I suggest the following initial steps in evaluating each property under consideration:
1. Identify the groundwater conservation districts (GWCD’s) and the regional water planning groups (RWPG’s) in the area of the property under consideration.
2. Define how the GWCD’s and RWPG’s are responding to the Desired Future Conditions mandate (this will be the key to the evolution of water rights in the area.)
3. Determine what are the various future uses of the property under consideration and what is the potential for commercial use of groundwater in the area.
4. Determine how other landowners are addressing their water rights, especially those with similar historical uses of water; e.g., continuation of status quo or initiation of new uses that are intended to increase claims to limited regional water availability.
5. Assess the risk and cost of establishing and documenting water use versus doing nothing.
Will Jones has served for 25 years as corporate legal counsel for companies dealing with energy, water and other real property interests. He was the lead participant or primary advisor in multi-million dollar acquisitions, innovative corporate finance, federal and state securities matters, operations of growing companies, and corporate internal affairs. He is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He also have 7 years experience as a construction engineer.
I was talking to one of my advisors David Smith (see his bio here http://www.greenenergymarketing.com/content/advisors ) David is one of those guys whose IQ dwarfs ten of us combined in a room. We were talking about one of the projects he has done for the Life Sciences sector related to what he calls a “collaboratory” and how this would fit into the much anticipated Stimulus Package and it’s Green elements. David is an expert at this simply because he has done this for the state of Indiana with a project called www.biocrossroads.com while you wont see his name on the site, it was his group that put together the study on what it should be, who should be a part of it, what it should be focused on and what resources were in the region that could be leveraged. I was talking to one of my advisors David Smith (see his bio here http://www.greenenergymarketing.com/content/advisors ) David is one of those guys whose IQ dwarfs ten of us combined in a room. We were talking about one of the projects he has done for the Life Sciences sector related to what he calls a “collaboratory” and how this would fit into the much anticipated Stimulus Package and it’s Green elements. David is an expert at this simply because he has done this for the state of Indiana with a project called www.biocrossroads.com while you wont see his name on the site, it was his group that put together the study on what it should be, who should be a part of it, what it should be focused on and what resources were in the region that could be leveraged.
The similarities to a Green collaboratory are striking, 1) Green is very broad, where do you start? (same with life sciences) 2) Taking a “what’s in my toolbox” approach makes sense in an region or city that wants to be greener, we know that proximity equals potentcy when doing any business, and marshalling resources is a key element to succeed in any venture.
I asked David what is this term collaboratory versus an incubator and he said the difference between the incubators of old and a collaboratory can be summed up like this……Incubators are for ill children or premature children, they help them get healthy so they can survive……Incubation is what we do with our children from the time they are infants to the time we ship them off to college……this is what we should be doing with Green Innovation…..life cycle incubation, not putting them in a incubator.
I can have David comment on this if you would like to hear more…..his work with BioCrossroads is amazing and it could be duplicated in every city in the US and we would have in my opinion a great chance at really being a nationally green country, where all of our talents and skills in each state/region are utilized for the greater good….instead of fighting over who will get the most $$$ from the Stimulus Package we all can benefit and should and must work in conjunction to bring Green Innovation to market.
My previous post on this topic was about having the right funding group to assist with getting the right money at the right time. This post is more about the difference in getting funding for “Green or Clean Tech” 6 months ago versus what it will take to get funding in 2009. My previous post on this topic was about having the right funding group to assist with getting the right money at the right time. This post is more about the difference in getting funding for “Green or Clean Tech” 6 months ago versus what it will take to get funding in 2009.
Back in the day……(2007-1st half 2008) if an innovator had a good business plan and a solid management team he was able to get at least a few term sheets (except for the bio-diesel folks). There was the swagger that we saw with the internet boom of the 2000’s.
That’s all old news now and it has been suprizing to see how long it took to change….from August of 2008 til now the tables have changed. Moving into 2009 we are seeing that the Clean Tech company will have to have more venture funding to make it to the mezzanine/2nd round money (which in the Clean Tech world is a rather large amount of capital) why? Because the venture funded company will have to bring more to the table than just a proof of concept.
The table stakes are much higher, along with a POC and a solid management team are offtake agreements, personal guarentees, revenue contracts and 3rd party validation of technology.
Funding sources are looking at all areas where risk can be mitigated, technology can be validated and revenue can be almost guarenteed.
Does this mean companies cannot get funded? NO, it means that they must have more of the items normally required for something like a loan versus getting venture or equity funding. This is where the big challenges will be moving forward into 2009/10. A vast amount of Green Technology is still in the Discovery/Start-up phase and does not have revenue. It will be important for the Government to help bridge the gap between the Proof of Concept stage and the Commercialization stage of a company.
Tags: Clean Funding, Green Financing, Green Funding, Green Venture Capital
Posted in Get Funded, What Funders Look For | No Comments »
Clean Technology Convergence
November 27th, 2008 by Kimo Storke
Besides the fact that Holidays are about the things that really matter…..being with loved ones, give back, reflection on eternal things and great food……holidays give me the time to reflect and do what I call “living in the margin”. Margin is the space in our lives that is quiet. Margin is where inspiration comes from, Margin is where the seeds of innovation comes from. It is in a Margin moment that I am writing this blog post.
Since my company funds green or clean technology business I have the privilege to getting to know many amazing entrepreneurs and innovators who are taking their dreams to market, many will fail, some will make it….and its about the ones that make it (or are on the verge) of making it that are exciting because I am seeing a convergence of proven technologies which when implemented alone are just OK…..but when assembled together form a powerful solution….for instance….Wind, Solar, Water and Geothermal. These are not new technologies…..yes they need some improvement, yes they need government tax breaks to be economically feasible but…….when done properly in the right setting and application (behind the grid, net metering) they can be a powerful tool which can offset power consumption by at least 30-60% annually.
So what’s the takeaway here?…..well this is where U come in….My company and my partners are building an eco-system of clean tech suppliers who are past the proven stage and are into projects. Some of the projects are very specific, some are in conceptual stages……It is the conceptual projects where we are being asked to provide new innovation and “Margin” ideas that work that I would like input from U.
If you have a proven technology in Clean Tech and you are thinking about marrying it to another Clean Tech then I would love to hear from you.
Hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving season, and that you get to “Live in the Margin” a little bit.
Funding in these times, has been somewhat difficult to find capital for green energy projects over the last 2 months.
Projects that were normally good enough for bank loans are having to give up equity and settle for a higher note to get the funding they need. This is particularly true in the Real Estate world.
Fortunately, green energy projects are still a little insulated from the mayhem, but not that much. We have found that the key to getting projects done is still a mixture of a solid project with a great team and on the funding side, having a funding group that knows a multitude of funders who they know and respect and will pay attention to them when they come calling.
Actually, nothing is new in this model, which is that when the times get tough, we pullback or retreat to fewer things and trusted friends are one of them, this holds true for the financial markets as well. People go to people they know and trust who not only can get projects funded, but also have good projects to share with the trusted few.
So human nature trumps the internet again, in this case it really is about who you know, and when times get tough…..we rely on those we trust and have been down the road with. (I keep telling my daughter to meet and talk to people as opposed to doing IM and texting)
Fortunately, KAS and GEM have relationships with groups who can still perform and get projects funded in this day and age…..whew…..what a relief.
Is it still hard to get the projects done….yes, but good to know that they are getting done, after all, business and commerce still must get done, and projects get funded.
On a personal note, this is why I don’t watch the news (I prefer to read as I can choose what I input in to my head) much nowadays as the doom and gloom can really affect my attitude and performance, I know what I have to do and do the best I can to lead my partners to have a good attitude and encourage others to do the same.
