GREEN SHEET :: MARCH 2011
MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH
This month we welcome our partners at Honeywell International into CleanTECH San Diego’s membership. Honeywell is a Fortune 100 company that invents and manufactures technologies to address tough challenges linked to global macro trends such as safety, security, and energy. With approximately 122,000 employees worldwide, including more than 19,000 engineers and scientists, Honeywell has an unrelenting focus on quality, delivery, value, and technology. In addition, we welcome the membership renewal of our partners at the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Consulate of Canada in San Diego, ClearEdge Power, and Stoel Rievs LLP.
ADVOCACY
Smart Grid Stakeholder Working Group Partners with SANDAG and EcoTality to Address Electric Vehicle Impact on Region
CleanTECH San Diego’s Smart Grid Stakeholder Working Group is convening in March to examine the impact of electric vehicles on the greater San Diego region. With the advent of the largest deployment of electric vehicles in history, San Diegans are well poised to get ahead of this curve. CleanTECH San Diego working with SANDAG, EcoTality and SDG&E will host the third in a series of meetings to highlight the challenges and opportunitiesassociated with transitioning to a ‘digitized grid’. A key element of this transition is the opportunity to use cleaner more secure sources of fuel, such as electricity as a transportation fuel. More information is forthcoming on this invitation-only working group meeting.
CleanTECH San Diego and UC San Diego Co-Sponsor The U.S. Department of Energy and California Public Utilities Commission High Penetration Solar Forum
Hosting over 250 stakeholders at the scenic Scripps Seaside Forum, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego led this timelyforum on March 1-2, 2011 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). These agency partners addressed the technical challenges facing the industry in integrating high penetrations of solar energy into the grid. The goal is to make solar energy cost compatible with grid electricity and also to enable the high penetration of solar energy without subsidy in the U.S. electricity market.
The DOE/CPUC High Penetration Solar Forum is bringing together industry experts to present on interim findings of current demonstration and modeling projects simulating high penetrations of solar. These projects are either funded through DOE's High Penetration Solar Deployment award or the California Solar Initiative (CSI) Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (RD&D) solicitations. To register visit: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_forum.html
Biofuels Council Hosts DOE Biomass Program
On February 17th, the Biofuels Industry Advisory Council as part of the EDGE Initiative convened to discuss the biofuels training programs now being offered this month at San Diego State University, UCSD Extension, and MiraCostaCollege. These biofuels courses were developed at the direction of our region’s biofuels industry to specifically align industry needs with the workforce training. We thank General Atomics, Dr. Paul Bryan, Program Manager, Department of Energy's Biomass Program, for leading this Council discussion on the strategies and opportunities associated with biofuels at the federal level.
Clean Renewable Energy Bonds Update
The California Solar Initiative (CSI) incentives remain indefinitely suspended in Step 8. There is a backlog of 59 projects totaling 4.36 MW representing $3.9 million in total incentives on the Non-Residential Waiting List. The California Center for Sustainable Energy reports receiving multiple cancellations and are determining how much. When these cancellations are finalized they’ll announce who can be reassigned to Wait Listed projects. CleanTECH San Diego and CCSE encourage all non-residentialentities proceeding with solar PV installations to submit their applications to secure a spot on the Wait List.
CAPITAL FORMATION
Capital Formation Committee Examines New Ways to Strengthen Regional Support of Entrepreneurs and Early Stage Companies
On February 22, CleanTECH San Diego’s Capital Formation Committee examined a host of issues relating to how the region can continue to support the growth of early stage cleantech businesses. One of the Committees popular mentoring programs called The SCRUB program is designed to facilitate the growth of companies and advance their commercialization efforts. The 26 SCRUB graduates participated in a survey in efforts to evaluate the programs’ effectiveness. The Committee also explored ways to more strategically support the region’s growing clean tech cluster of over 750 companies.
CleanTECH San Diego Launches Mentoring Program
On February 16th, CleanTECH San Diego announced the launch of a mentoring program to support the growth of early stage companies. Led by the Small Business Administration and Department of Energy, CleanTECH San Diego was selected as an accelerating organization of the Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps (EMC), a collaborative among the Clean Energy Trust of Chicago, Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization of Incline Village, Nevada, and the Clean Tech Open of San Francisco. The EMC is part of a national effort to implement programs to provide resources to support the green economy, facilitate the proliferation of cutting-edge technology research and development. Under this program, CleanTECH San Diego will pair small cleantech businesses with qualified domain experts toprovide business, financial, and technical mentoring to accelerate the commercialization of their renewable energy technology.
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
Greening San Diego
The City of Santee is advancing its implementation of the U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency Conservation Bock Grants funded projects. The first phase involves 940 street light retrofits and is underway with a March 31 completion target. Having benefitted from being one of the first cities to participate in the new SANDAG/SDG&E Energy Roadmap Program, Santee is proceeding with several lighting, HVAC and sunshade retrofits within the City Hall Complex. On February 25, its Chamber of Commerce hosted its 14th Annual "Forum on Selling to the Government." CleanTECH San Diego’s Marty Turock presented an overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant programs (EECBG, QECB, CREBS, QSCB, SEP) that are stimulating local economic development and job creation as a wide range of sustainability infrastructure projects are being implemented across San Diego County.
Street Lighting Work Group
As the Street Lighting Working Group shifts its focus in 2011 to the retrofit of post-top acorn street lights and parking lights, the Group identified best practice specification templates that for use in the development of the San Diego Regional Specification Guidelines for these two targeted Phase II applications. During the February 3rd DOE EECBG Southwest Region Peer Exchange Call, an overview on the City of Huntington Beach's successful downtown corridor acorn globe retrofits was presented. Aaron Klemm, Energy Project Manager, shared copies of HB's specification and RFP for use as our template in the San Diego Region Post-Top Specification Guideline.
On February 17th the U.S. Department of Energy hosted a webcast on the Commercial Building Energy Alliance's LED Site (Parking Lot)Lighting Technology Specification. This specification served as a starting template for our SD Exterior Parking Lighting Specification. Walmart has adopted this specification and to date has used it at three stores totaling more than 1.5 million square feet of parking space among them. Walmart and other CBEA members using this specification are garnering energy savings of around 50% compared to typical codes and 75% or more when used with adaptive controls (i.e.- sensors, dimming), which the specification allows for.
MEDIA AND OUTREACH
Nominate by March 18 Deadline for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Do you know an inspiring leader worth recognizing for Cleantech Entrepreneur Of The Year? To be eligible to receive this award, the nominee must be an owner or manager of a private or public company who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of the company and an active member of top management. The nominee’s company must be at least three years old. All Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year regional award winners will be inducted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame and become eligible for the national awards. Previous regional award winners may resubmit to be considered for the current year national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award. (Financial and other significant information on the nominee and company will need to be updated for resubmission.) Deadline for submission is March 18 and the Awards Banquet is June 16. https://eoy-nomination.ey.com/LoginManagement/Welcome.aspx
Director Barken Represents CleanTECH San Diego in South Korea
CleanTECH San Diego board member Lee Barken, partner at Haskell & White accepted a speaking invitation in South Korea nextmonth at their clean technology conference representing CleanTECH San Diego to the emerging cluster developing in South Korea. The conference is expecting 40,000 attendees and 700 exhibitors.
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EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
MARCH EVENTS
DOE/CPUC High Penetration Solar Forum
MAR 01 - MAR 02 2011
08:00AM - 05:00PM
Learn More
CleanTECH San Diego Advocacy Meeting
MAR 07 2011
01:30PM - 03:00PM
Learn More
Fighting Climate Change: The Future of Carbon-Trading in California
MAR 10 2011
06:00PM - 08:00PM
Learn More
CleanTECH San Diego Board Meeting
MAR 15 2011
07:30AM - 09:00AM
Learn More
Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit
MAR 21 - MAR 24 2011
Learn More
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