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1. Last Chance for great Xmas gifts from the Inhabitat SHOP!
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2. Ocean Power Technologies Heads to Australia
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3. Solar Takes to the Seas in First Sun-Propelled Cargo Ship
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4. Dell Smacks Down Apple's Green Claims
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5. The Latest Green VC…Bjork!?
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6. Bush Approves $17.4B Greenless Bailout for GM, Chrysler
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7. Panasonic + Sanyo Could Create Solar and Battery Giant
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8. Smart Home Startup EnergyHub to Sell Its Gear Mid-2009
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9. Smart-Charging Startup Coulomb Eyes Europe
Last Chance for great Xmas gifts from the Inhabitat SHOP!
Jill Fehrenbacher - 2008 Holiday Gift Guide
If you’ve been reading Inhabitat at all recently you may have noticed that we just launched a fabulous online boutique to help all you online shoppers find the best of the best in terms of green design. Now we want to remind you that while the Inhabitat Shop is a great place to find Xmas gifts - you need to place orders by this Saturday (or possibly this Monday if you want to deal with overnight shipping), in order to receive items before Christmas. So if you’ve been eyeing something in our shop for a Christmas gift and have been putting off purchasing it - now is your last chance!
INHABITAT SHOP >
INHABITAT GREEN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE >
Ocean Power Technologies Heads to Australia
David Ehrlich - Big Green
New Jersey’s Ocean Power Technologies said today it’s signed an agreement with Australia’s Leighton Contractors to develop wave power projects off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
This is the latest in a number of deals for Ocean Power over the past year. Last month, the company signed a contract under the U.S. Navy’s Deep Water Active Detection Systems program. That’s its second contract with the Navy for the data gathering and communications project, with both deals worth a total of $5 million for Ocean Power. And in September, Spanish utility Iberdrola deployed a PowerBuoy from Ocean Power off the coast of Spain, with Ocean Power calling it the world’s first commercial utility-scale wave power generation venture.
Ocean Power’s PowerBuoy has a piston that moves as the buoy rises and falls with the waves, driving a generator that produces electricity.
The companies may still have a lot of legwork to do before they can release any details about the project, however. Ocean Power will first work on identifying potential project sites and assessing their commercial prospects. Once those sites are picked, Leighton, an engineering and construction services firm, will work on obtaining government approvals, negotiating power purchase agreements, and structuring the project financing.
Leighton will also oversee project delivery and operation of the wave power stations, with Ocean Power selling its PowerBuoy systems to companies formed by Leighton for the projects, but Ocean Power didn’t say how many projects they expect to set up or how much power they’ll generate.
Leighton also signed a deal today with Germany’s MAN Solar Millennium to set up solar thermal power plants in Australia. There weren’t any details on the financial terms of that deal, either, nor did Leighton say how many plants they plan to build. MAN Solar, a joint venture of MAN Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium, was formed to construct and finance large-scale solar thermal power plants with a capacity of 50-250 megawatts. MAN Solar is currently working on the 50-MW Andasol 3 solar thermal plant in southern Spain.
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Solar Takes to the Seas in First Sun-Propelled Cargo Ship
Josie Garthwaite - Energy
Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen K.K. and oil distributor Nippon Oil Corp. today launched the first-ever cargo ship with a propulsion system powered, in part, by solar energy. The freighter, which left a port in Kobe carrying vehicles by Toyota, sports $1.68 million worth of solar panels — enough to provide only 0.2 percent of the energy needed for propulsion, AFP reports.
Even that small percentage represents a significant first step for the shipping industry, which accounts for 1.4-4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Historically subject to few controls because it operates on international waters, the industry may soon face tighter emissions standards closer to shore if regulators follow the lead of California’s Air Resources Board. The board’s new strategy for reducing emissions, adopted earlier this month, includes requiring ships to turn off engines and use cleaner power systems while docked at port. California air regulators also adopted a rule this summer prohibiting the use of “bunker fuel” within 24 nautical miles of the state’s coastline beginning in 2009.
Already, the 168 member countries of the UN International Maritime Organization have agreed to a series of sulphur dioxide emissions cuts to be phased in along protected shorelines by 2015 and at sea by 2025. In October, when that agreement was reached, International Chamber of Shipping Secretary Simon Bennett told Reuters, “The big question will be whether or not the oil refining industry will be able to deliver this new demand for distillate [a less-polluting type of fuel] that is going to be created for shipping.” Now the question may be whether or not the shipping industry will adopt a renewable alternative.
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Dell Smacks Down Apple's Green Claims
Katie Fehrenbacher - Big Green
Greening product lines and reducing carbon footprints is clearly a point of pride for tech companies — so much so that it’s got Dell’s competitive juices flowing. In the wake of Apple’s claims that its latest Macbook is the world’s greenest notebook, Dell decided to do an Apple smackdown on its blog this morning. “Apple hasn’t stated any goals, just made claims, which as far as we can tell, are not accurate,” writes Dell V-P of Communities & Conversations (nice title) Bob Pearson.
Ooh, harsh. Pearson says that the blog post is a reaction to the fact that some of the Dell folks were “surprised and perplexed” after seeing Apple’s new green laptop ad and decided they wanted to have a discussion about “the real meaning of being green.” Apple is skipping important green actions and goals, he writes — such as offering free recycling for consumers or making its operations carbon neutral, both things Dell has done — and instead touting green ads. In his own words:
We don’t recall Apple joining the conversation about the environment, either via key conferences or the blogosphere or via reporter meetings…Don’t skip this step and go right to ads that may not even be truthful…We wish Apple would be more bold in making a difference rather than making ads. If they do both, then fantastic, run all the ads you want.
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The Latest Green VC…Bjork!?
Katie Fehrenbacher - Big Green
According to Audur, which focuses on women-run businesses, the BJORK fund will invest in small companies in Iceland including startups in “green energy” and sustainable businesses. We don’t know much else about the fund, but well-known names can raise a firm’s profile and help bring in more startup leads and investors. Iceland also has had a long history of developing clean power, given its geothermal assets. Though as of late it was also hit mighty hard by the credit crunch.
Image courtesy of Audur.
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Bush Approves $17.4B Greenless Bailout for GM, Chrysler
Josie Garthwaite - Automotive
President Bush has announced the federal government will provide $13.4 billion in emergency loans for Chrysler and General Motors and another $4 billion that will become available in February. If the two auto companies do not prove profitability by March 31, 2009, the government will demand immediate repayment. Ford is not seeking immediate aid. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will oversee the program — not a “car czar,” as Congress envisioned.
A bailout fact sheet released by the White House and posted on the Wall Street Journal includes a short list of binding terms and conditions (emphasis added). Only one smacks of anything close to a green requirement:
- Firms must provide warrants for non-voting stock.
- Firms must accept limits on executive compensation and eliminate perks such as corporate jets.
- Debt owed to the government would be senior to other debts, to the extent permitted by law.
- Firms must allow the government to examine their books and records.
- Firms must report and the government has the power to block any large transactions (> $100 M).
- Firms must comply with applicable Federal fuel efficiency and emissions requirements.
- Firms must not issue new dividends while they owe government debt.
In short, the bailout does not give Chrysler and GM get-out-of-jail-free cards, but nor does it push them to achieve long-term viability with real innovation. When it comes to emissions and fuel efficiency, they merely have to abide by the law.
GM’s Fastlane blog has posted a response to President Bush’s announcement (again, emphasis added):
This will allow us to accelerate the completion of our aggressive restructuring plan for long-term, sustainable success. It will lead to a leaner, stronger General Motors, a GM that is:
- dedicated to great products, exciting design, and world-class quality
- fully committed to leading in energy-saving vehicles and technologies
- responsive to the needs of our customers, our stakeholders and the communities we live in and serve
This bailout can keep the automakers afloat for only a few months. That timeline and the limited emissions and efficiency requirements mean the impetus for innovation can only come from the market and company leadership. GM says it’s committed to leading, but the government and public, now investors-in-chief, don’t have a framework for holding it accountable to that pledge. In March, it will be up to the new administration to decide if it wants to take up that task.
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Panasonic + Sanyo Could Create Solar and Battery Giant
David Ehrlich - Automotive
A tie-up between Japanese electronics powerhouses Panasonic and Sanyo has been in the works for a while, but today it was made official, with Panasonic saying it has agreed to buy Sanyo for ¥800 billion ($9 billion) via a public tender offer. The main focus of the deal, Panasonic said, is the combination of the solar and lithium-ion battery businesses of the two companies, as well as a strengthened financial and business position.
The companies confirmed that they were discussing a possible deal last month. Panasonic said today that the tender offer will start as soon as possible. The deal could close by February, with Sanyo becoming a part of the Panasonic group.
Sanyo brings with it a big solar panel business, and Panasonic is looking at boosting both its solar and battery divisions once the deal is closed, saying that it sees significant future growth in both markets. Panasonic said the solar business will expand in the area of highly efficient crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic cells and modules, and in the development next-generation solar cells.
Earlier this year, Sanyo announced plans to build a new $80-million, 70-megawatt solar manufacturing facility in Oregon. The plant is expected to open in October 2009, with production getting up to full capacity by April 2010.
Panasonic said it plans to make “active investments” in batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, with the company saying that collaboration with automakers could be strengthened by the Panasonic-Sanyo deal. Earlier this week, Japan’s Honda Motor inked an agreement with Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa to form a ¥15 billion joint venture for the development of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles.
Panasonic may also need to watch its back in the U.S., as battery makers there formed a coalition yesterday to battle overseas competitors in the growing market for hybrid and electric car batteries. More than a dozen U.S. technology companies are teaming up to build a battery manufacturing plant there, and are reportedly asking the federal government for $1 billion to support the plan.
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Smart Home Startup EnergyHub to Sell Its Gear Mid-2009
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
Tis the season for a cozy home and flickering lights strung across rooftops — but as we all know by now, heating and lighting our homes can often be a very inefficient practice. To meet that challenge, startups like 1-year-old EnergyHub are emerging with slick hardware, software and network technology to help homeowners smartly manage their energy consumption. And CEO Seth Frader-Thompson tells us the startup is planning to start selling directly to consumers as well as to utilities sometime in the middle of 2009.
First, however, EnergyHub will launch a 50-home pilot trial in an East Coast city with a yet-to-be-named utility. After that, the startup plans to sell directly to consumers and to utility customers — that’s a little different than some of the new companies in the smart home space, which plan to offer gear solely through utilities. The reason a lot of startups tend to opt for the utility first is it can be difficult and expensive for small, young companies to do the marketing, and reach the scale of manufacturing required for the consumer market.
But EnergyHub’s product is also a little different than those of its competitors. The company is focusing a lot of its innovation, and placing a lot of intelligence in the dashboard itself. “It’s basically an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC),” explained Frader-Thompson to us in an interview. The dashboard contains enough computing power to provide detailed Google-style spreadsheets for programming your energy usage; it also offers features such as one comparing last week’s energy use to this week’s, or your home’s energy usage to that of other EnergyHub users.
The dashboard device also houses the Internet connection, ZigBee wireless connection and a touchscreen interface. Other smart home competitors, meanwhile, are placing more smarts in the software and web site interface, leaving the dashboard to be more of a dumb device that receives data from other sources. While that will undoubtedly lower their price tags, Frader-Thompson thinks the owner of a nice home, say, would look to buy EnergyHub’s higher-end device as a point of pride. He says it also won’t cost more than a few hundred dollars
Frader-Thompson adds that EnergyHub’s dashboard in a way recreates the PC experience, and that consumers will subsequently be able to use it more easily as opposed to an entirely new system. He thinks the dashboard will be the main place through which the home owner will control energy use, as opposed to many startups that are betting consumers will want to turn to the web to monitor their energy consumption. To that notion, Frader-Thompson asks, “If you were cold would you go online to turn up your thermostat?”
EnergyHub is in the process of raising its first round of financing, details of which it plans to announce shortly. EnergyHub is just one of many startups and established companies developing tools to manage energy in the home. To learn about more companies — and 25 hot startups, of which EnergyHub is one — check out our Smart Home Briefing.
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Smart-Charging Startup Coulomb Eyes Europe
Josie Garthwaite - Automotive
With San Jose, Calif., signed on to deploy its electric vehicle recharging stations, Campbell, Calif.-based startup Coulomb Technologies has set its sights on Europe. Founder and CEO Richard Lowenthal told us today the company will enter the European market in 2009. Although no deals have been finalized, Lowenthal said a growing amount of interest has convinced him to pursue the opportunity. “It’s all about how, not if,” he says. “Six months ago, it was if.”
Today, we got our hands on images of the company’s EU prototypes, which Lowenthal described as “vending machines for cars,” and they look a lot like the U.S. versions but with local languages.
Expanding overseas may be a smart move for Coulomb, which has previously positioned itself as an all-American option for the U.S. market. Pledges to build out national infrastructure for plug-ins across the pond have come at a rapid pace in recent months: Portugal committed to creating a national network within three years as part of a deal with Renault-Nissan, and Ireland announced plans to invest in infrastructure for the 250,000 electric vehicles it aims to have on the road by 2020. Spanish utility Iberdrola has partnered with General Motors to conduct a feasibility study for EV infrastructure in the UK and Spain.
Asked about plans for those four countries, a tight-lipped Lowenthal said Coulomb is in talks with “most of them.” Better Place, which has already locked in an infrastructure deal in the EU (Denmark, not to mention California, Hawaii, Australia, and Israel), has also mentioned talks with the governments of Ireland and Portugal.
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