IN BUSINESS WORLD

In Business, July-August, 2005, Vol. 27, No. 4, p. 4

DIGESTERS, BIOMASS PROJECTS, MARKETS TO BE FEATURED AT SEPTEMBER RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE
From tours of a Wisconsin dairy showcasing aboveground tanks and improved generators, a new 40-million gallon/year ethanol facility and a landfill biogas-to-electricity plant that includes a composting project ... plus 50 technical sessions on advanced biomass conversion and marketing of renewables,

the September 12-14, 2005 Fifth Annual Renewable Energy Conference will be special. By attending this Conference, in Madison, Wisconsin, you will discover what's working best, how the economics look, and steps to implement renewable energy methods.
Biomass conversion will be explored in a wide variety of ways - from how utilities can be a driving force for change to what it takes to rev up conversion sites for maximum power. Marketing methods will be explained and illustrated, as well as identifying best sources of biomass feedstocks. There will also be an opportunity to gain knowledge about commercial systems from exhibitors and presentations.
For registration details, visit www.biocycle.net, or phone (610) 967-4135, ext. 21, or write BioCycle, 419 State Avenue, Emmaus, PA 18049.

GREEN BUYING LAW PASSES IN SAN FRANCISCO
Last month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that prevents the city government from using toxic products while mandating purchase of green products. “The need to move to safer alternatives from toxic products is essential if we are committed to having a healthy environment,” declared Newsom. The “Precautionary Purchasing Ordinance” requires city buildings and services to buy environmentally-superior products and omit toxic pesticides, lumber treated with copper arsenate in playgrounds, etc. More details on the innovative legislation will appear in future reports - along with its impact on other city purchasing policies.

BUILDING MATERIAL CENTER REUSES, DONATES AND “CLOSES LOOP”
Based in Burlington, Vermont, the Building Material Center (BMC) sells high quality used building materials at excellent prices. Homeowners, contractors and many others shop there for lumber, plywood, windows, doors, sinks, lighting and “architectural antiques.” This outlet for the building material reuse industry provides hundreds of tons of “waste” that are now reused. Many materials are donated to nonprofits throughout Vermont, and training is done to support job skills development. Tax deductions are given for materials donated to ReCycle North, which has diverted 200 tons of used building materials from the landfill this year. Recycle North also has a deconstruction crew to serve as a demolition subcontractor for any size project. BMC can be contacted at (802) 846-4015, or e-mailed at bmc@recyclenorth.org.

VENTURE CAPITAL FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY START-UPS
Top venture capital firms in the San Francisco, California region are reported to show serious interest in the alternative energy sector, hoping to capitalize on the growing worldwide demand for energy - driven in part by high oil prices, climate change and dwindling natural resources. “This is an area where we've been seeing a lot of quiet investing going on,” says Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association in The New York Times. (6/22/05). “When you're talking about energy, when you're talking about water, you're talking about the largest markets in the world,” adds Ira Ehrenpreis of Technology Partners in Palo Alto, California. These days in Silicon Valley, more venture capitalists are allocating dollars to this sector because they think it will deliver attractive returns. “It's not because we want to do great things for the environment or great things for the world,” explains Ehrenpreis, who also cochairs the Cleantech Venture Network.
“We've seen a real change in terms and interest level and an understanding of this area,” notes Andrew Beebe, president of Energy Innovations. The field is “starting to get big and grow rapidly,” observes Sunil Paul (founder of Brightmail), who has used his personal fortune to help finance three alternative energy companies. (He was an early investor in Nanosolar, an energy firm, along with the founders of Google.)
The attention now given by some of Silicon Valley's highest-profile investors is great news for Nancy Floyd, a founding partner of Nth Power, a San Francisco-based venture firm that specializes in clean-tech investments. “Energy had always had a very small core audience among venture capitalists,” she points out in the Times. “It's only the last six months to a year we're seeing some of the generalist firms form teams around this and write checks in this area.”
According to the Times' account, clean-tech represented a 1.2 percent share of the total dollar amount of venture capital invested in 2000. In 2004, the $520 million that venture capitalists invested accounted for a 2.6 percent share of the overall venture pie.
The federal government and states are taking far different paths when it comes to supporting renewable energy development. While the national role continues to favor corporate fossil power and scaled back investments in renewable technologies, states are reported to be “playing an increasingly important role,” declares Ron Pernick, cofounder of the consulting group Clean Edge. Nearly 20 states have set goals for the percentage of energy sources that must come from renewables. Pernick also notes that some states, including California and Connecticut, are allocating funds to be invested in promising alternative energy companies.
(See “Renewable Energy Company Gets $16.5 Million In Venture Funds” in Business Developments.)

MONTREAL FIRE STATIONS SET UP COLLECTION CENTERS FOR CELL PHONES
Montreal, Quebec is partnering with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) to establish collection centers for used cell phones and rechargeable batteries at each of the city's 65 fire stations. The sites will be known as Eco-Centres and will also serve as special waste collection areas. RBRC will supply all the containers and pay shipping and recycling costs. Alan DeSousa, a member of the Montreal Executive Committee responsible for sustainable development, noted that by participating in the cell phone and battery recycling initiative, the Monteal fire department “proves that all members of the community have a role to play in achieving sustainable development.”
As part of the RBRC program, all rechargeable batteries are recycled and processed at facilities designed to recycle metals. Cell phones are either refurbished or recycled. ReCellular, Inc., a refurbisher of wireless equipment, has been working with the RBRC to process and resell the recycled phones. For more information, visit www.cellarecycler.org or call 877-2-RECYCLE. (See article on p. 29.)

NEW NATURAL FOODS COOP ADDITION IN SACRAMENTO FEATURES GREEN ENERGY
The new 20,000 sq. ft addition at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op maintains its green theme - with 100 percent of its electrical power coming from renewable sources via the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Greenergy Program. Plus the Co-op which has annual sales of $19 million from its 2,400 customers per day and is one of the city's largest employers - features these construction design advantages:
Natural Lighting from 19 skylights that reduce energy consumption and south-facing, storefront window wall that cools and lights the store;
Warehouse Refrigeration that uses sensors to minimize cooling needs while producing hot, potable water at no cost;
Building Insulation using 100 percent recycled blue jeans;
Rubber Floor made from recycled tires collected at landfills;
Counter Tops from compressed layered paper that is baked to form solid sheets with nontoxic adhesive;
Cabinet Particle Board made from certified trees that carry the Forest Stewardship Council's “ecolabel.”
The Co-op also “boasts an unsurpassed selection of premium certified organic fruits and vegetables. The demand for organics and the rapid growth in Elk Grove laid the groundwork for the Co-op's expansion into the marketplace, say store officials.

SOLAR HITS BOOM TIME, BUT WHERE HAVE ALL THE PANELS GONE?
With a growing demand for solar power in the U.S., there are major back orders for photvoltaic panels due to a weak dollar and raw material shortages. Solar manufacturers say that the solar market has grown roughly 40 percent annually in the last five years, helped a lot by rising demand in Germany. At the end of 2004, Japan was estimated to have the greatest total solar power at 1,100 megawatts, followed by Germany (790 mw) and the U.S. with 300 megawatts. Says Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association: The solar energy industry is diverse and will meet the challenges the market presents.
California - along with other states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut - provides subsidies to solar power users. California has also passed a bill that would put solar power in half of new homes within 13 years. The recently passed U.S. energy bill provides installation incentives for solar power. But it's still a wait-and-see time for solar installation companies. Says the owner of a company in Penobscot, Maine in an Aug. 5, 2005 New York Times article: “For all the years I've been doing this (solar installation), I could get all the solar panels in the world and no customers. Now I have all the customers in the world and no product.”

PLAN ON STAYING AT GREEN HOTELS ON FUTURE BUSINESS (OR PLEASURE) TRIPS
This issue describes latest developments at Boston's Hyatt Regency, and the hotel's involvement with projects advocated by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. The latest issue of National Wildlife (August/September 2005) has a great article by Judith Stock on green hotels in North America. The article describes these places as examples:
San Francisco, California/ Hotel Triton - Uses organic products whenever possible, cleans rooms without chemicals and reduces solid waste, energy and water consumption;
Austin, Texas/ Habitat Suites - Installed 108 solar panels on six roof surfaces; Toronto, Canada/Fairmont Royal York - Completed energy -efficient heating and air conditioning retrofit, also has a rooftop organic garden; Grand Teton,Wyoming/ Lodge - Reducing impact on National Park, hotel gets up to four percent of power from wind, maintains in-room recycling program and resource conservation.
For more hotel listings, Stock suggests contacting the Green Hotels Association in Houston and visiting: www.greenhotels.com.

SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTOR SOUGHT IN NEW JERSEY
The New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for sustainability (NJHEPS) seeks an entrepreneurial Executive Director to expand the organization's role for “sustainability in higher education in New Jersey - and beyond.” The flagship program is the Sustainable Campus Initiative with six strategies to advance concepts in all 57 New Jersey institutions through changes in curriculum, campus culture, community outreach, etc. Starting date is Fall 2005. Applicants should send a resumé to Dr. Daniel Watts, President of NJHEPS at: watts@NJIT.edu.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.