See original story on SDNN

Monday, April 27, 2009

Robert Noble imagines a day when across the nation, instead of car owners paying big companies for gasoline, the reverse happens: Car owners get paid for putting energy into charging stations.

It’s possible with a network of electric cars.

“We see it everywhere,” said Noble, the founder of Envision Solar, a La Jolla-based solar installation company.

Last week, his company kicked off this dream. Envision Solar International, which Noble started in 2006, announced the nation’s most advanced solar-powered electric-car charging station. The Capitol Hill event was done in collaboration with Bright Automotive, an Indiana-based company, which unveiled a breakthrough electric-hybrid van.

But in an interview given one day after returning to San Diego, Noble said he also wants to promote the concept here. He is talking to potential partners about installing such charging stations across the county.

“In San Diego, it’s completely feasible,” said Noble. “We absolutely would love to see the first project here in San Diego.”

At the charging stations just announced, electric car drivers can pay for electricity powered by the sun to charge their cars. But during peak hours, when energy is in high demand, they can also “draw down” their batteries and sell electricity back to the stations at a premium price, said Noble.

Envision is a solar installation company moving into the electric car market. Its solar-paneled parking lots have led the industry, with high-profile structures at Kyocera’s San Diego headquarters and the UC San Diego campus. It has other projects in Napa, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Golden, Colo.; and West Africa.

Bright Automotive was the first car designer to commission a hybrid-electric car charging station, to be promoted in conjunction with its electric utility vehicle. It chose Envision based on the company’s track record, according to press statements.

As the electric car industry grows, many companies are competing to have their technologies become industry standards, with a variety of battery types and capabilities being built. But Noble said that its new charging stations, officially called CleanCharge/Solar Tree Charging Stations, can be used with any type of electric cars.

“We are technology agnostic,” he said.

How the stations work

Envision’s charging station works by absorbing solar energy from the roofs of the structure. It turns the energy into electricity, which is downloaded through a pump, much like a traditional gas pump. The driver, who uses an electric car – 100 percent electric or a hybrid – pulls up and inserts a credit card into the machine.

The car owner is charged based on the amount of electricity used, and the time of day pumped. During peak hours, such as afternoons, the price would be higher. During non-peak hours, such as at night, the price would be lower, said Noble.

Get paid more during peak hours
Here’s the amazing part: car owners could actually get paid by utility companies to give back electricity through such charging stations. Instead of pumping electricity from the stations into their cars, owners with high battery levels could actually do the reverse and get paid for it.

“They would pay you a far higher premium for the energy, because it’s peak time,” said Noble.

Noble explains why. “When a peak load happens – summer, 2 p.m. — they have to generate the electricity or there will be a blackout. They can’t just cut back evenly on all appliances. If more air-conditioners are on than they can accommodate, they have to black out.”

As a back up, utilities use other generators, which are very expensive to build and maintain, said Noble.
But with an electricity “smart grid,” said Noble, the utility company can access additional energy through cars.

“If you have programmed your (electric) car to allow for a draw down of your battery, then the utility (company) can actually use that energy,” he said. “It will save the utility an enormous amount of money for not having to build another power plant, because they can draw down from the extensive fleet of electric vehicles that are in the parking lot.”

A “smart grid” allows solar electricity generated in one part of the network to be used in another part, he explained. It also is a renewable resource, because utility companies currently use fossil fuels to generate electricity. By using electricity created by the sun, the supply is infinite.

Challenges

The greatest obstacle to widespread use of such technology is education. The general public does not know about or understand how electric cars or smart grids work, Noble said.

Joseph Gottlieb, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego, notes that solar electric car charging stations is not a new concept and “totally feasible.” At least two other San Diego companies were working on similar projects, he said, but Envision’s seems to be the first to market, with a “smart grid” connection.
____________________________________________________________________________________

About the company

Revenues 2007: $150,000

Revenues 2008: $3 million

Revenues 2009 projected: More than $5 million

Number of projects 2007: 2

Number of projects 2008: 9

Number of projects 2009 projected: 15

Number of employees: 8

Expertise in San Diego: engineers, designers

Manufacturing locations: California, Pennsylvania, and in future, Arizona and India.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on SDNN

Thursday, April 9, 2009

T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman turned clean-energy maven, sounded the clarion call of U.S. energy independence on Thursday in San Diego, while speaking before a group of business leaders. “We have to get off foreign oil,” he said. “We have got to get our own resources.” Pickens spoke before 477 members of the San Diego Rotary Club 33, at the Sheraton Hotel Harbor Island. He was here to promote The Pickens Plan, his multi-faceted effort to develop wind, solar and natural gas sources in the U.S., as well as his New York Times best-seller, “The First Billion is the Hardest.” The billionaire has invested $150 million in clean energy industries, an amount that will reach $2 billion by 2011, he said. His companies include BP Capital Management, a fund group; Clean Energy, a publicly-listed natural gas company; and other companies, which use groundwater and wind energy. A staunch Republican, Pickens spoke of how he has spent time in recent months discussing clean energy with President Obama, Al Gore, and even Sierra Club leader Carl Pope. “It has nothing to do with politics,” he said. “I just want to solve this problem.” The billionaire noted that several points of his plan were included in Obama’s stimulus package – including funding a smart grid, wind and solar energy. Speaking of Obama, “I think his plan is our plan,” said Pickens. Pickens also met with Democrats House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Henry Waxman. “Twenty minutes with that crowd is a long time,” he said, to laughter. Then Pickens explained that it was hard to nail down so much time with them, but they ended speaking for one-and-one-half hours. Pickens offered advice about the pending Climate Bill and Energy Bill, which he hopes will be passed by August.

The oil magnate publicly launched his plan in July 2008, months after it fell on deaf ears with former President Bush. Pickens spent $60 million of his own funds on a widespread television and Internet campaign, and met with both John McCain and Obama during that time. He wanted it to be at the forefront of public attention during the elections, he said, because by buying oil from Middle Eastern coutnries, “we are paying for both sides of the war.”

The maverick has garnered serious support for The Pickens Plan. Some 1.5 million people have signed up as members, including 47,000 from California, he said. Member organizations include the Sierra Club and AT&T, which committed to converting 84,000, or 10 percent, of its vehicles to natural gas after hearing him speak. Having delved deeply into U.S. energy issues, Pickens strongly urged moving away from foreign dependence of any kind.

He said that both John McCain and Obama had thought during last year’s campaign the key issue for alternative energy was battery efficiency. But since the Chinese are market leaders in batteries, this would only shift the dependence to another country, he said. “We (don’t want to) get off Saudi oil and get on Chinese batteries.”

Instead, wind, solar, natural gas and shale would allow America to achieve energy independence, he said. Pickens plans to build the largest wind farm in the U.S., based in Texas, as part of a wind corridor running down the midwest and southern states. He is also tapping natural gas, which he said is cheap, clean and abundant.

The hale 80-year-old rattled off numbers that painted a picture of unsustainable oil dependence. If present consumption levels continue, the U.S. will import $10 trillion of foreign oil in ten years, he noted.

Oil barrel prices of $147 a barrel would cost the U.S. $3.2 trillion dollars, lower prices of $75 a barrel will increase global demand that would push prices back up. Since the U.S. uses 25 percent of the world’s oil, the prices will be exorbitant, he said. “If we don’t get it solved, we’re going to pay a horrible price for it,” he said.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Pickens’ San Diego connection
Pickens is married to Madeleine, a San Diego businesswoman and former widow of Allen Paulson, an aerospace multimillionaire and founder of the Del Mar Country Club. Pickens and Madeleine married in 2005.

Energy facts
The U.S. imports 70 percent of its oil, most of it from countries hostile to the U.S. Wind energy has the capacity to supply 30 percent of the country’s energy needs by 2030. Natural gas vehicles could cut foreign gasoline use by one-third, or more than $230 billion annually.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on SDNN

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Yeves Perez is founder of the Eco Investment Club and CEO of EINI, Inc., a green branding company.

The Eco Investment Club is a gathering of individuals interested in learning about green topics for investment purposes. It has more than 1,000 members worldwide, with an average of about 50 attending each meeting twice a month in downtown San Diego.

Its members range from bankers and architects to retailers and bikers, who network at the meetings.

Perez spoke to SDNN in answer to five questions.

1. What do you love most about what you do?

I like being at the forefront of a lot of new technology — a lot of disruptive new ideas that are very risky on paper, but once they prove their viability or their chance to be viable, a lot of times we find out (about investment opportunities) for a lot of other people.

I like being at the forefront of a lot of new technology — a lot of disruptive new ideas that are very risky on paper, but once they prove their viability or their chance to be viable, a lot of times we find out (about investment opportunities) for a lot of other people.

We were hearing about algae before it was what it is today. We were hearing about automobiles that were (run on) compressed air, before they were even talked about being feasible and viable.

We were just in Sacramento for a launch with the Gov. Schwarzenegger last week Thursday, where the state had endorsed a new technology called a microfueler. It is a distilling pump, so you can actually make ethanol at home. You can actually run your own vehicle off your own ethanol. It’s fantastic technology.

It’s all over the news now. The state is interested in a pilot program to have all the state fleet vehicles to be run on alternative-fuel ethanol by July 2009.

We were aware of it several months ago. We were involved in the early testing in California to see if it was viable for the state to adopt it.

All this information is very valuable. To be at the forefront of it before everybody else is an amazing opportunity.

2. What is one thing that happened to you that made you decide to pursue what you do?

I came to San Diego with a small real estate development firm that I had founded, in late ‘04, from the East Coast. I thought downtown was just right for green buildings.

No trust

I was welcomed by community leaders. But at the time, the investment community did not know anything about green buildings. There was more focus on speculation and quick deals and hot locations.

I had one private investor who said (about a green building project), ‘What are you going to do, paint it green?’

Once we told him about (existing green buildings), it made him nervous, because he had no idea what we were talking about. And that’s the number one rule about investing: Never invest in anything you don’t understand, no matter how good it sounds.

There was nothing to build any kind of trust or confidence on.

No knowledge

Then I attended a real estate club. They meet once a month and bring in knowledgeable real estate experts to talk about trends. I thought to myself, ‘They have to be talking about green buildings.’ But nobody knew anything about green.

I got frustrated and said I’m gonna start my own club. San Diego deserves to have innovative projects here. We have a market, we have buyers, we have a market that isn’t being fulfilled.

I thought to myself, ‘An investment club is very comfortable for investors, because they are used to going to other clubs.’ All I had to do was start a club where we would just change the content.

So it’s no longer content about speculating in the real estate market. It was: Here are the facts, here is the return-on-investment on green buildings. Here are the ups and downs of ethanol, the pros and cons of solar, the inside on electric vehicles. We started talking about eco tourism and investing in green resorts.

We would have people come in, who were very well educated on those markets, tell us the pros and cons, what return on investment we can expect.

Creating confidence

We started to attract investors to the club that wanted to know more things they could get involved in. Once they started to attend a couple of our meetings, they had the opportunity to gain more confidence in the technology and the ideas. They actually went out and invested.

They came back to us and said, ‘We were terrified about the technology. We heard about it, we read the business plan, we just didn’t know anything about it. A lot of our friends we trusted didn’t know anything about it, so we didn’t want to do it. But once we came to your meeting, and you had several people at the meeting who could answer our questions, we actually got very excited about it and we decided to invest.’”

That changed me. People found trust within our organization. We weren’t trying to sell it and for us to make a monetary profit. We were out to educate people.

3. What do you worry about in your industry?

The financial industry all together. Greed is what I worry about.

There are a lot of people who got really greedy in other sectors of the financial market, and I’m worried that some people will look at green and get greedy.

(They’ll say:) ‘I made a lot in the dotcom before it burst, and I made a lot of money in subprime mortgages before it burst, and now I’m turning my eyes to the next big thing.’

They could turn to this and get really greedy and screw it up for the rest of us.

Before the financial bust, green investments were looked at as a green apple in a room full of red apples. Now it’s a green apple in the room full of rotting apples.

4. If you could let people in San Diego know, do or have just one thing, what would that be?

There’s a green fund in San Diego. JPS Global Investments is down the street.

We were involved with him, we supported him and he got the courage to start his own green fund. He has a huge advantage from having a global-sustainability perspective.

His fund is actually performing very well. It’s open to private investors and institutional investors.

Whenever there’s one (green fund) that will lead to two. In the next couple of years, it might be five. San Diego has its own local green economy.

5. What’s your vision for San Diego, by when?

Our region has the ability to be a national green leader.

As a city, a county and even a society, we have the talent, the ingenuity, and the financial resources. I think we will be recognized nationally and internationally by 2012.

Just algae (a new biofuels industry), we should be recognized as one of the top regions nationally and internationally. The breakthroughs in algae happened here in San Diego, not only in research and green oceanography, but also in business models, distribution and investment. A lot of investment dollars in algae biofuels come here to San Diego.

We have the opportunity to rebuild the economy as a greener economy.

About the club

Name: Eco investment club.

Number of members: More than 1,000 worldwide. An average of 35 to 85 attend meetings.

Meeting details: Meets second and fourth Tuesdays, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Location: 655 G Street, Pannikin building, downtown

Cost: Free for first-time visitors. Membership plans: $50/month, $125/quarter, $400/year.

Other programs: Eco Investors Bootcamp; Management training courses; “Chief green officer” certification; “Eco wiki nomics” online forum.

Business model: A for-profit group, owned by EINI, Inc., which has investment capital and sponsorships of about $100,000.

Collaborators: U.S. Green Building Council; California Center for Sustainable Energy; CleanTech San Diego; Connect; City of San Diego.

Contact: 866-960-9495,
Cynthiagreen@einicorp.com
www.ecoinvestmentclub.com

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on SDNN

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

San Diego businesses have a new way to save money, through zero-interest loans for clean and green upgrades. The San Diego Clean Enterprise Program is offering interest-free loans up to $100,000 for small businesses to make energy- efficient improvements.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders announced the program today in Old Town, as joint effort by the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and CleanTech San Diego.

“It’s a great savings for small businesses, but it’s also a great savings for the environment,” said Mayor Sanders. “By spending less money on energy to run your lights or your air-conditioning, businesses can invest more in building their businesses, employing needed workers.”

SDG&E is funding the program, which has $3 million available for the remainder of 2009, said Mitch Mitchell, a regional vice president, SDG&E. Its yearly budget for the initiative is $10 million. While the program was already in existence, supported by the Public Utilities Commission, the new partnership allows SDG&E to reach a wider group.

For businesses applying for the program, SDG&E experts go out to the business location to inspect energy use and make recommendations for upgrades, which are funded through the loans.

“It’s a great opportunity to look at your equipment and make key decisions,” said Mitchell.

The initiative will also boost job opportunities for workers in clean tech industries, said Jim Waring, chairman, CleanTech San Diego, a non-profit group. He noted that businesses that deliver energy-efficient motors, heaters and other equipment would benefit.

“Our real goal is to grow a cluster of businesses in San Diego around clean technology,” he said.

At the morning event, Norm Niles, a manager at Old town Trolley, shared how his company used the program to save on energy costs.

After changing their lights and doing other upgrades, the company cut costs by a third.

The program’s managers will partner with several business groups to spread the word, including: restaurant associations, various chambers of commerce, the South County Economic Development Council, Biocom, CommNexus and Connect. The city government will also promote the program through its various departments, such as those issuing permits.

Some 140 measures qualify for funding, including lighting services, food services and air quality. These can help companies become “green and mean,” said Sanders.

The program can also help business in tough times, said Waring.
“Businesses struggle day to day just to stay alive,” he said. “Here’s something that’s very easy. They don’t have to write a check.”
________________________________________________________________________________

About the loans

Interest rate: 0 percent

Maximum amount: $100,000

Length of loan: Up to 10 years

Who qualifies: Small businesses under 50 employees

Contact:
SDG&E
CleanTech San Diego

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

By Helen Kaiao Chang

See original story on SDNN

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Yet another San Diego building has turned green.

Sony Electronics and San Diego Gas and Electric opened a new “green” building Tuesday featuring solar panels that give renewable energy back to the electrical grid.

The new Sony headquarters, with 455,000 square feet located in Rancho Bernardo, includes a 160-kilowatt solar panel system installed on the employee parking structure. The panels owned by SDG&E can produce 230,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which feed into the utility’s power grid.

“The building is anticipated to save nearly 1.5 million kilowatt hours of energy use every year, which is equal to removing 1,077 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year, or planting 27,622 trees,” said Alex Kim, SDG&E’s director of customer innovations, in an email response.

The rest of the building includes energy efficient air conditioning and heating, as well as recycled carpeting and water. The building design meets standards required for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The building is 15 percent more efficient than California building codes, while the parking structure is 75 percent more efficient,” said SDG&E’s Kim.

“This is an excellent example of a building that can gain immediate benefits from solar power,” said Gina Heng, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric’s photovoltaic division, which built the solar panels, in a press statement.

The solar panel system was implemented through an SDG&E Sustainable Communities program. SDG&E owns the solar panels, which were built by Mitsubishi Electric and installed by HelioPower.

SDG&E has a goal of deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by next year, as mandated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Follow Helen on Twitter @helenchang.

By Helen Kaiao Chang

See original story on SDNN

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Green jobs may comprise 25 percent of the market by 2030, according to one study.

Green job training programs can help strengthen the construction industry, stabilize the economy and uplift low-income workers, according to a report released Wednesday.

The “Construction Apprenticeship Programs ” report by the Center on Policy Initiatives, a San Diego research institute for working class issues, calls for more training programs for green workers.

“Many studies show that there aren’t necessarily standards when you talk about the green economy because it is so new,” said Corinne Wilson, a research analyst at CPI who wrote the report. “We have an opportunity as we move into the green economy that these are good middle-class jobs.”

Key findings

Key findings of the study include:

— Construction work can pave a path from low-income to middle-class careers for workers.

— Apprenticeship programs benefit workers by providing work stability.

— Apprenticeship programs benefit the building industry by reducing turnover, increasing productivity and creating a well-trained workforce.

— Joint labor-management approaches work best for apprenticeship programs.

— Government policies and funding are needed to support such programs.

— Apprenticeship programs are the best way to train workers for green jobs.

It is projected that by 2030, green-related jobs will make up about 25 percent of all jobs, according to the American Solar Energy Society.

California’s construction industry has been hard hit by the recession, losing nearly 20 percent of its jobs in the last two years. The center wanted to find ways to address the shift.

“It’s about ‘What do we need to do to help the California economy recover, but also how do we make it recover in a long-term stable way?’” said Wilson.

San Diego apprenticeship programs

The report studied data from existing apprenticeship programs, which number about 200 in California. Wilson did not know exactly how many were in San Diego, but highlighted three programs run by local associations.

— One apprenticeship program run by the San Diego chapter of the International Brotherhood for Electrical Workers teaches apprentices how to install solar panels.

— Another apprenticeship program by the local United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry trains members in areas such as solar hot water systems, wastewater treatment and water audits.

— Another program administered by the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee, a social services provider, offers pre-apprentice training to weatherize low-income homes.

In addition, the San Diego Unified School District voted that many of the jobs generated by the Proposition S Fund will go to workers from local apprenticeship programs.

Training costs

Apprenticeship programs cost anywhere from $40,000 to $200,000 per worker over the course of two to five years. Companies and union dues contribute to a trust fund, which pays for their training and wages.

In San Diego, salaries for untrained workers starts at $28,000 a year, but apprenticeship program graduates make closer to $60,000, the study found.

“To invest in training may be an upfront cost, but it pays back several times over in the long run,” said Wilson.

“We’re creating middle-class careers,” she said. “When (workers) pay their bills and can afford to shop, the local economy is stronger. It’s not just about investing in our businesses, but in the economy and our recovery.”

The center will send the report to government officials, city council members, board of education directors and other public policy experts.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on SDNN

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A group of San Diego organizations has come together to apply for $260 million in federal stimulus funds for 160 solar projects that promise more jobs and alternative energy to the region.

CleanTech San Diego, a non-profit regional organization, is leading the group, which consists of nine cities, schools and water districts. Together, they submitted 300 applications to the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB), which has $800 million provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The projects are part of San Diego’s overall push to become more energy efficient, as well as an industry leader for alternative energy industries.

“This will have benefits not only to the communities that will have new clean sources of power, but it will also help put San Diegans back to work and boost the economy,” said Lisa Bicker, chief executive officer of CleanTech San Diego.

Combined, the projects would create 26 megawatts of solar energy – enough to power 25,000 homes over the 30-year lifespan of most solar installations. It is unclear how many jobs the projects could create, but they would range from installers and technicians to engineers and manufacturers, said Bicker.

The Internal Revenue Service determines the applicant winners, based on the bond criteria, and administers the projects with low-interest tax credits. The IRS will be awarding grants in the next several months.

Variety of projects

The projects were for the cities of Chula Vista, Lemon Grove, Fallbrook and Santee; the Valley Center Water District; and other agencies. The types of projects submitted were mostly for solar rooftop and parking shade structures, as well as others, at:

– Civic centers

– City halls

– Fire stations

– Libraries

– Schools

– Recreation centers

– Animal shelters.

Although the applicants were in the government sectors, the projects would be built by the private sector, said Bicker.

Smaller projects

CleanTech kicked off the applications in April with a meeting to determine how San Diego could best tap Recovery Act funds. The coalition – comprising several non-profits, for-profits and university groups — decided to focus on CREB, which favors smaller projects under $1 million. These can be approved quickly and suit several of San Diego’s smaller cities, said Bicker.

Later meetings in May and June educated city leaders about clean energy bonds and financial models. The group also brought on several companies with financial, legal and engineering expertise, who consulted with the applicants on a pro bono basis.

Culture of collaboration

The projects reflect the culture of collaboration that serves as a competitive edge for San Diego, compared to other regions, said Bicker. She noted that the partners had donated hundreds of hours of consulting work to make sure the business plan applications met legal, financial and engineering requirements.

Lisa Bicker leads CleanTech San Diego.

For example, she noted, law firm Latham and Watkins provided several hundred hours of consultation for competitive strategy; UC San Diego had four students create a software program simplifying the CREBS application; financial advisors Stone and Youngberg offered a template for creating a financial plan.

Other partners included: The San Diego Foundation, Center for Sustainable Energy, PE Consulting, Southern Contracting, and Munibond Solar.

Cora Long, a management analyst for the City of Lemon Grove, was one person grateful for the assistance. In an email to CleanTech that was provided to SDNN, Long praised the one financial planner who stayed up late to help her finish an application.

“She baby-stepped me through the financial aspects of CREBs without a single complaint or sigh… I really feel she has and is going beyond the call of duty.”

“San Diego has a long tradition of understanding the value of collaboration,” said Bicker. The partners “saw this as an opportunity to extend our leadership position not only in solar energy, but in clean energy in general.”

The experience also creates a framework for going after future projects, said Bicker. “We are very well positioned to identify the next funding opportunities and leverage the same framework. ”

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on SDNN

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

UC San Diego has landed $11 million in grants to develop cutting-edge renewable energy systems. Awarded by the California Public Utilities Commission, the state rebates are the biggest given for such projects to date, the university announced Wednesday.

The projects will help San Diego move toward energy independence and develop as a renewable energy hub in the country.

“San Diego as a whole takes one step closer towards becoming more energy independent,” said Byron Washom, Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives at UCSD. “The more projects we bring to the San Diego region like this, (the more) we start to become a hub for industrial development and growth of the City’s sustainability initiative and smart grid initiative.”

The two grants aim to achieve dual purposes: generate electricity and store energy.

One grant for $7.65 million will fund a huge fuel cell plant – at 2.8 megawatts – that will use wastewater to generate electricity.

The second rebate for $3.4 million will go toward creating an advanced energy storage system, which will store electricity generated during off-peak hours for use during peak hours.

Fuel cell plant

The new plant, to be housed on the UCSD campus, will become the world’s largest commercial fuel cell facility when completed in 2010.

The system will convert gas discharged by the City of San Diego’s existing Point Loma wastewater treatment plant and turn it into electricity. A facility at the Point Loma plant will compress and purify the gas, using an electro-chemical process.

BioFuels Energy, LLC of Encinitas, Calif., is contracted to transport the compressed gas from Point Loma to the university campus, where it will be turned into electricity.

The advanced fuel cell process creates so few air pollutants it is certified by the California Air Resources Board as an “ultra-clean” technology, exempt from permit requirements.

Energy storage plant

The storage plant to be built on the UCSD campus will also be the world’s largest such system. Energy storage is an important emerging industry, which forms the “third leg of the tripod of energy,” said Washom.

The first leg is energy generation, or supply. The second is customer use, or demand. The third is energy storage, he said. “It can absorb and store when there’s a surplus of energy.”

Additional electricity

The entire system will eventually be able to generate 2.8 million megawatts and store about four times that much energy. The stored amount will be enough to power nearly 10,000 homes for four hours, or the university’s huge campus for 1 hour, 20 minutes.

That may not seem long, but it will take pressure off the system during peak hours, said Washom. Peak hours are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. – when “buildings are still operating and people are starting to come home.” Off-peak hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A smart-grid system uses off-peak hours to generate and store excess electricity, which is then used during peak hours. This contrasts with traditional electricity plants, which have no storage capability and can black out during peak hours.

“It’s a start,” Washom said, “It’s not so much the quantity, as to when that energy is being discharged — at peak periods — when it’s needed the most.”

Model projects

The plant will serve as a model for future projects. The university is already applying for triple the amount of rebates to fund later phases, said Washom.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.

See original story on MSNBC.com

When Robert Deane reviewed his energy bills for this year, he was shocked. The propane gas bill hit $583 in February, and the electricity bill reached $418 in September.

Deane, a retired marketing executive, was “real surprised,” about the high cost of heating and cooling the home he and his wife, Chizuko, bought last year in Temecula, Calif. “We’ve lived in larger homes and we’d never seen bills like that.”

Deane hired eco-inspector Chris Trujillo, one of a growing number of specialists who recommend upgrades that can save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year.

Traditional home inspectors check to see if everything works in a house, with an emphasis on safety. But eco-inspectors check energy efficiency and provide reports on how much cost savings upgrades will offer. “The report is rating your energy usage, not your lifestyle,” said Trujillo.

The number of eco-inspectors is rising nationwide, as homeowners search for ways to save.

“There is an increased consumer awareness taking place regarding environmental issues and rising energy costs,” said Jana Maddux, a manager at the California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Service, which certifies these “green” specialists. Inspectors can “diagnose the home and help the consumer make sound decisions on how to make their home more energy efficient.”

In addition to saving money, homeowners can use the results of an inspection to qualify for “green” mortgages, which roll the cost of upgrades into the loan.

A basic inspection typically costs $250 to $600, a fee that can rise as high as $1,000 with additional tests. But inspections can save homeowners thousands of dollars.

If the Deanes implemented all the recommendations in Trujillo’s report, their energy bills would fall about 24 percent, saving about $844 a year.

The recommended upgrades would cost about $10,000, so the investment would pay off in 11 years. Some upgrade costs can be defrayed by utility company rebates for installing energy efficient appliances and other upgrades.

Deane was pleased with the result, saying, ‘If we’re making returns on investments in a reasonable timeframe, it’s something we’re interested in.”

Trujillo started his inspection of the five-bedroom home with the ventilation system, or HVAC.

“The main vein of the house is the HVAC,” he said. “People have more problems with air and heat than anything else in the house.”

By sealing the air vents and blowing smoke into the system, Trujillo could literally see where the system was leaking energy. The home’s two HVAC systems had a capacity of four tons, and the test showed a leakage of three tons, or a startling 75 percent energy loss.

Trujillo’s recommendation: Upgrade the HVAC system. Cost: $7,500. Annual savings: $549.

Trujillo’s test also showed significant leakage in the house’s air ducts and return section. The air ducts are the passages where hot or cold air travels from the HVAC to the rest of the house. The return section draws air into the HVAC system to be heated or cooled.

Trujillo also recommended sealing the air ducts and insulating the return section. Leaks in this part of the system, which circulates air through the house and back to the heating and air conditioning unit, caused energy to be wasted on air that never reached the house. Cost: $1,000. Annual savings: $349.

Trujillo also recommended sealing vents through the house. When he unscrewed an air vent in the Deane home, he found that the air duct was not caulked to the ceiling, so air escaped into the attic.

Installing a new water heater with an outer insulation blanket is another easy way to save on energy. The Deanes had an older model, so Trujillo recommended a replacement. Cost: $1,000. Annual savings: $144.

Trujillo recommends buying appliances with an Energy Star label, which is a government energy-efficiency standard. But he also cautions to look at the gallon capacity tag for water heaters, since some knockoffs illegally add an Energy Star label, without meeting the required standard. An energy efficient water heater uses 256 gallons a year, whereas older models use 288 gallons.

Appliances with the Energy Star label can save anywhere from 15 to 75 percent over conventional models. Most other major appliances in the Deane home were Energy Star models.

But Trujillo found a small portable refrigerator in the home office, which used the same amount of wattage as the large Energy Star refrigerator in the kitchen. The inspector recommended removing or replacing it. “It’s an electricity guzzler,” he said.

Trujillo also recommended replacing the Deane home’s 168 lightbulbs with compact fluorescent models, or CFLs. These bulbs pay for themselves quickly,  cutting costs by 75 percent over conventional bulbs, and they last 10 years.  Estimated cost: $700. Annual savings: $1104.

The news was not all bad at the Deane home. Trujillo found sufficient insulation in the attic, for example. And the home had double-pane windows that were good enough for the mild climate.

Trujillo also looks at a variety of other factors, including vaulted ceilings, fireplace flues, rain gutters, landscaping and house direction. Sometimes he might recommend new trees or other landscaping changes to affect the amount of sunlight that reaches the house.

Vaulted ceilings mean more air to heat or cool, while unsealed flues can leak air. The house direction affects how much heat a house gets; east-facing walls get more morning sunlight. Trees in a backyard will mean more shade, cooling a house. In the Deane house, these were not significant factors, said Trujillo.

Solar energy panels can cost some $40,000 for a typical house. Even with tax credits, which vary across states, the cost can still be $20,000. Trujillo typically does not recommend solar panels. “That’s the most awesome upgrade anybody can do,” he said, “but most people want to start smaller.”

Follow Helen on Twitter @helenchang.

See original story on NuWireInvestor.com

If you could save up to $200 a month in energy bills for 30 years, would you be willing to borrow an extra $5,000 for a home loan upfront? Probably yes.

That’s the power of energy-efficient mortgages, or “green” mortgages. Now, legislators, lenders, brokers and consumers are pushing for their wider use. Advocates say green mortgages can help solve several of the nation’s broader problems, including the energy crisis, the mortgage implosion and the slowing economy.

“These programs can offer significant solutions,” said Norm Ferrier, owner of Security Mortgage Corporation, which specializes in green loans, “because homeowners are desperately seeking ways to lower their energy costs.”

Green mortgages allow home buyers to add as much as an additional 15 percent of the sale price into the loan, for upgrades such as energy-efficient windows, water heaters, or solar panels. The savings in energy bills offset the higher monthly mortgage payments and create more savings in the long run.

Since the 1970s, major lenders backed by Fannie, Freddie, and the VA, have financed green mortgages, which are currently promoted under the Energy Star program. But these products languished during years of cheap oil and easy, sub-prime loans. Lenders and brokers avoided green loans because they took longer to close, but yielded no extra profits.

Now, as the energy crunch and mortgage crises converge, lawmakers and lenders regard green mortgages as a solution to both. Residential and commercial investors also see new opportunities in green loans. “We are an emerging market at a time when the traditional market has imploded,” said Jeffrey Cole, founder of myenergyloan.com. “The secondary market is embracing green mortgages.”

Legislators are rushing to support green mortgages. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed by President Bush last month, includes a provision to streamline and promote green mortgages. The bill authorizes federal agencies to identify obstacles to existing products, recommend changes and educate the public.

Another federal bill would provide incentives to lenders offering lower interest rates on green residential and commercial mortgages. The Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Act, introduced by U.S. Rep Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), passed the House Financial Services Committee in June and now awaits a House hearing.

A sign of green appeal across industries, the bill was broadly supported by 30 national organizations, including lenders, real estate agents, developers, housing groups, environmentalists and scientists. “We are at a crossroads with our housing markets and our energy consumption,” said Leslie Oliver, communications and policy director for Rep. Perlmutter. “There was incentive and buy-in from organizations across the board.”

Texas legislators also recently passed a bill to develop energy ratings for homes, similar to fuel efficiency ratings for cars. This would create uniform lending and appraisal standards, making it easier to process such loans, said Harold Hunt, research economist at Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center, which is working on this mandate.

Other states—such as New York, Vermont and California—have also enacted bills to promote green mortgages. But federal policies and infrastructure are needed to support state initiatives in the long term, said Security Mortgage’s Ferrier, who works with legislators to craft policy.

Consumer demand is also driving the push for green mortgages. While not disclosing the actual dollar value of loans closed, Cole of myenergyloan.com said that mortgage volume for green loans had risen 25 percent this year over last year.

Much of this growth is coming from the commercial market, said Cole. Last year, the bulk of the loans were residential, but this year, sixty percent are commercial. Many developers have been inquiring about green loans, not just to develop green buildings, but also to finance retail consumers when the units are ready, he said.

Business opportunity is so great, said Cole, that he and another partner are raising $10 million to fund the nation’s first green real estate finance bank. They hope to launch by October. “There is a lot of light on this market,” said Cole.

Ferrier of Security Mortgage notes that 70 percent of the country’s homes can benefit from energy efficiency upgrades. “This translates into an astounding 51 million residential homes that can qualify for energy upgrades,” he said.

A thriving green mortgage market could have multiple effects on the economy, said Ferrier. “They will address the energy crisis, by reducing the energy outlay by homeowners by anywhere from 30 to 50 percent, guaranteed. They can address the economy, by creating disposable income that far exceeds any stimulus package, because we save clients anywhere from $20 to $200 a month, year after year. It will address the mortgage implosion, because it has the potential to effectively create one of the biggest refinance booms in our history.”

“They offer not a pie-in-the-sky solution,” Ferrier said. “They’ve been tried, tested and proven.”

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenChang.