Green Tech Meetup began with a non-traditional presentation provided by Melody Harris of Holme Roberts and Owen, who discussed what clean tech companies could hope to benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Among those most likely to benefit are those making targeted technologies for which specific grants are available, including the $4.5B for smart grid and $2B for advanced batteries and storage. Companies should track grants.gov to look for FOAs (Funding Opportunity Announcements) for which they qualify. Applications for these grants can be extensive, with audience members who had applied spending weeks of time and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees. Beyond federal grants, companies may consider the expanded access to loan guarantee programs and SBA loans now available.
Harris noted limited opportunities to access stimulus money flowing through the state energy department. Among the best opportunities that do so is in partnering with a local governments and counties on projects for which they could receive funding. Some companies may also be able to benefit from informing end users about the new benefits available in the stimulus (e.g. educating consumers about the rebates and loans for solar panel installations). Finally, there is significant funding available for workforce training and education which companies may be able to access with some creativity.
Invener develops energy projects in Chile and spoke to the audience of opportunities available in the South American country. Renewable energy is especially important to the nation because of limited access to fossil fuels, including the recent curtailing of shipments of natural gas from a major pipeline in Argentina, which led to electricity costs around $100 per megawatt hour. The country is investment grade, providing greater security to investors than many of its neighbors and has adopted regulations promoting renewables. Invener is currently developing several run-of-the-river mini-hydro projects and also hopes to become involved in wind and solar development. The company is currently seeking partners and will be looking for investors in the future.
Green House Data provides the first “truly green data center” located the Cheyenne, Wyoming. Data centers represent a large and growing source of carbon dioxide emissions and are expected to surpass the airline industry by 2022. Green House’s data center is powered entirely with purchased renewable energy and in the future will be partially powered by on-site wind turbines. The company has also focused on energy efficiency which is valuable for environmental and financial reasons. By achieving 30% lower energy costs, the company can offer 10% lower costs to customers. The center benefits from its location which provides “240 days of free cooling” but also utilizes efficient cooling, next generation rack infrastructure and a scalable, modular design. According the President Shawn Mills the company is “not trying to hide how energy efficiencies” are achieved and is sharing these techniques, including presentations at major data center conferences in hopes more will adopt greener practices. The company has raised $1.4M to date and is expecting at $2.2M grant from the state of Wyoming.
Coolerado offers a variety of extremely efficient air conditioners. The company’s technology uses indirect evaporative cooling: air is cooled through the evaporation of water, but instead of circulating this humidified air directly as a swamp cooler would do, the cooled air is used to cool a second flow which is circulated. According to Coolerado’s VP of Sales Tony McDonald, air conditioning represents 16% of US electricity usage and 50% at peak on hot summer days. Coolerado’s systems use about 10% of the electricity of traditional systems and result in about 85% savings in utilities – the systems use water but the cost is only a small percentage relative to electricity usage. The company currently offers residential, commercial, and industrial options. The units are best suited to the dryer climates of the west and mountain regions. Coolerado recently developed a hybrid unit, the HyCool, for rooftop commercial applications (e.g. restaurants) that uses the Coolerado method most of the time but can switch to traditional air conditioning at very humid times to ensure maximum comfort. Coolerado, which was founded in 1999 and has been selling products since 2004, is currently seeking $10M for growth.
The Green Tech Meetup is held on the second Thursday of every month and is designed to provide a time and place for technologists interested in alternative energy, alternative transportation, energy efficiency, green building, and recovery/recycling technology. The group’s next meeting will be Thursday, August 13. For more information, visit the group’s website.
