TMCnet Green Tech Week in Review

There were several reasons for celebration this week, some encouraging smart grid and EV developments, an oddly appealing product rollout, and a new industry organization formed.

First, the good news. It may be rainy or overcast where you are this weekend, but for all of us, worldwide, there will be SolarDay celebrations on June 18 (Northern Hemisphere) and June 19 (Southern Hemisphere). Visit the official website for a list of events in your area.

The Obama Administration released its new smart grid policy framework  this week. As usual, the policy paper has its supporters and detractors, but it demonstrates that the U.S. government is willing to put public and private resources toward upgrading the existing electrical grid, accelerating the deployment of smart grid and renewable energy technologies, and empowering energy customers.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service also has its supporters and detractors. Enough said. But one company is definitely on the IRS team this month: ZBB Energy Corporation, a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of energy storage units and power management systems, has received certification from IRS for a $14.7 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing tax credit, under Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code, and as authorized under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The company is building a new production facility for its energy storage equipment.

Also celebrating a windfall are the folks at California’s Santa Clara University’s University's School of Engineering, which is receiving an anonymous gift of $1.3 million from an engineering alumnus who wants to help create some of the country's top scholars in the field of photovoltaics. The donation will help the university launch the Latimer Engineering Scholars Program during the 2011-12 academic year.

The literal “winner” of the week is InteractiveOnline.com, a website hosting company that has received the top “Green Host Award” from HostScoreCard.com. In addition to running an internal platform that conserves energy, the company contributes to the Plant a Billion Trees Foundation whenever a new customer signs on.

Indeed, while nations may be still dithering about cleantech policy at the legislative level, companies worldwide are taking their own initiative to go green. A new survey conducted by research group Ovum has found that almost three-quarters of chief information officers in Britain have deployed some level of green IT within their companies. An additional eight percent have indicated that they plan to do so by the end of next year.

Speaking of initiative, airlines in the Virgin Group are collaborating to attempt to develop and share aviation biofuels at their common port of Los Angeles International airport. The airlines - V Australia, Virgin America, and Virgin Atlantic - have significant stage-length operations at Los Angeles that would permit them to maximize bio-derived jet fuel deployment at a single, shared location. "We're working with the other Virgin airlines - Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic - to look at what we can do in LA," said David White (News - Alert) (News - Alert), the Sustainability and Climate Change Manager for Virgin Australia, which includes long-haul affiliate V Australia. "That's one synergy which we're concentrating on because we're all flying into LA. We're checking out 'What can we do there?'"Collaboration with other airlines or biofuel consortia are also options for Virgin Group, he said.

Meanwhile, in the United States, final approval of the new aviation BIO SPK fuel standard is expected no earlier than July 1. Under the standard, fuel processed from organic waste or non-food materials, such as algae or wood chips, may comprise as much as 50 percent of the total fuel burned to power passenger flights, Air Transport Association spokesman Steve Lott and a Boeing (News - Alert) Co. official told Bloomberg (News - Alert).

And a number of companies won new business this week, including, Sensus, Power-One (News - Alert), and Ford Fleet Operations.

The Hutchinson Utility Commission has selected an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) platform from Raleigh, North Carolina-based Sensus  that gives them “double vision”– enabling them to remotely monitor both their electric and natural gas meters. The Sensus FlexNet communications network will support more than 10,000 AMI endpoints for electric and gas meters by 2012.

Power-One, licensed its Digital Power Technology to Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG (ZMDI), an emerging market leader in the power-management integrated circuits (IC) industry, for incorporation into its products.

Ford Fleet Operations announced that taxi fleet managers in several large U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia, have placed orders for the CNG-powered Ford Transit Connect. The largest combined sale was to two Los Angeles-area cab companies —Yellow Cab of Anaheim and Cabco Yellow Inc. of Orange (News - Alert) (News - Alert) County—which have ordered a total of 119 CNG-powered Ford Transit Connect Taxis, adding the nation's second-largest city to the growing list of large urban areas adopting the versatile vehicle.

And Corp. is taking its newest EVs to customers—where they live—in a trial program to begin in Spring 2012. Toyota will offer a car-sharing program to residents of three condominiums – two in Tokyo, and one in Nagoya, Japan—using its Prius Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), as well as the iQ-based electric vehicle (EV) now under development. With a total test fleet of six cars, Toyota will allocate two vehicles to each of the three condos.  Residents will be able to book a reservation for a Toyota next-generation vehicle via mobile phone or personal computer. The Prius Plug-in Hybrids and “iQ”-based electric vehicle units will be serviced and managed by nearby Toyota vehicle rental and lease companies. Fees have yet to be decided.

One car that’s not going anywhere fast, but that is increasing in sales annually, is the neighborhood electric vehicle. According to a report released by Boulder, Colorado-based Pike Research (News - Alert) on June 16, the total number of neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) on the world’s roadways will grow from 479,000 in 2011 to 695,000 by 2017, a 45 percent increase and during that period, North America will (coincidentally) account for 45 percent of annual sales. Originally conceived as a way to fulfill the California Air Resources Board’s (News - Alert) zero emissions requirements in the late 1990s, neighborhood electric vehicles are street-legal EVs with a top speed of 25 miles per hour. Readers may have become familiar with them in the past few years, either as light-weight fleet vehicles or as “commuter cars” that are left at the railway station in the morning and driven home at night.  . 

And if you’re a joiner, a new organization may be looking for you: Chartwell, Inc., has launched an Electric Vehicles Research Council to help utilities create their own EV platforms and share knowledge as an industry. Now, it needs members. For information about becoming a member of Chartwell's Electric Vehicles Research Council, contact Doris Yon at (404) 237-9099 ext. 29.

Finally, let’s not forget the most oddly appealing new product of the week—the ORCA Green Machine from Totally Green Inc. Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has purchased the Orca to reduce disposal costs of organic food and enhance kitchen operational efficiency. ORCA Green is an alternative to traditional waste disposal – a self-contained bioreactor. Anything that goes into your stomach can go into the ORCA, which uses natural microorganisms to decompose up to 2,400 pounds of food waste per day. The end product is nutrient-rich grey water (similar to compost tea) that can safely be disposed of through the sanitary sewer system. The product has been in use overseas for several years.