The Kroger Co., often just referred to as Kroger, is a popular American supermarket chain first founded in 1883 in the Ohio city of Cincinnati. It is one of the largest grocery store chains in the United States with more than 3,600 stores. Kroger comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, including supermarkets, department stores, hypermarkets, and convenience stores. Just like a majority of other supermarket chains throughout the United States, Kroger is taking a number of necessary steps to bump up its sustainability record and become more environmentally friendly. This includes opening up a lot of recycling ports in grocery stores and initiating a program to limit the utilization of plastic bags for groceries. Listed below are just a few of the ways that Kroger is taking a stand to become more sustainable and protect the environment for generations to come.

1 ) Sustainable Seafood Policy. As one of the largest traditional grocery retailers in the United States, Kroger realizes the important role it plays in the responsible sourcing of all seafood for products. As such, Kroger will not purchase seafood that has been illegally caught or comes from unregulated fisheries. In 2009, Kroger partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to find adequate sustainable fisheries to source seafood from. Kroger also complies with the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices Program in regards to industry accepted guidelines for all farmed raised seafood.

2 ) Carbon Footprint and Energy Reduction. Kroger has been using a lot of new technology in their stores to increase energy efficiency and decrease their carbon footprint. For example, all stores built after the year 2000 consumer 30 percent less energy. All stores are equipped with LED lighting and motion sensors. There are also skylights to increase natural lighting, control systems for all HVAC and lighting systems, and a number of Energy Star appliances.

3 ) Reducing Waste. One of the primary sustainability priorities for Kroger’s is waste. Since 2010, the grocery chain has been making a number of strides in reducing waste, including reducing packaging, diverting waste from landfills, and recycling plastic bags. For example, all food scraps from meat and deli departments are picked up by local companies along with old produce to be composted. As well in 2010, Kroger manufacturing plants have been able to reduce waste sent to landfills by more than 20 million pounds – a 30 percent reduction since 2009.

4 ) Reducing Plastic Bag Use. Kroger is always looking for ways to reduce the number of plastic bags used and help customers make the transition to reusable bags. By 2014, Kroger wants to save one billion plastic bags via education, signage, and aiding in changing customer habits. Kroger has a “Fill the Bag” training to teach employees how to optimally fill plastic grocery bags so not too many are used, reducing the number of plastic bags at retail locations. In 2011, over five million reusable bags were sold.

5 ) Transportation Efficiency. Kroger is always looking for new, more efficient ways to transport products to stores throughout the United States. The company’s fleet consists of 8,200 trailers and 1,200 tractors, plus there are over 2,500 third party tractors and trailers utilized for product deliveries. By 2010, Kroger was able to improve fleet efficiency by almost ten percent. The goal is to improve total fleet efficiency by 40 percent by the year 2014 by employing fuel-saving strategies, routine maintenance to ensure all equipment is at peak performance, and reducing the total number of miles traveled.

6 ) Food Safety. Kroger believes food safety to be a top priority in all stores; ensuring customers receive fresh, wholesome, and safe food. The supermarket chain has put in place a number of best practices to ensure the safety of all food items. For example, bi-monthly food safety review audits are done in every store to ensure food safety.

7 ) Animal Welfare. Kroger has made a strong commitment to their business practices, including the human treatment of all animals from the farm to the table. Kroger does not currently operate farms or animal processing facilities, but ensure that all suppliers meet the Food Marketing Institute’s Animal Welfare standards and guidelines.

8 ) Renewable Energy. In 2010, Kroger completed its very first wind energy project with two new installed wind turbines in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for Kroger’s Turkey Hill Dairy. The turbines will supply 25 percent of all annual electricity needs, enough to produce 15 million gallons of ice tea and six million gallons of ice cream. In terms of solar energy, in 2011 Kroger completed the first phase of installing solar photovoltaic systems on the roofs of four stores and one distribution center. It will produce around 900 kilowatts of solar energy capacity.

9 ) Customer Sustainability. Kroger Manufacturing operates a number of certified organic processing facilities. Kroger has also partnered with HarvestMark to enable customers to learn about where produce sold at all Kroger stores is grown. Kroger also works with a number of local farmers and suppliers to provide locally produced goods to all grocery stores. Customers can look for “locally grown and produced” signs around the stores.

10 ) Portland Kroger LEEDs the Way. A Kroger store in Portland, Oregon was able to reach LEED Silver Certification as it reached the environmental sustainability guidelines set up by the United States Green Building Council. It is the first store to achieve this rating and features items like increased insulation along exterior walls to decrease energy costs, water-saving fixtures in kitchens and bathrooms, skylights, efficient refrigeration and ventilation systems, and concrete floors that do not necessitate chemicals for cleaning. While the renovations cost more than normal renovations, the store will make it back tenfold in energy savings. According to Justin Doak, the manager of the LEED for Retail program, “[Supermarket] energy bills are so high because of refrigeration that they are constantly looking for ways to become more efficient. So, it’s a little more money upfront in construction costs but tremendous savings in the long run. And it’s the right thing for the environment.”

Article by Shawn Lesser, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Atlanta-based Watershed Capital Group – an investment bank assisting sustainable fund and companies raise capital, perform acquisitions, and in other strategic financial decisions. He is also a Co-founder of the GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association ”The Global Voice of Cleantech”. He writes for various cleantech publications and is known as the David Letterman of Cleantech for his “Top 10″ series. He can be reached at shawn@watershedcapital.com.

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Several green patent lawsuits have been filed in the last two weeks in the areas of smart grid, wastewater treatment, and emissions reduction technology.

In addition, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided to move forward with an important investigation regarding solar panel mounting systems.

Smart Grid

TransData, Inc. v. San Diego Gas & Electric Company

TransData, Inc. v. Wisconsin Power & Light Company

These complaints (TransData-SDG&E_Complaint / TransData-WP&L_Complaint), filed October 31, 2011 in the Southern District of California and November 1, 2011 in the Western District of Wisconsin, respectively, add to a host of recent lawsuits by Texas smart meter company TransData against a number of regional utilities.

Details on the other TransData suits can be found in previous posts here and here.

The asserted patents are U.S. Patents Nos. 6,181,294 (’294 Patent), 6,462,713 (’713 Patent) and 6,903,699 (’699 Patent), which relate to antennas and wireless communication devices for use with electric meters.

The ’294, ’713 and ’699 Patents are related patents which trace back to an original 1998 filing date. They describe early solutions for wireless transmission of electrical consumption data.

The accused products are electric meters deployed by the utilities, including certain Elster meters using Sensus wireless modules and certain Itron meters.

Mesh Comm LLC v. Trilliant Networks, Inc.

Mesh Comm, an Atlanta, Georgia, company filed a complaint (MeshComm-Trilliant_Complaint) November 4, 2011 in the Western District of Kentucky against Redwood City, California-based smart grid communications company Trilliant.

Mesh Comm, apparently a non-practicing patentee, is asserting U.S. Patent No. 8,019,836 (’836 Patent) relating to a system for enabling wireless communication between meters so utilities can remotely monitor and control energy usage.

A previous post discussed Mesh Comm’s patent infringement suit against Potomac Electric Power Company and Silver Spring involving a related patent.

Wastewater Treatment

Polylok, Inc. v. Bear Onsite

On November 3, 2011 Connecticut-based wastewater treatment solutions provider Polylok sued Bear Onsite, a water treatment product development company, in the District of Connecticut.

Polylok alleges that Bear Onsite’s effluent septic filters and water level control alert devices infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,129,837, entitled “Waste water treatment filter including waste water level control alert device” (’837 Patent).

The ’837 Patent is directed to a filtration device for a waste water treatment tank with a level alert device to provide an alarm when the filter becomes plugged. The claims are directed to particular means for mounting the alert device to the filter.

Emissions Reduction

Enerfex, Inc. v. UOP LLC et al.

In this suit, a Vermont company called Enerfex accuses oil refiner UOP (formerly Universal Oil Products Company), Quicksilver Resources and Breitburn Energy Partners of infringing U.S. Patent No. 5,482,539 (’539 Patent).

Entitled “Multiple stage semi-permeable membrane process and apparatus for gas separation,” the ’539 Patent is directed to membrane processes and apparatus for producing a very high purity permeate gas, which can reduce the amount of methane loss in “vent gas.”

Enerfex alleges that the HAYES 29 natural gas power plant in Northern Michigan includes infringing membrane systems installed and operated by UOP. The complaint specifically cites the Separax brand membranes products.

Solar

In re: Certain Integrated Solar Power Systems and Components Thereof (Westinghouse Solar, Inc. v. Zep Solar, Inc. et al.)

On November 2, 2011 the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it would open an investigation into Westinghouse’s allegations that Zep and Canadian Solar imported solar panels that infringe two Westinghouse patents.

The investigation stems from a complaint (Westinghouse_ITC_Complaint) filed by Westinghouse in early October. A previous post discussed that complaint and some of the history of patent litigation between Westinghouse (formerly Akeena Solar) and Zep.

The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patents Nos. 7,406,800 (‘800 Patent) and 7,987,641 (‘641 Patent).

Both patents cover what Westinghouse refers to as the “Andalay System,” a solar power system which includes solar panels with integrated racking, wiring and grounding (DC solar panels), and integrated microinverters (AC solar panels) for residential and commercial customers.

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An industry push to design vehicles that can drive themselves to make them safer and more convenient could offer the added benefit of making them more fuel efficient, researchers say. By the end of the decade, consumers could see partially automated vehicles in which the vehicle’s electromechanical system controls the steering and acceleration, essentially taking the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands and assuring better fuel management, Nady Boules, director of GM’s Electrical and Controls Integration Lab, told MIT’s Technology Review. Some vehicles already include systems that prompt drivers to control their acceleration to encourage greater fuel efficiency. But the real fuel benefits will arrive with the emergence of fully automated vehicles that will increasingly rely on a complex system of sensors, control systems, computers, and communication with external sources, Boules said. Possible innovations, which are currently being researched, include the development of vehicles that can park themselves — allowing drivers to avoid driving around the block searching for a spot — and vehicle-to-vehicle communication that would allow highway drivers to travel close together at consistent speeds to reduce fuel consumption.

photo: BMW

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360

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On Energy.gov, we’ve been showcasing a series of stories about innovations from our National Laboratories that have been successfully commercialized – and how they impact Americans’ lives. During 2010 alone, our National Laboratories engaged in more than 13,500 technology transfer transactions – from licensing lab-developed technologies to using lab resources to drive industry innovation and commercial success.

But to ensure American leadership in emerging energy technologies, we must address the financial and deployment obstacles facing renewable energy.

On Thursday, October 20th, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, please join Richard Kauffman, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, for a live discussion about the challenges and opportunities of renewable energy innovation and deployment.

Kauffman recently joined the Energy Department from the private sector, where he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Good Energies, a global investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Regarded as one of the country’s leading experts on private sector investment in clean energy, Kauffman is looking forward to working with the business community to break down financial obstacles that stand in the way of deploying clean technologies.

You can submit your question sand ideas about renewable innovation and deployment to Richard Kauffman in advance of the event through email, Twitter or Facebook, by:
•     Sending an email to newmedia@hq.doe.gov;
•     Tweeting your question to @energy with the hashtag #energymatters; or
•     Leaving a question for Kauffman at Facebook.com/energygov.

You’ll also be able to send him questions live during the event using the above methods or by visiting Energy.gov.

The United States can transform our energy future, but we must address market obstacles facing new technologies. We hope to see you online on Energy.gov this Thursday at 2:00 p.m. EDT to discuss what can be done.

Cross-posted from Energy.gov

photo: jurvetson

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Over the last few decades, commercial buildings have been at the forefront of a number of energy storage technologies including batteries, flywheels (primarily in uninterruptible power system (UPS) applications), and thermal energy storage (TES). While the former market segment is mature, TES technologies are poised to take off in the next few years as building owners and managers look to curb energy costs and improve the reliability of the cooling supply.

At first glance, the business case for TES in commercial buildings isn’t readily apparent, as storing energy for later use doesn’t directly reduce the building’s overall energy consumption. In fact, although the round trip efficiency of ice-based TES is high (approximately 95 percent), some energy is lost in conversion. The key drivers of TES are actually utility pricing programs, such as dynamic pricing schemes and demand charges. Dynamic pricing schemes, such as time-of-use (TOU) pricing, charge more for electricity during on-peak periods than during off-peak periods, serving as a proxy for the higher wholesale cost of electricity during those periods and sending a price signal to customers to reduce loads. Such pricing schemes are on the rise throughout the United States and globally.

Demand charges, equally as important, charge customers for their maximum power draw at a peak moment during a billing period at a fixed rate, measured in $/kW. For example, demand charges for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in ConEdison’s New York City territory are about $30/kW during the summer months. To put that into perspective, if a building occupant turns on a 2 kilowatt hairdryer during a peak load event on a hot summer afternoon in July, the building owner would have to pay about $60 more just to cover that extra bit of power.

So why are these pricing programs in place at all? Utilities in the United States invest significantly in generation and transmission assets that, in some cases, are used only a few hours a year in order to meet demand during hot summer days. By creating incentive schemes that transfer a portion of peak load to off-peak times by temporarily boosting retail electricity costs during peak periods, utilities can avoid the considerable costs of operating and maintaining those little-used assets – and pass the benefits through to their customers in the form of lower electricity rates.

Large energy consuming facilities, therefore, are finding that they stand to benefit from shifting as much of their energy consumption to off-peak times if their utility offers or mandates such schemes. There is about 1 gigawatt of grid-connected thermal energy storage on the grid globally today. Given that the key driver of TES is dynamic pricing schemes, TES has emerged in a number of pocket markets, most of them major urban centers, where these schemes exist. In the next decade, as penetration of TES grows in existing markets and dynamic pricing schemes and demand charges appear more broadly, TES will find its way into the energy management portfolios of a growing number commercial and industrial facilities. Pike Research estimates that the global market for custom ice-based TES installations could reach as high has $92 million by 2016 at an annual growth rate of 25 percent.

Article by Eric Bloom, appearing courtesy the Matter Network.

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Yesterday morning’s keynote address at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum was delivered by Pennsylvania’s ex-governor Ed Rendell, who spoke on the possibilities that renewable energy may gain traction through politics. I suppose anything’s possible, so I tried to track with every word – and I’m glad I did.

Rendell began by pointing to a few points of concern to all of us:

1) The US is clearly and rapidly falling behind in the arena of innovation generally and in energy particularly. In 2009, for the first time ever, the US Patent Office granted a majority of its overall patents to foreign nations/companies. And nowhere is America losing faster and more obviously than energy.

2) Those of us who believe that the world is headed in an unsustainable direction are running out of time. China will import 80% more coal this year than last, and they’re building one new coal plant per week.

3) By far, the most important energy topic discussed in Congress is light bulbs, gaining far more minutes on The Floor than the runner up issues (subsidies for oil, and energy as a national security concern). Apparently, our leaders are deadlocked on the decision to ensure that incandescent bulbs are not removed from US commerce – and neither side is blinking. Rendell paused for a moment, then asked, “Do Republicans have a huge store of old light bulbs that they wish to sell into the market? They threatened to withhold their votes to elect Fred Upton (R- MI) chairman of the energy subcommittee unless he toed the line on this issue – to which he finally acceded. The Republicans appear to be on an all-out crusade here. Regardless, we’re diddling around while the rest of the world is kicking our butts.”

But Rendell is on a crusade of his own – this one to see a renewable portfolio standard (i.e., a mandate to get to a certain minimum mix of clean energy) at the federal level. “Through years of experience at the state level, we’ve proven that clean energy mandates create payoffs in terms of a large number of good, well-paying jobs. We need a stable policy to support this at the national level – and it has to be permanent; it can’t flip-flop every four years.

So why, precisely, is this not happening? According to Rendell: “There are too many special interests arrayed against it. Over 90% of Democrat voters are in favor of Congress passing legislation that prioritizes clean energy. In fact, over 75% of Republican voters are in favor of the exact same thing. Clearly, the will of the American people is being frustrated by special interests.”

He told a story (perhaps self-serving, since he was the hero – but hey, isn’t that what politicians do?), in which he pointed out that when he was governor, Pennsylvania was one of only nine states that had no investment in pre-K education. “Harrisburg was dominated by lobbyists, and the poor kids — who would benefit most from this — had none. So I said: ‘I’m going to take this one on myself.’ Well, we won that fight, and now our young kids rank number one in reading.”

“Together, we can do this,” Rendell fairly bellowed in summary. “But we can’t do it inside the Beltway. The lobbyists are raising campaign money for our senators and representatives in Washington seven days a week. It never stops. It never stops. There are fund-raisers happening literally every night. If change is going to happen, it needs to take place in hometown America. Your leaders have to hear it from you.”

I don’t consider myself a sucker for political rhetoric, but I have to say that there was a level of gusto in my applause as Rendell left the stage.

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The number of homes and shops equipped with solar power systems in rural Bangladesh doubled in the last year to more than 870,000 with the help of funding from the World Bank and other organizations, according to a World Bank report.

In 2009, the World Bank provided $130 million to support government initiatives to reach remote parts of Bangladesh that would otherwise not be connected to the national grid. Fewer than half the people in Bangladesh have access to electricity.

“With a small [solar] connection one can power four lamps and one black and white television set,” said Ruhul Quddus of Rural Services Foundation, a Bangladeshi charity that installs solar units.

For Bangladesh, which already faces 2,000 megawatts of electricity shortages, finding new sources of power will become increasingly critical as population growth, industrialization, and a rise in the use of electrical appliances adds another 500 megawatts of demand annually.

In another new report, the U.S.-based advisory firm KPMG LLP predicts that India, Asia’s third-largest energy consumer, may be able to produce electricity from solar power as cheaply as from coal by 2017.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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SkyBuilt Power, an Arlington, Virginia, company, has won a 2011 Edison Award in the Best Energy and Sustainability Product category for its renewable energy power stations.

SkyBuilt designs and develops integrated, modular power systems including the first rapidly deployable combined solar and wind power station.

SkyBuilt’s U.S. Patent No. 7,230,819 (’819 Patent), entitled “Mobile power system,” relates to the company’s core technology. The ’819 Patent is directed to a transportable power system that incorporates two different types of power generating devices.

The mobile power system (10) includes a housing (12) and one or more brackets (14) coupled to the housing. Solar panel arrays (18) are coupled at one end to the brackets (14) and at another end to adjustable struts (20).

A wind turbine (24) may be mounted on a pole (22), which is mounted to a corner of the housing (12).

According to the ’819 Patent, key advantages of the system include the versatility to add various configurations of different renewable energy sources and ease of transport and assembly, particularly in that the system is the size of a standard ISO freight container.

SkyBuilt sells the mobile power station under the brand name SkyStation, which its web site calls a “complete power station in a standard freight container.”

Eric Lane is a patent attorney at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in San Diego and the author of Green Patent Blog. Mr. Lane can be reached at elane@luce.com.

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Australian Paul Gilding straddles the NGO and the corporate worlds. A former international head of Greenpeace, he subsequently moved into consultancy with global corporations and others on the transition to sustainability. Transition can sound a comfortingly gradual process, but that’s far from the case with the transition foreseen in his striking new book The Great Disruption: How the Climate Crisis Will Transform the Global Economy.

Gilding stands firmly with those who have been warning for half a century that our economies are pressing environmental limits to breaking point. Their warnings have now become realities. We have passed the limits of the planet’s capacity to support our economy. Ecosystem change and breakdown is now under way globally. Gilding takes his stand on the science, whether of climate change or the many other areas where sustainability is crumbling.

We didn’t heed the warnings. So now change will be forced upon us by actual physical consequences. The laws of physics, biology and chemistry defy the dream of ever-growing economies. We will throw everything we can at keeping growth going, as we did in 2008, and there will be measures of apparent success, but we can’t succeed because of the physical restraints of resource availability and the physical response of the global ecosystem, particularly the climate, on which our economy depends. The economy cannot keep growing and we will soon experience what Gilding calls the Great Disruption.

This means sustained economic downturn and a global emergency lasting decades. Climate change, particularly melting polar regions, extreme weather events and changes to agricultural output, will drive a series of ecological, social and economic shocks. This will lead to strong government intervention and generate a sense of global crisis. Sustained increases in food prices will trigger economic and geopolitical instability. The key ecosystem services of water, fisheries and agricultural land will be further reduced in capacity. Oil prices will continue to rise. Risk in global share markets will be repriced, leading to a dramatic drop in the markets and a tightening of capital supply.

Too pessimistic? A natural optimist, Gilding doesn’t think so. But he is at pains to say that he’s not foreseeing an inevitable slide into collapse. He’s talking about major and highly unsettling disruption, but a disruption that will in turn drive a transformation of extraordinary speed and scale. People ask why he thinks we can escape collapse. He explains. First, climate science denial will evaporate virtually overnight when the risk of collapse is in our faces. When climate change hits it will hit economically and people at large will pay attention because they are directly affected. Second, we can respond quickly when we choose to. We are slow but not stupid. Third, we can make an absolutely remarkable turnaround. There will be a Great Awakening.

But won’t it be too late? It will certainly be very late. He doubts that we will accept the need for the change for another few years, which means that a great deal more will be required than would have been the case if we had started earlier. He looks at what is necessary, concluding that we need to return to below one degree of global warming. Two degrees is an inadequate goal and a plan for failure. To those who say it is impossible he points to the impossible things that were achieved quickly during World War II. He and his friend and colleague Jorgen Randers, one of the authors of the Club of Rome 1972 report The Limits to Growth, have worked out a one-degree war plan which is outlined in the book. (A draft copy of the full plan can be seen here.)

The plan has three phases. The first, years 1-5, is the climate war. Modeled on the action following the entry of the US into World War II it launches a mobilisation to achieve a global reduction of 50 percent in greenhouse gas emissions within five years. This would shock the system into change and get the job half done by 2023 if we start in 2018. Phase two is a fifteen-year push to move the world to net zero climate emissions by 2038. Phase three is a subsequent eighty-year haul to remove sufficient CO2 from the atmosphere to move the climate back towards the preindustrial “normal”.

Some excerpts from the plan give a flavour of what is proposed for the climate war five-year phase. They include cutting deforestation and logging by 50 percent, closing one thousand dirty coal power plants, rationing electricity and rapidly driving efficiency measures, refitting one thousand coal power plants with carbon capture and storage, creating huge wind and solar farms in suitable locations, reducing airplane capacity, recycling and reusing all used materials, binding 1 gigaton of CO2in the soil, and so on.

Although governments will play a leading role as we pull ourselves back from the brink Gilding sees adequately regulated and guided business and markets as a vital part of the mobilisation, and gives space to discussing how they will deliver the required changes. There are some hard lessons here about business complacency and failure to read the science. Many companies won’t make it. Many will. Gilding draws on the creative destruction theories of Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter, of an economic structure incessantly revolutionised from within.

In crude terms for business and investors, where is the money to be made? Gilding offers some cautious predictions himself in the energy field. He sees a likely dramatic marking down of the value of oil and coal companies as it becomes apparent that a high percentage of known economic reserves may never be extracted. Carbon capture and storage he thinks remains unlikely to be employable on a wide enough economic scale to rescue coal. Nuclear power, though far preferable to climate change, is surrounded by serious safety questions. He plumps for renewables, particularly wind, solar and geothermal, recommending Al Gore’s book Our Choice for an analysis of the whole picture.

Successfully meeting the challenge of climate change is only the beginning. We still have to cope with the end of growth. Climate is not the only boundary we have come up against. There isn’t room here to explain in any detail Gilding’s take on an economy no longer dependent on material growth, but he espouses the steady-state economy which he considers long understood by capitalism’s founding fathers as a logical point we would eventually arrive at. He tackles the questions of poverty and inequity, neither of which have been well served by the current growth economics, and sketches the rough outlines of a fully satisfying life with less stuff and more human interchange.

It’s an invigorating book. Gilding doesn’t sell his readers short on sustainability or the climate issue which is right at its heart. He is utterly realistic about climate change and the drastic measures now required to avert it. Whether he is equally realistic in believing that we will in the next few years take those drastic measures may be debated by some. Perhaps we will take the path to collapse rather than the more immediately demanding alternative. Gilding himself has faced that possibility. But his conviction that we will do whatever it takes to avoid terminal decline once we realise what is happening doesn’t sound hopelessly idealistic, nor does the kind of plan he outlines to get us there.

Article by Bryan Walker, appearing courtesy Celsias.

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Because of New Zealand’s location and its increasing dependence on fossil fuels and its rising costs, it has become imperative for the country to make the switch In New Zealand, solar and wind energy are poised to make significant contributions to the economy. New Zealand has an abundance of renewable energy resources, more than most other developed countries, and currently meets a majority of its energy needs by using the energy from the sun, wind, geothermal fields, woody plants (biomass), and rivers and lakes.

1) First Country in the World to Include Agriculture in Emissions Trading Scheme. In New Zealand, the agricultural sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, equaling roughly 49 percent. These emissions comes methane from livestock, nitrogen fertilizer, and nitrous oxide arising from animal excrement. Because of this New Zealand’s trading scheme covers all current agricultural sources of nitrous oxide and methane.

2) Do Business with International Partners. New Zealand poses a strong willingness to provide knowledge and do business with numerous international partners with global benefits in mind. Because of the abundance of renewable energy sources in New Zealand, it makes the country a prime candidate for international business. It is the goal of this country to work alongside others to create new technologies that will not only provide benefit for New Zealand, but also the world. International partners that come into New Zealand are provided with a host of technologies, incentives, direct research and development, and innovation.

3) Research and Innovation. An impact of the cleantech industry has been the amount of research, development, and innovation that has come out of this island nation. New Zealand has been at the forefront in many earth-shattering developments, including earthquake shock absorbers, new breeds of sheep, and splitting that atom, so it is no difference that this country is also on the cutting edge of renewable energy and energy efficiency as well. Scientists have been working on new forms of biofuels, for example. There are numerous world-class institutions looking into renewable energy in New Zealand, including institute of Environmental Science and Research, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and Landcare Research.

4) Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart Program. To increase energy efficiency in homes across New Zealand, the Warm Up New Zealand program provides clean heating and insulation to homes. It started in July 2009, and more than 188,000 homes have been retrofitted for new insulation. It is a government funded project aimed at allowing residents to save and conserve their energy.

5) Funding for Energy Efficiency. To make it easier on businesses and homeowners to select renewable energy and energy efficiency, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority has a number of funding tactics available. They provide funding to homeowners to assist in various home improvements, including installing solar water heating systems and better heat insulation. There are numerous financial services provided to businesses to improve overall energy efficiency, including grants for energy, design and fleet audits, technology implementation, solar water heating installation, and loans for energy efficiency projects throughout the public sector.

6) International Recognition. Because of New Zealand’s work with renewable energy resources and energy efficiency, it has been asked to join the International Renewable Energy Agency. It is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the encouragement of production and usage of sources of renewable energy throughout the globe. Because of New Zealand’s widespread experience, they were courted to join in mid-2010. The Minister for Energy and Resources in New Zealand stated, “We look forward to…playing our part to achieve IRENA’s goal of accelerating the global use of renewable energy.”

7) 2025 Target is Doable. The goal of the New Zealand government is to achieve 90 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2025. This goal is probably one of the highest goals for renewable energy in the world. The government has four priority areas to achieve its energy goal – developing resources, energy efficiency, affordable and secure energy, and environmental responsibility. In order to achieve this New Zealand is focusing on areas such as embracing new energy technologies, research and development of renewable energy sources, reliable electricity supply, increased consumer information on various renewable energy choices, and an energy efficient system of transportation. The six sectors that are focused on to achieve the energy strategy goal are transportation, businesses, homes, products, electricity systems, and the public sector.

8 ) Perfect Location for Investments. New Zealand is the best location of renewable energy investments because of the large number of resources at the country’s disposal and its many improvements in the policy. The corporate ventures manager for the largest state-owned electricity generator in New Zealand, Peter Apperley, stated, “New Zealand is blessed with abundant renewable options of world class resource – high and consistent wind speeds, very hot geothermal fields, good water resources, [and] good wave potential.” Geothermal, wind, and hydropower dominate the renewable energy scene and new policies and provisions make it a lot easier for companies, both in New Zealand and internationally, to come in and invest in various renewable energy products in these fields.

9) Renewable Energy Tariffs. New Zealand has had many discussions about the inclusion of feed-in tariffs to promote the adoption of sources of renewable energy to assist in accelerating the country toward more grid parity. The feed-in tariffs would provide savings in cost, reduction of losses, and increase in the usage of renewable energy sources.

10) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. To ensure that the energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy are being utilized, New Zealand created the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Its main focus is to guarantee the future positive impact of cleantech on New Zealand society. EECA offers businesses and homes the information, support, and tools necessary to make effective energy decisions regarding its usage. EECA works with a number of private sector firms, industry associations, government organizations, and community groups to ensure opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy are taken. This certifies that New Zealand’s goals of a nation run completely by renewable energy sources occur.

Article by Shawn Lesser, president and founder of Atlanta-based Sustainable World Capital, which is focused on fund-raising for private equity cleantech/sustainable funds, as well as private cleantech companies and M&A. He is also a co- founder of the GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association, and can be reached at shawn.lesser@sworldcap.com

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