For weeks now we've been hearing doom and gloom about the health of cleantech investing amid the financial services meltdown and how cheap oil and VC turtling would cripple renewable energy. Well yesterday, SunRun, a residential power-purchase agreement (PPA) provider and in full disclosure, a Schwartz client, received $105 million in backing from a banking institution (of all places).
And it is not just SunRun. EnerG2 (ultracapacitor), ReGen (waste heat to power convertors) and Qteros (biofuels) raised close to $40 million combined in the past week. It's clear that as President-Elect Obama talks more and more about cleantech being a priority, investors continue to bet on renewable energy and green as a good investment for their dollars. For those companies not getting venture or bank backing, the government is a good option B.
One other quick note about the federal climate for renewables: With the news that John Dingle (D-Mich) has been replaced by Henry Waxman (D-Calif) as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, it is expected that we will see aggressive legislation and appointments related to climate change. Waxman is seen as being much friendlier to solar, wind, higher fuel economy and other environmental policy than was Dingle during his tenure as chairman. This is sure to get the cleantech industry's PR and GR machines trying to drive green legislation in the first 100 days of the next Congress. It should be an interesting first four months of 2009.
In front of a large audience including twelve governors (yep, host Arnold Schwartzenegger was there too), Obama left no wiggle room for his Administration. He clearly stated that he will take an aggressive, multi-facted approach that will both rebuild the US economy through the creation of a new energy economy and stop climate change.
One intriguing tidbit: Obama infers that setting up a Federal cap and trade system may be his Administration's first step. Certainly makes sense. There needs to be action now, across multiple fronts.
Carbon cap and trade can be quickly and effectively deployed. Companies like EcoSecurities are already taking what they've learned in Europe and applying to the voluntary carbon market here in the US.
Re-building the US economy and solving climate change won't happen overnight. But we need to start immediately.
Carpooling startups are cropping up everywhere, including Schwartz client Avego, because between exorbitant gas prices and escalating environmental concerns, we’ve realized we must find a better way.
For Avego, it's matching a driver's wasted seat capacity (all those empty seats in the single commuter's car) with willing commuters. Avego’s iPhone app incentivizes the casual carpool with convenient text messaging and GPS, a simple PayPal exchange and a rating system.
With similar goals, PickupPal launched in August to lend Web 2.0 tools to the carpooler. Unfortunately, some Canadians won’t be able to use the service.
As Michael Arrington reported on TechCrunch, PickupPal was "sued under an Ontario law that limits carpoolers to traveling only from home to work and back, riding with the same driver every day and paying only by the week, among other restrictions."
It's basically illegal to rideshare in Ontario and trying to implement such practices resulted in an $11,336.07 fine for poor PickupPal.
Hopefully the Ontario Highway Transportation Board (OHTB) will change its restrictions (ever heard of global climate change?) and other cities will take heed: Carpooling is an asset to your city, its people and the planet.
Avego will soon release its much-discussed iPhone app to beta users who sign up online. Don’t bother if you live in Ontario, eh? Or better yet, demand that the OHTB lets you use it!
In a NY Times Op Ed on Sunday, former Vice President Al Gore outlined a five-step plan for the US to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources. Some interesting points in the piece:
1) He calls for the government to support Detroit (and start-ups like Tesla) in building plug-in hybrids that can feed off of the renewable energy grid he describes.
2) He discounts the validity or at least the current state of "clean coal" technology. Is he right? Who knows? If they are going to try and make clean coal a reality, they need strict regulation around mine safety and ecologically friendly means of mining it.
3) He alludes to a cap-and-trade system for carbon and discusses greater US involvement in being an international leader in carbon regulation. It will be interesting to see if Obama and the Congress tackle carbon legislation in 2009.
It seems in addition to the ambitious plan for government involvement, Gore thinks that Web 2.0 could have a role in green policy movement.
Gore's opinion piece will stimulate a lot of debate and continue the pressure on the incoming Obama administration and Congress to push renewable energy regulation and investment to recharge the economy. It will also drive lots of discussion from green blogs this week.
I held off on posting immediately following the election results to avoid letting any excitement or disappointment seep into any analysis of how it impacts green and cleantech public relations and government relations. However, I think it is safe to say that the results mean big things for cleantech companies and the green movement as a whole.
Green bloggers everywhere started immediately discussing what an Obama presidency means to the green industry with some examples here, here and here. Martin LaMonica's post on CNET (the first link) is particularly comprehensive.
So here is my bottom line thought and I have written this in the past: The government is going to become a huge financer of renewable energy projects both in terms of greening government buildings and providing incentives and appropriations for individual companies. If you are an emerging growth cleantech company looking for funding, GR may be a good supplement to a venture round. Both direct GR contact and local PR campaigns are great ways to target government grants and funding.
Quick Note: We'll be hosting a webinar on the intersection of public relations and government relations for green and cleantech companies on Wednesday, November 12, 2008. You can register here.
On Election Eve 2008 I have come to this realization: There has never been a political platform element during my professional career that promises to have a bigger impact on an industry we serve.
In 48 hours, we could be sitting at our desks with a federal government-elect that promises to pump $15 billion into renewable energy every year for the next ten years, including wind, solar and biofuels. Or, we could be left trying to decipher how the president-elect would fit renewables into his overall energy plan that includes dramatic new investment in demoestic fossil-fuel production and very little specificity on renewables. In the latter scenario, it is likely that green companies and PR budgets would be at the mercy of venture capitalists that hold all of the leverage in new rounds of fundraising. The VCs will be sitting on sizeable funds that remain flush with cash and have the luxury of buying into shrinking valuations. This results in more equity for less money invested.
When you consider that $6.6 billion in VC investment has been poured into renewables thus far in 2008 and Obama is proposing federal investment more than double that number, the potential size of the cleantech windfall becomes staggering. This is before factoring in aggressive municipal and state programs that would drive a new wave of green energy adoption.
We recognize that many green companies are in the final stages of budgeting for 2009 and that cleantech marketers are looking for ways to justify an aggressive, yet strategic PR program that can deliver an ROI in a tough economic times. Savvy finance and marketingteams are also exploring how to take advantage of government grants, appropriations and projects via a government relations campaign. How aggressive can/should you get? Tomorrow will tell.
Quick Note: We'll be hosting a webinar on the intersection of public relations and government relations for green and cleantech companies on Wednesday, November 12, 2008. You can register here.
