November 2009

Things to be Thankful for in Cleantech this Holiday Season

Here are a few things the green PR, public affairs and marketing world should be thankful for this holiday season:

-A more generous net metering policy in Massachusetts

-New proposed feed-in tariffs and an ease in wind permitting in the UK

-More Department of Energy (DOE) grants in Smart Grid

-DOE grants in wind and renewables

-States that have already been aggressive in net metering, including Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, California Penssylvania and Oregon

-Venture capitalists who believe cleantech is the next great American industry and continue to invest

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Jason Morris on November 25, 2009 at 10:56 AM
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Cash for Caulkers Creator Comes to GreenBeat 2009; Weatherization TNBT?

This afternoon at GreenBeat 2009, John Doerr will give a keynote focused on the main theme of the event: The Smart Grid. With the recent $3.4 billion in stimulus funds allocated to projects, the smart grid market has a PR problem, becoming a lightening rod for debate about its cleantech and stimulus credentials.

I am of the personal opinion that any technology that reduces our energy use is cleantech. I also think that anything that helps consumers save money and makes energy more efficient has huge economic value. After all, utility bills likely rank third after mortgage/rent and car payments as the most expensive budgetary item for households. Reducing utility bills by even 20 percent creates more consumer spending power which is a key cog in an economic recovery.

But back to Doerr...beyond just his affiliation with one of Silicon Valley's premier VC firms, he is a bright and interesting guy. He has some creative and pragmatic ideas on how to address the energy, environmental and economic crises, including one written about today by the New York Times (via Yahoo! Finance).

Doerr apparently has pitched a weatherization stimulus that would incent homeowners to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes through improvements in insulation, windows, etc. Doerr calls the program, "Cash for Caulkers" and word is that the White House is seriously considering it.

I am looking forward to today's keynote to hear Doerr's opinion on Smart Grid and see if he has any other ideas that should be promoted as policy. Doerr's speech should be the first in a number of compelling presentations at the GreenBeat 2009 event.

Posted by Jason Morris on November 18, 2009 at 4:38 PM
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Great Cleantech Event Week: Dow Jones Aternative Energy & GreenBeat 2009

The next few days will be fun as the Silicon Valley VC and private company investment community comes together at two Cleantech events. Full disclosure: We're doing PR for one of the events and have six clients speaking at the other.

First, today and tomorrow, the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference kicks off with CEOs from 39 CEOs presenting why their company will be one of the ones that helps drive the Green Economy. Six Schwartz clients (Applied Quantum Technology, Cool Earth Solar, Joule Biotechnologies, Sentilla, Skyline Solar and SolarEdge) will present to a "whose who" of VC and private equity firms.

Then, tomorrow afternoon, VentureBeat kicks off its GreenBeat 2009 event, The Conference on the Smart Grid. The event has an elite roster of speakers including John Doerr, Al Gore, Don Wood and Vinod Khosla. It also brings together innovative Smart Grid companies large and small, from Siemens, IBM and Cisco, to Tendril and EcoFactor. Schwartz is a Silver Sponsor of the event and we hope to see you there!

Posted by Jason Morris on November 17, 2009 at 12:14 PM
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Good PR for Green Manufacturing: Studies Show Job Growth

Monday morning saw two pieces of good news for the Green Economy as it relates to job creation.

A study published by three universities shows that President Obama's focus on Green Collar jobs will help create 1.9 million jobs and boost annual household income by $1000. If the $1000 figure focuses on an increase in gross household income, the study likely fails to measure the increase in discretionary household income that could result in more efficient home energy practices driven in part by Smart Grid adoption by consumers. Consumer spending is a huge economic stimulus in its own right and reducing one of the largest monthly budgetary items for households, while boosting gross income, would be a huge boon for other sectors.

A separate study by iSupply shows that the solar panel supply glut is working itself out, which could lead to recovering solar prices and kickstart a new wave of solar cell and module manufacturing. With many Asian and European solar manufacturers looking to boost manufacturing capacity inside the US to take advantage of government incentives and grants, and a number of US companies ramping up their manufacturing capactity, the result could be a wave of new manufacturing jobs in places like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Silicon Valley.

These trends, combined with a thawing in financing and a broader economic recovery, point to 2010 and 2011 being boom years for Cleantech job creation.

Posted by Jason Morris on November 16, 2009 at 1:06 PM
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