The Grass is "Greener"

A Green Bailout

Another great column today by Thomas Friedman in the NY Times.

Worth reading, points out the great impact that laying out the renewable energy infrastructure will have (specifically for the US). If you look at Germany's leadership in the renewable space, you can see how it should be done, and the impact it will continue to have on the country (seems like Germany has transitioned from Automotive leadership to renewable leadership)

"...The exciting thing about the energy technology revolution is that it spans the whole economy — from green-collar construction jobs to high-tech solar panel designing jobs"

"...It’s time to stop borrowing and start building. America’s No. 1 resource is not oil or mortgages. Our No. 1 resource is our people. Let’s put people back to work — retrofitting and repowering America. ... You can’t base a national economy on credit cards. But you can base it on solar panels, wind turbines, smart biofuels and a massive program to weatherize every building and home in America."

I hope McCain, Obama, and some others read Friedman... and act when its their time

 

Technorati Tags: Thomas Friedman,Economic Bailout,Renewable,Energy,Infrastructure

US Tax Credits Extending

Real breakthrough with the senate approval for extension of US tax credits today.

Over the last months there has been huge uncertainty whether tax credits would get extended, and much of the US renewable energy sector was in risk of significant downturn.

The real surprise is that solar has been approved for 8 year extension (Vs. expectations for 1 year) - which will provide great stability and visibility for US market growth

 

 

Technorati Tags: tax credit,ITC,extension,Senate approval

Pininfarina Electric Vehicle

If the $100K+ Tesla electric roadster is not exciting enough for you

 

 

then Pininfarina, the preeminent car design firm (behind names such as Ferrari, Maserati, etc), is working on a EV design to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show....

 

Should be interesting...

And if you prefer a motor bike, Brammo just announced closing of their A round today... Still need some patience before these bikes hit the streets...

Finally - I recently had a "test drive" with another company developing electric bikes...

Rest assured - these things are fast.

Renewables also taking a hit

Seems this sector, as all others, is impacted by the economic volatility. Yesterday Schott Solar announced it is delaying its initial public offering.

Early / growth stage companies in the renewable / resource efficiency sectors whom I've met over the last few months have also been experiencing quite a difficult fund raising environment. It now seems that many are rethinking the "hyped" valuation expectations they had, and focusing on getting the money they need to ride the storm...

 

Thoughts on the market crash

A friend asked me what my thoughts are on the market crash of the last week (and year)...

Here are a few:

This week I happen to be reading the book “The black swan”. In short, it talks about highly improbable events, with three principle characteristics: 1. They are unpredictable 2. carry massive impact 3. and after the fact we find explanations that make it seem less random and more predictable.

To me, the recent financial turmoil, is another black swan. Even though people have been talking about the risks over the last years, nobody could predict such outcome.

As a partner of mine mentioned - Its one of those events and cycles that we should all recall before making an investment: Extreme risk lives in places you would not believe in “normal conditions”… and as we already know, our world, with the financial and industry systems, can quickly become “abnormal”.

In venture stage investing I've been told many times - there is no such thing as “downside protection”… It appears that even in late stage investing, and public markets investing, this is true. There is nothing too big to fail, or too good to fail…

On the bright side - given the down cycle must end at some stage, the time to start investing is becoming increasingly closer...

Who said renewable energy isn't dangerous?

For those of us interested in the darker side of Green life...

I just ran across an article with some scary data about accidents related to wind turbines:

Wind Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kiss of Death: Contemporary Wind Mortality Rates

"Wind energy. Clean, green, and relatively benign. The operative word is "relatively" benign. Those of us who work with wind turbines and the electricity these machines produce know that wind can also be deadly."

Most of the casualties seem to come from the system installation and operations side of the value chain.

Some examples (without too much detail) include - A runaway motor, unloading tower from truck, tower collapse... and even a parachutist who, in her first unassisted jump, hit a wind turbine (in doing so she became the first women killed by wind energy and the first member of the public killed by wind turbines)

Even though the data is from the wind industry, there are many risks associated with solar, geothermal, etc. And if you've ever seen the movie There will be blood - you will appreciate that producing energy (be it oil, wind, or any other) has many risks associated. As the article mentioned - "the current mortality rate of wind energy of 0.15 deaths per TWh is roughly equivalent to that of mining, processing, and burning of coal to generate electricity"

On a positive note, it seems there is a knowledge improvement curve and more attention to safety and security... the number of deaths per TWh of cumulative generation has steadily dropped over the last decades.

Technorati Tags: Wind Power,Risks,Installation

Car Share in Israel

Just read on Green Prophet that an Israeli company is launching a car share service.

Great initiative - given that one of my all time favourite services is the car share service here in San Francisco (which I use almost on a weekly basis). You just show up, take the car, get your stuff done, bring it back. Smile all the way to and from the parking.

If the Israeli service will be anything like it is here, it should be a "no-brainer" success... But knowing there are some "subtle" differences between the Israeli and American driver culture, There are a number of challenges which, based on how addressed, will determine the ultimate success of the venture:

For example:

US: The service includes free gas (assuming a majority of short distance travel this makes sense)

Israel: Israeli's do not want to feel "Fraierim" (Hebrew for Suckers) - If they pay per hour for a car, they will use it to drive - As far as they can (even in a small country I can imagine those that will drive in circles)

US: You get a clean car - You return a clean car

Israel: If you get a clean car, someone must be around to clean up after you when you return it. (This is the case if Israeli beach behaviour is anything to learn from)

US: Respect the road, respect the car

Israel: If the car share will be any similar to the leasing behaviour, you can expect to see the cars parked on high curb sidewalks and travelling on 4X4 trails...

 

But seriously - even though I'm sure all these issues will be addressed within the rental terms and liability... At the end of the day it will be up to the drivers to respect the "public" good and the next driver, in order for the service to be successful.

 

By the way, a great link into the service would be a "Green" Driver monitoring system, that would reward the careful (and Green) driver. (One such company is GreenRoad Technologies, an Israeli provider of driver diagnostics system (...for full disclosure, a company my fund is an investor in)

 

Technorati Tags: Israel,City Car Share,Green Driving,GreenRoad Technologies

Selecting this years best entrepreneur

This week I helped out with the selection process for E&Y's Entrepreneur of the Year award in the US.

I am very familiar with this competition in Israel, and it seems that each year I've been able to fairly easily single out the top 3-5 Israeli companies that stand out (Ormat was the winner in 2007).

On this side of the ocean, singling out 5 finalists from nearly one hundred entrepreneurs was an extremely challenging exercise.  The main reason is that all the finalists have built exceptional businesses and achieved great success. Several stand out for exceptional achievements (The top 100 list consists of the winning companies in state competitions that have been held across the US)

Some highlights from reviewing the nominees:

• Most of the companies here have actually achieved the "J curve" (i.e. exponential) growth that companies promise as they start off
• Many of the companies are not necessarily high tech - and come from the services businesses, consumer goods, healthcare, education, and more.
• Giving back to the community is a core part of the businesses and the entrepreneurs from the start
• And last, but definitely not least - Exit / industry sale is rarely an option. Companies with well over $50mn or $100mn revenues are still in high growth stages, and look to continue as independent entities far into the future
• Not many "Ceantech" companies were nominated - proof of the (still) early stage of most companies. This I'm sure will change in the coming years.

According to the selection criteria, selecting the best entrepreneur is based on the business created, its success, leadership, financial performance, originality, coping with challanges, etc.

I decided to include a few criteria of my own which helped separate a small number from the rest:

• The business model - how innovative is it, and how powerful / robust are the economics underlying the business
• How capital efficient is the company - specifically, how much money has been raised from investors per each $ of revenues (or each $ of profit) - and how much ownership has the entrepreneur (and the employees) been able to retain?
• How much personal risk has been undertaken by the entrepreneur (Its really amazing to see how many entrepreneurs have taken personal loans on their homes, put up personal financing for their business, worked without salary, etc)

So the committee eventually selected one winner, which will be announced in mid November at the E&Y strategic growth forum (hosted by Jay Leno). Stay tuned

 

Technorati Tags: E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year

MIYA Launches - Forming an Israeli Global Water Platform

MIYA was launched today - This is the Arison Group's $100mn investment vehicle aiming to find solutions for municipalities and utilities concerning water loss management issues.

Seems like another Israeli platform is already gaining speed. With experienced management shifting from the Israeli tech sector into the world of resource efficiency (Booky Oren leads the group, coming from Comverse, and bringing along several colleagues).

The group has a very interesting strategy, with great potential to become a significant player in the space. The PR has further details -

"MIYA estimates that a third of the world's drinking water is lost through leaking pipes, most of which are hidden underground and need to be actively detected and repaired. Recouping the water currently lost is one of the most environmental and cost effective ways to address global water shortages. Reducing these losses by only half, for example, will provide an additional 130 million people with fresh drinking water. MIYA's solution is based on a proven methodology that uses a combination of technologies focused on pressure management, active leakage detection and repair, and selective pipe replacement, rather than massive infrastructure replacement. MIYA also offers flexible business models and financing solutions to address the varying financial needs of its customers. "

Technorati Tags: MIYA,Booky Oren,Arison Group,Water Technology

Israel Cleantech Delegation to California -- November 10-13, 2008

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is preparing for the Israeli Cleantech company Tour to Silicon Valley.

Full details are below (company sign up, etc) - for entrepreneurs this could provide great exposure and networking opportunity. For local investors / players in the space - this should be an interesting window into the Israeli landscape.

I'm helping out as part of the CICC cleantech committee, and can already say it looks to be a very high quality, high impact happening.

Background:

Part of the CICC's multi-year cleantech program, the goal of this special effort is to introduce pre-selected cleantech companies to California's key cleantech industry players -- customers, investors and technology and channel partners.

Joining CICC in hosting this delegation are the following:

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), Google, General Electric (GE),  Applied Materials, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), The Cleantech Group and more.

In addition to one-on-one meetings, companies will engage in presentations, dinners, panels and private discussions with investors and analysts discussing future trends and opportunities in global cleantech market.

APPLYING

Companies interested to apply for this delegation please DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM (www.cicc-cleantech.com) and send it along with a one page Executive Summary

of your company to cleantech@ca-israelchamber.org or fax it to 408-343-1197 no later than September 20th 2008.
As space is limited, only up to 15 companies will be selected to participate.

The decision regarding the participating companies will be made by the CICC Cleantech Committee comprised of top executives from the US investment firms and companies mentioned above.
For more information or questions please contact cleantech@ca-israelchamber.org or call (408) 343-0917.  www.cicc-cleantech.com

ABOUT CICC

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthen business, investment, technology and trade relations between California and Israel. Over the years CICC accelerated hundreds of tech companies from Israel through its successful programs and helped US Investors and technology giants identify unique ventures and collaborative partners in Israel. www.ca-israelchamber.org

 

Technorati Tags: California Israel Chamber,CICC Cleantech Tour