Archives: Clean Energy Technology
Archived clippings about our region's strengths and competitive position:
December 2007:
Solar Power boosts capital
Roseville-based Solar Power Inc. has raised $11.7 million through a private stock placement that should allow the company to continue the rapid expansion it logged in the last year, chief executive Steve Kircher said Monday...
December 2007:
Grants to finance environmental projects
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy has awarded four grants, totaling $147,500, to Placer County for environmental purposes.The largest grant, $47,500, will help coordinate the removal of tons of biomass – organic matter, such as tree waste, on forest floors – from three national forests in the conservancy's region...
December 2007:
Solar energy to power pumps at geothermal energy plant
A Roseville-based public power group plans to use solar energy to power the pumps for a geothermal energy plant in Lake County.The Northern California Power Agency, which produces, and distributes electricity to the city of Roseville and other municipal electric utilities, plans to put the solar-power array at the Geysers Geothermal Energy Plant near Middletown...
December 2007:
PG&E signs wave-energy agreement
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has signed the nation's first commercial agreement to buy electricity generated from ocean waves from a project that has not yet been constructed...
December 2007:
Blue Point Energy receives $10M for working capital
Chapeau Inc., which does business as BluePoint Energy Inc. has signed a deal to receive $10 million for working capital secured by a promissory note.The agreement creates a joint venture with TEFCO LLC, a Virginia company formed to own energy-generating projects using BluePoint's technology, according to a statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday...
December 2007:
Commercializing a campus creation... Synapsense shows UCD's promise
The work done on Raju Pandey's computer research project at UC Davis between 2003 and 2006... generated the foundation for one of the more promising tech companies the region has recently produced – so promising that it brought in more than $12.5 million in venture funding in less than two years...
December 2007:
Wind power gets personal
C.P. "Case" Van Dam, director of the California Wind Energy Collaborative and UC Davis professor...was among the wind energy researchers, state energy officials and industry representatives who gathered last week at the University of California, Davis, to discuss challenges to wind energy's expansion...
December 2007:
Roseville solar power companies land $23M schools contract
Solar Power Inc. and Solar Power Integrators, both of Roseville, have received approval to pursue a contract for a $23 million solar energy project for the Santa Rosa City School District...
December 2007:
Placer solar project dedicated
Placer County has dedicated its latest solar- energy project for government buildings – a $2.4 million photovoltaic system that stretches over 2 acres and powers the juvenile detention facility. The project is one of four solar-power systems installed at county government facilities in recent years...
December 2007:
Solar Power retail arm inks GE financing deal
Just days after reeling in new capital to finance itself, Solar Power Inc. has cut a deal with General Electric to help finance its customers.The Roseville-based manufacturer, installer and seller of solar energy systems said Wednesday it has entered into a multi-year deal with GE Money, a finance arm of General Electric Co...
December 2007:
Solar Power Inc. wins franchising OK
Solar Power Inc. has received approval from the state to begin selling franchises for retail stores in California.The state Department of Corporations authorized the Roseville company to sell franchises effective Nov. 21. The company announced the news Monday...
November 2007:
Folsom-SMUD partnership makes solar easier, more affordable
For Folsom residents, installing money-saving, renewable energy solar systems just got more affordable thanks to a new partnership between the City of Folsom and the Sacramento Municipal UtilityDistrict (SMUD)...
November 2007:
Rocklin is state's first city to enroll in PG&E's 'carbon neutral' program
Rocklin's new solar-paneled police station will help the Placer County city curb greenhouse gas emissions. The fast-growing city is the first municipality to enroll in Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s voluntary ClimateSmart program...
November 2007:
Rocklin Becomes the First ClimateSmart™ City
Rocklin's new solar-paneled police station will help the Placer County city curb greenhouse gas emissions. The fast-growing city is the first municipality to enroll in Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s voluntary ClimateSmart program...
November 2007:
Report hail's California's green energy push
The report by clean energy advocacy group Environment America lauds the Golden State for mandating renewable electricity-, vehicle- and appliance-efficiency standards and energy-efficient building codes... As of 2003, the state used less electricity per capita than any other state, the report said...
October 2007:
CNBC Europe to Broadcast Climate Change Debate in Sacramento
The Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO) is pleased to announce that CNBC Europe has chosen Sacramento as the U.S. location for its next broadcasted debate on the policy issue of carbon-trading. The episode will end the 2007 series of debates, and the third season of “Questions for the Future,” and is entitled “The Cost of Carbon”...
October 2007:
Sacramento State course helps take the blues out of turning green
A lot of businesses say they are going green, but Sacramento State can help show them how to do it right...
October 2007:
'Green' energy firms get tips on how to help industry grow
While the Sacramento region has many basic ingredients to become a hub for the "green" energy movement, success will depend upon expanding access to investment capital, streamlining government regulations and mustering broad government support, industry veterans told attendees at a Davis conference Thursday...
October 2007:
Is our region ready to be a clean-tech mecca?
Unless you are awakening from a Rip Van Winkle nap, you've probably noticed that the hottest field of California business is the so-called "clean-tech" sector. Clean tech is a catchall term for small and large businesses devoted to alternative power,energy efficiency,green building products and environmental technologies...
October 2007:
UC Davis to give plug-in hybrids a spin
University of California, Davis, researchers are undertaking the first comprehensive consumer study of plugin hybrid electric vehicles, officials announced Tuesday.
The study, which will provide 10 loaner cars to 100 families for six to eight weeks, is designed to find out how people feel about the rechargeable vehicles...
September 2007:
Commercial tenants get powerful incentive to reduce use of juice
California energy regulators decided Thursday to let commercial building owners charge their tenants for the amount of electricity each uses, a seemingly small change that could save the state a lot of power...
September 2007:
As region gets greener, colleges train work force
The six-county Sacramento region is home to an estimated 73 "green" companies, according to the city of Sacramento, and the Los Rios Community College District wants to ready an environmentally aware workforce. The Los Rios district is creating three new programs at its Sacramento-area campuses to train students in clean and green technology...
September 2007:
Sacramento's land-use planning gets high marks
The Sacramento region is highlighted as a model for land-use planning and civic engagement in a new study on climate change. Researchers conclude in "Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change," that development patterns are both a key contributor to climate change and an essential factor in combating it...
September 2007:
Energy cutter gets in fast lane
Folsom-based tech startup SynapSense Corp. will announce today that it's received $10 million in venture funding to pursue the fast-growing market for reducing power consumption at energy-hungry computer data centers...
September 2007:
Aspiring to be America's greenest city
A Bee analysis of data from the U.S. Green Building Council found that Sacramento has the second-largest quantity of LEED-certified office space in the nation with 4.3 million square feet, the bulk of it in state occupied buildings...
August 2007:
Clean energy firms getting capital welcome
The City of Sacramento's economic development department has refashioned an economic development tool and aimed it at clean energy tech companies...
August 2007:
City Council aims to bring green tech to town
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an effort to market the area's existing enterprise zone to clean-energy companies and to help develop the Sacramento region as a green-technology hub...
August 2007:
Sacramento City Council resolution supports clean energy tech, Action Team
The resolution recognizes the sustainability and economic potential that clean energy tech holds for the region, and acknowledges the efforts of the CET Action Team! It's a great tool for attraction efforts, a show of support for existing clean-tech businesses and another step in branding our region's leadership...
Sacramento Bee article
August 2007:
Clean energy momentum on display at Oct. 11 Clean Energy Showcase
This one-day CleanStart conference will explore our region’s latest initiatives and accomplishments as we work together to grow our vibrant clean-energy business sector. Learn valuable context and what you can do to support this crucial sector!
August 2007:
Research is vital to region's green tech growth
Any attempt to turn Greater Sacramento into a green-technology hub would require a solid foundation of research into new approaches to reducing waste and conserving energy. Local universities are working on it...
August 2007:
Bond for green buildings?
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer wants the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign off on a November 2008 ballot measure to retrofit the state's massive building inventory with solar panels and other clean energy technologies....
August 2007:
New Sacramento region clean energy blog
Chat about the latest happenings and ideas about clean energy technology in the Sacramento area and beyond...
July 2007:
Industry Breakfast: Green Business
This Business Journal/Metro Chamber Power Breakfast will examine the latest business trends in the Sacramento region, including the building industry, conservation practices, new technologies and business opportunities.
July 2007:
New resource: Sacramento News & Review's Green Guide
This new weekly feature section showcases ongoing efforts -- and things we all can do -- to help promote sustainable living in the Sacramento region.
July 2007:
Primafuel wins largest-ever single California grant towards biodiesel production
The $640,000 grant will help fund the construction of a biodiesel production facility at the Port of Sacramento...
July 2007:
PG&E signs record solar deal
The solar project will be the world's largest when completed in 2011, according to PG&E. Energy from the project will power 400,000 homes...
July 2007:
Light rail on green track
Regional Transit and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District are planning to test soon a regenerative braking system for light rail's Folsom line. Similar to the system in popular gas-electric hybrid vehicles, braking energy from the electric-powered trains will be captured and sent back into power lines to boost the acceleration of trains as they leave the station. The technology was developed by Sacramento-based Siemens Transportation Systems...
July 2007:
Capital-area home builders see bright spot in solar power
With California aiming to be a global superpower in sun-powered housing, its capital region is embracing that solar goal in a big way. Only a year ago about 1,600 houses statewide had preinstalled solar systems. The Sacramento area alone now has more than 3,000 such homes under construction or planned...
July 2007:
Sacramento earns high marks as green leader
Sacramento is a city "On the Verge," at least when it comes to being a green leader worldwide, according to a just-released Fast Company magazine report...
July 2007:
The region's next economic engine
The Sacramento Metro Chamber’s 2007 State of the Region Forum will examine the impacts and opportunities that clean energy businesses provide and how a concerted focus on attracting, expanding and retaining clean energy businesses has become a regionwide focus...
May 2007:
Sacramento store sells green lifestyle products
Company offers Sacramentans environmentally friendly products and solutions to paint the town green...
May 2007:
UCD contest helps startups
And as UC Davis concludes its seventh annual Big Bang business plan competition, another group of would-be entrepreneurs will be on their way to learning the lessons of the marketplace...
May 2007:
Green's as good as gold
With literally billions of private venture capital investment up for grabs in the "clean" technology space, the Sacramento region has an opportunity, if it can move rapidly, to parlay its world-class green knowledge infrastructure into the creation of an industry cluster to match its talent...
May 2007:
Port OK's biofuel plant
The Port of Sacramento's governing board on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal from Long Beach startup Primafuel Inc. to build a biodiesel plant that would make 60 million gallons a year of the alternative fuel...
May 2007:
Local publication holds "Green Days" contest
The individual, couple or family who makes the best effort to reduce their carbon footprint wins goodies and a profile from the Sacramento News & Review...
May 2007:
Big biodiesel plans at port
Primafuel Inc. of Long Beach wants to build a 60 million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant on a 14-acre site at the port of West Sacramento...
April 2007:
Treasure wins home award
Treasure Homes' Fallen Leaf at Riverbend community in Sacramento has won two Gold Nugget awards from the California Building Industry Association. Fallen Leaf at Riverbend was a finalist in the sustainable residential community and the California green building community categories...
April 2007:
Green tech touted as red-hot option for region
Given the push for so-called green technology -- environmentally friendly and energy efficient -- the area has the necessary ingredients to become a national leader, experts say.
April 2007:
Local utilities set the green standard
Local-serving utilities like SMUD, Roseville Electric and PG&E have large fleets of alternative-fuel vehicles. PG&E's is the nation's largest...
March 2007:
Sacramento's Clean Energy Corridor
Sacramento's clean-energy tech cluster and the PFP Clean Action Team got top billing in the magazine distributed at the inaugural Green California Summit...
March 2007:
Green California Summit
The PFP Clean Energy Team made a big showing at this clean energy tradeshow at the Sacramento Convention Center, networking and spreading the message about the region's leadership to investors and public officials...
March 2007:
Local companies team up on nation's largest solar home project
Homebuilder Lennar Corp. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District will cooperate to build 1,254 energy-efficient homes with solar power systems as standard features in 11 communities in the Sacramento region...
March 2007:
New marketing collateral highlights CleanTech Sacramento (PDF)
To help boost attraction efforts, the PFP Clean Energy Team helped assemble a new marketing brochure highlighting our region's clean-energy strengths and appeal...
February 2007:
Forum highlights UC Davis clean energy/air innovation (PDF)
Clean Energy Team members helped organize a panel with leaders from several UC Davis clean-energy and clean-air research centers, like the Energy Efficiency Center, Institute of Transportation Studies and California Biomass Collaborative...
Feb 2007:
America's greenest buildings
Sacramento has two of "America's greenest buildings" according to this Forbes.com article..
January 2007:
Ethanol maker moves HQ to Sacramento
Publicly-traded Pacific Ethanol Inc. has moved its corporate headquarters from Fresno to 400 Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento. The company (Nasdaq: PEIX) uses corn to make ethanol, a gasoline additive...
January 2007:
Elk Grove joins SMUD's solar project
The city of Elk Grove is the first local government to join the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Solar Partnership, a three-year pilot program aims to provide incentives for residents to install solar systems at their homes...
January 2007:
Green technology & energy strategy for Roseville
The Roseville City Council adopted a resolution supporting the Partnership for Prosperity's clean energy technology focus and efforts. The PFP Clean Energy Team is approaching communities around the region in similar fashion...
January 2007:
KVIE Special: Clean Energy
This episode of KVIE's New Valley series explores the emerging new technologies in clean energy being developed in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. It also introduces some of the innovators hoping to establish this region as a leader in the business of clean energy...
Dec 2006:
PFP Green Energy efforts get big boost from SACOG (PDF)
Elected officials from around the region demonstrated their commitment to clean energy tech via a regional transportation agency resolution supporting the PFP Clean Energy Team...
Dec 2006:
Local utility has one of nation's top 10 green power programs
The U.S. Department of Energy included the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in one of its top 10
utility green power programs for renewable energy sales, customer participation and several other metrics...
Dec 2006:
Green energy resolution aims to demonstrate government support (PDF)
The PFP Clean Energy Team is approaching city councils and county supervisors in communities around the region
to adopt a resolution supporting the region's push to be a clean-energy technology leader. The goal: demonstrate government support to burgeoning companies and investors...
October 2006:
Treasure Homes wins award
Treasure Homes' Fallen Leaf at Riverbend community in Sacramento won two awards of merit from the Building Industry Association for the sustainability features highlighted here...
September 2006:
Sacramento-based CalPERS drives investment in clean tech
In just a few years, billions of dollars have been invested in clean technologies as more investors and companies see the value of making business sustainable. Cash from CalPERS helped lead the way...
May 2006:
Clean energy in California
PFP Clean Energy Team members participated in a panel discussion on clean/green energy and its potential for California’s economy on Capital Public Radio KXJZ's "Insight" program...
For more information, write angela.shepard@valleyvision.org.
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