3p Contributor: Shannon Arvizu
Recent Articles
Hey Google, the Lexus Hybrid HS Can Drive Itself Too!
Google made headlines early this week in regards to testing cars that drive on their own. I also tested a car this week that drives on its own. Hey Google, the 2010 Lexus Hybrid HS can drive itself too!
The 2010 Lexus Hybrid HS 250h has a unique feature that allows the vehicle to adjust for cars ahead and in front of you when driving at your favorite cruise control speed on the freeway. Lexus calls this feature Cruise Control Radar Assist. This is not future tech, this is tech available now. And it increases fuel efficiency close to Prius mpg! For green professionals who appreciate smart vehicle technology and style, the Lexus Hybrid HS is hot.
How does it work?
Get Your Green Company Into the Classroom: The Lexus Eco Challenge
How can your company get involved in promoting sustainability for the next generation? Lexus seems to have gotten it right with its “Lexus Eco Challenge.” While Lexus has established itself as the leading luxury green automotive line, it is also a leader in developing a stellar environmental educational program for students in the K-12 system.
So how does the Lexus Eco Challenge work and what are the four main ingredients to build your own corporate sustainability education program?
Tedx San Jose Features Clean Tech Rockstars
Jason Halpern
Tedx San Jose promises to inspire some serious brain-cell activity this Friday at Historic Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California. The independently organized TED event features three clean tech rockstars, in addition to several others involved in the arts, education, and digital media field.
So who will be on hand to present “ideas worth spreading” in the clean tech industry? Kevin Surace, who was named Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year, is one speaker I am especially looking forward to hearing. Surace is the CEO of Serious Materials, a company on a mission to reduce energy usage of buildings and redefine the way buildings are made. Here’s a brief video of a previous TED talk he gave:
Greenpeace vs. Facebook: Who is Using More Coal?
I’m all for a snarky cause marketing campaign to expose dirty energy polluters. However, I’m not sure that the recent Greenpeace jab at Facebook will accomplish what it is intended to do.
Greenpeace
released a video this week that criticizes Facebook’s use of coal-fired electricity in its Oregon data center. The animated video is narrated by a cheeky British child. The child that tells an abbreviated version of Mark Zuckerberg’s life trajectory in creating Facebook (with a storyline akin to the new movie, “The Social Network”).
At the end of the video, we learn that Zuckerberg has chosen to use coal to power the Facebook data center. The video campaign suggests that Facebook members should encourage Facebook to invest in clean energy instead.
Is a campaign like this effective for motivating companies to seek out clean energy for their business operations?
4 Lessons from Lucrative Clean Tech Investors
What do lucrative investors look for when deciding to fund a clean tech start-up? Two prominent clean tech investors shared important insight on this topic on a panel stage at yesterday’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
Vinod Khosla, one of the world’s leading clean tech investors (of Khosla Ventures), was joined by General Electric’s Kevin Skillern, who heads up GE’s venture capital investments in clean energy. Both shared their secrets for success in clean tech investing.
What Makes A Successful Clean Tech P.R. Firm?
There is a pressing need to communicate the benefits of clean technology to an expanding consumer base. Many clean tech firms choose to do their own public relations for the sake of cutting costs. However, if chosen wisely, a P.R. firm can significantly increase the bottom-line for clean tech companies.
Schwartz Communications, for example, announced yesterday that it added eleven new clean technology clients to its public relations firm in 2010. Those clients include companies in smart grid technologies, carbon management, wind energy, solar energy, green products, green building materials, and biofuels. That brings Schwartz Communications total of clean tech clients to 25 companies.
What makes Schwartz a preferred P.R. firm for clean tech companies? What are the characteristics that clean tech companies should look for in a P.R. firm?
Angel Investors Come to the Rescue of Clean Tech Start-Ups
Who will fund the next wave of clean tech companies? A new report put out by Venture Capital Journal states that venture capital firms are investing less in early-stage clean tech firms. Instead, angel investors are stepping up to the plate to boost necessary dollars into the emerging industry.
According to the study, venture capital dollars in seed stage and early stage clean tech companies in 2007 equated to $886 million (about 35% of total venture capital spending reported). In 2009, that number is down to $424 million (about 20% of total venture capital spending reported).
What’s holding the VC industry back?
It appears that VCs see too much of a technology risk associated with early stage clean tech companies. In contrast, companies that are in a later stage of development are likely to have better success in securing venture capital dollars, such as BrightSource Energy, Better Place, and Fisker Automotive.
EV 20: Global Alliance for 1 Million Electric Cars
If it “takes a village to grow a child,” then it takes a network to incubate clean tech. A new international network of automotive manufacturers, banks, fleet owners, and state governments (the “EV 20″) is committed to working together to get one million electric cars on the road by 2015. The global alliance was recently announced at Climate Week NYC 2010.
While electric vehicle stakeholder networks in the U.S. are gaining momentum (e.g. The EV Project), the EV20 is the first international alliance created to facilitate plug-in vehicle deployment. EV 20 members aim to achieve this through “brokering international fleet procurement alliances,” “developing national, state and municipal policy frameworks,” and providing access to financing solutions.
But why is the EV20 so critical to global plug-in success?
What is Your Clean Tech Story?
People understand new knowledge primarily through stories. There is probably no better way to communicate the benefits of clean technology than through effective storytelling. To date, however, clean tech firms have made little use of stories in their marketing strategies.
A new book, Re-Imagining Change: An Introduction to Story-Based Strategy, by Doyle Canning and Patrick Reinsborough, can help solve this problem. The book provides step-by-step instructions on how to craft compelling stories that motivate consumers and citizens to action (an article version is found here). While the text is directed primarily at social movement organizations, the information provided can also play a critical role in helping clean tech firms cross the chasm between early adopters and mainstream consumers.
Message to BP CEO: Turn Over a New Leaf
BP CEO Tony Hayward will be stepping down from his post soon after a dismal handling of this summer’s Gulf Oil Spill. But is he willing to take on the role of electric car advocate? A new campaign called HelloElectric.org intends to get Hayward behind the wheel of a smooth, green machine to win him over to the clean tech movement.
Hello Electric is a campaign started by the social enterprise, Purpose, to build an online community of electric car supporters. In this initial project, Hello Electric hopes to attract 25,000 electric car advocates to sign a petition that states that Hayward would be better off driving a Nissan Leaf instead of a gas-guzzling internal combustion vehicle.
China Set to Leapfrog the U.S. in Clean Car Production
The Chinese government announced last week that it plans to invest up to $14.8 billion (100 billion yuan) over the next ten years to stimulate the production of plug-in hybrid and all-electric cars. The country intends to have 5 million of these vehicles on the road by 2020. That kind of commitment makes the $5 billion that the U.S. government plans to spend in this direction appear as a paltry sum.
How will China disperse those funds and why is China moving so aggressively in the electric vehicle space?
Why Electric Cars Should Be Marketed Like the Ford Fiesta
Crowdsourcing is an effective way to involve potential consumers in the promotion of clean cars. In marketing terms, this means outsourcing your advertising to crowds of experts and enthusiasts.
One of the most successful examples of crowdsourcing is the Ford Fiesta Movement. To build buzz for the compact, fuel-efficient Fiesta, Ford has launched two major crowdsourcing campaigns. The first campaign, launched in the summer of 2009, involved a YouTube video contest for potential “Fiesta Agents.” Young people aged 18-30 competed for a 6-month “mission” with the Fiesta. They posted videos, tweets, blogs, and participated in filmed events across the country to promote their spunky wheels. The second campaign, currently underway, is based on a similar platform with teams of “Fiesta Agents” in major U.S. cities.
So, why is crowdsourcing important for those in the electric car field?
Obama: Clean Tech Investor-In-Chief ?
While several eco-pundits have been lamenting the failure of a climate bill to pass through Congress, it is important to keep one thing clear. Clean technology deployment is core to any policy intended to decrease GHG emissions. In this respect, we have witnessed unprecedented funding for the clean tech industry from the Obama Administration.
In fact, Bloomberg reports that:
By the end of 2011, the White House plans to channel more than $50 billion to thousands of clean-technology companies through tax credits, low-interest guaranteed loans and grants. Add in money for a “smart” electric power grid, research and consumer tax breaks, such as the $7,500 credit for buying an electric car, and the commitment rises to $69 billion.
Calling All Hot, Rich, and Green Women Entrepreneurs
Over the weekend, I read an inspiring book entitled, Hot, Rich, and Green: The Secret Formula Women are Using to Get Rich and Save the Planet. Rebecca Harrell Tickell, the author, gave a copy of her book to me last week. We met spontaneously in a parking lot in Venice, CA, where I was admiring her plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius powered by algae oil. Rebecca and her husband, Josh Tickell, co-produced the award-winning documentary, Fuel, and are currently producing a new film that documents the Gulf Oil Spill called, Spill. In addition to her filmmaking projects, Rebecca also works to encourage women to start their own green businesses.
Hot, Rich, and Green is written in a heartfelt style that starts out on a personal note. Rebecca describes her own eco-mission life story, which includes starring in the childhood Christmas classic, Prancer, and trying out a variety of jobs that left her feeling empty and jaded. She eventually left a high-paying real estate agent position to work on the production of Fuel and become an evangelist for the green movement.
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