Clean Ops Blog

Last night, the Academy Awards for environmentally sustainable, “clean tech” startups was held in San Francisco. It was a spectacular and inspiring event!

These entrepreneurs – contestants in the Clean Tech Open’s business plan contest - go through a very rigorous screening, mentoring, and judging process by leading academics; technologists; esteemed business executives and entrepreneurs - including leading ventures capitalists - and others. So, for a team to make it to the final found of judging, they have to show very strong potential to take their idea from the lab to the market place – and become strong businesses.

Of special mention is the winner of the Transportation Category – ElectraDrive - a startup company that promises to help existing vehicles go green - cheaply! The Transportation Prize Category is sponsored by Lexus, which had some of its hybrid vehicles on display at the event. You can read more about the winners and other finalists at the Clean Tech Open’s website - www.cacleantech.com. Meanwhile, here is more information on the Transportation Category Winner.

ElectraDrive – Winner!
http://www.electradrive.net

http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/teams/directory/view_team/1/243

Rapid, inexpensive adaptation of existing vehicles to electric drive

“ElectraDrive is a technology company in the emerging plug-in vehicle aftermarket. We will enable the rapid conversion of existing cars and light trucks to electric or extended-range electric drive. By doing so, we aim to open up the huge market of existing vehicles to electric conversion. Preliminary customers will be government fleets and a small but growing number of private consumers. Commercial fleet leasing companies will follow, building the benefits of ElectraDrive into the vehicle leases they offer. ElectraDrive’s CEO is Fraser Murison Smith, a utility specialist and veteran of several high-tech start-ups, with a PhD in mathematical biology from Oxford University. ElectraDrive’s CMO is Ray Jenks, who brings 20 years’ experience in marketing, sales and business development in high-tech and real estate. Jon Derickson is the company’s consulting engineer, with 15 years’ RD&D experience on hybrid-electric drivetrains for military applications.”

Congratulations! This is cool beyond belief! It puts wind in my sails, that’s for sure.

Technorati Tags: clean tech, clean tech autos, clean tech cars, electric cars, green autos, green cars

Who and What Will Lead Us out of this Slump?  Transportation and Biofuel Winners from the GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies List

In a down market, there will always be opportunists. Sure, there will be those who wallow and obsess and ask repeatedly, “What just happened? Who’s to blame?” And then there will be the opportunists. The opportunists are going to turn today’s “issues” and “challenges” into tomorrow’s millions.  If you’re feeling depressed about the economy, give yourself a break and read about some of these automotive and transportation industry up and comers. They are going to drive the future of our industry. How will they fit into your business? Or, will they be your business?

Here are the winners in transportation from the AlwaysOn 2008 GoingGreen 100 Leading Private Companies in Clean Tech.

AlwaysOn is an “open media” network whose content focuses on “the sweet spots in technology where innovation is disrupting behavior and creating new business opportunities.”

Click here for more info.

http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/28868

Winners: Green Automobiles and Transportation

“An interesting development in the Green Automobiles and Transportation category is the changing attitude of investors. Over the past year, investors have shifted their focus from building car companies and brands to improving engines. Increased public interest in energy efficient “clean” cars may be driving this shift.”

EcoMotors - Category Winner!
http://ecomotors.com/

Diesel Design by EcoMotors
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a green-startup proponent, is banking on EcoMotors’ two-cylinder diesel engine to lessen emissions worldwide…

Aptera
http://www.aptera.com/

Better Place
http://www.betterplace.com/

Fisker Automotive
http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/

PML Flightlink
http://www.pmlflightlink.com/

Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/

Transonic Combustion
http://www.tscombustion.com/

Venture Vehicles
http://www.flytheroad.com/

Biofuels
“An increased number of companies on the list are moving out of beta testing and into product development. This trend is particularly evident in the Biofuels category, where the growth in next-generation biofuels is beginning to drive to the commercialization stage. From a funding perspective, large rounds of VC funding are narrowing the gap between project financers looking for proven technology and emerging companies wanting to build plants.”

Amyris Biotechnologies - Category Winner!
http://www.amyrisbiotech.com/

Biofuel Box
http://www.biofuelbox.com/

Bionavitas
http://www.bionavitas.com/

Ceres
http://www.ceres.net/

Coskata
http://www.coskata.com/

Greenfuel Technologies
http://www.greenfuelonline.com/

LS9
http://www.ls9.com/

Mascoma
http://www.mascoma.com/

Mendel Biotechnology
http://www.mendelbio.com/

Range Fuels
http://www.rangefuels.com/

Sapphire Energy
http://www.sapphireenergy.com/

Solazyme
http://www.solazyme.com/

Technorati Profile

Technorati Tags: biofuels, clean tech, clean tech autos, green cars

Start Planning for USA TODAY’s Dealer Innovation Award – this is an awesome marketing and PR opportunity!

Nominations for the USA TODAY Dealer Innovation Award will begin at the end of this year for the 2009 contest.

Four winners will be chosen and will be featured in a full-page ad in USA TODAY and NADA’s AutoExec magazine. And one grand winner, selected from among the four, will be honored at a special ceremony held in conjunction with the New York International Auto Show, and will receive roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations for two in New York City and two VIP auto show passes.

If your dealership or one you know has successfully implemented initiatives that resulted in significant energy savings and reduced utility costs, you should nominate that dealership for the award.

Examples include:

•    Switching to more energy-efficient lighting, heating or cooling
•    Adding insulation or coatings to buildings, heaters, or windows to reduce energy use.
•    Increasing exterior plantings to reduce water runoff, provide shade or lower the effects of pollution.
•    Installing more eco-friendly building materials.
•    Creating, monitoring or using equipment differently to save energy or supplies.
•    Recycling or reusing to create less waste.

2008’s Winner was Jim Hand of Hand Motors in Manchester, Vermont.

He saved more than $50,000 by making upgrade to his dealership and by becoming the first carbon-neutral dealership in the state.

Here are some of the upgrades Hand employed:

• Uses 100% waste motor and vegetable oil to heat his new 11,200 square foot service area, saving more than $15,000 a year on heating oil.
• Installed energy efficient lighting that saves another $10,000 per year in energy costs.
• Buys renewable wind energy credits to offset the store’s electrical usage.
• Shuts down all computer terminals at night.
• Installed motion detectors in vending machines so they only light up as a person approaches.

For more information, visit:

http://www.nada.org/ProgramsAwards/DealerInnovationAward/

I’ll be sure to look for the date you can submit nominations and post it on the Clean Ops Blog.

Technorati Tags: clean tech autos, environmental autos, green award, Green Building, green dealerships

A group of recent Carnegie Mellon University graduates are beautifying their community and contributing to the green scene.  Taking a walk through the streets of many Pittsburgh, PA neighborhoods will undoubtedly present you with fields and fields of empty, abandoned lots.  These CMU grads have taken the initiative to turn those empty urban properties into opportunity.  They’ve managed to acquire 12 acres of those lots across the city and turn them into sunflower gardens with the intentions of harvesting the seeds from the flowers and produce biodeisel from them.  Every acre of sunflower seeds can produce 100 gallons of manufactured biodeisel. 

These grads work for a Pittburgh, PA-based company known as G-Tech (Growth Through Energy and Community Health).  They’re committed to turning vacancy into value, one flower at a time.  Check them out at http://www.gtechstrategies.com/.

Technorati Tags: biodeisel, g-tech, pittsburgh, sunflowers

Just when you’re getting your head wrapped around green car marketing and green building updates for your dealership, and wondering if your ISMs need to get their profiles up on CarFolks and Edmunds’ CarSpace… in comes Green Social Marketing! To be honest, I’m still trying to fully comprehend the potential 1 + 1 = 3 combo of these two marketing trends as it applies to dealerships, but without a doubt – it’s cutting edge marketing that is right here, right now.

So, let’s explore together, and I promise to blog more on this topic as I learn.

To begin, Toyota is doing it, and doing it brilliantly, I might add. The OEMs are the deep pockets when it comes to automotive marketing, having done the research (hopefully) to back up their big ticket marketing and advertising decisions. Sure, sometimes they’re late to the party on many innovative and technological trends but, often, they really impress me with their marketing brilliance. Of note is Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive site – if anything, the site is just super cool (including sound effects), and defies the ugliness of the Prius (blogger’s personal opinion). I have to admit, it made me want to join the community and to own one.

Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive Community

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/minisite/hsd/?s_van=http://www.toyota.com/hybrid&ref=http://www.imediaconnection.com/news/13092.asp

Another site I came across is eco Treadsetters, a self-proclaimed “Community in Green Harmony.” It’s a niche social network for people who care about the environment and want to make the right decisions by it when it comes to consumerism.

http://www.ecotreadsetters.com/community

They have a section called “Green Your Car.” -

http://www.ecotreadsetters.com/tips/greenyourcar

While this is a niche site, as I pointed out in another post, “Green Influencers,” a small group of trendsetters can have a big impact on the larger group of consumers. So paying attention to where these trendsetters are on the Web can prove valuable for dealers.

Where Do You Start?

If you already use social media to market your dealership and connect with consumers, such as consumer-facing blogs, or groups and profiles on CarFolks, CarSpace, MySpace, Facebook, and others; and if you sell fuel-efficient vehicles, have a LEED-certified building, or any other environmentally friendly business practices, be sure to promote it in your social media channels. Environmentally aware car buyers are the types to use social media.

Also, of special note - and thanks to one of our dedicated DrivingSales members who posted it - is one of the current top-rated Strategies -

Create a Fuel Efficient Microsite

This strategy and the comments it’s generated provide some great ideas on marketing your fuel-efficient vehicles, which you can apply in your social media channels.

http://www.drivingsales.com/visitorIndex.php?pid=strategy&do=strategydetails&straid=OTg=

Here are a few more resources for green cars and green marketing, which I’ll write more about in a future post:

http://marketinggreen.wordpress.com/

http://www.greencar.com/

http://www.autobloggreen.com/

Technorati Tags: green car, green dealerships, Green Marketing, green social networking, social media

“Just as consumers pay attention to what Greenfluencers are saying, so should brands and organizations. In the map of Intelligent Influence, Greenfluencers are crucial stakeholders.”

A variety of studies have been conducted lately on just how much environmentally friendly marketing influences purchasing decisions. We can all agree that taking care of the environment is important, but just how much does marketing the “green” aspects of cars and the dealerships where they’re sold help sales and repeat business?

One study, conducted by Porter Novelli this year of nearly 12,000 United States adults, and posted on www.EnvironmentalLeader.com, found that while about 16% of the population doesn’t care a whole lot about environmental issues, and another 77% are in the middle range – having some environmental concerns and awareness; the remainder – 7% - are very environmentally savvy, and more importantly – they have a strong influence on that group in the middle.

As is happening all over the Web in virtually every industry, most consumers no longer make purchasing decisions on advertising alone. They read blogs, consult user reviews, and engage in other forms of online social media to get more information before buying. This forum is where the “environmentally-engaged” (3%) and “Greenfluencers,” (4%) as the study refers to them, voice their strong opinions, and where a growing percent of those “light” and “medium” green folks in the middle go to get additional information before the buy.

Has anyone like this walked into your showroom or visited your dealership’s website?

Here are the characteristics of Greenfluencers:

They’re younger.

• Greenfluencers’ mean age is 44.4, compared with the mean age for the sample: 46.1. Compared with the overall population, there are more of them in the 18–24 bracket (16% vs. 13%) and the 25–34 bracket (21% vs. 18%) than the sample.

They’re more ethnically diverse.

• In terms of self-described ethnicity, a majority of the overall sample is white (69%), while a smaller percentage of Greenfluencers are white (66%).
•  While Hispanics make up 13% of the sample; they represent 16% of the Greenfluencers.
• “Other” ethnicities (including Asian) are 7% of the sample but 11% of the Greenfluencers.
• African Americans, on the other hand, account for 12% of the sample but just 7% of Greenfluencers.

They’re more highly educated and earn more money.

• In the overall sample, 30% are educated to college or higher, whereas 42% of Greenfluencers have attained that level.
• A higher proportion is employed (78% vs. 70%),
• Greenfluencers have significantly higher household incomes; 44% have a household income of  $75,000 or higher, compared with 30% of the overall population.

The overall sample and Greenfluencers are similar in other ways.

• There’s very little difference in the proportions of the overall sample and the Greenfluencers who are married (63% and 64%) or have children under the age of 19 (34% vs. 30%).
• There’s little difference in their regional distribution; the biggest regional differences are in the North (overall sample, 18%; Greenfluencers, 20%) and Central U.S. (overall sample, 24%; Greenfluencers, 21%).

This definitely sounds like a group of people you’ll want to cater to!

See the full study at: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/07/15/greenfluencers-are-small-but-powerful-group-of-consumers/
 

Technorati Tags: environmentally-friendly marketing, green car buyers, green dealership, green influences, Green Marketing, sustainable business

General Motors’ LEED-Gold Certified plant in Lansing, Michigan

For all the flack GM has taken in the marketplace for its gas guzzling vehicles, I have to hand it to them for stepping up to the plate with some solid green initiatives, from focusing on more fuel efficient and less polluting vehicles to their green building programs. As a manufacturer, GM gets double points for being green in both product and practice:

1. Making their products more environmentally friendly, and
2. Making the actual production process of their products more environmentally friendly. 

According to Kimberly Hosken of the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings in the United States consume 40% of our energy. This is why green building initiatives are a cornerstone of today’s clean technology movement.

GM actually built the first LEED-Gold Certified auto manufacturing facility, in Lansing, Michigan, which was the first its kind, not to mention the largest and most complex manufacturing site, to ever receive this level of LEED certification.

Worth viewing, for both information and inspiration, are GM’s promotional videos on their green initiatives:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid824493250

The press release – “GM Opens First-Ever LEED-Gold Certified Automobile Manufacturing Facility” - can be found here:

http://www.gm.com/corporate/responsibility/environment/news/2006/leed-cert_080406.jsp

Despite of the economic doom and gloom littering the media these days, this puts wind in my sails.

Ford, what they hay???

Technorati Tags: clean tech cars, energy savings, environmentally-friendly, Green Building, green dealerships, green manufacturing, green tax savings

• LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design. 

• They are the highly welcomed third party company that sets the standard for the design, construction, and operations of green buildings. 

• They also provide resources to building owners and operators for them to be able to equip their buildings to immediately impact performance.

• LEED certification is based on how environmentally friendly and profitable a building is and whether it is a healthy place to live and work. 

Technorati Tags: Green Building, green dealerships, Leed Certification, LEED certified dealership

Technorati Tags: dealership tips, water recycling, water rights

For those of you who are not attending the J.D. Power Roundtable or Digital Dealer conference, considering checking out the Clean Tech Open’s (CTO) Transportation Symposium on the UCLA Campus on October 9th.

The CTO is an organization of leading entrepreneurs, academics, investors and companies, working together to accelerate the development of clean technology startups. It provides resources, education and support for clean tech entrepreneurs, of which its annual business plan competition is the foundation.

Transportation is one of the prize categories of the competition, and has attracted a mind boggling array of ideas and innovative technologies. Anyone working in automotive who wants a glimpse into the future of our industry should take note. Winners will be announced in November.

Visit www.cleantechopen.com and read below for more details.

Clean Tech Open Transportation Symposium

Traffic congestion, air pollution and rising fuel costs are strong drivers for our modes of transportation. What technologies are emerging to address these issues? How are savvy entrepreneurs and investors taking advantage of the massive market for transportation?

Come listen to the expert panel address applications of clean technologies and innovative business models for transportation issues. Hear from two local entrepreneurs working for mass transportation solutions. Get the perspective from local government on successful programs and incentives to implement clean technologies. Learn from investment and marketing experts on how to take these technologies to market and deploy them at scale.

Proterra’s brand new Hybrid-Electric Bus will also be on display. As with all Clean Tech Open events, join us for food and drinks, and plenty of networking opportunities.

When:
October 9, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Location:
UCLA Campus, Tom Bradley International Hall
Los Angeles

Program:
Welcome and Keynote:

Introductory Remarks
Keynote Address: Paul M. Williamsen, National Manager, Lexus College, University of Toyota

Panel:

Jack Rosebro, Green Car Congress (Moderator)
Sean Arian, Director of Economic Development Strategy, Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Josh Bigelow, CEO, Syncromatics (2007 CTO Transportation Winner)
Kimberly Gardiner, Toyota Motor Sales
Dale Hill, CEO, Proterra
Robb McLarty, Associate, NGEN

There will be a poster session from Clean Tech Open Transportation Alumni and current contestants, and time for networking.

Who Should Attend and Why:

    * Industry professionals seeking the newest ideas in transportation clean tech
    * Entrants of the Clean Tech Open’s 2008 California Competition to pitch their business ideas
    * Entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs interested in applying their skills at new ventures
    * Angel investors and VCs looking at startups at a formative stage
    * Researchers and engineers interested in discussing transportation technologies

The goal of these events is to accelerate the creation and growth of clean tech businesses by building a vibrant clean tech ecosystem through networking and the sharing of ideas.

Registration Fees           Online     At Door
General Admission             $20      $30
Students                            Free     Free
Members of Paid Teams    Free     Free

Click Here to RSVP Now

Sponsors:
This event is sponsored by Lexus.
Venue generously provided with the support of the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
 

Technorati Tags: clean tech, clean tech cars, electric cars, green cars, green transportation, sustainable automotive