dot.green

Green and Renewable Energy Events – October & November 2010

2010-10-06T14:55:00.005+01:00

This week brought us the excitement of The Carbon Show in London. Don’t miss another relevant event in the space again with the EcSearch events list. Here’s what’s coming up in Europe over the next couple of months;

October 2010:

Innovate 2010
12th October 2010 - London, UK
Follow @innovateuk on Twitter

Built Environment Solutions and Technologies
18th to 20th October 2010 - Birmingham, UK
Follow @BESTShow_NEC on Twitter

2nd Annual Offshore Wind Construction and Commissioning Conference
20th & 21st October 2010 - London, UK

South East Europe Renewable Energy 2010
22nd October 2010 - Istanbul, Turkey

Climate Change and Impact Assessment IAIA Special Symposium
25th & 26th October 2010 - Aalborg, Denmark

Renewable Energy in the Public Sector: Leading the way to zero carbon
26th October 2010 - London, UK

EU Biomas Forum 2010
27th to 29th October 2010 - London, UK

Green In the City: The Future of UK Onshore Wind - From ecoConnect
28th October 2010 - London, UK
Follow @ecoConnectCIC on Twitter

Big Green Home Show

29th - 31st October 2010 - Swindon, UK

Follow @BGHShow on Twitter

November 2010:

Green Mondays London
1st November 2010 - London, UK
Follow @greenmondaynews on Twitter

Green Monday Middlands
1st November 2010 - Birmingham, UK
Follow @greenmondaynews on Twitter

RenewableUK 2010
2nd to 4th November 2010 - Glasgow, Scotland

Energy Data Storage
3rd & 4th November 2010 - London, UK

Sustainability Leaders Forum
4th November 2010 - London, UK

The Sustainable Scotland Network Annual Conference 2010
4th November 2010 - Edinburgh, UK

Green Supply Chain
4th & 5th November 2010 - York, UK

Carbon Markets Masterclass
8th November 2010 - London, UK

3rd International Symposium On Energy From Biomass And Waste
8th to 11th November 2010 - Venice Italy

Green IT Expo
9th November 2010 - London, UK
Follow @GreenITExpo on Twitter

SMART GRIDS, SMART CITIES – SMART FUTURE
9th November 2010 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Climate Finance 2010
9th & 10th November 2010 - London, UK

Engaging the public on Climate Change
18th November 2010, London, UK

Oxford Energy Markets Roundtable
19th November 2010 - Oxford, UK

Energy 2010 - International Forum
22nd November 2010 - November 2010

EWEA - Grids 2010
23rd & 24th November 2010 - Berlin, Germany
Follow @EWEA on Twitter

Green Awards for Creativity in Sustainability
25th November 2010 - London, UK
Follow @GreenAwards on Twitter

Integrated Energy - The CHPA Annual Conference
25th November 2010 - London, UK

Electric Vehicle Charging and Grid Integration 2010
30th November 2010 - London, UK
Follow @ChargingEV on Twitter

If we're missing an event, feel free to leave us a note in the comments section of this post or send us a tweet or an email.

EcoSearch and dtimes3 Launch Green-Ex at The Carbon Show

2010-09-29T14:38:00.004+01:00

dtimes3 Limited (d3) and EcoSearch® are delighted to announce the launch of their new sustainable exhibition service Green-ex™ at the Carbon Show on 4th October held at The Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

Aimed at providing a low cost, low carbon exhibition solution, this collaboration between a Live Events, Technology and Training company and specialist Executive Search Consultancy is the first of its kind and is likely to attract major attention from the Carbon, Cleantech & Renewables community.

Keith Goodchild, Managing Director at d3 says ‘We are extremely conscious of the cost of exhibiting and the amount of waste generated at Live Events. The overall lack of attention to sustainable solutions within the industry is of equal concern. That is why we have introduced the concept of Green-ex™ which we believe is the way of the future’.

Keith continues – ‘Although we design and build exhibition stands we are committed to providing sustainable materials and support services. Therefore, we have also developed a suite of low cost electronic services that enable pre-marketing, the invitation process, data capture, delivery of marketing collateral and pre-booking of meetings. As a result, our exhibition clients can enjoy a paperless environment, automated data recording and data base management during their events. Combining these services and minimising the need for elaborate stand design and expensive build, our Green-ex™ solution is providing a full exhibition capability at a fraction of the cost’.

‘Making the decision to launch Green-ex™ at the Carbon Show was a ‘no-brainer’, said Debby Lloyd, Managing Director at Ecosearch® who have collaborated with d3 throughout the development of the Green-Ex™ concept. Debby also sits on the Carbon Show Advisory Board and was recently a judge for the Green Business Awards, so her industry knowledge and expertise has supported the development of the service.

Ecosearch® co founder and Director Phillip Clement said ‘When I was approached by d3 and they told me why they wanted to develop a low cost, low carbon exhibition solution I was immediately engaged with the concept. Many businesses, especially start –up’s, often struggle to invest time and budget to promote their services however the Green-ex™ service can provide them with an excellent opportunity to go to an exhibition, enjoy all of the benefits that can be derived from their participation, but for a more modest investment’.

Zoe Ingle, Haymarket’s Show Organiser added ‘The Green-ex™ concept was of immediate interest to us at Haymarket. We want to actively promote the use of more ‘Green’ solutions and Green-ex™ does exactly that. Enabling companies to share facilities within a ‘Pavilion’ concept is not new, but providing participants with a full range of electronic services designed to reduce or eliminate paper, save administration time, improve lead generation and deliver improved ROI is a significant step forward and that is why Haymarket is very happy to promote and endorse the Green-ex™ concept at the Carbon Show 2010’.

Visit the Green-ex™ stand 268 and talk to their team to discover ‘The way of the future’.
For company descriptions and contact details please see attached appendix.

Click here to view the full Green-Ex press statement.

You can follow @EcoSearch, @dtimes3 and @TheCarbonShow on Twitter.

Solar – Coming of Age...

2010-09-24T09:22:00.003+01:00

Things are really hotting up in solar which poses some interesting challenges for incumbent businesses already operating in the space – manufacturers, distributors, installers ...

Some businesses are going to wake up in the morning and find out that someone ate all the pie ... well product then!

Word on the street is that the smaller installers are suddenly inundated with larger commercial project enquiries – they are struggling with the size, the commerciality and the delivery capability not to mention the cash flow issues that £6m worth of kit will give them – cue sleepless nights for some of these MDs. (shhhh... guys might be time to rethink being a ma & pa shop).

The property, pension fund and shed markets have finally woken up to the fact that there is money to be made in ‘them there’ rooftops and now they want a piece of the action and fast…like yesterday?!! Hmmm doesn’t quite work like that does it?

Now what’s also interesting is that some of them are treating it like just another construction project - “let’s get the boys who did that warehouse roof to do it” ... uh? ... well hello big red flashing lights – it’s just not that simple? Meanwhile roofing guys are gleefully throwing in a bunch of ill thought out quotes in double quick time and will be caught with their pants down .... The naivety of some is mindboggling. They don’t understand payback models let alone the products, O&M issues, positioning, FITs bla bla. Someone will lose a shed load of money – excuse the pun.

Conversely – little installers – WAKE UP – the time to buddy up and JV is now – choose your partner wisely or offer yourselves to the lion fast. When the product supply chain squeeze hits – it’ll be those businesses with the biggest wallets open that will land it.
Meanwhile the sleeping giants of construction look like they have their wallets out on a mini shopping spree, so they’ll be Hoovering up the casualties, or perhaps smugly picking over the remains!

As far as manufacturing is concerned, some are struggling to even quote because they just can’t figure the manufacturing pipeline ... the supply chain issue is again rearing its ugly head. Anyone read anything on rare earths – if not try the Thunder Report. http://www.neuralnetwriter.cylo42.com/node/3106

We are already seeing clients defect from those companies who just can’t supply – quality is all very well but if you can’t get it, get it somewhere else – anywhere else and compromise.
And to cap it all, reports are now coming in that some distributors and manufacturers could have already sold or have reserved all of next year’s product inventory, doesn’t this smack of the same thing that happened in big wind? ... mass-demand in a short space of time ... oooh there’ll be a lot of unhappy salesmen out there (give me a ring when you are ready).

Oh, and I haven’t even touched the utilities with this article – what ARE they doing??? Do they seriously think the double glazing sales approach is going to work? That’s a subject for another day!

Green and Renewable Energy Events – September & October 2010

2010-09-05T16:21:00.008+01:00

Here’s the latest Events list in the European Renewable Energy space – taking you up to the end of October 2010. We hope you find it useful. If we’ve missed an event, please let us know and we’ll make sure it’s added to the list.

~*~*~

Featured Event:

4th & 5th October 2010
Business Design Centre, London

~*~*~

September 2010:

The Energy Event
8th & 9th September 2010
Birmingham, UK
Twitter: @energyevent

Wind Power Monthly - Cost-effective, best-practice O&M strategies
9th & 10th September 2010
Hamburg, Germany
Twitter: @WPMevents

Women in Cleantech: Exploring Cleantech Policy – From ecoConnect
22nd September 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @ecoConnectCIC

Cleantech Bootcamp - From ecoConnect
27th September 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @ecoConnectCIC

UK Green Buildings Council Regional Event
27th September 2010
Manchester, UK
Twitter: @UKGBC

Biogaz Europe
29th September 2010
Lyon, France

Green in the City: Cleantech meets Biotech - From ecoConnect
30th September 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @ecoConnectCIC

October 2010:

Green Mondays – London
4th October 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @greenmondaynews

Green Mondays – Scotland
4th October 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @greenmondaynews

The Carbon Show
4th & 5th October 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @thecarbonshow

2nd Global Wind Turbine Supply Chain Conference
5th & 6th October 2010
Hamburg, Germany

Energy Solutions Expo
6th & 7th October 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @energysol_expo

All-Energy Australia
6th & 7th October
Melbourne, Australia
Twitter: @AllEnergy

European Biofuels Expo & Conference
6th & 7th October 2010
Warwickshire, UK

2nd Annual Offshore Wind Construction and Commissioning Conference
20th & 21st October 2010
London, UK

Renewable Energy in the Public Sector: Leading the way to zero carbon
26th October 2010
London, UK

EU Biomas Forum 2010
27th – 29th October 2010
London, UK

Green In the City: The Future of UK Onshore Wind - From ecoConnect
28th October 2010
London, UK
Twitter: @ecoConnectCIC

Stay tuned for another events update at the beginning of next month.

Is Your Business Really “Sales” Ready?

2010-08-12T17:28:00.004+01:00

So – you have your product, your founder has tested the sales temperature, you’ve landed funding so it's all hands on deck to hire that crack sales team.... or is it?

One of the things I have noticed in early stage land of late is that some businesses are suddenly finding their sales pipeline is not what they thought it was and ill thought out strategies are being tested to breaking point in the current climate.

Evidence perhaps that too many people have rushed into employing a sales team before completely understanding their sales strategy. And also evidence that the sales strategy has not kept current in a rapidly changing business climate.

Common mistakes I see:

Unclear sales strategy – usually borne from a founder being too close to the product and failing to look up and around the market during launch phase.

They misread the early sales made by passionate, driven founders as “evidence of real market demand”.

They fail to take account of objective external views and miss key longer term niches while focussing on the big, low hanging fruit deals.

They fail to articulate what they are actually selling - confused customers do not buy! I see many brilliant ‘techies’ with sound products that actually fail to reach market maturity because they simply can’t sit the other side of the ball and see it from a “customer” perspective and sell it on that basis.

They can’t effectively present product or service features and benefits – what you think is your product's strengths actually isn’t necessarily what your customers think.

They over complicate entering the market – there’s more than one way to crack a nut...

What they are selling actually might not be fully complete or their pricing model is not fit for purpose and does not match the clients’ needs as a business.

They fail to plan long and short term sales pipelines – how to balance keeping the investors happy whilst building long-term value in the business is an art form!

And ... worst of all they rush their hiring and end up with the wrong people ... and that’s where we come in.

Average cost of a failed hire = 3 x salary at the last count ... makes my fees look better value than ever!

By Debby Lloyd,
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Hire, Hire, Hire – Managing Rapid Growth

2010-08-06T10:04:00.005+01:00

EcoSearch build the management and technical teams for businesses in renewable energy, Cleantech & Carbon Management – we do that for smallco and corporates. I love this part of my job – I love the role I play in building those successful companies (not that we recruiters are recognized sometimes for the value we bring in the long term – ours can be a very transactional role but where we are able to work in a true partnership capacity it can make for a very powerful result).

We’ve all had that training haven’t we about “man management”, but how often do we stop to think about the application of all that knowledge we soak up over the years and its long term application impact in our respective businesses?

I’ve learned, seen and personally experienced that it is far more difficult to successfully grow your team rapidly in a smallco than in a corporate organisation. Managing to blend, mould and nurture a new team is a bit like making fine wine, only sometimes you are forced to rush it and sometimes the grapes you use aren’t quite what you thought they were (If I were a wine buff now I’d use a suitable comparison here).

Investors these days are very good at pressing the HIRE HIRE HIRE button but don’t always listen to the CEO who knows his business inside out and knows where his existing team is challenged. Mind you, some CEOs are very guilty of going on talent acquisition spending sprees with disastrous consequences, overspent budgets, imploding teams, dysfunctional divisions, poor hires, lowering quality of output.

The good CEO takes the time to monitor the “temperature” and watch the development of his people as he goes about adding. This is a bit of a dark art that many people fail at. Sometimes you have to take your foot off the gas and allow things to settle. I always thought “forming, norming, storming” theories were a bit of a management cliché but they are in fact critical milestones on which to manage. Recognising them is key. It is easy to fall into the trap of putting it down to culture and personality when actually the root cause is usually communication, and clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. These all get horribly blurred when a team expands rapidly. A good CEO recognises this and helps his team understand this and work through it.

And how rewarding is it when you see that team gel into a finely tuned machine that delivers uplift in production and sales?

Hmm - now here’s a thought: What if your recruiter's fee was calculated on business milestones achieved...? I wonder what impact that would have on your hiring quality.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Green & Renewable Energy Events List – August & September 2010

2010-08-02T09:36:00.003+01:00

The events list is back!

If we have missed anything, please let us know. You can leave a comment on this post or even send us a tweet.

August 2010

Green Drinks – Reading
3rd August 2010
RISC Global Cafe, Reading, UK

Sustainability Now
On demand until 10th August 2010
Virtual
Follow @sustainnow on Twitter

Green Drinks – London
10th August 2010
The Glasshouse Stores, Soho, London

September 2010

Green Mondays - North West
6th September 2010
Manchester, UK
Follow @greenmondaynews on Twitter

Green Mondays – Midlands
6th September 2010
Nottingham, UK
Follow @greenmondaynews on Twitter

Green Mondays – London
6th September 2010
London, UK
Follow @greenmondaynews on Twitter

The Energy Event
8th & 9th September 2010
Birmingham, UK
Follow @energyevent on Twitter

Wind Power Monthly - Cost-effective, best-practice O&M strategies
9th & 10th September 2010
Hamburg, Germany
Follow @WPMevents on Twitter

World Green Roof Congress
15th & 16th September 2010
London, UK

Low Carbon South West: Sustainable Cities - Building The Future
17th September 2010
Bath, UK

Bioten
21st – 23rd September 2010
Bath, UK

HUSUM Wind Energy
21st – 25th September 2010
Husum, Germany

Women in Cleantech: Exploring Cleantech Policy
22nd September 2010
London, UK

If you are organising an event coming up soon and would like it included in future lists - don't hesitate to let us know about it.

The EcoSearch Team

State Of The Nation Update – The New Norms Bite?

2010-07-14T09:09:00.007+01:00

My gut is telling me something different is happening. Keep it lean folks, we are heading into choppy water again.

Take the redundancies I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks in FM, environmental and sustainable consulting, outsourced technology, mainstream engineering, internal carbon teams. I’ve seen “walk-aways” by corporates on non-core green related activity, sluggishness in buying “green” and renewable energy progress hampered by team downsizing. There is still a lack of investment and we are now seeing the first signs that the Government cuts are going to bite hard!

Green Bank?

Show me something different and I’ll believe it! Isn’t this the blueprint the Carbon trust but a few more heavyweight names with a sprinkling of Private Equity folks? It’s not going to solve the problem, is it? What happens to the innovation spawning grounds in the latest melee? Same model of return, different underwriter?

Cleantech Investment - What are the new norms?

Yields of less than 7%, ROIs – think more like 5 years now folks!
Venture funding – it’s all about collaboration and circumnavigating Venture land as we know it now.
VCs – for early stage they really mean well past “post revenue” stage – and lots of it!
Fund raising – if you haven’t done it in 6 months, forget it you better do something different.
Equity – start at 60% and if you are lucky negotiate your way back as you hit the milestones.
Typical deal flow scenario - 400 deals reviewed – 4 investments made – those were the figures quoted – but am I wrong in thinking that maybe the view on returns needs to change which might make the ratio different? Maybe the investment community simply haven’t woken up to the new norms yet?

Commercial Property & the CRC

The exodus from inefficient but lovely looking glass and steel buildings is already starting to happen. My prediction is that swathes of office blocks will soon become empty especially where they cannot provide the smart control aspect of carbon management programme roll out.
FTSE or AIM listed company in your property portfolio? What are you doing to help their league table position? Perhaps just taking the rent is now no longer enough – the new norm might be business collaboration?

CRC progress – estimates that 20% of businesses cannot even make registration.
Expecting help from the Environment Agency – hmmmm seems to be a problem when you can’t find the forms on the website even...

Facilities Management Companies – it’s not just about an EPC and some CHP feasibility & engineering consultancy – get your acts together - you are offering a fragmented, disparate service offering – clients want pro-active initiative, joined up thinking and deep traction across third party relationships to resolve the issues they face. I’m hearing reports that FM Companies are not playing ball with energy efficiency partners of clients ... BIG mistake!

For further insight you might like to have a look at my previous post 'Sustainability and The Apollo Effect'.

Skills & Recruitment

Graduate entrants – forget going in to £30K of debt and trekking to Uni unless you aim to come out with a 2:1! 69 graduate applicants for a single job ...employers are being choosy. Boy do we have a problem in the UK with our Course Content – someone’s forgetting the basics & practicals – it’s all theory!

And – this bit is for recruiters only as I know you all read my blog (the intelligent ones will get to this bit – the others will have zoned out by now)! Judging by the amount of recruiters checking out my profile at the mo – everyone in recruitment is piling into this space... wise piece of advice ... if you see a bandwagon, you’ve already missed it. Those of us who have been around for a while, stick together, the flight to quality will be on soon enough.

Prediction – remember the dot.com days? Now imagine that again with only one quarter of the jobs .... I dispute all the figures quoted about green jobs – I think they are overestimated and lots of jobs will mainstream in from related industry or be internal appointments – because of the climate we are in (maybe with the exception of big wind or maybe retraining plumbers!).

You reap what you sow, no matter what business you are in, so expect payback relative to your customer facing investment – and I don’t mean just in cash terms! Everyone is feeling the pressure but I’ve asked myself many times this month - is there a way to be nice and still do business anymore? – or have things got so bad it’s just every man for himself and screw the consequences in the future?

Sustainable business behaviour ... hmmm perhaps a subject for a future blog.

Photo by gluemoon on flickr

Women & Careers In Cleantech (EcoConnect)

2010-05-20T15:45:00.003+01:00

I had an inspiring evening at the inaugural Women In Cleantech (WIC) meeting held at Smith & Williams offices in London and brilliantly hosted by the folks at EcoConnect.

A select gathering of around 60 women (and 2 token male minders!) of immense talents sharing experiences, ambitions and aspirations around working in Cleantech. A real warmth of connections on the night, sense of togetherness and shared outlooks. I’m always really humbled at these events – I look at the learning curve and investment in EcoSearch and its nothing compared to the blood, sweat and tears investment I’ve seen these women invest in companies they will never get to own. But that’s the thing about working in this sector – once you are bitten going back to the corporate day job just feels completely pointless. Corporate disengagement is rife out there at the moment – and I’m often on my soapbox about those organisations who choose to ignore the sustainability agenda who will in the long term die out having suffered attrition and competitive advantage losses as a result.

But some interesting and amazing observations emerged ...

The absence of any real visible, recognisable and instantly recall-able women role models from the sector. Why? Is it too soon? Is the market still below radar with immature businesses that have yet to be scaled up and find fame? Do women not court and massage the limelight like the Richard Bransons of the world perhaps? Hopefully this will change in the future.
Science and Engineering – probably half the audience were Science or Engineer based women – doing amazing work – and at all levels! But getting women into science/engineering is difficult – mixed sex classes, misperceptions, confidence, fear of failure – all possible reasons as to why we see less and less females in science and engineering.
Female run VC backed businesses – a real minority – but statistically no different in risk or return fronts for investors – why are there not more?
Level Playing field – general acceptance that yes we do have a level playing field – acceptance that yes babies do pull us back down the salary levels – but actually we have to choose to play hard – and we fail to have the guts to play that hard sometime. But having lower salaries are a advantages for women in this space – men find it difficult to drop the shackles of the big paycheques. For women it’s less of a drop and we don’t always have “breadwinner” nooses to bear.
Corporate downshifters – there’s a real opportunity for emerging businesses to harness brilliantly experienced corporate downshifters at a price they can afford IF they can open their minds.

So many other thoughts to share - but for me the moment of the night was seeing my highly talented male VC colleague blush - I finally got to turn the tables on a VC chap – a priceless moment ladies – one I will savour and worth waiting 8 years for! His comment at the end of the night “I had no idea it was so complex for women!” I think he felt like Mel Gibson in the film What Women Want!

By Debby Lloyd

Managing Director, EcoSearch

EcoSearch "State of the Nation" Update - April/May 2010

2010-04-30T10:25:00.007+01:00

It seems we have a lift!

The big question is “for how long?”. I’m sensing an underlying nervousness, what will happen post summer, post election, post Greece?

For a whistle-stop tour of what else I’m seeing;

Finance & Investment in general: -

Early stage Innovation businesses in cleantech are still suffering from lack of finance although there’s some Creative fund ideas are emerging but these are pre-fund raising and still some months away
There is still a lack of quality investments – with all investors sticking to traditional post revenue models
Large scale asset based projects based on “known technologies” are more appealing to investors although a switch to investing in “IP” is being detected for some areas

CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment):

Public sector – enquiries are up across the board but delivery is problematical
FM – large companies gearing up internally to tackle CRC opportunity but clients showing frustration with over-layered FM business models
Government Knowledge & Advice on procuring these products and services is sadly lacking and will affect the placement of orders

Microgeneration:

Consumer & Business Demand is growing for product – however manufacturing problems in small wind, supply problems for inverters & Solar PV are issues
Installer capacity to deliver projects and scale-ability will be an issue in the near term
Renewables purchasers are frustrated with a fragmented market, product comparison is hard to action, corporate “slickness” is lacking in delivery
The present MCS accreditation framework appears to be preventing the industry from reaching “sales” maturity
The present sales & distribution models are problematical – especially in small wind

Business Models:

The SME Services & Product Sector for Renewables & cleantech is suffering casualties, further casualties are expected from cash flow burn-out crisis
Specialist & experienced installers will perhaps be prime for acquisition but managing integration will be key for any acquirer
The Corporate & Utility sector is struggling to internally ratify traditional operating models with highly adaptive, flexible & fast moving emerging markets
Innovation in the Corporate arena is constrained due to cash flow/focus on core business, smaller workforces & lost internal entrepreneurial ability

Disruption Technologies & Conspiracy Theories?

… suffered from professional anti-blogging attacks? Well interestingly – now the furore of East Anglia has died down we uncover a rise in this type of activity. So who are the organisations having sufficient funds who have a vested anti-lobbying interest to procure the services of these anti blogging rings.
And is it wrong to believe that some of those same industries are also buying up IP to shelve “disruption technologies” …
UK Manufacturing – over-engineered & over-priced? KISS for the future – the Chinese are coming!

These are personal views. I welcome comment, debate and discussion – debby.lloyd@ecosearchglobal.com

Debby Lloyd,
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Image by Micky on Flickr

Cleantech, Renewables & Sustainability Investment - Deal Flow

2010-04-09T11:25:00.007+01:00

It’s encouraging to see creative ideas around fund raising for Cleantech, renewable & low carbon technologies – The Founders Club for example “where dealmakers club together” ... looks good, Par Equity - is this the largest Advisory board gathering of the great and good? There’s even talk of some novel and interesting off-grid (pardon the pun) boutique social stock exchanges emerging too.

But they all want the same thing - post revenue / growth potential businesses to invest in - so supply & demand will be a problem for the smaller players wanting quick returns.
This week also saw a Government announcement about the establishment of a Green Investment Bank operating on a commercial basis and involving both public and private sector capital. £1 billion will be raised from the sale of “mature government-owned infrastructure-related assets” (will we have anything left soon – even Dover Docks appears to be up for sale?). This would be matched by £1 billion of private sector investment ... I haven’t seen the detail yet but I’m sure the latter will be a challenge given the state of Corporate businesses today – and again its targeted on investment into heavyweight large complex infrastructure projects.
So – who’s tackling investment into the start up and innovation side of emerging green technologies?

There’s an ever increasing funding gap between early stage “fresh out of the shed entrepreneurs” and “high growth” ready businesses.

Ultimately this will impact deal flow at maturing business “high growth” stage. Inevitably this will get tighter and more and more investors will be chasing fewer deals... that will be interesting as the tables may turn a little perhaps.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Green & Renewable Energy Events - March 2010

2010-02-15T15:17:00.003Z

Here is EcoSearch's regular Events list for March 2010. If we have missed an event in the industry, don't hesitate to let us know.

Green Mondays (2degrees)
1st March 2010 - London, UK

National Energy Foundation - Introduction to Renewable Energy
2nd March 2010 - Milton Keynes, UK

EcoBuild 2010
2nd - 24th March 2010 - London, UK

Carbon Market Insights
2nd - 4th March 2010 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Renewables East - Feed in Tariff - The real potential for renewable enregy support
3rd March 2010 - Cambridge, UK

New Energy Finance Summit 2010
3rd - 5th March 2010 - London, UK

BWEA Wave & Tidal 2010
4th March 2010 - London, UK

EnerTech World Expo' 2010
3rd - 5th March 2010 - Mumbai, India

Gulf Environment Forum
7th - 9th March 2010 - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

UK OFFSHORE WIND SUPPLY CHAIN CONFERENCE
9th March 2010 - Bristol, UK

Climate Change: How will it impact on your business?
12th March 2010 - Aberdeen, Scotland

World Biofuels Markets
15th - 17th March 2010 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

RENEWABLE HEAT INCENTIVE - WARMING UP THE MARKET
16th March 2010 - Bristol, UK

Thin Film Solar Summit Europe
17th & 18th March 2010 - Berlin, Germany

New Energy Husum 2010
18th - 21st March 2010 - Husum, Germany

National Home Building and Renovation Show
18th - 21st March 2010 - Birmingham, UK

Scottish Renewables - Annual Conference
23rd & 24th March 2010 - Glasgow, Scotland

GLOBALCON 2010
24th & 25th March 2010 - Philadelphia, USA

Offshore Wind & Transmission
30th & 31st March 2010 - Hamburg, Germany

Green and Renewable Energy Events - February 2010

2010-01-04T17:15:00.003Z

Each month we aim to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening in the world of Renewable Energy, Clean Technology, Carbon Management and Sustainability.

If we have missed any events, just let us know and we will be happy to add to our list.

You can also see our list for January 2010 here.

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Green Mondays (2degrees)
1st February 2010 - London, UK

Offshore Wind Power
2nd & 3rd February 2010 - Philadelphia, USA

The CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010
3rd February 2010 - London, UK
You can follow @CIBSE on Twitter

RETECH 2010
3rd - 5th February 2010 - Washington, USA

Bioenergy Expo
4th - 7th February 2010 - Verona, Italy

Scottish Energy and Environment Conference
9th February 2010 - Glasgow, Scotland

Plastic and Thin Film Photovoltaics
11th & 12th February 2010 - Barcelona, Spain

Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo
23rd - 25th February 2010 - Texas, USA
You can follow @REWorld on Twitter

Cleantech Forum San Francisco
24th - 26th February 2010 - California, USA
You can follow @cleantechgroup on Twitter

Stay tuned - we will publish a similar list for March 2010 soon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from EcoSearch

2009-12-17T09:32:00.009Z

All at EcoSearch would like to wish our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We are all looking forward bringing you more exciting news, views and snippets from the world of talent in Renewable Energy, Clean Tech and Carbon Management in 2010.

If you would like to keep up to date over the festive period, EcoSearch is on Twitter. So feel free to follow @EcoSearch and never miss a thing.

In the meantime, you might like to check out some of our most popular posts of 2009:

Image by josh.liba

Green and Renewable Energy Events – January 2010

2009-12-07T15:34:00.004Z

Here is the first event list for 2010.

If you know of an event we have missed, please let us know and we will add it to the list. You can drop us an email or leave us a comment here on the blog. You can also view and download our full list of events for the next six months.

If there is anything else we can add to this service to make it more useful to you, just let us know.

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Green Mondays – Post Copenhagen
11th January 2010 – London, UK

Green Drinks – London
Green Drinks events are held globally – find many other events via their website.
12th January 2010 – Soho, London UK

Follow @greendrinks on Twitter

InterSOLUTION - the 1st and only solar energy trade fair in the Benelux
14th – 16th January 2010 – Belgium

World Future Energy Summit
18th – 21st January 2010 – Abu Dhabi, UAE

Solar Power Generation USA
20th & 21st January 2010 – Las Vegas, Nevada USA

Distributed Wind Interconnection Workshop
21st – 23rd January 2010 – Golden, CO USA

Climate Change: Effective Communication
22nd January 2010 – Edinburgh, Scotland

Energy from Biomass and Waste
26th & 27th January 2010 – London, UK

Wind Power Monthly Offshore Event
27th January 2010 – London, UK

Wind Power Commercial Strategies
27th – 29th January 2010 – Vienna, Austria

Course: Renewable Energy Technologies for 6* Sustainable Homes
29th January 2010 – University of Brighton, UK

Here is December 2009’s event list, and pop back or subscribe via RSS as we will be publishing a similar list for February soon.

VCs: Where has the “venture” gone from Venture Capital?

2009-11-26T12:17:00.004Z

Well here is a question that no one seems able or willing to answer, I’ll throw it open to the investment Universe -VCs, private equity, corporate finance, angel funders, high net worth individuals – be you early stage, late stage (or indeed ANY stage which would be good right now)

Who is REALLY investing over here in the UK – have we closed for Christmas early this year?

From where I am sitting (having watched a colleague bash the phones for the last 4 weeks across a myriad of investor networks on what is – to me – a “no brainer” cleantech medical device manufacturing process) it strikes me that there is an inordinate amount of tyre kicking going on out there, people sitting on piles of cash with no home and not a lot of action.

Today we hear of an investor pulling the plug on a £7m investment because they were feeling “over exposed”.

And at the other end of the spectrum on my desk I can’t find £150K for something that has mass market developing country and remote energy application potential.

Come on people, shame on you! Do I really have to create something totally radical to bypass you lot?

If the anti risk and tyre kicking stance most of you are taking presently continues, how do we progress the low carbon technology agenda? The Carbon Trust and those delightful public sector competition rounds are not going to get us anywhere fast.

My sweeping generalisation about investment land presently is that you are all lacking in creativity, sophistication, knowledge and your models and ideals means you will miss some technology waves. Some spaces are moving so fast by the time you’ve even “gated” the first investment proposal the opportunity has been snapped up into corporate land, is mothballed never to see the light of day, or worse – goes bust before it's started.

The lack of funding supply also means that there is a world of collaboration starting to open up out there that will completely bypass you in future. All those lovely technologies that are scalable and interesting may well find themselves swept up into the arms of a cash rich Corporate doing a nice line in acquiring patents and technologies and sand-bagging for the future. Again, some of those may never see the light of day because we all know corporate cultures aren’t great at “incubating”.

Anyone notice a bit of sweeping up of patents going on of late?

Push back by all means …

By Debby Lloyd

Managing Director, EcoSearch

Commercial Realism and Wind Energy

2009-11-13T17:32:00.006Z

Two articles published today (Friday 13th November) have caught my attention. The first is a discussion piece by Petra Barnby in the FT EnergySource blog. The second is the press release accompanying the Institution of Mechanical Engineers latest paper Climate Change: Have we lost the Battle?

Both these articles try to depict a true and realistic story, a story which is still being written and may or may not have a happy ending. They also address different topics; the FT piece is about offshore wind and how it can contribute to energy security, and the IMechE report is about Climate Change (i.e. reducing CO2) targets. They have different goals, although possibly with common causes and shared solutions.

However, I have a few observations. The FT article is outwardly a “pro-Wind” stance. It talks about the turbines’ “serenity and peacefulness about their understated orbital business that fits in with the drab North Sea scape” and contribution that wind could make to energy generation in the UK, with offshore wind farms “powering 18.5m homes in 10 years’ time.” The author also chooses to quote members of the BWEA. Yet there is something mildly frustrating about the opening line to the piece…

They’re beautiful,’ breathed a bearded wind farm enthusiast as he spotted the shape of a turbine appear from the mist on the horizon.

I think it is the use of the word “bearded” that concerns me. Are enthusiasts of wind power still associated with bearded, sandal-wearing hippies? Can we not be black shoe wearing, clean shaven (or female!) enthusiasts who see that energy security is a commercial, economical and political necessity? Maybe the analogy is only there in my mind? Maybe the guy stood next to the journalist was bearded AND suit-wearing, and it is my own sensitivities? Or is it a sub-conscious association that the journalist still makes with renewable energy enthusiasts.

I found the IMechE’s report refreshing. Whilst it may be pessimistic about actually achieving the 2050 CO2 reduction goals that have been currently set, it is real and it addresses action. It calls for a mixture of “geo-engineering” solutions. Whilst I disagree with the need to change DECC to DECS (is an initial actually going to make the difference?), I agree with the positioning.

Let’s move away from the association with bearded, sandal wearing climate change activists with pie-in-the-sky goals, and be realistic, commercial and proactive about securitising and changing our energy sources.

By Clare Buxton

Wind Energy Sector Lead

Picture courtesy of phault

10 Tips for Writing Your Cover Letter

2009-11-11T10:34:00.003Z

I have recently been asked by several people about writing cover letters. They can sometimes be overlooked but are often an important tool for securing an interview. Here are my top ten suggestions to make yours stand out from the crowd:

If you are responding to a specific role, state your intention to apply for this job. Talk briefly about your motivations for pursuing a career with this company.
Make it specific to the company to whom you are writing; demonstrate that you understand a bit about their business. If you can make it personal to an individual (Dear Mr Smith) then do so.
Think of the cover letter as an extension of your “elevator pitch”. Why should the person opening your email/letter invite you for an interview?
Talk about your aptitude to do the job in question; this may be by giving example achievements from your recent experience.
Answer the question “What differentiates me from my peers?”
Use the cover-letter as a way to demonstrate your prose writing skills (i.e. don’t make it a list of bullet points).
Close the letter, i.e. suggest a next step, such as “Please take a look at my CV for further information”, “I look forward to hearing back from you”, “Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me if you have any questions”.
Keep it to one side of A4, type font 10 or 11 (if it is via email, keep it to 3 paragraphs).
Do not talk about salary in the cover letter.
Make sure your contact details are clear and correct; and also make sure that the company’s address and contact details are correct.

By Clare Buxton

Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

Photo Courtesy of woodleywonderworks.

Carbon Management Software – State of the Nation

2009-11-05T12:18:00.004Z

I am using the phrase “carbon” management software deliberately. Using words such as sustainability & environmental do not necessarily attract the right talent, create the right feel and, frankly, make some people run a mile.

A quick check if I say “environmental” to you - what picture is in your head right now? What are you thinking? I bet its not cool, teccie, exciting software and programme deployment the like of which we haven’t seen before, is it?

Does GHG sound attractive to you? What about carbon accounting? Does “environmental management system” turn you on? Nah, didn’t think so.

None of these phrases grab me either, so that’s why I prefer not to use them. I prefer words normal people understand, are familiar with reading in their everyday newspapers and can apply a broad brush too. One thing is for sure, the vocabulary used by organisations penetrating a variety of vertical markets will be increasingly important in order that you don’t pigeon-hole your product into a single sector – and you may have to change it depending on which circles you are moving in.

So things are definitely hotting up in the carbon management sofware sector but we don’t have any decent traction… yet. What we do have is a lot of talk. There are some good looking solutions sloooowly coming to market… lots of RFIs/Bids, case studies building etc. but who is really selling and who is really buying?

Across the board incoming enquiries are reported to be up… but don’t hold your breath. I hear this week that the Environment Agency are sending mass mail shots out without so much as a job title in information packs.

Here are some of the things I see adding to the confusion and noise out there:

Lots of products and services window shopping by all manner of functional areas on the client side and none that necessarily hold the keys to an open cheque book.
Complex sales entry points – sure you may get in with the FM manager – but who do you need to mark off next?
Who has got responsibility for delivery of these solutions across the business – come to that are people thinking “cross business solution” or are they thinking “solve just my problem”?
Solutions that fall across a number of areas take some digging to find where overall responsibility lie.
Long, laborious scoping out of solutions that have to go through a myriad of sign offs.
Prospects are underestimating the complexity and reality of the legislation coming down the pipe – there could be some expensive mis-selling and retrofitting going on.
Interfaces with existing data systems – other environmental management software, HR software, facilities management software – what about communication with outsourced functions and partners?
Vertical markets – everyone’s going for the big ones first and boy are they making the most of shopping around because they don’t want to make a purchasing error. Seriously – hands up who is working with Tesco?
Channel and reseller markets. Who is getting into bed with who and are you competing against them in the market now – how will that relationship play out?
Carbon consultancies WAKE UP - this as a huge cross-sell/up-sell opportunity. But you need a different skillset to sell these software solution babies… do you just want to sell “consultancy” – well you have a 24 month shelf life if that is the case. Call me if you need the right talent to help you open this revenue channel – you have the easy part you UNDERSTAND the client pain, a couple of extra heads with the right knowledge of these products and you have yourself a brand new revenue channel that will extend your company’s shelf life.
Reseller models - make a wrong move now and you could find yourself in an exclusive reseller partnership with a non-market leader – could be very damaging.
Software players –are you underestimating the amount of handholding needed to put these products into play? This is not something for the white socked sales person. Consulting credibility client side is the key. There is no getting away from the fact that your front facing sales people will need a modicum of holistic carbon management programme understanding, backed up by some subject matter experts who can navigate their way around the legislative framework. Cue merger and acquisition activity in the boutique consultancy arena.
Lack of product information – things are moving so fast its difficult to benchmark the different offerings and who really does have credible case history on deployment – half the products I see are still being developed off the shelf as things go along – which is fine – providing you have the right person holding the client’s hand and you understand the vertical markets you are operating in.
Product Evolution – so you have a wonderful shiny new product - but can you spot the challenges coming through the rest of the market that will impact it and can you keep pace? (think PESTLE, I’m sure you know what I mean).
Patience – there’s going to be a mixing of a whole host of cultures on this moving forward… that will be an interesting play out – FM, CSR, CTO, FD, HR, IT Sales, outsourcing companies, infrastructure providers and Green Consultants...
Panic – From what I can see I am predicting that come February some organisations are not going to have the bandwidth to service the enquiries coming through the channels. Don’t leave it until next year – get your teams assembled now!

There will shortly be a feeding frenzy. We know who’s having the conversations and marking off the best talent in the marketplace but not actually hiring yet. Well prepare for a bidding war soon. Those organisations that move early to acquire the brightest talent will have the greatest chance of success.

If you are a candidate, open to the idea of a new opportunity, make sure you back a thoroughbred with a well thought out plan that is showing the ability to flex and actively learn how to approach different markets. Don’t back a donkey that’s just thinking we sell “IT solutions” this way! There will not be enough space in the future.

The talent is out there but will not be for long. I welcome serious clients – no tyre kickers please!

Call or email me for the latest talent hotsheet of individuals available in this space – or if you want to go on it, for that matter!

By Debby Lloyd

Managing Direcor, EcoSearch

~*~

Some upcoming events you might also find interesting:

Green IT Expo - London 10th & 11th November 2009

Smart Energy 09 - London - 1st & 2nd December 2009

Green Monday - London - 7th December 2009

Green and Renewable Energy Events - December 2009

2009-11-02T09:54:00.010Z

Here is our regular monthly events update for you.

Events are starting to slow down in the run up to the holidays but there is still a lot going on in December in the run up to the UN Climate talks in Copenhagen. You can also view November’s events list if you missed it.

If you can think of an event we have missed, please let us know and we will add it to the list. You can drop us an email or leave us a comment here on the blog. You can also view and download our full list of events for the next twelve months.

If there is anything else we can add to this service to make it more useful to you, just let us know.

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Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit
30th November - 2nd December 2009 – Vancouver, Canada

IWEA - Wind Monitoring Training Course
1st December 2009 – Osberstown, Ireland
Follow @IWEA on Twitter

Smart Energy 09
1st & 2nd December 2009 – London, UK

Small Hydro USA
1st & 2nd December 2009 – Washington DC, USA

Global Wind Turbine Supply Chain Summit

1st & 2nd December 2009 - Hamburg, Germany

EnviroAsia 2009 - the 4th International Environmental technologies Exhibition & conference
1st – 4th December 2009 - Singapore

Business Green Lecture Series: What the Copenhagen Climate Conference means for your business

2nd December - London, UK

You can follow @BusinessGreen on Twitter

IET - Green and energy efficient buildings: preparing for the challenges of Copenhagen
2nd December 2009 – London, UK
Follow @IETevents on Twitter

Enhancing your Business with Green Chemistry
2nd December 2009 – York, UK

Cleantech Forum Beijing
2nd & 3rd December 2009 – Beijing, China

You can follow @cleantechgroup on Twitter

AWEA Offshore Wind Project Workshop
2nd & 3rd December 2009 – Boston MA, USA

You can follow @AWEA on twitter

The Scottish Green Energy Awards
3rd December 2009 – Edinburgh, Scotland

IWEA - Effective Asset Management
3rd December 2009 – Dundalk, Ireland
Follow @IWEA on Twitter

Kinnarps - Think Green, Save Money

3rd December 2009 - London

GeoPower Europe
3rd & 4th December – Munich, Germany

Copenhagen Key to Climate Investment
3rd & 4th December 2009 – Copenhagen, Denmark

Think Green - 2nd Annual Eco Expo
5th December 2009 – Riviera Maya, Mexico

IWEA - Vestas V52 Turbine Training
7th December 2009 – Dundalk, Ireland

Green Mondays - Smart Grids UK

7th December 2009 - London, UK

Wind Power Turkey
7th – 9th December 2009 – Istanbul, Turkey

COP15 Copenhagen 2009 - United Nations Climate Change Conference
7th – 18th December 2009 – Copenhagen, Denmark

You can follow @COP15 on Twitter

Green Drinks – London
8th December 2009 – London, UK
(Green Drinks events happen globally, more can be found via their website)

Sustainability Now
8th & 9th December 2009 – Online, UK
Follow @sustainnow on Twitter

Power-gen International
8th – 10th December 2009 – Las Vegas, USA

Bioenergy Australia
8th – 10th December 2009 – Queensland, Australia

Energaia
9th – 12th December 2009 – Montpellier, France

Solar Turkey
10th & 11th December 2009 – Istanbul, Turkey

ecoCamp Coventry

12th December 2009 - Coventry, UK

Bright Green - in parallel with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15)
12th – 13th December 2009 – Copenhagen, Denmark

Electricx Power 2009
12th – 15th December 2009 – Cairo, Egypt

IWEA - Vestas V52 Maintenance Training
15th December 2009 – Dundalk, Ireland
Follow @IWEA on Twitter

European Fuel Cell Technology & Applications - "Piero Lunghi Conference"
15th – 18th December 2009 – Rome, Italy

BWEA Connect - a networking evening exclusively for existing and potential members of BWEA
17th December 2009 – London, UK

We will be publishing January 2010’s list soon, so watch this space...

Our Advisory service also provides help to organisations putting on industry events. Don't hesitate to get in touch if we can be of assistance.

Sustainability and The Apollo Effect

2009-10-27T10:35:00.006Z

This month I have had the privilege of delivering my thoughts to Facilities Managers from key businesses in Utilities, Telecoms and IT.

The document below gives some extracts from these speeches. I share with you my thoughts on the challenges ahead on our quest to organise businesses to comply with forthcoming regulations for carbon management. Pulling on some analogies and insights into practical methods of engaging mindsets and embedding cultural change for to improvement of business, maintain competitiveness and ultimately survive.

This challenge is becoming ever more complex. For businesses to remain competitive and survive in a changing world sustainable working practices now need to be embedded into the heart of organisational culture – from CEO to cleaner. But how do we relate that bigger picture of business survival in a changing world to the ordinary employee going about their day job?

Sustainability & The Apollo Effect - By Debby Lloyd

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Energy Saving Week 2009

2009-10-19T11:15:00.001+01:00

Energy Saving Week is an annual event hosted by the Energy Saving Trust. This year the event runs from 19th – 25th October and will be important for our pockets as well as the planet.

In the spirit of the event, the EcoSearch team brings you their top tips for saving energy;

Debby Lloyd, Managing Director

“for all those with teenagers - outsource them to university and watch your electricity bills halve! If you have latch-key kids - when you arrive home from work to find they have used the "advance" heating button on the boiler and the thermostat is set on 30 degrees! Open your wall thermostats and set the stopper at 18 degrees - force them to use jumpers! Oh, and turn off the gas on the gas fire so they can't use that either. Use a slow cooker in the winter instead of the oven - Lakeland has a great little gadget called a Remoska that literally uses the energy from a light bulb to effectively cook food!”

Phillip Clement, Director

“Work longer hours - this has numerous energy saving benefits. You use the lights and heating at work not at home. Your drive into the office and home will be in less traffic so you will use less petrol. When you get home you're so knackered you'll want to go to bed without any dinner which means you won't use the cooker and you won't need to put the lights on and you have to get up so early you won't feel like breakfast and you can wait till you get to the office to have a cup of tea so you won't need to boil the kettle.”

Mark Sawyer, Senior Partner

I recommend taking the Home Energy Check questionnaire via the Energy Saving Trust website. Considering my home working, mother and child at home all day every day with the heating on, I was surprised to get the results back and find that on an A-G rating I am currently a C. I have currently done everything possible that they suggest in their report email to reduce my carbon footprint except for getting thicker loft insulation and changing some more light bulbs... A worthwhile use of 5 minutes, especially if you are very new to thinking about saving energy.”

Clare Buxton, Wind Energy Sector Lead

“Don’t leave appliances on Standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobiles phones on charge unnecessarily. I always find myself going around the house behind the rest of the family turning off the things they’re finished with like computers, the TV and games consoles.”

Katharine Robinson, Research Associate

“Don’t put on any laundry unless you have a full load – one full load uses a lot less energy that two half loads – it’s better to wait. I have never used a tumble dryer either. I try to dry as much clothes as possible outside on the washing line, or if it’s just too rainy use an indoor airer.”

We did a series of blog posts last year for Energy Saving Week – you may find there interesting too;

Energy Saving Week - Saving energy around the office and at home
Energy Saving Week - Greener Driving
Energy Saving Week - Greener Shopping
And as the end of October approaches, check out this post on Greening your Halloween.

We hope you save lots of pennies this week

The EcoSearch team

BWEA31 – 20th to 22nd October 2009

2009-10-16T17:46:00.006+01:00

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) will be running its annual conference and exhibition next week in Liverpool. The event enjoys a well balanced combination of thought-leadership and focused conference sessions, as well as an opportunity to network, learn about new developments, and identify new business opportunities.

I had a conversation the week before EWEA’s Offshore Conference in Stockholm, earlier this year, with a client who I’ve known for 18 months now. He asked me why I wasn’t going to be attending. I replied “I’m far too busy, I have too many open assignments and I can’t afford to take a day, let alone two, out of the office…”. He responded that he had also thought the same thing on many occasions, but that each time he thought it, he reminded himself of the intangible, but undeniable, value that comes from solidifying relationship and building new ones in person. He was right.

And so I’ll be at BWEA31, with the intention to get as much value from it as possible, and to have a fun doing it! I will be attending on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a focus on meeting new people and keeping abreast of new entrants, new developments and new projects in the sector, as well as using the opportunity to meet with existing candidates and clients alike.

Often we are asked by industry professionals to conduct Independent Career Appraisals, and the BWEA conference is an ideal place to do this, to maximise on time and talk to people when they’re out of the office environment and not worrying about the next conference call or a deadline they’ve got to hit. There are plenty of quiet corners to find a seat and grab a coffee.

If you’d like to meet up to ask me questions, share information, or find out about what we do and how we do it, please do use BWEA31 as the perfect opportunity.

Drop me an email to clare.buxton@ecosearchglobal.com or contact me via twitter @CEBUX.

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

Green and Renewable Energy Events - November 2009

2009-10-01T09:20:00.010+01:00

We are still in the heart of events season. November is full to bursting with Renewable Energy, Cleantech and Carbon events around the globe.

Here we highlight all those events taking place in Europe – there simply isn’t room to do them all! You can also see and download our full list of global events via scribd.com.

If you know of an event we missed, please let us know and we will add it to the list.

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Featured Event:

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ETH EnergieTage Hessen 2009
30th October - 1st November 2009 – Wetzlar, Germany

Green Monday (2degrees)
2nd November 2009 - London, UK

The Energy Institute (EI) Evening Lecture - Energy Efficiency for Real – Beyond Audit to Implementation
2nd November 2009 - UK

Ocean Power - Accelerating innovation in Ocean Energy technologies
2nd & 3rd November 2009 – Lisbon, Portugal

The Green Business Awards 2009
3rd November 2009 – London, UK

National Energy Foundation - Wood Fuel Heating & CHP Training
3rd November 2009 – Milton Keynes, UK

Substation Technology 2009
3rd & 4th November 2009 – Birmingham, UK

Follow @TheIET on Twitter

RENEXPO Eastern Europe
3rd – 5th November 2009 – Kiev, Ukraine

Green Supply Chain '09
5th & 6th November 2009 – Leeds, UK

RENEX Expo
5th – 8th November 2009 – Istanbul, Turkey

University of Reading Public Lecture Series: Feed the world - climate change and global food security
6th November 2009 – Reading, UK

Innovative Futures - Low carbon, low energy, sustainable, innovative systems & designs
6th – 8th November 2009 – Coventry, UK

Follow @EcoFuture on Twitter

Environment '09
9th & 10th November 2009 – London, UK

14th European Biosolids and Organic Resources Conference, Workshop and Exhibition
9th – 11th November 2009 – Leeds, UK

Essential CleanTech Investor Summit
10th November 2009 – London, UK

Green Drinks – London
10th November 2009 – London, UK

Hargould EcoShowcase Bristol - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
10th November 2009 – Bristol, UK

Green IT Expo
10th & 11th November 2009 – London, UK

DatacenterDynamics - London 2009 Conference
10th & 11th November 2009 – London, UK

Scottish Renewables Grid Seminar - Plugging it in
12th November 2009 – Inverness, UK

3rd European Renewable Energy Policy Conference
16th & 17th November 2009 – Brussels, Belgium

IWEA - Project Management Course

17th November 2009 - Naas, Co.Kildare, Ireland

Follow @IWEA on Twitter

3rd International Tidal Energy Summit
17th & 18th November 2009 – London, UK

Kinnarps - Think Green, Save Money

18th November - Reading, UK (and more UK locations throughout the month)

3rd Annual European Carbon Capture & Storage Summit
18th & 19th November 2009 – London, UK

Green Strategy
19th November 2009 – London, UK

Energy Institute Awards 2009
19th November 2009 – London, UK

Wind Power Turkey
23rd & 24th November 2009 – Istanbul, Turkey

Subsea Europe 09
24th November 2009 – London, UK

Bridging the Energy Gap

24th November 2009 - London, UK

4th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference IRES 2009
24th & 25th November 2009 – Berlin, Germany

Carbon Reduction Commitment Compliance Event
25th November 2009 – London, UK

CHP Association (CHPA) Annual Conference and Awards Dinner
25th November 2009 – London, UK

Wind Turbine Data - A One-Day Debate & Networking Forum
26th November 2009 – Hamburg, Germany

Hargould EcoShowcase Milton Keynes - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
26th November 2009 – Milton Keynes, UK

RENEXPO(R) Austria
26th – 28th November 2009 – Salzburg, Austria

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You may also be interested in October's events list.

A similar list for December will be published shortly.

Reflection On Climate Change And The Role Of Religion

2009-09-30T11:28:00.002+01:00

After a frantic year, knee deep in satisfying the demands for expertise to deliver technology from reverse osmosis to biomass to smart metering, I recently had a well deserved break. I was able to explore the wonders of the Spanish Asturias mountains whilst taking time out with some very dear friends – old and new.

I’m not one to dwell overly on religion, but the Spanish impress me with their wonderful family ethics, strong religious beliefs and amazing church constructions in seemingly impossible mountain passes. One of the members of our group has just taken a fascinating new career path. She will be working in the heart of Rome, spending time advising various churches on how they disseminate climate change education to their various congregations. A big responsibility, and clearly one of huge importance.

I’ve also recently completed an assignment in the climate change lobbying space. Again this gave me real insight into the development of policy and the impact and importance such discussions will have to the forthcoming Copenhagen conference.

En route back to the UK (by boat, I hasten to add), not having had the luxury of TV and internet in our remote mountain accommodation, we saw distressing pictures of the Philippines – further reminders that all is not well on our planet.

I was reminded of the Richard Dimbleby lecture given by HRH Prince of Wales on Climate Change and the interplay between technology, people & religion. If you haven’t seen it, it is worth downloading. The lecture underlines the fact that many influences will be required moving forward – religion being just one of them.

So it was a good pause for reflection on the different roles people are playing in coming to grips with the climate change challenges our population will face over the coming years.

As we all go about our busy lives – where money making and materialism is high on the agenda – I wonder whether we will see a deliberate shift away from the unrelenting demands of consumerism and the trappings of material wealth. Perhaps a reconnection to more simple things in life.

For me, the last week of long lunches, food and wine shared with cherished people, to a background of gently sounding bells around the necks of contentedly munching cows and glorious green mountains, was a welcome reconnection to what life should be like.

So, back to earth with a bump then … and for those of you who know me, I’m not about to sign up and become a monk just yet …

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Test Drivers Wanted for Mini's Prototype Electric Car

2009-09-23T09:35:00.008+01:00

Drivers from South East England can volunteer, you just need to have a driving licence, be happy with a left hand drive car and have your own garage or carport for the charging unit to be installed in. The trial lasts for six months and kicks off in December.

You will have to rent the prototype, costing you £330 per month, but you will have up to 90% lower running costs, no maintenance charges, no tax or insurance to pay and the Mini-E is exempt from the London congestion charge. The free insurance, lack of maintenance bills and a cut of £220 per month to the lease cost comes thanks to funding from the Technology Strategy Board.

The Mini-E is a prototype and only 40 have been made. The research done in this trial will likely inform the development of all other 100% electric vehicles.

For more information and to apply, simply visit www.electricMINI.co.uk

By Katharine Robinson

Research Associate, EcoSearch

The Carbon Show 2009

2009-09-17T11:43:00.008+01:00

What? Billed as the first ever international exhibition dedicated to carbon, The Carbon Show covers everything from consulting and carbon audits to low carbon solutions for your business.

There will be interactive workshops, seminars, panel debates and plenary sessions. The Carbon Show 2009 offers a wealth of expertise, insight, and best practice. Visitors will have the chance to mix and match these elements to design their own programme. This will give attendees tailored advice and guidance on the carbon market as well as the management of their organisation’s carbon emission scheme.

When? The Carbon Show is a two day event kicking off on Tuesday 29th September 2009

Where? Excel, London

Why? The conference brings people in the industry together before the crucial Copenhagen summit in December, offering the opportunity to network with potential clients, contacts and industry leaders.

The draft Climate Change Bill commits the UK to reductions in CO2 emissions of at least 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Consider the huge opportunities offered by this commitment -The Carbon Show will help you make the most of them!

Who? The Carbon Show features exhibitors from across the carbon industry. EcoSearch will have a presence at the show. We look forward to meeting lots of new faces and helping all of those

Take a look at the extensive Exhibitor list to get a flavour of who you will see at the show.

Pre-register now for FREE general admission to the exhibition and advanced booking privileges for a series of innovative seminars and workshop programmes.

Don’t forget you can follow @EcoSearch and @TheCarbonShow on Twitter even if you are unable to attend. If you are tweeting from the show - don't forget to use the hashtag #carbonshow so that others can follow the show.

Happy First Birthday 'dot.green'!

2009-09-14T09:07:00.006+01:00

On Saturday 12th October 2009, EcoSearch’s dot.green blog turned one year old. We launched this blog a year ago hoping to provide useful information and insight for those in the Renewable Energy, Clean Technology and Carbon Management spaces.

In that time our most popular posts have been;

September’s Green and Renewable Energy Event’s

EcoSearch are committed to bringing you the most comprehensive guide to green events around. Each month we highlight events here on the blog and have an ever expanding master list that you can download as a pdf file. This has proved very popular with our readers and a useful resource for everyone in the EcoSearch office.

Do you still need Head Hunters in a down Economy?

This post really explains where EcoSearch’s approach benefits its clients, especially in the current economic climate.

University Challenge - Questions on Renewable Energy Projects

A fun post, written at the spur of the moment. It got a lot of search engine traffic after the rise to fame of Gail Trimble and the later disqualification of Corpus Christi (link to The Guardian).

Our Favourites to follow on Twitter for Renewable Energy News

This post is probably a little out of date now although it still lists some great folks to follow. We have also highlighted a lot of great online news sources and twitter accounts too.

Green IT Challenges

Green IT is a passion of our MD, Debby Lloyd. Every year she runs a very exclusive Green IT lunch.

We hope that our readers continue to find value here at dot.green.

Thank you to everyone that has stopped by to read and comment in the last year. You are the reason we keep going.

Look out for new and exciting changes coming up in the next few months here on EcoSearch's blog.

Image by audi_inspiration on Flickr

Understanding What the 10:10 Project is and What You Have to Do to Be Part of It

2009-09-08T14:34:00.005+01:00

10:10 is a project to rally every sector of British society behind a very simple idea – to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 10% before the end of 2010.

The philosophy behind this is for the UK to demonstrate to the policy setters that we are ready, able and willing to reduce our GHG emissions and happy not to wait for policy to be imposed on us as that would likely be a long time coming. Franny Armstrong, one of the idea developers, explains this really well on the Guardian’s 10:10 site.

EcoSearch as a business and myself as an individual have committed to reducing our emissions, so understanding what it is and what we need to do is important. Thankfully the first 10% reduction is the easy step.

A couple of thoughts on how to start:

Energy in the home / office – replace all light bulbs with energy efficiency light bulbs, turn off radiators in halls and unused spaces, lower the thermostat by one degree, insulate your walls and lofts. There are grants available for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation, so take advantage of them!
Buy quality products – quality products last longer meaning they need replacing less. Less replacement translates to less manufacturing and less emissions.
Eat better – local food that is in season has the smallest carbon footprint. Reduce your impact buy buying locally and from independent businesses. You will feel better for it too!

There are plenty of simple actions you can take to begin the process – that’s exactly what 10:10 is all about. Think about your own lifestyle and business – if you travel a lot, how can you minimise it? If you have an inefficient property – what can you do to improve it?

Specific targeting of the big emission sources in your micro-environment is easy to do and what this project is about.

So get to the 10:10 site, commit to the cause and let’s show the policy setters we are ready!
http://www.1010.uk.org

By Steven Rogers
Sector Lead for Carbon and Renewable Energy Engineering

Green and Renewable Energy Events – October 2009

2009-09-04T15:22:00.015+01:00

October is another manic month for events. There are so many events in fact that we have only selected those occurring in Europe to display in this blog post. You can view the full list, with events taking place globally for the next 12 months here. Be sure to do your homework and don’t miss out on the best ones for you to attend.

EcoSearch aims to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy, Cleantech and Carbon Management sectors. If we’re missing an event or conference, please leave us a comment or drop us an email and we’ll update our list – it’s our way of helping you connect with the right people.

~*~

Featured Events:

~*~

Sustainable Cities & Communities
30th September & 1st October 2009 - Geneva, Switzerland

Eolica Expo Mediterranean 2009
30th September & 2nd October 2009 - Rome, Italy

GeoTech Expo 2009 - First Mediterranean Earth Industry Technology Exhibition
30th September & 2nd October 2009 - Rome, Italy

AWBriefing - European CO2 Emission Performance Standards: Enhancing Policy, Collaboration and Innovation
1st October 2009 - Brussels, Belgium

Green Monday (2degrees)
5th October 2009 - London, UK

Gartner Data Center Summit
5th & 6th October 2009 - London, UK

Energy Solutions Expo 2009 (part of 'Working Buildings 2009')
7th & 8th October 2009 – London, UK

Working Buildings 2009 (part of 'Working Buildings 2009')
7th & 8th October 2009 – London, UK

NEREC - North European Renewable Energy Convention
7th & 8th October 2009 – Oslow, Norway

BIFM & EcoSearch - Carbon Reduction Commitment Master Class

8th October 2009 - Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland

East Midlands EXPO - greening The Economy
8th October 2009 – Leicester, UK

Energy for a sustainable future
8th October 2009 – Turin, Italy

European Bioenergy Expo and Conference
8th & 9th October 2009 – Warwickshire, UK

R-energy - International Expos for Renewable Energy-Turkey
8th - 11th October 2009 – Istanbul, Turkey

The Energy Forum (Marketforce and the IRA's 10th Anniversary Conference)
12th & 13th October 2009 – London, UK

Voluntary Carbon Markets
12th & 13th October 2009 – London, UK

Green Power Academy - An Intoduction to Renewables
12th & 13th October 2009 – London, UK

Innovate '09 - The Technology Strategy Board's annual exhibition and conference
13th October 2009 – London, UK

National Energy Foundation - Photovoltaics & Wind Seminar
13th October 2009 – Milton Keynes, UK

Green Drinks – London
13th October 2009 – London, UK

World Energy Council Energy Leaders Summit - Financial Times
13th & 14th October 2009 – London, UK

Hargould EcoShowcase Liverpool - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
14th October 2009 – Liverpool, UK

Green Power Academy - An Introduction to Solar technology Markets
14th & 15th October 2009 – London, UK

8th Internataional Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power into Power Systems
14th & 15th October 2009 – Breman, Germany

European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference & Exhibition
14th – 16th October 2009 – Stockholm, Sweden

Solar Summit Freiburg 2009
14th – 16th October 2009 – Freiburg, Germany

IWEA - Grid Code Compliance Course

15th October 2009 - Dublin, Ireland

Follow @IWEA on Twitter

International Hydropower Association - Advancing sustainable hydropower
15th & 16th October 2009 – Bulgaria

European Energy Efficiency Strategies
19th & 20th October 2009 – Brussels, Belgium

Carbon Finance 2009
20th & 21st October 2009 – London, UK

BWEA 31 - The UK's leading renewable energy event
20th & 22nd October 2009 – Liverpool, UK

Eco Innovate 09
21st October 2009 – Essex, UK

The IET - Norman Davies Memorial Lecture: Capturing the Sun

21st October 2009 – London, UK

BIFM, EcoSearch & Logica - Carbon Plus Workshop

22nd October 2009 - London, UK

4th Power & Cooling for Datacentres Conference & Exhibition
22nd October 2009 – London, UK

5th Emerging Europe Energy Summit
22nd & 23rd October 2009 – Prague, Czech Republic

Sustainable Innovation 09
26th & 27th October 2009

HYDRO 2009
26th – 28th October 2009 – Lyon, France

IWEA - REFIT/Powersales Training Course

27th & 28th October 2009 - Co. Kildare, Ireland

Follow @IWEA on Twitter

Entsorga-Enteco: The International Trade Fair for Recycling Management and Environmental Technology
27th – 30th October 2009 – Cologne, France

Institute of Mechanical Engineers - Carbon Capture & Storage 2009
28th & 29th October 2009 – London. UK

ETH EnergieTage Hessen 2009
30th October 2009 – 1st November 2009 – Wetzlar, Germany

We will publish a similar list for November soon.

Click here for September’s Green and Renewable Energy Event List.

Click here to download a full list of Green and Renewable Energy events for the next 12 months from Scribd.com

Offshore Wind Round 3: On your marks… Get set…

2009-08-14T16:50:00.010+01:00

The allocation of the Crown Estate’s Round 3 zones is nearly upon us.

After what seems like a life-time of anticipation, the commercial negotiations are now going on between the Crown Estate and the wind energy consortiums, to finalise the allocation of offshore zones in Round 3 of the UK’s offshore development. I have spoken to a number of contacts in the industry this week, who confirmed that things are very close to kicking off. Now is the time to fasten your seatbelts, we are about to get very busy!

Massive demand for Development Skills.

Everyone to whom I speak acknowledges the fact that, should they be successful in securing a link in the supply chain towards delivering a new round of offshore wind, they will need to build their teams accordingly to make sure that they can deliver upon their commitments. From EIA specialists, to planning and consents analysts, and technical due diligence engineers, there is all of a sudden going to be a massive demand for talented individuals who can help to turn an allocated area of the sea into a massive power generating asset.

I was speaking to a specialist in Environmental Impact Assessments for Offshore Wind farms yesterday. He has been involved since Round 1 of offshore developments, and is known as one of the few real experts and heavy hitters in that arena. He is already very busy, and is anticipating his work load only to increase as time develops. Immediately the best of the best in this industry, those that have lived and breathed offshore wind already, are going to be seriously in demand.

How will you attract the best?

In a question of weeks and months, there are going to be up to 9 consortiums suddenly competing to secure the best teams in a short period of time. All of these groups of companies currently have key players already on board, but the development of a multi-MW wind farm demands significant resource and expertise. Employers, have you thought about how you are going to attract further players to your team? I’ve spoken to several people in the last few months who have claimed “we know who we want to hire already”, but have you considered that other people want to hire the same experts?

How will you create and implement a hiring strategy which allows you to identify quickly and efficiently the right people for your company, and then ensures that you are able to attract them without going through unnecessary to-ing or fro-ing, and most importantly without entering into a bidding frenzy?

How will you retain the best?

Have you also considered that other companies out there may have identified members of your existing team as the people they want to hire? How will you ensure that you retain your key players? Retention means ensuring that they are 100% comfortable where they are, and will not start to entertain your competitors’ flirtations of promotion, better benefits, more money, or increased responsibility?

Head-hunters are going to be all over this space. And whilst some of us do so with discretion, and with the best interests of all parties at heart (i.e. we have more values and ambition than just to make a quick buck), I warn you now that there are many who don’t.

You need to make sure that you have a strategy in place to hire the right people, and to retain the right people.

If you would like to discuss how you are going about this, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on 0845 241 4810 or email clare.buxton@ecosearchglobal.com.

By Clare Buxton

Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

Follow @CEBUX on Twitter

Green and Renewable Energy Events – September 2009

2009-08-03T09:19:00.012+01:00

EcoSearch aims to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy, Cleantech and Carbon Management sectors.

September is going to be a manic month for events, so be sure to do your homework and don’t miss out on the best ones for you.

If we’re missing a conference, please leave us a comment or drop us an email and we’ll update our list – it’s our way of helping you connect with the right people.

~*~*~

Featured Event:

~*~*~

Climate Camp 2009 - Free (donations requested)

27th August – 2nd September

Follow @ClimateCamp on twitter
London

BioEnergy 2009 – Sustainable Bioenergy Business
31st August – 4th September
Jyväskylä, Finland

LAWEA Wind Expo 2009 - Latin American Wind Power - International Conference & Exhibition
2nd – 4th September
Panama City, Panama

Green Monday (from 2degrees)

7th September

London

AWBriefing - Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Advanced Battery technology
8th September
London

National Energy Foundation - Introduction to Renewable Energy
8th September
Milton Keynes

Green Drinks – London – Free
8th September
London (Green Drinks events happen globally - more locations can be found on the website)

Cleantech Forum Boston
8th – 10th September
Boston, MA

Offshore Europe 2009 - Free
8th – 11th September 2009
Aberdeen, Scotland

The Energy Event 09 - Free
9th & 10th September
Birmingham

BWEA Connect - a networking evening exclusively for existing and potential members of BWEA
10th September
London

Southwest Renewable Energy Conference
10th & 11th September
Flagstaff, Arizona

EcoMo09 24-hour dev camp - Can you write green code? - Free

11th September
Follow @ecomo09 on Twitter

London

Carbon Capture and Sequestration Summit
14th & 15th September
Washington, DC

European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference & Exhibition
14th – 16th September
Stockholm, Sweden

UWIG Wind Integration Short Course
14th – 17th September
Charleston, SC

IMarEST Metocean Awareness course
15th – 17th September
London

Recycling & Waste Management 2009 - Free
15th – 17th September
Birmingham

The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy - reducing emissions from existing buildings
Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum
16th September
London

European Biodiesel 2009
16th & 17th
Prague, Czech Republic

AWEA Wind Power Health & Safety Workshop
16th & 17th September

Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Snowbird, UT

Coasts, Marine Structures and Breakwaters 2009
16th – 18th September

Follow @ICE_Engineers on Twitter
Edinburgh, Scotland

JetFin Green 2009 - For investors and managers in search of real returns from green investment
17th September
Geneva, Switzerland

European Smart Grid Strategies
17th & 18th September
Berlin, Germany

Irish Sustainable Buildings Show - Free
17th – 19th September
Dublin, Ireland

CANWEA - Canadian Wind Energy Association Annual Conference & Exhibition
20th – 23rd September
Toronto, Canada

11th Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF-London)

21st & 22nd September

London

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
21st – 24th September
Hamburg, Germany

REA WATTS (Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium)2009
22nd September
Wirral, Merseyside

Heat & Energy 09
22nd September
London

Hargould EcoShowcase West London - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
22nd September
Twickenham, London

Wind Power Expo 2009 - Free
22nd – 24th September
Zaragoza, Spain

Carbon capture and Storage World Summit
22nd – 24th September
Arlington, Virginia

Grove Fuel Cell Symposium
22nd – 24th September
London

Klimaenergy 09 - Renewable Energy Trade Fair and Conference
24th – 26th September
Bolzano, Italy

RENEXPO - 10th International Trade Fair for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficient Building and Renovation
24th – 27th September
Ausburg, Germany

Energy from Waste
28th & 29th September
London

Next Generation Biofuels
28th – 30th September
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The 2009 Energy Roundtable conference: A transatlantic energy partnership
29th September
London

The Carbon Show - The Exhibition for Trading, Reducing and managing carbon – Free (register before 25/09)
29th & 30th September
ondon

National Energy Foundation - Solar Thermal Training
30th September
Milton Keynes

AWEA Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Workshop
30th September & 1st October

Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Minneapolis, MN

Sustainable Cities & Communities
30th September & 1st October
Geneva, Switzerland

Eolica Expo Mediterranean 2009
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

GeoTech Expo 2009 - First Mediterranean Earth Industry Technology Exhibition
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

~*~*~

We will publish a similar list for October soon.

Click here for August’s Green and Renewable Energy Event List.

Click here to download a full list of Green and Renewable Energy events for the next 12 months from Scribd.com

UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

2009-07-17T10:11:00.004+01:00

On Wednesday the Government announced its Low Carbon Transition Plan.

The plan covers everything from;

The power sector
Homes and communities
Workplaces and jobs
The transport system
Farms and managing land
Waste sustainability

So, here’s a round-up of all you need to know:

From the Government:

DECC - Wednesday’s press release from DECC
Carbon trust - Proof will be in the delivery of Low Carbon Strategy
Energy Saving Trust – have not issued a press release
Department for work & pensions – have not issued a press release
Department for Transport – A greener future for transport
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – have not issued a press release

From the power utilities:

Ofgem - Response to the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan
British Gas/Centrica – have not issued a press release
EDF – have not issued a press release
E.On UK - It's now or never if we're to win the fight against climate change
RWE npower - RWE npower welcomes Government plans to meet emissions targets
Scottish Power - ScottishPower welcomes the UK Government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan
Scottish & Southern Electricity – have not issued a press release

From the Press:

The BBC - Low carbon way 'to reshape lives' and from BBC Parliment on iPlayer

The Broadsheets:

The Times – Lots of articles including those on Jobs, higher energy bills and transport
The Guardian – Green energy revolution and Government unveils sweeping plans to transform UK into low-carbon economy
The Telegraph - Society must change to tackle global warming, says Ed Miliband

The Green Press:

BusinessGreen - Reaction and a comprehensive round-up
New Energy Focus - Renewable Energy Strategy published
Recharge - UK Government unveils Renewable Energy Strategy

You may also find my list of 15 renewable energy news sources interesting.

If I have missed anything, don't hesitate to let me know.

By Katharine Robinson

Research Associate, EcoSearch

Where is the middle ground for Corporates in the current economic climate?

2009-07-17T10:08:00.001+01:00

Here is an interesting thought for the corporate CEO out there today - which category does your company fall into?

A – Quick! We are in hunker-down mode. Let’s stop all the expansion, development and innovation initiatives and wait for the crisis to pass.

Or

B – There is a crisis. Let’s take the opportunity to change everything and see if we can be in a different place?

Your organisation’s loyal subjects, in the meantime, are confused by the sudden “brakes on” or “charge!” edicts coming down from on high. They are quietly becoming more and more frustrated. The organisation they joined now appears to be moving in a completely different direction. They can’t rationalise it and their voices go unheard along the glass and steel corridor.

I can’t tell you how many call-in conversations I’ve had this week from solid talent venting spleen about their frustrations. I’m hearing a resounding chorus of “WE ARE MISSING THE WAVE OF OPPORTUNITY”.

My advice to them, for what it’s worth, may sound clichéd but don’t jump from the frying pan into the fire. The grass is not always greener on the other side after all.

And for the CEOs - in order to keep your talent ensure you give them a voice – communication in these times is the key to keeping people motivated. These are the people you want to keep, given that you’ve no doubt streamlined recently. Attrition now is the last thing you want in your senior management teams.

That said, I’m very happy to be agony aunt in the short term to those of you with itchy feet and of course you’ll receive a discrete tap on the shoulder at an appropriate time in the future. Keep in touch with us.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Green and Renewable Energy Events – August 2009

2009-07-09T15:00:00.004+01:00

We aim to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy and Cleantech sector. If we’re missing a conference, please drop us an email and we’ll update our list – it’s our way of helping you connect with the right people.

Green Drinks – London – Free
11th August 2009

Find more photos like this on GREEN DRINKS
London (Green Drinks events happen globally - more locations can be found on the website)

Green Power Academy - An Introduction to Renewables
11th & 12th August 2009
London

Green Power Academy - An Introduction to Solar technology Markets
13th & 14th August 2009
London

The Greening Southern Africa Convention & Exhibition 2009
20th & 21st August 2009
South Africa

BioEnergy 2009 - Sustainable Bioenergy Business
31st August – 4th September
Jyväskylä, Finland

A similar list will be published for September later in August. Any feedback would be welcome.

Click here for July’s Events List.

You can also download a list of events for the next 12 months.

Catlin Arctic Survey Homecoming Party - In the midst of all our money-making busyness let’s not forget Climate Change

2009-07-07T09:08:00.002+01:00

Last week I attended the Finale Party of the Catlin Arctic Survey. The expedition was a true demonstration of tremendous human endeavour. Our congratulations go to the whole team; they are remarkable people with resilience, heart and team spirit. The results they have collected will be fed through to Copenhagen later this year. But early indications are the polar ice cap is of course thinner than expected (no surprise there really) – less than 2 metres in many places.

Anne, Martin and Pen are still recovering physically and mentally from their expedition – you can actually see and hear the physical toll it has taken on them. They are to be congratulated – sound bites from their speech last night resonated with us and give us a brief check on our daily lives - whilst on the ice the spirituality of their surroundings, the voices, sounds and ice breathing momentum was humbling and comforting.

We are incredibly lucky as a generation. I remember one morning as we watched breakfast TV from bed under a Tog 24 duvet in a centrally heated bedroom drinking tea we saw Martin squeeze his frost bitten toes into icy boots. Anyone who has over-skied on holiday and given themselves blisters will remember how painful it is to squeeze your feet into badly fitted ski hire boots on day three. Now replay that with frost bitten toes, having to sleep out in temperatures of -40 degrees and a 12 hour slogs across fractured ice ahead of you for weeks at a time.

Small acts of human kindness, such as saving your daily ration of chocolate for two days for your colleague who you can see is in deep crisis, mean the world. That chocolate was saved by Martin for Pen (not Ann – in case you were wondering about the female aspect of this trip - Girl Power!).

This project’s media exposure gave 1.6bn the opportunity to see what we are up against. We are a generation that can spread influence of our activities and make things happen if we choose to work together. We will see at Copenhagen if this is possible. I’ve no doubt the work this team have achieved will influence global resolutions on Greenhouse Gas emission regulations.

So we wait with baited breath on the next Catlin project which will no doubt expand the boundaries of climate change science again. Send in your ideas if you have any, we’ll feed them through to the team.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

You can view a gallary of pictures from the Ice Team's pickup.

Ed Miliband Talks Climate Change

2009-06-26T17:26:00.001+01:00

This morning Ed Miliband took part in a web chat about climate change in advance of the launch of the “Road to Copenhagen” initiative today, which begins the run up to the climate negotiations in December.

Mr Miliband sings from the policy hymn sheet while managing to keep the chat human. He tells us he has a Prius and admits that he hasn’t quite finished reading David MacKay’s book ‘Sustainable Energy - without the hot air’. He talked about the UK being the only country to have a specific commitment on aviation: “that aviation growth will be constrained by a commitment to get aviation emissions back to current levels by 2050”, and acknowledge that we are in need of a 2050 Energy Roadmap: “That's part of what our summer white paper will be doing so watch this space. And we must make the transition from fossil fuels.” He also advised readers about the £100bn financing plan announced by Gordon Brown today (go to the DECC website for more info), and referred people to the manifesto for Global Climate Change.

Mr Miliband was even willing to answer an off-topic enquiry about his feeling regarding the passing of Michael Jackson.

You can see everything that was discussed in the web chat, from carbon capture and storage, carbon offsetting nuclear power and energy efficiency here on the Guardian website.

Green and Renewable Energy Events – July 2009

2009-06-25T11:05:00.006+01:00

Ever wish you could just go to one place and find out what’s happening across the whole sector? We aim to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy and Cleantech sector.

If we’re missing a conference, please drop us an email and we’ll update our list – its our way of helping you connect with the right people.

17th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition
29th June – 3rd July 2009
Hamburg, Germany

International Wave Energy Summit
30th June & 1st July 2009
London

Green Power Conferences - Strategies and Challenges in Scaling up Biogas Production
1st & 2nd July 2009
London

British Hydropower Association: Micro-Hydro Seminar
3rd July 2009
Powys, Wales

National Sustainable Schools Conference 2009

3rd, 6th, 8th and 14th July 2009
Leeds, Preston, London and Bristol

The Clean Capital Network - Cleantech London
6th July 2009
London

Green Card Conference - Risks & Opportunities presented by the Carbon Reduction Commitment - Free
9th July 2009
Green Park, Reading

Green Drinks - London - Free
14th July 2009
London (Green Drinks events happen globally - more locations can be found on the website)

AWBriefing - Fully Charged? Shaping the Future of Electric Vehicles
16th July 2009
Westminster, London

BWEA Cymru 09 - BWEA Cymru's third annual event dedicated to wind, wave & tidal in Wales
16th July 2009
Cardiff

A similar list is now published for August. Any feedback would be welcome.

Fundraising in Cleantech and Renewable Energy

2009-06-23T08:58:00.004+01:00

Here are some sound bites from the trench this week on fundraising challenges faced by “Smallco” (the small company working in renewable energy and cleantech). This is the often forgotten £2m and under brigade – of which there are a fair few out there – comprised of both product and services companies.

Smallco in Entrepreneurland is being hindered by the lack of investor appetite for the smaller deal. As a result they are falling between the crack of “too small for the big investors” and “too big & long term to tie up angel money”.

Everyone wants to invest in green

Smallco has to kiss a lot of frogs at the moment. For the smaller businesses preparing for marathon pitching rounds, this means time away from the day job which can be painful when you still need to grow the business.

With relatively few specialists and lots of new entrants rarely are investors truly knowledgeable about the technologies and complexities of businesses operating in this space. So the fund raising process takes even more time as they grapple with the due diligence, alien concepts, opportunities, issues and longer technology development lead times, research etc.

Most people recognise that there is a lack of mature companies around and the “big deals” are rare. The smaller deal dynamics are inherently resource hungry with an owner manager driven situation, and are also a long way from maturity.

Greed and speed factor is high

It is simply not a natural fit with some of these businesses who need nurturing and mentoring as well as cash. This is not the same cycle as dot.com – there is a lot more upfront investment and a slower burn on return. That doesn’t stop the comparisons being made on the investment journey.

So, for angel style investors who wish to spread risk and become involved in a range of cleantech and renewable deals (because, let’s face it, there is risk involved), I can’t help but think there is opportunity here. A venture fund, formed by a collective pool of small-deal VCs, could work together and provide their expertise and contacts along the way. This would strengthen the likelihood of success and in return would create a natural nursery pool to spin into bigger things … plus there would be a lot of fun along the way.

If this sounds like you, call me to discuss, I’ve a number of clients who fall into this category and could be interested in connecting with you.

By Debby Lloyd.

Managing Director, EcoSearch

Image by Perrimoon

Global Wind Day?

2009-06-16T08:56:00.007+01:00

I am a supporter of Wind Energy. I believe that our generation is obliged to seriously increase our generation of clean (or cleaner) energy, whether that be wind, wave, solar, biomass or nuclear. My career is currently dedicated to building teams, growing businesses and ultimately contributing to the growth of the wind energy sector. I spend day in and day out talking to people who already work in companies in the Wind energy supply chain, or who want to work with said companies.

However, I have to admit that Global Wind Day, might have passed me by this year, if it wasn’t for one of my colleagues shouting at me that I should be doing something about it. “It’s your thing”, she said…

So what is the point in Global Wind Day? Essentially I understand that the concept is to raise awareness of wind energy… But what then? Is it aimed at making young people want to work in Wind energy? Is aimed at making local communities want to support the construction of wind turbines in their region (let’s hope some of the local councils are reading this…) or is it aimed at making investors want to invest in the sector?

The success of any of the above relies on extending the message of Global Wind Day beyond the immediate circle that already has a vested interest in the Renewable energy sector. So how have they marketed Global Wind energy day? How have the organisers (EWEA and GWEC with the support of the national Wind Energy associations like BWEA), actually gone about reaching their target markets? How did you read about Global Wind Day (or #GWind09 as it has become on Twitter, which is where, incidentally, I have seen the most activity around Global Wind Day)?

Apparently “thousands of public events will be organised simultaneously” on Monday 15th June 09. But searching via the Global Wind Day website only brought me details of 3 events in the UK. Just 3?! Surely that can’t be the case. (I have to add an NB that two of those events are organised by RES - well done RES). So I turn to BWEA to see what they are doing about this Global Wind Day thing… and there’s nothing on their website. So where is it being publicised? I can only imagine (hope) that things are more proactive on the other side of the pond. The American Wind Energy Associations, does at least lead on their home page with the story “Show Your Support for Wind Energy on Global Wind Day, June 15”…

To be fair, Vestas mentioned the day under “campaigns” on their website. ABB released a press release for a bit of publicity (good on them). But Vestas, ABB and RES are in the minority here, and I don’t see the UK broadsheets or tabloids picking up on this – should they be?

If I was Josephine Bloggs working in an un-related sector, and going out my usual routine – home, car, office, car, gym, car home – only listening to Radio 1 or Radio 4 and scanning The Times at lunchtime, would I have known about Global Wind Day?

The idea of having a “Wind Energy Day” is a great idea for a PR and awareness campaign, but if you’re going to do it, isn’t it worth doing it well? (And I would love to practice what I preach and be more involved next year – if someone from GWEC or EWEA is reading this, give me a shout.)

Let me know what I missed, and how you recognised Global Wind Day yesterday.

By Clare Buxton
Sector Lead for Wind Energy, EcoSearch

Get in touch:
Email: clare.buxton@ecosearchglobal.com
Twitter: @CEBUX
Or via LinkedIn

Smart Metering – A Trojan Horse For The Utilities?

2009-06-08T08:43:00.004+01:00

This may be a little controversial but my sound-boarding conversations in the sector of late have led me to ask questions and draw some interesting conclusions. Where is the product development going – and indeed who is in the driving seat – and really … what are the measurables of the 10-year metering roll out plan?

Are the meter supply companies ready to meet the rapidly evolving demands of today’s wireless savvy and iPod-style green consumer – will they even try or are they focused on serving only the demands of their masters in the Utilities?

Are the meters they will be supplying truly going to serve the Government purposes to educate and influence energy reduction? Are they merely being used to serve the Utilities as platforms for yet more aggressive cross-sell and up-sell opportunities – and contribute to even more consumerism that will actually negate all that energy reduction activity in the first place?

Are the Metering and Utility companies falling into the trap of “one size fits all” in terms of product development? Will Mr & Mrs Blogs in Harpenden really use their smart meter in the same way as Single Mum Jane in Brixton with 5 children under the age of 7?

Will the Utilities – in the effort to control the supply chain seek ever complex ways of controlling the data from the Smart Meters …?

Picture the future – your own smart meter – (I’d like a choice of model and functions thank you!). Something that will intelligently SMS you when the kids have left the heating on for more than 4 hours. A meter that talks to my freezer and switches it to low peak electricity. Something that automatically gets the washing machine going at 2am rather than when I go to bed and my smart meter needs to tell me how much my solar thermal panel has saved me that day and how much renewable energy I’ve generated … is that too much to ask do you think?

Well a cursory glance at some of the products on the market recently has led me ponder on how this sector needs to develop and cope with what seems like opposing and conflicting needs of the various stakeholders!

… ah I forgot, I’m having a flashback, it’s local loop unbundling all over again, only this time the local loop unbundling goes right back to the consumer – control of their own power generation!

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

What Is Cheap Recruitment Costing Your Business?

2009-05-28T12:30:00.006+01:00

We are fresh back from the All-Energy 09 conference. What a difference a year makes in this industry!

One subject uppermost in every company’s mind at this year’s exhibition was the “cost” of recruitment. The current climate of course means that new entrants into the renewable energy recruitment market are popping up everywhere it seems. But is “cheap” good and what long term value are you building in your business – or even short term pain?

Here’s two real live examples we’ve seen in the last 2 days at All-Energy 09 where cheap recruitment can actually be damaging to your business:-

Company X - suffered the loss of no less than 3 senior managers in the space of a year. Result:- damage to credibility and reputation, missed opportunity and potentially revenue, wasted operational time. Cause:- Insufficient qualification of candidates, no background check on history, no behavioural testing against real life business challenges
Company Y – 6 months on and still looking for a CTO using a multi-agency approach. Result:– damage to business credibility (not to mention future investor potential), misrepresentation in the marketplace as to company strategy, impaired ability to attract good talent on account of poor recruitment positioning.

All this is easily avoided by investing time in giving full briefs about your business culture, vision and goals and working with a partner who takes the time to match and marry candidate motivations, aspirations, skills & knowledge – with everyone involved in the recruiting process. It’s not just about filling that seat! The quality of approach and qualification adopted by your recruiting partner is vital to the wellbeing of your business – the results can be the difference between failure and survival in today’s market, and the right partner can actually enhance your reputation in the marketplace – and bring you unexpected windfalls in the shape of direct approaches for future hires.

So what does cutting corners in recruitment quality, process and methodology cost your business?

It’s a sad fact that you can calculate the price of a failed of hire to 3 x salary and sometimes more. This could be down to lost opportunity, Directors time invested and damaged reputation.

So if someone is offering you a service at 12% in today’s market – you need to ask yourself what they’ve had to drop from their quality of service. Because if it’s a reference check they are dropping to save time in order to meet a volume “rack 'em, pack 'em an' stack 'em” approach you can bet your life that time will fall back on your desk sorting out the fall out from a failed hire. £1,000 extra spent today – could be a £20,000 return on investment in the next quarter because you are able to focus on the right things in your business.

Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Image based on this by malias

All-Energy ’09 Round-up

2009-05-26T17:19:00.004+01:00

The EcoSearch team had a great time in Abredeen last week at the All-Energy ’09 conference and exhibition. Some of the team give their thoughts on this coming together of the Renewables community in 2009.

Debby Lloyd:
Managing Director

“This year's show was markedly different to last year’s - a broader range of technologies on show representing the maturing renewable energy markets. Many businesses were in attendance that are not in mainstream renewables but were clearly looking for an angle to come in on it. Now the "mighty" are throwing their weight behind technology development it will be interesting to see what happens. Interesting views from the Oil and Gas community, who in general were surprised at the "low tech" approaches encountered ... not surprising when oil and gas technology is priced for the BPs of the world - and that's clearly not been in the renewable energy budget to date!”

Clare Buxton:
Sector Lead for Wind Energy

“What a busy week! All-Energy was a stimulating and informative exhibition and conference with some interesting and considered presentations from industry experts. It was noteworthy that whilst some of the largest contributors to the (UK) industry and utility companies had chosen not to exhibit this year, many new (even potential) members of the renewable energy community were exhibiting for the first time. As observed by Adam Bruce of BWEA at the Connect networking event on Tuesday, the growing number of legal, marketing and recruitment organisations providing services into the sector are a sign of the sudden maturity of an industry that was only in its infancy five years ago.”

Steven Rogers:
Sector Lead for Carbon and Renewable Energy Engineering“All-Energy is always one of the busiest and most enjoyable weeks in my calendar and this year’s show proved to be as good as its predecessors.

Over the last few years it has been a real pleasure watching businesses grow from pre-development/‘model’ stage to where they are today, often at the technology deployment stage or business commercialisation stage. In simple terms we have gone from small scale models to these amazing technologies being in existence and use. My lasting impression is that real and quantifiable progress is being made in the renewable energy industry and that it is set to continue.”

Katharine Robinson:
Research Associate and Global Information Management

“My mission for this year’s All-Energy conference was to demonstrate the power of Twitter for building relationships in the Renewable Energy industry. All-Energy had taken me up on my suggestion to run a twitter account and managed to gain 120 followers in the run up to the event. I had managed to build a list of 30 twitter users, other than the folks at EcoSearch, which would be attending the show. The first person I met at All-Energy was a tweeter Clare and I have been following for several months. He came up and introduced himself right as the exhibition started on Wednesday morning. The team and I had some great chats with folks we had connected with via twitter and it was great to see the show covered on this additional layer.”

Phillip Clement:
Director

“Great to see an increasing number of companies dipping their toe into the market - bringing their own flavour and adaptation of their existing services, this is a step change in attitude and acceptance that "it's here to stay" and not a fad. As an engineer and investment manager I am however amazed at the number of Heath Robinson contraptions that are still being presented, perhaps the big boys will make a difference and finally put some weight and money behind some realistic and serious R&D.”

Did you attend the conference? What were your lasting impressions?

We Can’t Wait To Meet You At All-Energy '09

2009-05-19T18:33:00.002+01:00

It’s finally here, All-Energy ’09, the UK’s largest renewable energy event. The EcoSearch team took an early flight to Aberdeen this morning, here’s some of the team looking bleary at Luton Airport as we gulp down the day’s first cup of tea.

We arrived in Aberdeen and were told by locals at the AECC conference centre that the best place to get breakfast was the van in B&Q car park. Unable to argue with local knowledge, we got straight back into our hire car (as packed as it was with seven people and all their luggage) and headed to B&Q. It was only a minute from the AECC and we were cooked up the best breakfast rolls of our lives! If you’ve got time to stop by before the conference, it’s well worth the tiny detour!
Back at the AECC and it was a hive of activity. The majority of stands were still spookily bare. It’s always difficult to believe that in less than 24 hours this cavernous empty space will be transformed into an immaculate display of the Renewable Energy industry at its finest.

As a quick reminder before you hit the conference, or if this is the first time you are reading about All-Energy 09, here are a few useful links to familiarise yourself with the exhibition and conference details:

All-Energy 09 home page
All-Energy 09 exhibitor list
All-Energy 09 conference guide
Follow All-Energy on Twitter @AllEnergy

And of course @EcoSearch will be tweeting live from the show via twitter.

Stand E15 will be the team’s home for the next couple of days. We would love for you to stop by and say hello.

See our previous article on using twitter for conferences here to learn more.

Leadership For A Sustainable Future

2009-05-12T14:07:00.003+01:00

This post is from a consultant placed by Debby Lloyd last year. It is our privilege to place “the best of the best” in the market. They then become the heart of influence on some of the most strategic and complex carbon management programmes in global industry today. Their insight into the challenges faced is unique. We are delighted to give them a platform for their personal views – which let’s face it in consulting can rarely be aired or discussed to maintain that fine line of objectivity on a project. So we cherish their input, give them a platform and respect their anonymity … but we know they welcome hearty debate so do comment!

With climate and sustainability scientists becoming increasingly gloomy, do we need to see more leadership and less haggling over policy detail in order to achieve a sustainable future?
The Climate Safety Report, written by the Public Interest Research Centre and released in November 2008, reviewed research published the IPCC’s report of October 2007 including:

2008 was the year of minimum Arctic summer ice volume—70% below the 1979 volume. It is clear that that Arctic sea ice is disappearing much faster than the IPCC’s end of century prediction. Pen Hadow’s Catlin Survey, advised by EcoSearch and now underway, will provide the detailed data to measure permanent Arctic ice thickness.
As the Arctic melts, increased warming in surrounding regions will be seen up to 1500 km inland into area of continuous permafrost. This permafrost contains twice as much carbon as previously thought—double the amount currently in the atmosphere. The effect of this warming permafrost is not presently incorporated in any global climate models.
Greenland’s 2007 melt was 60% greater than the next highest year of 1998.
While the IPCC predicted sea level rise of 0.5m to 1.4m by 2100, James Hansen, of NASA, in taking long term feedback mechanisms into account, predicts a rise of 0.5m by 2050.

While the UK and the EU have certainly demonstrated leadership over the past years in setting policy and drivers to reduce carbon emissions, changes are implemented slowly, very slowly.
DEFRA recently announced that UK greenhouse gas emissions (2% of global emissions) had fallen by 1.7% from 2006 to 2007 and in total by 21.7% from 1990 to 2007 . Laudable indeed, but the UK Climate Change Committee recently set a 2020 target reduction of 34% or 42% if there is a global deal to cut emissions--almost doubling the average annual reductions the UK have achieved over the past 17 years.

In the EU, there seems to be a tendency to attempt to achieve consensus through endless consultation and in some cases, near-perfect standards and targets. Jonathan Porritt has been decried for raising the issue of population growth as the elephant in the room. Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been approved. Leadership seems to falter.

Okay, so the UK could try harder, but at least the UK and the EU have been trying for the last 17 years. The Americans have a massive challenge, their greenhouse gas emissions (representing around 20% of global emissions) have risen by 16.7% from 1990 to 2007.

So far, President Obama seems to be supporting two targets for the USA: cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, and an 80 per cent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050. While the second is in line with the UK’s targets, the first, while ambitious for America (and by the way, matching the annual reductions achieved by the UK over the past 17 years), doesn’t meet the expectations of the rest of a hopeful world placing enormous environmental expectations on the new President. Nonetheless, while the Americans are coming late to the party, watch out, EU. Americans have shown repeatedly throughout history that once they “get” a concept, their focus, drive, pragmatism and energy enables them to leap frog the slow, steady results achieved by others.

And certainly, Obama has the charisma, persuasiveness and intelligence (in sum, leadership) to cut through the treacle, set ambitious targets and motivate the interests of his country and others to achieve them. Sometimes, it is about simplicity and not being distracted by too much detailed policy.

And as the Climate Safety Report concludes, we need to convey a hopeful and viable future vision which is coherent and compelling. We need big asks. We must challenge political “realism”. We also must start the tough debates about population control and what sustainable consumption actually looks like. In short, we need leadership to achieve a sustainable future, and we must not be distracted by our short term commercial and political interests—even in tough times.

Image by nick_russill

Two Week Countdown to All-Energy

2009-05-05T09:59:00.010+01:00

In just two weeks the EcoSearch team will be heading off to Aberdeen to exhibit at their third All-Energy show.

The team reflect on why it’s such a great events and so valuable to our business.

Clare Buxton:

“All-Energy is a great opportunity to learn more about the latest developments and projects in the UK Wind Energy space. I'm hoping to catch some of the seminars focused on the Offshore Wind sector. As well, of course, as meet up with some familiar faces!”

Martin Grady:

“I am looking forward to being able to launch EcoSearch Interim and Contracting Limited. I would like to talk to any potential clients and contractors who may be interested in our services in the future.”

Debby Lloyd:

“As always All-Energy affords a chance to catch up with businesses operating across the whole spectrum of the renewable space and their operating challenges, especially given the current climate - and a chance to assess the future contenders from a ‘whose ripe for M&A activity’".

Mark Sawyer:

“Wow - All Energy 09 looks to be a belter, bigger and better than before, more technologies, more companies, better opportunities to network. I really am excited about this year's show. Having sent out invitations to a number of key industry figures/leaders who have/are seeking Ecosearch's expertise and who have responded positively, we really are going to be busy. I just hope we have time to meet new faces and contacts.”

Katharine Robinson:

“This year, I am running All-Energy’s presence on the social network Twitter. I am excited about talking to the conference goers about the service and find out who is ‘following’ the show online. I am also looking forward to using the medium to raise awareness of the conference and the exciting world of Renewable Energy.”

Steven Rogers:

“All Energy offers the opportunity for us to raise our heads, get out hands on technology and understand what the trends are in our industry. I'm looking forward to finding out what is happening within built environment and what is next for increasing energy efficiency. Also, there is a lot a noise around Carbon Capture and Storage - I'm keen to learn what is going on and if this is a viable solution for our carbon emissions. I'll be at stand E15 and always keen to talk - please feel free to come and say hello”

What are you looking forward to at All-Energy this year?

Darling Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is!

2009-04-24T15:12:00.005+01:00

Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the new 2009 Budget on Wednesday 22nd April.

Whilst taxes have been toughened on the usual suspects – cigarettes, alcohol, fuel – and increased significantly for those earning at the higher end of the market (£150k plus now being taxed 50% and pension loop holes closed up), the overall message towards the green and low carbon sectors was very positive: Brown and Darling are making it clear that they are serious about their commitment to Renewable Energy and Low Carbon initiatives. They have stated that the UK will become the first country to commit to legally binding targets for reducing CO2 (34% reduction by 2020).

Here is a summary of the financial investment into the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy sectors:

£525m to be invested into the development of Offshore Wind farm development between 2011 and 2014. The money will be raised through the Renewable Obligation. Darling’s money is going behind Offshore Wind because it is the closest to generation. Nuclear will take significant time to build; tidal is still in early stages; geothermal opportunity in UK is limited.
Review of ROC (Renewable Obligation Certificate) scheme – Electricity companies will receive 2 ROCs for every MWh of energy they buy from an offshore wind farm (increased from 1.5 ROC) for the financial year 2009-2010. This will fall back to 1.75 ROCs 2010-2011.
Opportunity to benefit from up to £4bn of investment into renewable infrastructure projects from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This could translate to £1bn of development in the UK.
£375m to support energy efficiency initiatives in businesses, public buildings and homes in the UK through various schemes including £100m of funding for low cost loans delivered through the Carbon Trust.
£70m of investment into micro-generation or small scale renewables.
£405m of investment to go into developing “low-carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing" in the UK. This will focus on opening up a “green” supply chain in the UK to aid the development of low carbon technologies in the UK.

The government also reaffirmed its support of CHP (Combined Heat and Power) with its long term strategy being announced later this year.

Adam Bruce of the BWEA said:

"This package of measures deserves a welcome from our industry, and is in line with proposals that we have been working through with government. It addresses the short-term economic hurdles we faced due to the fall of the £ against the €, and the post-Lehman collapse in project finance.
It also restates the Government's long-term commitment to the renewable energy sector, and should enable us to unlock up to £10bn of private sector investment in wind and marine energy projects over the coming few years."

Overall it looks like Darling’s Budget will receive a warm welcome from the Renewables community. Is this enough?

As always, I would be very interested in hear your views directly.

Leave your comments below or find me via twitter, LinkedIn or directly by email.

Clare Buxton
Wind Sector Lead

Image by John-Morgan

15 Online News Sources For Renewable Energy And The Carbon Markets

2009-04-14T13:36:00.006+01:00

Our work requires us to stay ahead of the game when it comes to news in the Renewable Energy Space.

As I was putting together a list of essential news services for new employees, I thought the resource was too good not to share with everyone.

So here, in alphabetical order, are EcoSearch’s top 15 online sources for green news.

Alternative Energy – Alternative energy news and information resources about renewable energy technologies. RSS. Twitter

All-Energy – The Renewables Show, held annually in Aberdeen, aggregates all of the top new stories on its website.

BBC Science & Environment - Get the latest BBC Science and Environment News: breaking news, analysis and debate on science and nature in the UK and around the world.RSS. Twitter

Carbon Finance - A a monthly newsletter and e-mail update service providing in-depth coverage of the global markets in greenhouse gas emissions. RSS

Edie - Officially Europe's biggest environmental website, Edie combines an unparalleled directory of products and services from thousands of specialised companies with an online news service reporting on the latest environmental stories as they break. RSS. Twitter

Financial Times Energy Source Blog - The FT’s specialist writers offer their insight into energy markets, companies and policy, plus commentary on the latest market-moving news. RSS. Twitter

GreenTechMedia – A fully integrated online-media company comprised of cutting-edge news, in-depth market research, and focused industry events. RSS. Twitter

Guardian Energy - The Guardian newspaper, of which guardian.co.uk is its online presence, was founded in 1821 and has a long history of editorial and political independence. RSS.

McKinsey Quarterly (Energy, Resources and Materials) - The McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.RSS. Twitter

New Energy Focus - A daily news service for the UK energy sector, dedicated to the professionals working towards sustainable energy in the UK. RSS

Point Carbon - A world-leading provider of independent news, analysis and consulting services for European and global power, gas and carbon markets. Point Carbon provides market-moving information through monitoring fundamental information, key market players and business and policy developments. RSS

Renewable Energy World - RenewableEnergyWorld.com was started in 1998 by a group of Renewable Energy professionals who wanted their work to relate to their passion for renewable energy. RSS

Reuters Environment – Reuters is a world leading source of intelligent information for business and professionals. RSS. Twitter

Telegraph Earth - Earth is your source for environmental and green news, with information on global warming, pollution, green living and recycling, as well as tips on how to cut your contribution to climate change. RSS.

TreeHugger - TreeHugger is a fast-growing web magazine, dedicated to everything that has a modern aesthetic yet is environmentally responsible. Check out the latest news, reviews and recommendations for modern yet green products and services. RSS. Twitter

Do you have another source of online green news that you would recommend?

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate, EcoSearch

Wikipedia Links: Learn more about RSS feeds and Twitter

The Gym, Fitness Regimes & Wind Energy

2009-04-09T16:52:00.006+01:00

It’s a common phenomenon that, come January of any year, hundreds of people will renew or revive their fitness campaign in order to start the New Year on a positive note, or loose the pounds that piled on during the long hard run up to Christmas and then the holiday season itself.

Gyms all over the country ensure that they have special joining offers available, and the whole population seems to jump into activity as they cycle and run and stretch with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. There are queues for the treadmills, the changing rooms are full, and you need to sign up to your yoga class at least a week in advance in order to squeeze into the packed little room.

But then, around March or April time, normal routine kicks in again. The gym stops being quite so busy and the classes are only half full again. People start to prioritise work and social lives, and gradually - excuse after excuse - despite the knowledge that we really should go to the gym, the enthusiasm of the New Year exercise craze is abandoned. Only those who are really determined to get fit, or who enjoy it, are continuing their fitness plans.

It happens every year.

It feels a bit like we are at that March/April phase of the year in the life cycle of Wind Energy at the moment. The last couple of years have been a whirlwind of activity, with every month seeing a new company moving into the space and exciting developments seemingly happening every time I picked up the phone or logged on to a news site. However, provoked I believe by the economic challenges that the whole world is facing right now, the last few months or so has seen a lot of people back away, or even drop out altogether, from their previously ambitious wind energy plans.

Shell, this month, announced that it was withdrawing from its Wind Energy programme and would be pursuing biofuels instead (it is note worthy that they receive significant tax breaks in doing so in the USA). BP reduced its renewable energy involvement significantly at the end of 2008, and at the beginning of this month announced further job cuts from their Solar Energy business. Vicious rumours flew round about Iberdrola withdrawing investment, although that claim was then revoked.
This week I heard terrible rumours about losses being made into the millions by certain divisions of major OEM manufacturers, and small wind companies struggling to remain competitive in the market. The future of the London Array offshore wind remains in question.

I could go on.

But I don’t want to because the aim of this discussion is not to depress us all with bad news. It’s rather to point out that, like with the gym, there are always going to be participants who fall out of the cycle, and go back to what they were doing before – be that burning oil, or putting up telecommunications masts. The crucial thing really is that those players that remain in the game are able to work closely with authorities and policy makers, as well as investment institutions, in order to ensure that the economic trials of 2009 do not prevent the Renewable Energy agenda progressing. There are plenty of companies still dedicated to making Wind Energy a competitive energy source, and many of them with money to spend and teams to grow.

And who knows, maybe some new players will sign up again next January!

Let me know your point of view.

By Clare Buxton,

Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

Image by flem007_uk

"Open talk" - Something’s changing … its out of the bag

2009-03-26T11:00:00.000Z

A moment to reflect.

Am I the only person thinking there’s a new undercurrent bubbling to the surface and that the “its too late" scenario is becoming more mainstream in discussions?

Views that were once the reserve of the true “beard brigade” are suddenly hitting executive level around the dinner table. Comments that 2 years ago were made in jest, are now being discussed with seriousness. Renewable Energy Deployment is now a question of “survival” projects not “nice to haves”.

When you start seeing local people take control of the “bottom up” people influencing and start forming sustainable living communities and clubs… that’s interesting.

In our office we have the privilege of open and “off line” discussions with some real experts across the world. We hear a lot of views and we form a lot of views. Some of those we choose not to discuss. The implications are too far reaching and catastrophic to contemplate. It’s a bit like string theory. We have to get on with the day job – placing people in some of the greatest sustainability projects of our time.

Outside the office we tend to keep our “far right or far left” views to ourselves. But seriously I really have been sensing a step change this last month. Just look at the media and reflect on your conversations over this last month. There is massaging and undercurrents bubbling in the media. A willingness – almost an acceptance - at conversational level with people in our industry that they think “it’s too late”.

Subtle, but very definitely there. What do you think?

And what is the new age term for “green doomsayer?” – lets create one – a prize to the best submission ... I challenge you!

Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

RSPB changes sides!

2009-03-25T11:23:00.006Z

The Wind Energy sector gained another supporter today, and one that had previously been protesting against it.

I was surprised to read this morning on the BBC news and then the Times (just to reassure myself it was true!) that the RSPB have significantly changed their tune with regards to their attitude to Wind Farms, and are now calling on the government to set firm targets for developing wind energy and saying that it would be “disastrous” if wind power in the UK was wasted. The RSPB commissioned a report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), which found the UK lagging far behind in the drive for wind power.

The ornithologists, who previously campaigned against Wind Farms because they believed they could interfere with migration routes and be dangerous, have been obstructive to Wind Farms (the RSPB led the campaign to prevent the construction of a wind farm on the Isle of Lewis). They now believe that the UK is behind its targets and that wind energy projects should be pushed. They still want areas to be mapped out to avoid certain habitats, but now recognise that climate change is a more dangerous threat to many species – the rising temperatures will drive many birds, and other wildlife, away from their current homes.

It looks like wind energy may have earned itself a significant ally.

By Clare Buxton
Sector Lead for Wind Energy, EcoSearch

Cast Your Vote for Planet Earth on Saturday at 20:30

2009-03-23T10:05:00.006Z

I am talking about Earth Hour of course.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 as one city making a powerful statement about the urgency of climate change action by turning out their lights. In 2008 Earth Hour went global.

The concept is to use your light switch to cast a vote.

Leave your lights on and you vote for climate change
Switch your lights off and you vote for planet earth

We hope that you will be turning your lights off on Saturday 28th March 2009 at 20:30 and casting your vote for planet earth.

Local Politics and Green – who has an SME IT solution?

2009-03-23T09:13:00.002Z

Last Thursday I attended the local West Berkshire Green Forum. An interesting mix of organisations attended – some local SMEs interested in being “more green” and some major corporates keen to explain their green credentials – Vodafone & AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment) to name but two. Now there’s an interesting mix! Impressively AWE has a whole team of environmentalists (including Newt catchers). Add to this the usual Local Authority Element (being dragged down in pointless detailed discussion on car charging and sharing problems from M4 services on the morning commute into London). You get the picture I’m sure.

People - there are bigger issues out there to solve, and smaller projects to crack on with that are not so fraught with complexity!

Strength of feeling was running high as you can imagine with Vodafone (unfairly in my opinion) being harangued by a “green vocalist” on landfill. I’m all for challenge in the corporate space but not when it’s unconstructive, argumentative and frankly embarrassing.

One thing was clear however from the SME sector. The willingness to act was being hampered by a) lack of money for investment, b) confusion on products and services c) time d) in some cases red tape regulation.

Couldn’t help but think there’s a great need for an SME software programme that asks you questions and at the “click of a button” prints off a simple action list based on your input …. Plus independently recommends products, services and solutions to get you from A – Z on green initiatives in the company. Simples. I’m not talking about a carbon footprint calculation here either. I’m talking holistic top to bottom sustainability road map. If you have the brains – give me a shout, I’ve got the investor that would probably do it with you and around 50 companies that you could trial it with and a wealth of talent that would help you build it.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

News Bites from EWEC

2009-03-20T15:38:00.004Z

The European Wind Energy Conference took place in Marseille this week from 16th - 19th March. We have pulled together a couple of interesting videos from the event, produced by Quadrant MC.

From Ronald Sunden, CEO of LM Glasfiber & EWEC 2009 Conference Chair.

And for an overview of the wind industries financial future:

For more interviews and other videos, take a look at these search results from YouTube.

Using Twitter to get the most out of Conference Networking

2009-03-18T16:44:00.006Z

Now that we are in the age of Blackberries and web 2.0, is it any wonder that the way we approach networking is evolving?

Most of us manage our contacts using a service like LinkedIn or Xing. This can help us stay in touch, find new and interesting people and discuss all manner of business.

Some people are starting to realise the benefits of using Twitter (a young and rapidly growing networking site) to give industry events an extra depth. The service has, until recently been the play ground of geeks and techies and is only just starting to show its immense power for Business. Here are just a few benefits of “tweeting” at a conference.
Discovery of new people and organisations:

This week the European Wind Energy Conference is taking place in Marseille. Twitter’s immediacy means that you can find out what’s happening right now. The image below is taken from a twitter search to show who is talking about the event.

You can use twitter search in the early stages of an event to find out who else is there so you can start following them and receiving their updates.

Maximise Learning:

It isn’t possible to attend every single session at a conference or visit every single stand. Attendees often twitter live from lecture and panel sessions as they are happening to let their network know the juiciest insights and the biggest revelations they are being privy to.

Of course some conferences are tweeted more extensively, and using more sophisticated techniques, than others. It all depends on how many attendees are using the service. I was at the Social Networking World Forum in London last week and found the event to be very thoroughly covered by the ‘twittersphere’.

I have highlighted my use of a Hashtag in the above tweet. Hashtags are an informal way of making it easier to search for the tweets you want to find. If everyone at the event put #snwf somewhere in their tweets, I would only have to search for those four letters in order to see everything that was happening.

Never feel left out again:

It’s not always possible to attend every conference in your niche. Now you can “listen” to what’s happening by simply running a twitter search even if you are unable to attend. It doesn’t stop there, sometimes people are nice enough to tweet links to photos so that you can see what’s happening. The twitpic service makes this really easy.

Keep listening and get more value after the event:

Sometimes it would be nice to know what everyone else thought of the conference in more than 140 characters! After conferences, a lot of people write blog posts and articles about their experiences and what they learned. These posts and articles are often linked to with tweets in the days following a conference, so don’t stop listening just because the event is over.

How to get in on the action:

Set up a twitter account for free
Use the search function to find some people with similar interests to follow. You can follow anyone you find interesting on twitter, it’s all about discovery
If you are going to be attending an event make sure you tweet about it and search for others that might be doing the same.

The next big event that EcoSearch will be attending is All-Energy ’09 in Aberdeen on 20th & 21st May. The hashtag for this event should be #AE09.

You can learn more about Twitter on Wikipedia.

By Katharine Robinson,
Research Associate
Twitter: @EcoSearch

The Titans of Wind

2009-03-12T09:31:00.006Z

Last week saw the announcement of some very exciting plans for future offshore wind farms in the UK: Two consortiums of colossal size and power have been created with the aim of winning rights to develop large scale wind power generation farms in alignment with the Crown Estate’s proposed high potential zones off the coast of the UK.

Where there is nothing stopping an individual company bidding on its own for a zone, there has been much talk in the industry over the last 6 months or so about the sensitive process of forming partnerships, JVs and consortiums. However, the weight and power of those consortiums was really hammered home this week, with the announcement of two of the newly created consortiums bringing together giant European players in the energy industry: Airtricity (recently acquired by SSE) will join RWE npower renewables (the UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy), Statkraft and StatoilHydro to prepare a joint bid under the consortium name of Forewind, project managed by Peter Raftery, a well respected heavy weight and long-term employee of Airtricity. To compete with them, DONG Energy, E.ON and Fred. Olsen Renewables has also announced that they have formed a consortium to bid for a piece of the offshore wind action.

I don’t know why it surprised me so much, but the brute force of these players all working together really hammered home to me the sheer volume and seriousness which this next round of offshore wind farm development will bring to the UK’s renewable energy capacity. Developing renewable energy projects is very expensive and requires a great deal of initial capital. The application process alone, to gain consent for a multi-MW wind farm can cost up to £200,000 and the current acceptance rate is only one out of three applications, so it is no surprise really that it will be the larger and richer organisations who are leading the bids. With giants like these joining forces how can the smaller, less cash rich, specialists even try to compete?

The 10 Scottish offshore zones (with a combined potential capacity of nearly 6.5GW) that were released in February, have also been dominated by the European Utility giants – Airtricity (SSE), Dong, E.ON, Npower and Scottish Renewables all being awarded zones. It is good to see that Fluor (working with Airtricity), SeaEnergy (working with Airtricity and with Npower) and Mainstream – ex-Airtricity boss O’Connor’s new baby – have also seen a share of the action. Mind you, Fluor may not be such a big name in Wind Energy, but as a Fortune 500 company with 60 office locations in 6 continents, it is hardly an SME! Will the second tier players (in terms of size, not speciality) also get a share of the English offshore action, or will it be dominated by the titans of energy generation? And does it really matter? It might be nice to see more variation of asset owners, but given the expense that is obviously going to be needed (just look at the quoted prices for DONG/E.ON/Masdar’s London Array project) it’s hardly any surprise that it will be the companies with the deepest pockets (and the proven track records) who will be footing the bills!

The round 3 projects are going to be high value, high visibility and high importance projects that will be absolutely crucial to helping the UK deliver its 2020 renewable energy targets.

By Clare Buxton
Sector Lead for Wind Energy

Six Months of EcoSearch’s dot.green Blog

2009-03-12T09:10:00.004Z

EcoSearch has now been blogging here on dot.green for six months and this will make our 54th post. It really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.

Today I thought I would bring you a few highlights from dot.green’s first six months.

In February we posted about an episode of University Challenge after contestants were asked to answer questions on Renewable energy. Little did we know that the programme would go on to encounter such controversy.
Last Year, Debby Lloyd looked at the merits of using Head Hunters in a down economy. It’s so much more important for a company to be able to rely in its talent partner in tough times.
Our list of Favourite green folks to follow on the micro-blogging site Twitter was a hit, drawing in quite a bit of traffic and a few really useful lists in the comments. You can still take a look and add your favourites to follow.
Clare Buxton, our resident wind energy expert, has had good response to her articles on the sector since the launch of dot.green. In particular, when she considered whether the credit crunch will have a positive effect on the Wind Energy sector’s supply chain.
We also had a hugely popular guest blogger in the form of one of Steven Rogers’ placements. Her article titled: “Without Once Mentioning the Word ‘Poo’!” drew in a lot of readers and was an interesting look at life as an Energy Consultant.

I also thought it was interesting to note that our readers come from all over the world. In the last month we have had readers from over 30 different countries and territories. Since the launch of dot.green our ‘readership top five’ has looked something like this:

UK and Ireland
USA
Germany
Netherland
India

Feel free to let us know in the comments section below what makes you stop by for a read.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate & Blog Administrator

Is the UK being left behind in the Cleantech race?

2009-03-02T16:56:00.003Z

Britain has stated, and repeatedly so, that it will lead the way in developing clean technology. Our Government has promised to “lead the world” on its spending path out of economic slump – but it is failing.

One of the most comprehensive studies of green stimuli been introduced across the globe puts Britain near the bottom of the international trade league. China, for example, has devoted well over a hundred times as much money to recession-beating environmental measures, despite being castigated as an international laggard in tackling pollution.

This sort of information will embarrass Gordon Brown, who has said the UK will spark “a low carbon economy.” And it contradicts his repeated insistence that green measures are "imperative" as a "key driver" of future economic growth. He returned to the theme a couple of days ago in his speech to the Labour Party's National Policy Forum. And a policy document published to complement his address calls for Britain "to lead the world in building the low carbon society with a low carbon economy".

The report (published by HSBC) reveals that Britain has, so far, devoted only $2.1bn (£1.5bn) to a green stimulus, less than a third of France's $7.2bn and less than a sixth of Germany's $13.8bn. China's spending, at $221.3bn, is more than 110 times that of the UK.

This makes no mention of the sudden appearance of the US on the clean tech spending scene. The Administration’s plan of spending $83 billion (out of $787 billion) on clean technology is phenomenal for a country that also only just admitted there is a climate change issue.

My concern is the UK government is all talk and no trousers when it comes to clean technology. We are in danger of being rapidly overtaken by other nations, which in 20 – 30 years time may mean that to implement clean technology we have to import the technology.

Let’s get to the front of this space and become the technology exporter for a change!

Other Articles that may interest you:
America is open for Green Business - next stop Carbon Valley - ghgblog.com
Government timetable slip means fossil fuels will trump renewable energy, says CLA - FarmingUK.com
UK needs to invest billions to secure power-study - iii.co.uk

By Steven Rogers
Sector Lead for Carbon & Renewable Energy Engineering

Green In The CIty

2009-02-27T10:11:00.004Z

Does the City really understand Clean Tech and does it need to – isn’t a good deal a good deal whatever class the asset is in?
EcoConnect hosts a series of events called 'Green in the City' designed to connect City decision makers with green technologies. Green in the City is all about making connections to increase business take-up of green technology.

This month’s event took place at the IOD in London and had a fantastic panel of industry experts, chaired by Dan Ilett (Greenbang.com), Steve O’Donnell (The Hot Aisle), Andrew Romans (The Founders’ Club and Georgetown Venture Partners), Anne McIvor (Cleantech Investor) and Douglas Lloyd (Venture Business Research).

The evening was very interesting and is one that people in this industry should go out of their way to attend. Some good points were raised and discussed; below is a collection of key points that I took away from yesterday’s meeting of minds:

The general consensus on ‘does the city understand clean tech?’ was the VC & earlier stage players are getting to grips with the technology well. The wider City is further behind, but does have a level of understanding and is showing more interest.

Clean Tech is a hot investment space at the moment and one the city wants to be a part of. However, this is not Dot.com – Clean tech requires much more initial cap-ex (think of the hardware & assets required and their costs, which can run into millions) and takes far longer to exit. There is no ‘develop a software solution, take to market and flip it’ in this industry.

Looking at the different sources of cash – IPOs are dead at the moment, some clean tech firms floated too early and they are now suffering the consequences.

Also looking at the levels of money going into this space, the exact amount of cash differs depending on the source, but the trend is unmissable. 2002 saw $200 million invested in this space, and the following consecutive years saw $400 million, $800 million, $1.2 billion, $2 billion, $4 billion, and anywhere between $8 & $16 billion in 2008! This is total investment from N. America, Europe, India and China.

So there is lots of good news in this industry as a whole, but (and there is always a but!) the UK is in danger of being left behind.

If we look back 20 years, Germany and Denmark etc. identified Wind Turbines as a great technology, researched them and began manufacturing. Now, there is little choice – you have to turn to Europe for a macro wind manufacturer.

The same sets of scenarios are developing in the UK and our government needs to alter this and quickly. Look at the US and Obama’s £800 billion rescue package and how much of that cash is going to be spent in clean tech – this is money that HAS to be spent or the government will take it back! Other European governments are also pouring cash into the space. We need the same support or we will miss the boat.

Overall, the event was a very good and I hope to see more of you there next time!

By Steven Rogers
Sector Lead for Carbon and Renewable Energy Engineering

Councils Challenge the Crown

2009-02-24T08:53:00.003Z

Should local Councils have been consulted about the Crown Estate offshore zones before the bids go in?

I read this morning on the BBC that four Borough Council’s have issued a statement in which they have called for an open debate on the future of the offshore “West of the Isle of Wight” Crown Estate zone, off the South coast of Dorset.

Image by phault

The four Boroughs have clubbed together to say that they are “collectively disappointed” as they believe they should have already been consulted to be able to express “[their] views and the views of local residents partners and businesses”, about the proposed area of “economic potential for wind farm development”.

I understand that as part of the development phase for any wind farm, or major development for that matter, consultation with the local community (often represented rightly or wrongly by the Council) is absolutely fundamental. However, at this stage this is just a “zone” (literally just an area of the sea bed) which has been identified as potentially suitable for an offshore wind farm, in the aim to generate 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2020. There’s still a long way to go, in terms of environmental assessment, local consultations, grid connection and I hate to think how many other hurdles that I do not even know about!

It seems to me that the local councils are getting ahead of themselves somewhat. If an individual was planning to construct a new building, they would have the right to buy (or lease) the land before they go through the process of getting planning permission. This is the very first step in the process and at present the zones have simply been identified. Utilities and specialist Developers are currently putting together proposals for how they would go about developing the site (i.e. the full process, including liaising with local governments and communities) which will be submitted to the Crown Estate very shortly. But they are only proposals. In fact, The Crown Estate go so far as putting a disclaimer on their website:

The Crown Estate does not warrant or accept liability for either:
a) The suitability of any area identified for the purposes of specific windfarm developments
b) …

In their official presentations and documentation (which is all downloadable from their website), they say that zone allocation will happen after the SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment). As far as I’m aware even that has not happened yet, so there is always a risk that some of the zones will not prove suitable for the offshore wind farm proposed. This is a hugely risky business, and in order to encourage the development of clean energy projects in the UK, the Crown Estate is helping to shoulder some of that risk (which is, let’s be fair, pretty generous). The Crown Estate will fund up to 50% of Round 3 development costs through co-investment.

An individual I was speaking to today summarised it nicely for me. Why is it that everyone is so excited about and supportive of green energy, until they realise they might actually be affected? If we’re going to hit these objectives, the local government is going to have to support the developments which are being initiated by national and European governments.

Right, I’ll get off my soap box. For now.

By Clare Buxton
Sector Lead for Wind Energy

25 random things about EcoSearch

2009-02-23T08:30:00.004Z

As you may have noticed, there has been a meme craze sweeping Facebook in the last few months, where users list 25 random things about themselves so their friends can learn more about them.

We liked the idea and thought you might like to learn 25 random things about EcoSearch;

EcoSearch can reach candidates across more than 82 different vertical markets in more than 32 countries.
We’re already planning our expansion in Australia and the USA as a result of some of specialist skills demand we’ve already been able to meet for our clients.
We were the first global Executive Search organisation to exhibit at the annual All-Energy conference in Aberdeen in 2007. See us at stand E15 this year in May.
Our wind energy team, led by Clare Buxton have been instrumental in the deployment of wind energy projects and wind technology development in the UK, France, Germany and Eastern Europe.
The cleantech team believe that the skill shortage in technology for operational development in the USA will stall any presidential investment.
The thermal energy team has been paramount in the creation of many new departments and new companies.
Phillip Clement is currently involved in putting a team together for a 200m euro green golfing complex in the Algarve.
The talent that we have provided to our clients is deployed in high profile projects from the Isle of Wight Eco Island Project and the European Space Agency.
We’ve just been shortlisted for the Recruiter Awards 2009.
We are not tofu eaters or tree huggers – although Debby does lay claim to having a productive wormery!
Many in our team enjoy environmentally friendly water based sports – all of us enjoy frozen water based sports (i.e. Snowboarding, skiing etc)!
We are a high growth SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) Portfolio Company and as such share many synergies with the high growth innovation companies we work with.
Between us we have 41 years experience in recruitment and executive search.
This blog is read by people across 33 countries/territories, as far afield as New Zealand and Singapore.
The EcoSearch team includes keen sailors with plans to sail around the world in the EcoSearch yacht.
We believe that it’s not all about “Recruiting”. EcoSearch is passionate about delivering added value to its clients and candidates, acting as a go-to point for ideas and relationship creation amongst the biggest and best “green” companies.
Between them, the EcoSearch team can converse across four languages.
The EcoSearch offices are located on the old Greenham common in Newbury. Rumoured to be an old haunt of Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity (maybe he would like to confirm this, we wouldn’t want to be accused of casting aspersions).
EcoSearch directors Debby Lloyd and Phillip Clement are honorary advisors to The Catlin Arctic Survey.
EcoSearch has a Facebook page. You can become a fan if you like, just follow the link on the right of this web page.
Steven Rogers’ first job was issuing cow passports.
The team’s favourite crisps seem to be Hula Hoops. We sometimes say that we are powered by tea and Hula Hoops.
Between us we will connect to between 150 and 200 renewable energy professionals in any one week.
Katharine Robinson knits. Her projects to date include a ball gown, suit and a cat-suit. If you are interested, there are details online... somewhere.
We are serious, but honestly, when the planet is falling apart around you, a sense of humour is essential.

Feel free to leave a link to 25 things about you...

So what IS REALLY happening across the markets?

2009-02-20T10:46:00.007Z

Interesting week this week as we wrap up – there appears to be genuine confusion and much scratching of the old grey hairs – and across the widest variety of sectors... could it be caused by some industries bottoming out of “the recession” and lifting quicker than others? Is the pioneering and dogged spirit that got us here pushing us forward inspite of the hurdles and the furrowed banking brow?

Of course, there are still lots of negatives around, lots of conversations of
“hunkering down”, still some major job loss fall outs... and yet... it's almost as if the snowdrops of opportunity are starting to shake off the cold snow and emerge. Albeit cautiously, perhaps a little slowly, but out there are still some signs of greenness (no pun intended). Evidence of planning, priming, gearing ready for action – and evidence that there is money burning a hole in some people’s pockets - but who don’t have their fingers on the right pulse spots to know where to spend it?

Give us a call if you are an investor wanting to jump into this space – we can point you in the direction of people who can put your money to good use!

Image by todd434

EcoSearch are Nominated for the Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2009

2009-02-19T10:30:00.001Z

EcoSearch is very proud to have been nominated for the Recruiter Awards this year.

Eighty-seven companies in all earned places on the shortlists for various categories. Winners will be announced at the gala awards evening on 28 April at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

You can see the announcement on the Recruiter website, listing all the nominees. If you have anything nice to say about EcoSearch, you could always leave a comment there to let everyone know.

Fingers crossed for the big day!

Green Information Technology Challenges

2009-02-18T10:30:00.003Z

It was my pleasure to host a "Thought Leader Group" at the Arctic Survey Control offices last Friday. Under the rules of our get together the names of those present are protected to save the innocent but suffice to say they are all experts in their field and trailblazers in their current operational roles. Senior executives from a range of consulting, corporate and IT technology businesses attended to discuss their current challenges and developments.

The location was completely relevant. As you know The Catlin Arctic Survey team will be delivering data on the melting icecap to the UNFCCC later this year.

Our guests are all involved in the delivery and deployment of green initiatives from a wide variety of areas. I think it gave them pause for thought and perhaps a dawning realisation that we really must unplug the “verbiage” and crack on with the solutions. This is extremely difficult in the current climate when most CEOs have survival rather than green on their minds. However, most of our audience knows that energy efficiency is about cost and survival.

We heard comment that the polar icecap could be gone (or at least seasonal) by 2013 – a bit of a wake-up call for many present – many people have weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and even round the world sailing sabbaticals planned. When you hear these kinds of statements it brings the planet’s situation sharply into focus. What would the consequences be of a complete melt by 2020 say? (20 – 40 years was quoted in the recent BBC’s Nature’s Greatest Events by David Attenborough… Hmm, some in the know would challenge that).

So anyway – the climate change consulting arena is busy “strategising” behind the scenes. Meanwhile at the coal face, and clearly from the individuals we met with, there is huge challenge surrounding the MIS (Management Information Statistics) behind energy consumption. There appears to be a real log-jam on technology products in the market that can flex to the different and evolving energy streams (not just oil, gas and electricity). Although some have some exciting cross functional products emerging.

The CIO/CTO Government Green IT Strategy has been released but needs now to be pushed by CIOs and CTOs. There’s still little progress from the C Level suite to hold IT responsible for its housekeeping. Easily sorted – set department and personal targets to aid areas of the company where most need. It’s obvious to me that the IT guys are incredibly able and clued up to assist. IT in general still looks to be suffering the same problems as last year I'm afraid – and that is they are not engaging with Facilities, Finance, CSR etc. I guess it can be argued that they don’t know where they can help and until someone pulls them out of the server cupboard and gets them around the table with the other green project managers – they actually would enjoy the ride … most of them I think anyway!

Worryingly there appears to be no real progress in-house on the Carbon Reduction Programme roll out either. Cue – mad scramble in Q4 of this year.

I know from my market conversations that some organisations, including local authorities and architects (worryingly), have a very short cited “just give me a couple of simple PV units for the roof and the bare minimum to meet the requirements” attitude – cost is again a barrier – perhaps we need some Obama style stimulus.

Utilities businesses (and this is my personal view) are challenged with meeting their major business customers’ needs for “consumption information”. Can they deliver holistic consultancy beyond Usage & Billing platforms? Will this see a swing from the utility mindset to customer focus solutions partnering?

Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

The Arctic Survey - They're Off!

2009-02-10T10:28:00.008Z

I was privileged to be present at the send off party for the Catlin Arctic Survey Team. Pen, Anne and Martin leave Heathrow tomorrow for the frozen Arctic Circle. Their coolness in the face of the task ahead of them was something to behold. Pen with his gentle humour is a British explorer to be proud of and an inspirational leader.

Image Copyright Martin Hartley

Anne is the only woman on the 3 person team trekking across the ice. She is an inspiration to many women and she’s in charge of navigation! So, with much guffawing going on in the room by the chaps, she is of course a woman to be respected. No jokes about female voices on sat-nav from here on in!

Martin will be capturing on film the beauty and awe inspiring scenery few of us will ever experience and sharing that with the rest of the world. Although quite how you hold a camera in -30 degrees, and not chop people’s feet off when there is a polar bear eyeing you up for dinner, is a real skill.

Their optimism and light-heartedness probably hid personal anxiety and trepidation. When you look at the hazards they face, hungry polar bears seem to feature heavily, -30 degree temperatures and plain simple danger, you cannot help but feel a little humble that they all seem to take it in their stride.

Their personal “adventure” is the thrust of the news and interviews. They have a Royal Pennant from HRH Prince Charles – the first to be given I believe since Shackleton’s expedition – A measure of the importance this one has. But when you reflect on the undercurrent of what they expect to find the situation is unnerving - no-one is really talking about the implications – from energy security, mass exploration and exploitation not to mention the environmental impact of total melt, wholesale methane release, and mass change on commercial shipping and trading routes etc.

The survey data they collect will not be fully known until later this year, but in your daily lives, spare a thought for them in the freezing conditions as they trek across the frozen wastes in the interests of finding out how our lives will be impacted longer term.

The team behind the characters that have made this expedition possible are passionate, dedicated and many. The “goodwill” of people involved who weren’t able to physically put cash in but have put time and effort has given the expedition momentum. It says a lot about harnessing the collective strength of people who want to make a difference in this world.

If your organisation wishes to sponsor some of the education packs going to schools, do get in touch.

And as a final thought, the last couple of weeks snowy inconvenience looks trifling compared to what they have to face for the next few months. Increasingly disruptive weather patterns look set to become something we will have to endure.

Our thoughts, wishes and luck go with them for a safe journey and homecoming and you can watch their progress at http://www.catlinarcticsurvey.com

Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Snow Problem

2009-02-09T11:00:00.005Z

As various parts of the British Isles face another week of snow and ice, people everywhere are turning the heating up high, keeping lights on all day, and keeping the radio tuned into the local radio news to keep abreast of school closures, traffic news and weather forecasts. Our energy consumption is sky high and the coal fired plants are, no doubt, burning to capacity, oil is being brought in by the gallon load, and the wind turbines… what about wind generation? As a power generation device which is intrinsically and irrevocably connected to the elements, what will the effects of all the snow and ice be on wind energy generation?

Photo of Snowy Lowestoft Beach by g-hat

As one of my colleagues from the US pointed out, there are wind turbines installed in many places in the world where extreme weather is the norm, so ultimately they are able to cope with extreme weather (unlike the Brits!). Nevertheless, ice can be dangerous for the turbines. The recent “UFO” collision with one of Ecotricity’s Enercon turbines was possibly due to ice or freezing conditions. Ice can be damaging to the turbine. A group of local residents opposing Nuon Renewable’s plans to construct a wind farm in North Yorkshire are claiming the turbines can be dangerous, especially in extreme weather conditions, and are quoting five other occasions when weather conditions have affected the turbines to the detriment of the machines (and occasionally its surroundings). See details on the Say no to Harrington website.

Wind turbines are programmed to cut out when wind speeds reach certain levels, to prevent them spinning uncontrollably and avoiding disasters. The negative of this is that energy generation suffers. I have heard of occasions when blade heaters have been installed on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines to help prevent the ice problems. Other solutions have also been experimented with, including different types of anti-freeze coatings on the turbines.

No need to panic then, solutions are being evolved, and the wind turbines keep spinning. Ultimately we cannot protect the turbines 100% from the elements, because that’s exactly what we need to keep them turning. We just need more to cope with all the extra energy being consumed!

Thanks Tony (via plaxo) and @doubtingthomH for your input.

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

University Challenge – St John’s College Cambridge asked to identify Renewable Energy Projects

2009-02-03T11:36:00.004Z

Last night on University Challenge St John’s College Cambridge, the eventual winners, were given questions on Renewable Energy Generation around the UK. They did not get on too well, only getting one out of three questions correct.

How would you have done in their place?

Name the form of Alternate Energy Generation used at the following sites in the UK

Scroby Sands off the coast of Great Yarmouth
Ffestiniog in North Wales
Lynmouth in North Devon

You can watch the show on BBC iplayer

Answers: 1. Wind, 2. Hydro, 3. Tidal

The Future of Online Recruitment

2009-01-30T18:01:00.004Z

Yesterday Katharine Robinson and Phillip Clement attended Enhance Media’s Online Recruitment conference “The Year Ahead”. Katharine gives her thoughts below.

I was particularly interested to hear what Facebook, YouTube, PWC, Workcircle and the rest had to say. The conference was aimed mainly at the job board market and corporate recruiters, but when your job is to manage a recruitment company’s digital footprint, it’s somewhere you just have to be.

I was a little surprised that the day seemed to have no clearly defined objectives – I don’t know whether it’s because I used to be in teaching, but I like to have a clear Idea of what I am supposed to be learning so that I know whether or not I have been successful. There was not even an Agenda provided before the event.

We kicked off the day by hearing from YouTube. There was a whole plethora of incredible stats. Most notable from an energy perspective was the fact that YouTube might only be three years old, but it accounts for 10% of the bandwidth being used on the internet at any one time. As there are 1.2 billion minutes of video uploaded every month, this must be being stored somewhere. These data centres must account for massive energy usage and have quite a carbon footprint. Probably most interesting from a recruitment perspective was that video can help in the selling process – pictures add credibility when you buy something so moving pictures add even more. I was inspired by the notion of creating some short snippets of video, demonstrating the opportunities we are working on, having an EcoSearch YouTube channel and putting some of these clips on our site.

I was looking forward to hearing from Facebook. If you are interested in such things, you will know that EcoSearch already has a Facebook Page where you can become a fan. I wanted to see what more I could do with it. I was a little disappointed to find myself on the receiving end of a sales pitch for their targeted advertising. We were told about pages, and shown a couple of the best ones (that I had already investigated when creating ours). I was also disappointed to find that the speaker couldn’t answer my question about our page’s analytics.

Blogs were also a big topic of the day. In my opinion the most important thing about blogging is communication and interaction with your audience. As a recruitment company I am often concerned that people will not wish to comment as they don’t want anyone to assume they are on the market for a job (either rightly or wrongly). I have nothing against this and at EcoSearch we are committed to privacy and ensuring that our clients and candidates are ensured the highest discretion. The only suggestion from the speakers at the event was to give people the ability to comment anonymously.

Here on dot.green anonymous comments have always been allowed – so don’t worry about commenting on the blog – we encourage you to have your say.

Warning! Practice what you preach and ditch the Greenwash

2009-01-30T12:10:00.003Z

Phillip Clement looks back at Greener times...

Image by CygnusX

I don’t feel that old. I mean when I look back and recall my childhood; it doesn’t seem that different to how things are today. Other than the red corduroy flares and floral, big collared shirts we used to wear, life is more or less the same isn’t it? How many of my friends parents had a car, let alone two, how many went on foreign holidays and had a TV in every room? Well, not many. Actually none!

My parents weren’t poor; we had an average house in an average street, a street that is still there and actually it looks pretty much the same, except it’s different – very different. Life is very different. For those of you who can remember the Bay City Rollers, Smash hits and La-LaLa-Lookin, will remember just how different things were. Cycling was a form of transport not a leisure pursuit and a Raleigh Shopper was the Mercedes ML of its day and did the school-run adequately, with various long-hared, hand-knitted jumper, flare wearing offspring hanging off the seat and handlebars, whilst the mother pushed it along the street, with the intention of visiting the local Spar on the way home to pick up the groceries for that day.

Actually when you look at it we were Green! If we all could go back to the way we were in the 70’s, except the flares, then we’d probably save the planet! And we know we need to. Why? Because Mr Brown and all the other leaders of the free world and some of the leaders of the not so free world (Wales) are telling us that we need to. So you’re turning off your lights, popping on an extra jumper rather than turning up the heating, you’re recycling your milk bottles and some of you are even cycling to work! But it’s not going to be enough, why? Because unfortunately our leaders are not able to lead by example and while we’re busy cutting up cardboard into small enough pieces so that they fit in the green bins that the council come to get once a fortnight, our governments are planning bigger roads approving new runways and building coal-fired power stations. And in a Paul Daniels, slight-of-hand sort of way, putting up a few windmills in the north sea whilst lending billions of pounds to car manufacturers so they can continue to make petrol guzzling tanks of cars for us to take the kids to school in!

So, I have a concern: How long will it take us to tell our governments who are asking us to return to a life of the Reliant Robin (a groovy 3-wheeled motor vehicle of high fashion status in the 70’s), to practice what they preach?

Urgent! If you have a Monster Profile - change your password

2009-01-27T12:45:00.004Z

We have just been made aware of this breaking news story on the BBC website.

It is suspected that log-in details of Monster users could have been accessed by hackers.

You are advised to change your password and be wary of suspicious looking emails claiming to be from Monster.

How Low-price Steel is affecting the Low Carbon sector

2009-01-27T09:23:00.006Z

Clare says:

No-one can fail to have heard about the 3,500 job cuts made by Corus Steel (owned by the Indian giants Tata) this week, in the face of plummeting world demand for steel. Steel is one of the modern world’s most common raw materials, but it has been massively hit by the contracting automotive manufacturing industry.

Steel is also a key product in the manufacture of products used in onshore and offshore energy generation: wave and tidal turbines, gas turbines, waste heat recovery and, closest to my heart and mind, wind turbines.

So as this sector, the renewable energy sector, continues to grow will falling costs of steel translate to falling costs of manufacturing? WTG manufacturers will be able to buy the raw materials more cheaply, and these reduced costs should translate to the buyers as well. Coupled with less back-log in the order books, this will make turbines a lot more accessible to asset owners.

Last week, plans for the London Array hit the news again, with concerns from E.On and Masdar (partners in the project, with Dong Energy) over the economic viability of the massive £3million project. However, a spokesman for E.ON said that the falling costs of steel were a massive consideration for them, and could have a positive effect, helping them to bolster their economic case for the project (as reported in The Times Online)

Steve says:

Manufacturing’s influence on other industries is significant. Clare has been talking about how this may affect the wind turbine manufactures, but what other impacts are there?

There is a direct and clear correlation between the carbon market and the manufacturing industries. These heavy emitters form the basis of the multinational, multi-billion dollar emissions trading industry and its main principle relies on the market being liquid and working a similar basis to the other commodities like oil, gas or gold.

When demand for raw materials (such as steel) falls, it follows perfectly that manufacturing levels and output drops. As production drops the associated NOx, SOx and carbon emissions fall.

As emissions fall manufactures will be closer to, or even below their carbon target or ‘cap’ meaning there is an excess of tradable emission credits. With the carbon commodity being based on a liquid market – as demand falls, the price falls.

And this is clearly demonstrable over the last 4 weeks as the price of CERs has dropped from €16 to €11, which is a drop of over 30%.

To enable a recovery in carbon price we need manufacturing to up scale, which is all linked into the availability of credit and interbank loans – so get a move on and start lending!

By Clare Buxton & Steven Rogers
Sector Leads for Wind Energy & The Carbon Markets

Are the winds of fortune blowing in the direction of China?

2009-01-23T18:17:00.002Z

With more and more frequency I hear about China when I’m on the internet catching up on news and development in the global Wind Energy market, or talking to professionals in the market place. Just this week I read about Gamesa winning an order for 347 turbines which will create an installed capacity of 295MW for a Chinese Wind farm owned by a major Chinese Electricity provider. Suzlon has also won 200MW+ orders from Chinese companies.

Photo by Clemson

ResearchInChina, a portal for business intelligence in China has released a new report: China Wind Power Industry Report, 2008. For details of this please see ResearchInChina’s report. In the report they say that at the end of 2007 China was one of the top five regions in terms of installed capacity, and they are continuing to invest and install more and more, on an ambitious race to become the global leader. China more than doubled its wind power capacity in 2008, installing 4.66GW of additional capacity and passing the government’s 10GW target two years ahead of schedule. (from Renewable Energy Information)

However, there’s something else bubbling on my radar. As I’ve talked to people about the Chinese market I’ve heard of a few doubts and concerns about the way the Chinese are going “guns blazing” into this market. Their installed MWs are impressive, but what about the MWhs (mega-watt hours)? Are they focused on building effective, efficient and reliable wind farms? Are the MWs being installed in an integral and profitable manner?

BP moved out of the Chinese market despite joint ventures being formed and deals done for about 150MW of wind capacity (but then they’ve left the UK too). I have heard further rumours that another global wind developer has decided not to pursue any further with their Chinese due diligence.

Is wind energy in China a political game (remember that the Chinese government had to order the closure of polluting factories during the Olympics because the smog over there is so bad) rather than a genuine desire to generate “clean” electricity? I tried to do a bit of background research on this to back up the rumours I’m hearing, but actually I’m not seeing a lot of hard evidence out there one way or the other.

Food for thought and an interesting space to watch. I’d be interested to hear your views and ideas on this.

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead

Can Obama make The Stars and Stripes green?

2009-01-21T09:06:00.005Z

Today marks an important day in American history as Barack Obama is inaugurated into the White House, not only is he the first African-American to grace the White House but he is also the President who will design and implement the United States’ Climate Change policy.

Photo by Prince Roy

In a clear departure from previous US policies, President Obama sees clean energy and ‘green’ jobs as critical in stimulating the US economy. During the Presidential campaign he vowed to invest $150 billion in clean energy projects over 10 years and create 5 million new ‘green collar’ jobs. Remarkably it appears that President Obama plans to launch his Presidency with a daring idea: to link the American economy with energy sources not derived from fossil fuels.

The inward President is proposing that the relationship between the economy and the environment be reversed – no longer will environmental concerns be bullied and marginalised by the wider economy but they will take centre stage in driving recovery and growth in the US economy. This is a very exciting time to be involved in this industry!

What are people expecting to be delivered and implemented in his first term?

Below are a few of my thoughts on what I think may happen, but I would love some comments on what other people are expecting.

Alternative energy to be doubled in three years, which means increasing wind energy by 20GW and geothermal and solar power by 4GW. This will effectively maintain the current market growth rate rather than target sharper increases. My opinion is this demonstrates both the harsh economic climate we are in and how strongly Obama is committed to using clean technology to enable economic recovery.
The National Venture Capitalist Association states that roughly $30 billion will be spent by VCs (across all industries) before the year’s end, representing a drop of 10% from last year. The only industry that is predicted to receive investment growth is clean technology. The reason cited for this is Worldwide Governmental support, especially from the Obama administration. This means more technology ideas and solutions will be developed and makes me wonder what technology will be improving our lives in 4 or 5 years time.
Obama has assembled a “green dream team” that includes: Nobel physics laureate Stephen Chu to head the Energy Department; former environmental lawyer Ken Salazar, as Interior secretary; former New Jersey environmental chief, Lisa Jackson who will head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Nancy Sutley, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles to run the White House Council on Environmental Quality. And finally, John Holden, a Harvard university Climate Change expert as the Science Advisor to the White House. This calibre of team in any presidential administration would be exciting but following the Bush (wasted) years the level of policy change that is afoot is unprecedented.
And finally Senator John Kelly predicted that the U.S. Senate will let President Obama sign up to a U.N pact to fight global warming in late 2009 even if U.S. climate laws are not yet in place. This could mean that one of the Worlds largest GHG may have the basis of cap a trade system in place before the end of trade decade.

Exciting stuff! I wish to add my own, small welcome to the 44^th President of the Untied States. Congratulations and best of luck President Obama.

His says he can – lets hope so!

By Steven Rogers
Sector Lead for Carbon & Engineering

Our hopes as Barack Obama takes office

2009-01-19T16:04:00.006Z

As the world waits with baited breath - there has been a little brain storming in the EcoSearch office today...

Photo by dcJohn

Debby Lloyd
I'm hopeful that the USA positioning will change. Look at the Scots and how they see their in-country resources ... they could easily close the borders when the lights go out elsewhere in the country and their energy supply will be secure. If the USA invests in the natural resources available in their own country it equals less of a reliance on Oil and perhaps they will no longer have to be so aggressive around the protection of Oil resources (some may say flimsy excuses for entry into countries that have oil resources). So I hope the emphasis moves to one of "in country self sufficiency on energy supply". Let's phrase it ... Mobilised in a more positive way they can achieve and lead the world. Perhaps in a more positive way than they are seen by the rest of the world today. Good luck Obama, yes you can is my opinion.

Steven Rogers
I was pleased to see the news on Thursday that the US Senate will allow Obama to sign a UN pact to fight global warming late in '09, even if US climate laws are not in place by then.

Mark Sawyer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has turned down the request to regulate carbon by the most populous state. Obama, however, can direct the agency to reverse course.

Clare Buxton
Obama will double wind power capacity in the next three years, which will mean continued growth in the US onshore market for wind turbine manufacturers, but will that mean that the European offshore market will lose out? Will the Turbine Manufacturers have the same incentive to develop new offshore technologies?

Katharine Robinson
I was impressed by how Obama has approached communication with the public during his campaign by using new media and embracing tools like Facebook and Twitter. I think his attitude has pushed many others to embrace new ways of communicating. I was pleased this week to notice some British MPs using these tools too – Our leaders need to be brought into the 21^st century and encouraged to use the communication tools that have become mainstream in the last five years. I hope that as President we see more of this from Barack Obama.

You can follow the inauguration tomorrow on the BBC News website, with live text updates from 1500 GMT and streaming video from 1600 GMT.

Debby Lloyd Rants: CVs are real people too

2009-01-15T11:27:00.005Z

Today I’m going to have a Jeremy Clarkson style rant on account of the activities I can see affecting candidates and clients in today’s marketplace, although I will take issue with Jeremy over his views on Green.

EcoSearch has known that dot.green is THE place to be for the last two years. There were those who thought we were opening some tofu eating hippy commune and as we are on New Greenham Park, former home of the Greenham Common women’s action group against Cruise Missiles – they probably had a point. Although Dale Vince I believe was keeping Swampy company at the same time on the A34 and look where he is today – counting UFOs – but that’s a different story for another day.

I ramble, anyway, the rest of the recruiting world has now woken up to the fact that renewable energy is where the action is.

Add in the impact of the credit crunch and this is what I’ve heard this week:

From EcoSearch Client A (in a similar Jeremy Clarkson style rant to me):

“Debby – you won’t believe this but I’ve seen one CV cross my desk this week by 4 different recruiters of a person we interviewed through you 3 months ago!”

Now what do you think he’s thinking a) about the recruiters and b) about the person who’s CV this is? More importantly what impact is this behaviour having on this person’s career? – Let’s not forget, we are dealing with real people with valuable careers to protect, although some people treat them as a paper commodity and I wont begin to go into the inordinate amount of time wasting for the client company. (I could even go into the ever expanding datacentre implication issues for data storage and energy consumption but that would be churlish).

From EcoSearch Client B:

“Debby, I am being hammered by recruiters offering me candidates that have no relevance to my business and don’t know the difference between a kw and a mw turbine. I don’t have the time, it’s such a distraction!”

From Clare – EcoSearch’s wind sector specialist (in a fist slamming, angry kind of way):

“Debby, this candidate has just found out his CV has been emailed “somewhere” into our client by a recruiter who hasn’t even had a conversation with him and qualified what career path he’s looking for and can’t tell him who its gone to or where it is”

Cue EcoSearch team who break into Bridget Jones style cries of “No!” on a group basis across the EcoSearch office. Net result – this candidate hasn’t been positioned effectively in this organisation and will no doubt end up wasting his opportunity to entrée a great career. Not to mention the service level to the client which is clearly second rate.

Recently I’ve assisted a Candidate re-format his CV. Even when we are personally unable to place someone, it doesn’t mean we don’t help, especially where the candidate has been mutually helpful to us. The candidate’s new CV went up on Monster yesterday and in the space of 2 hours he had 16 recruiters “specialising in renewable energy” had given him a call. However, (with an incredulous look on face and raised voice):

“Debby – the quality of the conversation was so poor and some of them couldn’t even say Photovoltaic!”

But the absolute prize of the day is currently held by Steve – our carbon and engineering sector lead. Who had a “specialist renewable energy recruiter” ring him up today – having seen the jobs on our website (posted for our own client’s hiring needs) and ask if she could help us with our hiring needs …

“When she asked me what my job title was I told her ‘it’s the same as yours … Executive Search Consultant!’”

Cue EcoSearch team group laughter and hilarity. Unfortunately in her haste to make the call, she thought we were a renewable energy company. I thought our website looked good, but maybe we should revisit it ….

So, to make sure you get the service you expect as a job seeker...

Demand written confirmation that your CV is not sent to any organisation without your prior knowledge.
If it is, you can request they withdraw your CV - YOU choose who represents you.
Work with your consultant in putting a defined list of target companies together.
Mark your CV up with big red letters “DO NOT SUBMIT WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT”.
Demand to know who is getting your CV (although email forwarding is uncontrollable to a certain extent).
You should receive written candidate service level terms of business from the company you work with or at the very least the consultant should have explained how they work, what to expect, timescales for working together and communication expectations.
Keep in regular touch – build the relationship.
Don’t work with multiple recruiters at any one time.
Use a specialist.
Any consultant with integrity will work with you on fully understanding your needs and making the most appropriate introduction. Anyone that only spends 15 minutes on the phone with you and wants you to tell them 50 companies you want to work with …. cue large ringing bells - run a mile.

And for more information download the “recruiters – working with them” helpsheet below.

Recruiters - Working With Them

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Resumes & CVs resume howto

We can’t help everyone (as much as we’d like to), we aren’t perfect and we are not the fastest, but my goodness - some people need to raise their game out there … let’s keep it professional!

OK, I’m back to my desk now …

UFOs?! What next...

2009-01-08T15:38:00.003Z

Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity, found another opportunity to self-publicise, following sensationalist headlines hitting the press this morning:

“UFO hits wind turbine”

The Sun

“UFO claim over wind farm damage”

BBC News

“Wind turbine destroyed after ‘octopus UFO’ seen in sky"

The Telegraph

“Inquiry launched into ‘UFO attack’ on turbine”

The Times

This all started after an investigation was launched this morning into how one of the 20 turbines at Ecotricity’s Consiholme wind farm (Fen Farm, total capacity of 16MW, running since 17 April 2008) came to be seriously damaged last night.

This morning the turbine was discovered with one of its blades “missing” (it had not disappeared as speculated by The Sun, but had fallen to the ground) and another seriously damaged.

Apparently locals claim to have seen bright lights in the sky, one witness describing it as "a massive ball of light with tentacles going right down to the ground". Hmmm sounds a bit like a neighboring turbine to me. The moon was bright last night, wasn’t it?

Dale Vince, Ecotricity’s CEO, encouraged the sensationalism, saying on The Today programme this morning: “We haven’t come up with an answer yet, the UFO theory is the best we’ve got”.

Nonetheless, this is not the first time a Wind turbine has suffered damage such as this, in fact sometimes it is far worse… In fact, take the liberty of searching “wind turbine failures” on youtube.com and you will see many amateur videos of wind turbines “self destructing”. Normally the failures are caused by internal mechanical failures (brake failures, gear failures etc) or structural damage. The carbon fibre blades are extremely light and fragile (they need to be in order to generate maximum energy in low winds), if the braking mechanism in the wind turbine that limits the speed of the wind turbine breaks, then there is nothing to stop the blades spinning dangerously out of control and causing damage. (NB This happens very rarely; normally any deterioration would be detected by one of the remote monitoring systems). Or if a blade was suffering from structural fatigue, it could feasibly break away from the nacelle and damage another blade on the way down.

Now, I’m not a mechanical expert by any means and I would never claim to be, but I am tempted to believe that perhaps this mysterious damage to the Fen Farm wind turbine was caused by a mechanical failure rather than a UFO.

But a UFO makes a great bit of publicity, doesn’t it Dale? Well, here you go, this link to your blog is on us: zerocarbonista.com

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead at EcoSearch

Boost your career in 2009 with LinkedIn

2009-01-07T15:54:00.007Z

In my post on Looking for a ‘good’ green job I promised to write about using LinkedIn. LinkedIn.com has become the online business network of choice for many. It allows you to create an online profile and make it as visible as you wish. Apart from anything else it is a great place to keep contact details for all the key players in your network. You never know when you might leave that battered old filo-fax in the back of a taxi.

You might be asking “Why do I need a LinkedIn Profile?”

Are you legitimate? - If you call someone with a business proposition, they may well look you up on LinkedIn to find out more about you. It certainly happens a lot here at EcoSearch when we are looking for service providers to partner with.
Take a look at my LinkedIn profile and you will see how long I have been working at EcoSearch, what other experience I have and my educational background, as well as a whole wealth of other information.
Not only does it allow you to be found by those you already know, but people with potential opportunities can find you just by doing a search.

Growing your career – LinkedIn is now widely used by head hunters to identify individuals with the right profile to match senior level opportunities with companies they represent. Whilst being on LinkedIn will not guarantee that you will be approached by a head hunter, it will increase your chances of being noticed by people who can help you to progress your career at the right time for you.

Strengthening a connection - If you meet someone at an industry event or even on the train and they work in your niche, it can be easy to let that meeting be forgotten. Down the line potential opportunities for collaboration can be lost. If however you have a philosophy of connecting to everyone you meet on LinkedIn, you never lose their business card, or forget their name or which company they represent.
LinkedIn is reaching the point where the majority of savvy business people are signed up. There is no excuse for not using it to keep up to date with and to grow your network.

Wider networking - LinkedIn groups (discussion forums about a specific topic) have undergone a lot of change recently. Despite the number of groups you can join being capped at 50; I think most of these changes have been for the better. You can now search for relevant groups, start discussions and share ideas without leaving the site. This is a great way to interact with likeminded folks that you are not connected to. Often these can lead you to an external networking website with previously untapped potential.

Creating your profile

LinkedIn has acquired many more features recently so creating your profile may seem a little more daunting than it would have done six months ago. Let me assure you though, the new features make for a much more useful experience. Having a profile is worth the time investment.
Go along and hit the sign up button, the site is very user friendly and talks you through creating your profile. You can include as much or as little information about yourself as you like.

I would encourage you to think about a few key words that should be included in your profile. Try to include your job title (and any other ways your function might be described) as well as the sector you work in. If somebody is searching for a person like you, what keywords might they type into a search box?

Once you have a profile, start looking for people you know (you will probably be surprised by how many people are already there). Invite them to connect, and watch your network grow. Once you have a small network of contacts, you will have a pool to search and find useful folks that work in your field.

From there you can go on to join groups, ask questions or just network with your new community.

For great information straight from LinkedIn, check out their article Start 2009 Strong with LinkedIn. Let me know how you get on creating your profile and any benefits that come of it.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate at EcoSearch

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from EcoSearch

2008-12-19T12:01:00.005Z

All at EcoSearch would like to wish our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We are all looking forward bringing you more exciting news, views and snippets from the world of talent in Renewable Energy, Clean Tech and Carbon Management in 2009.

If you would like to keep up to date over the festive period, EcoSearch is now on Twitter. So feel free to follow @EcoSearch and never miss a thing.

The Monster is evolving...

2008-12-08T11:58:00.006Z

Internet job boards came on the scene in the mid nineties and revolutionised the way we look for a new job.

No longer do we wait for Thursday’s newspaper and head to the opportunities section with our red marker pen, ready to circle whatever looks interesting.

Now I can look for jobs on any day of the week, without even leaving my house to go to the news agent. I could wake up in the middle of the night, wondering what others doing a role like mine are earning and get an approximation in just minutes by switching on my computer.

If I feel tempted, and have my CV ready, I can apply with just a few clicks of my mouse. No need to worry about having nice paper to print on or ink in my printer. I don’t need to buy an envelope or even a stamp.

Searching on the internet for a job allows us to find opportunities in companies that we have not heard of or companies that we might not have thought to send our CV to otherwise. I could even add my CV to a database and then do NOTHING – just wait for the right job to come and find me while I get on with my life.

It sounds pretty nifty to me already. So when Monster says that it’s all about to change, you have to take notice! Monster’s CEO and Chairman, Sal Iannuzzi says that the new website will be almost a 100% rebuild. There will be new features and functionality unique in the industry. Debby Lloyd and I attended a launch breakfast for the new site at Altitude on the 29th floor of the Milbank Tower in London Last Monday. The full extent of the rebuild was confirmed when we were shown just how different the site will look and feel for both candidates and recruiters.

A lot of other job boards have recently gone through overhauls and then spent a lot of money on advertising. I was approached by fish4jobs.com following their re-launch earlier this year. I had, of course, seen their new advertisements on E4 (just before Scrubs) and so was unconsciously aware that something was going on in that world. But was it fish4jobs or totaljobs or could it have been jobsite? It’s really hard to say. I wonder how these other job boards will react to their already much more recognisable competitor coming in and trouncing them all with a career management revolution.

How can it get any better?

Monster has not done anything by half measures. They have spent many millions of dollars on THE BEST search tools that money can buy to analyse their industry leading CV database (I don’t even know if I’m allowed to tell you how many CVs that is). This means they can provide job seekers with information regarding likely future career moves based upon their previous experience, or allow someone to input their career goals to find out what they need to do to get there.

When you go to the homepage of New Monster, it won’t look the same for any two people. New Monster goes beyond the Niche Job Board provision – it is a 100% personal and customisable job board. You see what you tell it you want to see, and the most relevant jobs will find you. I don’t know anywhere else I can get that.

On a more logistical level, the sign up process has been streamlined. It will now only take 50% of the time to create your profile (My Monster) and upload your CV (but only if you want to). This gives job seekers more time to be focusing on their career rather than plodding through the dull sign-up process getting bored and frustrated.

This new stage of evolution will allow the job seeker to not only have control over their job search, but their entire career path. The aim is for you to be able to look at your present experience and compare with others, see possible future career paths and how to effectively take the next steps. You will also come back to the site regularly, just to see that you are still going in the right direction, this might allow you to see an opportunity for faster progression you might otherwise have missed.

I can’t wait to see it working!

New monster goes live on Saturday 10th January 2009.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate

The Clean Capital Network

2008-12-05T12:08:00.008Z

On Monday evening (1st December) I went to The Clean Capital Network in Mayfair, London. The event is a networking event focused on helping growth companies in clean-tech and clean energy achieve successful financing. With 120 people registered it was a busy night full of familiar faces and the odd glass of Champagne – a fantastic evening in short!

There are all sorts of people that attend, from lawyers, R&D engineers, consultants, to investment firms plus the related services. To be blunt on the attendees, there are three distinct groups of people; one group with bright ideas and technologies who require funding, one who are investors seeking potential projects and the third is the service providers to the other two – e.g. legal, research and insurance.

It works on the ‘Dragons Den’ investor pitch format, where you have 5 or 10 minutes to say who you are, what your project is and what you are looking for. Usually investees request between £1 million and £25 million.

Out the interesting people I met, one seemed very switched on – A Managing Director of a small scale hydro project development company in Chile, normally 2 to 20 MW in size. He is a really interesting gentleman who is dedicated to providing South America with reliable and inexpensive energy with an immaculate engineering background. Is there also a tie in with the generation of carbon credits?

The main reason for the service industries, such as EcoSearch, attending is because a large proportion of the evening is dedicated to networking and conversation about the renewable world, what the current developments and trends meaning it is a great opportunity to hear and discuss this market and its upward trend!

The Clean Capital Network runs monthly so I hope to see some of you there In the New Year!

By Steven Rogers
Carbon Markets Sector Lead