Cleaning up in clean-tech industries

During a time when job growth is more of a campaign promise than an on-the-ground reality, Colorado has managed, since 2007, to create more than 5,000 jobs for renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses, otherwise known as the clean-tech sector.

The federal stimulus package, with its emphasis on green jobs, is helping to infuse funds and support for the growth. But according to the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, an industry support group, the clean-tech boom is being powered by the state’s mix of innovators, research and entrepreneurs.

The CCIA released a state cleantech action plan in mid-October to provide an industry overview and to identify areas for development and growth. The organization ratcheted up the fanfare by holding the first-ever Cleantech Awards ceremony, where Northern Colorado businesses, um, cleaned up.

Clean-tech action plan

The CCIA clean-tech action plan highlights the significant growth in the industry. In the last decade, Colorado’s economy has grown by 8 percent, but the clean-tech sector boomed at an estimated 18 percent annually. Venture capitalists have invested over $330 million in Colorado clean-tech in the last two years, and companies brought in more than $1 billion in federal support in the past 12 months.

A recent, national clean-tech job trends report from Clean Edge, an industry research firm, confirmed similar national expansion, and named the Denver metro area as the country’s fifth most active clean-tech region.

Policy tools, such as the state’s renewable energy standard – which now dictates that 30 percent of electric utilities’ power comes from wind, solar and other alternative sources by 2020, starting with 12 percent next year – have helped, according to Christine Shapard, executive director of CCIA. But the main impetus for progress is the innovation coming out of institutions like Colorado State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“If you look at the 300-plus companies in the state, what’s driving this is what’s coming out of the research universities and NREL,´ said Shapard.

There are several examples in motion in Northern Colorado. Abound Solar, based in Loveland, began with technology developed at CSU and retains an affiliation with the school. The company produces pioneering, thin-film solar installations and it has landed a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy plus millions more in private funds. Abound added 150 employees and completed its first manufacturing line in Longmont in 2010, with plans for steady growth in the next few years.

“Things are really clicking along,´ said Mark Chen, Abound’s director of marketing, who added that the company’s location has nurtured relationships with regionally based partners and clients, such as Advanced Energy and Virsol Solar.

All that progress led Abound to be named the High Impact Cleantech Company of the Year at the CCIA awards program.

Not to be outdone, two other Northern Colorado companies scored recognition. Ice Energy of Windsor was named Breakout Cleantech Company of the Year, and VanDyne SuperTurbo of Fort Collins was named Emerging Cleantech Company of the Year.

Ice Energy produces smart-grid technology that uses advanced software to integrate distributed energy storage, which allows utilities to manage peak power demands in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Just a day before receiving its award, Ice Energy announced it had secured $24 million in financing from TIAA-CREF and its new Green Building Fund, which will enable the company to complete a 53-megawatt distributed-energy-storage project – the largest of its kind in the industry – for the Southern California Public Power Authority.

VanDyne SuperTurbo is a startup company that spun out of Woodward Governor last year. VanDyne designs, develops and builds SuperTurbochargers that can recover waste heat and be used to boost engine power for automobiles and heavy-duty engines. In August, VanDyne announced it was teaming up with Cummins Inc. to produce fuel-efficient, tractor-trailer truck engines using the SuperTurbocharger technology.

The strong showing amounted to Northern Colorado taking three of the eight awards presented by the CCIA, which Shapard called “kind of a surprise, and kind of not.”

“Boulder always gets the headlines, but we know how strong the sector is in Northern Colorado,” Shapard said. “I think the Northern Colorado area is a little more mature and advanced in developing clean-tech industries.”

Incubator programs key

The success of the regional clean-tech sector is tied to its ability to find money to develop technologies and nurture young businesses through incubator programs.

Securing startup funds and fostering the commercialization of technologies are among the main challenges raised by the CCIA action plan as keys to defining and improving Colorado’s competitive clean-tech advantage. Entities, such as the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster and the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, already have our region ahead of the curve in these areas.

The action plan also points out that delayed construction of energy transmission lines remains a roadblock to some development, although several policies are trying to address expansion. The most looming issue, however, is the lack of a statewide policy map to chart the future of renewable energy – and all power sources for that matter – in Colorado.

“There really isn’t a cohesive, coordinating strategy in place across the state,´ said Abound Solar’s Chen.

An integrated, statewide energy plan would project energy demands – and supplies – over 20 or more years, and suggest how different resources, from oil and gas and coal to solar, wind and geothermal, would fit together to meet needs. Shapard said CCIA plans to reach out to industries, such as natural gas and maybe even coal, to help develop and implement a statewide energy plan. It will also continue to hand out annual awards to recognize the leaders in the field, so, come next year, Northern Colorado businesses will get to defend their titles and seek more recognition.

Joshua Zaffos is a freelance journalist based in Northern Colorado who covers environmental issues for the Business Report quarterly. Contact him at news@ncbr.com.

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