Smart meters have been in use since 2006 in the United States and have gained wide penetration in some areas and caused backlashes in others.  In the near future  many utilities will be switching their customers over to this technology.  So what exactly are smart meters, why are they sometimes controversial, how do they help consumers and utilities save money, and who is the industry leader in the field?

A smart meter is a device that collects electric consumption data from a home or business and communicates that data back to the utility.  This communication is accomplished by the use of Radio-Frequency (RF) technology.  Smart meters provide several advantages to the customer as they allow the customer to monitor their energy use in real time and allow for the customer to receive real versus estimated electric bills.  For the utilities there are several major benefits as well.  Primary among these is that smart meters allow the utility to adjust its billing policies to entice customers to use electricity during non-peak hours.  This is vital as during peak electric usage periods the utilities must bring on-line less efficient energy methods or purchase power from other entities.  Both of these methods increase costs to the utility.  Incentivizing customers to adjust their energy use to off-peak hours helps the utilities keep costs down and potentially produce electricity using more environmentally-friendly methods.  A good example of this approach can be seen with TXU Energy’s Free Nights program which is designed to encourage customers to change their electricity usage habits and as a reward not be billed for electricity usage between 10 PM and 6 AM, non-peak hours for the utility.   Another use of smart meters is that they allow utilities to more quickly respond to power outages or problems as they are now receiving almost real time information from customers.

The level of penetration of smart meters in the United States varies dramatically by region of the country.  PG&E just recently announced that it had installed its 9 millionth unit in Northern California while other areas of the country have almost no units in place.  Current levels of penetration in the United States are estimated at 35%.  In some areas there has been a backlash against smart meters due to health concerns regarding the RF technology used to communicate between the readers and utilities as well as concerns about customer privacy.  Although the use of RF technology has been approved and deemed safe by the Federal Government, fears still remain.

The global leader in the smart meter industry is Itron (Nasdaq: ITRI) with 8,000 customers in 130 countries.   With energy consumption continuing to grow and regulatory initiatives aimed at increasing energy efficiency being put in place around the world, the market for smart meter technology seems destined to continue to expand.  Per Itron estimates, there are 2.8 billion meters in use around the world with only approximately 10% being smart meters.   One significant risk facing Itron is that they are almost totally dependent on utility industry capital spending.  The recent slowdown in the global economy has had a direct effect on Itron’s fortunes as such slowdown reduces the industry’s capital spending.  However, with its strong financial results and healthy cash flow, Itron seems well positioned to take advantage of the growth in smart grids and smart meters in the future.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.

Disclosure: The author has no position in Itron and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.

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Read about how KiOR is turning trees into oil and what other companies are doing in the nacent and highly active alternative energy market through our Green Tech Company Spotlight.

If you read enough articles about electric or hybrid vehicles, sooner or later you see references to ultra capacitors.  Ultra capacitors are currently widely used in many energy saving devices and have a bright future, including potentially replacing the standard battery.  Maxwell Technologies (stock symbol: MXWL) is one of several companies at the forefront of ultra capacitor technology.

First, a brief explanation of what an ultra capacitor is.  An ultra capacitor is simply a capacitor with significantly enhanced ability to collect and quickly, very quickly, discharge energy.  The charge/discharge cycle for an ultra capacitor can take only seconds.  Batteries, by comparison, have a low discharge rate of typically one to ten hours.  The ultra capacitors’ quick discharge and charge rate is accomplished by a special carbon coating that is applied to the two electrodes in the capacitor and then immersing the electrodes in an electrolyte.

Maxwell Technologies, based in San Diego, California, is a leading manufacturer of ultra capacitors.  Maxwell Technologies’ ultra capacitors are used in many green energy products such as providing burst power to control wind turbines, recapturing and storing recuperative breaking energy in hybrid drive vehicles and for quick acceleration.  In addition, their ultra capacitors provide cold start power for trucks, the energy to open aircraft doors in the event of power failure and back-up power supply for uninterruptable power sources.

Last year, Maxwell Technologies won a $1.7 million contract from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop along with the University of Massachusetts and the US Navy a “hybrid ultra cap” that combines ultra capacitors and batteries to store and quickly distribute energy and is light and small enough to be carried by soldiers in the field.  Since conventional batteries can store more energy at this time the hybrid approach is preferred. In addition to allowing a quicker discharge, an ultra capacitor also brings other advantages over a conventional battery.  One of several drawbacks of using conventional batteries is that after repetitive use they lose their ability to hold energy; they are slow to charge.  Also they work best in a narrow temperature range.  Ultra capacitors use a “mechanical” charge system instead of a “chemical” charge system and thus do not face these limitations.

For these reasons, a “hybrid ultra cap” is a step towards the Holy Grail for ultra capacitors, which is to increase their energy storing capacity and eventually replace batteries.  While this technology may be years away it holds tremendous promise for such areas as electric vehicles as well as many other applications and as such Maxwell Technologies is a company to keep your eye on as they continue to develop their ultra capacitor technology.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.

Disclosure: The author has no position in Maxwell Technologies and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.  
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The following post is the first by our new contributor, John Basalla, a CPA currently working in Tokyo who is interested in the business side of green technology. All his “Green Tech Company Spotlight” articles can be found at the following tag or on John’s page.  

What does KiOR do?

KiOR is an alternative fuels company that has developed proprietary technology to convert biomass into crude oil. Their process speeds up fossil fuel formation that takes a million years in nature and compresses it to mere minutes. These hydrocarbons can in turn be refined using standard equipment into gasoline, diesel and other fuel blend stocks, thus requiring no additional refining equipment. KiOR has already developed partnerships with Chevron Corporation as well as major companies such as FedEx.

What makes KiOR unique?

The major difference between KiOR and many other alternative fuel companies is that KiOR uses biomass that does not compete with human food needs directly or indirectly the way that some fuels do, such as corn-based ethanol. Instead, KiOR uses biomass such as logging residue, wood chips, and switch grass that does not compete with human food consumption. This innovation is a key to KiOR’s success. In addition, the ability to use the resulting hydrocarbons in existing refinery infrastructure is a critical advantage as well. Although KiOR faces many challenges to commercialize its product and scale production successfully, it projects that it can achieve an unsubsidized production cost of under $1.80 per gallon given current market conditions.

Future plans

KiOR is building a demonstration plant in Columbus, Mississippi, which should be operating by the second half of 2012. The first full-scale plant is planned for Natchez, Mississippi, with a target completion date of 2014 and is projected to produce 33 million barrels per year of crude oil.

If you would like more information about this company please see the Investors section of KiOR’s website at www.kior.com

Disclaimer:  This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment personalized advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.  

Disclosure:  The author has no position in KioR and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.

When a billboard advertisement (aka “the banner”) is taken down, it often ends up in the landfill. According to Frequently Asked Questions from Comstor Billboards, vinyl displays are used instead of paper. Comstor uses vinyl because “customers want reliability and results. Which is why we use a high quality product that provides guaranteed visibility year after year. Unlike paper, our product doesn’t rip, fade or tear.” In fact, they guarantee it for the duration of the contract. This durability is important, but the vinyl is not easily recyclable.

This is where Billboard Ecology, a Colorado based company founded in 2008 comes into play. They “take retired advertising billboards, rescue them from a date with the landfill, and make them into great tote bags and other unique items.” They refer to the process as “upcycling” as opposed to downcylcing, which occurs when a material is broken down into a new product of reduced quality or functionality. As an added bonus, the company has a number of opportunities for groups like schools to raise money (and awareness) through selling their products. Furthermore, all of their products (various types of bags) are manufactured in the U.S.

Last month I came across an advertisement for Chipotle’s lunch bag in their store and found that it too was made by Billboard Ecology. As part of their Earth Day activities, Chipotle was running a special for their lunch bags: Buy a Billboard Ecology lunch bag by April 14th and get a free burrito on Earth Day. Not a bad deal (though the 14th has passed).

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