Using big data to make an MPG for everything
A young startup called Energy Points is looking to use data streams to calculate the miles per gallon — MPG — for companies’ resource use, from energy, to water, to waste, to transportation. Read more »
Big data meets commercial building energy
Ditch the hardware and embrace big data and analytics — that could be the key to monitoring and managing energy consumption of commercial buildings. On Thursday startup FirstFuel Software announced that it’s raised $2.4 million from Battery Ventures and Nth Power, to scale up. Read more »
5 companies using big data to help the planet
Big data tools are an incredibly important way to help better manage the world’s resources, like energy consumption, food production and fuel use. Here are 5 companies that are leveraging big data to help the planet: Read more »
Hara Raises $25M From GE, NRG, ConocoPhillips, Itochu
On Wednesday morning energy software startup Hara plans to announce that it’s raised another $25 million from new strategic investors, including the collaboration of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips (called Energy Technology Ventures), as well as the investing arm of Japanese conglomerate Itochu. Read more »
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Green IT Q1: Cleantech Breaking Out — and Bracing for Hard Times
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
HP Links With Startups Hara, C3 for Energy Software
HP has launched a whole bunch of energy and resource management products and indicating the progress of a couple of startups already in the resource management space, HP said it would be working with both Hara and C3. Read more »
Hara Scores Mother of All Energy Management Deals in Abu Dhabi
In Cancun, Mexico, amidst the second week of the U.N.’s climate negotiations, Hara announced that it has scored a mother of a deal to help state-run utility Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority save $3 billion over 10 years. Read more »
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Green IT Overview, Q2 2010
In the second quarter of 2010, greentech startups scored record venture capital and increased spending despite a weak economy. Solar power retained its lead in greentech venture financing, while global investment for clean energy asset financing fell. China, meanwhile, underscored its rising might in the greentech industry, raising billions of dollars in green energy financing. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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How Big Data Tools Are Shaping Sustainability Software
More sustainability software services have emerged in recent years than online dating sites, but the next trend for these companies is to turn to next-generation analytics tools to manage the massive of influx of real-time data emerging around ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Sustainability Reporting Software: An Overview
With the growing recognition that global warming demands a business response, many companies are budgeting for climate-change plans. These plans aim to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across a wide range of activities, including procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, retailing, IT, waste disposal, and regulatory compliance. In drawing up and implementing these plans, though, businesses have made an unexpected discovery: The shift to greener operations creates competitive advantages by cutting costs, preparing for regulation of carbon emissions and presenting an attractively green ethos to the market. Sustainable business, it turns out, is good business.
To help implement their plans, companies can choose from a variety of enterprise sustainability software, also known as carbon management software, delivered via a Web browser in the form of Software as a Service. These systems collect resource-consumption data distributed geographically and functionally across the enterprise including electricity metering, transportation fuel costs and emissions from manufacturing and production facilities. The objective is to bring this data into one place where it can be examined and analyzed comprehensively.
Sustainability software covers three broad areas. One category is aimed at IT and helps manage energy consumption in data centers. A second category monitors and analyzes the flow of electricity in smart-grid installations. The third helps enterprises manage resources, emissions and waste. It collects data and offers visualization tools. The most advanced systems offer sophisticated modeling capabilities, which can aid greatly in formulating and implementing strategies for reducing an enterprise’s environmental footprint.
This third category is the subject of this report. While the green IT and smart-grid categories are relatively mature, the enterprise market is still taking shape. Moreover, this area has potential to become the largest by far. While the traditional market for sustainability software consists of Fortune 500 companies, smaller operations are beginning to recognize the benefits. Sustainability software will become attractive to businesses of all sizes and sectors as industries develop standards for tracking, evaluating, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and as government regulations spur trade in carbon credits and environmental labeling of consumer products.
This report surveys the history of enterprise sustainability software systems, their capabilities, and how they’re being used in a variety of industries. It also offers recommendations for companies interested in using these tools. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Skype Prepping Group Video Chat
Video conferencing firm Skype is readying a new feature that will allow up to five users to video chat at the same time, according to a report by the Associated Press. For years, group conferencing has been one of the most sought-after new features for the […] Read more »
Green:Net: Carbon Gives a 'Lens Into Inefficiency'
Carbon pricing will become an important part of corporate accounting. But pricing aside, executives at today’s Green:Net conference said that carbon software can give companies a view into other inefficiencies in their operations. Read more »
5 Questions Facing Carbon Software Players
The market for carbon accounting software in the U.S. last year was as small as an average venture capital funding round — about $10 million — but researchers are predicting that the market will boom to $250 million by 2012. Who will grab that cash? Read more »
Rich Countries “Outsourcing” Carbon, Good News for Carbon Software Players
Blue collar jobs aren’t the only thing getting outsourced away from the U.S. and Europe. As much as a third of carbon dioxide emissions related to goods and services bought in rich countries are emitted outside their borders, effectively “outsourcing” these gasses to the developing countries that […] Read more »
Copenhagen & Transparency: Carbon Software Makers Watching Closely
The issue of “transparency” has taken over the Copenhagen climate negotiations. If and how countries will provide verifiable measurements of their emissions reductions is the sticking point of the $100 billion annual fund that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today, and a major fissure […] Read more »
