The owner of the Metro Center Corporate Park will install energy-saving equipment worth $3.16 million without any upfront costs under a deal announced yesterday in Sacramento. The retrofit will be the nation’s largest property assessed clean energy (PACE) project closed to date, according to the project partners. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Aimee Duffy and Tyler Crowe, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Increasingly, companies with giant property footprints are going out of their way to power facilities with solar power. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy talks to fellow contributor Tyler Crowe about companies that are utilizing PACE bonds to improve their energy infrastructure and save money in the long term, and explains how the bonds work and how much money is involved along the way.
Investors and bystanders alike have been shocked by First Solar‘s precipitous drop over the past two years. The stakes have never been higher for the company: Is it done for good, or ready for a rebound? If you’re looking for continuing updates and guidance on the company whenever news breaks, The Motley Fool has created a brand-new report that details every must know side of this stock. To get started, simply click here now.
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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/12/record-loans-for-solar-power/
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
UnitedHealthcare Awards $5.2 Million in Grants to California Nonprofits – $897,240 to On Lok Lifeways of San Francisco
Grants support nine California nonprofit organizations to strengthen wellness, care delivery and health technology in underserved communities
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– On Lok Lifeways has been awarded a $897,240 grant from UnitedHealthcare to help strengthen its health information technology system and delivery of care to San Francisco Bay area seniors through electronic medical records initiatives.
UnitedHealthcare’s San Francisco Bay Area employees join On Lok participants to make flower arrangements and pot plants as part of the nonprofit’s Spring Volunteer Day Monday, April 8, at On Lok Lifeways Gee Center. UnitedHealthcare also presented On Lok an $897,000 grant to strengthen its services and programs for seniors in the region. Lower L to R: Shi Chen Wang, Marie Schmidt of UnitedHealthcare. Upper L to R: Shim Pu-Nam, Matthew Yi of UnitedHealthcare, Kelly Lai, Benedyne Kim, Greg Wright, West Region president, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement (Photo: Amy Sullivan)
The grant is part of $5.2 million UnitedHealthcare is awarding to nine health care organizations to support nonprofit clinics, hospitals and health care organizations that improve health care services for underserved communities statewide.
Founded in 1972, On Lok Lifeways in San Francisco is one of the nation’s leading providers of health services including long-term care and support services to seniors. On Lok Lifeways’ pioneering efforts in the Bay Area created “PACE” (the Program of All- inclusive Care for the Elderly), a model of care delivery that has been replicated in 91 organizations in 30 states.
The UnitedHealthcare grant will help On Lok Lifeways strengthen its “PACELink” program, which uses health information technology and electronic medical records to improve care and coordination for seniors served by a network of 10 health care and wellness centers in the Bay Area. Specifically, the grant will fund software improvements, technology investments and training that will provide greater efficiencies in the coordination of care through the automation of scheduling, clinic appointments, transportation, home-visit reporting, medication distribution and pharmacy prescriptions.
The grant was announced during a volunteer day at On Lok’s Gee Senior Center, 1333 Bush St. in downtown San Francisco, where UnitedHealthcare employees joined community leaders to help On Lok Lifeways seniors plant a vegetable garden, plant …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
OriginOil Accelerates Commercialization of CLEAN-FRAC System with First Commercial Unit Planned for 3 rd Quarter
As OriginOil completes successful demonstration tour at Eagle Ford Formation in Texas, licensee plans to deliver first commercial unit by Q3 2013
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– OriginOil, Inc. (OTCBB: OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough energy production process for the oil and algae industries, recently introduced its CLEAN-FRAC™ system to the Texas oil and gas industry and its publications, while its first licensee plans to deliver a first commercial unit in the 3rd Quarter of this year.
Following the completion of field trials in the Lost Hills oil production area of Bakersfield, California, OriginOil launched two weeks of demonstrations for operators and service companies in the Eagle Ford shale region near San Antonio, and for industry analysts and reporters in Houston, Texas.
Guest operators and service companies remarked on the clarity of the effluent water and the amount of “sludge” separated from the water. Highlights are available in this video: https://vimeo.com/63063082.
The company is now helping its first OEM licensing partner, PACE subsidiary PearlH20, deploy a one barrel per minute integrated frack water cleanup system that uses its CLEAN-FRAC process as the first stage. The deployment of the mobile container-based system is initially slated for the 3rd Quarter in the Bakersfield area.
Dr. Gerald Bailey, former President of Exxon for the Arabian Gulf and OriginOil’s Oil and Gas Industry Advisor, was present for the technology demonstrations and commented, “The response by the operators was overwhelmingly positive. The discussion was all about how CLEAN-FRAC enables the recycling of frac flowback or produced water, resulting in significant cost savings and environmental benefits. With OriginOil’s technology, operators will be able to significantly reduce the amount of fresh water purchased for the fracing process.”
Basing its San Antonio area presentations in nearby Pleasanton, OriginOil used frac flowback water with a high amount of solids kept in solution by anti-coagulants, and a small trace of oil. CLEAN-FRAC coagulated the solids despite the presence of the anticoagulants, reducing organics by as much as 99 percent and suspended solids as much as 98 percent, as measured in the on-site mobile lab.
“CLEAN-FRAC represents a new generation of water treatment that is chemical-free, low energy and beneficial to the environment,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “It not only generates significant cost savings through less trucking …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Two California Startups Team Up to Challenge Halliburton’s Costs for Cleaning Produced Water and Frack Water
PearlH2O’s FRACK-BACK system which integrates OriginOil’s CLEAN-FRAC technology is projected to achieve breakthrough 2.5 cents per gallon water treatment operating cost
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– OriginOil, Inc. (OTCBB: OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough energy production process for the oil and algae industries, teamed up with its first licensee, PACE spinoff PearlH2O, to challenge industry giant Halliburton‘s published costs for cleaning flowback water for reuse in wells.
“Halliburton reported on its cost to operate their CleanWave system in the Haynesville shale in 2011, which comes to four cents per gallon of water treated,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “But based on its experience in the Eagle Ford Formation in southeast Texas, PearlH2O estimates it can achieve operating costs as low as 2.5 cents per gallon by integrating our CLEAN-FRAC™ technology, with potentially much better results than CleanWave. We believe this is a revolution in the making for the oil industry and we look forward to scaling up with our partner, PearlH2O.”
“Halliburton’s achievement of 95-99% removal of Total Suspended Solids, Total Hydrocarbon, Iron and Heavy Metals is just the starting point for our own FRACK-BACK™ process,” said Andy Komor, VP Environmental Water at PACE. “In addition, our tests have shown we can achieve substantial removal of hardness and dissolved organics.”
“As a bonus,” added Bill Charneski, General Manager of OriginOil’s Oil and Gas Division, “we believe we can achieve near-total bacteria removal, which for Halliburton requires an entirely separate process, Clean-Stream. All of this for a cost much lower than Halliburton’s CleanWave alone. Clearly, we can offer a completely new value proposition and we invite the oil and gas industry to try us out.”
Cory Severson, President of PearlH2O, went on to say, “Our projected cost analysis is based on 30 years of experience in designing and operating water treatment systems. Furthermore, and perhaps most significant, is that the projected costs do not take into consideration potential revenue from the sale of treated water or recovered oil. We believe that reusing or selling treated water creates a compelling economic incentive that should shift the mentality of the industry from disposal to recycling.”
Eckelberry also commented on the environmental benefits of the technology: “Recycling of produced and frack water not only makes economic sense, it is the right solution for the environment …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Justin Gerdes, Contributor Sacramento, California – Sacramento commercial and residential property owners can now install energy-saving equipment at no upfront cost. Yesterday, local political leaders, including Mayor Kevin Johnson, announced the launch of Clean Energy Sacramento, a property assessed clean energy (PACE) program operated by Ygrene Energy Fund.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
