Vincent Roa Group LLC

Black & Veatch Report: Traditional Operating Models No Longer Sustainable

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:56:00 +0000

The recently released Black & Veatch 2013 Strategic Directions in the U.S. Water Industry Report highlights the challenges impacting the water and wastewater industry and reports positive trends in water utilities' efforts to reduce operating costs, implement energy efficiency, optimization and/or management programs, and an increasing interest in adopting formal asset management programs.

The report, which is based on a survey of 397 water industry professionals, features a top-ten list of industry issues and provides insights on an industry that, despite limited availability of capital and increasing pressure to meet more stringent regulatory requirements, is willing to change how it operates to reduce waste and enhance service delivery to its customers.

Leak detection deserves more prominence in a water utilities' business agenda.

Reducing non-revenue water and the amount of water main breaks could have a substantial and positive impact on the bottom line and future resource needs. The current rate of replacement is less than 1 percent for most utilities as utilities try to do more with less...with the squeakiest wheel getting the grease.

The data show that there is fair amount of uncertainty regarding the validity of water loss numbers with just over 17% of the respondents noting that they don't know current levels of non-revenue water. This suggests a lack of strong asset management programs and a direct negative impact on the utilities' bottom line.

Holistic, systematic and proactive approach to asset management is needed.

The report notes that a holistic, systematic and proactive approach to asset management, which requires three to five years to conceptualize and implement, will lessen the burden of dealing with an infrastructure at the end of its service life and will save precious water resources. Successful programs "enable utilities to manage their assets and operations efficiently, deliver high levels of service to their customers, and drive continuous improvement in people, processes and asset risk evaluation and reduction." Other key findings of the report include:

Climate-influenced water supplies, growing service populations, and capital constraints increasingly affect water utility resource management plans and priorities.
Conservation and environmental stewardship can minimize energy, chemicals and capital resource expenditures. Customer education and outreach are important components of this effort.
Increases in activity for sustainable energy solutions and a focus on environmental and society benefits are expected.
Regulation continues to be the primary driver for investment and change.
Management support from the highest levels of the organization is necessary for any type of wholesale change.

The report also enumerates changes that would help water and wastewater utilities to achieve a stronger financial position and more efficient operations and provides case studies that showcase proactive approaches to integrated and sustainable water supply planning (e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore, WaterOne in Kansas, Scottish Water, Davyhulme Wastewater Treatment Works in England, etc.).

Black & Veatch Report Top 10 Industry Issues:

Aging water and sewer infrastructure
Managing capital costs
Managing operational costs (energy, chemicals, etc.)
Funding or availability of capital
Increasing/expanding regulation
Information technology
Treatment technology
Aging workforce
Water scarcity or availability, and/or conservation
Water loss (non-revenue water)

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building Critical Human Infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2012 were US$3.3B.

Who the CEO Calls, Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association and frequently writes on water issues. She is Managing Partner and Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources.

This article also appeared on www.bluetechresearch.com.

USAID Water Strategy: Leveraging Science, Technology, and Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:09:00 +0000

USAID recently published its five-year Water and Development Strategy that defines its approach to water programming. Described as the government’s first comprehensive strategy aimed at integrating water into all U.S. development funding and programs and a good first step, this 32-page document provides a framework for saving lives and advancing development through innovative investments in water, sanitation and hygiene.

According to the Agency's press release, the strategy represents a fundamental shift toward a new model of development – defined by public and private partnerships, use of new technology, and emphasis on long-term results.

USAID Seeks to Leverage Science, Technology and Innovation

I reviewed the document to determine how prominently USAID positioned water technologies and innovation in support of development programming. From the Executive Summary to the Operational Principles, there is a distinct technology thread. The agency plans to support the development of innovative technology that has the potential to transform lives, use emerging science and technology to promote innovation, and put in place integrated programs that leverage resources across their stakeholder continuum.

The strategy enumerates eight operational principles. Principle #6 focuses on leveraging science and technology to dramatically improve WASH and the management of water resources at regional, national and local levels. Overall, the agency believes that "(e)ffective co-management of water and energy, including the integration of water, food and energy programs, as well as support for and development of technology, can lead to significant returns on investment."

Stepped-Up Partnerships with Technology Companies

This strategy opens the door for stepped-up partnerships with technology companies who have an interest in positioning their technologies to serve in the development context.

We will achieve greater impact by partnering with outside organizations and businesses that leverage innovative approaches and new technologies. This approach will also emphasize sustainability by building local capacities for operations, maintenance, and monitoring, said Administrator Rajiv Shah.

Through USAID's Global Development Alliance, companies can collaborate with the Agency and navigate the emerging markets to create value. Over 1700 companies, including Microsoft, Starbucks, The Coca-Cola Company have worked with USAID to create solutions "advance business interests and contribute to the long-term social and economic growth of a country."

For corporations, large and small seeking to sustain their supply chain and round out a business model to include humanitarian goals, this strategy represents an open invitation to develop a meaningful partnership with an Agency, play a role in their scale up of development work, and help build on its successes in water.

Who the CEO Calls, Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association and frequently writes on water issues. She is Managing Partner and Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources.

This article also appeared on www.bluetechresearch.com.

Unmasking the Innovation Ecosystem: Disruptive Water Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:21:00 +0000

As sector leaders address major water challenges and impediments that hamper innovation and efficiency-focused strategies, water tech companies throughout the world continue to develop and tee up their disruptive and cutting-edge technologies.

Disruptive water technologies are displacing incumbents' technologies and helping companies to create high growth markets within mature markets, above average profit margins, and a sustainable first mover advantage.

Growing Interest in Solutions and New Business Models

A recent white paper from Ernst & Young that summarizes in-depth interviews with industry leaders reports that there is a growing interest in proven solutions, business model innovation and technological adaptation. This, coupled with long-term financing alternatives and harmonized policies and regulations, has the power to boost institutional and market efficiencies and favorably affect the long-term sustainability and growth of the sector.

"While there is this growing interest, acceptance, and applicability of novel and disruptive water technologies, and despite market growth constraints and other barriers, the industry has already adopted many disruptive innovations and continues to do so at a faster rate than it did 20 years ago," according to Paul O'Callaghan, CEO, BlueTech Research. Disruptive technologies can open up new market applications which did not previously exist, accelerate the pace of technology adoption, strengthen corporate growth, and drive regulatory activity.

"Differentiated products and services can displace incumbents' solutions in mature markets. Membrane bioreactor technology, for example, achieved market share in a crowded, commodity, fragmented, low margin market. Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection took market share from chlorine disinfection," O'Callaghan explains.

Technology Innovation Playing Field Expanding

"The playing field is expanding as larger water tech companies, corporations, and water utilities step up innovation and intrapreneurship, take a different approach to R&D, and identify internal champions to support the development of new products and technologies. O'Callaghan says that many large corporations not traditionally associated with water (e.g., BASF, Outotec, Johnson Matthey, Bilfinger, Lockheed Martin and Mann+Hummel) are complementing in-house innovation with acquisition of cutting-edge tech companies that are relevant to their business strategies and those that present technologies that sit further along the technology commercialization continuum.

To further speed innovation adoption and strengthen the water innovation ecosystem overall, Ernst & Young believes industry frameworks for assessing and adopting new technologies need to be established. "This would involve creating consortia to incubate, validate and promote new technologies and would reduce the need for emerging companies to undergo multiple field trials and encourage large utilities to set R&D budgets."

Why We Should Care About Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovation has the potential to change the world of water and the progression of the industry in many ways, some of which we have not even imagined. What we know now is that disruptive technologies can enhance the water industry's growth, efficiency, sustainability, and provide start-up and established companies with a distinct competitive market advantage and the right to breakthrough marketing and "leader of the pack" news headlines. That's good for all parties.

Who the CEO Calls, Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association and frequently writes on water issues. She is Managing Partner and Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources. She is also BlueTech Research's Vice President of Marketing & Communication.

BlueTech Research, a water technology market intelligence firm, uses a proprietary rating system to evaluate and categorize the disruptiveness of water technology innovations. The next disruptive technologies for the water industry, according to the company's market intelligence are: ceramic membranes, UV LED, supercritical water oxidation (SCWO), capacitive deionization (CapDI), and sludge pre-treatment.

The recent 2013 BlueTech Forum featured innovative and disruptive technologies of 11 companies in its BlueTech Showcase. Voltea took home the BlueTruffle™ Award for the best go-to-market strategy for its capacitive deionization technology that spans multiple billion dollars markets. The Disrupt-o-Meter™ Award went to Crystal IS for their highly-disruptive UV-LED technology.

Visionary Jos Pâques Says Innovation and Identification of Market Needs Are Key to Entrepreneurial Success in Water Sector

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:21:00 +0000

The story of the multi-million euro company, Paques Holdings, like so many of the world's leading companies, has its humble beginnings as a one-man start-up in the 1970s. Jos Pâques began Paques Holdings 40 years ago, as a young 23-year-old working in storage silos for farmers.

By 1975, Pâques found success in his venture, with a turnover of 500,000 Dutch guilders into 8 million only 3 years later. But when his business slowed down, and the silo business gradually disappeared, Pâques was faced with a dilemma: What should he do next?

This predicament forced Pâques to be innovative. He took advantage of technology growth in developing market areas, and in 1980, he started development of technology to harness energy from waste and manure in biogas plants. By 1983, Pâques added Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (USAB) technology to his company’s portfolio. This was the beginning of his current company, Paques Holding.

Today, Paques Holding is a global leader in the provision of high-quality, cost-effective anaerobic water purification systems that produce energy from wastewater, while purifying the water and facilitating water reuse.

For entrepreneurs looking for success in the water industry, Pâques advises, “Listen to the market and look at the developments in technology. With one eye, look at research institutes and with the other, the market. Make a link between the two. Too often I see a technology push without a strong amount of pull. Developing technology for a market that does not exist is not economically sound.”

Now, Jos Pâques serves as the major shareholder and member of the supervisory board for Paques Holding, retiring after almost 30 years in his position as President in 2001. In his experience in the water industry, Pâques cites the development of anaerobic treatment for wastewater in the past 50 years as one of the biggest revolutions in the industry. New legislation from the Netherlands’ government in the 1970s required industries to treat wastewater. This created the climate for new technologies and new companies, like Paques Holding.

On May 14th at the 4th Annual BlueTech Forum in Amsterdam, Jos Pâques will be presenting the story and will provide attendees with a glimpse into his story as a visionary entrepreneur and a successful businessman in the water sector. To register and get more information on the BlueTech Forum, visit www.bluetechforum.com.

Water for Profit: Seizing Climate Change as a Chance to Corporatize the Commons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

By Guest Blogger Andrea Germanos, Staff Writer, (originally appeared on Common Dreams)

As the effects of climate change continue to ripple throughout the planet, some groups are acknowledging that the warming planet means big money is to be made on a resource more precious than oil — water.

“If you play it right,” says one hedge-fund advisor, “the results of this impending water crisis can be very good.” (Photo: On the Commons/flickr)In an article titled "Investors Seek Ways to Profit From Global Warming," Bloomberg Businessweek provides a revealing quote from the corporation Water Asset Management, for whom "drought is helping spur business," and for whom climate change will help them profit from water as a commodity:

“Not enough people are thinking long term of [water] as an asset that is worthy of ownership,” says Chief Operating Officer Marc Robert. “Climate change for us is a driver.”

Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and founder of the Blue Planet Project, has described the kind of water rights buy-ups Water Asset Management capitalizes on as "creating a new wave of invasive colonialism," saying:

Knowing there will not be enough food and water for all in the near future, wealthy countries and global investment, pension and hedge funds are buying up land and water, fields and forests in the global South, creating a new wave of invasive colonialism that will have huge geo-political ramifications. In Africa alone, rich investors have already bought up an amount of land double the size of the United Kingdom.

And as the non-profit organization GRAIN has documented, behind every land grab is a water grab.

But Water Asset Management is not the first to see profits in water crises.

Scott Edwards, co-director of the Food and Water Justice project at Food and Water Watch, has pointed to "an insidious shift underway in our nation’s water policies that can only mean disaster for the most precious resource on the planet." He continues:

As populations grow, water demands increase and industry seeks workarounds from our environmental laws, the Wall Street investment industry is looking for new ways to profit. And what’s the best “commodity” for any investment banker? As Goldman Sachs puts it, “As a necessity for life, there is no substitute for water. It is the only utility you ingest….” For the investment banking industry, water-related death, drought and degradation aren’t calamities; they’re profit opportunities. “If you play it right,” says one hedge-fund advisor, “the results of this impending water crisis can be very good.”

The State Department, too, has laid out how coming water wars will be a chance for the U.S. to capitalize on other nations' water scarcity.

But for water justice advocates, water cannot be seen as a commodity. As Barlow has said, "We cannot buy our way out of the global water crisis. It will require refocusing on respect for nature and respect for each other."

If water justice is to exist, a "radical rethink" of the resource is necessary, one in which water is not a profit opportunity, a fact sheet from Our Water Commons asserts, and states that

Climate solutions cannot be successful without stopping water abuse. Sustainable and democratic water governance is a must for achieving climate justice!

Water Agencies Can No Longer Be The "Silent Utility"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:23:00 +0000

Water and wastewater agencies face unprecedented fiscal, aging infrastructure, affordability of service, management, operator training, regulatory, treatment, and weather-related challenges.

To adapt and appropriately respond to these challenges, the industry needs a new direction and transformation, says the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Water Environment Research Foundation and the Water Environment Federation in Water Resources Utility of the Future: A Blueprint for Action.

The Blueprint, which was prepared to inform the 113th Congress and the Obama Administration's environmental priorities, provides utility managers, state and local governments, the private sector, and others a set of priorities and action plan for the Utility of the Future (UOTF). It suggests internal changes, productivity improvements, and "bold, transformational thinking and cooperation in our advocacy, in research and development, and in education and outreach efforts."

Integrated Utility Management Plans Need Stronger Focus on Strategic Communication

I've reviewed the document with the intention of understanding the extent of the emphasis it places on strategic communication and environmental outreach. While it is mentioned and the authors invite bold, transformational thinking in general, I'd like to recommend that integrated management plans for the utility of the future have a stronger emphasis on strategic communication. Strategic communication, which includes internal, external, risk, crisis, safety, advocacy, environmental, two way-communication, etc. can:

Support transformation and innovation in the water sector
Create optimal conditions for spreading awareness and raising the positive profile of water utilities
Improve the public perceptions of the value of water and the value of the water utility
Help position a water utility as a vital enterprise, essential to thriving, sustainable communities.

Historical Evidence Shows Communication Discussions Not New

Communication and the importance of it for water utilities has been batted about for quite some time now. In the mid-80s, the National Academies challenged the EPA to focus on communication's role in crisis situations. In the 2004 A Strategic Assessment of the Future of Water Utilities’ Future, utility representatives identified nine attributes of excellence that would best position a water utility to excel. They recommended enhanced communication and cited the following -- “maintain strong internal and external communication skills and programs” -- as the number one action item.

In the National Drinking Water Council to the USEPA on Water Security Practices, Incentives, and Measures, Feature 12 focuses on internal and external communication for utilities and advocates implementing strategies for ongoing security-related communication with key partners to increase security and be better prepared to respond to emergencies.

Most recently, in the Water Environment Federation's Energy Roadmap, 40 water professionals with experience generating renewable energy at wastewater treatment plants, identified communication outreach as one of six key activities for progression to a utility of the future.

Action-Oriented Paradigm Shift Needed: It's Time for Stepped Up Strategic Communication

Internal changes and operational improvements can move utilities from collectors and handlers of wastewater to resource managers and environmental leaders. However, if awareness of the transformation is not raised and efforts to communicate about the value of water and the utilities' role in the economic and social well-being of our society is not stepped up, it will be difficult to count communities as partners when bad things happen (e.g., extreme weather events, climate change, aging infrastructure catastrophes, water rights, severe droughts, etc.).

When the media report only utility failures, that doesn't bode well for a utility's reputation and brand. If the media only report on water main breaks, the public's impression of the utility is not fully informed. The full or broader story of a UOTF is much more than aging infrastructure and busted pipes.

Engagement With Communities Critical

As water utilities undergo quantum movements and transformation in their operations, they should also examine their communication operations and portfolio. The utility of the future needs to incorporate continuous improvements in strategic communication, public environmental education, and the creative use of smart technologies.

Water utilities benefit when communities and stakeholders (e.g., legislators, governing boards, ratepayers, students, and the press) know and understand the role utilities play in watershed conservation, public health stewardship, fire protection, quality of life, and delivery of environmental and economic services. A more informed public is more likely to support the needs of water utilities.

Water utilities can no longer be the "silent utility." They need to be much more than a phantom agency that no one thinks or talks about until a main bursts or there is sensational coverage of a water disaster or security-related issue.

All utilities should increase content marketing, storytelling and storybranding on the actions taken to improve operations, sustainably manage resources, strengthen service delivery, and improve environmental quality (e.g., less landfill, reduced consumption of fossil fuels, supporting healthier ecosystems, etc.). Stories should:

Showcase benefits to the local economy and efforts to move toward water independence (e.g., highlight the relationship between water and economic development)
Communicate the value dynamics of actions taken by UOTFs (e.g., implementation of water quality solutions and technologies that save money and preserve valuable resources)
Change the way we think and talk about water
Showcase partnerships that result in improved operational efficiencies
Create awareness about what happens behind the fence with regards to technology development, application and innovation.

Water Utilities Need to be Front and Center

Water is a social good and public trust asset that requires stewardship and protection. It is a prerequisite for and central to our life. The story of water utilities needs to be equally as central. Strategic communication coupled with leadership support and sufficient resources can help water utilities achieve their mission and should be an integral component of planning and operations.

Who the CEO Calls, Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association and frequently writes on water issues. She is Managing Partner and Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources. The firm specializes in communication to improve the earth and its people™— water, science, environment, sustainability, energy, public health, technology and LEED® communication.

Strategic Drivers for Acquisitions in the Water Sector

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:38:00 +0000

by Guest Blogger Paul O'Callaghan, CEO, BlueTech Research

I recently read an article by Chris Gasson of Global Water Intelligence which was thought-provoking and insightful. The article addressed a number of issues surrounding water technology company acquisitions and raised a question regarding what problems companies are looking to solve through these acquisitions.

In my experience advising large water companies' strategic acquisitions activity, I have identified three key reasons why they seek to acquire water technologies companies:

1. To future-proof their technology portfolios

Companies always want to ensure they have tomorrow’s solution in their portfolio, especially if there is reason to believe that tomorrow’s solution will not look like today’s product. Two of the major trends in the water industry that will lead to growth and which may require new solutions are water re-use and energy and resource recovery from wastewater. Wastewater currently consumes energy and does not recover resources. Therefore, if the market is to move towards energy neutral, with a focus on resource recovery, this will require new solutions.

Because innovation within large corporations can be challenging, one way to future-proof the portfolio is through acquisitions. The 2013 BlueTech Forum in Amsterdam on May 14th addresses this exact issue in the “Intrapreneurship and In-House Innovation” panel and the BlueTech Showcase will feature the kinds of companies with highly disruptive technologies (i.e., UV LED companies Aquionics and Crystal IS) that large corporations seek to acquire.

2. To access new market opportunities and drive growth

All companies are looking for growth. Three key areas where growth opportunities exist are:

Where an infrastructure gap exists (e.g., in the developing world economies)
Where a new market is opening that did not previously exist (e.g., shale gas-produced water management, Oil Sands Alberta)
Where the existing market is changing (e.g., the move within wastewater treatment towards water re-use and energy and resource recovery).

One way to access these new market opportunities is through acquisition. In the emerging economies, this can be through local acquisitions of EPC contractors and private operators. In new market areas, such as shale gas, this can be through acquisition of service providers and of solutions specifically suited to these applications. For changes in an existing market, an acquisition can future-proof the technology portfolio (e.g., adding in advanced oxidation or nanofiltration membranes to capitalize on the trend towards water re-use market).

This year at the BlueTech Forum, we are featuring a number technologies aimed at the oil & gas industry and water re-use, and food & beverage (e.g, MIOX, which produces on-site disinfectants and mixed oxidants for municipal and industrial applications and Magpie Polymers, which recovers and enables recycling of rare and precious metals, and reduces metal content in industrial waste-water).

3. To enable new entrants to enter the water technology market

Many new entrants are entering the water market, including companies like LG Electronics, Bilfinger, BASF, Mann + Hummel, Mahle, Clariant, Fuji, Novozymes, PWN Technologies and Outotec. At BlueTech Forum, we will explore this very topic in our "New Entrants to the Water Game" panel and will hear from these companies on what is driving their move into the sector and their strategy for growth.

When executives decide to create a new water business unit within a company, management is typically tasked to achieve certain growth targets in a short span of time, as opposed to decades. In general, it is faster, less expensive, and poses a lower risk for a large corporation to enter the water technology market through acquisition than through internal growth. To start from zero and build a water technology section within a company takes decades, while acquisition would immediately add significant revenue and a footprint in a new market area.

Many previous major acquisition strategies employed the ‘general store’ approach and created what appeared as a ‘water business,’ but was more like a Frankenstein of various assorted bits and pieces that did not constitute a cohesive, functional entity. We are now seeing a more focused and targeted acquisition strategy, where companies first establish their ‘right to play’ in the water sector, recognize their core strengths and adjacencies in the market, and then acquire companies and technologies in market areas of interest. They acquire entities with technologies that supplement their areas of expertise and add to their core strengths.

For example, Mahle, the German car parts manufacturing company, has expertise in filtration in the automotive industry. Thus, their acquisition of an ultrafiltration company, InnoWa Membrane GmbH, makes sense because it correlates to their area of expertise in filtration.

Identifying and Assessing Acquisition Targets in Key Market Areas

The BlueTech Forum showcases a list of twelve specially selected companies at various development stages to present in three key themes: Oil & Gas, Food & Beverage and Smart Infrastructure. These companies are active in the key growth areas we have identified: water re-use and alternative water, unconventional fossil fuels, and energy and resource recovery.

The Norwegian company, Zeropex, recovers energy from water distribution networks and generates distributed power, which can reduce operational costs for water utilities.

MIOX produces on-site disinfectants and mixed oxidants for municipal and industrial applications.

Magpie Polymers recovers and enables recycling of rare and precious metals, and reduces metal content in industrial waste-water to stay in-line with increasing regulation.

QUA uses advanced membrane products for the water, wastewater, and water reuse markets.

Aquionics and Crystal IS will present on one of the potentially most disruptive technologies in the water technology market: UV LEDs.

ANDalyze uses catalytic DNA technologies to enable rapid detection and monitoring of contaminants such as trace metals.

(For the complete up to date list of companies presenting visit www.bluetechforum.com).

In summary, three key reasons for a company to make acquisitions include:

To future-proof water technology portfolios and address the changing landscape
To enable access to new market growth opportunities
To enable new entrants to enter the water technology market and fast-track growth

The next article in this series will focus on three key water technology market growth areas and will provide details on key new market areas and opportunities.

Paul is CEO of BlueTech Research, a subsidiary company of O2 Environmental. BlueTech Research provides clients with expert insight and analysis on industry drivers and trends, helping them to effectively navigate their way through a changing and evolving water technology market and make informed decisions.

This article first appeared on the BlueTech Research blog.

No Water, No Business: The Importance of Water Stewardship

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:54:00 +0000

Water is a requisite resource for business. Without regular or continuous access to clean water, businesses either have to raise prices, shut down or both. Industries that rely on water for operations or manufacturing are the most vulnerable and most at risk.

Throughout the world, water scarcity, water quality, climate change, rapid industrialization, deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices and fast growing populations are putting pressure on companies to understand how water issues can destabilize, radically alter, or halt business performance.

The 2011 Carbon Disclosure Project's Gaining Competitive Advantage in a Water Constrained World, prepared with Deloitte, reveals that over half of 185 Global 500 companies in water-intensive sectors or those exposed to water-related risks have experienced negative impacts from water-related challenges in the past five years. Two years ago, 39 percent of the companies responding reported negative impacts.

Water: A Critical 21st Century Business Issue

Business-as-usual water management practices need to change. Businesses need to make water management a priority and evaluate water risks across social, environmental, hydrological, geopolitical, and broad environmental contexts. Water is a resource that they do not own, yet must take ownership for its responsible usage and implement an integrated water stewardship approach that will create value for all stakeholders.

An enterprise-wide water stewardship strategy is no longer a luxury. Being responsible stewards requires proactively managing water issues, cataloging and identifying the uncertainties to mitigate risk, and putting processes and policies in place to sustainably manage water. Companies need to identity threats and the corresponding ambiguities, and clearly state how and whether water quality and both increases and decreases in water affect their operations, performance and supply chains.

In a recent Deloitte press release, William Sarni, Director and Practice Leader of Enterprise Water Strategy says, "Global business leaders, especially in Global 500 companies, must understand their business value at risk from water related issues and implement strategic plans to help mitigate these risks. Increased competition for water, a finite and irreplaceable resource, from increased competition requires prompt action now. These companies can set the tone for how smaller business can contribute to making informed water decisions."

Water Not Getting the C-Suite Attention It Deserves, Though the Picture is Changing

According to recent reports, water is not getting the C-suite attention it deserves. But, that picture is slowly changing. External pressure from shareholders, investors, accountants, regulators, and developers of innovative and disruptive water technologies is causing behavior change and favorably affecting the value of water paradigm.

Shareholders, regulators, and investors, in particular, are requiring a stepped up evaluation of the water-related risks and responsibilities from a financial perspective, a closer look at the effects that exposure to these risks has on business, and better disclosure of corporate water performance and risks.

Further, in 2010, leading institutional investors and others petitioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide interpretive guidance on what information public companies need to disclose regarding the changes in the availability or quality of water.

Technology & Innovation Important Component in Water Stewardship

In Ernst & Young's Water Related Risks and Responsibilities: Moving From a Risk-Based Approach to Active Management, the findings indicate that water has come dramatically back into focus and its time for businesses to actively manage water risks and treat it as a shared resource. The Ernst & Young report also advocates the application of tailored technological innovations, such as membrane technology for wastewater recycling.

Paul O'Callaghan, CEO of BlueTech Research, a water market intelligence firm, agrees.

"Innovative and disruptive water technologies have the potential to advance water conservation and quality, enhance water security, and create business value. Every water stewardship strategy should have a technology investment component. We see large corporations and smaller tech companies identifying specific market needs and capitalizing on market opportunities for dynamic water solutions and innovative partnerships. From the manufacturing plants that implement water-saving technologies to the technologies used for laser leveling of irrigated land and many others, companies are and should be applying technological innovation to address the challenges of appropriately managing water resources," O'Callaghan adds.

Building A Resilient Future Requires New "Value of Water" Mindset

There's no more room for water denial. Business decisions and behaviors regarding water not only affect public water resources, but can positively or negatively affect a company's reputation, brand image and value, social license to operate, and regulatory and legal compliance. Being a good water steward can enhance or detract from each of these elements and directly affect the bottom line. For businesses, the priority to do list includes:

Determine actual water footprint and "outside the fence lines" water risks and impact of operations on adjacent ecosystems
Document how operations and physical assets could be affected by water quality, supply, reliability and price
Evaluate organizational preparedness to manage water risks
Consider the business impacts of and on water-stressed or ecologically-sensitive regions
Deliver holistic water management approaches
Force intelligent water usage organization-wide
Identify vendors in the value chain whose businesses may also be affected by water issues
Engage stakeholders in collectively managing the water that is available to them
Explore external partnerships for managing water resources and restoring water ecosystems
Evaluate the macro-changes (e.g., demographic, economic, and climate change) on business operations and water availability.

Treat Water with Strategic Importance and Take a Proactive Approach to Water Stewardship

Paul Simpson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, in the Gaining Competitive Advantage in a Water Constrained World, says that every company should "treat water with the strategic importance it deserves...(a)ccounting for and valuing the world's natural capital is fundamental to building economic stability and prosperity, and the global economy will favor businesses that take a pro-active approach to water stewardship."

With a water stewardship strategy and pro-active attention to water management, corporate leaders have the chance to shape the future and value of water, manage the business risks and opportunities water scarcity brings, and support the sustainability of their businesses.

Alliance for Water Stewardship, World Business Council for Sustainable Development Global Water Tool, GEMI Local Water Tool, GEMI Solutions Tool Matrix, IPICA Global Water Tool for Oil and Gas, Carbon Disclosure Project, BlueTech Research, Collecting the Drops: A Water Sustainability Planner, Exploring Pathways to a Sustainable Enterprise: SD Planner, The Water Footprint Assessment Manual, and The True Value of Water: Best Practices for Managing Water Risks and Opportunities.

Written by Donna Vincent Roa, water sector communication expert and Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and environmental science communication firm that provides executives with world-class communication, brand management, and on-call premium research, editing, and writing services. Donna is "Who The CEO Calls."

February 14, 2014: Shift the Business of Love Day to a Love of Business Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Historians say that Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle of writers in England 'invented' in the 14th century the Saint Valentine legend and associated February 14 with romantic love. No longer an official church holiday since 1969, this day has turned into a commercial paradise for those selling diamonds, chocolates and roses.

"Like Chaucer, his posse, and the prolific writer Pope Gelasius, we want to influence the legend and slightly reposition the day to focus on stepped-up digital business engagement and networking," says Donna Vincent Roa, managing partner and chief strategist for Vincent Roa Group LLC, an environmental science communication firm.

By 2014, Make February 14 A Dual-Purpose Holiday

"It’s the perfect time to shift the 'business of love' commercialism to a ‘love of business’ activity and make it a feel-good holiday for online business networking," she notes.

Roa thinks we need to promote February 14 starting in 2014 as a dual purpose holiday to stress the importance of business connections and the value of a nurtured network.

"In today’s economy and tough employment market, novel networking strategies are important for anyone who wants to create strategic business partnerships, move up the corporate ladder, or get a better job," says Roa.

"It's the perfect day to take a moment and connect or reconnect with people you’ve met, but for one reason or another haven’t reached out to them," she adds.

Roa recommends a desk and briefcase spring-cleaning. "Everyone we've talked to has a stack of business cards on their desk -- some stacks bigger than others. It's time to get those out front and center and reconnect with those people on LinkedIn, by phone, or email. Even if you can’t remember where or when you met the person, process that stack of business cards without the guilt. It's Valentine's Day," Roa adds.

A Concept That Needs to Go Viral

"One of those business cards may hold may hold the key to a brighter future for you or your organization," she concludes. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Vincent Roa Group is a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources. We specialize in communication to improve the earth and its people™— science, environment, sustainability, water, energy, public health, technology and LEED® communication. Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association.

Conceptual Framework Needed to Determine the Value of Water

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:54:00 +0000

Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator
Office of Water, US Environmental Protection Agency

For a productive and growing economy, we need water. If there's no water, there's no manufacturing, energy production, agriculture, mining, fishing, and more. In fact, there aren't many sectors of the economy not dependent or influenced by water.

Water is the lifeblood of the economic development.

Simplistic observations about water's value abound. We can talk generally about water's influence. We can provide detailed and rich observations about its role in sustaining economic activity. However, it's not enough to understand water's true value or the complexity of the interrelationships between sectors that need it to operate.

What's missing, according to the the USEPA Office of Water's The Importance of Water to the US Economy" Highlights Document, is a shared conceptual framework that can:

Be applied nationally
Demonstrate how water dependent sectors affect and interact with the rest of the economy
Provide a more robust set of data to inform private and public decision making
Ensure protection of this vital resource.

This report, which was delivered at the Office of Water's Importance of Water to the US Economy Symposium held yesterday at American University, summarizes the findings of its efforts to establish a baseline understanding of how water resources are used in the US and the current methods being used to analyze the economic importance and value of water. The Office is producing a report that synthesizes information from a literature review, expert papers, and a technical workshop.

A bit of background. In November 2011, the USEPA Science Advisory Board posted a Federal Register Notice requesting information on how the availability of clean water may affect economic development and offer advantages to specific sectors. Following this, a public meeting was held in early December 2011 to evaluate the issue and provide early consultative advice to the Office of Water for a project designed to improve the availability and amount of information on the value of water.

At the meeting, Dr. John Powers, EPA Office of Water, noted that his office planned to develop a report on the importance of water and had been evaluating a number of research inputs that would support the final product. According to Powers, this report would examine current data, in addition to incorporating market and non-market analyses and results from research that would be conducted to support this effort.

A follow-up letter sent from the SAB in March 2012 to Administrator Jackson confirmed what the Office of Water already knew: that there is "no organized, science-based analysis quantifying the economic contribution of water" and:

As a consequence, EPA is unable to systematically analyze the value of water to the U.S. economy, resulting in potentially inefficient resource protection and management decisions.

So what's needed? The EPA highlights report concluded that an integrated, system-based, forward looking perspective and a shared conceptual framework were vital to maximize the economic value generated by water and increase our understanding of water's exact role in economic development.

This is an issue that has broad and far-reaching consequences...for water technologies and innovation, the extraction and processing mega-sectors, high-tech manufacturing, energy production, and even the public supply of water. The water-food-energy nexus also represents a hot-bed of activity that directly influences economic activity in many other sectors. Changes in water use in this nexus affect demand and availability in a big way. We need to understand how, how much, when, and why.

The Office of Water is taking the necessary steps to make this value of water project happen and is engaging key leaders in the water sector to ensure a broad representation of stakeholder voices and expertise. It should be praised for initiating the effort and creating a product that will serve as a "catalyst for a broader discussion of water's role in the U.S. economy."

In my next blog article, I will report on some of the highlights of the Office of Water's symposium.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and frequently writes on water issues.

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski: A Champion for Small Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:25:00 +0000

Donna Vincent Roa, Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group
with U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, a champion for small business.

In an effort to help the federal government satisfy its 5% annual women's contracting goal, U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) along with Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) proposed the Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act of 2012, bipartisan legislation to address deficiencies in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) women-owned small business contracting program which Congress directed it to establish over 10 years ago.

As noted on her website: "Women make this country run as business owners, entrepreneurs, politicians, mothers and more, but women-owned small businesses have yet to receive their fair share of federal contracting dollars," Senator Mikulski said.

"Economic recovery and job creation go hand in hand with small businesses success. To get our economy back on track, we have to ensure a steady supply of jobs right here in our communities. I'm committed to making sure women-owned small businesses have to have the tools they need to succeed," she added.

This legislation can help women entrepreneurs compete on a level playing in the federal contracting arena and eliminate a restriction on the dollar amount of contracts that women-owned small businesses can compete for.

Local company goes with the flow for a unique effect

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:19:00 +0000

This article appeared in The Sentinel, October 25, 2012.
By Daryl Buchanan

ROCKVILLE- A local company specializing in business communication and environmental issues is on the rise and doing so with a very unique business model. Vincent Roa Group, a Rockville-based woman-owned firm, focuses its expertise on environment, science, and sustainability, with a particular emphasis on water.

Businesses – CEOs in particular – call on the company to assist in charting the strategic direction of their communication portfolio and ensuring it drives innovation, growth and impact. Building on her extensive work experience in environmental communication and strong industry contacts, Donna Vincent Roa, Managing Partner & Chief Strategist launched the start-up company Vincent Roa Group following a four-year tenure with the US Environmental Protection Agency.

“My professional business communication background and career focusing on environmental and public health issues has set the stage for Vincent Roa Group. Throughout my life, I’ve always been passionate about issues that affect both people and our environment. Having a business that focuses on these issues was a logical and natural progression,” said Roa.

Roa says her clients are mainly chief executive officers and C-suite level executives in both domestic and international organizations.

“My ability as a master strategist to diagnose business problems and deliver communication and branding portfolios that positively affect the bottom line is a key differentiator. The changes that I recommend affect a range of organizational functions – from human resources to executive communication to stakeholder awareness,” said Roa.

It may come as a surprise to some, but Vincent Roa Group is also unique in another way. The company does not have a staff or traditional office space. Vincent Roa Group operates a strategic alliance business model that delivers a ‘council of experts’ approach to client service. Roa hires independent contractors and firms to deliver tailored service packages for clients.

Roa says that this business model is very cost effective for start-ups and for more mature businesses that don’t want to pay for office space, deals with human resource issues and costs, and manages costs of a brick and mortar office. “This model also allows me the flexibility to work with organizations both domestic and internationally and to access contractors from all over the world,” said Roa. “If I have a project in Indonesia, I hire both international and local staff to carry out the work,” said Roa.

Roa says the virtual business model is becoming very popular and is being used by many companies in Montgomery County and throughout the US. “I know a large number of successful businesses, many women-owned businesses, currently using this model and wouldn’t have it any other way. Obviously, it isn’t for everyone, as a lot of people still prefer physical office space and a staff. However, it’s nice to know that this kind of option is available,” said Roa.

Roa says her future goals are to continue to drive revenue, expand the company’s CEO client base, and intensify the focus on water issues. “My stepped-up focus on water issues has expanded my client base to include clients in Europe and Asia, in addition to giving me access to interactions with water industry leaders and organizations impacting innovation in the water sector,” Roa continued.

Roa has recently published The Ultimate To Do List When Your Loved One Dies: Before & After the Funeral.

Currently, she is working on another book titled: The Value of Water: A
Compendium of Essays by Smart CEOs.
More information on the Vincent Roa Group can be found at www.vincentroagroup.com

Vincent Roa Group "Value of Water" Video Wins Second Prize in WEF Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:34:00 +0000

A PSA executive-produced by Vincent Roa Group showcases at WEFTEC.

Rockville, MD – Donna Vincent Roa, Managing Partner & Chief Strategist at Vincent Roa Group, commissioned the production of a PSA on the value of water. The video, produced and directed by Madeleine Pryor, a graduate student at New York University, won second prize in the Water Environment Federation’s “Water’s Worth It” national competition for videos on issues related to the value of water.

The 2-minute PSA focuses on the economic benefits of investing in U.S. water infrastructure for the long-term health of our water supplies and systems. It was shown at the WEF’s annual Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, September 29 to October 3, 2012.

The Water Environment Federation describes itself as “a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world.” Donna and Madeleine are both honored to have won this award and have the video showcased at WEFTEC.

Vincent Roa Group is a strategic business and science communication firm that helps organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources. We specialize in communication to improve the earth and its people™— science, environment, sustainability, water, energy, public health, technology and LEED® communication. Donna Vincent Roa is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the Federal Water Quality Association.

Algae Biofuel for Wastewater Treatment: Nascent Market, But Innovations & Funding on the Upswing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:36:00 +0000

Algae Pond (Photo credit: PNNL - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Over 40 years ago, scientists identified the potential of algae as a feedstock for biofuel. In the early 2000s, the hype about algae biofuel and wastewater treatment was greater than the market’s ability to render commercially viable processes and technologies.

In recent years, the hype has somewhat subsided, and there's been an injection of venture capital, private equity, and government grant funding.

Companies, universities, research labs, established firms, and an increasing number of emerging wastewater-to-energy technology start-ups worldwide have redesigned conventional technologies, and have produced new water treatment technologies. For example, a proof of concept demonstration projects has been set up to show that algae production can be used in large building complexes to clean wastewater and achieve a positive energy balance.

In Japan, on the heels of the Fukushima disaster, a demonstration project was financed by the government and set up to prove that algae can be used for wastewater toxic remediation. A few pilot biorefineries are operational, and there's clear evidence of technology innovations:

High-oil-yielding microalgae strains (Oilgae) and advanced trait algae strains (Aurora Algae)
Tubular or floating photobioreactor panels to the growing and harvesting systems by UniVerve
Greenline’s disruptive wastewater technology
Evodos’s breakthrough centrifugal separators
Aragreen’s proprietary strains of algae
Phenometrics Environmental's Photo Bioreactor™ (ePBR™) and Matrix System.

This reinvented, yet early stage market is showing considerable promise, and there's a stepped-up cadence for the forward march to the mainstream. Recently described by the European Algae Biomass Association as "one of the most promising and attractive renewable sources for a fully sustainable and low-carbon economy portfolio," algae is seen as the breakthrough solution to both energy security and global warming concerns.

The Promise of Algae (Photo credit: AvgeekJoe)

Supporters are primed to explore ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and rely more on renewable resources like algae biofuels. Wastewater can provide the necessary nutrients to sustain algal growth and thereby generate biofuels.

Similarly algal species can effectively remove nutrients from wastewater. A wide range of industries would benefit from the capability to treat industrial wastewater (i.e., meat and poultry, biotechnology, food and dairy, metal finishing, aluminum, catfish farms, chicken farms, textiles dying, pulp and paper, dyes and pigments, distillery and breweries, starch and cellulose, pesticides and insecticides, fertilizers, and chemical and drug formulation units).

Algae biofuel as a low-cost wastewater treatment method offers many advantages over conventional wastewater treatment. And, we are definitely beyond proof of concept with the establishment of several biorefineries. But we are not yet at commercial scale, and despite the injection of venture capital and industry funding using algae for wastewater treatment is still considered to be an unviable business proposition,” explains Conor Dennehy, Water Technology Market Analyst at BlueTech Research.

In the next five years, it will be incumbent upon the commercial facilities to bring down capital costs and consistently demonstrate that this is a good and sustainable investment, Dennehy adds.

Aurora Algae - Genetic Optimization

Aurora Algae has developed a game changing novel technique for genetic optimization to create advanced-trait algae strains and has implemented a strain development tool that expedites the research cycle and reduces research costs.

The company’s patented method of production, harvesting, and extraction and use of “microalgae that outperform others in terms of oil production and algal biomass yield” will guarantee optimization of their industrial algal crops.

Kuehnle AgroSystems - Innovation Algae Production Process

Kuehnle AgroSystems in Hawaii was recently recognized by EPA with an environmental award for its innovative work in producing algae for use in biofuels and achieving the nation’s first connection of industrial CO2 from an oil refinery with a working algae production site.

Using industrial land instead of agricultural land like most biofuel facilities, the company has built a system to continuously produce algae. Late last year, the company "successfully achieved the nation’s first connection of industrial CO2 from an oil refinery with a working algae production site." Their pipe system, which is connected to the Chevron Hawaii oil refinery, removes the carbon dioxide from refinery wastewater that is used for the algae production process.

El Dorado Biofuels - Demonstration Plant Operational

El Dorado Biofuels, which specializes in the cost-effective treatment of industrial wastewater, produces algae in the city of Jal in Southeastern New Mexico, from dirty, saline water from a nearby oil and gas well. The company sells “Jalgae” for biofuels and is offering oil companies an expensive way to dispose of their industrial water.

The company’s demonstration plant received funding from the US Department of Energy (a $500,000 grant) and a $100,000 grant from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program. It is also part of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts.

Government Grants Continue to Fund University Research

Access to funding from a new round of government grants (Algenol Biofuels, Solazyme) has also increased. Texas A&M, the lead partner of a team consisting of university and industry partners, received a $6.25 million five-year grant from the Department of Energy.

The project, led by Jianbang Gan, professor of forest management and economics, focuses on building working model that will improve feedstock, identify soil and environmental criteria necessary for a successful system, evaluate energy issues, and develop approved protocols and sustainability standards.

A similar project was funded by the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for nine leading UK research institutions to figure out how to produce large quantities of algae biofuel. California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo, Sichuan University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Manchester University, Michigan State University, Kansas State University, University of Illinois, and research institutes (e.g., NIWA) throughout the world are conducting research to:

Refine the processes and the technologies
Determine the effectiveness of different microalgae species in creating biofuel as they clean and sanitize water
Optimize algae strains
Develop new patentable technologies (e.g., novel fungal pelletization-assisted technology) for generating third-generation biofuels that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Venture Capitalists and Industry Investing in Research and Commercial Biorefineries

Venture capital investments and private equity investments are accelerating efforts to make wastewater treatment technologies commercially viable and systems that don’t compete with agriculture for water, fertilizer or land (e.g., Algal Scientific Corporation). Industry investments fr

om the likes of ExxonMobil, Monsanto, Honeywell, and Virgin Atlantic to steel companies in China are moving the market in that direction. These businesses seek to improve the efficiency and sustainability of global business operations.

A fuels engineer assigned to Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division explains the greening of Navy Fuels at the first Naval Energy Forum (Photo credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

Companies are joined by big pharmaceutical, big agriculture, NASA, and even the military to develop renewable energy and clean and sanitize the water being used by their manufacturing and production processes.

ExxonMobil, a company once described as a "longtime biofuel holdout," has invested $600 million in algae biofuel research. The oil giant is working in partnership with Synthetic Genomics Inc., a company that is developing and commercializing genomic-driven solutions. The firm has isolated innovative algal strains and has developed several strains through its proprietary synthetic genomic technologies. It will test these at a new 81-acre site with 42 open ponds in California's Imperial Valley.

The company has designed and built a range of photobioreactors to aid in the scale up of their biofuel production. They will also be testing new microbial fuel cell technology for purifying and recycling water discharge from the algae processing.

Microalgae for Improved Sustainability in Wastewater Recycling

Using algae for wastewater treatment offers significant advantages over conventional wastewater treatment (e.g., more cost-effective, has a lower energy requirement, lower GHG emissions, helps to reduce sludge formation and produces economically viable chemicals) and is a more sustainable and technically viable alternative than fossil fuel energy sources.

Working on improving the sustainability of current systems, Dr. Tryg Lundquist, an environmental engineering professor at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA leads research on how wastewater can make algae biofuel and how algae biofuel can be the impetus for better, low-cost, wastewater treatment.

Lundquist leads a project that uses CO2 enhanced raceway ponds to improve the sustainability of secondary treatment. "There are 7,000 municipally-owned pond systems in the US for secondary treatment. We are competing with activated sludge, the most widely used, but expensive and energy intensive. Our process – bioflocculation – uses no chemicals and tricks the algae to act like activated sludge. This method results in higher GHG savings in comparison to typical wastewater treatment methods," he notes.

Global Growth Expected, But Challenges Still Exist

While the global market for algae biofuels is predicted to grow annually by 43.1% to 1.6 billion in 2015 and has huge potential overall, technical, market, and political challenges have the potential to affect the real and prospective value of the algae for wastewater treatment.

Sue Kunz, Strategic Advisor of BioVantage Resources, Inc., a company that offers sustainable, bioremediation solutions for industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewater treatment, explains that there are still issues with strain selection, biomass product limitation, a conservative customer base, and difficult regulatory processes.

"The lack of investment in infrastructure, water security, and technology in addition to financial risks (e.g. nascent market, slow adoption of technologies, value chain dependencies, and long time to profitability) will continue to pose additional barriers," she adds.

Conclusion

Scientists predict that it will take 8-10 years for algal oil production to be commercially viable. A Realistic Technology and Engineering Assessment of Algae Biofuel Production, reports that:

“...(b)oth the time to accomplish these tasks and the scale that algae biofuel production could achieve, are the main questions asked by funders of such research. Both are unknown, and there is not much point in speculating unduly. It is clear from this report that algae oil production will be neither quick nor plentiful – ten years is a reasonable projection for the R&D to allow a conclusion about the ability to achieve relatively low cost algae biomass and oil production, at least for specific locations."

Rapid technological advancement leading toward commercialization requires addressing the uncertainties in a systematic way, providing data to validate and improve operations, and facilitating complementary bi-lateral feedback. This, coupled with investments across the value chain and public-private partnerships, will speed development of innovative technologies and the deployment of this industry.

Additional Resources

See a video about how University of Bath uses algae in the wastewater treatment process.
National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap.
Biofuels from microalgae—A review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products.
Organizations such as the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, a DOE-funded consortium that produces new technologies that can be implemented by its commercial partners and others developing the algal biofuel industry and the European Algae Biomass Association, which actively works to “promote mutual interchange and cooperation in the field of biomass production and use.”
Advanced Biofuels Association.
The time for commercialization is now.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and frequently writes on water issues.

The Value of Water: It May be Old, But It's Valuable

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Maryland, Eastern Shore
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Groundwater has been on my mind a lot lately. I keep thinking about how important it is for us to understand all things about water so that we don't wake up one day with a thirst we will not be able to quench.

I was fascinated by an article in the Baltimore Sun describing about how geologists measured Chlorine-36 and Helium-4 isotopes in water from the Chesapeake and from the Eastern Shore to determine the "age" of the water in each of these bodies.

Through these tests, the geologists learned that water in the Chesapeake "was tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years old, while deeper, under the Eastern Shore, it was more than 2 million years old."

What does this mean for us?

First, there's a set or finite amount of water that's available to Earth's inhabitants. Underground "rivers," which are recharged by rainfall, are tapped by the wells we dig for drinking water. We keep digging wells deeper and deeper to tap the underground aquifers and have little research to help us to understand what impact all this drilling is having on our water supplies.

A cross sectional diagram showing qualitative flow times for various pathways through a typical aquifer system,
from USGS circular 1139.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Droughts and climate change add to the depletion impact on ecosystems and on people. As we experience more droughts, our use increases to compensate (e.g., farmers), and groundwater decreases. Scientists are concerned about the renewal rate.

It's been reported that we are in the most widespread drought in 60 years. Soon water problems will become energy problems as the lack of water available affects power plants, oil and gas production facilities, and other water-dependent operations.

So many things are connected and interdependent. There's also a lot of discussion about and evaluation of the water-energy nexus. How much energy does it take to deliver clean water? How much water does it take to deliver clean energy? This term has evolved to "water-energy-food" and the "water-energy-land" nexus and includes the question: how much water and energy does it take to produce food?

Will we be aware of the point of no return? Are we taking more out than the Earth can replenish? Do we have the systems in place to monitor what's happening under the ground?

Director of the Global Water Policy Project Sandra Postel in National Geographic's Freshwater Initiative in Water Currents notes that "(f)ew places in the world dependent on groundwater bother to do so, which means we’re flying blind into the future of water stress. We can’t manage what we don’t monitor and measure. Keeping our heads in the sand only guarantees ugly surprises down the road."

Water is a resource that we must value and not take for granted. As we come to learn more about the science behind our drinking water sources, we must also learn about and plan for long-term stewardship of these resources. The more that we know and are aware of, the more that we can adjust our behaviors, manage the use of our resources, and guide our sustainability planning.

We need to educate ourselves continuously on the value of water whether it is fresh water, water from the ocean, ground water or surface water.

All water important for economic health and for human health.

Our future depends on how we see and value water. We need systemic thinking, wise choices and a quest for integrated and realistic solutions. Water is a shared resource. Water security should be a shared concern.

Graph of the locations of water on Earth
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Earthquakes, Human Activity and Drinking Water: Exploring the Connections

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Some scientists predict that hydraulic fracturing causes seismic activity and earthquakes. Research conducted in the early 70s at Rangely oil field in Colorado indicated that seismic activity could be both induced and reduced by changing fluid in some deep rock water systems.

The USGS reports that earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in the United States, Japan, and Canada, but that "(e)arthquakes are part of a global tectonic process that generally occurs well beyond the influence or control of humans."

However, scientists are beginning to get additional proof that human activity may likely have an effect. An OOSKAnews article about recent earthquakes in the municipality of Chalco in Mexico reports that scientists believe that these could be a side effect of overexploitation of water extraction from aquifers in the region.

Can draining our aquifers for drinking water have a effect on the occurrence? Does removing large volumes of water cause seismic rumblings?

According to the Mexico's National Water Commission, 104 of the country’s 653 identified aquifers are overexploited. Governor Eruviel Ávila Villegas said that information provided by the Disaster Prevention Center (Cenapred), the three recent earthquakes of nearly 4 on the Richter scale suggest that the draining of the aquifer may have had some connection to the earthquakes.

Interestingly, earthquakes also have an effect on water wells. The J-17 well in Bexar County in Central Texas measured a change in the aquifer level of about one foot when the Japan earthquake caused the walls of the aquifer to expand and contract. The oscillations in the aquifer, which provides drinking water to 1.7 million people to the county and San Antonio, were measured by a float connected to a wire and wheel in the well.

Edwards Aquifer Authority's Chief Technical Officer Geary Schindel noted that the quake's force took about 15 minutes to reach the Bexar County aquifer where in less than 15 minutes the well "acted as a seismograph" and recorded the fluctuations.

This is the most common type of observed ground-water response where there are fluctuations and very little change to the rock formation. Recovery can be so quick or may take months.

In some cases, a seismic event can render a well dry. Elizabeth Ward, a former EPA scientist, reports in Green Risks that "a 1998 earthquake in northwestern Pennsylvania caused about 120 local household drinking water wells to go dry within 3 months after the earthquake and they never recovered."

In 95% of rural households and in 34 of the largest US cities, groundwater is the primary source of drinking water. There are many reasons to continue the research to understand the connection and the effects of earthquakes on our drinking water.

For a visual orientation to the Earth's quake activity taking place since 1898, take a look at John Nelson's map. For your orientation, the US is in the upper right corner of the map.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and Vice President, Marketing & Communication of BlueTech Research, the leading authority on innovative technologies in the water market.

Creating a Sustainable Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:10:00 +0000

This was a first for me: a book jacket quote. Now that I've done one, I am ready for my next one.

Peter Soyka, a friend and colleague specializes in helping companies identify and overcome the obstacles to sustainable business success wrote a book: "Creating a Sustainable Organization."

He asked me to review it and write a note about the book for its cover.

Here's my quote that is published on the book jacket and on his website: "Peter Soyka is a master at bringing clarity to concepts, deconstructing the labels in vogue, and offering a multi-disciplinary, grounded perspective that links socially responsible investing to corporate sustainability. He also diagnoses the changes, challenges, demands and expectations of the paradigm shift involving the EHS/sustainability and financial communities. This book is for organizations seeking to catalyze sustainability thinking and practice, develop a sustainability DNA, and stimulate the right conditions for value creation."

Water sector communication expert and counsel to CEOs, Donna Vincent Roa PhD, ABC, CSR-P, is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, LLC.

Desalination: Mainstream, Self-Sustaining and Spawning New Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 22:29:00 +0000

Written by Donna Vincent Roa, this article first appeared on BlueTechResearch.com.

GP Bullhound, a research-centric investment bank, released an Independent Technology Research Sector Update, titled Water Desalination - Deep Enough to Dive In? The report examines the current state of desalination and its evolution to becoming an integral element of any water sourcing strategy. Paul O'Callaghan, BlueTech Research CEO was one of the industry executives interviewed for the report, which was released Monday, July 2, 2012. Here are some of its key findings.

Desalination Spawning New Opportunities

Described as a "global industry that is now mainstream and self-sustaining, spawning new opportunities," desalination is disruptive, has brought fundamental changes to the water market, and is expected to deliver up to 120 million cubic meter of water each day in the next four years.

New Technologies Reducing Energy Requirements

Thus far, membrane technology improvements and advanced energy recovery devices deliver major drops in energy requirements, improve water treatment efficiency and costs, and are applicable for small-scale operations. "ERI single-handedly halved the cost associated with desalination and as a result were able to achieve 70% market share," explains O'Callaghan.

Reverse Osmosis Useful and Scalable

Reverse osmosis can be used in the mega plants and the smaller ones as well. Off-grid, small and mid-sized plants taking advantage of this more affordable technology are dramatically expanding the market size. And while transport costs are an important consideration, the implementation of best-in-class desalination technologies will make it less expensive than moving the water.

"Today, the energy input to pump water from Northern California to Southern California, for example, is the same as the energy required for desalination in California. As water has to be transported ever longer distances and as new desalination plants implement best-in-class technologies, it will reach a point where it is cheaper to make it than move it," O’Callaghan concludes.

O'Callaghan notes that desalination energy costs at the new Carlsbad desalination project in San Diego, for example, are now equivalent on a cubic meter basis to the energy footprint of pumping water in from Northern California.

Perceptions About Desalination Changing, But Still Outdated

GP Bullhound also reports that while there have been these significant and disruptive "leaps" in technology for membranes, perceptions of desalination have not kept pace. No longer does desalination fit the earlier labels of being expensive, energy inefficient or environmentally unfriendly.

Or perhaps it would be fairer to say the gap is narrowing, desalination efficiency is improving and conventional water options are requiring more energy. Technology improvements in membranes, energy recovery devices, plant design for reverse osmosis, and brine discharge address just about all of the misperceptions.

Demand for Water Up, Plant Installation Not Keeping Pace

The growing demand for water is not met with ramped-up installation of desalination plants, which is often hampered by bureaucratic hurdles, diminishing budgets, and changed spending patterns. Despite this, opportunities have opened up for a new breed of entrants with new reverse osmosis technologies and new business models. Both will require private investment.

As the market advances, opportunities that can generate more positive cash flows (e.g., the replacement market) will exist across the value chain. The application for these technologies is wide and scalable. Other technologies (e.g., de-ionisation, forward osmosis) hold promise, but scale-up times are longer. The report details new technologies' status of development (e.g., membranes, aquaporins, forward osmosis, de-ionisation) and new business models and routes to market (e.g., Capex and plant uptime; brackish water, frack water, wastewater and water reuse; replacement market for membranes; system integrators; asset ownership models; DBOO models; and the Seven Seas Water model).

GP Bullhound is a research-centric investment bank with offices in London, San Francisco and Stockholm.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and Vice President, Marketing & Communication of BlueTech Research, the leading authority on innovative technologies in the water market.

When the Domain Slamming Email Hits Your Doorstep

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:12:00 +0000

As a small business, it's nearly impossible to register your domain with all of the various extensions/suffixes used throughout the world.

Recently, I received a set of emails from a China IP. I understand that these kinds of spam campaigns, or domain slamming campaigns as they are known, are not new. It just feels new when you receive an email. But, buyer beware.

These companies pretend to act as if they have your best interest at heart, but it is quite the contrary.

First, you receive an email (#1) from a domain company in China that says someone in China wants to buy your domain name (e.g., www.vincentroagroup.com). They ask: Do you you own this name (e.g., www.vincentroagroup.com)? Then they say, we are advising them not to purchase this domain and are giving you the opportunity to buy them to protect your online identity.

Then, you receive an email (#2 - see below) from the fake company saying they are going to buy it anyway.

Dear Sirs, We are Henghua company based in China. We will register the "vincentroagroup" as internet keyword and CN domain names .cn, .com.cn, .net.cn, .org.cn. We have handed in our application and are waiting for Mr. Mark Zhang's approval. We think this name is important for our business in Chinese market. Even though Mr. Mark Zhang advises us to change another name, we will persist in this name. Best regards Heather Chiou

This email is followed by an email (#3) from the domain company offering you the opportunity to purchase the domains in China so that no one else will have your name. If you agree to the fraudulent deal, the domainer then purchases the domain listed in their emails from companies like GoDaddy for the regular registration fee (which is nominal), and then they immediately sell it back to you for a hundreds of dollars.

Are they really that desperate and NOT creative enough to come up with their own names? Have they not done their due diligence and determined from a search on Google that this name is already taken and has been in use for many years? Is this what the internet has come to? It's a cheap trick. It's bad branding. I could go on.

One final point: the senders used hotmail. Don't they know it's not cool to use hotmail anymore? They are up to date on slamming practices, but have an outdated email account. Go figure.

All in a day's work.

Check out this article and other links (A B C D E F) for a historical record of the practice and some additional comments with updates from other people who have experienced the same thing.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and Vice President, Marketing & Communication of BlueTech Research, the leading authority on innovative technologies in the water market.

What would motivate you to prefer tap water to bottled water?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Disclaimer: I drink tap water. Lots of it.

I just read this question and the responses on the TallyFox Water Network. I really didn't know how to answer the question because the responses didn't reflect the reality that I know. Take a look at it:

"A report provided by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2008 indicates that tap water in the US is as safe or safer than some of the popular bottled water brands. What would motivate people to prefer tap water to bottled water?

I don't think our motivation to drink tap water or not is affected by quality of water issues. For some people, their motivation to drink or not to drink tap water is informed/affected by the constant bombardment of marketing and communication messages from bottled water vendors pushing people away from tap water.

The global bottled water industry and the huge multinational companies producing bottled water are very profitable...to the tune of billions of dollars. Water from the ground packaged for convenience with nice names, and colorful packaging and labeling.

The bottled water culture's recent explosion in the last decade is due to many corporations' advertising efforts to promote the need to drink "healthy" bottled water rather than tap water. Multinational companies across the globe are racking in billions of dollars with very little effort. The taking of "free" water and making huge sums of money is a response to very loose restrictions on water withdrawal. In areas with few or no restrictions companies are able to sink high-capacity withdrawal wells and later implement bottled water plants wherever they please.

So if you think about this...these companies take water for free, then sell it to us. We open our taps and pay for the water. They get free water with their wells. Can't we see what's wrong with this picture?
Until we get the profile of tap water raised and the value of water defined more precisely in the minds of consumers, we have an uphill battle in motivating people to prefer tap water to bottled water. Arguably, for some, drinking bottled water is about convenience, and these are the likely early adopters back to drinking only tap water. (Fill a stainless steel re-useable and carry it around, for God's sake).

But for most, bottled water is winning from the packaging, labeling, brand building, advertising, marketing, and other fronts.

Water soldiers have a lot of work to do.

Perhaps we can convince water bottlers to take up the cause and push the message that we all drink tap water (first choice) and use bottled water only for necessity or convenience (second choice).

That's placing the environment before profits. What an idea!

It would certainly look good on their sustainability reports if they did that. Hmmm. Let's talk to the companies (42 in the US) who bottle and sell right away.

If 1/3 of their marketing budgets for bottled water was used to raise the profile of the value of water, that is, tap water, we would be having a different discussion and certainly asking different questions.

I am taking names.

Donna Vincent Roa is Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group and Vice President, Marketing & Communication of BlueTech Research, the leading authority on innovative technologies in the water market.

2012 BlueTech Forum - Photo Essay

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 04:30:00 +0000

View the photo Essay 2012 BlueTech Forum

International Women's Day Award - Arlene Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Today is International Women's Day. A day to show appreciation to someone who's made a difference in your life or in the lives of others. Someone who's affected the way that you think, act, and do.

I couldn't help but think about someone that came into my life when I was a freshman in college at McNeese State University. Her name was Arlene Brown, my debate coach and now dear and treasured friend.

There's not another woman in my life, besides my beloved mother, that has had such an amazing impact on who I am. Her advice, her counsel, and her support supercharged my young mind when I was on the debate team at McNeese. She helped me to understand my strengths and to use them to my advantage.

Throughout my life from college forward, she's been an advisor, a counselor, a shoulder to cry on and much more. She knows my inner thoughts on life and love. She knows what makes me tick and is ever the great listener. To all my crazy ideas.

Arlene Brown is the quintessential Southern belle with gentile manners, a calm spirit, and the wisdom of a sage.

On International Women's Day, I salute and thank her for the power she infused in me and her stalwart belief in my purpose(s) in life. Thanks Arlene for being there for me. I honor you today and celebrate you as one who has made a phenomenal difference in my life and in the lives of countless others.

Empowering women is critical to all of us...those within our direct reach and those around the world. I am proud to be a woman in development and have a communication firm that focuses on issues that favorably affect humanity. We must remember that more than 40 percent of the world's population -- 2.5 billion people -- live in poverty, and many of them are women who need equal access to the resources that can help them overcome poverty.

Celebrate this day -- International Women's Day -- and say thanks to someone who has made a difference in your life. Better yet, see where you can make a difference in the lives of women, those sixty-six percent who do the world's work, yet only earn 10% of the world's income.

Send an International Women's Day eCard to a woman you know, to say thank you for all that she does. Better yet, send it to several women who’ve made the world a better place. Or, give the Oxfam America International Women’s Day 2012 award to a woman you think has made a difference to the world. She could be a teacher, your mom, a non-profit leader, a woman entrepreneur, the neighbor who always checks up on you when you’re ill… the possibilities are endless.

Written by Who the CEO Calls™ Donna Vincent Roa, Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a WBENC and WOSB-certified, strategic business communication firm that helps domestic and international organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources.

IABC Silver Inkwell: Vincent Roa Wins Three Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:47:00 +0000

Bethesda, MD -- Donna Vincent Roa, Managing Partner and Chief Strategist at Vincent Roa Group LLC, received three awards Monday night at the Silver Inkwell Awards Gala at the Bethesda Hyatt Regency.

The prestigious and long-running Silver Inkwell program honors excellence and leadership in business communication and recognizes outstanding communication programs that have supported business objectives.

"The Silver Inkwell awards cap off a banner year for me and Vincent Roa Group. I appreciate the positive external validation from IABC and am honored to be on the impressive 2011 slate of winners," Vincent Roa says.

She was honored with three awards of merit -- one for her Association for Women in Communication Matrix Award speech, and two with Len Johnson/Sage Communications for the the AOC Sustainability Communication Strategy.

Award of Excellence winners included: Washington Hospital Center, CRT/tanaka, Network Solutions, Johns Hopkins Medicine Marketing & Communications and Ruder Finn.

Award of Merit honorees included: National Cancer Institute and Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Lipman Hearne, Vincent Roa Group, LLC and Sage Communications, LLC, Enterprise Community Partners and Enterprise Community Investment, ICF International, The MITRE Corporation, Goodwill Industries International, Inc., John Forrest Ales and MCR Federal, LLC.

Veteran ABC7/WJLA-TV reporter and Maryland Bureau Chief Greta Kreuz emceed the event.

Donna Vincent Roa, who is pictured with Paul Duning, Capitol Communicator is a water sector communication expert and leads Vincent Roa Group, a WBENC-certified, strategic business communication firm that helps domestic and international organizations achieve excellence in high-stakes communication, position brand communication as a key enterprise asset, and maximize communication resources.

IABC/DC Metro is the largest IABC chapter in the United States and the second largest worldwide. Donna was past president of IABC and VP of Special Programs (Silver Inkwell Awards) for two years. She was also the 2011 Winner of the Association for Women in Communication Matrix Award for her professional achievements in global communication and a finalist for the WWPR Woman of the Year Award.

Water Sector Innovations: A Transitioning Market for VC Firms and Technology Companies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:16:00 +0000

In cleantech arena, the water sector has been the VC investment and financing stepchild, garnering only 3 percent of the overall $400 billion in annual spending. As innovators confront sector challenges with new technologies that address regulation requirements, rising operating costs, and aging infrastructure, the balance for the sector is shifting to “capital hungry.”

GP Bullhound, a research-centric investment banking firm in the technology sector, reports in its November Water Sector Report that the sector is progressively evolving to an “exciting time of change” for innovators, operators and investors. The report details the growing demands of the industry, enumerates the significant realignments causing the change, and makes the case for an increase in large investment opportunities.

Changes Driving Innovation

What is forcing this innovation? “These change drivers are colliding with an industry that is seen as immune to change, politicized in its decision making, with high capital costs, even higher operating costs, and a civil engineer mindset. Add to the mix a dwindling supply of fresh and clean water, increased energy costs and the entry of managers with a new way of thinking as well as new and large corporates and we have an ecosystem where new technologies can thrive,” the report says.

Waste to Energy Technologies

Experts interviewed for the report included Paul O’Callaghan, CEO of O2 Environmental and founder of the BlueTech Forum, an annual industry event that features thought leaders addressing market insights, opportunities and research. O’Callaghan explained that recovering energy and water from waste is needed. “Each year and in the US alone, there are 36.5 million MW hours of energy lost down in wastewater and 25 million MW hours of this ends up in sludge. Up until now, we have been throwing away our two most critical resources: energy and water,” he says.

For this problem, promising technologies exist and others are near commercialization. These include gasification, conversion into fertilizer, and the production of power through electrochemical processes, supercritical water oxidation processes, sludge conversion and recapture of scarce minerals.

Perceptions of Desalination Changing

In the desalination area, perceptions are changing. No longer is the process seen as being too prohibitively expensive or only the domain of the oil-rich Gulf States. O'Callaghan notes that desalination costs at the new Carlsbad desalination project in San Diego are now equivalent on a cubic meter basis to the cost of pumping water in from Northern California. Increased performance is also expected in this arena.

Outlook for Emerging Tech Companies

While the industry is exhibiting strong signs of a shift, the outlook for emerging tech companies may not be as rosy. With few “well-beaten paths to success” and time-tested role models, young companies face an industry with a fragmented structure, and one that expects proven and sound technologies (e.g., biological processes require testing that allows for the effects of seasons).

Drake Water Technologies
at the BlueTech Forum

The capital-management-customer equation is also fraught with inequalities. The industry may be capital hungry, but if there is no proof of enough customer orders to create a positive margin, the capital will go elsewhere.

Additionally, utilities and municipalities adopt technologies from trusted players. Building trust and market adoption and penetration takes time and are critical for setting the stage for true commercial traction. Capital decision-making and hesitation to commit further complicates, and oftentimes, stalls the process.

Framework Agreements Limit Innovation

Capital and maintenance agreements with large engineering firms have the potential to strangle innovation. If large firms have no incentive to innovate or experiment, commercialization will gain little traction. Evaluating a new technology is one thing. Implementing it is another. Long investment cycles for refurbishments and slow buying cycles further complicate the adoption of new technologies.

Concurrent Changes Needed

At present, there’s little evidence of return-generating exits for financial investors. To post more successes in the sector, qualified and entrepreneurial management teams are needed. Investors and emerging companies must have the patience and willingness to commit to a long-haul journey. Customer relationships are still king as is not betting on the wrong technology and not taking into account the conservative nature of the industry.

Communication, A Strong Sector Complement

Most importantly, one mustn’t overlook the role of communication – especially from awareness, public accountability, and risk communication perspectives. Water main breaks posted on YouTube, for example, create negative publicity. Images of these spectacular explosions do not bode well for community relations and public confidence in a utility’s ability to deliver on the safety and public health front.

Despite the barriers to entry and sector demands, these significant realignments taking place are creating a more VC and investor ready environment. Strategic communication – a necessary sector complement – can help to usher in a new way of thinking for large utilities, create awareness about the value of water amongst the general public, ensure regulatory compliance, and raise the profile of the water-energy nexus.

Written by Donna Vincent Roa, water sector communication expert and Managing Partner & Chief Strategist of Vincent Roa Group, a strategic business and science communication firm that provides executives with world-class communication, brand management, and on-call premium editing and writing services.

2012 Blue Tech Forum | May 30 | San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:36:00 +0000

BlueTech Forum | A one-day, game-changing event for water-tech innovators, large-scale users, industry leaders and venture investors | Save the Date: May 30, 2012 Blue Tech Forum | San Francisco Airport Marriott | An Event by O2 Environmental | Video essay produced by Vincent Roa Group.