This summer has been anything but slow for the staff at Strategic Biomass Solutions.  We have two major events coming up in early August and have been busy getting ready for them.  The Renewable Energy Venture Development Academy (REVDA) seminar will be held August 7, 2012 and is aimed specifically at entrepreneurs, economic developers, researchers, investors and students who are interested in learning more about the business of renewable energy and what it takes to pull off a successful venture in this sector.  We use two models that serve as the basis for this course - the Goldsmith Commercialization Model� that takes an innovation-based business from the idea stage to a mature company and the Butterfly Model� that I developed during my doctoral research, which looks at collaboration between various private sector and public sector entities to get the job done.  

Our goal for developing the REVDA content has always been to draw from real life examples and experiences of companies and investors we work with on a regular basis and leverage the appropriate public resources.  You will hear live from an investor who has done over $10 billion in private equity and debt deals as he shares what his criteria are for investing and selecting biomass projects.  Also see the interview in this newsletter with Lois Schonberger, CEO and Founder of Solar Network Solutions, a dynamic company based in San Francisco which helps the solar energy industry collect and organize the massive amounts of data produced by large commercial and utility photovoltaic arrays.  Public sector support for many types of energy projects and technologies, whether they are fossil fuel, nuclear or renewable, is an important component for their successful deployment.  Recently I met Marie C. Johns,Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at a White House Rural Economic Forum in Oxford, Mississippi and she informed me about a new web portal that puts announcements and resources from various federal agencies under one roof.  

This course has now been held from coast to coast and holding it in at our office in Ridgeland, Mississippi allows us to offer it for a huge discount since we don't incur the overhead expenses that a conference in California or Florida does.  Limited scholarships are also available towards the seminar tuition and Joseph can tell you more about them, but you must hurry as the clock is ticking!  

Following the REVDA workshop, August 8 & 9 is the Southeast Biofuels and Renewable Energy Conference in Jackson, Mississippi.  While this is the 11th year of holding a renewable energy conference in Mississippi, it is the first year for the Mississippi Biomass and Renewable Energy Council (MBREC) and Mississippi State University to formally partner for organizing this conference.  The conference is broken up in clusters of bioenergy, biofuels, bio-products and solar applications and has an excellent line-up of speakers and panelists in each cluster.  Topics of discussion include the latest research in the respective fields, policy, financing and commercial deployment of new technologies.  MSU's EcoCar team, that has won first place nationally, will be making a special presentation at the beginning of the conference. I hope that you will be able to attend the REVDA workshop as well as the conference and show your support for this emerging sector in the Southeastern United States.  

 

As always, please email me or call me direct at 601-960-3659 with your feedback and let us how we can serve you better. Thank you and enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

 

 

Sumesh Arora, Ph.D.

Director, Strategic Biomass Solutions  

Strategic Biomass Solutions analysts Joseph Linton and Natalie Boudreaux interviewed Mississippi native Lois Schonberger of Solar Network Solutions for this month's feature.  Click  here for more information.

Event News  

Southeast Biofuels and Renewable Energy Conference

The Southeast Biofuels and Renewable Energy Conference, which will be hosted by Mississippi State University's Sustainable Energy Research Center and the Mississippi Biomass and Renewable Energy Council will take place August 8-9 at the Marriott in Jackson, Miss. Click here to register.  For more information on this conference, including sponsorships, contact Lydia Allison.  

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Strategic Biomass Solutions is dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, investors and economic developers in order to drive renewable energy technologies to market.  SBS is funded in part by the United States Department of Energy.