Profile: Frontier Energy

Profile: Frontier Energy

Jan 25, 2018

Would it surprise you to hear that a company founded less than two years ago is coordinating top California infrastructure for zero emission cars, helping build some of the most energy efficient housing in the nation, and changing the way restaurants do business?

We certainly were impressed.

Frontier Energy, founded in 2016, describes itself as a “new company with a long history”, and we quite agree.  Made up of five companies in seven U.S. offices, Frontier Energy’s diverse expertise pulls from nearly 150 years of collective industry experience. While the strengths of each company differ, they all have one goal in mind: to drive growth with a positive environmental impact.

Frontier Energy’s Building Research and Energy Consulting division (formerly Davis Energy Group and CDH Energy) specializes in zero-net energy building design and equipment. In 2015, they helped engineer Woodland’s Mutual Housing at Spring Lake project, which became the first certified zero net energy rental housing in the U.S. and won the World Habitat United Nations award in 2017. Frontier’s current projects include the Liberty community, a sustainable community that will add a potential 1,500 homes to West Sacramento, and the next phase of West Village student housing at UC Davis.

Meanwhile, Frontier Energy’s Commercial Foodservice division (formerly Fisher-Nickel) is committed to optimizing restaurants and commercial kitchens. From cleaning filters to replacing appliances to adjusting the temperature of the water heater, they help restaurants drastically reduce utility bills that tend to be 5-7 times higher than similar-sized businesses. Frontier Energy operates and staffs the Food Service Technology Center in San Ramon.

Beyond consulting across food and housing projects, Frontier Energy here in Sacramento specializes in power and transportation. In the quickly changing world of zero emission vehicles, Frontier Energy’s Transportation and Power division plays a key role in moving infrastructure and technology action plans forward. Frontier Energy (formerly BKi) has been operating and staffing the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento since 1999. Right now, Frontier Energy is helping implement hydrogen stations throughout California and across the country, and coordinates with international hydrogen and fuel cell programs.  You can see the locations and current operational status of hydrogen stations on the CaFCP station map, which is powered by an open-source software system that Frontier Energy developed.

Chris White, who leads marketing and communication for Frontier Energy, said the company is unique because it has found a way to “leverage decades of company strengths and experience to work on cutting-edge technology.” Thirty years ago, a now Frontier Energy company shipped one of the first electric vans to the U.S. from England to study it. Today this company is stretching its knowledge from Sacramento to New York with plans to grow. CleanStart is looking forward to its progress both in the Sacramento region and beyond.

To learn more visit Frontier Energy’s website at https://frontierenergy.com/.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate is a recent graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has a strong background in entrepreneurship and global politics. After helping launch an AgTech startup on the central coast, Kate is back in her hometown looking to take her experience into the world of Cleantech and help grow the Sacramento region.

Tenkiv Developing Strategic Partnerships

Tenkiv Developing Strategic Partnerships

Jan 16, 2018

With the New Year we wanted to check in on Tenkiv.  They recently won the sustainability category at 2017 Sacramento Region Innovation Awards and earlier this year they held a 24/7 live stream of their crowdfunding campaign. So, after the final 1 million cups of 2017 we sat down with Arya and Joe of Tenkiv in Impact’s Sacramento office and learned about their 2017 and future plans.

Arya and Joe recently returned from Portugal, and are working on developing international and regional strategic partnerships so Tenkiv can begin manufacturing their Tenkiv Nexus. The Tenkiv Nexus uses Solar Thermal in a radical solution that can generate Electricity and Produce potable water. The Tenkiv Nexus can provide multiple solutions to developing regions without access to developed infrastructure and people looking to rely less traditional infrastructure.

Tenkiv is exploring strategic partnerships with four groups. Locally they are looking at bootstrapping and using multiple vendors to manufacture parts then assemble them in California. However, Tenkiv knows this is not scalable so the additional partnerships are to support scalable growth. They have an agreement with Rettig to explore manufacturing and their trip to Portugal had them meeting with the European Union and Portugal Government exploring grant opportunities part of the Horizon 2020  program to bring sustainable development to under-served areas.  In the US they are looking at a partnership with a Fortune 500 company.

While we are excited about everything happening with Tenkiv we are rooting for them to stay local. The Tenkiv Nexus fits with SMUDs Zero Carbon footprint goals, it fits perfectly on tiny homes, the water and power solutions can make growing copious amounts of marijuana more efficient, and it would be a hit at burning man.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

Sponsors

SMUD
CMC
RiverCity Bank

Weintraub | Tobin, Revrnt, Moss Adams, PowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig

ARB and CEC opportunities for a Happy New Year!

ARB and CEC opportunities for a Happy New Year!

Jan 10, 2018

Happy New Year!  CEC and CARB making over $750 million available for clean transportation projects

If you have some innovative clean transportation technologies that can be used in a project to reduce reduce GHG and air pollution emissions, take a look at a couple of funding announcements that came out at the end of the year.  They provide a great “heads-up” on where opportunities will be in 2018.

The whopper is from the California Air Resources Board, which has allocated $663 million to fund clean car, truck, and bus projects in the coming year.  See this link to read the details.  The money is targeted mostly to provide subsidies to those who want to buy clean transportation equipment, with about $400 million focused on freight trucks and buses.  There is also an objective to fund projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.  If you can come up with an idea that fits these objectives and helps you commercialize or deploy your technology, give this funding notice a look.

The California Energy Commission is obligated to devote $100 million per year to alternative and renewable fuel technology for transportation and has released its plan for allocating that money.  See this website.  Some of the solicitations under this plan have already been issued, with deadlines for proposal at the end of January.  The projects they have in mind deal with hydrogen refueling infrastructure, with making renewable hydrogen, with uses of natural gas in vehicles, and with electric vehicle recharging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities.  This CEC money is a bit more on the R&D side, but also favors projects.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

Looking Forward: What’s in the Hopper for CleanStart?

Looking Forward: What’s in the Hopper for CleanStart?

Jan 10, 2018

With our established track record of success in classes and events in 2017, we have been making some plans to expand our offerings in 2018.  

New for 2018 will be our “Cleantech MeetUps”, eventually on a monthly schedule.  CleanStart, in collaboration with the Sac State College of Engineering and Computer Science and other sponsors soon, is starting a series of these meetings.  Each of these will feature 2-3 companies that are already in operation making presentations and answering your questions.  The first will be on January 25 starting at 5:30 pm, with details still being arranged.  The focus of this first one will be on energy management in the home.  Others are being planned around batteries, electric vehicles, solar, and biofuels.  You will be surprised at how clever our local companies are.  The January 25 MeetUp is free and very informal, so plan to attend.  Over the course of these MeetUps, you will get to hear from the majority of our local “Cleantech 100”.  They will enjoy getting your feedback and appreciate getting better known.

Last year, over 150 people attended our classes and gave them rave reviews.  We are continuing these classes on advanced topics this year, and planning sessions already on crowdfunding ( a follow-up to our highly successful first session in 2017), best practices in dealing with your investors, understanding how to apply for funding from the ARB and CEC, how best to manage your intellectual property, and what the bitcoin opportunity may mean for clean tech [See blog].

We are also looking for other ways to showcase our companies and to connect them to investors.  We will be helping companies get well-prepared to participate in pitchfests being organized by other groups in the area and doing our own coaching and bootcamp sessions.  

If you have suggestions for us, let us know.  We are more than halfway to our goal of $5 billion in revenue and 10,000 jobs in the core cleantech sector.  We want to be sure we get there as fast as we can.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.