The number and value of green-tech mergers, acquisitions and capital raises in the U.S. dropped in 2009, according to a new report.

Overall, there were 248 deals -- 188 capital raises and 60 acquisitions -- worth a total of $9.5 billion, according to New York-based investment bank Peachtree Green Advisors. The volume of transactions was down 14% from the 289 deals recorded in 2008, and the value dropped 4% from the $9.9 billion that year.

The distribution, storage and efficiency sector had the most transactions, with 90, or 36% of the aggregate. Biofuels saw the steepest decline, with just 27 deals in 2009, compared with 69 in 2008.

The wind industry had deals with the highest value, a combined $3.1 billion, or 32% of the total transaction dollars from 2009. The amount was more than a billion dollars higher than the 2008 total, a 52% boost.

With $2.1 billion, or 22% of the total, the distribution, storage and efficiency sector came in next. The solar and bio sectors each represented 20%.

Petersen Automotive Museum will gain a new resident tonight – a solar-powered car with a hard and fast history.

The Mana La Solar Car will be donated by John Paul DeJoria, chief executive of Beverly Hills-based hair care products company John Paul Mitchell Systems.

DeJoria, whose Hawaiian home is powered solely by sun and wind energy, will attend the installation launch tonight along with actor Peter Fonda and other luminaries. The 19-foot-long Mana La will be displayed through May.

The vehicle, which also ran on wind power, was built in the late 1980s for the inaugural World Solar Challenge race in Australia. Using only sunlight as fuel, 23 cars from seven countries sped 2,000 miles from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Mana La, which was 6.5 feet high and wide, eventually dropped out after struggling with the terrain and low wind power. General Motors won the race in roughly 44 hours with its SunRaycer vehicle, followed by Ford’s entry.

The 10th World Solar Challenge was held in October and is next scheduled for 2011.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: The Mana La. Photo credit: Petersen Automotive Museum

Mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is three more solar projects closer to its goal of supplying itself entirely through renewable energy.

The chain completed installations at its locations at 14501 Lakewood Blvd. in Paramount, 3250 Big Dalton Ave. in Baldwin Park and 421 E. Highland Ave. in San Bernardino, the company said today.

Wal-Mart launched a solar pilot program in May 2007 but announced an expanded initiative April 22 -- Earth Day -- that it hopes will double its use of solar energy in California. The push would result in installations at 10 to 20 stores in the next year, each providing as much as 30% of the facility’s electric needs.

The total solar effort across the state is expected to generate up to 32 gigawatt-hours of energy each year, or the equivalent of the power needs for more than 2,600 homes. The installations would help avoid more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, taking about 2,000 cars off the road – or so Wal-Mart hopes.

In addition to its goal of running entirely on renewable energy, the chain also hopes that its operations down the line will create zero waste -- a tall order for a company with more than 8,000 retail units in 15 countries.

-- Tiffany Hsu

The government is funneling nearly $100 million into training programs for green jobs, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said today.

The funds, part of a $500-million green workforce development initiative through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will go to 25 projects around the country.

The programs are designed to help workers find jobs -- such as hybrid and electric auto technicians, weatherization specialists, wind and energy auditors, and solar panel installers -- in growing energy-efficiency and renewable-energy industries.

The money will be parceled out in Energy Training Partnership Grants ranging from $1.4 million to $5 million each. Projects in communities affected by the restructuring in the auto industry will receive $28 million.

Only one project based entirely in California will get funding. $5 million will go to develop training for the state’s unemployed and underemployed electricians through the California State Labor Management Cooperation Committee for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Assn.

But four other grantees will spread their new resources across several states including California. For example, the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, will spend part of its nearly $5-million package on women, minorities, incumbent workers and young people in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The International Training Institute for the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Industry will also include parts of the state as it creates training for veterans, minorities, women and the unemployed and underemployed using its nearly $5-million grant.

Funding figures for two remaining green grant categories will be released over the next few weeks, according to the Labor Department.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: Newly hired worker Daniel Morabito, left, and Sal Sanchez install thin film technology solar panels for SolarCity in October in West Los Angeles. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Bechtel Construction Co. is pairing with two local unions to fill construction jobs for a solar thermal facility under development in the San Bernardino County desert, the organizations said this morning.

Once construction on the 440-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System gets underway next year, assuming the permitting process is completed, the project could require 1,000 workers at its peak.

The facility, owned by Oakland-based solar energy provider BrightSource Energy Inc., is expected to pay out $250 million in total construction wages. Over its estimated 30-year lifetime, the three plants that make up the complex will create 86 permanent jobs and account for $650 million in total employee earnings, the company said.

The Building & Construction Trades Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties will fill the positions, along with the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California. The statewide council is the umbrella organization for 160 unions representing 350,000 construction workers. Bechtel, the contractor, will provide wages, fringe benefits and working conditions, according to the agreement.

In October, San Bernardino County’s unemployment rate was 14%.

The facility will create electricity using hot steam that turns a turbine. Thousands of mirrors called heliostats will reflect sunlight into a boiler on top of a tower filled with water. To conserve water, an air-cooling system will convert the steam back into water once the electricity is produced.
The process will use 100 acre-feet of water, equal to the yearly water use of 300 homes.

The energy produced by the plant, which will be enough to power 156,000 homes and displace enough carbon dioxide to take the equivalent of 75,000 cars off the road, will be sold under separate contracts with Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison.

But the plan is already kicking some of the same controversy and environmental concerns that led BrightSource to scrap plans in September for a solar facility in the Mojave Desert.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: BrightSource Energy

A new report suggests that green business is good in the Golden State, with the number of companies up 45%.

The data will officially be released tomorrow by Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, both based in Northern California. Among the big news is that while total jobs grew just 13% in the state from 1995 to 2008, green employment jumped 36%.

And even during the slow economy from 2007 to 2008, green jobs inched up 5% while overall employment fell 1%.

Service-related positions made up 45% of all green jobs in California, with the largest portion in environmental consulting. Manufacturing jobs took up another 21%, half of them in energy efficiency and the other half in energy generation.

Employment in energy generation expanded by nearly 10,000 jobs -- or 61% -- from 1995 to 2008, with solar representing the largest portion and the strongest growth.

Energy-efficiency jobs increased 63% since 1995, while positions in green transportation boomed 152%.

Highlights from Southern California include:

• 40,000 total green jobs from 1995 to 2008 in the Los Angeles area, including Ventura County
• 18,000 green jobs in Orange County in 2008
• In the Los Angeles area, energy-generation jobs grew 35%, energy-efficiency positions leaped 77% and green-transportation posts rose 29%
• In Orange County, green-transportation jobs, including in alternative fuels and motor vehicles, shot up an astounding 1,875%. Energy-generation positions grew 176% and energy-efficiency posts increased 78%.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photovoltaics producer First Solar Inc. sold a 21-megawatt Riverside County solar facility to leading power company NRG Energy Inc. for an undisclosed amount, the company said today.

First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz., is building the project in Blythe and has worked out a 20-year power purchase agreement to sell the electricity to Southern California Edison. The plant is expected to generate more than 45,000 megawatt-hours per year, offsetting more than 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in that period.

Construction, which began in September and should be completed by the end of the year, created 175 jobs, according to the company. First Solar will operate and maintain the facility under the agreement with NRG, which is based in Princeton, N.J.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: First Solar Inc.