Daily Business Report-Oct. 21, 2016
The UC San Diego/EVgo project combines the fastest electric vehicle charging technology, second-life battery energy storage and integration of solar energy to mitigate impact on the UC San Diego microgrid. (Credit: UCSD)
UC San Diego Selected as Energy
Storage Innovation Award Winner
The University of California San Diego has been recognized as an Energy Storage North America 2016 Innovation Award winner for its innovation and leadership in energy storage and positive impact on the energy storage industry.
The campus won in the “Mobility” category for its “Second-life Energy Storage + Level 3 EV Charging” project, which combines the fastest electric vehicle charging technology, second-life battery energy storage and integration of solar energy to mitigate impact on the UC San Diego microgrid during peak hours.
“We are honored to receive this award,” said Gary C. Matthews, vice chancellor for Resource Management and Planning. “UC San Diego is committed to practices that promote sustainability and innovation, not just on our campus, but in our community and our world. We are proud to help advance this technology.”
The UC San Diego Center for Energy Research began a partnership with EVgo, a leading provider of electric vehicle charging solutions, two years ago to develop this project and others. The first of its kind, the Second-life Energy Storage project consists of four electric vehicle charging stations, a solar panel roof and two second-life batteries. Second-life batteries are batteries that have been used in electric vehicles and still have capacity for alternate uses. These batteries help to reduce the cost of a charging station and, consequently, the cost of owning and operating electric vehicles.
“This unique combination of energy storage and PV with DC Fast Charging provides a convenient, cost-effective way for EV owners to charge their cars while minimizing the impact on the power grid while also re-using used EV batteries,” said Bill Torre, program director for the Center for Energy Research.
As part of the agreement with UC San Diego, EVgo funds university faculty and staff to support the project’s physical installations as well as EVgo’s research, development and demonstration objectives. The project is also part of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Technology Demonstration Program, a program designed to help show the benefits of energy storage coupled with public DC fast charging stations, which can charge an electric vehicle in just 30 minutes.
“The project started with two units and expanded to four,” said Byron Washom, director of Strategic Energy Initiatives at UC San Diego. “UC San Diego’s population of 200 electric vehicle commuters now has access to 30-minute charging while contributing to the research and demonstration of these units.”
Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the largest gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, celebrated the winners of its 2016 Innovation Awards and 2016 Champion Awards recently during a reception at the San Diego Convention Center. Award winners were recognized for their leadership in energy storage, services supplied to customers and the grid, unique technology solutions, financing or partnerships.
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Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute Gifted
$2.9M Grant to Study High-Risk Hispanics
By City News Service
A five-year, $2.9 million federal grant will fund a study on managing diabetes among high-risk Hispanic patients in San Diego County by using communications technology, the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute announced Thursday.
The funds from the National Institutes of Health will be used to study a program called “Dulce Digital-Me” to see if text messaging can improve type 2 diabetes management.
Study participants will be recruited from among Hispanic adults of low socioeconomic status who have poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. They will be instructed to use wireless devices to track their blood-sugar levels and medication adherence during a six-month study period, according to Scripps Health.
Half of the 414 participants will receive personalized text messages encouraging proper nutritional habits, emphasizing the benefits of physical activities and reminding them to monitor blood sugar and take medications on a regular basis.
They also will respond periodically to brief questions about their diet, exercise and stress levels via text message. The algorithm-driven text messages will be individualized based on the monitoring data and text message responses collected from each participant.
The other half of study participants will receive standard, one-size- fits-all messages modeled off the institute’s original Dulce Digital program, which demonstrated the effectiveness of using text messaging to improve blood sugar control in a high-risk Hispanic population with type 2 diabetes in 2012- 14.
In the new study, researchers will measure hemoglobin A1c levels, LDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure to see if participants who received the personalized messaging have better results than participants who received standard messaging.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 10 percent of American adults suffer from diabetes, and that could increase to one- third by 2050.
Up to 55 percent of U.S. Hispanics born in 2000 could develop diabetes during their lifetime, according to the National Alliance for Hispanic Health.
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Scientists Unveil First Atomic-Level
Image of Human ‘Marijuana Receptor’
In a discovery that advances the understanding of how marijuana works in the human body, an international group of scientists, including those from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), have for the first time created a three-dimensional atomic-level image of the molecular structure activated by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in marijuana.
The new insights into the human cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) will provide an essential tool for understanding why some molecules related to THC have unexpectedly complex and sometimes harmful effects. The findings also have the potential to guide drug design for pain, inflammation, obesity, fibrosis and other indications.
The new study, published by the journal Cell, was led by a quartet of scientists: TSRI’s Laura Bohn, Northwest University’s Alexandros Makriyannis, Shanghai Tech University’s Zhi-Jie Liu and Shanghai Tech and University of Southern California’s Raymond C. Stevens.
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S.D. Business Outlook Sunnier
After Hitting All-Time Low
By City News Service
A month after a survey of optimism among San Diego area business owners reached an all-time low, an update released Thursday showed slight improvement.
The Business Outlook Index, produced by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, still remained in positive territory.
The index ranges from 100 for extremely optimistic to minus-100 for very pessimistic, with zero being neutral. A survey of around 200 chamber members in the middle of last month put the index at 16.8. The month before, it was 15.6. As recently as March, the index peaked at 27.
“We tend to see a bit of a slowing down towards the end of year, which might explain a bit of the lower optimism we are seeing. But with the manufacturing and construction sectors doing well, that will likely translate into more good paying jobs that will help bring our economy and optimism up as we enter the new year,” said Dino D’Auria, executive vice president and chief banking officer at Silvergate Bank, which sponsors the survey.
Business heads are asked whether, in the upcoming three months, they expect more or less revenue, an increase or decrease in the number of employees or the hours they work, and an improvement or worsening of business conditions.
The survey found increasing confidence among those in the manufacturing section, with drops among respondents in hospitality, transportation, and home and garden.
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Airbnb Users Spent $71 Million
At San Diego Restaurants in 2016
By City News Service
Users of the vacation rental website Airbnb website spent an estimated $71 million at San Diego restaurants over the past year, according to a study released Thursday by the company.
About half of the eateries that benefited from Airbnb customers were outside traditional San Diego hotel districts, the study found.
Overall, Airbnb clients spent $1.5 billion on restaurants in the 19 U.S. markets that were studied, with an additional $3 billion spent at overseas eateries.
“In our little neighborhood, there hasn’t been a hotel built in 50 years,” said Peter Bolter, owner of Kaiserhof in Ocean Beach. “This is an artsy community and Airbnb opens doors for people to visit that Visitors love that this is an alternative neighborhood to downtown with nearly all independent restaurants like ours.”
The popularity of vacation rental websites — like Airbnb, Home Away and VRBO — has exploded in recent years as travelers look for alternatives to hotel chains.
However, they’ve also caused controversy in San Diego and other cities because the rental homes sometimes attract large and loud groups. Dozens of residents, particularly from beach areas, have spoken at City Council committee meetings, asking the city to strengthen regulations on owners of rental properties.
The Airbnb survey found that users spend more money on dining than anything else while traveling, including shopping or visiting attractions.
The $71 million spent on eating out in San Diego over the past year ranks seventh in the U.S. behind New York, which leads at $470 million, Los Angeles at $236 million, San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle.
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Hannah Martine of North Park Selected as
Honorary Survivor for Race for the Cure
Susan G. Komen San Diego has chosen Hannah Martine, a 30-year-old North Park resident, to be the 2016 Race for the Cure Honorary Survivor, a tribute to the young woman’s valiant fight against breast cancer. She will be featured at this year’s 20th annual Race for the Cure on Sunday, Nov. 6 — a 5K and 1-mile race to promote awareness, education and early detection of breast cancer.
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San Diego-Fire Rescue Department
Service Awards Luncheon is Today
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s 2016 Service Awards Honoree Luncheon will be held held at 11:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, led by Master of Ceremonies, Catherine Garcia, Anchor of NBC 7 San Diego.
The annual event is hosted by the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation. The luncheon honors the men and women of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and AMR’s Rural/Metro. The luncheon also will recognize ordinary citizens who have done extraordinary things to help others in their time of need.
The San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation was founded by former firefighters and community leaders to help provide the unmet needs of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Forty-eight awards will be given. The top ones are: Multi Crew of the Year; Fire Fighter of the Year; Paramedic of the Year; Volunteer of the Year; Lifeguard of the Year; Medal of Valor.
