Locus Technologies Wins Environmental Business Journal’s 2009 Business Achievement: Information Award

The 2009 crop of winners contended with what likely was the most challenging business conditions in history.

EPA Delays Start of New Rules on Emissions

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday the agency would delay subjecting large greenhouse-gas emitters such as power plants and crude-oil refiners to new regulations until 2011, and would raise the threshold for using the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

This decision will be welcomed by the industry but will also afect many GHG (single product) software companies.

ExxonMobil to Implement Locus EIM Worldwide

ExxonMobil to Implement Locus EIM Worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., February 22, 2010 — Locus Technologies, the industry leader in Cloud Computing-based environmental compliance and information management software, today announced that it has received a 2009 Business Achievement Award in Information Technology (IT) from the Environmental Business Journal (EBJ). This award recognizes Locus for significantly expanding its client base and its product line.

In 2009, Locus expanded its Software as a Service (SaaS) applications in the areas of environmental compliance, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions monitoring, Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) and sustainability, and added clients in the utilities, grocery and engineered materials industry sectors. Locus also expanded its presence in its key market—oil and gas—by starting worldwide implementation of its environmental information management (EIM) product at ExxonMobil. In addition, the company expanded its presence in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) market.

Locus also gained recognition among key IT independent research analysts with initiation of coverage by Gartner, Verdantix, and UtiliPoint for its position in enterprise-level environmental software offered through its Cloud Computing platform. Also in 2009, Locus received accreditation by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide GHG emissions verification services, one of just a few companies to obtain this status.

“We are honored to be recognized for the fourth time by the Environmental Business Journal with its Business Achievement Award,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “The year 2009 was an outstanding one for Locus. As one of the oldest and most established providers of EH&S software using the Cloud Computing model, we broadened our offerings by introducing an entirely new category of SaaS GHG and sustainability products for the environmental industry, while at the same time solidifying our position at the top of water quality management services. We also significantly enhanced our Fortune 100 customer base, who embraced our new offerings.”

Said Environmental Business Journal Editor Grant Ferrier: “Locus has continued to innovate and demonstrate its leadership position in the environmental software industry by expanding its Cloud Computing-based services from water quality management to GHG and Sustainability offerings. We congratulate them on their continued innovation and success in serving the environmental business community.”

The EBJ Business Achievement Awards will be presented during the Environmental Industry Summit 2010, scheduled for March 3-5 in San Diego.

 

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS JOURNAL
Environmental Business Journal (EBJ), a ZweigWhite publication, is the leading business publication for companies operating in the environmental industry. EBJ provides a strategic overview and an independent perspective on market trends and business strategies that affect this changing industry including competitive strategies, new business opportunities, and up-to-date market trends and data.

For more information, visit www.ebionline.org.

Congress to investigate hydraulic fracturing for concerns about potential drinking-water contamination

WSJ reported today that concerns about potential drinking-water contamination are prompting Congress to investigate hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling technique that has helped boost U.S. natural-gas production. Hydrofracturing has been used by the oil industry for decades but has become far more common in recent years as companies discovered large new gas fields  in the US. The resulting drilling boom helped U.S. gas production surge by about 20% since 2005, but sparked concerns that chemicals from the process could seep into drinking-water supplies.

“As we use this technology in more parts of the country on a much larger scale, we must ensure that we are not creating new environmental and public health problems,” Mr. Waxman, chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, said in a statement.

The industry beleives that hydrofracturing is safe and with proper tools like Locus EIM water quality management software can prove that hydrofracturing can be managed to protect groundwater resources. Now, more than ever, a proper water quality management tools are necessary to address skeptics and prove that hydraulic fracturing is not linked to large scale drinking water contamination.  It is almost certain that EPA will legislate this technology and require better monitoring and reporting.

Locus Again Recognized as Carbon Software Leader

Groom Energy Research Study Reveals Carbon Software Growth

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 25, 2010 — Locus Technologies was recognized as one of the leaders in software for greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting by Massachusetts-based research firm Groom Energy Solutions. Their Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) report is titled “2010 Enterprise Carbon Accounting: An Analysis of Corporate-Level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reporting and a Review of GHG Software Products.” This report comes only weeks after UtiliPoint International, Inc., a key utility and energy industry analysis and consulting firm, in a similar report recognized Locus as one of the oldest and most comprehensive providers of GHG software.

“We are very pleased that some of the leading industry analysts, first UtiliPoint, followed by IDC, and now Groom Energy, have recognized Locus as one of the most established and versatile companies in the sustainability and environmental software space,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

Founded in 1997, Locus pioneered the use of the Internet’s power to manage all aspects of environmental business, focusing on environmental information management (EIM) developed on a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and delivered through Cloud Computing. In addition, ePortal, the Locus environmental executive dashboard, brings key environmental information to the user’s desktop in a Yahoo!-style single sign-on (SSO) interface, providing the ability to drill into the data when a more in-depth view is needed.

“With our suite of diverse but well integrated products offered through an SSO, along with our stellar client list who manage environmental information in real time using Locus Cloud Computing software at over 36,000 sites around the world, Locus is well positioned to continue to lead the environmental software market,” added Dr. Duplan.

Thirteen years after Locus’ founding, environmental software has become a multi-billion dollar industry with new players entering almost daily. In its report, Groom Energy stated that more than $46 million in venture capital was invested in ECA startup companies in 2009, while large software companies like Microsoft and SAP also entered the market. The research also confirmed that the number of corporations disclosing GHGs increased significantly in 2009 and predicts that ECA software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011. To distinguish Locus from competition, Locus offers a proven track record of delivering complex environmental information management and compliance solutions over the Internet for over 10 years.

The New York Times, in commenting on the Groom Energy Study, reports that the current ECA industry leaders are a mix of longtime software players and startups. The newspaper predicts that winners will be the companies that can integrate various applications that not only manage GHGs but also provide management of other, mission-critical environmental data and information, such as water quality and consumption management.

The analyst reports highlight Locus’ experience in Cloud Computing, not only for the company’s GHG emissions management, but also for its general leadership in the complex space of environmental sustainability software, including water quality management.

Locus is an industry leader in providing Web-based Cloud Computing information technology to help manage data and information related to water supply and quality to meet the growing need for clean water.

Any climate bill before the U.S. Congress is almost certainly to be delayed after the 19 January 2010 special election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last December declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health. The “endangerment finding” announced by EPA will allow EPA to manage GHG emissions under the 1970 Clean Air Act, and opens up large emitters such as power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and metal smelters to regulations that limit their output of carbon dioxide and other gases. Managing GHG under the Clean Air Act will be more costly to the industry. The biggest threat of huge new energy taxes and government controls right now comes not from cap-and-trade legislation, but from the existing regulation such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. As a result, the industry will focus on the broad spectrum of existing environmental compliance issues, all of which require specialized software and a deep knowledge of regulations, all of which Locus developed and deployed over the last 13 years.

Requirements for environmental compliance have existed for years. The Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule of September 2009 represents yet another element (and a relatively small one at that) in a long list of environmental compliance activities to which U.S. companies are subject. In particular, oil and gas companies are facing increased regulation and enforcement by the EPA.

As a result, many companies are revisiting their environmental, health and safety (EH&S) strategies and are looking for software applications not only to manage GHG or environmental data, but also to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs.

“Locus has served this market exceptionally well since 1997, and maintains the leading position in many of its segments,” noted Dr. Duplan.

ZDNet GreenTech Pastures | Need to verify your greenhouse gas emissions? Locus Tech has your back

Environmental software developer Locus Technologies has earned the right to provider greenhouse gas emissions verification services by the California Air Resources Board.

Locus Technologies Offers Greenhouse Gas Emissions Verification Services

Locus is one of only a few California Air Resources Board certified GHG verification organizations

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 18, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been accredited by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions verification services. Locus is one of just a few companies to obtain this accreditation.

The accreditation allows Locus to provide verification services for GHG emissions reports. The verification team at Locus consists of experts in all reporting requirements. Locus’ in-house Lead Verifiers are certified in all sectors including refineries, cement production and electricity transactions to provide verification services for all reporting scopes.

On December 6, 2007, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the CARB approved the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions regulation. The regulation requires the mandatory reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Facilities subject to GHG reporting are mandated to have their greenhouse gas emissions verified beginning in 2010, for their 2009 reported emissions. Facilities will be subject to either annual or triennial verification. Only CARB accredited verification bodies and verifiers may provide GHG emissions reporting verification.

“GHG emissions are becoming important parameters to accurately measure and report. Locus is excited to offer services to aid clients in meeting the new GHG reporting requirements,” stated Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

Locus has also developed a cloud computing based software program to collect, manage, and report GHG emissions. “With the training and certification in validation, we are confident that the emissions data in our software can be quickly and easily verified by a third party,” said Dr. Duplan.

Orion Environmental Inc. Selects Locus Environmental Software

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 11, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, today announced that Orion Environmental Inc. has selected Locus’ Environmental Information Management (EIM) system to streamline environmental data management at its clients’ environmental remediation sites.

EIM streamlines the data entry, analysis, and reporting of water, air, and soil data uploaded from laboratories or input from the field, so that Orion Environmental can get reports and answers quickly. This data is stored in a central, secure location and can be easily shared with regulators, clients, or in-house management. EIM also provides standard analytical chemistry tools and report generation in an easy-to-use system for Orion Environmental.

Locus has also released a new utility that offers customized reporting using templates based on customer formatting and document requirements. Users can define filtering, data sequencing and formatting, and footnotes for a report and save all criteria for later use. This new utility allows EIM users to generate report quality data tables with only a few clicks without any required third party software. Reports can be run on any computer that has a web browser allowing for report generation at any time and any place. This utility has great potential to reduce reporting costs and labor.

According to Jeff Gwinn, Vice President at Orion Environmental, “Locus EIM has improved our productivity through automatic data quality checks, real-time data queries and graphics, and automated data tables for regulatory reports. EIM’s ability to manage our data, including direct laboratory upload of sampling results, saves us and our client’s time and money. EIM’s ability to manage multiple sites within a single database is perfect for our larger clients.”

“We are very pleased that Orion Environmental has joined the rapidly growing list of Locus’ customers to streamline environmental information management services. This example is very significant proof of what an astute environmental consulting company is able to achieve through a partnership with Locus. Through the use of Locus EIM, Orion is able to provide superior data management services to their customers using cloud computing and bring cost efficiencies throughout the business process, resulting in a win-win for both Orion and their many customers.” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

In addition to EIM, Locus provides advanced enterprise environmental information management software systems to the environmental industry. Locus’ ePortal product gives small and large enterprises a world class option for management of all environmental and sustainability data, from compliance tracking to greenhouse gas accounting tools, in a simple and easy to use dashboard based system.
ABOUT ORION ENVIRONMENTAL INC.
From its Long Beach, California, headquarters, Orion provides industry and government clients with environmental services ranging from site investigation to remediation and closure. Orion’s engineers and hydrogeologists specialize in designing, installing, operating, and enhancing remediation systems to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater.

For more information, visit www.orionenv.com or contact Mr. Jeff Gwinn at (562) 988-2755.