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As first reported by KBJR, Spirit Bay Trading is closing its doors Monday, June 22.

The Canal Park staple sells Native American art, jewelry and supplies all fantastic things I would check out anytime that I was in the area.

Spirit Bay's owner, Terry Smith, told KBJR he's nearing retirement and was considering downsizing when the lease was up. Like so many businesses, the pandemic sped up these plans.

Smith is planning to hold an auction to sell remaining items.

On a similar note, Lincoln Park cocktail lounge Noble Pour closed in March. But the space wasn't sitting silent for long.

Owner Tom Hanson also runs the adjacent OMC Smokehouse, which has now taken over the space. They knocked out a wall to expand floor space in OMC, making social distancing easier and allowing them to welcome more customers.

OMC opened its indoor dining Wednesday at 50% capacity, according to its Facebook. And, apparently, you can still enjoy a cocktail in the new space.

Hanson told the News Tribune that the expansion is a big investment, similar to "a poker hand saying, Im making my last bet here."

Minnesota's CareerForce is holding a virtual career fair Monday for those who identify as LGBTQ or are allies.

The career fair features businesses known for their LGBTQ track record. Specifically, businesses were selected for their history of inclusion and support of LGBTQ employees, as evident by their culture and policy.

Each business will share information about available jobs, LGBTQ inclusion efforts and company culture.

The fair is Monday from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Find more information and register on CareerForce's event page, careerforcemn.com/events.

There's been an influx of new spaces for outdoor dining, which should come as no surprise to Minnesotans.

Restaurants weren't allowed to open their indoor spaces until recently, and were limited to serving customers at outdoor patio spaces or via delivery and pickup.

Bridgeman's is one Duluth businesses that's adding patio seating. Fox 21 reported the restaurant had plans to build a patio before the pandemic hit, but the pandemic presented an opportunity to speed up patio construction.

You can enjoy their ice cream in an outdoor setting a fantastic combination starting this weekend, when the patio is slated to be complete, according to Bridgeman's Facebook page.

The restaurant also has indoor seating.

Kelly Busche covers business and health for the News Tribune. She loved outdoor patio dining prior to the pandemic, and is happy to have even more options now.

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The Memo: New patios, OMC and more - Duluth News Tribune

VAUGHAN Dozens of nail and hair salons line Steeles Avenue in Torontos north end, but while the shops on one side of the street were bustling with weekend customers on Saturday, businesses on the other were locked up with their lights out.

The busy road serves as a border between the City of Toronto and York Region, and while the latter is in the second stage of re-opening, the former has a higher concentration of COVID-19 cases and remains in Stage 1, so many services are still shuttered.

For Toronto residents near the border, accessing some services is now a matter of crossing the street.

At nolaSalon in Vaughan, Sofia Romashova said there were some walk-ins from Toronto when they first opened on Friday, although theyre now booked up for the next three weeks.

Some of the customers are coming from as far as downtown Toronto and Mississauga.

Were booked from 9 a.m. till 8 p.m., said Romashova, adding that their salon is only accepting three clients at a time to ensure that they can maintain physical distancing between customers.

The salon wasnt allowing customers to sit on sofas inside, and went through an intensive cleaning process after each client.

Michelle Clark, a customer who was getting her hair cut on Saturday afternoon, said she was from Toronto but within a walking distance from the salon.

Im lucky I live where I live, she said.

I didnt see what the point was in opening York Region and not Toronto, but I guess its more for people in downtown.

Farther along Steeles, patrons were enjoying coffee and pitchers of beer on a patio at the Tickled Toad Pub & Grill, where the second stage of reopening has allowed restuarants and bars to serve customers at outdoor seating areas.

The pub first opened the patio on Friday, and owner Paul Merrimel said there was an immediate rush from when they opened at noon until close.

It was a crazy day, said Merrimel, adding they had to tape off a section of the walkway to account for the long line that formed.

Everyone was happy to get some sort of normalcy happening, the mood was fantastic.

Merrimel said they have many regulars who live just across the street in Toronto, who have been coming to support the bar.

While he said theyre fortunate to be able to open up before venues on the south end of the street, their business is still severely limited. The pub is licensed for around 200 people, but is currently only serving 36 at a time.

In the past, Merrimel said being in Vaughan had been a disadvantage when bars in Toronto were allowed to extend hours for sporting events and his wasnt.

This time were sort of ahead and we got a jump on things, which is nice, he said.

Were obviously on the right side of the street.

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On Steeles Ave., salons and patios can open, but only on one side of the road - Toronto Sun

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Denver Working To Expand Patios Into Sidewalks, Parking Lots - CBS Denver

Vancouver has issued 85 patio permits in the three weeks since the launch of its expedited application process.

The citys Temporary Expedited Patio Program, which allows restaurants and bars to set up temporary patios on sidewalks and streets, opened at the beginning of June. Close to 150 applications have already been received and with summer patio season in full swing and little time to waste, more than half have already been approved.

In recent months, the city has prioritized freeing up additional space for temporary patios, so that physical distancing requirements can be followed at Vancouver businesses, and 73 of the newly issued permits are for patios on public lands, such as roads, on-street parking areas and sidewalks.

We realized right away that in order for our businesses to continue, they would need some extra space for physical distancing, said Neil Wyles, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Area. We have been working closely with city staff as they navigate the new issues and realities of this pandemic and it has been rewarding to see applications make their way through the approval process.

On June 11, council also approved bylaw amendments to include patios on private property. Twelve private patios have already been approved, and another 16 private patio applicants are working with the city to complete their applications.

Ciy staff expect permits for private patios to be available by the end of the month. Patios that do not require construction can be approved within five business days.

As co-owner of three restaurants and a brewery in Vancouver, I can attest to the incredible hardship all restaurants in the city have endured during COVID-19 closures, said David Nicolay, co-owner of the Cascade Group and Main Street Brewing Co.

With the expansion of patio options in line with the provinces recommendations of safer outdoor space to gather, restaurants will have an amazing opportunity to capitalize on the summer patio season.

The city is also working to approve patios for breweries, wineries and distillers, and will be holding a public hearing on a proposed bylaw amendment on June 30.

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Summer patio season gets boost as Vancouver issues 85 new permits - The Province

Downtown pub owner says downtown businesses 'are dying down here' because the city doesn't 'seem to be able to react or respond quickly'

Downtown business owners wanting to create patios or expand into parking spots will get some financial relief from the city.

At a special council meeting Thursday, a motion from the Economic Recovery Task Force was passed that will see more than $50,000 put toward helping businesses expand into the public realm.

To offset the cost of patios, the city will take $30,000 from the Downtown Tomorrow Community Improvement Plan (DTCIP) Reserve and put it toward the 2020 DTCIP building improvement grant program for patios.

Another $20,000 will come from the citys Social Assistance and Economic Recovery COVID-19 Emergency Relief Reserve, to help cover the costs of permit and application fees as well the fees businesses are charged for using parking spaces.

Also from that reserve, the city will use $7,000 for signage and marketing.

Laura Thompson, the citys senior manager of business development, called it a made-in-Orillia approach that was created following consultation with more than 80 businesses both restaurants and retail operations.

Businesses will have to apply to the city to have the fees waived. That process typically takes four to six weeks, but council is creating a patio task force in an effort to expedite the application process.

One part of the motion that concerned some on council was temporarily taking the authority away from the Downtown Orillia Management Board (DOMB) when it comes to approving tables and chairs on sidewalks.

The board had previously stated it wanted to maintain that authority. However, Coun. Ted Emond, who chairs the Economic Recovery Task Force, noted it is a very, very minor part of the DOMBs role in authorizing intrusions into public space.

If theres an issue with tables and chairs being on the sidewalk, the DOMB can only have them removed; its the city that would have to make a decision on expanding into a parking space. So, givingthe city that temporary authority wouldmake that process go faster, Emond said.

The motion passed unanimously. Coun. Rob Kloostra wasnt at the meeting and Mayor Steve Clarke declared a conflict of interest because he owns a restaurant downtown.

Paul Raymond, who owns the Hog N' Penny pub, said waiving the fees for the use of parking spaces makes sense given the situation.

Im just asking for a little break here this summer, he said, adding many businesses are dying down here because of the blow theyve taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raymond was critical of the hoops businesses typically have to jump through to get a patio. When he put his in last year, it had to be approved by officials in various departments, and the patio didnt get put in until late August.

Its just incredibly difficult. They dont seem to be able to react or respond quickly, he said. Theres no efficient process. You cant do anything until those volunteer committees sign off on them.

Susan Willsey, who runs Apple Annies Caf, has also been critical of the citys response to supporting businesses during the pandemic, but she said the decision Thursday to provide relief is great.

She would like to see parts of downtown closed to traffic on Saturdays, during the day. The Economic Recovery Task Force is working on a follow-up report on street closures.

During a recent meeting, the DOMB said it would support, should it be deemed necessary, street closures on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 11 p.m., from July 3 to Sept. 5, to accommodate the expansion of patios and retail establishments in select sections of Mississaga Street East and West and Peter Street South based on participation.

That doesnt make any sense at all. That just looks like a sop, Willsey said. We have very few businesses open in the evenings on Friday and Saturday.

Its mainly bars and restaurants that are open during those times, but many people who come downtown want to both eat and shop, she said, which is why a closure during the day would make more sense.

The task force is hoping to have its next report ready within a few weeks.

The following summary of DOMB survey results was included in Thursdays report:

There are approximately four patio lease approvals downtown on an annual basis. It is not likely, but if all respondents who noted interest proceed through the approval process, this would constitute an increase of 600 per cent or 24 patio/retail expansions.

Continue reading here:
Council OKs more than $50K to help businesses expand patios - OrilliaMatters

Could Richmond turn streets into open dining spaces like herein Alexandria? Image by Joe Flood licensed under Creative Commons.

With demand for parking down 90% across America, business leaders and city officials alike have begun repurposing empty streets and vacant parking stalls into outdoor seating and public parklets. Except in Richmond. Over the three years of the citys parklet permitting program, not a single application has even been submitted.

But with COVID-19 related closures in full swing and restaurants desperate for revenue, could now be the perfect moment for Richmond to refashion its car-centric public space into patios and parklets?

Everywhere to park, nowhere to go

With the number of American lives lost to the novel coronavirus fast approaching 120,000, the need for strict social distancing to prevent its further spread has become painfully clear. While the pandemic has taken a toll on nearly all aspects of normal life, the experience of dining out has been particularly pressed to adapt to these challenging times.

In Virginias current Phase 2 of managing the virus, restaurants may allow patrons to sit inside but in limited numbers and unprecedented circumstances. Interior dining rooms may not exceed half their capacity while parties must remain six feet or more away from each other. The food industry turns a notoriously tight profit margin as is, so with inside seating cut by half how is a restaurateur supposed to get ahead?

For thousands of business owners across the country, the answer to this conundrum has been to look outside. Eight decades of car-centric city planning has gifted (or cursed) nearly every establishment in America with an overabundance of parking right out front, whether on the street or in a dedicated lot. With nowhere to safely go during the pandemic, the vast majority of those spots have been left empty for months.

To help their food scenes survive these hard times, cities across the world have closed their streets to cars and opened them for people to sit, dine, and enjoy the fresh air. One might expect vibrant metropolises like Miami or New York City to be leading the way, but many of the most ambitious cities have included more modest candidates such as Cincinnati which released plans to convert 25 streets into outdoor seating. Even suburban Maryland has gotten in on the action with a streamlined streatery program.

Its exciting to see other cities spring to action to provide more outdoor space for dining and recreation during the pandemic, especially cities you wouldnt expect like Cincinnati and Tampa, said Max Hepp-Buchanon, Venture Richmonds Director of Riverfront & Downtown Placemaking. Theyve converted parking to spaces for people so that residents can continue to enjoy their city during a time of crisis by eating outside.

As Richmonds eclectic food scene has powered the citys rise onto tourism to-do lists, one has to wonder why local government has yet to make space for one of our top assets. With some area restaurant owners worried they may have to close up shop permanently in two months time if they cant seat more customers, could now be the perfect moment to copy other cities plans and open Richmonds streets to its restaurants?

A survey question about open spaces from the Richmond 300. Image by Richmond 300.

Cafs over cars

According to 1st District City Councilmember Andreas Addison, the demand from the food industry is there. Business owners have been reaching out to me to help them add patios or sidewalk seating, but the challenge we have in Richmond is that parking requirements cause people to become possessive. If we take parking away, some worry that itll be hard for people to get to businesses even if new patios create more space for the actual business, he said in an interview.

Despite the familiar tetchiness any attempt to rework parking for private vehicles into more public spaces habitually triggers, 9th District City Councilmember Dr. Mike Jones believes it would be worth it if the move helps save Richmonds beloved restaurants.

Business owners livelihoods are locked into the health of our communities, he said. As someone who drives a very big car, I would give up on street parking to help out our restaurants. Can we give up some of our on street parking to make sure they have the space they need to function? I would support a resolution to make that happen!

Addisons office has been working behind the scenes to try and streamline the Citys parklet permitting process through which such parking to patio conversions would happen; however, currently the city charter requires each application be reviewed by the City Planning Commission as well as the Urban Design Committee before any changes can take place.

We wanted to introduce an ordinance to eliminate the reviews on parklets and waive the $350 permitting and $150 renewal fees, but we had to push pause on that unfortunately, said Daniel Wagner, Addisons Liaison.

With vocal support from Richmonds Director of Economic Development who has asked interested businesses to submit their request for more patio seating through the Citys RVA Strong assistance platform, Addison hopes much of the process can be fast-tracked, including the Department of Public Works formal application.

With many restaurants terrified by the prospect of permanent closure within two months time, Councilmember Jones is calling for fast action: If were truly pro-business, then we need to explore some of these things that may make us uncomfortable but will help keep our restaurant scene alive. This cant be a 60-90 day affair. This needs to happen quickly within the next 30-45 days. Speed and government arent usually synonymous, but this is something weve got to get done as soon as possible.

If Petersburg can do it

Nearly perfect proof that a quick remedy to the current dining crisis is possible lies just a half an hour south of Richmond in Petersburg the much-panned crown jewel of Virginias Tri-Cities. Within a matter of weeks, the Cockade Citys administration, city council, and business community came together to open historic Old Towns Sycamore Street as an outdoor dining promenade.

With charming string lights and more than 40 socially-distanced tables available to patrons, this stretch of town between Bank Street and Bollingbrook has come alive with an energy as close to pre-pandemic life as possible. Twenty tables are reserved for three restaurants along the corridor (Alibi, DJs Rajun Cajun and Longstreets) while the other half are open for diners to sit at as they see fit. By placing all tables 10 feet away from one another, the City hopes to provide a safe space for local businesses to flourish.

After facing a complete shutdown for two months, local business owner DJ Payne appreciates the reprieve. This has drawn a lot of people down here and helped our business come back quicker and faster, he said. Im now doing the same level of sales I did last summer.

To keep up with his freshly booming business, Payne has had to hire three servers, a bartender, and two more kitchen staff essentially a doubling of his workforce. Despite the summer sun, he says Old Towns 40 tables stay full from 11 am to 11 pm.

I havent spoken with one person yet who has said anything negative about this, said Payne in an interview. Everyones excited that Petersburg has brought back space in which we can hang out, grab a drink or a meal, and enjoy the fresh air. We should have done this a long time ago. Were working with the mayor and city council to make this permanent. Nobody misses driving down that block of the street anyway.

Can Richmond replicate the success?

Addison for one believes Richmond can catch up to its southerly sister city. People are starting to realize there may be an opportunity here, and its my hope that we can take this chance to become a more walkable, bikeable city, he said. The biggest thing we need to do is to get the proof of concept on this idea out there so we can help people to better understand the advantages and hurdles of these changes.

A mural in front of Brewer's Cafe in Richmond. Image by Hamilton Glass.

With his experience organizing Richmonds 2019 Park(ing) Day in which 20 parking spaces were converted into temporary parklets by some of the citys top architecture and engineering firms, Hepp-Buchanon hopes he can help. Last Septembers celebrations were a good demonstration of how businesses can expand the space for their customers to sit outside and eat, he said. We need to do everything we can to lower the barrier to entry on the implementation of parklets. Id like to partner with local businesses to shepherd the first parklet through so we can work with local officials to figure out how we can make it as easy as possible to expand this program.

If the City can work with business owners to restore parking for private vehicles back to public space, Jones bets the move could prove a boon to Richmonds restaurant scene, regular residents quality of life, and even to the towns artsy reputation. I would love to see the creativity that would result from this, he said. We could have projects like the mural AJ Brewer put in front of his caf all over the city. People are going to transform spaces with art and furniture, and I think the city could actually become more alive than its ever been.

Wyatt Gordon is Greater Greater Washington's Virginia Correspondent. He's a born-and-raised Richmonder with a master's in Urban Planning from the University of Hawaii at Mnoa and a bachelor's in International Political Economy from American University. Previously he's written for the Times of India, Nairobi News, Civil Beat, Style Weekly, andRVA Magazine. You can find him on Richmond's Northside.

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Could Richmond transform parking into patio seating to save its food scene? - Greater Greater Washington

Council agrees to waive the $1,200 encroachment fee so restaurants can set up patios to comply with social-distancing measures

The Town of Midland is hoping patios will be a way for both the public and restaurants to findsome joy during the pandemic.

Council opted to approve the move this week after staff presented a report created onthe province guidelines around phase two of reopening. The move will see the town waive the $1,200 encroachment feeas well as fees related to building and fire inspections. This provision is available to local food and beverage businessuntil October 15.

During discussions at Wednesday's meeting, Coun. Bill Gordon said he wondered if the same provision could be made available to retailers around town.

"This program is awesome," he said."I just request one modification that I want this made available to every business in Midland. This is a short program and it ends in October."

But that suggestion was quickly nixed by staff.

"Unfortunately, the regulation is pretty clear that it must be adjacent to the restaurant so that will not be feasible at this point," said municipal law enforcement officer Jim Reichheld.

Gordon, however, persisted.

"I just want to make sure we level the playing field," he said."I know this is in suggestion to the province's opening of patios for restaurants. Can we not just add on this and open it up to everybody and let sidewalk sales and whatnot happen?This could be the difference between them giving up and keeping going through the summer."

Coun. Cody Oschefski said he could see that being of benefit to some retailers downtown.

"I support the motion and I like councillor Gordon's idea as well," he said."I had a business owner reach out to me with their business next to a restaurant and they were wondering if they could offer their space to their next door neighbour for a patio.I'm just wondering if we canmake an avenue available to downtown businesses to offer their space."

From there, town solicitor Amanpreet Sidhu spoke up to explain the legalities of the matter.

"It's a really great suggestion," he said, addingperhaps council could give administrative staffa bit more time to take another look at the regulation.

"This policy is in direct response to phase two. We don't see similar changes to the retail side and we want to be cautious in trying to make changes so we don't run afoul of any other provisions."

Sidhu said that while he can understand that councilwants businesses to be successful and survive, he would bea little hesitant to say yes or no.

"When your admin looked at drafting this bylaw, it was specifically considering the provincial provisions," he said."We haven't considered other options. We don't wantto provide advice to council that may come back and harm us. (But) we will certainly look into it."

Mayor Stewart Strathearn agreed with staff.

"We could have a special meeting to allow for that if we can," he said. "Right now, we would be remiss to having put in all this effort and then go against the province and health unit."

Glen Canning, owner of The Elegant Gourmet, said he welcomed the move.

"I support that wholeheartedly," he said."I'm happy to see this change. It is a good move and it should make the town more enojyable regardless of circumstances."

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Patios coming to Midland just in time for summer - OrilliaMatters.Com

After what seems to have been a lifetime in quarantine, Chicago is ready for Recess! Today, the West Loop restaurant and bar officially kicks off summer with the debut of an expansive 14,500-square-foot patio. Who would like a little fresh air, a whole lot of sunshine and an ice-cold cocktail?

Recess, located at 838 W. Kinzie in the West Loop, features multi-level outdoor space comprised of shipping containers turned into bars, cabanas and food stations.The patio opens this week as Mayor Lori Lightfoot begins the process of re-opening businesses in Chicago.

The menu includes elevated pub fare, a wide selection of frozen drinks, craft cocktails, beer and wine. The bars signature water cooler drinks are offered table-side, as well as classics like the Southside and original cocktails such as The Aldermans Choice, made with tequila, peppered watermelon syrup and lime. Recess also offers fros, available in new flavors rotating weekly. On weekends, brunch service includes bottomless mimosas, a killer Bloody Mary and delicious fare featuring locally sourced ingredients.

Recess opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays, and at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are recommended, but not required.

All safety guidelines and procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will be strictly followed by Recess staff and enforced for all guests. Those guidelines include proper 6-foot distancing between tables (maximum of 6 guests) and a choice between single-use or digital menus available via QR code. Masks must be worn at all times except while seated at the table. Staff are following rigorous sanitation practices and will have their temperature checked before and after every shift.

More info: https://chicagoinrecess.com/

About Recess

Recess serves good times and zero red tape in Chicagos West Loop. The casual bar is home to the neighborhoods largest outdoor patio, offering guests a lively, communal atmosphere complemented by live music, delicious drinks and craveable bar food. Recess and City Hall are a joint venture between Atomic Hospitality, creator of six-time Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree Untitled Supper Club and event venues Morgan MFG and Artifact Events, HAM Hospitality and 8 Hospitality Group.

Link:
New bar Recess claims to have largest patio in Chicago - WGN-TV

Restaurants around Seattle are beginning to reopen during phase 1.5, which allows for 25 percent capacity indoors and 50 percent outdoors, in addition to other COVID-19-related safety guidelines from Washington state. Now, Eastlake Bar & Grill is attempting to take things a step further by introducing enclosed tents on its patio.

The plastic greenhouse-like structures, which debuted last week, are open at both ends and come outfitted with some lights. They arrive a few weeks after the grill along with sibling restaurants Greenlake Grill and Lake Forest Bar & Grill opened for curbside takeout. According to the restaurant, the staff is still asking guests to take proper safety precautions when walking through common areas, waiting for their table, and using the bathrooms.

In Washington, all tables and chairs both indoors and outdoors must be separated by six feet of distance. Guests arent required by law to wear a mask, but Gov. Jay Insee has said restaurants can refuse service to diners who dont wear face coverings. Even though Seattle did not reopen dining rooms as early as some other cities, COVID-19 is still a continuing threat. To date, there have been 8,722 confirmed cases in King County alone and 591 deaths.

As restaurants around the country and the world reopen, some have implemented unusual efforts to create more separation between diners, like the Eastlake Bar & Grill enclosures. In Columbia City, Hawaiian-Korean restaurant Super Six also set up an outdoor tent separate from its regular patio for seating. And Eastlake Bar & Grills director of operations Brendon Cook said the tents were inspired by something they saw happening in Norway via social media.

We are considering ordering a larger, taller tent for larger parties, says Cook. This would be a year round option for our guests.

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Eastlake Bar & Grill Sets Up Two-Person Tents on Its Patio - Eater Seattle

Bird's eye view of Heliogen's Lancaster, CA test facility.

Bill Gates calls it the 75% Problem.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants only account for 25% of total, and electrical generation is one source of GHG emissions for which cheap renewable sources are well-suited.

If we dont radically reduce the remaining 75% of emissions, we could carpet Arizona in wall-to-wall photovoltaic (PV) panels and still not do enough to bring down atmospheric CO2 levels.

The trouble is that the remaining three-fourths of emissions are mostly generated through large-scale industrial and agricultural processes that lie at the core of virtually every product we enjoy in our modern lives steel, glass, concrete, grains, beef, plastics, chemicalsthe list goes on and on.

These end products or their essential inputs can only be manufactured by using very high temperatures; with current processes, the only way to generate the heat required is by burning fossil fuels.

This situation leaves us with the mother of all quandaries:

Either we destroy the capacity of the planet to sustain our complex human civilization or we give up the fruits of our complex human civilization to preserve the planet for some schmoes we will never meet.

When faced with this kind of a quandary, the only solution is to think outside the box.

Ive got it! Why dont we tie industrial production to a process that can scale really quickly, like Moores Law!

In fact, one of the most inventive, entrepreneurial engineers ever to come out of CalTechs annual crop of incredibly inventive, entrepreneurial engineers Bill Gross, founder of the first tech incubator, Idealab has already followed the chain of logic above and come to the same Moores Law epiphany. He and the company he founded to operationalize his Eureka moment, Heliogen, is well on the way to implementing a solution that holds enormous potential for mitigating climate change.

If Gross and Heliogen are successful in their ambitious plans, we will all have a chance to continue enjoying the fruits of a modern, industrial life using heat generated solely by renewable resources.

Heliogens secret is the application of recent advances in computing power, imaging systems, and artificial intelligence to the field of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP).

A Brief Guide to CSP

Different CSP configurations exist; the type most analogous to Heliogens system has the great name of Solar Power Tower.

(See also my 2019 article about another company GlassPoint Solar for a look at a trough CSP configuration.)

CSP installations do not absorb solar energy like PV panels instead, they concentrate the suns light at a specific point using mirrors. Solar power tower installations are some of the most beautiful and elegant industrial facilities I can imagine, with a meticulously arranged, dish-shaped array of large mirrors, called heliostats, that silently reflect the suns light at a focal area on the central tower.

Aerial view of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110 megawatt plant near Tonopah, Utah.

Pipes running to the top of the tower and back allow molten salt to flow into an area at the heliostats focal points. The concentrated light rays heat the molten salt before moving it into an insulated tank where it can be stored until it needs to be used, for example, to create steam to run a generator.

These CSP installations operate on what engineers term an open-loop control system, just like your kitchen oven.

Your oven buzzer rings when the time you initially set runs out, whether the oven contains a 14-pound lump of turkey sashimi or if your roast is well on its way to becoming a cubic zirconia. The oven receives no information about the doneness of the dish, so cant make adjustments to the heat or the cooking time.

Similarly, heliostats in a CSP installation are programmed to move according to precise calculations of where the sun should be in the sky, but do not receive information about how accurately their rays are hitting the tower.

In a world where there were no earthquakes, wind, dust storms, or clouds, an open-loop control system would work just fine. In the world we live in, these kinds of environmental factors mean that heliostats are never positioned exactly right; since they dont receive feedback from the tower about where their beams are hitting, they cant compensate for the environmental factors throwing them off.

A view of the central tower at the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the Mojave Desert. The tower area ... [+] illuminated by the heliostats is about three stories tall.

Because the light from the heliostats is not perfectly concentrated, current CSP installations can only generate temperatures up to around 650 degrees Celsius. This is sufficient for some industrial applications, but for the really polluting activities manufacturing steel, glass, concrete, and hydrogen the CSP temperature ceiling is about 400-900 degrees lower than what we need.

Heliogen CSP

Gross realized that by turning a CSP installations open-loop control system into a closed-loop one, he could concentrate the suns rays much more precisely and, in so doing, generate much higher temperatures.

Heliogen CSP arrays take advantage of:

In other words, Gross has designed Heliogen so that its technology can ride the wave of Moores Law rather than being stuck on the plodding development path associated with civil engineering projects.

The efficacy of the Heliogen CSP design is evident from photos of the companys test installation in Lancaster, California.

A view of the solar power tower at Heliogen's Lancaster, California test facility. The area ... [+] illuminated by the heliostats is about the size of a basketball hoop.

The Heliogen heliostats are so precisely focused using the closed-loop control system that the sunlight is concentrated in the small circle on the tower seen in the photo above. The total area at which the reflected sunlight is concentrated in a Heliogen system is about the size of a basketball hoop. Compare that to the focal area of a conventional CSP system, which is about the size of a New York City brownstone.

Heliogens phenomenally accurate focusing is made possible by cameras mounted on the tower that monitor the angle at which the heliostats are pointed and by a few powerful but off-the-shelf GPUs that use proprietary software to make real-time adjustments to the position of the heliostats.

Gross told me that the system hit 1,000 degrees Celsius immediately after the team flipped the switch on its first test run and that, after a bit of tweaking, the test installation is now capable of hitting 1,500 degrees Celsius precisely the range that the most polluting industrial applications require.

Potential Impact

While all the articles covering Heliogen Ive seen so far talk about the potential to carry out cement manufacturing, the thing that excited me when I started researching the company was the potential to split water to manufacture hydrogen.

Cement is heavy and hard to move. Heliogen stores heat energy in stone, another medium that does not immediately bring portability to mind. However, hydrogen is the lightest element and is easily transportable as long as one is careful with it. It can easily be converted into useful, energy dense chemicals as well.

Completely aside from my conversations with Gross, I have been struck by the number of reports that have crossed my desk lately opining about the hydrogen economy of the future. At present, 95% of hydrogen is produced using a process called steam reformation which burns copious amounts of fossil fuels. The fact that Heliogen sees a pathway to manufacture essentially unlimited amounts of hydrogen without burning a single fossil fuel molecule is an unalloyed positive for society.

This allows civilization the chance to maintain a high standard of living while getting the Keeling Curve headed in the right direction.

Next Steps for Heliogen

Heliogens announcement in late 2019 that it had generated temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius using its CSP system garnered a flood of requests from firms around the world. Gross told me that, out of this initial group, he hopes to go live with three major pilot projects within the year. The aggregate revenue potential for Heliogen when each of these pilots are built out totals billions of dollars.

I still have a few technical questions out to Gross and his team and, even though Im excited about the wonderful potential Heliogens technology represents, am also conscious of the immense complexities involved in novel and ambitious engineering projects.

In addition to discussing his stunningly ambitious plans for Heliogens future growth, Gross and I spent time talking about the current state of climate change investing and, unsurprisingly, he had some terrific insights. I will be writing up my interview notes and publishing to this column very soon.

Its clear that Bill Gross knows, as I do, that humanity faces a challenge of the gravest nature and that our only chance is to embark on a paradigm shift with boldness, creativity, and passion.

Intelligent investors take note.

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