Update:  The sky is falling

Not really.  But several pieces of sobering news from the past couple of days:

• They say that more wars have been fought over water than oil.  Even if that’s a now-dated statement, it still highlights the environmental, humanitarian, and national security implications of this report from SRI Consulting that concludes that global demand for water will exceed supplies by 56%... within 20 years.

• Then there was this nugget regarding long-term oil production forecasts from the head of French oil giant Total:  “100m barrels [per day]...is now in my view an optimistic case. It is not my view: it is the industry view, or the view of those who like to speak clearly, honestly, and not…?just try to please people.”  Bear in mind that the IEA and the USGS are forecasting 116+ mbpd to meet demand under “business as usual” by 2030, up from around 85mbpd today.  Don’t expect oil prices to go into any sustained decline anytime soon, in other words…

• Lastly, Jason Makansi notes that enthusiasm for coal-fired electricity is waning, with new plant permits under a lot of pressure in unexpected places.

So we can expect severe water, fuel and electricity supply challenges… Which seems like a good segue into the past week’s cleantech venture deals:

• Battery component innovator Atraverda has raised a $21.5mm Series B round of financing, from BankInvest New Energy Solutions, Espirito Santo Ventures, and existing investors Scottish Equity Partners, Chord Capital, Finance Wales, EnerTech Capital and OnPoint.

• LED Lighting Fixtures (no further description necessary) has raised a $16.5mm Series B, led by Digital Power Capital.

• “No really, we’re” Serious Materials has raised a $50mm Series B to help further commercialize their eco-friendly drywall.  NEA, Foundation Capital and Rustic Canyon Partners participated in the round.

• Khosla Ventures and BIOeCON have joined forces in a Series A to form KiOR, another developer of lignocellulosic biomass-to-fuels technology.

Cleantech cluster news:  Massachusetts takes a big step toward renewable fuels standards...  Seattle VCs may be missing out on cleantech (for now), but the region is ripe for investment…  And here’s an article on the biggest “cluster” of all.

Other news and notes:  Tyler is also on the “down” news cycle, with questions about the viability of fuel cell cars and EEStor...  Here’s a useful overview report from Deutsche Asset Management (note: opens large pdf)...  Finally, the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys combining portable electronics and heavy breathing.