As word comes out today about Ausra's $60.6mm Series C (we'd mentioned the ongoing raise back in August), it's a good time to check out what's going on in Australian cleantech these days.  I'd asked Aaron Fyke of Starfish Ventures if he'd be willing to write a few words on the subject, and he'd graciously agreed:

I’m pleased to be given the offer from Rob to comment on the cleantech venture capital industry here in Australia. I am a partner with Starfish Ventures, Australia’s largest venture capital firm, and one of two partners who focus primarily on cleantech investments. I run my own blog (www.aaronfyke.com), which I use to comment on the Australian startup community – with...

A few things of potential interest...

• A good tool for all you cleantech VCs and Founders out there: Joel Moxley, an EIR at Northbridge, came up with a pretty useful prior-art search engine, PriorSmart. Check it out.

• Must-read: A terrific article on Georges Doriot, "venture capital's grandfather".

• Here's a good interview with Susan Preston, GP at CalCEF's new Clean Energy Angel Fund.

Deals from the past week:

• Evolutionary Genomics, which is developing biofuel feedstocks with improved yields, has raised a round of financing (amount undisclosed) from Altira Group.

• Small-wind innovator Mariah Power has taken in an additional $500k in financing, from Greenhouse Capital...

It was fascinating to see this new study come out, suggesting that soot from deforestation, home cooking fires, coal-fired power, etc., has a significant role to play in climate change.  What was particularly important as a takeaway was that soot is more readily addressable as a near-term climate change driver. We all see entrepreneurial efforts to get cleaner-burning fuels and equipment implemented across developing economies -- in the last few months I've seen plans for solar cooking stoves, rice husk-fired generators, and microbial fuel cells, all with the idea of bringing electricity and heat to various developing regions, while minimizing the use of "dirty" biomass fuels more...

Last week Tesla Motors closed on another $40mm in bridge financing co-led by Chairman Elon Musk and Valor Equity Partners -- haven't seen yet anywhere if other investors took part, but it wouldn't be surprising. At the Piper Jaffray Clean Technology and Renewables Conference in NYC, where a Tesla Roadster is parked right out front in the Madison Ave. courtyard of the New York Palace, the company presenter also mentioned that they have a "clear path to our Series D E later this year," which the FT reported could be as much as $250mm including equity and debt, "and an IPO next year," which may also be part of that $250mm total. I think I also heard the presenter say that Musk now owns...

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...

That's the conclusion of New Energy Finance in a new analysis they released today. They studied 129 clean energy investments in Europe by 37 investors and found 15 IPOs, 10 trade sales, 21 up rounds, 19 down rounds or write-downs, and 10 liquidations. All told, they estimated a 54.9% gross annualized return across the portfolio of 129 companies. The study period covered 1998 to the present, and included an estimate of 1.2x valuation on unrealized gains on funds invested. It's a very positive study, certainly, and helps further illustrate why investors are so keen on this sector right now. It's also a very useful analysis -- but it's important to note a lot of caveats involved....