http://www.greentechmedia.com/ Headlines, Blogs, and Other Content from Greentech Media en info@greentechmedia.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-02T21:25:46+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/sunworks-solar-steps-out-with-thin-film-factory-plan/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/sunworks-solar-steps-out-with-thin-film-factory-plan/ The San Francisco startup, founded by former SunEdison executives, is looking at building an amorphous silicon solar panel factory in New York.  News, Solar 2009-07-02T21:25:46+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/beacon-power-nordic-windpower-get-59m-doe-loan-guarantees/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/beacon-power-nordic-windpower-get-59m-doe-loan-guarantees/ Beacon and Nordic are the second and third companies to receive energy loan guarantees this year. Energy Secretary Chu has promised to streamline the review of loan guarantee applications. News, Solar, Grid, Other Topics, Wind 2009-07-02T17:38:50+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/video-test-driving-the-electric-motorcycle/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/video-test-driving-the-electric-motorcycle/ It’s silent. It’s electric. It turns heads. It also costs $10,000. Check out Zero Motorcycle’s street legal bike.  News, Other Topics, Batteries & Storage, Transportation 2009-07-02T13:20:43+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cadmium-telluirde-on-silicon-a-novel-approach-in-solar/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cadmium-telluirde-on-silicon-a-novel-approach-in-solar/ An Illinois company that develops infrared imaging material aims to create solar cells that are unlike many serving the concentrating photovoltaic market today. News, Solar 2009-07-01T21:31:03+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/massachusetts-proposes-master-plan-for-ocean-energy-development/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/massachusetts-proposes-master-plan-for-ocean-energy-development/ The draft plan covers how the state would plan and oversee all sorts of projects located within the state waters, including wind, tidal and wave farms.   Other Topics, Air & Water, Policy 2009-07-01T21:24:00+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/more-smart-grid-partnerships-itron-and-ambient-join-up/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/more-smart-grid-partnerships-itron-and-ambient-join-up/ Smart meter maker Itron and smart grid communications provider Ambient have agreed to link up their technologies and pitch the combination to utilities. News, Grid, Smart Grid 2009-07-01T20:24:45+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/connecticut-re-opens-solar-rebate-program/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/connecticut-re-opens-solar-rebate-program/ Back in November 2008, Connecticut stopped accepting new applications for its popular residential solar rebate program. Now it's back. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), which was created by the state's General Assembly, said Wednesday it's open for business thanks partly to money from the federal stimulus package. The state had to suspend the residential rebate program because of state budget shortfalls. Maryland also ran out of money last year. New Jersey retooled its program to replace rebates with energy credits as incentives after being surprised by how popular it was last year. The CCEF has set aside $3.1 million for the Small Solar PV Program this time around. About $1.5 million of the fund came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, while the remaining came from the state's electric ratepayers. The rebate program provides $1.75 per watt for solar energy systems are 5-kilowatt or smaller, and $1.25 per watt for larger systems that can't exceed 10 kilowatts. The CCEF said the money should be able to fund 325 residential projects through June 2010.  News, Solar 2009-07-01T19:03:27+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/spg-secures-13m-for-solar-expansion/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/spg-secures-13m-for-solar-expansion/ SPG Holdings out of Novato, Calif., has raised $13 million in equity from Global Environmental Fund and Robeco. The money would enable SPG, whose businesses include SPG Solar and Thompson Technologies Industries, to expand its reach not just within the United States but internationally, the company said. SPG Solar designs and installs solar energy systems while Thompson Technologies manufactures trackers and other equipment for mounting solar panels. One of its products, called "Floatovoltaics," enables solar panels to be installed over water. SPG Solar serves the residential and commercial markets in California, Arizona and Oregon. One of its recent installations was a 132-kilowatt system using Solyndra's solar panels and racking systems. The system now sits atop of Livermore Cinema in northern California city of Livermore. Solyndra's panels are made up of tubes rather than the flat solar cells that use copper, indium, gallium and selenium as the key materials for converting sunlight into electricity. What makes Solyndra's solar panels attractive, however, are their designs and the simpler way to mount them, analysts said. The tubes, placed with space in between them, help to reduce the panels' wind resistance. As a result, Solyndra has designed its own mounting system that doesn't require the usual anchoring you see in supporting conventional, flat panels.  News, Solar 2009-07-01T16:52:13+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cisco-rolls-out-building-management-mediator/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cisco-rolls-out-building-management-mediator/ Cisco Systems is rolling out technology to integrate the world of proprietary building automation systems into its overall platform for managing energy use by building HVAC, lighting and other systems. Enterprise, Energy Efficiency 2009-07-01T15:30:44+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/multimedia/cisco-energy-wise-demo/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/multimedia/cisco-energy-wise-demo/ Added on the Cisco Catalyst Switches, Cisco EnergyWise measures, reports and reduces energy consumption well beyond IT. Watch the demo to understand how Cisco EnergyWise drives energy savings. This video is sponsored by Cisco. Grid, Enterprise 2009-07-01T14:00:31+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/multimedia/test-driving-the-electric-motorcycle/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/multimedia/test-driving-the-electric-motorcycle/ It’s silent. It’s electric. It turns heads. It also costs $10,000. Check out Zero Motorcycle’s street legal bike.  Other Topics, Transportation 2009-07-01T12:29:00+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/research-blog/post/q2-vc-in-greentech-comes-back-strong/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/research-blog/post/q2-vc-in-greentech-comes-back-strong/ More Than $1.2B in 85 Deals Signals a Quiet Recovery in the Greentech Sector Optimism prevailed amongst greentech venture capital investors in the second quarter of 2009.  Despite the eulogies delivered for the greentech sector because of a less than stellar first quarter, VC investment in greentech rebounded in the second quarter with more than $1.2 billion invested in 85 startups.   Notable investment trends in the second quarter included: An increase in smart grid, automotive, and energy storage investments No giant $100 million+ solar or biofuel rounds as in 2008 Early stage and late stage investments dominated, while mid-stage funding was harder to come by Slightly smaller average round sizes Ira Ehrenpreis, General Parters at Cleantech VC, Technology Partners, commented on the numbers: “The recent quarter’s balanced distribution of sectors that attracted capital underscores cleantech’s breadth and diversity of opportunity, one of the key drivers behind why cleantech remains an enduring area.” John Rockwell, founder and Managing Director of Element Partners added, "The growing belief that credit markets and the economy are on the road to recovery has investors back in the market.  Greentech markets are massive and diverse and investors are starting to pour additional money into the next wave of greentech opportunities." Solar power was once again the leading investment segment at more than $330 million. But unlike previous quarters – the second quarter saw a much more balanced distribution across the various sectors with a marked increase in automotive (more than $202 million) and energy storage (more than $180 million). One of the drivers for steady second quarter venture investment was the promise of stimulus monies offering start-up investors a non-dilutive funding source. To fully return to health, the cleantech sector needs a rebound in project financing levels, level-headed carbon legislation (good luck to us on that) and some hope in the IPO market. Details on every greentech deal from this quarter are in this report. 2009-06-30T21:20:57+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/q2-vc-in-greentech-comes-back-strong/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/q2-vc-in-greentech-comes-back-strong/ More Than $1.2B in 85 Deals Signals a Quiet Recovery in the Greentech Sector Optimism prevailed amongst greentech venture capital investors in the second quarter of 2009.  Despite the eulogies delivered for the greentech sector because of a less than stellar first quarter, VC investment in greentech rebounded in the second quarter with more than $1.2 billion invested in 85 startups.   Notable investment trends in the second quarter included: An increase in smart grid, automotive, and energy storage investments No giant $100 million+ solar or biofuel rounds as in 2008 Early stage and late stage investments dominated, while mid-stage funding was harder to come by Slightly smaller average round sizes Ira Ehrenpreis, General Parters at Cleantech VC, Technology Partners, commented on the numbers: “The recent quarter’s balanced distribution of sectors that attracted capital underscores cleantech’s breadth and diversity of opportunity, one of the key drivers behind why cleantech remains an enduring area.” John Rockwell, founder and Managing Director of Element Partners added, "The growing belief that credit markets and the economy are on the road to recovery has investors back in the market.  Greentech markets are massive and diverse and investors are starting to pour additional money into the next wave of greentech opportunities." Solar power was once again the leading investment segment at more than $330 million. But unlike previous quarters – the second quarter saw a much more balanced distribution across the various sectors with a marked increase in automotive (more than $202 million) and energy storage (more than $180 million). One of the drivers for steady second quarter venture investment was the promise of stimulus monies offering start-up investors a non-dilutive funding source. To fully return to health, the cleantech sector needs a rebound in project financing levels, level-headed carbon legislation (good luck to us on that) and some hope in the IPO market. Details on every greentech deal from this quarter are in this report. 2009-06-30T21:20:53+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/epa-grants-california-emissions-waiver/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/epa-grants-california-emissions-waiver/ The federal agency reversed the decision made under the previous administration. But the decision's impact might not be as significant given the federal government's plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for cars starting in 2012. News, Other Topics, Transportation, Policy 2009-06-30T17:52:46+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/yellostrom-likes-googles-powermeter-and-microsoft-too/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/yellostrom-likes-googles-powermeter-and-microsoft-too/ German utility Yellostrom will work with Google on testing its PowerMeter home energy monitoring software – but it is also working with Microsoft, which has its own rival home energy platform, on its smart meters. Google announced its Yellostrom partnership on its official blog Tuesday. The two said they would work to bring energy data to the utility's customers through its Sparzähler smart meters, which it wants to deploy to its more than 1.4 million customers. That adds a first European utility to the list of eight in North American that Google is already working with. It also adds a new meter to those of North American smart meter market leader Itron, which is working to integrate its meters with PowerMeter (see Google Names Itron, Utilities as PowerMeter Partners). It may also be the first sign of a rivalry between Google and Microsoft when it comes to bringing energy awareness to the masses, given Microsoft's announcement last week that it had its own web-based energy portal, Hohm, in development  (see Microsoft Launches Home Energy Site, Sees Devices, Demand Management in Future). Yellostrom's Sparzähler meters are using a communications module based on Microsoft CE, along with Microsoft technologies to manage the data those meters put out in 15-minute increments. The meters communicate with the utility over a TCP/IP network and bring data to customers' PCs through power line adapters. Yellostrom has also discussed using Microsoft products as the basis of a customer web interface and software to display meter data on customers' PCs – though that was last year, before both Google and Microsoft launched new customer energy portals. Microsoft also has its own list of partner utilities, including Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, Xcel Energy and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. But Microsoft, unlike Google, also plans to open Hohm to consumers who don't have smart meters or other means to collect utility data, giving people the option of typing in estimates of their energy usage to help find ways to save power. While Google has said it would look to devices beyond smart meters to provide data to PowerMeter, it hasn't said it would seek to deploy the platform without any source of digital data whatsoever (see Google Looks Beyond Smart Meters for Home Energy Data). Rick Nicholson, vice president of research for IDC company Energy Insights, believes the Google-Microsoft energy monitoring rivalry – if it comes down to that – is likely to be one of the more closely watched battles in the crowded field of giving utility customers insight into their energy use. Given the number of venture capital-funded startups – Tendril, Greenbox, EnergyHub, 4Home, Control4, and many others – hoping to offer the same services to utility customers, he likely won't be the only one keeping an eye on the two giants (see eMeter Intros Home Energy Platform). Grid, Home Area Networks 2009-06-30T17:04:34+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/oncor-makes-317m-smart-grid-stimulus-pitch/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/oncor-makes-317m-smart-grid-stimulus-pitch/ Texas-based utility Oncor is asking for $317 million from the DOE's smart grid stimulus program, one of the first utilities to publicly set a dollar figure on its wish list of projects. With about $3.9 billion available, more requests are sure to come. News, Grid, Smart Grid 2009-06-30T16:15:22+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-telco-home-energy-invasion/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-telco-home-energy-invasion/ More telecom companies are offering energy management systems for their customers' homes. Some home energy startups believe telcos could rival utilities as a market channel, particularly in the early stages of the still-nascent industry. News, Grid, Home Area Networks 2009-06-30T12:34:55+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/research-blog/post/algenol-the-elephant-in-the-room/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/research-blog/post/algenol-the-elephant-in-the-room/ I wrote a perspectives piece last week (see Algae Fantasists Predict 1B Gallons Per Year by 2014) on the viability of commercial algal biofuels and received a slew of comments, on and off-line, endorsing my claim that we are a longer way off from commercialization than claimed by breathless algae start-up press releases.But according to Jim Lane of Biofuels Digest: Paul Woods, the chief executive of algae farmer Algenol is adamant he will produce 250 million gallons per year by 2013.    And according to Lane in email correspondence – when it comes to biofuels from algae, "It really comes down to how one thinks about Algenol. That's the elephant in the room when it comes to photobioreactors."   Today Algenol told the New York times that it is building a photobioreactor-based algae-to-ethanol demonstration plant at a Dow Chemical site in Freeport, Texas with plastic material supplied by Dow.  Photobioreactors or PBRs, in Algenol's case, are simply plastic covered troughs housing a mixture of saltwater, algae, nutrients, and CO2.  Note that algae expert Dr. John Benemann flatly states that photobioreactors "do not work” and are useful only in supplying inoculum. Algenol's proposed fuel harvesting method does differ from traditional algae oil extraction methods.  Rather than grow, flocculate, filter, de-water, and extract oil from the algae – Algenol uses a very different approach. Algenol's "Direct-to-Ethanol" process gathers ethanol produced by algae without destroying the algae and without the necessity of refining oil into biodiesel.  This method, if viable and scalable, has huge potential cost and embedded-energy advantages.But according to Algenol's website: Initial proof of science was generated by Dr. John Coleman at the University of Toronto between 1989 and 1999. Since then, the process has been refined to allow algae to tolerate high heat, high salinity, and the alcohol levels present in ethanol production. The algae are metabolically enhanced to produce ethanol while being resistant to high temperature, high salinity, and high ethanol levels, which were previous barriers to ramping to commercial scale volumes. Algenol’s prototype production strains can produce ethanol at a rate of 6,000 gallons/acre/year, and are expected to improve to 10,000 gallons/acre/year by the end of 2009. With further refinement, the algae cells have the potential to increase production rates to 20,000 gallons/acre/year in the future. Algenol only uses algae strains that do not produce human toxins. In addition, the specific algae cells used cannot live in the environment found outside their Capture Technology contained sealed bioreactor. Although this wording doesn't use the specific terms – these algae strains are clearly genetically modified – and that might be a hard sell in the U.S.  The food vs. fuel debate was bad press for biofuels and the frankenalgae debate would be even worse.Algenol was reportedly underwritten with $70 million invested by the CEO and a few partners. Algenol claims to have plans to build a billion gallon per year facility in Mexico with a subsidiary of Mexican-owned BioFields at a cost of $850 million.  Mexico might be a bit more lax about genetically modified algae. The company has applied for DOE stimulus bill funding.  More details from Lane at Biofuels Digest here. I'll close with a comment from another renowned aquaculture and algae expert with more than 30 years of real-world experience: "Few of the current slew of algae promoters seem to understand the immense energy/financial hurdles that algae fuel production need to overcome to be financially viable alternative fuels and as such their R&D priorities reflect this. As soon as I see an article touting algae's production of oil per unit area over terrestrial plants – I know the author(s) are clueless about the financial economics of algae fuel processing. As soon as I read about some special process that increases algae production per unit area – PBR's (that often use more energy than they produce), aphotic production, etc. I know the promoters don't understand the energy budgets involved in producing and processing algae to fuel. "Bottom line – in our opinion the reality of economically viable algae fuel production is still quite a few years in the future – unless someone finds a truly novel short cut through the Laws of Thermodynamics and basic economics."GTM Research has a brief report on algae players and technical challenges available here Thanks to all the commenters for their input. 2009-06-30T05:06:19+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/algenol-the-elephant-in-the-room/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/algenol-the-elephant-in-the-room/ I wrote a perspectives piece last week (see Algae Fantasists Predict 1B Gallons Per Year by 2014) on the viability of commercial algal biofuels and received a slew of comments, on and off-line, endorsing my claim that we are a longer way off from commercialization than claimed by breathless algae start-up press releases.But according to Jim Lane of Biofuels Digest: Paul Woods, the chief executive of algae farmer Algenol is adamant he will produce 250 million gallons per year by 2013.    And according to Lane in email correspondence – when it comes to biofuels from algae, "It really comes down to how one thinks about Algenol. That's the elephant in the room when it comes to photobioreactors."   Today Algenol told the New York times that it is building a photobioreactor-based algae-to-ethanol demonstration plant at a Dow Chemical site in Freeport, Texas with plastic material supplied by Dow.  Photobioreactors or PBRs, in Algenol's case, are simply plastic covered troughs housing a mixture of saltwater, algae, nutrients, and CO2.  Note that algae expert Dr. John Benemann flatly states that photobioreactors "do not work” and are useful only in supplying inoculum. Algenol's proposed fuel harvesting method does differ from traditional algae oil extraction methods.  Rather than grow, flocculate, filter, de-water, and extract oil from the algae – Algenol uses a very different approach. Algenol's "Direct-to-Ethanol" process gathers ethanol produced by algae without destroying the algae and without the necessity of refining oil into biodiesel.  This method, if viable and scalable, has huge potential cost and embedded-energy advantages.But according to Algenol's website: Initial proof of science was generated by Dr. John Coleman at the University of Toronto between 1989 and 1999. Since then, the process has been refined to allow algae to tolerate high heat, high salinity, and the alcohol levels present in ethanol production. The algae are metabolically enhanced to produce ethanol while being resistant to high temperature, high salinity, and high ethanol levels, which were previous barriers to ramping to commercial scale volumes. Algenol’s prototype production strains can produce ethanol at a rate of 6,000 gallons/acre/year, and are expected to improve to 10,000 gallons/acre/year by the end of 2009. With further refinement, the algae cells have the potential to increase production rates to 20,000 gallons/acre/year in the future. Algenol only uses algae strains that do not produce human toxins. In addition, the specific algae cells used cannot live in the environment found outside their Capture Technology contained sealed bioreactor. Although this wording doesn't use the specific terms – these algae strains are clearly genetically modified – and that might be a hard sell in the U.S.  The food vs. fuel debate was bad press for biofuels and the frankenalgae debate would be even worse.Algenol was reportedly underwritten with $70 million invested by the CEO and a few partners. Algenol claims to have plans to build a billion gallon per year facility in Mexico with a subsidiary of Mexican-owned BioFields at a cost of $850 million.  Mexico might be a bit more lax about genetically modified algae. The company has applied for DOE stimulus bill funding.  More details from Lane at Biofuels Digest here. I'll close with a comment from another renowned aquaculture and algae expert with more than 30 years of real-world experience: "Few of the current slew of algae promoters seem to understand the immense energy/financial hurdles that algae fuel production need to overcome to be financially viable alternative fuels and as such their R&D priorities reflect this. As soon as I see an article touting algae's production of oil per unit area over terrestrial plants – I know the author(s) are clueless about the financial economics of algae fuel processing. As soon as I read about some special process that increases algae production per unit area – PBR's (that often use more energy than they produce), aphotic production, etc. I know the promoters don't understand the energy budgets involved in producing and processing algae to fuel. "Bottom line – in our opinion the reality of economically viable algae fuel production is still quite a few years in the future – unless someone finds a truly novel short cut through the Laws of Thermodynamics and basic economics."GTM Research has a brief report on algae players and technical challenges available here Thanks to all the commenters for their input. 2009-06-30T05:06:17+00:00 http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/doe-346m-for-building-energy-efficiency/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/doe-346m-for-building-energy-efficiency/ Energy Secretary Steven Chu has pointed to buildings as a key target for saving energy. On Monday, the Department of Energy backed him up with about $346 million in stimulus package funding. The 81 million or so buildings in the United States use about two-fifths of the country's energy, more than manufacturing or transportation, the DOE says. About three-quarters were built before 1979, making them ripe for efficiency retrofits. In the future, the DOE would like to see buildings built and operated as an "integrated system" with energy efficiency at the forefront, from design to day-to-day maintenance. To that end, it set aside $100 million for "advanced building systems research," aimed at the goal of "net-zero" buildings that generate as much or more energy than they actually use. That's something Chu has said could be accomplished, in part, through smarter software for controlling building HVAC, lighting and other energy-using systems. A host of energy services companies, or ESCOs, provide such services, and startups are coming up with both new technologies and new business models to improve on their offerings (see Making Building Automation Brainier and A PPA Model For Building Energy Efficiency?). The DOE will also put $53.5 million into its "Commercial Buildings Initiative" launched last year. The money is to help expand the number of companies involved from 25 to about 73, starting in September. To make homes and apartments more energy-efficient, the DOE is putting $70 million into job training for energy efficiency retrofits. And it will also direct $72.5 million toward "building and appliance market transformation," or that is, the technical and bureaucratic effort to do things like expand Energy Star rating systems and prepare builders and regulators for more stringent building codes. Finally, the DOE will put $50 million into research into solid-state lighting at the technology and advanced manufacturing levels – in other words, more money for light-emitting diodes (LEDs). That announcement follows Friday's news of new federal lighting efficiency guidelines to take effect in 2012 for fluorescent and incandescent lights. News, Enterprise, Green Building 2009-06-29T22:53:08+00:00