It’s a dimmer switch that potentially could save megawatts of power. HID Laboratories, a Silicon Valley startup armed with technology from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has developed a digital ballast for controlling high intensity discharge (HID) lights, the bright bulbs that illuminate stadiums, streets, industrial and big box retailers. American River Ventures, out of the Sacramento region, recently invested in the firm. Overall, HID’s digital ballast can cut the power consumed by an HID light by 40 percent or more, said CEO Antonio Espinosa. Lighting consumes 22 percent of the power generated in the U.S. and the majority of the juice of that total goes to more than 100 million HID sockets in the country. Thus, if used universally, you're talking a big whack in electricity consumption. VCs have been putting money into energy efficient lighting for the last several years, but mostly into companies that produce bulbs. Companies with complimentary technologies have received less attention, but some, such as Nuventix (air-cooler for LEDs) and Intematix (designer phosphors) have emerged. Digital ballasts effectively exploit the inefficiencies of magnetic ballasts, hoary devices devised decades ago, by finely controlling voltage and current. A ballast effectively delivers power to the bulb so that the bulb’s internal gases get excited and create light. With the digital ballast, administrators can dim HID lights to save on power consumption, something that isn’t possible with HID lights hooked up to conventional magnetic ballasts. Humans don’t notice a difference in illumination if a HID light is cranked down by ten percent. Thus, in a brownout scenario, a utility or facilities manager could turn down HID lights, cut power bills and avoid a crisis without bothering anyone, said Espinosa. Digital ballasts also can flip lights on rapidly. An HID hooked up to a conventional ballast takes about eight minutes or longer to warm up. Thus, HIDs can be turned off and on via motion sensors to cut power. Facilities managers can also use lower wattage bulbs. Ultimately, a digital ballast can also allow HID to better compete against solid state lighting like LEDs. “You can use a 320 watt bulb instead of a 450 watt bulb,� he said. Maintenance costs go down as well because the digital ballast lets administrators predict and schedule replacements. The company has shown the technology to several large lighting manufacturers and will begin beta tests in the fourth quarter. Manufacturing and commercial shipment could begin in the first quarter of next year. The company will primarily aim its initial product for lamps holding 200 to 450 watt light sources. HID Labs makes the entire ballast. Competitor Metrolight, which last year received funds from Virgin Fuels and Gemini Israel Funds, is pursuing an OEM strategy. Espinosa says the company will likely announce a round of funding in the relatively near future. The inventors initially approached Bill Fenwick about the idea. He was mildly interested. But on a subsequent night flight, he noticed how much electric light there is at night, most of it wasted. He called them back.

Wind power is great, except for all those moving parts. Turbine maintenance remains one of those difficult problems for the wind power industry. In short, the blades, shafts and other moving parts in wind turbines--like all mechanical objects-need regular care and feeding and occasionally break down. Maintenance is even more difficult when you move from onshore wind farms to offshore wind farms. See picture. That will change in the future, sources tell me. Various start-ups are working on turbine-less wind systems. Makani Power is the first out of the gate in this area. The company wants to put kites up in the atmosphere that will harvest energy from strong, high-altitude winds. In a traditional wind turbine, the turning blades essentially harvest mechanical power, which is then converted to electricity via a geneator. The kites do the same thing, but instead of rotating, they harvest mechanical energy by bouncing up and down. And then there is Gigagreen, which uses dirigibles. Oh, the humanity! Other start-ups are examining ways to harness wind through oscillation, but trying to avoid the challenge of flying kites at high altitudes. (I haven't checked yet, but one can imagine Vestas and GE funding research into non-turbine wind machines as well.) More will come out soon, I'm told. Just passing this along now because it could emerge as a major debate in 2009.

Sacramento. It's been the butt of jokes in California since the 1850s. A city situated in a hot, flat, featureless plain. Seat of experimental state government. The zone between the drama of the Sierras and the excitement of the Bay Area. "Gateway to Lou LaBonte's," my father would say when driving back home to Reno. But the city and the surrounding area are putting the pieces together to become something of a regional powerhouse in green technologies. And the push migh work for these reasons: 1. A university bent on commercializing its technology. Like Stanford and UC Berkeley, UC Davis is actively trying to take inventions in its labs and turn them into companies. Onsite Power Systems, which creates power from refuse, came out of there: an early Onsite prototype converts cafeteria scraps on campus into power. Andy Frank, the godfather of the plug-in hybrid, recently took leave from the school to start Efficient Drivetrains. Davis has strong departments in agriculture, biology, and electrical engineering, three of the key areas in green tech. 2. A big technology executive alumni club. One of Intel's largest manufacturing centers in the U.S. is in Folsom, and it has already become a recruiting center for start-ups and VCs. SynapSense CEO Pete VanDeventer came out of Intel. So did Paul Misso, CEO of Marquiss Wind Power. Ron Smith, who once ran Intel's wireless group, has an alternative energy start-up in the works. While at Intel, none of these people spent much time working on alternative energy. But they did learn how to 1) devise technologies that can be integrated into the existing business environment 2) market high tech products in the language of laymen and 3) methodically crush people standing in their way. Look in the phonebook and you'll find people who had high positions at HP and Apple too. A lot of these people gather at events held by TechCoire every month. 3. Cozy government relations. Solar, wind, and a lot of energy efficiency companies are supported by subisidies and government programs, so in this case proximity to regulators helps. In the very near future, bureaucrats will issue the regulations to implement the solar and alternative energy bills passed by the state earlier this year. It's going to be a big event, because the rules will explain exactly what businesses in the state are going to need to do to comply with the new law. It will also likely be followed by other states, said J.D. Stack, a former Sacramento Municipal Utility District exec who now runs a group called SARTA trying to promote green technology companies. 4. Property values. You can buy a house easier here than in the Bay Area. If you're building a company, that's a nice incentive for incoming employees. Granted, several cities--Austin, Denver, Boston, the Bay Area--trying to turn themselves into a green center. Many will succeeed and many will fail. Still, the circumstances look somewhat favorable for the 916 area code.

Greentech Media covers seismic shifts in renewable energy policy and technology but the greening of industry comes in smaller, incremental steps as well. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are challenging incandescents and halogens in a variety of lighting applications – in the home and on the street. LEDs last longer, burn less electricity and produce less heat. Now, LEDs are set to replace those emergency flares that burn at traffic accidents and that’s good for the environment and for emergency worker safety. Ken Dueker is the founder and CEO of PowerFlare, a maker of innovative safety beacons. As a cop, he was, “annoyed at the traditional 'dynamite stick' roadflare and its safety to police officers and the public.� The current low-tech emergency flare burns for about 20 minutes and uses perchlorate as a propellant. (Perchlorate is also used in munitions, rocketry and fireworks.) Perchlorate is water soluble, really toxic and when it rains, perchlorate is washed right into ground water and drinking wells. Some states have set a drinking water safety limit of two parts per billion of the stuff. PowerFlare, a self-funded Silicon Valley start-up, is one of several firms trying to replace the traditional flare with LED-based-beacons marketed to the police, military, and first responders. In addition to the environmental reasons for switching, there’s also the issue of exploding police cars and flaming policemen. Ken Dueker, PowerFlare’s CEO and his firm build a donut-sized, ultra rugged LED beacon that is shipping in volume to a variety of customers. In order to prove that the device can withstand the rigors of the real world, Ken has unsuccessfully tried to blow it up with C4 explosive and run it over with a fire truck and a tank. Dueker is a former Venture Capitalist and has learned enough from that experience to avoid VCs. He is also an active-duty reserve police officer with the Palo Alto California Police Dept and understands the risks of that job. PowerFlare has already sold tens of thousands of their device to police departments, fire departments, private citizens, bicyclists and scuba divers.