On Sept. 13, 2005, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels declared that the little town of Reynolds, Ind. — with a population of just over 500 — would officially become BioTown, USA. The idea was to re-energize the town and make it energy-self-sufficient through biofuels and waste-to-energy technology. […] Read more »
2007 is shaping up to be an excellent year for the solar power sector. In the first nine months through last Friday, Sept. 28, six solar stocks on U.S. exchanges have more than doubled their value. The biggest gainer is Littleton, Colo.-based Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI), […] Read more »
With over a third of the world’s CO2 coming from energy production, innovations that promise to clean up that process are a breath of fresh air. So it’s fitting that a team of researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim have patented […] Read more »
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How Social Norms Effect Energy Consumption: If you have to read one article on this fascinating subject, check out this testimony from Robert Cialdini on this topic. Seriously, go read it now — The Oil Drum. Pentagon’s Eco Peeps: While we’re on the green military kick, […] Read more »
Investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) has made a “significant investment” in Nordic Windpower, a company that manufactures utility-scale wind turbines. The investment, according to the privately held company’s release, will be used to help Nordic expand production efforts to the U.S. “The investment will enable Nordic […] Read more »
Wow, the bloom sure has started to come off the corn-based ethanol rose. We’ve been detailing the backlash against biofuels recently, and over the past few days, prominent articles in the mainstream media – The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Economist – […] Read more »
Comverge (COMV), an East Hanover, N.J.-based energy management company, said today it has acquired Public Energy Solutions in a $13.4 million deal consisting of cash, stock and convertible notes. Comverge, like its competitors EnerNoc (ENOC) and ConsumerPowerline (which raised its Series A round last week), aims […] Read more »
Another week, another round of funding raised by a company developing solar materials and struggling to get those products to market. Six-year-old Lowell, Mass.-based Konarka said this morning it has raised $45 million. The company had been rumored to be raising close to that size of […] Read more »
Normally losing a wheel slows a car down, but when it comes to electric vehicles, running on just three might actually speed up their time to market. Two freshly funded vehicle startups — Aptera and Venture Vehicles — want to bring hybrid and electric three-wheeled vehicles […] Read more »
Google Earth’s bird’s-eye view of the globe is not just a way to check out satellite pics of your crush’s apartment building (though we’re guilty of that one). The virtual space is being used by environmentalists, concerned citizens, and yes, eco-bloggers, to map the effects of […] Read more »
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While Governor Schwarzenegger chanted for “action, action, action” on global warming at the UN climate summit on Monday, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked up the importance of maintaining the economy through emissions reductions at the White House climate meetings yesterday, leave it to the […] Read more »
We know you’re busy, so we’ll forgive you for overlooking this week’s announcement that researchers at England’s University of Leeds have discovered a way to mimic the toxic defensive spray of the bombardier beetle. But you’ll want to sit up and pay attention when you find […] Read more »
Dell Going Carbon Neutral: Dell has been one of the leading computer makers when it comes to reducing its carbon footprint, and now says its going carbon neutral by 2008. The hard part will be getting the suppliers involved — Marketwatch. Mutant Hydrogen-Producing Algae: A professor […] Read more »
It takes guts to file for a secondary offering only days after you lose your largest contract ever. But that’s what JA Solar did, and investors, oddly, seem thrilled. JA Solar (JASO), a maker of photovoltaic cells that went public in a $225 million IPO only […] Read more »
ConsumerPowerline, a New York-based energy management company, said today it has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Expansion Capital Partners, with additional investment by Bessemer Venture Partners, Schneider Electric Ventures, the New York City Investment Fund, and Vantania Holdings. Following a year of […] Read more »
Not everyone’s feeling the biofuel backlash, especially when it comes to cellulosic ethanol — biofuels made from non-food crops and plants. This morning, Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based energy crop company Ceres announced it has raised $75 million through a late-stage financing round led by private equity firm […] Read more »
We gave portable consumer fuel cell developer MTI Micro a bit of a hard time in a post this week about how long the technology was taking to get to market — it’s slated for commercialization in 2009. MTI’s CEO Peng Lim and VP of Corporate […] Read more »
John Doerr, the high-profile Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner, closed Silicon Valley Projections 2008, a sold-out forum on responses to climate change, with a call for greater participation by the government in driving greentech forward. “More than anything else, we need the political will among […] Read more »
Howard Berke, the co-founder and executive chairman of the board for solar polymer company Konarka, stepped down from his role as CEO in June, but we still found him out manning the company booth at the Solar Power 2007 convention this week. We chatted with him […] Read more »
The rumors that the thin film solar startup Miasolé had been out fund raising are confirmed this morning. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has raised another $50 million in series D funding that included six new but unnamed investors, according to VentureWire, (via PE Hub). Miasole […] Read more »
You know all eyes are on cleantech investments when Wired runs a tagline on its cover: “Silicon Valley Goes Crazy for Cleantech.” Well, Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne sent out some research this morning with more data on the subject: global venture capital investments […] Read more »
MIT gets a Little BP: British Petroleum (BP) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced a research partnership to explore energy conversion technologies, including the conversion of coal to electricity while minimizing carbon dioxide emissions – release. Nuclear in Texas: For the first time in […] Read more »
Like that date that kept you waiting while you nervously fixed your hair, the Tesla Roadster is officially late. Customers — among them San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom — will now have to wait until 2008 before the $98,000 electric hotrod is ready to leave the […] Read more »
If media mogul and environmentalist Ted Turner -– who’s often called the largest individual land owner in North America -– placed a few square miles of solar across his New Mexico ranches he could, in theory, generate 4 GW of power. Well, that was the half-joking […] Read more »
As we pointed out earlier in our Google Pedal Power Challenge post, look no further than your own legs for solutions to save the planet. Channel your inner hamster and get pedaling. Today’s egg McMuffin could power tomorrow’s revolution. Commute Not since the age of Fred […] Read more »
Was it only last year when biofuels held such delirious promise? Ethanol from de-juiced sugarcane offered Brazil the prized goal of energy independence. The U.S. government offered the farming industries billions in subsidies in hopes of achieving the same. Ethanol IPOs like Aventine and Verasun went […] Read more »
Expansion VC Expands for $$$: Expansion Capital Partners announced today that the firm exceeded $100 million in the final closing of their second Clean Technology Fund — release. H20 Investment: Stonybrook Water Purification secured $500,000 of a $4.1 million Series A round, from Battery Ventures, TianDI […] Read more »
Wal-Mart’s (WMT) eco initiatives are controversial, to say the least. Though the megachain continues to think up new ways to focus on green. Today, the company announced a partnership with nonprofit org the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to measure the amount of energy used to make […] Read more »
The flood gates are opening up for water technology investments, the Wall Street Journal says this morning. Calling the water industry “one of the hottest areas for investors,” the article says that while investors struggled to fund water technology in the past, concerns over water supplies, […] Read more »
Google’s (GOOG) been getting geared up over greentech like plug-in hybrids, solar, more eco-friendly data centers, and now . . . pedal power? The search engine giant says it’s partnering with bike company Specialized and ad firm Goodby Silverstein & Partners on a contest called the […] Read more »
Apparently $100 million in funding isn’t enough for thin film startup Nanosolar. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has been awarded $20 million from the Department of Energy, which includes $9.5 million through October 2008. Whoa, how much money does the company need? Nanosolar says the funding […] Read more »
MTI Microfuel Cells put out a triumphant press release last week about fuel cell technology. The cause for celebration was not an actual product, as their “award-winning,” Mobion fuel cell won’t see the market until likely 2009. Instead, they announced that the US Department of Transportation, […] Read more »
The key to cracking the code for cellulosic ethanol — biofuel made from non-food crops and plant byproducts — could be under development in a university lab near you. While researchers have spent years trying to figure out how to effectively produce the alt-fuel, universities across […] Read more »
Robert Fishman spent the last seven years managing power plants for natural gas company Calpine (CPNLQ). Now he’s stoked on solar — last week he became the new CEO for solar thermal start-up Ausra. Ausra builds solar thermal systems that use mirrors and lenses to focus […] Read more »
The sun shined on us this week (at least near E2T headquarters) and investments, deals and partnerships in the solar industry were bright too. Wha’ppened? Here’s the solar primer of the week. Oh yeah, and expect even more solar news from us when Solar Power 2007 […] Read more »
Following the fuel cell market is a little like watching grass grow — you know there’s progress being made, but sometimes it’s really hard to tell. Folsom, Calif.-based Jadoo Power is one fuel cell startup that has been making a few changes as of late. In […] Read more »
Controversial so-called ‘clean coal’ technology just got a triple-digit investment — GreatPoint Energy, a company that converts dirty coal into cleaner-burning natural gas, has raised $100 million in a Series C funding, a company spokesperson told us. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said it will officially announce […] Read more »
New CEO for Ausra: Solar start-up hires Robert Fishman from traditional power-producer Calpine as CEO – San Jose Mercury News. Intel’s Linux Energy Boost: An Intel open-source project called LessWatts.org wants to improve the power efficiency of the Linux operating system – PC World. Solar Water […] Read more »
Leave it to Intel (INTC) to try to rain on AMD’s (AMD) parade. Less than two weeks after AMD sang out praises of its new chip’s power efficiency with the launch of its “Barcelona” quad-core processor, Intel is showing off its latest innovation in chip architecture […] Read more »
For Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak, well-designed computers are like green buildings: it’s all about efficiency. That was one of the messages that came from Wozniak during an onstage interview at the West Coast Green conference in San Francisco on Thursday. Think Wozniak and green, and […] Read more »
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