Canadian natural gas giant Encana backs Alphabet Energy
Startup Alphabet Energy, which makes materials out of silicon that convert heat into electricity, has raised a $16 million series B round led by Canadian natural gas company Encana. Read more »
The energy innovations of the future need today’s machines
The days of startups building custom-made, capital-intensive machines to produce next-gen energy products is over. Today’s energy entrepreneurs are using standard machines from sectors like the chip industry, the lithium ion battery industry and printing. Read more »
A new name in thermoelectrics: Silicium Energy
A quiet early stage startup called Silicium Energy recently got the equivalent of golden ticket: a seed investment from greentech investor Vinod Khosla. According to a filing, the company raised just $1.65 million, with backing from Khosla. Read more »
Alphabet Energy turns to silicon for waste heat-to-energy
Thermoelectric materials hold the promise of turning waste heat into electricity, but they haven’t been widely used because of high costs. Startup Alphabet Energy says it’s solving those problems by using common silicon and has lined up $12 million to finalize its first product. Read more »
A growing market for cleantech: data centers
Data centers might not be the energy hogs anticipated in 2010, but they’re still offering a growing market for both energy efficiency technology and clean power. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Green IT Q1: Cleantech Breaking Out — and Bracing for Hard Times
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Thermoelectric Watch: Phononic Raises $10M
Thermoelectric startup Phononic Devices has landed a $10 million investment to work on its technology to convert heat into electricity, or vice versa. There’s a big market for thermoelectrics that are cheap and reliable enough. Read more »
Alphabet Energy: From the Lab to the Factory
Startup Alphabet Energy, which is developing materials and devices that convert waste heat into usable electricity, told me this week that by 2012 they will deliver products to customers and throughout 2011 will be moving from the lab into the factory. Read more »
Will Thermoelectric Servers Power Greener Data Centers?
Here’s an interesting take on green data centers: servers that use thermoelectrics to turn their own waste heat into power. Applied Methodologies Inc. has been working on the concept since 2007. Read more »
