Yeah, it’s an unusual target market — and Hyperion is an unusual company. Hyperion claims that those mining an average oil field could save as much as $2 billion a year if they used the company’s technology instead of natural gas to power the process. Oil fields are also remote locations, where the costs of transporting fuel for power cut into the bottom line. Tar sands developers, like the military, which Hyperion is also targeting, could also be, for lack of a better word, less squeamish about controversial forms of power — the industry is already routinely the target of attack by environmentalists.

But Hyperion also appears to be trying to distance its marketing from the “nuclear” elephant in the room. The term nuclear does not appear once on its latest news release — surprising, given it’s the crux of the technology. Instead it’s using terms like “thermal battery,” explaining the module as one that utilizes the “energy of low-enriched uranium fuel.” We figure anyone who’s going to plunk down $25 million for the device would figure it out.

The company also appears to have pushed back the date for when the nuclear pods will be available. Hyperion was previoulsy shooting for as early as 2013, but this morning says: “The company expects to begin delivery of the units in 2014.” It probably has to do with the difficult capital markets, as CEO John “Grizz” Deal told us last October that the company was in the process of raising a Series B round.

For all of Hyperion’s controversy, the team has managed to raise funds from venture and private equity firm Altira Group and signed up its first customer, TES Group, which they call an investment company focused on the energy sector in Central Eastern Europe. If the device can overcome the regulatory and financing hurdles and a likely public backlash, it could provide a large amount of emissions-free power for off-grid communities and industries.

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10) Video: Solar + Robots = AWESOME: This post is proof that you shouldn’t edit a green technology website if you can’t celebrate your geekiness. I shot this mini video of these robots stacking solar panels — digg loved it and so did you.

9) FAQ: Thin-Film Solar: You liked it because thin-film solar is confusing and you want to know more about the technologies, the players and the market.

8) 11 Companies Racing to Build U.S. Cellulosic Ethanol Plants: Yes, cellulosic ethanol companies were definitely racing through the first three-quarters of 2008, all claiming they’d be the first to produce cellulosic ethanol. Towards the end of the year that turned into more of a stroll, and in some cases, a crawl. Will the race be declared DOA in 2009? Biofuels sure don’t have the backing they used to and the corn ethanol markets are ugly.

7) Pics of the First Production Tesla Roadster: Sometimes you’d rather see it than read about it. Particularly if it’s the first Tesla Roadster ever made being delivered. Of course nowadays Tesla isn’t even sure if it’s building its factory to produce the Model S, but at one point you guys cared.

6) Earth2Tech Maps: 101 Cleantech Startups: We love us some Google maps! And in 2008 we plotted 101 cleantech startups that we’ve covered. We’ll continue to update the map in 2009, and bring you another round of where the up-and-coming will be located.

5) Hyperion’s Nuclear-In-A-Box Ready By 2013: Ah Hyperion… one of the more — how should we put it? — unusual clean power ideas out there. A hot tub-sized nuclear battery that developers can bury beneath rural off-grid villages and provide a significant amount of carbon-free power. It’s $25 million for nuclear-in-a-box — any takers?

4) 25 Who Ditched Infotech for Cleantech: We started looking at the intersection between infotech and cleantech back in May with this list of entrepreneurs who had abandoned IT for green. More project than post, we profiled each of the execs that decided to take the plunge and join the climate change fight.

3) T. Boone Pickens: Kicking Off the World’s Largest Wind Farm: Readers couldn’t get enough of the 80-year-old hedge fund manager turned cleantech junkie, T. Boone Pickens, this year. But while the Pickens wind farm may have faltered by the end of 2008, the post still gets supportive comments for the man with a plan. If you skim the almost 100 comments there’s several dozen asking Pickens to contact them directly — he’s got some real fans!

2) Pictures of Dell’s Eco Bamboo Computer: Who knew that some hastily snapped photos of Dell’s bamboo-encased PC at the Fortune Brainstorm Green Conference could cause such a stir? At the time readers, seemed surprised that Dell was taking such a green marketing angle, but by now Dell has had more than its fair share of green announcements.

1) 15 Algae Startups Bringing Pond Scum to Fuel Tanks: This algae primer featured over a dozen startups trying to crack the algae-to-fuel code and was the big winner of the year, in terms of both page views and comments. While other non-food forms of ethanol — from switchgrass to plant waste — seemed to stall in 2008, the idea of algae fuel moved up in the ranks, and Googlers looked for which companies will lead the algae race. Or maybe readers liked the Britney Spears reference. Who knows.

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Don’t worry…no movie quizzes, Scrabble games or pokes in the bunch.

Instead, Linked in has partnered with well-known companies with business-ready productivity applications to provide apps that users can plug-in to their profile and display on their LinkedIn homepage.

Remember OpenSocial, Google’s initiative to build common APIs for developing social web applications? LinkedIn came to the party and this is the result of that effort.

Until now, when you visited a LinkedIn profile you saw only basic information such as employment history and recommendations.

With the new platform, you can show your profile visitors all the fine literature and business books you’re reading thanks to the Amazon app; upcoming trips on the Tripit app; your latest blog posts with the WordPress or TypePad app; or share files with the Box.net app.

Google’s in the game with an app that lets you show off a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t describe what you do for a living, show ‘em. SlideShare has a similar app.

Check out the complete list of initial InApps here.

It will remain to be seen if this is truly a game-changer for LinkedIn. Are you interested in adding apps to your profile?

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Not all VCs have the stomach for funding a technology that has high risks, an untested market and few competitors to prove out the space. Questions from investors in the audience ranged from “How do you transport the fuel across state lines?” to “How will you pass regulatory hurdles?” Deal seems to have answers to most of the questions thrown at him, and he has already raised funds from venture and private equity firm Altira Group. The company said that it had signed up its first customer, TES Group, which it says is an investment company focusing on the energy sector in Central Eastern Europe, which has signed a letter of intent for six devices.

Deal knows the $25 million price point of each nuclear pod, which won’t be ready until 2013, could make the business unattractive to the VC world, which tends to dislike plays that require a large capital investment. But Deal says the development is done on a per-project basis with customers funding the process along the way, which is why VCs have been interested.

Hyperion’s pitch is that the nuclear modular devices are cheaper, easier to deploy, quicker to get built and can reach remote areas where traditional reactors can’t be built. Deal also says the technology is safer than traditional nuclear reactors because they don’t have moving parts and are more like a “nuclear battery.” In addition, the device produces waste “the size of a softball” after five to seven years of use. The main application is off-grid applications and developing geographies where the device could theoretically power a village that doesn’t have grid-connected power.

At the end of the day, though, a lot of investors might feel queasy at the thought of putting money into a device that will deliver mobilized nuclear power to developing nations. There are more than a few unknowns in that equation.

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We’re not familiar with TES’s investments, but the company has supposedly signed a “Letter of Intent” to purchase six Hyperion nuclear modules, which each cost roughly $25 million. Hyperion says the initial purchase could lead the way to a larger purchase of 50 nuclear devices — so that would be a massive purchase of $1.25 billion. The devices won’t be ready until 2013, so everyone has plenty of time to hash out all the inevitable regulatory and safety issues. (Anyone with more info on TES, let us know).

We had a lengthy phone conversation last week with Hyperion CEO John “Grizz” Deal, who said “this is not science fiction.” Deal defended his product and said the devices are very safe and will meet the important needs of developing nations that don’t have connections to a central electric grid. Deal said the nuclear devices are safer than traditional nuclear reactors because they don’t have moving parts and are more like a “nuclear battery.” The device also produces waste, “the size of a softball,” after five to seven years of use, Deal says.

The advantages of the modules are that it is cheaper, easier to deploy, quicker to get built and can reach remote areas where traditional reactors can’t be built. And this tech isn’t just nuclear pie in the sky: Other companies, like Toshiba, are also working on this type of technology, and Hyperion is backed by Altira Group, which has invested in GridPoint and Southwest Wind Power.

Though, Deal readily admits there are hurdles, from public perception to logistics, ahead for the technology: “This is idealistic, we’re the first to admit that.”

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The company says it initially plans to make 4,000 units — each being able to generate 70 megawatts of heat energy, or 27 megawatts of electricity from a steam turbine. That’s the equivalent power for 20,000 homes. There’s also the possibility of linking devices that could produce more power.

Hyperion’s “cartridge” reactor or “nuclear battery” is small, portable and self-contained, which could make it a good fit for remote, rural locations that are disconnected from the power grid. The company says the device can be delivered where it is needed and then sent back to the factory for refueling every five years.

The modular aspect of the device is supposed to bring down the cost of nuclear power — “30 percent” over traditional nuclear in capital costs and a 50 percent reduction in operating costs. The company says the device is also safer than traditional nuclear because: 1). it is sealed and only opened when refueled back at the factory, and 2). because it is buried at the generation site, which cuts down on tampering. We’re not sure about the company’s claims, but the image above looks slightly terrifying.

Most of the presidential candidates are touting nuclear as a promising option, and government funding has started to head that way. This is despite the significant problems with nuclear power, like issues of waste disposal, uranium supply, and safety, or the fact that it will take decades and billions of dollars to get traditional reactors built.

Private investors are also starting to eye nuclear as the country searches for answers to provide large amounts of carbon-free power. Hyperion is backed by Altira Group in an undisclosed round of funding. Toshiba reportedly has a compact modular nuclear technology in the works as well. And NRG Energy is creating Nuclear Innovation North America, a subsidiary that will develop and invest in nuclear projects, and it launched the new company with a $300 million investment from Toshiba.

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While you go an download the free trial (like I just did), I’m going to hang my head in shame now. Go ahead…carry on your mobile RSS day without me…sniff, sniff.

(via MobileCrunch with a tip by Dave)

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Most of the shoppers, while gravitating towards the iPod section, were actually snapping up the iPod accessories. Apple iPod Earbud Headphones,Incase covers, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Which made me wonder, if any of the analysts have taken into account the “iPod accessories” in their financial forecasts.

While there, I picked up iClean Screen Cleaner, an amazingly effective way to keep your PowerBook screens smudge free and bright. I highly recommend that everyone should buy this one. Having given my “bakshish” to Steve Jobs, the next stop, just for comparison sake, was an old school record store, Virgin.

Much to my delight, while the sales might not have been as brisk, the sales staff was courteous and smiling – so competition has made them better. I ended up picking a few CDs because I had tough time finding them on the iTunes store. I highly recommend Putumayo Presents: Asian Lounge and Ultimate Samba Collection. But the most amazing purchase of the weekend, this wonderful book Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta, a writer who is as much a man without a home as me. This is a brilliant book, especially if you love books by Pico Iyer. (Check out Rana’s Website… lots of goodies!)

The trip to the Virgin MegaStore, might have cost me more, but I was reintroduced to the joys of “CD packaging” and “liner notes.” I wonder when the record industry will realize that to bring back the buyers, they need to start selling DVDs with music, videos and documentaries. If they don’t well, Video iPod and the iTunes store are already here, and could be enhancing their offerings soon.

I am amazed that how broadband has jostled the incumbents out of their slumber. Gary Price writes on this new service from AOL , that allows (for now) Windows users to download High-Quality videos direct to their hard drives in the background when the system is idle. For now you can get “movie previews, celebrity interviews, music videos …. but I would be willing to bet will see much more content delivered using this approach in the future.” Akimbo goes to Main Street?

Well, this is it for the second edition of my daily journal, but keep those comments coming, and give me your thoughts on if you want me to continue with this new format.

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