21st Century Regenerative Technology

1. 11 Green World Economic Forum Pioneers

11 Green World Economic Forum Pioneers

2008-12-05 08:00

Katie Fehrenbacher - Hitlines

The World Economic Forum has released their annual list of Technology Pioneers for 2009, and out of 34 pioneering companies, 11 of them are cleantech firms. Among them are companies that are building utility-scale solar and smart grid technologies, energy-reducing sensor networks, methane emission-reductions programs, recycling programs and efficient lighting tools. That’s what we like to see! Here they are:

BrightSource Energy: Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy is one of the leaders in the utility-scale solar industry, and is working on building a massive 400MW solar farm in the Mojave Desert. The company has raised over $115 million from investors like Kleiner Perkins, Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, and StatoilHydro. California’s PG&E has signed a deal for potentially 900 MW of solar farms with BrightSource.

Current Group: Current makes smart grid technology, including software for sensor networks that can monitor and manage the grid. The Germantown, Md.-based company was founded in 2000 and investors include EnerTech Capital, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Liberty Associated Partners.

Cows to Kilowatts Partnership: This project is a collaboration among four groups: the Nigerian organizations Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research, the Centre for Youth, Family and the Law, the Sustainable Ibadan Project and Thailand’s KMUTT. Together they are building a biogas pilot plant that will turn waste from cattle slaughterhouses into natural gas that can be used for household cooking and electricity, and fertilizer. Gruesome but resourceful.

GreenPeak Technologies: The Netherlands-based startup sells battery-free wireless chips and network hardware for wireless sensor networks that can harness tiny amounts of energy from things like movement or solar. The company was formed in July 2007 through a merger of two wireless companies, and is backed by €10 million ($12.74 million) from a long list of venture firms, including DFJ Esprit, GIMV, Motorola Ventures, Allegro Investment Fund, SenterNovem, and IWT. The company’s network gear can be used for sensor networks to make energy usage in buildings more efficient.

Lemnis Lighting: Lemnis Lighting makes LED light bulbs and was founded by Warner Philips (of the Philips family, founders of lighting corporation Philips) and Frans Otten. The company says its LED bulbs are 90 percent more efficient that conventional light sources and last for up to 100,000 hours.

NovaTorque: NovaTorque, founded by John Petro, Don Burch and Ken Wasson, has developed an electric motor the company says provides an operating efficiency of over 90 percent, is small in size and is lower cost than conventional motors. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., says its motors can be used in everything from hand tools to air conditioners to dental drills.

RECYCLA Chile: Recycla is a Chilean e-waste recycling company founded in 2003 by brothers Victor and Pedro Nilo. The company has developed a deal with Maxus Technologies to help with the recycling process.

RecycleBank: RecycleBank is a Philadelphia-based startup that runs incentive-based recycling programs. The company has raised over $40 million from Kleiner Perkins, RRE Ventures and Sigma Parters.

SemiLEDs Corpo.: SemiLEDs makes LED chips that the company says are among the brightest and most efficient available due to the use of a copper alloy substrate and design. The company is based in Boise, Idaho, but has operations in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and is backed by Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., one of Taiwan’s biggest DRAM companies.

Virent Energy Systems: Virent is a biofuel startup based in Madison, Wisc., that has created a “bioforming technology,” which catalyzes sugars into hydrocarbons, creating molecules similar to those produced in oil refineries. The company says their process can use a variety of feedstocks including sugars, starches, cellulose and glycerin (a byproduct of biodiesel production). It’s collected $10 million in government grants and a sizable $40 million in venture capital from Stark Investments, Venture Investors and Cargill Ventures, in addition to a 5-year partnership with Shell.

ZPower: ZPower makes a silver-zinc battery that the company says will be rolled out in laptop computers sometime next year. ZPower says the battery has a 40 percent longer runtime than lithium ion batteries and is a more stable technology — in other words, less likely to blow up.