-
1. Propel Gets New CEO From @Ventures
-
2. Daily Sprout
-
3. Live simply for a better, greener life
-
4. Smart "edition limited three" to Debut at Geneva
Propel Gets New CEO From @Ventures
Jennifer Kho - Biofuels
Matt Horton, a principal at @Ventures, tells us he has taken on a new job as the head of biofuel-infrastructure startup Propel Biofuels. Propel plans to formally announce its new chief executive on Thursday. Horton has been investing in biofuels since 2004, leading deals in Clear Fuels and Cobalt Biofuels before leading @Ventures’ investment in Propel in 2007. The former CEO, co-founder Rob Elam, will remain on board as president.
The company, which is working to set up a network of alternative-fuel stations, opened its first five fuel stations in California last month. The company partners with fuel retailers — through undisclosed financial arrangements — and then builds, owns and operates biofuel pumps at those stations, making money by selling fuel. All together, Propel owns and operates eleven biofuel stations so far, with five in Sacramento, Calif., and the other six in its former hometown of Seattle.
Horton compared himself to T. Boone Pickens and Better Place CEO Shai Agassi in his new role, saying that he hopes to be as successful at pitching a different view of the potential future of transportation in the US. “Pickens has done a great job of evangelizing natural gas and Shai Agassi at Better Place has done a great job telling the story of electric vehicles,” he said. “But if you look at what technologies can make a real improvement today, you’ve got to look at where the vehicles are. There are 20 million vehicles on the road that can use biofuels today. So now you’ve got Shai Agassi, Pickens and me.”
Horton also plans to still work at @Ventures part-time. “I’m not sleeping as much,” he joked. Horton knows his new job will come with plenty of challenges, not the least of which will be raising the capital to build new stations. “Frankly, the biggest challenge in this market is the capital available through the debt and equity markets,” he said. The company also faces the difficulties of creating a new market, he said, including raising customer awareness that biofuels are currently available, and scaling up distribution.
But he thinks the potential rewards are well worth the risks. Horton said he decided to make the leap because he believes Propel addresses a key problem in the biofuel market — a lack of distribution outlets. “There’s so much production and nowhere for it to go,” he said. “All the producers are sitting on excess capacity. It’s just about giving people the opportunity to finally make a choice.”
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.
Daily Sprout
Josie Garthwaite - Misc
Japan Mulls Feed-In Tariff : Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is pushing for a feed-in tariff that would guarantee a price (to be paid by utilities) for surplus electricity from residential solar systems for about a decade. — Reuters
Plan B: Hack the Climate: A growing number of scientists are looking at the use of technology to artificially tweak the planet’s thermostat as a method of last resort for averting catastrophic climate change. — New Scientist
GM Gives Up on New Flint Factory: General Motors plans to retool an existing facility to build small engines for the extended-range electric Chevy Volt, scrapping a more expensive plan to build a new factory in Flint, Mich. — Detroit Free Press
Recession Complicates Cali Climate Goals: California manufacturers say the deepening recession will make carrying out the state's climate plan even more difficult and could make the economy worse. — New York Times
Toyota Considers Kelp Car: Toyota is toying with the idea of an ultralight, superefficient plug-in hybrid with a bioplastic body made of seaweed for a post-2020 launch. — Wired’s Autopia
Live simply for a better, greener life
jchait - Home & Garden
Living simply is not all that complicated, but it can take effort. Simple living is basically learning to live happily on less stuff. Learning to enjoy people over things. Trying to live more of life in nature and reconnecting to what matters. Of course there’s a lot more to simple living than what I wrote above (we’d be here all day). For more tips on what simple living is and is not read one or all of the following…
- The Circle of Simplicity
- Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich
- Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Why is simple living green?
It limits the possessions you own, thus cutting your footprint and saves both energy and resources.
It connects you with both nature and community - both of these connections are necessary for people who care about the planet. You can’t hope to protect the earth and it’s members if you aren’t invested.
It allows you to live sustainably naturally as you look for other options (i.e. non-money, simple options) over the typical American goal of having more, more, more.
It incorporates healthy living and lifestyle choices which gears your thinking toward issues like eco-exercise, organic food, and healthy body and natural cleaning choices.
Are you living simply - or is life sort of bogging you down?
Smart "edition limited three" to Debut at Geneva
khallgeisler - Bikes & Cars
Smart announced today that it will debut the Smart ForTwo edition limited three car with standard micro hybrid drive for spring at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in early March. MHD is basically start/stop technology, where the engine shuts off when the brake is applied and the car slows to under 8 km/h (5 mph) and restarts as soon as the brake pedal is released. Parent company Daimler says mhd can improve fuel economy by up to 20% in around-town driving.
But the special-edition Smart isn’t just green on the inside. The exterior is covered in metallic melon green paint with a silvery sweep behind the doors. It has limited three logos on the mirrors and alloy wheels, and an exclusive brown interior with more silvery trim.
No word on how limited this limited three edition is, or if any of the examples will roll off the line and across the Atlantic to U.S. dealerships. We do know the coupe price will be just under $20,000 and the cabriolet will go for about $23,500.
Image courtesy of Daimler.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment