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1. Developer Trend Alert: Programming for Energy Efficiency
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2. Daily Sprout
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3. Intel: "Invest in America" & Greentech
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4. Phone Companies Developing Fuel Cells, Too
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5. The Future of Smart Grid Transmission: Superconducting High-Voltage Power Lines
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6. Symposium Thursday at OMSI will explore the problem of light pollution
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7. BrightSource Wins $1.37B Federal Loan Guarantee Commitment
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8. Count the Ways to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid
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9. IBM and Johnson Controls Partner on Smarter Buildings
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10. 10 Fuel Cell Startups Hot on Bloom Energy's Trail
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11. Daily Sprout
Developer Trend Alert: Programming for Energy Efficiency
Katie Fehrenbacher - Green IT
The practice is particularly important for mobile devices. The small size, dependence on battery life and limited functionality (compared to a computer) means that mobile developers are leveraging every resource to maximize the experience, and that includes making programs that don’t drain batteries too quickly. The IEEE Spectrum recently highlighted a mobile application called PowerTutor, built by researchers at the University of Michigan, that enables the user to compare the efficiency of mobile applications as well as being able to see how much energy your phone is consuming, down to individual components like the phone’s CPU, network interface, GPS, and LCD screen.
From a consumer perspective PowerTutor is just a novelty, but from the perspective of a developer, it could be useful to help create more efficient mobile applications. The idea is for mobile developers to use it for a few days to optimize their apps, and then disable it (the app itself uses 5 percent of the CPU, or 2 to 3 percent of the phone’s power).
I think services and apps like PowerTutor will become increasingly common as developers program software for mobile devices that are becoming ever more powerful and complex and thus are consuming more energy. Kirk Cameron, an associate professor in the computer science department at Virginia Tech (I’m assuming not the teen star turned Left Behind actor) told IEEE Spectrum that the problem of mobile power has truly become mainstream.
The phone companies already know they need to reduce the energy consumption of their networks and the devices on the edges of their networks. Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse testified before a Senate hearing this morning about Sprint’s green initiatives and he explained how Sprint’s network (and network of devices) represented 80 percent of its overall energy usage. According to The Climate Group’s Smart2020 report the amount of global mobile accounts will grow from 1.1 billion to 4.8 billion accounts between 2002 and 2020, “representing the largest source of global telecom carbon footprint emissions.” The good news according to the Climate Group is that the increased use of smart chargers and standby power modes will help to drive down the per capita energy consumption footprint of cell phones by 2020.
But baking the energy efficiency into the software development itself just makes sense economically and logistically. Other computing sectors, like for data centers and servers, are also eying how so-called “green code” can help make running computing more efficient. A couple years ago we published this interesting piece on how inefficient (or “bad”) code really matters when it comes to the energy consumption of computing. A couple friends of mine who work at Twitter have talked to me about how Twitter is looking at more efficient code to run processes and services more efficiently.
The idea of “green code” or “green software” is rather fluffy, but from a developer perspective it’s all about efficiency: software should use just as much power as needed.
For More on Energy Efficiency at GigaOM Pro:
Better Battery Life Motivates Mobile Chipmakers
Image courtesy of .schill’s photostream Flickr Creative Commons.
Daily Sprout
Katie Fehrenbacher - Misc
Almost 3M Fuel Cells Cars Sold by 2020: “According to a new report from Pike Research, fuel cell vehicles will be commercially launched in most regions of the world by 2014, and cumulative sales of fuel cell cars and trucks will surpass 2.8 million vehicles globally by 2020.” — Pike Research.
MIT Tech Review’s 50 Most Innovative Companies: Lots of greentech firms on it, including A123Systems, Coskata, Amyris, Joule Biotechnologies, Suntech, eSolar, First Solar, Nissan, GE, Serious Materials, Solyndra, Synthetic Genomics, and Tesla — release.
David Gelbaum Resigns from Boards to Focus on Entech: Gelbaum issued a release today saying that he’s resigned from all boards of public companies to focus on being the CEO of Entech Solar. See our exclusive interview with Gelbaum here. — release.
Cash for Lighting: Wireless lighting control company Adura says it’s raised $12 million, while LED maker Luminus Devices says it’s raised $19 million — release, and XConomy.
Q&A With Bill Gross: The dotcom pioneer that founded Idealab, is now helping lead eSolar, the solar thermal company that uses algorithms and mass manufacturing to reduce the cost of solar. Love this one quote, Gross says eSolar’s software is so good “The guys can be drunk when they place the rows; it really doesn’t matter. Our tolerance is plus or minus a foot.” — MIT Tech Review.
Intel: "Invest in America" & Greentech
Jeff St. John - clean power
Just how much of that money may be headed towards clean technology, Intel didn't specify. Intel Capital has invested about $125 million in more than a dozen green startups to date, out of an estimated $6.2 billion invested it has invested in more than a thousand companies over the past two decades. But given that greentech outpaced IT and biotech to claim top spot for venture investment in the third quarter of 2009 — bringing the sector's 2009 VC haul to some $4.85 billion — it seems likely that Intel and the other partners in this so-called "Invest in America Alliance" will be looking hard at green companies to help them gain returns on their investments.
A sampling of Intel's green investments to date span the gamut from solar manufacturers and smart grid software and networking startups to companies making more efficient semiconductors and computing products. In January it participated in a $31 million round of funding for thin-film rechargeable battery maker Cymbet. In July it said it had invested $10 million in five startups — demand response aggregator CPower, WiMax-based smart grid networking software vendor Grid Net, home monitoring and energy management provider iControl, Irish electronics manufacturing efficiency specialist Powervation and "hybrid-core computing" developer Convey Computer.
The latter two investments highlight Intel's ongoing interest in making computing more efficient, whether it be through advanced software or power-efficient semiconductor manufacturing — a task that shares technology with the making of solar cells. Intel led a $50 million round for its own solar spinout, SpectraWatt, in June 2008, and in July 2008 put $12.5 million into Voltaix, which makes chemicals and gases for the chip and solar cell fabrication industry, as well as €24 million (or $37.5 million) into German thin-film solar module maker Sulfurcell.
While Tuesday's announcement was aimed squarely at the patriotic call of boosting domestic jobs and technology competitiveness, Intel hasn't limited its greentech investments to America — the company has spread its wealth among green startups over four continents. In October 2008, it announced a $20 million investment into two Chinese companies — thin-film solar module maker Trony Solar and electricity storage maker NP Holdings Ltd. It has also invested in Taiwanese efficient display lighting maker Applied Green Light and Dubai-based home automation maker Pulse Technologies.
Phone Companies Developing Fuel Cells, Too
Katie Fehrenbacher - clean power
Sprint actually owns 15 hydrogen fuel cell patents, the company tells us, and started installing fuel cells back in 2005. The phone company received a $7.3 million grant from the Department of Energy out of the stimulus funds last April to expand that fuel cell project and boost the time that the fuel cells can provide backup power, to 72 hours from 15.
The backup power fuel cells start up if service from the utility stops due to weather or natural disasters. As we saw during Hurricane Katrina, it’s crucial for the communications systems to stay powered during these extreme events (literally a matter of life and death) for both first responders and the local community.
Phone companies are turning to fuel cells because they can be used as a greener, quieter — and potentially cheaper — replacement for backup diesel generators, the standard backup power for cellular networks. Sprint’s network consumes about 80 percent of its total energy use, so it has been the company’s “biggest priority” in terms of finding energy improvement, Hesse said during his testimony.
Sprint has been working with hydrogen fuel cell providers and tank manufacturers for the fuel cell backup power project, specifically with fuel cell makers ReliOn and Altergy and hydrogen provider Air Products, the company tells us. ReliOn is a Spokane, Wash.-based startup that was spun out of utility Avista Corp.; it makes proton exchange membrane-based fuel cells in the 300-watt to 12-kilowatt range for commercial and industrial backup power. ReliOn is backed by PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, Robeco, Oak Investment Partners, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital and Wall Street Technology Partners. (See 10 Startups Hot on Bloom Energy’s Trail).
Munich, Germany-based hydrogen-powered fuel cell maker P21 has also been developing fuel cells specifically for the backup cellular power market. P21 was spun out of Vodafone in 2001, raised 10 million euros ($13.6 million) in May 2009 from Yellow & Blue Investment Management, Target Partners and Conduit Ventures, and says it has been testing its fuel cells in the field since 2004. (For more research on fuel cells and other tech to make telecom networks greener, check out GigaOM Pro, sub req’d).
Sprint is also looking to create an efficient ecosystem for refilling the fuel cell hydrogen tanks. Sprint’s Senior Vice President of Network Bob Azzi wrote in Energy Biz recently that Sprint is looking to work with business partners to “create a new commercially viable hydrogen refueling model that is built around on-site refueling or ‘bumping’ instead of the current practice of swapping out the tanks.” Such a system can reduce the cost of extending the backup power if need be.
Image courtesy of P21.
The Future of Smart Grid Transmission: Superconducting High-Voltage...
Justin Gerdes - smart grid
On the online panel, Phillip Harris, Chairman and CEO of TresAmigas, and John Procario the President and CEO of American Transmission Company (ATC), took turns describing the failings of the existing transmission system, much of it stemming from the fact that the grid infrastructure is at least 30 to 40 years old. The current interconnected AC transmission system is fated to suffer "diminishing returns" including line losses, system voltage stability, and uncontrolled load flow problems and bottlenecks (congestion that threatens cascading blackouts) explained Harris.
Harris touted HVDC lines as the key to the future smart grid, and Harris said the only way to interconnect large AC power grids that are not synchronized (that is, of different phases) is via HVDC infrastructure. "It's [HVDC] time has come" said Harris. (For more on superconducting materials that could potentially transmit more electricity with less equipment, see GigaOM Pro).
Harris’s enthusiasm is partly due to the fact that his startup, TresAmigas, has an ambitious plan to link America's three vast interconnections –- east, west, and Texas –- via a 5-gigawatt, HVDC power line installed at a superstation just outside of Clovis, New Mexico. Wisconsin-based ATC also has a stake in the market. The utility, which only focuses on transmission projects, owns and operates much of the transmission network in the Midwest, and has invested $2.1 billion over the past 9 years to build or upgrade 1,800 miles of transmission lines.
Why HVDC is the Future
There are three principal advantages to using HVDC, Harris said:
Reliability — With the help of power electronics (more on this below), electricity sent over HVDC lines can be precisely controlled. HVDC stations can also connect incompatible AC grids, converting electricity so it can flow in both directions and enabling neighboring power networks to absorb or supply power as needed.
The bottom line — HVDC lines can can carry more power over long distances than a comparable AC link. According to ABB, a 2,000-kilometer-long HVDC line rated at 80 kilovolts loses about 5 percent of the electricity it carries to hear, while an equivalent AC line would lose about 10 percent.
Emergency support — If a natural disaster or other disturbance knocks out power in an AC grid, the “black start” capacbility o HVDC stations can safely supply electricity to blacked-out neighborhoods.
HVDC transmission will be aided by increased use of power electronics to improve system reliability and security and to boost the efficiency and loading of existing transmission and distribution infrastructure, said Harris. Quoting the DOE's Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability, Harris said presently, only 30 percent of all power generated uses power electronics somewhere between the point of generation and end use. But by 2030, 80 percent of all electric power will flow through power electronics.
How to Get There:
The key to getting these new next-generation transmission lines built that will deliver clean power from far-flung wind farms or concentrated solar power plants, Procario argued, is early and vigorous involvement with all stakeholders –- regulators, media, and the public. We need the equivalent of a political campaign, explained Procario. As some of the negative public reaction to California’s controversial Sunrise Powerlink has shown the clean power industry, you can't always expect the public to embrace new transmission lines, even if they are delivering clean power. Time and resources need to be invested upfront in public outreach, said Procario, and the costs for this type of messaging pales in comparison to the cost of lawsuits or a drawn-out regulatory proceeding.
Procario also said he supports giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "backstop" siting authority (the idea being one agency should have lead authority for permitting on public lands) as well as the authority to determine the cost share of new transmission, especially across regional transmission organization (RTO) borders. As for who actually owns the lines, Procario said that all parties should be open to "unique ownership structures" for new transmission infrastructure because arguments over who owns transmission lines only delay an already lengthy process.
The Barriers
What would a grid upgrade like that cost? Procario said he thought it could be built for $100 billion over the next 20 years. Other data puts the figure much higher — the Brattle Group has said that building out transmission and distribution will cost $2 trillion.
It’s also still early days for superconducting high-voltage power lines. Super-cooled conductors are still years away from the market, Bob Anderson, managing director of the Western Grid Group, told GigaOM Pro last year. At this point just three utilities are using superconducting wires, designed by American Superconductor, in test projects in New York and Ohio, pointed out Anderson.
Symposium Thursday at OMSI will explore the problem of light pollution
Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian - 741946
BrightSource Wins $1.37B Federal Loan Guarantee Commitment
Katie Fehrenbacher - Policy
BrightSource says Ivanpah, which is planned for 4,000 acres in the Ivanpah Valley in the Southern California desert, will power 140,000 California homes with solar energy, create 1,000 union jobs and deliver more than $400 million in state and local tax revenues. BrightSource CEO John Woolard called the loan guarantee “tremendous validation” of BrightSource’s technology in today’s release.
BrightSource’s loan guarantee commitment follows in the footsteps of other guarantees for clean power given out in recent months including to thin film solar company Solyndra and to Southern Company for its nuclear reactors. Federal loan guarantees under this program move from commitment phase to finalized once the company has met an equity commitment. So expect BrightSource to start lining up more plant financing.
Loan guarantees are a real competitive edge for companies like BrightSource because they typically enable a company to finance projects with a better interest rate and at a lower cost than would otherwise be available to them. It serves essentially as promise by the government to back a loan if the company can't make good on it. BrightSource competes with other startups and big firms, including French nuclear giant Areva (which recently bought competitor Ausra), Abengoa Solar, the solar arm of the decades-old Spanish renewable energy and engineering giant, eSolar, and Stirling Energy (here’s at least 11 solar thermal firms I wrote about in 2008).
If the federal loan guarantee doesn’t help speed up the California state permitting and citing process for Ivanpah, we’re not sure what will. Woolard has famously said that Ivanpah is in the second year of what was supposed to be a 6-month process due to regulations (and more recent issues like the desert tortoise). In today’s release BrightSource says that Ivanpah is scheduled to go under construction in the second half of 2010 if permits by the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management are given.
Count the Ways to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid
Jeff St. John - smart grid
NIST is launching a new blog to open an industry dialogue around the "customer interface to the Smart Grid." According to an opening post by George Arnold, NIST's national coordinator for smart grid interoperability, one major question is whether the smart meter should be the primary gateway for home energy data, or whether the smart grid industry should be looking at a separate energy gateway for some or all of the home energy data that's out there. Arnold dubs this the "Energy Services Interface," but doesn't get into more detail — though he does note that he's interested in learning of "alternative architectures involving real-time (or near-real-time) electricity usage and price data" that could fit the bill.
Utilities are promising that the tens of millions of two-way communicating smart meters they're installing across the country will eventually link up to home energy management systems, and the dozens of startups and corporate giants working on home energy interfaces are busy testing out these capabilities in pilot projects. But beyond those pilots, utilities aren't turning on their smart meter-home communications just yet in any widespread way.
That slow pace is starting to get some pushback from regulators. California regulators have asked the state's big investor-owned utilities to give all smart meter-enabled customers energy data by the end of 2010, and follow up with "near real-time" data by the end of 2011 — a timeline that could be challenging to meet. Questions of which standards will prevail in the so-called "home area network" field, as well as questions of smart meter data privacy and security, need to be solved to push these systems into the mainstream.
Of course, utilities are already transmitting data from smart meters back to their central offices in 15-minute to hourly increments, and that can be sent back to homeowners via Web interfaces or other means. But that data is being processed and delivered back to homeowners a day or more after the energy was actually consumed — useful for spotting wasteful behavior patterns, perhaps, but not for giving homeowners the real-time ability to spot and avert wasteful usage as it's happening.
There are other ways to do that. Google's PowerMeter energy interface is working with utilities and smart meter maker Itron, but is also partnering with in-home energy devices from Energy Inc. and AlertMe, which can be purchased and installed by homeowners. High-end home automation system maker Control4 makes a cheaper energy-specific product, available both through utilities and direct-to-consumer channels.
The problem with leaving the purchase of home energy tools to consumers, is cost — Energy Inc's the Energy Detective costs about $200, while surveys indicate that most consumers are willing to pay little more than $50 or so to watch their energy use, if they're willing to spend anything at all. There are less expensive ways for homeowners to energy-watch on their own dime — Blue Line Innovations has come out with its $99 PowerCost Monitor to beam signals from non-smart electricity meters into a home display unit, and is now selling it at Fry's Electronics after years of selling through utilities. This year's Consumer Electronics Show featured several new partnerships aimed at the consumer energy management market, including a General Electric partnership with digital home display maker OpenPeak. (For more on “Home Energy Management: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences,” check out GigaOM Pro).
One way to make energy management more affordable is to fold it into other home offerings, like smart appliances, home broadband services or home security systems. GE's promised line of smart appliances — fridges, ovens and other household devices that can power down to meet homeowner or utility energy-saving needs — will be linked up with GE home energy management software and interface due sometime this year. Kleiner Perkins-backed startup iControl is working with broadband providers and home security firms to supply an energy management tool that could be bundled into the monthly fees that homeowners pay for those services. (See Broadband Service Providers Are About to Ride the Home Energy Wave, GigaOM Pro).
OpenPeak, beyond its GE partnership, is already supplying its home displays to telcos such as Verizon and Telefonica subsidiary O2, and OpenPeak CEO Dan Gittelman has hinted at a telco-linked energy monitoring offering to come (see Greentech Media). But, in a nod to the multiple pathways to home energy management, OpenPeak is also working with smart meter maker Itron.
In the meantime, emerging models for home energy management could add new options to the already bewildering array. Intel Labs has a concept gadget that could plug into a household outlet and monitor individual appliances' energy use via their voltage signatures, and Apple has a patent for a home energy interface using Homeplug power line communications to carry energy data.
The NIST blog, hosted with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will be open to all interested participants through Friday, March 12, with the discussion to be framed around three central questions: Architectural questions from Feb. 23 to March 1; questions concerning data access and ownership from March 2 to March 7, and questions on data communications standards for consumer appliances and other smart grid-enabled devices from March 8 to March 12. To participate, check out NIST's smart grid collaboration site, or send emails to smartgrid@ostp.gov.
Image courtesy of numstead’s photostream Flickr Creative Commons.
IBM and Johnson Controls Partner on Smarter Buildings
Justin Moresco - Uncategorized
While IBM has expertise in digital technology, the company needed a partner with experience in metering and measuring the physical infrastructure of buildings, Florence Hudson, energy & environment executive in IBM corporate strategy, told us. Together with Johnson Controls, Florence said IBM could help customers "integrate the physical with the digital" to make better decisions about their assets.
The joint initiative is essentially a platter of various tools and services that IBM's and Johnson Control's customers can now select from to add intelligence to their buildings. One of the key services, IBM said, is systems integration. Johnson Controls develops and installs building management systems, essentially metering devices connected to a computer that let facility operators monitor and control air-conditioning, lighting and other physical systems throughout a structure. IBM, meanwhile, develops business software systems, like those for asset management. Together, the companies will integrate customers' building systems with their business systems to help improve the performance of their buildings and reduce operating costs.
Another key element of the joint effort is around energy management. Johnson Controls' Metasys Sustainability Manager combined with IBM's business analytics software will provide building owners, operators, tenants and data-center managers "actionable information" to help reduce energy use and waste, IBM said. Hudson said IBM has developed a dashboard for facility operators that would help them more proactively manage building systems, such as identifying a boiler that is beginning to run inefficiently but hasn't yet completely failed. This could lead to between 10 and 20 percent energy savings across an organization, IBM said.
The latest announcement isn't the first time IBM and Johnson Controls have worked together. Last June, IBM announced the formation of an "industry alliance" called the Green Sigma Coalition with leaders in metering, monitoring, automation, data communication and software. Charter members of the coalition included Johnson Controls, Honeywell Building Solutions, Cisco, Siemens Building Technologies Division, SAP and others. The members committed to working with IBM to integrate their products and services with Big Blue's Green Sigma solution, a consulting offering focused on helping organizations reduce their environmental impact.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user TakingITGlobal.
10 Fuel Cell Startups Hot on Bloom Energy's Trail
Jeff St. John - clean power
But in fact, stationary fuel cells — devices that chemically convert hydrogen into electricity and water, or hydrogen-containing fuels into power, water and various byproducts — are already a highly-populated industry. Players such as United Technologies, Ballard Power Systems, Plug Power, FuelCell Energy and Panasonic are churning out stationary fuel cells, mainly to provide backup power, generate electricity for remote applications or meet a company's low-emissions energy production goals. But making fuel cells that can produce electricity as costs that are competitive with grid power — Bloom Energy's goal — has remained out of reach so far.
That challenge, of course, is a siren's song for venture capitalists looking for the next fuel cell startup with technology that can bridge that critical gap. And while Bloom Energy has raised more VC investment than many of these startups combined, it isn't unique in aiming its sights at the holy grail of grid parity. Here are 10 startups that could be hot on Bloom Energy's trail:
ClearEdge Power: The Hillsboro, Ore.-based startup has spent 7 years developing a stationary fuel cell that runs on natural gas or propane, aimed at providing both electricity and heat to homes and small businesses. It's raised about $55 million in venture capital, and most recently landed $11 million in January, with investors including Kohlberg Ventures, Applied Ventures, Big Basin Partners. ClearEdge has reported initial shipments of a $50,000, 5-kilowatt fuel cell unit aimed first at the California market.
Combined heat and power (CHP) generation, or creating both useful heat and electricity from a single source, is the goal of Bloom Energy, as well as many other fuel cell makers. Particularly companies like Bloom that use solid oxide fuel cell technology, are looking at CHP because that technology runs hotter than the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, which are more typically aimed at vehicular or portable applications.
Ceres Power: Ceres Power is an Imperial College London spinout based in Redhill, U.K., which has raised about $75 million to develop stationary fuel cells that generate electricity and heat for homes using methane, that is, natural gas. In May, it announced the successful test of a 1-kilowatt unit with British Gas, a milestone that came with a £2 million ($3.10 million) payment from the utility with a promise of more to come. In December Ceres announced the start-up of a manufacturing line it hoped to bring to commercial-scale production through the course of this year.
Neah Power Systems: The Bothell, Wash.-based startup got started with U.S. Navy money, raised investment from backers including Intel Capital, Alta Partners, Novellus Systems, Castile Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures, and went public as an over-the-counter traded company via a reverse merger in 2006. In January it announced a $10 million funding commitment from Ebeling Heffernan and First Equity Trust, and also bought lithium-ion battery charger CyVolt Energy Systems. Neah says it has replaced traditional proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology with a more reliable, longer-lived silicon-based design, and while it's concentrating on portable applications, it has also identified the stationary backup power market as a potential target.
ReliOn: This Spokane, Wash.-based startup was spun out of utility Avista Corp., and makes proton exchange membrane-based fuel cells in the 300-watt to 12-kilowatt range for commercial and industrial backup power. It most recently raised $23 million in a Series C round in April 2008, and its investors include PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, Robeco, Oak Investment Partners, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital and Wall Street Technology Partners. It had shipped more than 1 million watts of devices as of December 2007, and in February 2008 announced a partnership with Emerson.
P21: The Munich, Germany-based hydrogen-powered fuel cell maker was spun out of Vodafone in 2001, and unsurprisingly is aimed at providing backup power to telecommunications networks — a common target market for fuel cell makers. It raised €10 million ($13.6 million) in May from Yellow&Blue Investment Management, Target Partners and Conduit Ventures, and says it has been testing its fuel cells in the field since 2004. (For more research on fuel cells and other tech to make telecom networks greener, check out GigaOM Pro).
ACAL Energy: This U.K.-based startup makes membrane exchange fuel cells with cathodes that use about one-fifth the platinum of traditional membrane fuel cells — a bonus, given the high cost of that precious metal — and is targeting the stationary power market as well as automotive applications. It raised £3.3 million ($4.8 million) in December 2008 from CT Investment Partners, Rising Stars Growth Fund, NorthStar Equity Investors, Porton Capital and Synergis Technologies. In January it announced plans for its first working model of its FlowCath technology in a stationary power setup at a Warrington, U.K. industrial site, with installation set for the second half of 2010.
CellEra: This Israeli startup is also working on a stationary fuel cell that does away with platinum, with the aim of cutting costs by up to 70 percent compared to platinum-using fuel cells. It has developed proprietary electrode technology and is working with partners to develop its platinum-free catalysts. It raised $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures last year, and in February raised another $2 million in part of what CEO Ziv Gottesfeld said was a larger round of funding.
Intelligent Energy: This London-based maker of hydrogen-powered fuel cells has also focused its efforts on automotive applications, with partnerships with Suzuki for fuel cell scooters and with Lotus for fuel cell taxicabs for the 2012 Olympics in London. But the company also says its fuel cells have been used for stationary combined head and power generation since 2003, and in 2008 it launched a CHP joint venture with utility Scottish and Southern Energy. In July it raised $30 million, bringing its total haul to some $130 million from investors including Meditor European Master Fund and F&C.
Electro Power Systems: This Italian startup is making a stationary fuel cell, aimed at the mobile phone backup power market, and raised $6.8 million from 360 Capital Partners and others in the first quarter of 2009, according to Greentech Media. Its innovation is to make the process reversible — the fuel cells would convert hydrogen to electricity when grid power is down, then convert water back to hydrogen via electrolysis using grid power once it's back on. Electrolysis is often touted compared to the more economical — yet fossil fuel-hungry — method of "cracking" natural gas into hydrogen, which supplies the lion's share of the world's hydrogen supply today.
EnStorage: This Israeli startup is aiming its sights on regenerative fuel cells to help the power grid load balance and firm up intermittent solar and wind power generation. It raised $2 million in January 2008 from Greylock Partners, Caanan Partners and Siemens Venture Capital, and says its regenerative fuel cell technology, developed by Tel Aviv University Professor Emanuel Peled, is optimized to provide high efficiency at low cost. (This and other regenerative fuel cell systems share some characteristics with flow batteries, which convert storage chemicals to energy — flow battery startups include Deeya Energy, ZBB Energy Corp, Premium Power and EnerVault.)
Daily Sprout
Katie Fehrenbacher - Misc
Electric Bikes Rolling Into China: “Up to 120 million e-bikes are estimated to be on the roads in China, making them already the top alternative to cars and public transport, according to recent figures published by local media.” — Physorg.com.
Pull The Plug!: A new blog called This Week In Batteries, run by Venkat Srinivasan, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Batteries for Advanced Transportation Technologies (BATT) recently launched and is providing fascinating reading. — ThisWeekInBatteries.
GE Smart Appliances at the Olympics: Why? Seems to be no other reason than there’ll be a whole lotta people at the Olympics and GE wants to show off it smart appliances — release.
Singularity to Solar: Ray Kurzwiel, aka that Singularity guy, takes a look on his personal blog at 4 cutting-edge clean technologies that use super computing — TriplePundit.
Developing World Set to Live Under E-Waste: “Waste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 percent from 2007 levels by 2020, a U.N. study released Monday said.” — CNET.
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1 comment:
Hey, there is a broken link in this article, under the anchor text - Neah Power Systems
Here is the replacement link so you can replace it - https://selectra.co.uk/energy/guides/market/neah-power
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