Lara Abrams Communications

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today the investment of up to $24 million for three research groups to tackle key hurdles in the commercialization of algae-based biofuels. The selections will support the development of a clean, sustainable transportation sector—a goal of the Department’s continued effort to spur the creation of the domestic bio-industry while creating jobs. Developing cost-effective renewable transportation fuels is a key component of the Administration’s strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions and move the nation toward energy independence.

“Partnerships such as these focus the creative powers of the public, private, and academic sectors on key challenges facing the development of renewable energy for transportation,” said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Cathy Zoi. “The United States must find effective ways to hasten the development of technologies for advanced biofuels made from algae and other renewable resources to reduce our need for foreign sources of oil.” Zoi made the announcement while speaking today at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) 2010 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing.

The consortia consist of partners from academia, national laboratories, and private industries that are based across the country, broadening the geographic range and technical expertise of DOE partners in the area of algal biofuels. Projects are expected to continue for a period of three years. Together, they represent a diversified portfolio that will help accelerate algal biofuels development with the objective of significantly increasing production of affordable, high-quality algal biofuels that are environmentally and economically sustainable.

The three consortia selected for funding are:

Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium (Mesa, Arizona): Led by Arizona State University, this consortium will focus on testing the acceptability of algal biofuels as replacements for petroleum-based fuels. Tasks include investigating biochemical conversion of algae to fuels and products, and analyzing physical chemistry properties of algal fuels and fuel intermediates. (DOE share: up to $6 million)

Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization (San Diego, California): Led by the University of California, San Diego, this consortium will concentrate on developing algae as a robust biofuels feedstock. Tasks include investigating new approaches for algal crop protection, algal nutrient utilization and recycling, and developing genetic tools. (DOE funding: up to $9 million)

Cellana, LLC Consortium (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii): Led by Cellana, LLC, this consortium will examine large-scale production of fuels and feed from microalgae grown in seawater. Tasks include integrating new algal harvesting technologies with pilot-scale cultivation test beds, and developing marine microalgae as animal feed for the aquaculture industry. (DOE funding: up to $9 million)

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap
Despite algae’s potential, many technical and economic challenges must be overcome for algal biofuels to be commercialized. To identify these hurdles and guide research and development activities, DOE convened the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, bringing together more than 200 experts and stakeholders from across the country. The Department synthesized workshop results and released a draft report for public comment in June 2009. The final National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap released today reflects the substantive comments received and is intended to guide future work and investments in algal biofuels. Under the Recovery Act, the Department awarded funding earlier this year to an algal research consortium to tackle a broad range of barriers identified in the roadmap report.

See a copy of the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap (PDF 7.5 MB).

Additional information on algal biofuels is available on the Department’s Biomass Program Web site.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

LS9 Wins Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

June 21st, 2010

Renewable Petroleum™ technology efficiently converts renewable raw materials into low-carbon fuels and chemicals

South San Francisco, CA – June 21, 2010 – LS9, Inc., the Renewable Petroleum Company™, today announced that it has won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) highest environmental honor for its revolutionary Renewable Petroleum™ technology that converts sustainable, plant-based materials into low-carbon fuels and chemicals.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award recognizes chemical technologies that are making significant contributions to reducing pollution in the United States by incorporating the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use. Winners of this prestigious award are selected by an international panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society.

LS9’s game-changing technology platform uses a one-step fermentation process to convert renewable raw materials into a broad portfolio of low-carbon petroleum replacement products, including LS9’s UltraClean™ Diesel and surfactants, which LS9 is commercializing with one of its strategic partners, Procter and Gamble.

Most other advanced biofuels and chemicals production technologies require additional steps in their production processes. LS9’s highly efficient one-step production technology enables it to produce fuels and chemicals that offer increased environmental benefits over conventional petroleum-based products and improved economics over other multi-step technologies used in the production of advanced biofuels.

“Since our founding, LS9 has focused on finding solutions to the climate change issues facing our planet,” said Steve del Cardayre, LS9’s Vice President of Research and Development. “To be recognized by the EPA as a leader in the field of Green Chemistry is a great honor and it helps remind the world that it is only a matter of time until companies like LS9 will be supplying the low-carbon renewable fuels and chemicals needed to significantly reduce our dependence on conventional petroleum-based products.”

The chemical composition of LS9’s UltraClean Diesel is compatible with the existing infrastructure and has a more desirable environmental footprint than conventional diesel. Production of LS9 UltraClean Diesel provides an estimated 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional petroleum diesel. In addition, LS9 UltraClean Diesel is free of benzene, a common carcinogen that is generally associated with conventional diesel products. The environmental benefits are equally impressive when LS9’s technology is used in the production of industrial chemicals.

Green chemistry, also known as sustainable chemistry, is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that encourages the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. This includes using sustainable feedstocks and more efficient production processes whenever it is technically and economically practicable.

LS9 UltraClean products are a family of transportation fuels and industrial chemicals that are produced from plant-based materials. LS9 UltraClean fuels overcome a number of key challenges associated with first-generation biofuels, including infrastructure compatibility, product diversity, product economics and quality consistency. LS9 UltraClean fuels can go directly into vehicles without engine modification. The products are designed to be cost-competitive with traditional petroleum-based fuels – without subsidy – and be commercially available within the next few years.

“This is a remarkable achievement for LS9’s team of scientists and investors,” said Bill Haywood, LS9’s CEO. “The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award acknowledges the value of the time and energy LS9 has invested in its efforts to develop renewable petroleum products, and it recognizes LS9’s technology as one that is ready to fundamentally change the landscape of advanced biofuels and sustainable chemicals.”

LS9 was founded in 2005 and has received venture funding from Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Chevron Technology Ventures. The company has also entered into a strategic partnership with Procter and Gamble.

“LS9 has utilized its game-changing technology platform to find meaningful applications in the fuels and chemicals space,” said Noubar Afeyan, Managing Partner of Flagship Ventures and Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of LS9. “This award recognizes the important role LS9 will play in bringing clean, green petroleum replacement products to the world market.”

About LS9
LS9, Inc., the Renewable Petroleum Company™, is a privately-held industrial biotechnology company pursuing the commercial development of renewable fuels and chemicals. LS9 is applying synthetic biology to produce proprietary biofuels that are compatible with existing fuel distribution and consumer infrastructure, as well as high-value industrial chemicals. LS9 is the pioneer in the commercial development of fermentation derived hydrocarbon biofuels and its patent-pending Renewable Petroleum™ products are custom engineered in the lab to address immediate market needs for clean energy alternatives to petroleum. LS9 is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Additional information about LS9 products and capabilities is available at www.ls9.com.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

23rd NREL Industry Growth Forum Accepting Applications and Going Green Top 100 Silicon Valley Private Company Competition Has Begun, and

June 17th, 2010

For application information, deadlines and such relating to NREL’s 23rd Industry Growth Forum, click here.

The Forum will be held in Denver, Colorado on October 19-21, 2010. The Forum features presentations from 34 emerging clean energy companies, panels led by thought leaders, one-on-one meetings, and organized networking opportunities. The best presenters are awarded cash prizes and commercialization services from NREL. Collectively, companies who have presented at the Forum since 2003 have raised more than $3.4 billion in growth financing. This is an amazing opportunity, folks. Get organized and get signed up. You could be the lucky winner of the 2010 NREL Clean Energy Venture Award, but even if you don’t win, during the Review & Selection Process you get exposure to 120+ North American investors who have an opportunity to review your application, direct feedback from investor reviewers, the opportunity to see and learn from the investment pitch of other clean energy companies, the opportunity to network with some amazing folks, including energy executives, NREL scientists, and other leading clean energy entrepreneurs from across the globe.
Submit your application by July 16, 2010

How Much Does it Cost to Apply?
$250 USD – Application Fee
$100 USD – Reduced Forum Registration Fee (each unique application receives one reduced registration at $100)

Important Application Dates – 2010
Mid-June – Begin Accepting Applications
July 16th – Final Application Deadline
August 30th – Presenting Companies Announced
September – Coaching and Mentoring of Finalists
October 19 – 21 – 23rd NREL Industry Growth Forum”>here.

And on the Going Green Competition and companies nominated so far click here.

AlwaysOn has officially kicked off its fourth annual GoingGreen Silicon Valley Top 100 Private Companies competition. Just fyi, AO is looking for the top emerging private companies that are creating new business opportunities in green technology. This includes private companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in the following sectors:

Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)
Clean Manufacturing and Clean Products
Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency
Energy Storage Systems
Green Automobiles and Transportation
Green Materials and Green Buildings
Life Sciences, Biochemistry, Biofuel, and Agriculture
Resource Recovery and Waste Management
Solar Energy
Water Technology and Treatment

The winners of this competition will be officially announced at:
GoingGreen Silicon Valley 2010
Where Green Entrepreneurs Take on Big Business
September 13th-15th, 2010
Cavallo Point
San Francisco, CA

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

The Artemis Project Top 50 Water and Water-Related Technology Companies

June 16th, 2010

2010 Winners Profiles here.

As background, per the organization’s website:
The Artemis Project sponsored the first Top 50 Water Companies Competition to identify the leading game-changing technologies that provide venture grade investment opportunities in the water sector.

The competition goes beyond identifying visionary or exciting technology to assess a company’s ability to become an industry leader through market opportunity coupled by a depth of intellectual property and know-how. The Artemis Project Company Rating Matrix combines these measures with an evaluation of the company management team and its investors. The judging criteria included ipCapital Group’s proprietary patent scoring algorithm, ipDimensional Scoring, which objectively ranks companies within a particular sector based on the relative value of its patents.

Companies were graded based on their potential to rapidly develop a strong leadership position in the water industry and sustain high profitability over the long-term. Specifically, to

- Create a fully developed solution to an urgent, strategic problem
- Address a large, mass market which provides for sustainable, rapid growth
- Satisfy a market of customers that can use an off-the-shelf product and make decisions within a 3 months to one-year time frame and then purchase significant units of the product
- Increase sales rapidly
- Establish a sustainable leadership position with a high profit margin

Competing companies were evaluated with the following four criteria:

Intellectual Property (IP)
- IP Strategy
- Value of IP

Technology
- Value Proposition
- Ease of Integration with Existing Solutions
- Product Design Fit for Key Applications
- Value of Solution

In the category of technology, companies were rated based on the bottom-line value of their technologies to operations. This category evaluates both incremental improvements over existing technology as well as breakthroughs that transform processes to provide dramatic improvements in costs and other operations imperatives. Impact of solutions upon the environment, both to business, human health and water ecosystem, will also be taken into account.

Market Potential
- Total Addressable Market
- Potential for Rapid Market Penetration
- Length of Sales Cycle

In the category of market potential, companies’ technology and products were evaluated based on their perceived value within the market. The size of the total addressable market over the full life of the products, as well as the immediate value upon initial product introduction, was taken into account when assessing market value. Judges also estimated the length of the sales cycle for the company’s product offering, with extended sales cycles inhibiting the ability of the company to grow rapidly and establish a sustainable leadership position in the market.

Team
- Number of Highly Experienced Team Members
- Combined Technical, Market and Industry Background
- Participation of Angel Investors with Relevant Background and Network
- Venture Capital Funding

In the team category, companies were evaluated based on the diversity and combined experience of their management teams. The strongest candidates will have management teams with extensive business, scientific, product development and operations experience.

About The Artemis Project
The Artemis Project is a boutique consulting practice dedicated to helping companies thrive in a world of increasing water scarcity. We operate at the intersection of corporate strategy, advanced technology, investment and policy, working with global corporations to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through operational excellence in water management and assisting advanced water technology companies in maximizing the value they bring to their customers.

Corporations leverage our expertise in water management strategy and in-depth knowledge of advanced water technologies to formulate, prioritize and implement initiatives designed to reduce their exposure to water scarcity risk and achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Advanced Water Technology Companies rely on us to optimize their go-to-market strategies and connect them with the investors, developers and customers required to ensure their long-term success.

Investors take advantage of our unparalleled understanding of corporate demand drivers and access to emerging investment opportunities in order to maximize the return on their advanced water technology investments.

Policy & Advocacy Organizations turn to us for the superior thought leadership that can only come from our robust domain expertise and extensive relationships with leading corporations, advanced technology companies, investors, utilities, industry consultants and regulators.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Clean Tech Open: Announcing the 104 Semifinalists for the 2010 Competition

June 15th, 2010

Per an email in my inbox this a.m. – - from the Clean Tech Open team: the list of semifinalists here.

10 Days Left for Conference Early Bird Pricing – On June 25 the Conference tickets go from $197 to $347.

Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, Undersecretary of Energy, Department of Energy
Ron Gonen, Founder and CEO, RecycleBank
Speakers and Panelists:
Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Kauffman Foundation
Andy Hargadon, Faculty Director, Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Davis
Kevin Surace, Chairman and CEO, Serious Materials
Randy Knox, Senior Director of Global Facilities and Real Estate, Adobe
Bruce Cahan, President, Ashoka
Zach Gentry, Founder, Adura Technologies
Devra Wang, Director, California Energy Program, NRDC
Margot Gerritson, Assistant Professor of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University
Ted Driscoll, Technology Partner, Claremont Creek Ventures
David Arfin, VP of Strategy, Solar City
Joseph Brakohiapa, President Business Development and Sales, Clean Power Finance
and many more

This is shaping up to be a super event!

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Lux Innovation Grid: Recovering Energy From Wastewater Sludge…

June 13th, 2010

Interesting post courtesy of Lux Populi this weekend:

The Lux Innovation Grid: Recovering energy from wastewater sludge: How candidate technologies compare in technical value and maturity (see graphic below).

Sewage sludge from wastewater has long been narrowly viewed as an expensive nuisance, fit only for treatment and disposal. Utilities, however, have increasingly begun to explore technologies designed to help extract energy and other valuable products from wastewater sludge. As these technologies mature, the market opportunity for resource recovery will grow from $25 billion today to $45 billion in 2020, according to a recently released Lux Research report titled “Technologies Turn Waste into Profit ” (client registration required).

To evaluate the technologies competing for a share of the market, the report first separated them into two application segments: energy recovery and nutrient/material recovery. It then scored candidate technologies by their technical merits and maturity.

This week’s Graphic focuses on methods for recovering energy from sludge, mostly in the form of biogas or alternative fuels. The technologies in this category show the most promise, and are on track to capture 64% of the overall market in 2020.

Although recovering energy from sludge is relatively new as a business proposition, the basic technology has long been available in the form of anaerobic digesters. Notably, technologies that help improve production of biogas by enhancing anaerobic digestion offer the strongest value proposition. Hence, many of these technologies – including ultrasonic cavitation, mechanical disintegration and thermal hydrolysis – land in the Current Winners segment.

Deriving alternative fuels from sludge also shows promise, with caveats. Technologies, like gasification, pyrolysis, and supercritical water oxidation help to derive alternative fuels like syngas and biodiesel from sludge. These approaches scored highly on technical value due to their favorable energy balance, relatively low capital costs, and high solids removal. However, they are also equipment-intensive and, with a limited number of installations, they registered low on commercial maturity.

Source: Lux Research report “Technologies Turn Waste into Profit ” (client registration required). To learn more about this graphic and related intelligence from Lux Research, click here or email Carole Jacques.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Interesting note from Jesse Berst today on Smartgridnews.com…and on Lithium demand for transportation applications…..

June 9th, 2010

Entitled “The Smart Grid Threat You’re Not Worrying About (But Should Be)” – many of us have seen this coming for a long time, but for those not following smart grid news, this gives you a sense of the market transformation taking place.

More here.

And another market that’s going through some interesting gyrations…and will continue to as EV technologies evolve and EV use increases…the lithium market. More here from Miningweekly.com…

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Carbon Sciences Files Landmark Patent Application for Breakthrough CO2-Based Gas-to-Liquids Fuel Technology

June 7th, 2010

Got this in my inbox today…

–

Company’s Technology Poised to Eliminate World’s Petroleum Dependency by Producing Gasoline from a Combination of Natural Gas and Carbon Dioxide

Santa Barbara, CA – June 7, 2010 – Carbon Sciences, Inc. (CABN), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform greenhouse gases into gasoline and other portable fuels, today announced the filing of the first of a series of patent applications for its highly scalable clean-tech CO2 based Gas to Liquids (GTL) fuel technology for transforming a combination of natural gas and carbon dioxide (CO2) directly into gasoline.

This first patent application discloses the design and manufacturing of a novel chemical catalyst that converts methane gas and carbon dioxide gas (CO2) directly into gasoline. These greenhouse gases can be sourced from natural gas fields or human made coal-fired power plants, landfill gas, municipal waste, and even algae.

“This heralds a new era for Carbon Sciences and means that our plan for delivering a market-ready technology could be delivered as soon as next year,” said Byron Elton, CEO of Carbon Sciences. “The ongoing tragic events involving BP’s unchecked flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico further underscores the urgent need to reduce and eliminate our addiction to petroleum, foreign and domestic. Carbon Sciences’ breakthrough technology takes us closer to a world without petroleum by essentially transforming pollution into energy.”

Today’s announcement is related to the most important module of the company’s previously announced end-to-end CO2 to fuel system that recycles raw CO2 flue emissions from carbon emitters like coal-fired power plants directly into gasoline and other portable fuels. The new module under development is designed to be a standalone system to substantially shorten the timeline to commercialization, and reduce the overall systems and operating costs and produce a fuel that can be used in the existing infrastructure, supply chain and vehicles.

Dr. Naveed Aslam, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, commented, “We are very excited about the standalone commercialization of our CO2-GTL Gasoline module. This system will provide a sizable part of the energy industry with an immediate clean-tech solution for the energy and climate challenges we face. Unlike other technologies, such as those for algae biofuels, that may require decades for commercial deployment, our plan for delivering a market-ready technology may be available as soon as early next year. Within a short period of time, we believe that the world can stop drilling for oil and start converting natural gas and greenhouse gases to gasoline.”

Mr. Elton added, “The clear and short path to commercialization with this new CO2 based gas to liquids technology makes it our singular focus for the next twelve to eighteen months. The company’s website has been updated to reflect this strategy and focus.”

To imagine a world without petroleum and learn more about Carbon Sciences’ breakthrough technology, please visit www.carbonsciences.com.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Obama Live On The Oil Spill

May 27th, 2010

UPDATE: President Obama ordered a halt Thursday to drilling operations at all 33 exploratory deep-water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico for as long as six months…

More here.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

CTO 2010 Competition Deadline Tomorrow & Launch Silicon Valley Upcoming June 8

May 21st, 2010

From the CTO’s website:
Get your applications in.

And re. Launch Silicon Valley 2010 – more at the link. Deadline to submit applications has past. Note: Launch Silicon Valley 2010 will be held on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View, CA.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Tesla & Toyota Teaming Up To Build Electric Cars; Tesla Also Acquiring NUMMI Plant

May 20th, 2010

From VentureBeat.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

From NRDC’s Kristin Eberhard: The American Power Act and California’s AB 32.

May 17th, 2010

Below is a new blog post by NRDC’s Kristin Eberhard about The American Power Act and California’s AB 32. The piece explains what APA will and will not do to the state’s landmark global warming legislation. This is a repost of Kristin’s blog.

The American Power Act and California

The fight over America’s energy future kicked into high gear last week with the release of Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman’s “American Power Act.” The long awaited bill kicks off an enormous effort to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation in the Senate this summer. My NRDC colleague David Doniger offers a comprehensive “first read” of the bill and our staff experts are diving deeper into parts of the bill in posts to follow in the coming days.

Some commentators have mistakenly concluded that if the American Power Act passes, it will make California’s Global Warming Solution Act (AB 32) moot. This is wrong. The American Power Act preserves nearly all of California’s clean energy and carbon reduction policy tools. It would take away only one tool: the authority for a state – or regional – level cap and trade program. Although cap-and-trade is one important tool, the fact is that 80 percent of the carbon pollution reductions required by AB 32 are expected to result from other clean energy and carbon control polices implemented under that law. Whether or not the American Power Act is enacted this year, California can and should move full speed ahead with those measures.

The American Power Act allows and encourages California to move ahead with clean energy and global warming pollution reduction strategies.
California has long been a leader on environmental policies, including promoting cleaner energy and cleaner cars. In more recent years, California’s clean energy and global warming pollution reduction policies have made the state a mecca for investments in clean technologies that will power our future. The American Power Act recognizes California’s leadership, and it respects and protects our state’s ability to:
· Set its own carbon standards for vehicles, as well as other states’ option to adopt California’s standards (sec. 4141).
· Establish carbon pollution limits, clean energy, and energy efficiency programs for other sources that are more stringent than federal requirements; and,
· Establish overall statewide limits on global warming pollution, such as the targets in California’s AB 32.

The American Power Act preserves all of California’s carbon-curbing clean energy tools except cap-and-trade.
While the Kerry-Lieberman bill would protect most state powers to advance clean energy and curb global warming pollution, it singles out for permanent preemption one particular state authority. States would be prohibited from running cap-and-trade programs once the federal program to curb carbon pollution gets off the ground (sec. 2501, adding Clean Air Act sec. 806).

The effect of this provision on California, however, will be limited. As already noted, 80 percent of the carbon reductions expected under California’s Global Warming Solutions Act are coming from other clean energy and carbon reduction policies. Moreover, the American Power Act would provide California and other states that already have cap-and-trade programs with revenue from the federal allowance auction in place of revenue they would have raised by auctioning allowances at the state level.

Creating a national pollution limit is important so long as the national program is working well and achieving our national pollution reduction and clean technology goals. NRDC believes, however, that California and other states should retain the authority to limit carbon pollution by any cost-effective means, including cap-and-trade, if at any time the federal program and fails to achieve its goals.

The American Power Act builds on California’s leadership.

Using allowance value for the public good
While California has yet to finalize its rules statewide cap-and-trade rules, the consensus borne of three years of public dialogue among key stakeholders is that revenue from a cap-and-trade program can and should be used to help us transition towards a clean energy economy. This help can take the form of investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and research, development and deployment of new clean technologies, or providing refunds or rebates directly to consumers. Following California’s lead, the American Power Act recognizes this opportunity and provides for auction revenue – which will grow over time – to be invested in energy efficiency and in consumers.

Emission Performance Standard for coal plants
In 2006, California enacted legislation preventing new long-term investments in power plants that don’t meet a global warming pollution performance standard. This law sent a market signal to power developers in the West that dirty energy sources are not good long-term investments. The American Power Act picks up on this idea and establishes global warming pollution emission performance standards for new coal-fired electric power plants. It is not as aggressive as California’s but sends a signal to the national market that we need to move away from dirty energy and invest in clean energy sources.

The American Power Act unnecessarily threatens California’s coastline and marine life at risk.
For all the good it will do to curb global warming, the Kerry-Lieberman bill unwisely encourages new offshore drilling in previously protected areas. It does this by enticing east coast states with 37.5% of federal offshore oil and gas revenues, with absolutely no strings attached to the use of this money.
The American Power Act does give states the option to veto offshore leasing within 75 miles of their coasts (sec. 1204). However, states would face an uphill battle to achieve the veto: each state must pass a bill, and then the governor must petition the federal government, then the Interior Department must review and accept the petition, then the five-year leasing program must be revised. Meanwhile, leasing, seismic exploration, drilling, production and pipeline activities could go forward while states are jumping through hoops to get the veto. My colleague Regan Nelson has written in more detail blog post on the offshore oil provisions.

Luckily, California is on the ball. Congressman John Garamendi sponsored the California West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010, a bill with 28 co-sponsors, which will stop all new offshore oil leases in federal waters on the West Coast. The bill has identical companion legislation in the Senate, sponsored by all six West Coast Senators, including California Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. Governor Schwarzenegger recently announced his opposition to new drilling off California’s coast despite the lure of as much as $100 million for the state’s coffers. However, we cannot be sure that the legislature will be able to act quickly enough nor that future governors will put the welfare of the state’s coastline and marine resources ahead of crass financial considerations. We are disappointed to see the bill encourage governors to trade off their states’ economic and environmental well-being with an activity that is so dangerous and deadly for our coasts, marine life, and fishing industry.

California continues to set the pace.
The bill as introduced by Senators Kerry and Lieberman has several important implications for our ongoing work to build a clean energy economy here in California. We don’t have time to waste and we are working hard for Congress to act this year on comprehensive climate legislation, but California can and should move forward, regardless, with clean energy and global warming pollution reduction strategies and implementation of AB 32.

California has been and should continue to be a leader in putting clean cars on the roads, in giving Californians the option to pursue the cleanest forms of transportation and powering our homes and businesses with clean energy.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Blue Tech Innovation Forum Upcoming…

May 11th, 2010

Blue Tech Innovation Forum. All about innovation strategies that address water scarcity. Should be very good. More here.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

UCLA engineer’s research on CO2 conversion gets boost from Japanese chemical company KAITEKI Institute to sponsor James Liao’s work with genetically modified algae

May 7th, 2010

I got this in my inbox this morning, and think I’m going to highlight a few more scientists in upcoming blogs.

If you’re a scientist in clean tech, it’s your time to shine, so whatever you can begin today, do it.

And here’s to the continued success of Liao’s endeavors – as well as those of scientists everywhere working on clean tech solutions…

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!
——-

Perhaps no other researcher has had as much success as UCLA’s James Liao in developing technology to turn carbon dioxide into products essential for the green economy. In particular, his innovative work engineering bacteria to convert CO2 into alcohols for use in biofuels and chemicals could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide for cleaner, greener energy worldwide.

Now Liao, the Chancellor’s Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, is being sponsored by the KAITEKI Institute Inc. (TKI) — a strategic arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp., Japan’s largest chemical company — to research ways of recycling and converting CO2 into chemicals that can be used to produce a variety of industrial products, such as car bumpers, packaging materials, diapers and DVDs.

To address the global challenges in energy and the environment, TKI will fund Liao’s research annually. Institute officials say they hope their work with Liao will continue for many years.

“We had been following the academic literature in this area and were impressed by the progress that Professor Liao reported in a series of high-profile articles, notably in the journal Nature,” said Glenn Fredrickson, TKI’s executive director and director of the UC Santa Barbara–based Mitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced Materials.

“TKI identified UCLA and Professor Liao as our best partner to conduct research on the conversion of CO2 to chemicals using genetically modified algae,” said Fredrickson, who is a chemical engineering professor at UC Santa Barbara. “The subject area of the research promotes the notion that UCLA — and UCLA Engineering — is among the world leaders in green, sustainable technologies.”

In the last couple of years, Liao has received widespread attention for his work in developing methods for the production of more efficient biofuels by genetically modifying E. coli bacteria, and most recently, for modifying cyanobacterium to consume CO2 to produce the liquid fuel isobutanol. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.

“There is a worldwide need to recycle carbon dioxide in order to reduce the net amount of CO2 that is re-released into the atmosphere,” Liao said. “Currently, companies are using petroleum as a raw material for both energy and chemicals. But eventually, petroleum will run out, so the best way to solve this problem is to recycle the CO2 we already have in the atmosphere. So far, no one makes useful chemicals from CO2 directly. It’s exciting work that could be very beneficial.”

As fossil-fuel resources become scarcer and more expensive and as greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly regulated worldwide, CO2 may become the ultimate carbon resource, according to TKI. The institute hopes to devise efficient and cost-effective means for synthesizing basic chemicals, chemical intermediates and materials such as polymers using plentiful CO2 and water as basic ingredients.

“The research project with Professor Liao opens up the possibility that we could not only derive our basic chemicals, plastics and materials from sunlight and water but also remediate CO2 in the process,” Fredrickson said. “We felt Professor Liao’s technology was the most advanced and had the most potential for producing a diverse set of valuable chemical compounds in an economically feasible way.”

The KAITEKI Institute Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. formed in 2009, is a strategic advising and virtual research institute focused on meeting 21st-century challenges in energy, the environment and health care. Kaiteki, which traditionally means “comfort” in Japanese, was chosen as the institute’s name to represent the global quality of life that will be made possible through the development of sustainable technologies and breakthrough scientific advances in human health care.

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1945, offers 28 academic and professional degree programs, including an interdepartmental graduate degree program in biomedical engineering. Ranked among the top 10 engineering schools at public universities nationwide, the school is home to eight multimillion-dollar interdisciplinary research centers in wireless sensor systems, nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing and nanoelectronics, all funded by federal and private agencies.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Schwarzenegger Ends Support For California Oil Drilling

May 3rd, 2010

I have two words for you, Governor: good man.

Obama, it’s your turn to do the same…

More here.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

Earth Day Notes

April 22nd, 2010

A lot has been on my mind with Earth Day this week. I’m taking this opportunity to highlight a few things that popped into my inbox and caught my eye.

-The Ecotech Institute, a unique college entirely focused on preparing graduates for careers in renewable energy, sustainable design, and energy efficiency. I suspect we’ll see more of these pop up…

-An email I received from the PR rep for IEEE, articulating some of the amazing things IEEE members are doing in honor of Earth Day. It was really the first time a PR representative took the time to highlight what members of such an organization are individually doing, and how they’re contributing to efforts – whether clean tech, ‘eco’, or ‘green’.

-Connectivity Week is upcoming. I’m excited this Earth Day about what the future holds for us consumers, in the way of all things smart grid.

-The article in Huff Post regarding the nine companies that won the bid to build a hydroelectric dam in the Amazon. When will people learn…

-The launch of NASA’s Climate Change Supercomputer. It’ll be amazing to see what we can learn from, and do with, the data we get from this thing.

-PBS KIDS GO!’s Design Squad’s nationwide 2010 Trash to Treasure competition, which is challenging kids across the country to recycle, reuse and re-engineer everyday materials into new inventions. Three young innovators will win a trip to Boston to see their designs built and have the process chronicled for an upcoming episode of the engineering TV series. Awesome. Get your kids involved.

-25 communities are going to get some major cash from the government for energy efficiency retrofits. All good news.

-Gridwise signed an MOU earlier this month with the Japan Smart Community Alliance. I will be interested to see how the international smart grid continues to develop. It’s a fascinating area of development.

-The article in the NYT yesterday about rare earth mining and China’s role in it…makes you think, no?

-And, courtesy of Earth Advantage Institute, 8 predictions for American homes and the home industry over the next decade…
1.Newly built homes will use one third the energy that they do today.
2.Buying decisions will be based on better information about the “life cycle” impact of products.
3.The rising cost of clean water will drive most people to stop using it to water lawns and flush toilets. Many homes will use graywater (domestic wastewater from any source except toilet and garbage) and rainwater for these purposes.
4.Lenders will demand energy efficient buildings because they are more stable investments.
5.Communities will become denser, making better use of pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths and mass transit.
6.In the future, not just buildings will be certified, but neighborhoods and entire cities will be certified. This verification work will not only cover eco-friendly structures and materials, but will ensure that unique bio-regional conditions, water conservation, green space preservation, access to public transportation, and ongoing resident sustainability education are addressed.
7.All buildings will have baseline energy scores based on home design and the physical properties of the house. Home owners will have a better idea of where they stand with regard to energy efficiency and will understand how to upgrade their homes cost-effectively. Buyers will know more about energy performance when they shop for a home. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency will create a voluntary national energy scoring system for homes by October of this year.
8.All homeowners will know significantly more about their energy and water use and their energy habits. The use of stand-alone or online home energy displays will enable them to monitor consumption in real time. Consumers will know how many times they opened their refrigerator door, when the hairdryer was used, how many gallons of water their teenager used during their shower, and the approximate dollar cost of each activity.

As always, with great hope for the future on this Earth Day and those to come.

Make it a great day –

– Lara

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

10 Israeli Cleantech Companies Selected for California Tour

April 13th, 2010

(This is a reposting of an email I received from the CICC):

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) announced today that 10 Israeli Clean Technology companies have been chosen to participate in a delegation to meet with industry leaders, investment firms, policymakers and utility giants from April 26-28 in Silicon Valley, California.

A highlight of the program is The Israel Cleantech Showcase, scheduled for April 27. It will be a full day of presentations by the delegation companies and cleantech industry thought leaders. CEOs of the selected Israeli companies will engage with an entire ecosystem of cleantech leaders in California to facilitate channel and technology collaboration and investment.

To attend the Showcase at PARC, Palo Alto click here.

The Companies:

Founded in Israel in 1962, Amiad is a world leader in filtration, delivering clean water with clean technology. Amiad’s automatic self cleaning screen filters and automatic micro fiber (AMF) filters safeguard human health, the environment and industrial productivity. Amiad filters can stand alone to efficiently remove solids from irrigation, municipal or industrial water, or help make multi-stage water treatment systems more effective and efficient by optimizing the use of chemicals and operating on a bare minimum of water and power. Today, the company has more than 400 employees worldwide and is traded on the AIM London Stock Exchange.

Arcadian Networks designs and delivers wireless broadband communication systems to the energy sector. The real-time, two-way communication networks provide the backbone of all “smart” energy solutions – delivering operating efficiencies, interoperability and security. Designed specifically for utility, oil and gas, and renewable energy industries, the IP converged networks are based on private, secured 700 MHz spectrum. Customized services range from blueprint to network deployment, systems integration, through customer service.

BrightView Systems delivers comprehensive process control and optimization solutions dedicated to thin-film solar panel manufacturing. With a profound understanding of photovoltaic cell physics, process development and mass production, BrightView’s core technologies span in-line metrology, imaging and unique data analysis packages specifically designed for thin-film solar manufacturing. BrightView solutions improve the efficiency, durability and bankability of panels and provide integral solutions for improving thin-film PV productivity and profitability.

Designer Energy (DE) is an Israeli biotechnology company dedicated to producing cheap, fermentable sugars to sustainably enable the industrial biology industry. Designer Energy has demonstrated proof-of-concept for two enzymatic hydrolysis processes that both exhibit remarkable performance on a wide variety of biomass. The company is currently negotiating a multi-year, multi-million dollar research collaboration with a major oil company. Designer Energy has been funded by Musea Ventures, a family angel fund, to reach proof of concept for both of its technologies and is currently seeking to raise its first round of institutional funding.

Established in 2008, ETV Motors Ltd. develops advanced powertrain technologies that address the automotive industry’s tightening embrace of electric vehicles (EVs). ETVM’s scientists are focused on two achievements: a compact, energy-dense, power-dense battery; and an ultra-efficient on-board power-generator that keeps the battery charged with energy sourced from currently-available infrastructure. Gram for gram, ETVM’s lithium-based cells deliver 50% more energy than the best competing cells. Batteries built from these cells will be smaller, more affordable, and have potentially twice the driving range of other lithium-ion batteries. ETVM’s innovative microturbine serves as a range-extender for efficient, affordable, clean plug-in hybrid EVs.

Linum Systems is developing a hybrid solar air conditioning technology which provides heat-driven cooling and heating, and seamlessly switches to electricity-driven mode during off-sun conditions. This energy-saving technology offers better efficiency and significant cost reductions in comparison to other solar air conditioning systems available today in the market. The technology is based on a novel patent-pending thermodynamic cycle developed and owned by Linum, using mainly standard industry components. Easy to install and operate, the system offers the first practical solar air conditioning solution for the residential and small office space. Linum Systems is based in Pardes-Hanna, Israel.

Panoramic Power is an early stage startup working on Energy Efficiency (EE) for commercial buildings. Our vision is to enable any organization full, granular transparency to its power flow and usage in order to increase efficiency and save costs. We will provide the enterprise with a standard, affordable power visibility platform that will extend the smart grid revolution into the internal enterprise grid and enable quick customer ROI. The technology under development will change the way enterprises look at their power flow, building a basis for an unlimited set of new and innovative applications. Panoramic Power: Smart Grid for the Enterprises

Rosetta Green’s technologies focus on a unique set of genes, known as microRNAs that function as main switches for controlling key traits in plants and algae. The company is using its platform technologies to develop improved crops for agriculture, and feedstocks for biofuels. Rosetta Green is a subsidiary of Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG). Rosetta Green’s has managed to generate algae with increased oil content and plants with improved drought tolerance. The versatility of our technologies enables us to implement them in a variety of cleantech and agri-technology related traits. The company’s go-to-market strategy relies on developing POCs and prototypes of plants and algae with improved traits and collaborating with strategic partners for scaling up and commercialization.

TaKaDu provides Water Infrastructure Monitoring service, allowing water utilities to significantly reduce water loss and promote operational efficiency. The World Bank estimates global water loss at 25%-30%, representing a $20bn problem. TaKaDu’s unmatched Software-as-a-Service solution requires no network changes or capital expenditures. The solution, based on patent-pending mathematical and statistical algorithms, uses existing network data (flow, pressure, quality, etc.). TaKaDu is fully operational with utilities and partners in Europe, Australia, Latin America, Israel and the US. TaKaDu was founded in 2008 by Amir Peleg, a high-tech veteran and serial entrepreneur, together with software industry veterans and prominent scientists.

TransAlgae, Ltd. is building the framework for algal biofuel and animal feed, using genetic engineering combined with practical agricultural, industrial and economic approaches. The company’s scientific team has completed its first generation of transgenic algae and a field research site has been established at a 400MW natural gas power station. In addition to higher productivity, the genetic approach enables rapid increases, multiple high-quality products, bio-safety mechanisms and contamination resistance. TransAlgae is in collaboration with Endicott Biofuels, TX, for the development of algae as a potential transportation fuel and renewable chemical feedstock source and is in the process of signing an MOU with a fish feed producer for testing of microalgae as an ingredient in the production of fish feed.

Posted in The Abrams Clean Tech Report | Comments Off

^ back to top

Contact Lara Abrams

To contact Lara, please email her at lara@laraabrams.com or call 415 613 1704.

Lara Abrams Communications

Strategic Thinking For Business

The Abrams Clean Tech Report

Top 10 Greentech IPO Candidates

R&D Magazine Scientist of the Year Nominations Due Sept. 15

Cleantech: Venture firms invest $2 billion in second quarter

Department of Energy Announces $24 Million for Algal Biofuels Research

LS9 Wins Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

23rd NREL Industry Growth Forum Accepting Applications and Going Green Top 100 Silicon Valley Private Company Competition Has Begun, and

The Artemis Project Top 50 Water and Water-Related Technology Companies

Clean Tech Open: Announcing the 104 Semifinalists for the 2010 Competition

Lux Innovation Grid: Recovering Energy From Wastewater Sludge…

Interesting note from Jesse Berst today on Smartgridnews.com…and on Lithium demand for transportation applications…..

Carbon Sciences Files Landmark Patent Application for Breakthrough CO2-Based Gas-to-Liquids Fuel Technology

Obama Live On The Oil Spill

CTO 2010 Competition Deadline Tomorrow & Launch Silicon Valley Upcoming June 8

Tesla & Toyota Teaming Up To Build Electric Cars; Tesla Also Acquiring NUMMI Plant

From NRDC’s Kristin Eberhard: The American Power Act and California’s AB 32.

Blue Tech Innovation Forum Upcoming…

UCLA engineer’s research on CO2 conversion gets boost from Japanese chemical company KAITEKI Institute to sponsor James Liao’s work with genetically modified algae

Schwarzenegger Ends Support For California Oil Drilling

Earth Day Notes

10 Israeli Cleantech Companies Selected for California Tour

Archives

Blogroll