Our first livecast stream of Colorado Green Tech

We’d like to thank Brian and his team from Green Works Video for their tremendous effort in putting this together for the meeting. Our live event stream in high definition looked great (from my latop anyway) and was made available from the homepage on our colorado green tech site. If you’re interested in this service please email Brian at brian@gwvideo.com or visit his website.

Governor’s Energy Office, Renewable Energy Distribution Infrastructure (REDI) Report
Presented by: Adam Cahn, Government Intern

Governor Ritter issued an Executive Order on April 16, 2007, re-creating the Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation (originally created in 1977 to promote energy conservation in Colorado) as the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO). The GEO’s mission is to lead Colorado to a New Energy Economy by advancing energy efficiency and renewable, clean energy resources. The GEO was awarded a grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability to support the REDI Project.  The results of the project were compiled into the REDI report, an analysis of the issues facing Colorado’s electric power sector as it strives to meet the goal of a 20% reduction in CO2 emission by the year 2020 from a 2005 base.

As an introduction on accessibility of renewables on the grid, our green tech host Kris Weisenfeld brought up the Pickens Plan. Considered a pioneer in wind generation in Texas, T. Boone Pickens had plans to build a 4MW wind farm in the Texas Panhandle through the Mesa Energy company. Although he’s purchased wind turbines and started to install them, the complexities of getting the transmission in place is holding the Pickens project back until 2013.  Similarily Colorado REDI report tackles the issues of transmission and technology factors. Utility based power must deal with transmission. Renewables can also increases distances since the optimal renewable sources are not always close to their destination loads.

As a result of Senate Bill 91, the REDI report was created. The report identified 10 Generation Development Areas (GDAs) for renewables in Colorado. From these areas, 8 GDAs support wind with a total of 96GW capacity or 8 times Colorado’s current peak energy usage. The remaining two GDAs support solar and if completely covered with Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) would equal 1300 GW.  If only 2% of the land was used for solar it could host 26GW of capacity, more then twice Colorado’s peak usage. The report also includes information from over 450 technical reports produced in cooperation with NREL and the Department of Energy.

Technology is also changing the landscape of alternative energy capabilities on the grid. The SB91 report uses the 2007 NREL wind capacity estimates for wind turbines designed at a 50 m hub height. This is a conservative estimate with new technology for wind becoming available. New estimates from NREL indicate that 80 m hub height increases capacity from 96,000 MW to 300,000 MW or over 3x increase in capacity. Adam also showed some great photos from the Vesta production floor and train-based transportation of these massive wind turbines segments from the factory to their ultimate operational destination.

The REDI report addresses Colorado’s renewable energy portfolio (REP) 2020 goal: 20% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2020 based on 2005 emissions. Today Colorado has made significant progress. Adam showed a chart of CO2 emissions with an increasing curve of where Colorado was going and of how we achieved reduced consumption back to baseline status. This has been achieved with renewable energy and demand side policy to optimize energy usage. Another aspect of energy consumption and limiting CO2 for the 2020 goal is that Colorado is expecting to grow in population from 5.2M today to 6.2 M in 2020. The demand (medium) forecast will go from 60 GWh to 80 GWh. Given these challenges, the strategy for Colorado is to develop significantly more renewable energy and make it available through new transmission lines at higher & more efficient voltages ( 230 KV and 345 KV). Some of the other key recommendations are:

• Increase renewable energy development, including utility scale wind & solar generation
• Increase high-voltage centers from renewable generation sources to high-demand load centers
• Generate natural gas power strategically to supplement naturally variable renewable energy
• Reduce strategical utilization of coal-fire plants and/or retirement of least efficient coal-fired units

If you are interested in more details on the REDI Report go to the Govenor’s Energy Office main site Recharge Colorado where you can view the utube video or read the pdf REDI online report.

Our greentech audience had some interesting questions for Adam. One alternative to utility based is ‘localized generation’, although not a focus for this report the approach is popular in Colorado and requires knowledge and maintenance by the local provider. The REDI report also indicates that although some lines can be upgraded in place to higher voltages, most of the recommendation are pointing to build-out of new transmission capabilities in new areas or beside existing lines. For this build-out, underground buried lines are preferred by many.  However, the cost to do so is over $6M per mile, and 2 to 4 times more expensive then overhead power lines. Colorado is advancing to higher voltage transmission levels and looking to use improved aluminum transmission lines. Worldwide the build-out of capacity is undergoing massive change. Ultra-High Voltage transmission (1000 KV AC +) as prototyped in China,  are looking to improve range beyond the traditional 500 mile limit. At this point in time it looks like Colorado is not as challenged as China in terms of distance but it will be interesting to track advanced in both AC and DC transmission abroad.

SunTrac Solar - Revisited

Presented by: Adam Rentschler, CEO

As Suntrac Solar is in a very dynamic phase of corporate development, we invited them back for an update (see our April 2010 blog on their first presentation) and to allow them to benefit from the “Wisdom of the Crowd” (i.e. you).

SunTrac Solar manufactures the world’s most efficient flat-plate solar thermal panels in Golden, CO. They have shrunk utility-scale parabolic trough technology and put in into a traditional flat-plate collector box. Their core product creates high temperature hot water for commercial and industrial applications.

Overall the discussion included an excellent feedback on new market entry, state by state legislation/rebates/incentives, competitive pricing related to volatility (natural gas/propane) and overall market strategy (risk mitigation versus value creation). Thanks to everyone for participating and offering leads & information to SunTrac. Our local community of experts provided thoughtful information to help develop and support our local green tech companies.

ION Engineering

Presented by:  Buz Brown, CEO

ION Engineering is commercializing proprietary technology for removing CO2 and other contaminants from gas streams found in natural gas, syngas, fossil fuel power plant flue gas and industrial processes.  ION founders include inventors from the University of Colorado and a management team with strong start-up and industry experience.   ION is working with global partners to develop applications for their core technology, based on solvents combining ionic liquids and amines.  The properties of ION’s solvents offer advantages that lead to process improvements with lower capital requirements and reduced operating costs.  Advantages over existing and emerging technologies include improved capture performance, life-cycle cost advantages ranging from 25% to 50%, reduced water and energy use, and a smaller footprint.

ION has found a lower cost solution to address reduction of CO2 and other contaminants in industrial/power plants as compared with current gas-treatment and Carbon capture solutions. Natural gas is cleaner then coal (half the CO2) when used as an energy source but over 40% of natural gas reserves have CO2 and H2S that must be cleaned.   Additionally Carbon capture is currently a very expensive approach to CO2 reduction. Currently the 95% of the industry uses aqueous amine solvents to  ”sweeten” (reducing sour smell) by removing H2S and CO2 from natural gas.

The solvent approach developed by ION engineering uses a ionic liquids and amines that are chemically and thermally stable. Ionic liquids use organic salts that are non-volatile and liquid at room temperature. Conventional technology uses amines to bind to CO2 in an absorber unit and then channels the solvent to a regenerator where the stream is heated and CO2 is captured. The ION approach replaces the water used in the traditional systems with an ionic liquid. The system also saves in the amount of aqueous amine but replaces with a more expensive ionic liquid. Overall the technology has significant benefits, lowering operating and capital cost in the range of 25-50% (an example was shown for a gas processing unit with 15% CO2 having annual savings of 3.6 Mil.).

The addressable market is dependent on regulations and today there are 23 states where green-house gas emissions are restricted. Legistlation and the perception of traditional energy issues (such as the gulf spill) will shape our next energy policy. ION expects to leverage their technology across a spectrum of users. Starting with small volume plants (<100 MMscf or million standard cubic feet per day of gas) by leveraging the strong operating drivers to implement natural gas cleaning. Larger facilities can be retrofitted and have major justification on cost alone to upgrade. Finally, Coal & Gas power plants could use this technology with carbon capture to reduce their equipment footprint and operating cost.

GenGreen LLC – Sustainable Living Made Local & launch of BigGreenDeal.com

Presented by: Charisse McAuliffe,  Founder & CEO

GenGreen LLC was founded in Fort Collins, CO three years ago by Charisse McAuliffe with the intention to help make it easier for people to find the resources they need to live a sustainable, locally focused life. Today, GenGreenLife.com is the largest directory of verified green businesses and organization in North America with over 70,000 listings. GenGreen is also the creator of one of the most popular green mobile applications called “Find Green”, available on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry platforms. GenGreen just launched their newest product, BigGreenDeal.com which is where GenGreen certified members offer exceptional discounts on products and services in a ‘deal of the day’ type transaction. GenGreen will soon be rolling out BigGreenDeal.com on a local level starting in June.

To-date GenGreen has grown impressively since they presented at the inaugural Colorado Green Tech meetup. They have over 70,000 listing in 25+ categories ranging from Green Events to Travel/Eco-tourism to Babies/Kids, Health&Wellness, Carbon Offsetting and Food/Dining. Their “Find Green” application along with the traditional web site tools help users find their product with confidence that they are certified green. GenGreen has had great success with their current iPhone application but also have a future application on the android phone that is close to be released. The web and mobile channels not only find your desired green products but also help find services that are close to you, such as the closest organic restaurant or closest recycling plant.

Their latest venture is called the BigGreenDeal. This new web offering allows for service /product provider to offer discounts to the GenGreenLife audience. An example of a product show in the presentation was a belt made from recycled tires. The offer made to consumers is 51% discount with an expiry time remaining. This product is GenGreen Approved and has fully supported information as part of its certification. As BigGreenDeal uses a similar model to middlemen like ebay or amazon, they take a cut of all transactions. Their current plans is to launch into 50 local markets and be the dominate player in green product search, sales and discounting.

Kris hosting the meeting

Wolfe Law Building auditorium

SunTrac Solar
Presented by: Adam Rentschler, CEO

SunTrac Solar manufactures the world’s most efficient flat-plate solar thermal panels in Golden, CO. A major innovation, they have shrunk utility-scale parabolic trough technology and placed it into a traditional flat-plate collector box. They address a niche segment for  solar thermal products: high temperature hot water for commercial and industrial applications. In their top three states, they deliver a return on investment to building owners and businesses measured in months, not years. The CO2 payback is roughly six months on a system with a 30 year lifetime.

Solar thermal technology works by using the sun to heat either water or a solar fluid (e.g. glycol-based) in black copper tubes which are then channeled to a home’s water heater where the heat is transfered. A pump/controller unit is used to circulate the cooler water from the heat exchanger system to the collector. Using photos sensors, they system tracks the sun and adjust the mirrors for maximum capture. The tracks follow the sun from east to west every day. The commercial version uses 6 parabolic troughs per collector box.

A solar thermal system supplements a gas or electric based heating system at an average annual rate between 60-80%.  The primary competitors for SunTrac product technology are evacuated tubes and flat panel solar collectors. For high-temperature water the SunTrac provided diagram illustrates that the cost advantage of a concentrator system with the lowest dollar cost/BTU of energy created. Another comparative factor is how water-heating technology perform under the desired end-temperature range. Between 36F and 250F, operational efficiencies decline for all three solutions (with SunTrac at 60%@90F and 35%@250F) but as illustrated the  SunTrac efficiency rating tops it’s competitors.

The competitive landscape shows both propane/nat gas./electricity based heating are good markets to enter for both small business and residential for SunTrac. Cost of legacy fuel costs and state-level incentives (Investment Tax Credit) determine the attractiveness of the market for solar thermal. In locations like Colorado, natural gas is abundant and cheap making solar-thermal less attractive.

Posit Partners – What is Your Story? (The Business Value of Strategic Messaging)
Presented by: Carlton Bonilla, Business Development

In support of The Colorado Green Tech Meetup’s mission to fast track early stage Green Techcompanies we are kicking off a new series that looks at the non-technology aspects of a successful cleantech venture. This week we heard from Carlton Bonilla, a partner at a cleantech-focused marketing consulting firm, who will talked about why and how a startup should think about its position in the marketplace and the value of a strategic brand message for technology-driven startups.

One of the conundrums of technology companies is when to build their company story, before or after an initial round of funding. The value of creating this story is significant since a story is the precursor to funding. Posit Partners took on this journey of the importance of a strategy (versus tactics) and substance (versus just style).

As a cleantech company, the communicating your  product’s often complex technology and how the company is positioned in the market is very relevant. Investors need to understand your strategy to grow and rate your ability to communicate to your market (beyond the VC pitch) . A metaphor of an iceberg was used showing that tactics are the exposed elements and underlying (underwater) portion of the iceberg is the strategy. So to sell a story, the company strategy should be fundamentally developed to a level where investor/customer/partners can understand it (e.g. how is the company going to make money?  etc.)

A formula to building a companies brand was introduced. Brand equals identity and position. A companies position is where the substance comes in. A Position (substance) is created through:

1. Tagline
2. Positioning Strategy
3. Competitive brand Audit
4. Key Messaging
5. Pitch Presentation
6. Thought Leadership

The identity (style) of your company is based on the style of how this information is submitted to your audience:

1. Logo
2. Look and Feel
3. Web site
4. Brochure
5. Trade show booth
6. Company schwag

For companies a key takeaway from the presentation was about communication of brand. Strategic storytelling needs to communicate a rational argument with an emotional component that makes your company memorable. Every company needs a way to bridge the chasm (from an R&D startup to an operational company) using a technology translator like Posit. Communicating their value, Posit did a good job of communicating a strategy and how the facilitate/help with a cleantech technology translation process. They left us with the following key points and quote from Sun Tzu:

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

1. Build your strategy first
2. Your substance is more important then style
3. Start your branding journey before your reach our for funding
4. The story of your companies value & intentions is important
5. Look to getting a competent branding company

Greenspark Fuel Systems – On-site Waste Vegetable Oil Fuel Production Systems
Presented by: Mike Lakritz, Founder

Greenspark Fuel System produces the FuelBox fueling system, a self contained, weatherproof vegetable oil fuel production and pumping station. The FuelBox system eliminates the traditional collection/distribution model for producing biofuels from waste vegetable oil. It helps restaurants, hotels, resorts, hospitals, universities and any business using vegetable oil to efficiently and easily produce waste vegetable oil fuel for their own use on-site.

The FuelBox enables vertical integration so the entity becomes the feedstock supplier, fuel producer and end user. Greenspark Fuel Systems is working with Colorado ski resorts, local businesses, the federal government and state and local municipalities and Universities to implement FuelBox systems and empower these groups to increase profits and reduce fuel costs while decreasing their environmental impact.

FuelBox is the flagship product for Greenspark which was formed as a company in 2008. Their market entry is to solve one of the key problems in the Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) industry, make it clean, convenient to dispose of waste and turn it into a profit center versus a cost center. In most cases waste vegetable oil today is not processed on-site and can be utilized for range of applications ranging from pet food fat supplement to dust inhibitor to biofuel feedstock.  Fuel box provides a vertically integrated solution that eliminates the mess and the need for distribution and provides a fuel that can be used directly for fuel.

The technology solution uses a progressive filtering of vegetable  through centrifuge technology. The output fuel is not bio-diesel but an alternative high-quality fuel called VO-100. The filtering process brings oil within the tolerance of a diesel-filter range of 1/10 micron. The viscosity of this fuel requires heat to change the viscosity for the appropriate operational temperature and can not  be used in regular diesel tanks. VO fuel can also be used in residential oil heaters and also to generate electricity through the Vegawatt system that converts oil to electricity with little green house effect (670g of CO2 per Kw of electricity).

An ideal target customer is one that has an waste vegetable oil feedstock and a vehicle fleet. Restaurants, hotels, universities, ski resorts have delivery fleets and fit this criteria. Currently Greenspark has a pilot project ongoing with Copper Mountain resort. This pilot has produced between 8000-10000 gallons of fuel per season. The environmental saving is significant compared to a normal fleet. The fuel removes all SO2, 10-30% of NO2 and 50-90% of all diesel particulates. Alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) conversions and fuel tax credits ($1.25/gal produced and $0.50/gal ) provide a significant savings to the operator of this system along with the cost saving offset of not purchasing fuel.

GreenSpark is currently proceeding with a number of strategic partnerships. With an existing proven product, the next steps are focused on marketing exposure, partnerships and sales growth in targeted markets.

Following the presentation a number of thoughtful questions were raised as captured here. GreenSpark can aid in vehicle conversion (to add a new tank for vegetable oil). The fuel production unit has a minor waste stream, organic sludge in low quantities that will need to disposed of. Vegetable oil based fuel will achieve the same mile per gallon rating as diesel. The fuel will reduce wear and tear through its high-viscosity (200x when heated compared to diesel) and highly filtered nature that will reduce fuel filter replacement. As an alternative WVO reduces emissions compared with diesel which requires sulphur to achieve its viscosity rating. The unit also requires a heating system (e.g. 1Kw @20A) they can cost around $15-20/month.

We had a great turnout for this meeting, thanks everyone for filling in our new venue nicely. Networking again is proving to be a very popular part of the meeting and there is plenty of space at law building  to do this now. ToughStuff worked the crowds before and after the meeting from their promotional table in the front entrance. There was a good sized crowd that wanted to see their durable solar panel from  last meeting.

Announcements

• Green tech happy hour – 4th thursday of every month, St. Julien
• CU tech transfer office, looking for chemistry/chemical engineering licensing associate – https://www.cu.edu/techtransfer/about/job_boulder_chem_lic_associate.html

Speakers

Infleksion, Brian Kromer
The Stationary Model – Stationary Compliance & Climate Change Market Profiling

Infleksion is an information company that provides Environmental Intelligence on Stationary Energy Markets. Environmental Intelligence provides valuable knowledge to a number of clients through reports and dashboards. Clients can data mine for patterns on industry compliance for emissions, (e.g. air/water/land discharge and GHG-green house gases) using filters to target a potential market.  The market datasets focus on stationary businesses (local power plants, factory/industry) versus mobile (transportation). Infleksion software and services also provide finely grained knowledge to help examine facilities by fuel type, location and equipment and this empowers the client to make a more informed decision on where to deploy their technology. Extending this solution, information on the burgeoning carbon credit market can be made part of a report. Understanding where a credit can be received, provides clients with exceptional cost savings and competitive advantage . Federal Climate legislation is validating Brian’s work with Infleksion. In June 2009 a success vote passed that was the:

first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change

Future energy demand is critical to understand stationary markets. Brian set the stage by examining the DOE/EIA International Energy Outlook. This graph projects demand from known consumption in 1980 projected out to 2030 of World Marketed Energy by Fuel type.  The graph(s) imply that that the increase in worldwide demand for energy sources such as oil, coal, renewables and natural gas fuels is growing significantly. How do we plan for energy types with existing and new compliance legislation? Infleksion helps model these scenarios – matching fuel type to industrial application to emission to location providing a landscape of the current environment (e.g. natural gas energy plant using a reciprocating engine complying with Colorado or Federal GHG/pollution emission standards ).

Where Infleksion breaks from the pack is it detailed knowledge on industries, machinery and regulation. It’s environmental intelligence is built on a collection of EPA, DOE and state agency datasets and other industrial information on machinery developed by its founder. Stationary datasets include Electricity Generation and Industry segments which account for 50% of the US Carbon footprint and 12.5% of the world footprint. The software product also helps to define and estimate using the new international currency denomination of climate change known as Carbon Dioxide Equivalency or CO₂e.

Carbon dioxide equivalency is a quantity that describes, for a given mixture and amount of greenhouse gas, the amount of CO₂ that would have the same global warming potential (GWP), when measured over a specified timescale (generally, 100 years). Carbon dioxide equivalency thus reflects the time-integrated radiative forcing, rather than the instantaneous value described by CO₂e.

The opportunity identified is the target market of 800K facilities in the US which are monitored for discharge to the Air, Land or Water.  Monitoring by the EPA for these operations will soon include Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.  Infleksion has entered this market with both a software and services offering. Early clients served are in the energy sector.

At the end of the presentation a number of example reports were displayed. The first slide showed natural gas transmission points by county for the whole of the US. A second slide showed Weld County, CO with one of the highest number of facilities for natural gas processing. Brian mentioned Rocky Mountains only holds 8% of all natural gas in the US, but apparently Colorado is a hub for specialized processing. Just north in Wyoming there were some of highest densities of natural gas transmission points in the nation.

Liquid Asset Development, Gregory Majersky
Take control of your water’s quality

Liquid Asset Development markets the design and the fabrication process to make water filtration systems using pervious concrete. At the core of this solution is the social cause to provide a sustainable and accessible solution for poor nations as well as developed nations to clean their polluted water supply. The current product focus is on cleaning up mining and heavy metal pollution from industrial waste water and filtering agricultural runoff such as nitrogen/phosphorous and microorganisms.

Pollution from mines has presented a problem for over 10,000 years. Toxicity from acid mine drainage can pollute a local water supply when abandoned mines are flooded and the appropriate safety accommodations have not been made. This toxicity is claimed to be more dangerous in low pH waters to aquatic life and to the local resident consuming it. Ironically, this wastewater provides value in a reclamation process, containing a number of high value metals  such as Vanadium or Tritium that pays over 1000 dollars per ounce. The issue around water needs to be addressed as growing tension around ownership and usage of clean water supplies are leading to legal battles (over water diversion and overuse) in areas such as the SouthWest states,  Great Lakes Compact and Mississippi River states. Most developing nations are protective to the point of using armed tactics to protect their water resources. Locations such as Africa where Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia count on the Nile, Central Asia water routes are being disputed by Russia and China/India where disputes and threats stem from water diversions from the Tibet Plateau. Many people rely on this water and once polluted their situation is so dire they drink without any filtration bringing upon themselves an enormous health risk.

The Tibetan plateau is the ‘Principal Asian watershed and source of ten major rivers’. Tibet water travels to eleven countries and are said to bring fresh water to over 85% of Asian population, approximately 50% of world’s population. Four of these ten rivers: the Brahmaputra, Indus, Yangtze, and Mekong have their head water on the Tibetan plateau.

Desalination is not practical on a large scale for many countries. UAE has one of the largest desalination plants in the world. Florida has the largest US desalination operation but dwarfs in comparison with 12% capacity compared to UAE’s Jebel Ali Plant. Some of the issues are the power consumption, screening organisms, marine life & debris, and pH elevation requirements. Florida’s Tampa Bay Water faced with 5 years of engineering problems and operation at 20% capacity due to marine life and growth captured and stuck to reverse osmosis filters prior to fully utilizing this facility in 2007. With pervious concrete, pre-treatment of water for higher pH and debris filtering could potentially bring down these issues and costs.

Enter the Pervious Concrete solution. This material allows for 3-8 gallons per min of water to flow per on square foot of concrete. It is approximately 15-25% void structure that utilized no sand in its construction. It recognized by the EPA for stormwater filtration as well as 30 years in parking lots for removing brake dust, brake fluid and oil. It supports a high pH environment and does well is cold conditions. It excels over carbon filters in filtering polluted waters which contain metals.

Liquid asset is in the research phase and has proven their product in extensive trials on polluted waters by removing:

• 85-99% of iron
• 60-70% sodium
• 74% zinc, 65% copper
• 60% sulfate

Their addressable market for acid mine drainage and recovery of metals is $200M/yr. annual spend and $40 Billion globally. Remediation in Pennsylvania alone for AMD is $23 Mil. / year and state-wide sludge based metals recovery could recoup millions of dollars. The pre-treatement desalination market is estimated to be $25 Billion by 2010. Greg provided more desalination markets data.

Liquid asset Development is look for startup capital at the time of this writing. More laboratory and 3rd party validation is required beyond their initial product tests with replaceable modules.  They are looking for skilled resources in hydrology, chemistry and other specialties to help expand their product to commercial applications. Their market and first stage expansion plans involve both  developing world and local commercial applications. They are looking for investor and advisors with international client contacts. With a sustainable product to provide clean water and a revenue stream to recover value metals, Liquid Assets is an attractive investment startup opportunity.

SolarTech, Lambert Bunker
Real Solar Power

SolarTech designs and delivers HCPV (High Concentration Photovoltaic) solar systems. Their product offering is an patented solar panel that claims 36.7% efficiency at 50W/cm squared and a concentrator technology that magnifies the sun 400 times. Amplification is achieved with custom Fresnel lenses and the product with tracking system supports usage in extreme wind conditions. The product roots were from Sandia National Laboratories research and has operational success on the grid for over a decade. New technology utilizing triple junction solar cells has been added to their current product. Their latest system costs have made them competitive supplying power at a competitive $1.85/W.

Globally and domestically the market potential for solar technology is huge. Market demand will be enhanced by the lucrative 43B made available from the recovery act in 2009. Previous to recover act, existing global solar revenue in 2006 was at $16B. Today there are 6000 MW of identified US projects that will utilize solar. SolarTech has chosen to narrow their focus to mid-range commercial, agriculture, remote and municipal markets that deploy in high sun conditions. Their newest product architecture is a roof-mounted system that can support large scale commercial or smaller size residential deployments. Their product line can be engineering to work with best of breed solutions and tailored to a customer’s special needs.

The plan for growth is to continue and extend a multi-channel distribution chain, including energy developers, equipment dealers, solar installers and direct first run channels. Licensing is also available to other distributors and this is the expected long-term strategy once the newest product lines have been operationalized at large scale.

The primary driving factor to solar adoption is efficiency and sustainability. Concentrators are meeting this issue by reducing the need for silicon (reduce by 1/175 material), which in turn reduces landfill by 1/3. It provides a sustainable product with 99% recyclable material.  SolarTech is innovating at the leading edge of concentrated solar and expects to see great opportunity in the next wave of solar adoption, while still sharing the triple bottom line with the community.

CLEANtricity, Daniel Sullivan
Yes Wind Can

CLEANtricity Power manufactures unique small wind turbines that capture power from wind in breezes to typhoons and generate clean electricity right where you need it. Variable area, vertical axis turbines produce energy in almost all wind conditions and service the distributed power market.

The identified revenue potential for the variable wind turbine is about $3 Billion for the “off-grid homes” market.  There are also about 37M homes in the US with property over 1/2 acre which are also potential product clients. As of 2008, this market was supplied with 10,500 units and the projected growth is approximately 30 fold in 5 years, with tax credits also supporting customer demand. This particular low-wind market is under-served with today’s technologies and CLEANtricity fills that gap in the market.

The product is a unique, patented solution that supports variable swept areas. It uses a design that self regulates its area passively and without the need of electronics. The vertical spin design has the benefit of noise reduction and less vibration making it more reliable and versatile. A normal wind turbine is optimized for a specific speed or range. If a “traditional” wind turbine needs to stop operating when wind conditions reach above category 8 (to prevent damage), then it misses out on the jump between cat 8 to cat 9 window, which offer 8x more energy.  Plus, in order to shut down a traditional turbine, you need to feather the blade or use a mechanical break which does not always work gracefully in high wind conditions. Smaller vertical axis wind turbines are significantly cheaper with no large installation costs and foundations to build.

The go-to-market strategy includes more R&D work to improve the product (such as incorporating a battery that will store power for up to 6 days). The current intellectual property is already protected with patents. CLEANtricity is also working with suppliers to ensure quality control, contracts and unit assembly are production ready. Distribution channels, contracts and training are the next step to scale out the product roll-out. With positive profitability forecasted in 2011, the expected number of units delivered by 2010 will be approximately 70 thousand and gross sales are expected to reach 3.5 Million.

Well another move and it looks like we have filled out next venue very well. As Kris mentioned, this is where we started watching the Boulder New Technology Meetups and imagined the Green Tech equivalent.  Colorado Green Tech keeps growing and we’re excited to be part of it.

Announcements

• BCBR held a Green Summit  Event at the Millennium Harvest House on June5th
• Meg Hendriks has left to work at NREL and the green tech Group is looking for a volunteer to help with the Job Board director
• Clean Tech Open, is a business plan competition  with a 50K prize package at the regional level and winners go on to compete at the national level for a 250K prize package. The program started 3 years ago and holds competitions in the Pacific Northwest, California and the Rocky Mountain regions.
• Paul Jerde announced the new director of TEAM, Trent Yang
• Upcoming Renewable Energy Technologies (RETool) workshop is taking place July 9-11,  for professionals and decision-makers wanting to learn more about the renewable energy sector. This 2 day course is held at the CU Boulder campus.
• Upcoming NREL Industry Growth Forum

Speakers

Nick Sowden, US Director of Business Development, ToughStuff
Solar Power Made Appropriate for the Developing World

ToughStuff is a social enterprise that makes very inexpensive solar products for low-income people in developing countries.  Their focus market today is the 1.4 Billion people that have limited access to electricity. Without many options thee poorest inhabitants of these countries turn to their cheapest and most accessible options, which in many cases are not eco-friendly and typically dangerous to their health.  For lighting in a small family dwelling,  many turn to kerosene lamps which are smoky, sooty and lead to health issues in their children.

Using kerosene lamps is like lighting a little bottle of gasoline and letting it run all night

Even with all these side effects,  kerosene lighting does not generate enough light for reading.  Another source of pollution is cheap batteries used by people to run devices, in lieu of electricity, which are left on the ground and then make its way into the water supply.

The average expenditure by families on power is on average $122/year, and this figure amazingly is based on people with incomes levels close to one dollar a day.  The Toughstuff products are designed to tackle the cost/environmental problem faced by these groups with the core product being a $6 solar panel (1watt, 5.6V). The solar panel will power lighting, mobile phones and small appliances. The solar panel can charge an LED light product, an accessory that is sold separately, in 6 hours.  This can run for 30hrs in low light mode and on the highest setting (enough to read by) it will run for 5 hours. Another key product line is mobile phone connectors, designed for the most popular phones and plugs phones directly into a solar panel for charging.

ToughStuff has streamlined all their processes & costs and have applied the feedback, (from testing in Madagascar) to design their products and prices for the base of the pyramid consumers. All their products are designed for a lifetime of 5 years and have a payback of 2 months. One key design consideration was to build a solar panel that utilized no glass. It was very important for their product cosumers that the panel  be durable, lightweight and strong. The panel can be run over by a car or get wet and still function. Once the panel had recouped it’s cost in the first two months, it starts saving $98/yr in electricity costs for its consumer. Based on the projected sales,  ToughStuff products will have the ecological benefit of displacing 200K tons of carbon by 2012.  The significant environmental impact of batteries in the waste stream will also be diminished by the applying solar panels to displace battery usage.

The business economics of ToughStuff is calculated both as a private business and also as a Social Enterprise. In order to be more accessible, they use commercial distributors and work on a thin margin. There are many potential partners and opportunites in this market segment. Work is expanding through agreements with NGOs/Governments and through entrepeneurial toolkit called “Business in a Box” which includes 10 solar panels & marketing material.  Exposure and hard work has paid off with an award by the Dutch government of funding to provide $750K to 1000 Village Entrepreneurs (VEs) over the next 2 years. ToughStuff Just incorporated in Mauritius and works in China to manufacture products. Today they have a staff of 5 people in their offices on Pearl St. in Boulder.

The company is started as a philanthropic venture investment and was launched by 5 partners. Today they are Just about to hit a sales milestone of 100 thousand products sold since their inception. Nick invited people to join their newsletter on their website or donate $25 to launch a Village Entrepreneur. Nick proceeded to answer questions, indicating that they anticipate the solar panel will be copied but expect to retain the IP, and staying ahead with their design (patented connectors and lamps) is also key for them. The solar panel is not recyclable yet, but the rechargeable unit they sell is repairable. Their rechargeable battery system is based on NiCad technology because it lasts longer, is cheaper and needs to operate reasonable efficient at 40C. Their choice of VE’s to fund is typically based on vulnerable groups such as child soldiers and single moms. A person from the audience mentioned that their was illegal traffic selling cooking fuel in Congo and that solar cookers were a great alternative. The main founder of ToughStuff lived in Madagascar for 20yrs and they are looking to develop their business in other African countries such as Kenya, Liberia, Uganda and South Africa.

Peter Lilienthal, CEO and Ted Ladd, COO, HOMER^® Energy LLC.
Clean Power Everywhere

HOMER optimizes the design of high penetration renewable and hybrid power systems.  It models wind, solar, biomass power, hydro, hydrogen and multiple types of conventional generation, co-generation, and storage.  Peter gave the audience a multiple choice question on the origin of the name:

Does Homer stand for:
A) Hybrid Optimization for Electric Renewables
B) Homer the Greek poet and father of civilization
C) Bart Simpson’s Dad

The focus of the Homer product is the distributed energy industry specifically for managing and optimizing hybrid energy mixes (that may include energy source mixtures and batteries) and renewable energies. The mission of Homer Energy is to provide services, software and a community to help the distributed energy industry grow. Taking on the issues of managing hybrids with storage in a least-cost approach has proven difficult to many developers of energy hybrids. In essence, renewables such as solar and wind are variable but in a large grid that variability is small enough and can be absorbed so as to not effect the end client. For smaller and more diffuse power grids in developing countries, the variability is significant and this is where Homer comes in to optimize the power and make it cost-effective for the end customer.

How do changes in average wind speed and fuel price affect the feasibility of adding wind turbines to a diesel-only system design?

The company’s origins take it back to NREL, where the software grew and gave developing nations the ability to customize their grids and was combined with training, forums. This outreach helped provide the future client base for the Homer software consultancy.   Today there is a growth market for the private industry to help provide islands, some of which are the richest countries in the world, with the ability to optimize their variable power sources. The software has been available since 1998 and was developed out of research that started in 1992.  There are 31,000 users today, with up to 1K users/downloads being added every month. To ensure it maintains its legacy user base, Homer provides a free version but uses this as a platform for customization and consulting services.

The software can take into account any number of attributes such as wind speed, fuel price or the price of PV based watts and then provide graphs to show what combination’s ( e.g.  30% wind and 70% PV) or technology provides the most optimal mix for the client to build into their local grid. Peter also emphasized that they let customers provide the data, which can be very specific such as dealer margins, import tariffs and installation costs. Their current software can analyze power sources such as PV/Hydro/Wind/Biomass in a grid/isolated/cogeneration scenario. The software has been downloaded by almost every country in the world and is available for licensing in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Software clients range from academic, to product suppliers, NGOs, individuals and groups in remote areas such as Alaskans living in a remote area.  An example client is the Bermuda Electric Light Company. The expectation with the new community collaboration software is that the company will harvest important statistics from their clients on their usages/needs to help further Homer’s business. Upcoming software updates will support concentrated solar/thermal storage capabilities and be available in 6 months.

Rebecca Alexis, Gino Figurelli, Matt Plahutta, Radiant Glass Industries
Power*e Glass. Power-e™ Heated Windows for Homes and Offices

Radiant Glass Industries is originally a regular window manufacturer based in Denver that has developed a new radiant glass as a sustainable building product. Their windows insulate and heat by increasing the temperature of the inside pane of glass. The current market is large and their product solves one of the principle energy inefficiency costs for buildings: 50% of house heat loss is through windows.  This cost incurred by home/building owners and is a source of discomfort.

The current average window has a R value (the ability for a material to resist heat flow) that varies from 0.9 to 4.1. A normal wall has an R value between R13-R60. The standard is set by  American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). New building standards are calling for more efficient heating systems while at the same time requiring the need for more daylight sources (e.g. windows) to reduce the electricity usage for lighting which causes more heat loss.

The Power-e heated window system claim is that it stops 100% heat loss (window is hotter then interior) through a window and uses 40% less energy than a conventional heat source, (proven at Kansas State University) . Its core design uses a low DC voltage source to power the window. The window radiate 85% of its source energy into the interior target space and also reduces condensation and resulting wood rot. Existing windows can be retro-fitted and even be installed as mirrors or internal windows. The Power-e windows also avoid hot-spots by more evenly distributing heat and when measured, it uses only 1.4Kw energy versus forced air which uses 2.4Kw. An example referenced was a 2800 sq. ft. house in Keystone, CO where over $450/month in electric heating bills were incurred, dropped to under $100/month by using Power-e heated windows. The case study in Keystone had a calculated ROI of 4 years. Another aspect of retrofitting historic/landmark buildings is that window removal may not be an option but a second interior heating window is permitted, allowing for greater efficiency.

A business plan directs them to engage the domestic market but patents have already been filed in Canada, EU and Japan as well as the United States. They expect to use green building grants and tax incentives to drive their adoption. They are actively promoting distribution channels and licensing for new construction as well as the retro-fit market.  They also intend to market to the large HVAC/Window manufacturers with the enticement that manufacturing of their windows is low-cost to the target plant. Along with distribution and licensing, they are seeking joint venture opportunities.

There was an abundance of questions with some inquiries on their independent certification of the window performance which is amazingly proficient for physically reasons that are not fully understood. Their window effectiveness when rating beside one of Anderson Windows top windows is about 3x more efficient. The internal electronics converts a normal interior 100Vac supply to 25VDC for the window supply. The window will not overheat and uses a windowstat to turn it off once it reaches the desired temperature which can also be wired to an internal thermostat. It usually takes windows about 5-11 minutes to heat up to the desired temperature. Part of the innovation of the window is a coating the keeps the heat from going through the window and this also helps to ensure the overall loss to the outside is 15%.

Jim Fournier & Lopa Brunjes, Biochar Engineering Corporation
Solutions for Climate Change, Energy & Soil Fertility

Biochar Engineering builds biochar production equipment. They design, develop, and deploy industrial equipment that uses waste biomass, such as agricultural or forestry waste, to produce biochar. Jim started the presentation with a question to the group of what bio-char really is?

Bio-Char was first discovered in amazonian soils left from previous inhabitants that amended the soil and significantly improved their crop yield. The soil was found to have unusual properties to allow farming with 80% less nitrogen and effects fungus/bacteria growth in a way to improve plant growth along with improving water retention/drought resistance in the soil. It works to amend poor soil, improving yields by 200%.  With such a reduction in nitrogen, today’s modern farming is much “dirtier” through its extensive usage of Nitrogen based fertilizer that creates NOx emissions, a fact that concerns scientist along with more tradition carbon green house gases. A primary interest for the sustainability movement is that charcoal can stably capture and hold carbon for thousands of years (providing a carbon sink) and remove/reduce greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Some of the value streams available from biochar is soil fertility, sequestration and energy generation through the production of gas, heat, electricity and liquid fuel (e.g. methanol, dimethyl ether, diesel). Bichar Engineering has found a sweet spot or lowest capital investment by creating heat (through a gas) from biochar. Their product is a modular unit that can be scaled to the biomass feedstock chain. Early prototype units takes and burns 100 ton/day of biomass . By creating heat from biomass, you maintain 40% of carbon from the plant (or 25% by weight), that was locked-up, avoiding it’s release into the atmosphere as it decays, and keeping it into a stable bio-char medium. An example of this is the Pine-Beetle infested wood.  If left to rot, it will produce green house gases. Currently the forestry services have not allowed permits to create bio-char until they finish the last of their studies on environmental impact.

New models and joint venture span both wood chips with a model in 2009 to  lignocellulosic biomass based units. Additionally tested are examining the efficiency of the byproduct glycerin from biodiesel as a feedstock to the process. From forest management (where beetle infested trees can be turned to bio-char) to an Italian gasification plant, they are involved in a number of partnerships examining the various usages and efficiencies for biochar.

Today developing countries may value the bio-char more then the cooking fuel. An example raised by the audience was that the Congo Basin Forest Fund that has awarded money to the Biochar fund to support it’s usage. Many of these efforts are also using the value of sequestration to stop deforestation. For many of these feedstocks and processes, the Greenhouse Gas(GHG) Lifecycle Analysis is proving to be instrumental to determine the value per feedstock of sequestration.   BEC’s technology mimics nature’s intelligence, creating valuable co-products, ultimately including biochar and process heat with or without electricity or liquid fuels. Biochar engineering has also found that there are many good feestocks but dryness, about 20% moisture is a good amount to support optimal bio-char generation. They aim for about 25% yield of char and this will produce about 40% sequestration.  Yields generated above this has diminishing returns.

Thanks everyone for helping us kickoff 2009 at the Colorado Green Tech Meetup. This month we had a fantastic turnout with over 130 people and standing room only again. We did accommodate people with extra chairs but we’re going to look for another room to expand into.

Announcements

• Hybrids Plus is looking for electrical engineers and a VP of Manufacturing (Contact carl@hybrids-plus.com or see our Job Website )
• CORE will be hosting the Sustainable Opportunity Summit on March 17-19th
• An upcoming Green Festival is being hosted on May 7th at the Denver Convention center. There will be a diverse set of speakers on green technologies including Green Building techniques

Please see our Events calendars for more details

Speakers

Michael Callahan, PowerMundo
PowerMundo – Improving Lives, Conserving Nature

• Rise of the Footsoldier on dvd

Micheal Callahan, a native Boulderite, introduces PowerMundo’s concept: They are an innovative marketing, wholesale distribution, and micro-franchise company that connects people living in poverty to a network of sustainable resources. This idea tackles a hard problem: how do we improve the environmental conditions for people in developing countries in an economically-sustainable way. Michael brought forth an example of Peruvian women cooking on open wood-fires and having “stalactites of soot” on the ceiling of their homes. Their products focus on reducing environmental emission and reduce usage and generation of ground toxins.

• Lucky Number Slevin download

The main product categories that  PowerMundo provides, are: clean water, cooking meals and lighting homes. From the presentation the key principles of this company are the following:

• Make products economically sustainable by including local merchants in the supply chain
• Use micro-finance to help facilitate vendors purchasing power for products
• Select environmental-friendly products from evolving new technology
• Ensure products have an ROI – such as eliminating monthly kerosene purchases

Each one of these pillars has associated challenges. Microfinance alone is a new concept, developed by the Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. It helps finance small loans for up-front merchandise cost and allows small merchants to make a profit. Another challenge is finding the right products. They have to be cost effective, in many cases they employ newer/advanced technology and the product needs to be environmentally friendly.  A good parallel example of this is the fantastic product design that went into the $100 One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) product -  it runs with very low power consumption and stores human gesture power in long-life batteries.

In order to acquire cost-effective/advanced products for the developing world, PowerMundo is partnering with technology centers such as Standford, MIT and CU. They are also scouring the supply chains of the world to match the product to the problem. With about 20 products in their current portfolio, each product fills some niche, like a solar-powered lantern powered by a Li-Ion battery to replace a kerosene lantern. Looking for such a product, I found the following on a Solar Camping Lantern on a Chinese web site.  PowerMundo will sell to the local merchant for $12 dollars (freight not included) and in turn the local merchant will sell for small margin locally. An example of their supply chain costing shows a product sourced at $15, sold to an entrepreneur at $20 and then retailed at $25.

Doing business with clients all over the world includes due-diligence.  There is the branding of products, and in some instances the product is co-branded with the local companies. In many cases, an exclusive contract needs to be signed for product distribution rights.  Product costs need to be fairly low for 2 reasons: 1) micro-financing typically will not cover large outlays for merchants in poverty areas, and 2) to accommodate margins for PowerMundo and their local retailers and be affordable for the end consumers in these developing regions. In some cases, the price can be subsidized with advertising, further helping lower the price.

The current strategy is to examine individual geographical markets and understand the product needs. In Latin American, where 1/3 of Peru’s population does not have electricity, the use of biomasss (wood) for heating is extensive. Powermundo sells energy efficient/solar cookstoves as an alternative to wood. Another example is a competitor Freeplay Energy, that has sold over 1/2 million energy efficient hurricane lamps in India. Their lamp product works with low-power LEDs and captures enough energy from a 60 second “cranking-winding ” to provide 1 hr. of light.

PowerMundo’s model is more of a developing world/eco-friendly Avon. Today Avon Cosmetics has 10Bil. in sales. PowerMundo’s pro-forma has a 5 year horizon where it expects to be selling 1 million product/annually at a 19% margin. Challenges abound when you work globally with price fluctuations, undercapitalization and management of multiple supply chains.  Some of PowerMundo’s competitors are government-funded programs or direct sales from suppliers. In some cases local merchants may have a similar product. The supply chain model and advertising are primary sources of revenue.

This presentation raised many great questions from our group regarding the finance of customers, it seems that educating local loan officers was key. Microloan organizations such as Kiva and Grameen Bank were mentioned as active in this area. Another Microloan company brought up in the discussion was Prisma MicroFinance, that helps provide clean drinking water through purchases of water tanks/filtration systems. Questions on durability and eco-friendly products were brought up. Many products don’t use disposable batteries and work exclusively on human gesture to generate energy (e.g. shaking, cranking) and are stored in the products long-life batteries.  Michael mentioned that products are tested for durability before they are sold, by taking the product to 18,000 ft into the mountain or into the wet/humid depths of the Amazon jungle.

Peter Novak, Sunflower Corporation
Sustainable Natural Lighting

Sunflower Corporation is a pre-revenue start-up, based in Boulder. Their first product is a daylight harvester that targets the commercial market. The main benefits of natural lightning systems are three-fold: 1) Reduce energy by allowing lights to be turned off; 2) Healthier/relaxed environment with natural glare free lights; and 3) Reduce electrical consumption and greenhouse gases.

Their launch product is the Sundolier, which is capable of lightning areas of 1500 sq ft. and works well in retail, schools and offices. The product will fit into an approximately 24″ in. access hole in the ceiling. The light channel will extend outward to a light source, (not necessarily a direct line of sight) on the roof.  This type of product is an improved alternative to existing lighting solutions such as skylights since many sources generate heat and create too much light.

Sundolier light is also a healthier, more relaxed lighting option. When there is enough sunlight, the interior lights can be turned off. In a natural light environment a more relaxed atmosphere is created with reduced glare on everything from pictures to computer monitors. Many studies indicate natural light promotes wellness.  It also helps increase sales in retail stores and improves productivity in schools and at work.  Peter mentioned both Carneige Mellon’s non-energy benefits calculator and Heschong Mahone Group study on natural lighting.  You can also refer to a great scribed article on green building productivity. Some of the productivity benefits are the following:

“Students learn up to 21% faster. People in offices are up to 23% more productive. The improved interior environment created by daylight leads customers to purchase more in retail environments—1-7% sales increases on average, with proven results of up to 40% greater sales for spaces converted from no daylight to the best daylight conditions.”

With the benefit a hybrid solution to lighting, the ROI based on reduced electrical usage is between 1 and 5 years. The cost of the product is $15K, plus $2-5K for larger installations. In the case of large facilities, such as schools the ROI is closer to one year payback. The market is $500mil in 2008 with an expected 10-11% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The current market focus is the education sector. A number of school districts are mandating the LEED certification and natural lighting building requirements. The trend is a greening of the federal market. Sales are driven by the solar map showing where the effective use of natural sunlight is optimal.  Sunflower’s product competes against other categories: LED, fiber optics and architectural solutions.  The competitive advantages are 1) 4-12x reduction in roof penetration compared to traditional skylights; 2) have a active-tracking system to maximize sunlight concentration; 3) the ability to switch in less then 3 secs between natural lighting and electric for a hybrid light install.

The group asked about patents and Sunflower has a number of provisional patents on their optics. Peter also discussed how natural lighting for buildings is also growing in Europe specifically in schools and the improvement in attention deficit disorder (ADD) is one of the benefits being realized for students. In relation to thermal-load, traditional lightning systems usually increase A/C usage by 15%, and this is avoided with natural lighting.

Tim Reese, Lightning Hybrids Inc
100 MPG Hybrid Sports Sedan

God Told Me To

Lightning Hybrids is an automotive research and manufacturing company, headquartered in Loveland, Colorado and founded in October 2008. As pointed out a few times, the founders are mechanical engineers from CSU and not CU! Their blueprint for the car of the future is a diesel hydraulic hybrid sport sedan that can do 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds and has fuel efficiency greater than 100 mpg.

Tim showed the audience a very elegant design in his presentation that was based on a ‘53 Corvette but with some added modern body designs. There were no side mirrors (solved with cameras) and no rear door seam. The whole car opened like a jet canopy – a canopy that extends to the back end of the car and down to the frame.  Check out the website where this is illustrated a little better then my description.

Lightning Hybrids is also competing in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize. There is a lot of great competition (Tim mentioned about 120 entrants).  The design needs to incorporate elements that would allow for mass production, and it needs to be a 4-passenger vehicle.  It would be fantastic to see the prize come to Colorado.  I am sure Lightning Hybrids would also put to good use their $10 Mil. purse winnings.

So how is their car different?  Firstly it’s an extremely light-weight car at 1600lbs which is half the weight of a Prius. It’s body is carbon fiber and chrome-moly. It has a carbon fiber suspension and an aluminum engine.  They have also chosen the biodiesel route, with biodiesel plus type fuel for low-sulfur emissions.  It uses a hydraulic regenerative braking system which is extremely efficient, (hydraulics have 80-95% capture of braking energy versus a typical NiMH type storage in a Prius that captures about 30%).

One of the X-Prize contenders is Tesla. Just to compare, the Tesla Roadster must carry 1000 lbs of batteries to power the engine and has a total weight of 2700 lbs. Also the charging rate for a Tesla is phenomenal, it takes 70amp @ 120V (no wonder it charges so fast!). Tesla has proven the market for electric sports cars. Future orders for Tesla are well over 1200, and they expect $102 Mil. in sales by 2012. Lightning is also expanding into this market with similar forecasts and expects to have positive revenue by its third year. The Lightning model will cost around $59K (for the 4 wheel model).

During the question period, there was interest about the exotic vehicle body makeup. A question was posed whether the vehicle could be repaired and at what cost if there was in an accident. For those who follow Tesla, it was a sad day when the first crash was reported

.  Tim gave some hope here since Carbon Fiber can be repaired and it also had better flex properties to help minimize the damage. As Tim pointed out, the insurance companies are more concerned with hospital bills then automotive repair bills. Tim invited everyone to follow along on their website blog, and see them at the Denver Auto Show on April 1st.  They expect to start prototype manufacturing on January 11th, with early models planned for completion at the Denver Auto Show, and production manufacturing expected to begin in Loveland in 2010.

Rich Barone, Infotility
Coordinating the Smart Grid

Infotility is a software company providing distributed intelligence to generators, distributors and users of electricity. Infotility’s initial product offering – Dynamic Load Shaping – is used to improve both system operations and asset utilization for electric utilities, while integrating renewables and other distributed energy and demand response programs.

Infotility was founded back in 2001 and early on won $7 mil. of Department of Defense grants. The need for secure, monitorable and modern power management was emphasized on Sept 11th, and then demonstrated in the NorthEast blackout of 2003. Their product was developed in cooperation with with two of the nation’s largest Investor Owned Utilities or private utilities.

One of the features embedded in Infotility’s GridAgents platform is the ability to optimize asset utilization, specifically Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs. In many cases, traditional power management is inefficient, but with the need for renewables on both a small and large scale, grid intelligence and monitoring are necessary.  The lack of data integration is also a factor for utilities, since most data is either not in context or missing and without reporting decision support tools – it is difficult for operations staff to make informed decisions.   Indeed the more assets that are included on the grid, including renewables and grid attached vehicles, the greater the need for localized intelligence.

Infotility sees the addressable market currently at $12 Mill for their product. The global smart grid market is growing at 10% annual growth and should reach $60 Bil. by 2011. Since their product is software, they expect to OEM their platform on other vendor hardware. This allows them to be installed in the utility with minimal installation and modifications to the utilities operations.

• The Salton Sea ipod

Some of the software competitors in this market are companies like Gridpoint and Tendril. Some of the larger hardware vendors are also involved ABB, Siemens and GE.  Infotility expects to partner with the larger companies as pure-play solution which works and interacts with existing hardware. Their competitive advantage is their software platform has distributed intelligence and data filtering on a revolutionary scale. They also employ unique optimized and localized decision algorithms to respond faster with more complex decisioning rules. Along with plans to manage IP addressable units, they expect to take a “smart-tag” approach and manage large-scale number of devices (such as meters).

A go-to-market strategy involves a pilot with larger vendors such as Con-Ed and PG&E. By 2012 their pro-forma indicates $84 Mil in revenue. They are also working with demand response centers to help support real-time management of distributions centers. Their strategy also supports Microgrid-based demand management on a number of scales from data centers to net-zero/smart community initiatives.

Thanks all for making this another great meeting – I’m watching the video (thanks Ryan Vachon!) and realizing we had yet another great set of speakers.

Our Website

With no small amount of work, Patrick Himes has brought our official Colorado Green Tech Website online. Patrick is a true professional and very talented. Contact him at his company Sally Forth or the email link above.  Our site now includes a Green Tech Events summary calendar  on the website main page. Visit the full Green Events Calendar View on the Calendar Page. Use the google calendar icon below and add our event calendar to your own personal Google Calendar.  For upcoming events please send email to events@coloradogreentech.net and we’ll post them on the site. Check for new articles and references to our Green tech group on the News Page. The jobs site will be online in the near future.

Announcements

Although the deadline is over for deal flow screeners, the Colorado Green Tech Group had 7 members review 7 company’s on the Business Catapult site. Based on our member’s ranking, these company’s will advance to  the Angel Capital Summit. All of these company’s have presented at our meetup group and ranked very well. Good luck to all of you!

Speakers

Wyatt Metzger, National Center for Photovoltaics
Solar Electricity

We’re very pleased to have research/informational speakers at Colorado Green Tech . Apart from the entrepreneur/commercial world there is the fascinating work where technology in incubated in academia and government laboratories. Starting with background of the group,  the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) was formed by the Department of Energy and Wyatt works for NREL, so I assume they are one in the same. Wyatt started the presentation with a couple of tantalizing facts on Solar and the possibilities of harnessing solar energy fully:

• More energy from the sun falls on earth in 1hr then is consumed by the world in 1 year
• 100mi x 100mi solar collection could provide enough power to cover the US electricity needs

Solar has some great applications, and is available everywhere. We’ve applied solar technology from the far reaches in space (including our space program to power the space station)  to remote place on earth such as power for small,remote and impoverished villages. Solar has the potential to easily aid 1/4 of the world population that does not have electricity. The future goals of solar are to use it to make hydrogen (from water) at a cost-effective rate and allow the greater population to burn “stored hydrogen fuel on demand”  in automobiles.

Some of the current significant challenges for solar are it’s competitive position along side other energy sources and it’s more intensive manufacturing process. Right now solar is 2.5 times more expensive then grid power. The solar cost was hotly debated at the meeting (Factors such as grid source subsidies and transmission losses are usually not included in the grid source cost). As well, the manufacturing process for solar panels is slow. Panel manufacturing is inhibited by “impurity” and structural defect problems. These problems reduce electron flow and hence reduce efficiency. For flat plates, we’re in the midst of the second generation. First generation single/multicrystaline silicon panels are mature and have been slow to improve. The current record, just made by Univ. of New South Wales is 25% efficiency for silicon solar cells and this brings them very close to the theoretical limit of 29% efficiency. The second generation is thin film, materials such as a-Si, CdTe, CIGS that absorb light 100x more efficiently. As many know, First Solar bases their technology on cadmium telluride (CdTe) and has seen explosive growth.  The second generation solar technology can be made several microns thick and NREL has achieved 20% efficiency with these cells. As just reported 10/24/08, the record now stands at 25% efficiency. Thin films can be integrated into roof shingles and can be rolled up easily. The third generation, is still in the research phase and is not yet stable. Technologies like quantum dots show promise but have a long way to go. In another area of growth, Solar Concentrators show great promise. NREL has achieved 40.8% efficiency with their concentrator prototypes. Between the material cost and efficiency, solar technology has not reached grid-parity yet.

Wyatt drove home what many in the industry know, solar-funded (government) research has been meager in the U.S. The government NREL budget is 70Mil/yr (compare that to Univ of Texas athletic budget of 100Mil/yr). Luckily rebates, mandates and tax credits have helped the private industry significantly – especially in Colorado. Solar is even more progressively approached in other countries like Germany and Spain. In these countries, the governments support “feed-in” tariffs where they pay a premium for solar generated electricity. Colorado rebates and tax credits right now allow for a solar system to be installed at 20% of actual retail cost. The current rate of growth in the United States is high now – and if sustained in 30 yrs could support all of the United States needs. The US represents less then 10% of the solar production in the world but is catching up fast in new investment. Of the renewable consumption pie, 7 percent of world consumption is renewable and 1% of that is solar/thermal & PV.

Ed Van Dyn, VanDyne SuperTurboCharges
Engine Efficiency

Ed Van Dyn introduced his company as a “Spin-Out” company of a $1.5 Billion public company and they have been developing their technology over the last 4 years. The company is tackling challenges to improve automobile engine efficiency. This is primarily driven by high fuel prices and compliance with CO2 regulations (in Japan and Europe today) and potentially in the U.S. as well. Their solution provides efficiency for existing fleet of cars with a “Super-charger”. Their product claim is a “20-30%” improvement in fuel efficiency and a significant reduction of CO2 emissions without any loss in horsepower.

The super turbocharger product can supercharge, turbocharge and turbocompound. The supercharging part uses an air compressor to get better internal combustion efficiency. A turbocharger does the same but uses the engines own exhaust flow to push a turbine and thus creates the air compression. The turbocompound / reciprocating engine uses a turbine powered by exhaust gases (like a turbocharger) but the turbine is physically connected to the crankshaft. The power of the whole system is boosted at the low end torque by the supercharger and at the high-end by the turbocharger. Employing 30% of the original 30% heat/energy waste from the exhaust gives the engine an extra 10% efficiency increase. The incremental cost to the engine is $300/car at quantities over 500K.

The product value proposition is very well positioned. It offers a $700/yr savings, easily putting the ROI below the 1 year mark and it saves 4000 lbs. of CO2/yr/car. For heavy trucks the statistics are significant. The technology allows for 7-10% reduction in fuel efficiency and the saving is $8k/yr with 17 ton of CO2/truck/yr eliminated.

The target market is $10-20 Bil and with niche sales they hope to target commercial fleets and penetrate 1.5% of the market. The factors to make their product competitive are lean manufacturing, extreme reliability of the product and aggressive cost reduction. The product prototypes are in tests with large automobile companies and they have made significant progress.  Intellectual property has been protected with first generation patents plus patents in the  pipeline.  Van Dyne has an impressive executive team. Their product is being evaluated and involved in a number of collaborations with different labs and institutions including  CSU’s engine laboratory in Ft. Collins. Ed’s efforts have produced a great product and we’re looking forward to hearing more in the future.

Reed Sarver, StrionAir
Green Buildings without adding an Energy Penalty

StrionAir is a green building company focused on air filtration and efficiency in the residential/commercial market. With previous funding rounds their product is already developed and ready for mass commercialization. Air quality is important and many research studies have shown better attendance and school scores in green/healthier environments.  Areas of concern for air quality outlined in the presentation are sick building syndrome, infectious diseases and allergies/asthma.  In the early stages, StrionAIr was funded to look at the security risk of critical infrastructure but markets now have expanded to building health and efficiency segments. Not only has the company worked with the CDC to look at infectious disease filtration it also has worked with the Green Building Council, a 501(c)(3) non profit group.

The product target market is broad and therefore is designed to be scalable to any size building.   The addressable market presented is $2 Bil. and broken down into Residential, Security, Healthcare, Green Building and Specialty markets (manufacturing facilities – pharmaceutical/ microelectronics).  The product has three key benefits: 1) Very high particle capture rate; 2) a very low pressure drop; and 3)   trapping and killing “pathogens”. The product operation works with an electric field to polarize the particles and attract to a fibrous material and then deactivate particles. Reed put up an illustration of their product specifications that demonstrates an excellent capture rate but also a very low obstruction rate to air flow. Compared to the  standard High-efficiency-particulate air HEPA) bag filters it does very well. There is an interesting read if you follow the above wiki link on how HEPA was initially developed for the Manhattan project to filter radiation.

StrionAir already has a significant product placement and partnership network. They have an OEM agreement with  companies such as Carrier. Installations in healthcare have been done for Trauma centers and laboratories. Also they have worked with the ATF and FBI on installing filtration at select installations.

The residential/commercial green tech play is based on efficiency. The breakdown  of energy in a commercial building is split three ways 1) Lightning 2) Electronics(severs/laptops)  3) Heating/Venting/Cooling. HVAC is then split into 60% heating/cooling and then another 40% to “pushing air”.  The StrionAir unit advantage to reducing the 40% of energy used to push air in buildings through efficiency of their filtration. Pressure drop (measured in “inches” ) increases steadily as filters near the end of their lifetime (and are changed). The Strion unit reduces pressure drop (by lowering it from MERV 15 to MERV 13) significantly. The air filter changes also are improved from every 6 months to 12 months. The payback for this benefit is 3.2 yrs in an average  NYC building (16cents/KWh) with 31,675 lbs of CO2 saved annually.

The company outlook is excellent and they are currently cash positive (in 2009). Installations of units are at 60K residential units and 1500 commercial units. They foresee a greater adoption rate based on time-of-day electricity rates and energy rebates accelerating this.

Philip Lyman, Boundless Corporation
Energy Storage Technology

Boundless presented on Li-ion technology is providing a better battery technology and eco-friendly technology. Their immediate eco-friendly advantage is that Li-ion batteries are considered non-hazardous waste by the federal government, and thus avoid the toxic leakage we see in the municipal waste-stream by lead-acid batteries.

Lithium-Ion has been around since the 90’s and has penetrated almost all of the portable electronics market and is applied in larger applications as well. But Lithium-Ion batteries need to be managed with a “smart” feedback control system to ensure safe , reliable and long-life operation. Turns out Li-ion cells are not all perfectly matched and eventually diverge in power characteristics. A management system is needed to keep them running together like “sled dogs pulling together” to avoid damage to the cells.

The main Boundless solution is the intelligent battery management system that is chemistry independent. Their management and electronics system provides a number of integration opportunities to a large segment of products on the market.

Boundless electronics systems provide Off-Board Data Interfaces to Li-Ion cell packs,  such as “managed charging” of fleet vehicles. Managed charging allows subsets of vehicles to be charged at one time without drawing large currents (and tripping breakers). Also for grid-utilization they build integration for smart grids which control the charging period for optimal utilization. On-Board Data interfaces allow for Battery Management System (BMS) to work with the Vehicle Management System (VMS)) such as an engine controller. This interfacing will help the battery management to control a low power situation and allow for degraded capability before a complete shutdown.

Some of the new market applications for lithium range from 1) Specialty Electric Vehicles (electric scooters, plug-ins),  2) Auxiliary power (e.g. auxiliary power for A/C in vehicles when in no-idle zones) and 3) Electrically Powered Machines (new cordless lawnmowers, floor scrubbers). Boundless is finding opportunities in these markets by selling directly to OEM manufacturers.

The competitive landscape for Boundless is complex. Philip provided a “magic quadrant” style view of the industry with battery technology on one axis and complexity/capability of electronics/management systems on the other axis. One set of competitors are in cell manufacturing and tend to focus mainly on the chemistry and cell production. Other companies like A123 and Johnson Controls have gone after tier 1 automotive applications. These companies provide integrated Li-ion batteries systems with BMS protection that in a proprietary configuration. Another category of competitors are simple BMS providers that work on low scale, low voltage applications.  Boundless is extremly competitive since it works on a wide range of voltages and wide range of application and is battery/chemistry independent.

Great questions from our members again. One questions was on the  competitive capability know as “rapid-recharge” for Li-ion batteries. Philip mentioned kiosk style recharge stations being built that recharge batteries in 20 minutes. Also another question asked was around the Hymotion Li-Ion upgrade pack by battery maker A123.  This system claims 30-40 miles on electric-only drive and a battery back that supplements the existing nickel-metal-hydride battery in a Prius. It can potentially upgrades a Prius to 100 mpg.

The future for Boundless holds a new round of product development featuring minaturization, sophisticated features and integration. They have built a significant amount of Intellectual Property and the demand is growing for their product with OEM vendors looking to integrate Boundless technology.

Welcome again to our latest meeting for Green Tech. I hope you all enjoyed our new location and found appropriate parking. By the time the meeting ended I believe it the parking booth was closed giving us free parking for our time in the Atlas Engineering building .

General Announcements

Firstly with the good work Kris has done recruiting sponsors,  we are happy to officially introduce our new sponsor GreenSpark Ventures that specializes specifically in the Cleantech industry.  Kris also mentioned our visit to the Nanotech Summit, see my previous post for details. Fall classes are starting soon and the networking portion of our meeting will go from 6pm to 7pm.

Group Announcements

• Cameron Brooks from Cleantech for Obama is looking for people interested in (1) attending events and (2) helping to organize events. You may contact him at his email or phone (303) 957-7667
• One of this month’s presenters Boulder ElectroRide will be at the Green Frontier Fest being held at the Democratic Convention Sunday Aug 24th
• Green Door Events,  this coming Sunday will be at the Peak Event Center, see the DNC WebSite for more information. Location: 15th and California – Denver, Across from the Hyatt Hotel and one block north of the Convention Center
• LINK, a Denver product design and development firm, is seeking interested parties in support of a educational recycling station designated for schools. Contact Mark Hanchak for more information
• Corey Cox is a Biochemist looking for work in Bio-fuels development. Contact at (303)242-6805

Presenters

Mark Kostovny, Solar Village
Trends in Zero Energy Residential Building

Solar village is a 4 yr old company that has been involved in green home construction in the Colorado area. They specializes in Zero Energy Homes or homes that use zero energy over the year. Some of their recent projects are Prospect, Longmont,  Redwood in Boulder and Maple in Ft. Collins.  They specialize in designing and building homes that minimizing energy usage through green building techniques and drawing energy from renewals.

Construction uses optimized south glass, super insulated walls (isolene spray foam) and passive heating and cooling techniques with desirable thermal mass (to slow heat to the interior) to minimize energy usage. Homes are outfitted with high efficiency hvac systems, lighting and appliances. Also active solar is used to generate power, hot water and hot air.  Heating comes from both radiant floor heat and also heat pumps. Care has been taken to include healthier materials in the home that will not out-gas harmful chemicals such as “low/no VOC” carpets and MDF chipboard.

Solar village has a commercial strategy to scale with turnkey homes. They have optimized a number of components to snap together to reduce construction time and cost. They can build turnkey homes in 2-4 months.  Solar Village has partnered with All American Homes to deliver their homes all over the country.

Tom McKinnon, Boulder ElectroRide Spark a revolution!
Spark the first electric motorcycle of its kind

Wow, really impressed with the look of this bike and Tom! We know Tom works on many projects including his work on cellulosic ethanol. This Boulder Company was founded by four local entrepreneurs, Tom McKinnon, Ned Riedel, Dev Bhatia, and the ride’s creator, Blair Keller.  This product is targeted at the consumer that would do a work commute on an electro-scooter with an stylish “easy-rider” design. The bike has a range of 40 miles per charge,  a top speed of 45 mph and great acceleration. They do not have a final price point yet but expect it be somewhere in the low 3K range.

So how much cheaper is an electric scooter? How about 2.3 cents/mile which is pretty significant if you’re looking a cost effective transportation. Electrical power is not necessarily a clean source, but when you include production, transportation and exhaust from gasoline this puts regular cars at 400g CO2/mile driven and the scooter output at 35g CO2/mile. So we have a very environment friendly transportation alternative here.  The team looked at a number of battery technologies for their design and decided on Lithium-Ion for its better maintenance and performance characteristics. They also put a significant amount of technology and brains into their power management system to support Li-Ion.

There are other competitors in this market, two similar ones are  Zapino (a chinese bike costing around 3K using lead-acid batteries) and Vectix (costing 11K and uses a NiMH batteries). All range of bike categories can also present alternatives to the Electro Scooter, such as old-fashioned pedal bikes, electric/gas assist bikes and full electric bikes.

ElectroRide is starting to take pre-order in Aug 2008 for their model Spark M2.  They are based on a cro-moly frame today and will move from chain to belt drive in the future. The bike does qualify as a scooter for DMV’s purposes. More improvements in the bike design should also make it significantly lighter perhaps in low 100’s). For all wanting to learn more about the bike there is an event schedule on their website.

Carl Lawrence, Hybrids Plus, Inc.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Carl is somewhat of a quiet legend in Denver-Boulder in the area of hybrid motors. He’s responsible for one of the most early high profile green transportation solutions known as the “Columbine bus“. Found on the 16th st Mall in Denver, these bus are fueled with natural gas (powering an electric motor). They cut emissions by 80% when compared to the old diesel buses the mall used and were put into service in 2000!

Hybrids-plus is well know in Boulder for converting regular hybrid electric vehicles (Ford Escape, Prius) to plug-in hybrids (PHEV). Why do this? You can convert a 50mpg Prius to a 100mpg Prius by replacing the battery pack to a highly efficient battery system. The original batteries are typically NiMH and are converted to a stronger Lithium-Ion battery pack. From the website:

For example, a stock Toyota Prius is an HEV-2, meaning that its battery holds enough energy for about 2 miles. A Hybrids Plus Prius conversion is a PHEV-30, meaning that its battery holds enough energy for about 30 miles.

Currently Hybrids Plus are building the next generation of plug-in hybrid hardware that facilitate vehicle2grid (V2G) enabled vehicles.  V2G Vehicles are active participants in the new SmartGrid envisioned by Xcel Energy and PG&E energy utilities. There are two solutions that Hybrids-Plus offer:

1. Smart Charge (when charging, draws from the grid during non-peak times)
2. V2G Inverger which allows the car to supply power back to the grid.

This new type of smart system needs a connection (done through the phone network) to communicate to/from the power company. Maybe they may consider also using the fiber-optic network going into the SmartGrid homes in Boulder?

So why do this? The details are still being worked out but Carl mentions the utility may incentivize car owners by selling them cheap-rate electricity to charge their car and then allow the owner to sell back to the grid at a premium. We know of two-tier power rates in multiple states such as California, so this rate offering is very plausible . The V2G system will be programmable,  allowing a user to set the battery discharge level to some minimum (e.g. Don’t discharge my battery more than 60%). The benefit of having millions of cars plugged into the grid (as storage devices) is that power can be drawn during peak times and cities/states can reduce the need to build new power plants for peak demand. In relation to charge time, and feed back to the grid, hybrids plus indicates for vehicles with invergers:

Such vehicles will charge rapidly at 220 Vac, and be able to return energy back to the power company in minutes on those rare occasions when the power company suddenly needs extra energy.

Today there is battery competition from a123 and Johnson Controls. The current business strategy is high margin /low volume but the future product lines are meant to be integrated with major manufacturers. Also partnerships with the energy utilities will help take the product lines to higher volume. Future partnerships will include to OEM the battery system to a first tier supplier. Carl expects all vehicles in 10-20 yrs to have electric drive (expecting to hit 42 million by 2012). With the adoption of hybrids today, this is a great time to be an early stage innovator in this space.

Bill Matvichuk, Trulite Inc.
Portable hydrogen Fuel Cell

Trulite designs and builds portable fuel cell power systems. They also offer custom off-grid wind solutions. Products range from individual Polymer Electrolyte Member (PEM) fuel cells to 150 w portable power generators to cost-effective SolarPanel/Fuel cell hybrid generators. A number of applications exists, but the themes are remote power and portable power that is a clean alternative.

From TruLite’s website:

HydroCells are based on a chemical hydride known as Sodium Borohydride. Instead of compressing or liquefying hydrogen, hydrogen molecules are chemically attached to other elements to create what is called a compound. This compound can then be stored without pressure for long periods of time. When hydrogen is needed the compound is reacted and hydrogen is then released as a gas. This method of storing hydrogen is currently the lightest hydrogen storage technology available.

Currently the latest power supply product is the KH4 which is 23lbs and can supply 5hrs @ 150W per HydroCell canister. It currently supports 2 canisters.

Bill had some great stories from the field. The department of defense felt the batteries could power remote electronics along the border areas. Also applications for FBI “silent watches”, such as a telecommunication van,  that need power without using a noisy vehicle motor.  Marine batteries are another great application since a boat can use 100lbs of lead-acid batteries. Weight is reduced dramatically with PEM batteries while eliminating the lead-acid toxic fumes that vent. Hydrogen cells have a water as a by-product and the water is recycled internally.

As we are now on the eve of the Democratic National Congress, we learnt that Trulite will be providing portable power for laptops. ClearChannel wil also be using it for portal power for their mobile cameras! Trulite has a number of strategic partners including Motorola, BK radio and our continually looking to expand with new partners and applications. They see the market around 2.3 Bill and are well positioned to expand into this market.

Over July 20-22nd, Kris and I had a the pleasure of attending the Nano Energy Summit. Once again we’re reminded about the tremendous potential in Colorado to adopt and lead in new sciences such as nanotechnology. The summit was great snapshot of how two domains (Nanotechnology and Renewable Energy) are converging.  Here is the summit summary as published on their site:

The Nano Renewable Energy Summit is a gathering of world-renowned experts at the intersection of renewable energy and nanotechnology, with a specific focus on the business, commercialization, and economic development potential of emerging technologies in the renewable energy and sustainability sectors.

Nanotechnology is enabling green tech to be more competitive.  There was a consistent theme at the summit, essentially that nano/material science is consistently being applied to improve efficiency of existing products from solar panels to battery/storage technologies. Another theme was that countries with strong R&D in nanotechnology can use this competitive advantage to build the next generation of renewable products and services.

Here is a quick synopsis for some of the companies that presented at the conference.

Nanobattery company “mPhase” presented on their product portfolio of batteries and their applications. A key part of their intellectual capital is harnessing the use of the nanotechnology “electrowetting“. This  effect is evident in nature and allows materials surfaces to become porous or superhydrophobic based on the “lotus leaf effect“. It’s behaviour is employed to inhibit/enable current flow between materials in a battery. Also their product research allows for improvements in “energy density” and will help “eliminate discharge”. A historical note was made about the Baghdad battery and how we are in a truly new era of  battery improvements. Their product lines involve emergency and portable batteries that could be hand-cranked or shaken for power.

QuantumSphere Inc. (QSI) presented on their innovations in nanomaterials that help improve existing processes. Again material sciences and applied nanobehavior is engineered to improve efficiency. QSI licenses their Intellectual Property on processes and materials and this IP is used, for example,  to reduce expensive materials (30-50% reduction of platinum) or to improve energy efficiency (30% improvement in Alkaline electrolysis hygrogen production using nano-nickel/iron coating). Another application the company has produced is one that employs nano-silver. This material provides improved characteristics for water filtration and anti-microbials. Solutions also were presented to improve power-density of zinc-air and lithium-ion batteries with improved nano-material catalysts. The below quote to help with some of the characteristics that companies seek to improve:

A battery’s energy density is the amount of energy it can hold, while power density describes how quickly energy can be drawn from the battery at any given moment.

In the area of green construction,  companies such as RavenBrick has developed a technology “RavenSkin” to improve the thermoreflectivity of glass and building components (large panels are rated the equivalent of R11 insulation). This technology would be used in both home and commercial building components. While Prism Solar is improving photovoltaic (PV) efficiency by using solar concentration with a sandwiched holographic layer in front of the PV cell.

Luna Innovations is another company looking to improve the efficiency of solar panels through nano technology. They are looking to grow Organic solar cells that will bring down the cost and weight with their patented TRIMETASPHERE® nanomaterial. This material is based on buckyball “cage” structures and has both positive chemical and biological attributes for solar allowing for 5-6% efficiency but at $1/watt.

Kris and I both looked forward to hear Governor Bill Ritter who presented  as a Keynote speaker. Political legislation has a significant impact on the green economy. Colorado is a progressive state for adopting green legislation. One of the biggest recent achievements in this area, has been when Colorado voters made history by  voting directly for the renewable energy portfolio standard Amendment 37.  In this same vein, Governor Ritter gave us some statistics to think about: we’re the 6th sunniest state, the 9th windiest. We’ve got some of the best R&D in the world with significant contributions in Aerospace, Life Sciences and Energy research. Colorado was rated by CNBC as the 5th best state for business and the 10th best for nanotechnology. As far as benefits, Mr Ritter spoke for the state government,  acknowledging not only the economic benefits of renewables but also the residual benefits of a clean environment.  Governor Ritter  mentioned his trade mission trip to Spain. The state government has been active trying to attract key foreign companies to Colorado. A couple of great examplesa has been Vesta from Denmark and Abengoa Solar from Spain which setup a plant in Denver for development of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology. He also shared his experiences from a recent trip to the Arctic which included multiple world leaders. They discussed amongst many things the environment. Some of his takeways were that it was evident that technology is critical to renewable energy improvements and these are coming from material science and nanotechnology.

Another keynote speaker was the Director-General, of the Russian corporation of Nanotechnologies.  Russia is working to build a significiant portfolio of nano-technology companies. They are expecting to invest 10Bil in Nanotechnology in the coming future and are looking for foreign investment to be included in this portfolio. Many of the traditional western capalistic tools are being employed there, such as providing low interest loans, infrastructure access and access to capital and seed money.  Russia has formally introduced itself as a part of the new generation of countries investing heavily in renewables and nanotechnology .

Thanks everyone for another great Green-Tech meetup!

This month we had 50 people attend and the energy, speakers and food was great. Thanks to our sponsors (Access Venture Partners and Sequel Venture Partners) we were able to provide some nice food and drinks for our networking session.

News

Assorted companies in Greater Denver/Boulder were active again this month. Broomfield-based Range Biofuels landed another 100 Million in investment that will be used to complete a cellulosic ethanol plant. Renewable Energy Systems (RES), a renewable wind company, has relocated from Texas to Broomfield bringing 70 jobs.

The company said it decided to move because metro Denver’s “business and political atmosphere … is supportive of renewable efforts” and the area has “a high standard of living.

Another Boulder based smart-grid/energy management system Tendril has landed another round of funding to the tune of 12 million. Also this month, it seems the California biofuels company “Gevo” has relocated their headquarters to Englewood, Colorado . Gevo gained some notoriety when “ecopreneur” and clean-tech angel, Sir Richard Branson invested in this company and is part of the “Virgin Green Fund”.

Caltech biofuels spinout Gevo is apparently tired of grappling with regulations and how long it takes to build pilot facilities, and thinks it can move faster in Colorado.

CommuniKey

Our first presentation informed attendees on the Communikey “exploring sustainability for creative arts”. This festival has been around since 2004 and attracts artists from all over the world to explore sustainability, carbon footprints, and human powered electronics. Communikey organizers were looking forward to the opportunity of teaching on the use of reclaimed materials. If one is daring enough to give full creative control to Communikey artists, they will take old clothes and demonstrate reuse of a now modernly styled outfit. Many other demonstrations on reclamation of materials will satisfy the most whole-hearted freegan!

Len Bloch – Algae Based Fuels

Len Bloch, a high/middle school teacher and former algae-oil entrepreneur gave a very compelling description on what algae oil is, the process of making it, and what some of the challenges are. Len has written a children’s book on the topic of Alternative Energy. One of the redeeming qualities of algae is that they don’t need fresh water or soil (and won’t divert these resources from food production ). Current Biodiesel needs oil from sources such as soy, conola or palm oil. Algae systems can be created in open systems (such as ponds) but there are a number of challenges controlling this environment. His experience included working with closed systems employing smaller water barrels and plastic coverings. Research is ongoing but it seem Blue-Green Algae produce fuel the fastest, with diatoms producing the highest oil content. Algae based fuels can work in home heating scenarios whereas biodiesel can not.

Len also thought there was opportunity to fund algae-based fuel R&D with another algae-oil based product, health care supplements, which provide vegetarian marine oils. He left us with some last notes that “agriculture” was one of the greatest revolutions, through beer, cheese and other preservation methods our ancestors domesticated microbes, and that biofuels would constitute “completing” this revolution.

Sam Weaver – Cool Energy Inc.

Sam introduced his water-heating/electricity producing hybrid solution to “harvest” the sun. When a rainy-overcast country such as Germany can extract solar energy – the other sun-rich districts in the world can easily do this as well. The sun in some of our states (Colorado being one) are as good as some of the best solar areas such as Australia and the Sahara Desert. From studies across United States, their is a different split between heating/cooling , but overall “heating” is the more dominant energy user.

The product is a combined heat/power system that comes from evacuated, water-mineral filled tubes that are heated on the roof (or another platform). With a mineral oil based system to avoid winter freezing, the tubes are sent into the house (e.g. basement) to be converted to heat in the winter, or electricity in the summer (or some combination). This combination is determined by an energy management system to optimize the use of solar energy. This system uses a Sterling Engine to produce electricity from the heated liquid and the heated liquid can be stored also be for a period . The Stirling Engine’s efficiency is less than combustion fuels but it does not get as hot and can be built from cheaper materials. The system does not produce “semiconductor-waste” and can provide twice the return as PV systems.

Peter Novak – Sunflower Daylighting Systems

Perter Novak introduced his product as “Sundelier” – “the chandelier that delivers sun” . This company is a pre-revenue startup. The main product allows for sun to be channeled through a hole/channel into the interior of a building. Additionally this system can be worked as a hybrid solution using traditional lights to provide the desired lighting effect. With the benefit of a small hole profile for the sunlight source, the sunlight is bent to follow the channel into the destination floor/area.

Overall benefits are health and productivity gains in workers from natural sunlight as well as reduced energy consumption. The system can include a sun tracking system to maximize sun input into the lighting system. With LEEDs based building constructions standards, these natural lightning systems are highly desirable and sales growth is very healthy.

George Howard – Heartland Renewable Energy

George got right into the science and value proposition of his “anaerobic digester” system. This company is based on a franchising model to help build plants and do technology transfer of their ‘digester factory” design. The digester uses microbes and needs solids (a biodegradable waste-food) to operate. With animal waste – methane can be produced and used as energy. They can build a plant in 6 months, and using “pools” and up to 200 wells – the plant can process 5 million cubic ft. per day.

The end result produced by this plant is natural pipeline quality methane gas. With Natural Gas increasing in price the energy return on investment is increasing. Along with the sale of the gas, other revenue streams include the sale of carbon credits and sale of the final solid residue as fertilizer. Although there still is CO2 generated in process, this can be mitigated by potentially co-locating a greenhouse operation near the plant.

I would like to thank all our great speakers this month!

Kevin Geminiuc