MaRS Cleantech Fund: Equity Investments for Cleantech Startups. The MaRS Cleantech Fund is one of the most recent program additions by the MaRS Organization to provide funding for small business in the clean technologies sector. The program is funded through the highly regarded MaRS Discovery District, which provides equity investments to small business and start-up organizations looking to commercialize new and innovative technologies. The MaRS Cleantech Fund is a $30M initiative that will co-invest with Canadian Angel Investors to provide financing and funding for small business innovations in the green technology market. This small business funding can provide investments between $500K and $1M for early-stage companies with patentable green technologies or products that require additional funding for pre-commercialization expenses and testing. In order to receive funding and investment through this program, eligible candidates must meet the following criteria:
Clean-Tech Start-Ups Shift Focus. Could Cleanweb be New York's Next Big Tech Industry? When most people think of clean technology, the images that spring to mind are often solar panels and wind turbines. However, the Cleanweb Hackathon in New York City, which took place three weekends ago, showed that computer code and social media are also changing how people interact with energy and other resources, and should perhaps also be on that list. Hackathons, most often found used within digital industries, are weekend gatherings in which small teams build applications in just two intense days. Cleanweb, as defined by venture capitalist Sunil Paul of Spring Ventures, is “a category of clean technology that leverages the capability of the internet, social media, and mobile technologies to address resource constraints.”
As part of Climate Week, over 200 attendees took part in the Cleanweb Hackathon in an effort to use cleanweb to solve some of New York City’s toughest challenges. Many of the teams were aligned with PlaNYC, New York City’s sustainability vision for 2030. Companies News : How Tata Motors is going green. 2013 Clean Energy Challenge Kicks Off.
The 2013 Clean Energy Challenge, funded by the Clean Energy Trust, has kicked off with more than $300,000 in cash prizes waiting to be won. Researchers, students and entrepreneurs with transformative clean tech business ideas based in the Midwest, are encouraged to submit their businesses and concepts through the Clean Energy Exchange. The Clean Energy Challenge is a two-track competition for projects in different stages of development. The Early Stage Challenge is for clean tech projects with fully-developed business plans and established start-up companies. The Student Challenge is for students in eight-state Midwest region who have a great idea, and need assistance in developing a clean energy business.
“The very best clean technology innovations are being developed in the Midwest and the Challenge ensures that those ideas are presented to the venture capitalists, businesses and investors who can bring them to market,” said Amy Francetic, executive director of the Clean Energy Trust. Chicago creates council to attract tech jobs. Germany’s Clean-Technology Industry to More Than Double by 2025. Germany’s clean-technologies industry is set to more than double in volume by 2025, creating jobs and maintaining its global market share, a study shows. The volume of German companies in areas such as resource efficiency, sustainable transport and recycling will rise 125 percent to 674 billion euros ($862 billion), Roland Berger Strategy Consultants said. They’ll keep a market share of about 15 percent while creating an expected 1 million jobs, it said. “Green technologies are growth technologies,” Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, who commissioned the study, said today in Berlin.
“We still have a leading position in clean technologies and we will do everything to defend that.” Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, plans to increase its reliance on renewable sources of power such as solar and wind as it phases out nuclear generation. The German clean-tech industry is dominated by small- and medium-sized businesses that have helped stabilize the nation’s economy, Altmaier said. Philadelphia Trains Using Smart Grid Technology to Store Braking Energy. Jpmueller99/CC BY 2.0 If you've ever ridden on a subway train, you know that there is a lot of energy contained in slowing down and stopping. You feel it as you're jostled into the person next to you. Until now, most transit systems have just lost that energy as waste heat, but a couple of years ago the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia realized that all that energy could be harvested and used and this June, it turned on a regenerative braking system on one of the tracks to capture that energy.
The trains that run on the Market-Frankford line are outfitted with a regenerative braking system much like what hybrid and electric cars use to feed braking energy back to the battery, except the trains feed that energy to the electric third rail where it is then stored in system of 4,000 30 Ah nickel cobalt aluminum batteries.
Now this is where this energy harvesting plan gets really cool. India approves plan to expand electric vehicles penetration by 2020 - Clean Technology Business Review. Startup Uses LANL Tech To Clean Water. France to Keep Shale Ban Until Fracking Alternative Emerges. France isn’t prepared to tap its shale energy resources until “clean technologies” are invented to replace hydraulic fracturing, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said. The technique known as fracking causes “irreversible pollution” in some cases, the minister was cited as saying in an interview published today in Les Echos newspaper.
It will probably be replaced by a different method, he said. The French parliament passed a law last year outlawing fracking because of concern it can pollute drinking water, effectively halting plans by companies including Total SA (FP) to explore for shale gas in southern France. Fracking is widely used in the U.S., including by Total, to produce gas. France will maintain the ban on fracking, Environment and Energy Minister Delphine Batho told RMC radio today. Debate over the future of shale energy in France has resurfaced since the election of Socialist President Francois Hollande in May. Funding the Future: GE Invests $10 Million in Clean Technology Innovation. Australia and New Zealand recently embraced low-carbon futures by setting national targets for CO2 reduction.
To support their transition to low-carbon economies, GE is sponsoring its first ever local ecomagination Challenge to find and fund the best breakthrough ideas for reducing our carbon footprint. The ecomagination Challenge theme is “Low Carbon Solutions” and serves as an open call for ideas by businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and students from Australia or New Zealand. Five $100,000 Innovation Awards will be given to the ideas with the greatest potential for commercial development. In addition to the awards, a GE capital pledge of $10 million, supported by complementary investment from its partners, is earmarked for further investment in the most promising startup and technology ideas.
“GE is a big supporter of collaborative innovation,” says Steve Sargent, President and CEO, GE Australia & New Zealand. Top image courtesy Flickr user David Clarke. Gates Foundation Wants Green Toilets. Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Modern sanitation is a major problem for nearly a third of the world´s population. To attack the issue head on, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has called forth on scientists to reinvent an everyday object that many of us take for granted: the toilet. Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates announced during a technology showcase in Seattle this week that his foundation would allot further funding for the best projects showcased at the event.
After reviewing the projects, Mr. “We couldn’t be happier with the response that we’ve gotten,” Gates said at the toilet expo. The challenge was not going to be simple. “The current design has a real problem. The United Nations estimates that disease caused by unsafe sanitation results in about half the hospitalizations in the developing world.
The foundation, which has committed $370 million to the green project, expects to test the first prototypes within three years. Government outlines priorities for clean tech R&D - 16 Aug 2012. Australian government launches $200m clean-tech innovation programme - Clean Tech - Clean Tech. The Australian Government has created a AUS$200m Clean Technology Innovation Program to provide grants for Australian businesses that come up with innovative ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Australia's Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet launched the programme on 6 July. According to the Australian government, the AUS$200m programme will support applied research and development, proof of concept and early stage commercialisation activities that lead to the development of new clean technologies, as well as low-emission and energy-efficient solutions.
The programme will provide grants between AUS$50,000 and AUS$5m on a co-investment basis of $1 of government funding for each $1 of the applicant's investment. This means the Australian government will fund up to 50pc of the project cost. "We are looking for innovative projects involving applied research and development, proof of concept or early stage commercialisation activities. The programme is now open. Carmel Doyle. Sneak peak into the future with video series Future360. Future360.tv is a new video platform exclusively focused on innovation in clean technology. After many years reporting on environmental issues, founder and host Sarah Backhouse wanted to focus on the solutions to the planet’s climate, energy and environmental problems.
“Cleantech is a win-win. Where else do you get to do good, by doing well?” The site’s topic coverage is as broad as its geographical scope, which traverses the globe from Silicon Valley in California to Munich, Germany. For Bakhouse — a veteran host and producer with credits on BBC, CNBC, PBS, Planet Green and Discovery Channel — video was the obvious medium of choice for her new endeavor. “Video can condense and simplify how often complicated technologies work,” says Backhouse.
Future360 is looking to expand and grow in 2012. CleanTech 2012 Showcases Green Innovations -- NTDTV.com. The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, hosted the annual CleanTech exhibition this week. CleanTech, now in its sixteenth year, showcases innovations in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy, recycling, water technology, green transportation and green building. While there were no sensational innovations this year, there were many improvements on existing technologies.
CAT Technologies have found a solution to the problem of toxic hospital waste. [Yael Lavi, Quality Control Manager, CAT Technologies]: "This instrument is unique in that it combines sterilization by steam, which is sterilization on a very high level, together with milling, which reduces the volume of the waste and enables good penetration of the steam. " This method, used in mid- to large-sized hospitals, is cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly than other common alternatives, such as burning or burying the waste. This gadget—produced by the Israeli company Greenlet—looks like an improved socket. ETI preps investment in neglected clean-tech sectors - 29 Jun 2012. Smart Learning Software Predicts Renewable Energy Output with 90% Accuracy. Charles Cook/CC BY 2.0 When it comes to easing renewable energy into power grids, smart grid technologies that can smooth out the inconsistencies in solar and wind power are crucial. Smart meters, large-scale energy storage and energy management and demand response software all help, but energy forecasting has started to be a major focus.
If utilities and other grid operators can know in advance what the power demand versus power supply from renewables will be, they can fully stabilize the grid. Siemens Corporate Technology has taken on this challenge and created a new self-learning software that can predict the energy output from renewable sources over a 72-hour period with 90 percent accuracy. Siemens has developed neural networks in order to calculate the behavior of highly complex systems, like renewable energy projects and even stock markets.
Start-up Heliex Power raises stg£5m to develop its energy recovery tech - Clean Tech - Clean Tech. Heliex Power, a clean-tech spin-out from City University London that is pioneering a technology to generate electrical power using waste steam from industrial processes, has raised stg£5m in a new investment round. The company spun out of City University London in 2009 following years of R&D into screw compressor technology. Its offices and manufacturing facilities are now based in East Kilbride, Scotland. Heliex Power, which has just begun trading, was set up to focus on the commercial realisation of the university's licensed screw compressor technology systems.
Its technology aims to recover low-grade energy from steam and use it to generate electricity. Today's stg£5m funding round was led by ESB Novusmodus, a €200m fund that has been set up by the Irish utility ESB. BP Alternative Energy International already invested in Heliex in the past. It said today's announcement will bring forward production availability. Carmel Doyle. Houston Company Launches Clean Tech Startups In Oil Capital. Iceland sees green as the bridge to the future. Things have not been all that good for Iceland since the turn of the century.
Economic upheaval, seismic upheaval, the shuttering of NATO cold war-era military bases and some odd choices by the government in terms of tax laws have caused lots of problems for a country whose entire population would barely make it into the top fifty largest cities in the US. Some light was shined on long-term solutions to some of the economic problems when investors began to look to Iceland as a datacenter haven when plans where developed and executed to improve the islands connectivity to the rest of the world.
Ambitious statements were made and customers the likes of IBM acknowledged that they were planning on making use of the natural green resources (geo-thermal power and free air cooling) to deploy large datacenters to the island, making use of the location that had formerly been a NATO facility. See also: Clean tech group brings academia, industry together. “Clean tech” is the new “green,” a powerful buzzword that can bring unlikely groups together. The Washington Clean Technology Alliance sold out its annual meeting Thursday morning at the Sheraton Seattle. Several hundred people from a wide variety of industries and businesses turned out to hear University of Washington President Michael Young and Washington State University President Elson Floyd discuss innovation and commercialization in the clean tech sector.
Boeing, a sponsor, had a large presence at the event and boasted the only female speaker in what is a very male-dominated field, judging by the mostly male attendees at the meeting. Kim Smith, who heads up Boeing’s efforts to develop ways for its planes to use sustainable biofuels, spoke briefly about the company’s efforts and partnerships with area universities. “Partnerships are certainly key,” Smith said. “For us, that’s just a starting point,” she said. “We need that partnership,” he said. IEA calls for doubling of clean energy spending by 2020. 3 New Clean Technology Innovations for 2012. Can a National Clean Energy Standard Energize Clean Technology Development? Goldman sets $40 billion clean energy investment plan. Clean-Tech Portfolio Could Need Lots More Cash From Kleiner Perkins - Venture Capital Dispatch.
What is Clean Tech? New BTUs for Global Growth | Essex Investment Management Company, LLC.