Nature has an ingenious way of extracting water, but does it have the potential to solve many of today’s global water challenges? Before going into more details on how nature’s way of extracting water can help cut energy usage in water treatment processes, an appreciation is needed of why energy reduction in water treatment is an […]
Healthy Planet Partners Energy & Infrastructure Fund, LP announces a final close at $26 MM, limited partnership to finance distributed generation and energy efficiency projects across North America GREENWICH, CT, JULY 9, 2014 – Healthy Planet Partners Financing Company, LLC (‘HPP’), an asset manager founded in 2013, announced the final closing of its inaugural fund, […]
Texas, 26 August 2014: Green & Grow Inc. (GGI) has raised an additional $6 million in Series B funding and secured Otter Capital as a significant new partner. Otter Capital’s expertise and investment capital will accelerate commercialization of GGI’s Agriplier™ technology, building on recent compelling field trial results across multiple crop types. “Since our first […]
RALEIGH, N.C. – July 29, 2014 – Causam Energy, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Power Analytics Corporation, a privately held software and professional services company with offices in San Diego and Raleigh. Power Analytics’ innovative software products solve complex power and energy problems, and in combination with Causam will […]
In spite of the political posturing taking place between Japan and Korea and China, the governments are actively working to address this challenge. Hosted by Ministry of Environment of Korea, the Environmental Ministers Meeting among Korea, China and Japan at the end of this April to implement an initiative on enhancing environmental cooperation and dialogue.
At the University of California, Berkeley, a team of engineers is pioneering ocean-source energy technology by using “carpet” to capture the energy generated by ocean waves. The team, which includes wave energy guru and Assistant Professor Reza Alam, and Ph.D. Marcus Lehmann, an engineering researcher, aims not only to capture the kinetic energy contained in […]
A decade ago, biofuels were considered the Holy Grail of combustion-engine fuels. Measurably cleaner than fossil fuels, they were the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, at least according to some clean energy experts. Fast forward to 2008, when the biofuel industry’s withdrawal of food crops such as corn, rice, wheat and palm […]
The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit working in the areas of energy efficiency, green building, and environmental protection. Much of IMT’s effort goes toward correcting inadequacies in the construction/remodeling vertical that prevents investors from taking a stake in energy efficiency and sustainability in the United States. Cliff Majersik, Executive Director, […]
It’s particularly troubling to those of us watching the energy efficiency marketplace to see one program or another take a hard hit. That’s why the 2010 class action lawsuit by Henry Gifford against the US Green Building Council – the parent organization of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – had such wide-ranging responses […]
Over at Bye Aerospace, Inc., Founder George Bye and colleagues are designing drones. But don’t worry. The Denver, Colorado company, founded in 2007, isn’t the site of the next Evil Empire, and the drones which will eventually start going out the door (here or elsewhere, but not under their own power) are meant for peaceful […]
The recent CBS 60 Minutes documentary, The Cleantech Crash, was an apocryphal tale of wasted government funding and failed companies, and left one feeling sorry for a much maligned Vinod Khosla, deemed to be a prime architect behind the ‘failed cleantech revolution’. Khosla has rallied with a strong and stirring rebuttal in open letter to CBS. Cleantech, (if narrowly […]
Every year, Eco-Pro features a particular theme. With the recovery of Fukushima on everyone’s mind and the uncertainty in fossil fuel supply, the focus on 2013 was on renewable energy. In July 2012, the government of Japan introduced a feed-in tariff (FIT) to promote energy generation from renewable resources including solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass
Continuing a tradition since 2007, once again we bring you some end-of-year thoughts about where we think the cleantech investment theme is going. Our cleantech-specific analysis and advisory firm Kachan & Co. focuses on this space. We publish research reports. We get briefings from companies introducing new technology. We publish a cleantech analysis service. We’re quoted in the press. We pore over […]
It should come as no surprise to those of us who follow environmental issues vis-à-vis climate and pollution that Norway this week walked away from the longest-running and most disappointing carbon capture plant in the world. Norway, sadly, is not the first, but its abandonment of Mongstad follows a familiar pattern of enormous hope and […]
Two events I attended this month brought home the importance of cities as centers of solutions for urban sustainability and climate change. In the absence of a global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, cities around the world have already made efforts to decarbonize their economies. Global networks like the C40 include energy and climate […]
Randy Hagen, CEO of Solar Skies LLC (Alexandria, MN., in the heart of the Upper Midwest) is justly proud of his company’s newly purchased laser welder. Not only is it the only one in North America, but it is one of only two on the North American Continent, which spans an area from Panama to […]
If you’ve not been paying much attention to cleantech in the last little while, it’s time to sit up and take notice. Because post-Solyndra, cleantech has been quietly gaining momentum. We had the chance to take a close look at the fundamentals of cleantech over the last two months in co-authoring a new (and free!) 38-page […]
For my birthday, I told my wife I want LED light bulbs. I know, right? You’re thinking how cool is that! If you’re thinking anything else, just keep it to yourself. A bit of history. I like light. I hate waiting for CFLs to warm up. We need floodlight style for recessed lighting, and A […]
At the intersection of energy and environment, a number of firms are taking on the global challenge of converting various kinds of waste into biofuels and chemicals. Montreal, Quebec-based Enerkem is not only an example, but an examplar. Operating with 10 years worth of technological validation under its belt in the area of proprietary thermochemical […]
In 2008, it was the Holy Grail of residential lighting, according to off-the-gridder Dan Fink. Fink’s parameters were simple; he wanted an LED that retained (or added to) its inherent efficiency while also delivering the kind of light that homeowners identify with incandescent lighting – and all at a price that could easily nudge both […]
