Tesla gets 500+ Model S bookings in first week
Apr 3, 2009 Auto Tech, Green Technologies, Social Initiatives, Startups
A week after unveiling the all electric Model S sedan, Tesla says that 520 customers have shelled out $5,000 each for reserving the car which is scheduled to be on roads in 2011.
The base price for the Model S, which will be available starting in 2010, is $57400, before a federal tax credit of $7,500 in US, a bargain compared to the Roadster’s $105000 price tag. A limited edition of the Model S is also available for a $40,000 reservation fee.
The base Model S will do 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds (compared to the Roadster’s 3.9 seconds) and has an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph. The car will be available with a variety of battery options with upto 300 miles per charge.
Norsun raises $163 million for making solar cell wafers
Mar 12, 2009 Green Technologies, Startups
Norsun
Norwegian solar industry group NorSun has succeeded in raising $163 million through equity and debt instruments. NorSun said that it has raised 500 million Norwegian crowns in equity and 650 million crowns in a five-year bank loan, totaling 1.15 billion crowns ($163 million). It also secured 450 million crowns in bank guarantee lines.
It is an encouraging development that Norsk Hydro and Good Energies reinvested in the company. But in line with the current economic gloom and the falling oil prices, which has made solar energy relatively expensive again, Norsun’s equity was valued at 2 billion crowns ($283 million) approx., less than half of its 5.4 billion fugure from a year ago.
Still, any cash will be welcome in a climate where every company is having trouble raising capital to not just expand, but simply to run existing operations and research. Norsun will need this money to expand its production of silicon ingots and wafers for solar cells. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Norsun, Solar cells, Solar Energy
MIT unveils solar powered car
Mar 3, 2009 Auto Tech, Startups
Eleanor
This may look similar to the B-2 stalth bomber, but it is actually the latest creation of MIT’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team. Built at a cost of $243,000, the carbon-fiber racer has been nicknamed Eleanor and is being prepared to take part in the upcoming World Solar Challenge in Australia.
With a ultra-slippery drag coefficient of 0.11, Eleanor features 580 silicon solar cells that cover six square meters and generate 1,200 watts. All the enrgy is stored in a 6-kilowatt-hour battery pack comprising 693 lithium-ion cells. The battery weighs 32 kilograms (about 71 pounds) and provides sufficient range — even without sunlight — to do a steady 55mph all day. Power comes from a 10-horsepower hub-mounted motor driving the lone rear wheel which enables a top speed of 90mph. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: MIT, Solar power
MIT students designed shock absorbers increase fuel efficiency
Feb 13, 2009 Auto Tech, Startups
A energy regenerative shock absorber invented by MIT students promises a smoother car ride, while increasing fuel efficiency by upto 10%.
The prototype shock absorbers use a hydraulic system that forces fluid through a turbine attached to a generator. The system is controlled by an active electronic system that optimizes the damping, providing a smoother ride than conventional shocks while generating electricity to recharge the batteries or operate electrical equipment.
The group of ex and current MIT students has already filed for patents and has generated interests from companies interested in using the shock absorbers in heavy trucks, in commercial as well as millitary domain. So don’t be surprised if you see these in the next generation millitary trucks and people carriers.
Read this link more for details.
Tags: fuel efficiency, Hybrids, MIT
Wind turbine maker TPI raises $20 million
Jan 25, 2009 Green Technologies, Startups
TPI
TPI Composites Inc., which manufactures light-weight composite wind turbine blades that it claims are more durable and more efficient than conventional blades, recently raised $20 million in its second round of funding.
Investors included GE Equity and GE Energy Financial Services, Landmark Growth Capital Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners and Angeleno Group. The company had raised $22 million in 2007.
The company will use the money to continue to expand its capacity. Last year, it tripled its capacity at its Mexican facility, which is a joint venture with Mitsubishi Power Systems, and opened factories in US and China, under supply agreements with GE Energy.
This is a real encouraging sign that clean energy investments haven’t forzen in the current financial climate.
Tags: GE, TPI, Wind, Wind turbines
Masdar partners Japanese fund to invest in cleantech
Jan 25, 2009 Green Technologies, Startups
Abu Dhabi’s cleantech initiative, Masdar has now decided to partner SBI Holdings of Japan to invest in Japanese cleantech startups. It will start off with a $20 million fund, planning to invest in the range of $2 million in each startup and subsequently raising more cash if required.
Flush with oil revenues, Abu Dhabi is now making big bets in greentech: it has investments in the London array offshore windfarm project, it has plans to finance environmental films, it hosted the just concluded World Future Energy Summit and it is building Masdar City as the world’s first carbon neutral cities, powered by renewable energy sources, for which it just placed a big order fot solar panels.
Waste not your rubbish!
Jan 20, 2009 Green Technologies, Information of the Day, Startups
Enerkem
While one hears a lot about wind and solar power companies, perhaps companies that produce electricity from waste are less celebrated. So we decided that we will profile a few companies that will help turn part of your household and office waste into energy.
The one to pique the most curiosity must be Enerkem,which plans to make cellulosic ethanol using wood from used electricity poles. It is close to starting a 1.3 million-gallon facility near Montreal that is designed to use a thermo-chemical process to turn the waste wood into ethanol. Interestingly, the company claims that it is paid to take away those wooden poles, so it must be a fabulous deal for the company. Enerkem will be getting its hands dirty with municipal solid waste as part of its work on waste-to-ethanol facilities with Toronto’s GreenField Ethanol.
But what if you want to generate electricity from waste generated at your office? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: biofuel, Enerken, IST, renewable energy, trash, Verenium, Ze-Gen
AMEE, developer of emissions measurement API gets funding
Dec 12, 2008 Startups
AMEE
AMEE, a London based startup with an API which has the grand aim of measuring the world’s energy consumption - and therefore Carbon Footprint - has secured an undisclosed Series A financing from O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures, Union Square Ventures and UK-based Angel The Accelerator Group. In case you are curious about the name, it’s an acronym for “Avoiding Mass Extinctions Engine”.
Launched in 2005, AMEE combines measurement, calculation, profiling and transactional systems, representing emissions data from 150 countries and regions. The idea is pretty simple. Act as a neutral data aggregation platform. Although it has potential competitors in the form of Oracle, SAP, IBM and others, increasingly some are ditching their proprietary front end efforts and just using AMEE’s open source API to build their own tools on top. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: AMEE, carbon credits, Funding, Startup
Detailed wind distribution maps from 3TIER
Dec 8, 2008 Green Technologies, Startups
3TIER
3TIER is a startup from US that produces data-rich maps to help plan the locations for wind and solar farms. They claim that using the company’s products “shortens the process needed to make sound decisions about where to invest in wind energy generation”.
A year ago, the company released a world wind map that provided detailed information about suitable sites that simulate the interaction between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface. At climate change talks in Poznan, Poland, 3TIER said it was offering an updated map with much higher resolution and richer data. 3TIER said it used a 10-year simulation across the world’s landmass at a resolution of 5 kilometers to create its latest product.
Apart from wind patterns, demographic factors like population density or people’s acceptance of wind farms may be important for setting up big scale projects in this field. Maybe 3TIER will incorporate these features in the coming versions.
Tags: 3TIER, wind distribution
SaveThePlanetAndWin: Justanother “green” social network
Dec 6, 2008 Startups
STPAW
Save The Planet And Win (STPAW), a new green social network that is looking to help users cut back on their carbon deficits, launched this week.
Beyond traditional social network features like user messaging, Save The Planet And Win offers a few ways to help users keep track of and earn more carbon credits. Every week the site will offer a 30 second clip from a sponsor, who will add points to a user’s STPAW account in return for watching the ad. These points can be applied towards purchasing carbon credits, helping a particular effort like the quest for an AIDS vaccine, or can be exchanged for cash. Other features include a ‘Carbon Collective’ where groups can monitor their combined carbon reduction efforts, as well as forums for sharing green tips and ideas.
Is this really a green initiative or just another instance of greenwashing? Wouldn’t the features make better sense as OpenSocial or Facebook app, instead of trying to spawn a whole new social network? Making one watch advertisements for our “green morals” sake is a crass attempt at profiteering from the current awareness about the environment.
Tags: Social network, Startup, STPAW