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November 10, 2006
Five cleantech startups were voted “most promising” by their peers Thursday at Infocast’s Energy Venture Fair in Santa Clara, California.
The companies included Wilson TurboPower, Zolo Technologies, KiteShip, Ice Energy, and Hythane, and they were selected from among 75 presenting companies at the event.
“It’s always validating to be acknowledged by one’s peers for having a transforming and powerful technology,” said Frank Ramirez, chief executive of Ice Energy, after receiving his award.
“In concert with a number of other competitors here, we all share [the same] objective—to save energy, to be more efficient, to use the iron in the ground better, to assure a legacy for our children, and to provide the promise of a better life for those who follow us,” he added.
Here are the five winners:
Wilson TurboPower Raising $20 Million
This MIT spinoff, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, has a heat exchanger—a device that transfers heat from one medium to another—that it said loses only 5 percent of the heat in the process, making it 10 to 25 percent more efficient than competing exchangers.
The exchanger recovers “waste heat” otherwise lost when industrial customers refine petroleum or process metals, cutting energy costs.
Founded in 2001, Wilson TurboPower is also developing a microturbine that could then convert that heat into electricity. Jim Taylor, vice president of business development, said Wilson expects the microturbine to be ready in about two years.
The heat exchanger became available this year, and Wilson has proposals in the works with an aluminum company and a petroleum company, Mr. Taylor said. Revenue in the last year totaled less than $1 million.
Zolo Technologies Raising $5 Million to $10 Million
Zolo has developed a laser-based sensor that can directly measure combustion in coal-fired power plants, allowing those plants to improve performance.
The Boulder, Colorado-based company said the combustion sensor can help reduce emissions, increase efficiency, and improve reliability at these plants—raising their value. The company’s revenue totaled between $1 and $5 million in the last year.
Customers already include TVA, Pacificorp, NRG Texas, Southern Company, Platte River Power Authority, Xcel Energy, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the U.S. Air Force and Navy. Zolo said its first commercial installations have demonstrated a 25 percent reduction in nitrogen-oxide emissions, and a return on investment in “months.”
The company says there are 7,800 coal-fired boilers worldwide and estimates its potential market is in the billions of dollars. Investors include Crescendo, Canaan, Morgenthaler, and 3i.
KiteShip Looking for $7.5 Million
This Martinez, California-based company builds and sells large kites to help pull along commercial ships and yachts worldwide.
The “traction kites” reduce fuel costs and emissions, a big deal because the world’s fleet of ships emits about 50 times the sulfur dioxide as all the world’s road vehicles combined, while using only 10 percent of the fuel, the company said. That’s because ships use dirty crude oil literally at the bottom of the barrel.
KiteShip’s kites reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 25 percent without reducing speed, and also reduce engine maintenance and increase profitability.
Just one kite on one large ship will save 2 million gallons of fuel per year, eliminating 2 million pounds of sulfur dioxide emissions per year—the same as replacing every car in California with a hybrid, the company said.
The company also won seed funding and services in the California Clean Tech Open earlier this year (see Clean Startups Score Funding). The company earned less than $1 million in revenue in the last year.
Ice Energy Raising $15 Million or More
This company uses ice to store energy for cooling and refrigeration products, increasing their energy efficiency. Air conditioning is expensive because it generally uses electricity during “peak” afternoon hours, when electricity is most expensive.
The device, a 5-by-5-by-5-foot box, allows electricity for air conditioning to come from “off-peak” nighttime hours, when electricity is more abundant and less costly. Ice Energy claims its Ice Bear system reduces demand during peak hours by 95 percent, shifting 93 percent to nighttime hours (see The Ice Bear Cometh, Energy Efficiency Looks Sexier).
A commercial unit costs $10,500, with an average payback time of two years—although some projects have “immediate” returns and others take as long as eight years, Mr. Ramirez said.
Founded in 2003, the company has already signed on city governments, municipalities, and a number of undisclosed “big box” retailers, and is working “very closely” with California’s community college system.
Eventually, Ice Energy’s dream is that every refrigerant-based air conditioner will have its energy-storage device integrated into the design, Mr. Ramirez said. Investors include Second Avenue Partners and Sail/Odyssey Ventures.
Hythane Aims for $15 Million
Based in Denver, this company has a hydrogen and natural-gas fuel blend, along with a system to produce that blend and to use it for transportation.
Targeting commercial and government fleets for now, particularly those with a hydrogen source nearby, Hythane sells a “blender” to combine the hydrogen and natural gas, and converts natural-gas vehicles to be able to use the blend. The advantage is lower emissions, including 50 percent less nitrogen oxide emissions.
With states such as California raising emission standards, fleets need to reduce emissions, said CEO Gregory Egan. Hythane allows them to meet the standards without replacing their older vehicles, and a software change will also allow them to convert new vehicles.
The price for the fuel comes out to about $1.15 per gallon equivalent, compared to $1 per gallon for natural gas—which might not meet new standards—and $3 per gallon for diesel fuel.
The company has already signed memorandums of understanding with the city of Barstow, California, and others, and expects to have a full-scale fleet running off Hythane’s blend in 2007. Last year’s revenue was less than $1 million.
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